The warden's next attack is a wide sweep, forcing me back toward the wall of the chamber. I'm running out of space. I need to get back to Toby, to finish the job. But the stone giant is a relentless, living wall between us.
Think, Ariel. Think.
My eyes dart around the room, looking for anything I can use. The piles of rock. The broken pillar. The glowing orb, now dimming to a soft twilight.
My gaze lands on the vial in my pocket.
I don't know what it is.
But I know what this place does with things I don't understand. It uses them. It turns them into keys, into solutions, into...weapons.
I don't know about that part.
But I can certainly try. And hope.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the small box, flipping it open. The silver liquid inside the vial swirls hypnotically, catching the last rays of light. It feels...cold. Colder than it should.
The warden takes another heavy step toward me, its stone hand raised.
I have no plan. No strategy. Just a desperate, instinctual feeling.
I pull the stopper out of the vial with my teeth and, in one fluid motion, throw the contents at the warden's massive, featureless head.
The silver liquid doesn't splash. It moves through the air like a living thing, a shimmering, amoebic blob. It hits the warden squarely in what would be its face.
And it does...nothing.
The liquid just clings there, a smear of quicksilver on the rock. The warden pauses, its hum changing pitch, becoming a low, confused buzz. It seems as baffled as I am.
Well... shit.
That was my only idea.
I might have wasted the solution that was meant for something else, too.
Not...exactly the best praise for me, ruining the first thing I've had to solve on my own.
But I can't think about that.
"This is your prison." I yell. I don't know what makes me say it. It's just a feeling. A hunch. "Toby! Don't just wait for someone else to rescue you!"
I don't have any particular reason to believe a man chained so thoroughly could free himself better than anyone else. This place is strange, but is it that strange?
I don't know. But it sounds like the kind of advice I've heard before, and more importantly...
I'm genuinely not sure I can do anything myself at this point besides distract this thing.
...And probably not for long. It's already recovering from its confusion, and I just threw away the first thing I thought could be a weapon.
The warden takes a step back, its hum rising in pitch again. It's not confused anymore. It's angry.
But Toby.
He's looking at me with wide eyes, and he nods, even as the monster looms closer.
He stops trying to pull the chains. He reaches into his hair. For a moment I don't know what he's doing, until I see that he's pulling a small, sharp stone free, and he begins to...rub it against the stone near the collar.
It takes me a moment to realize he's not just rubbing it, he's trying to sharpen it.
I don't have time to watch. The warden is coming at me again. I grip my pry bar and dodge to the side, but it's ready for me this time. Its other arm sweeps in, a backhand blow that catches me on the shoulder.
The impact is like being hit by a truck. I'm lifted off my feet and thrown across the room, slamming into one of the rock piles. Sharp, jagged edges dig into my back, knocking the wind out of me. The pry bar clatters away, lost somewhere in the debris.
I gasp for breath, pain lancing through my side. If I were still alive, I don't think I would be for much longer after a hit like that.
Either being dead...whatever state we're in now, makes us hardier than I realized, or the levels I've gained are already paying off.
...In whatever little amount it is to be left stumbling and coughing and alive after a hit that should have broken every bone in my torso.
The warden lumbers toward me, its slow, steady pace somehow more terrifying than a charge. I'm trapped against the wall of rock, my shears my only remaining weapon. They feel pitifully small against this thing.
"Hey!" Toby's voice rings out, loud and defiant. "Over here, you ugly pile of gravel!"
The warden stops, its hum of anger replaced by one of surprise. It turns its massive body back toward the pillar.
Toby is on his feet. Or, at least, mostly on his feet. He's managed to loosen the chains enough to stand, though he's still tethered to the broken pillar by a length of heavy chain. In his hand is the rock he was sharpening. He's scraped it against the pillar until it's formed a crude, jagged point.
"You want a prisoner so bad?" Toby yells, his voice raw. "I'll give you a fucking prisoner!"
He charges.
It's a suicide run. He's still chained. He can't get away. He just runs directly at the warden, his makeshift stone dagger held high.
The warden, seemingly confused by this sudden act of defiance, doesn't react immediately. It just stands there as Toby closes the distance.
When he's within range, Toby leaps, a wild, desperate battle cry tearing from his throat. He brings the sharp rock down in a powerful arc, aiming for the center of the warden's flat 'head'.
The rock hits.
And it shatters.
The point of Toby's weapon explodes into a dozen pieces against the warden's stone skin. It doesn't even leave a scratch.
The warden's hum returns, a low, sound of finality. It raises one massive hand and, almost casually, backhands Toby.
The force of the blow sends Toby flying. He hits the pillar and snaps it completely in half, the chain that was holding him now just a loose metal rope. He crumples to the ground in a heap, unmoving.
It's too far away for me to know if he's breathing.
I stumble forward, the rocks scraping at my feet, and lunge toward the lumbering creature, as it makes its move to stomp on Toby's prone form with one of its huge, heavy feet.
Before I can make it, the heavy stone foot turns into a shower of dust, the rest of the creature beginning to crumble. It's as if something has broken its hold on reality.