The hole swallowed him whole.
Varkas fell through the darkness. The Golem's body beneath him, stone and roots twisting in the gloom. The impact against the underground floor knocked the air from his lungs. He rolled. Rakshar leapt from his hand and buried itself three meters away, blade still quivering.
The Golem rose without hurry. The roots resettled themselves between cracks in the stone. The two red points fixed on Varkas.
Varkas got up. He rolled his neck until it cracked. Felt his ribs.
Inside him, Rakshar stirred. The voice crossed his chest like a deep heartbeat.
"That thing isn't going to stop on its own."
"I know."
Varkas wrenched the sword from the ground. The blade warmed in his hand.
The Golem's chest core glowed brown. The floor beneath Varkas hardened. The flagstones fused together and locked his feet up to the ankles. Varkas tried to move. Impossible.
He slammed his fists into the ground. Seismic Gauntlets. The shockwave split the stone trapping him. The flagstones cracked and shattered. Varkas jumped back. Free.
The core shifted to red.
Varkas raised a stone barrier just as the column of fire erupted against it. The flames split to either side. The heat struck him in the face. The stone cracked but held. The sweat evaporated from his brow.
The core glowed blue and brown at the same time.
The barrier dissolved into mud. A jet of water mixed with the earth and a thick torrent came crashing down on him. It hit him in the chest and tore him off his feet. He flew backward and slammed into a column. The back of his head cracked against the stone. His teeth clattered together. A ringing filled his ears. He blinked. The Golem's silhouette tripled for an instant before snapping back into focus.
"Get up."
Varkas stood. Mud slid down his armor. A shoulder plate hung by a single strap. He ripped it off and let it fall.
The core glowed red and green. Fire and wind.
A burning gust swept through the underground chamber. Not a column. A wall of fire advancing on the push of the wind. Varkas turned left. No way out. Turned right. Nothing either. He drove Rakshar into the ground and raised two stone walls at an angle, forming a wedge in front of him. The wall of fire struck the wedge and split into two torrents that rushed past on either side. The air became unbreathable. Varkas coughed. His hands trembled on the hilt.
The Golem advanced through the flames.
The stone hand closed around his chest. The fingers crushed his ribs. Varkas felt a stab beneath his sternum. Something gave. A hot splinter of pain. A grunt tore from his throat.
The Golem ran.
Varkas's back bounced off the floor, off columns, off roots. The dragon plates flew off one by one. His left shoulder was wrenched out of joint. The arm went loose, useless, dragging behind him. Earth magic spread across his back. Plates of rock forming and bursting apart in an instant. Again and again. Without that armor he wouldn't still be thinking.
The Golem stopped.
It hoisted Varkas above its head. The core glowed red and green.
The underground floor exploded upward.
Varkas was launched through stone, dirt, and roots. The ceiling of the chamber tore open. He burst through the floor of the outer courtyard and into the open air. The orange sky. Winged beasts shrieking. Distant explosions.
The Golem leapt after him.
The massive figure emerged from the hole with impossible agility. In midair, one hand snatched Varkas by the leg.
The first slam against the courtyard floor. Varkas covered himself with a stone shell. The impact shattered it. The second slam. The shell formed again and exploded again. Varkas heard his ribs crack. One. Two. The third slam left him without air. Without magic. The shell didn't form in time. His bare back against the stone. Something gave inside. A thin, deep pain. Blood in his mouth.
The Golem let go.
Varkas lay in a crater of pulverized stone. Left shoulder out of joint. Ribs broken. His chest rose and fell in lurches. The fingers of his right hand were still gripping Rakshar.
"That shell saved me," he murmured. He swallowed blood.
Rakshar growled from deep in his chest. The voice was a muffled thunderclap.
"Get up anyway. You still have teeth."
Varkas pressed his good hand against the ground. He pushed himself up. His left arm dangled. He grabbed the shoulder with his right hand. Pulled. A crack. A roar that tore itself from his throat. The shoulder slid back into place. His fingers tingled.
The Golem watched him. The core glowed red.
Varkas launched himself to the right on a burst of earth beneath his feet. The column of fire swept through the spot where he'd been. The heat grazed the back of his neck. He rose on a stone plate that shot up from the ground and leapt. Rakshar raised high. The blade came down in a diagonal slash toward the red eyes.
The Golem turned its head. The sword struck stone. The blade bounced off. The impact shook Varkas's arm all the way to the shoulder. Shards flew from the blow. The Golem didn't flinch.
Varkas landed at its back. The Golem's roots rose. One lashed his side. Varkas grunted. Another aimed for his throat. He cut it. The third coiled around his leg and pulled. Varkas hit the ground. The roots dragged him across the courtyard.
Rakshar stirred. The voice struck his chest.
"Destroy the rock. Break the core."
"I can't."
"Then give me control."
Varkas closed his eyes.
He opened them red.
Black fur covered his arms. Claws grew from his knuckles. Fangs pressed out beneath his lips. The crimson tail unfurled. His body expanded. The roots holding him snapped like thread. His voice became double. His own and Rakshar's layered over each other. A roar that was not human.
The courtyard shook.
The roar rose above the walls. A shockwave swept the courtyard floor. Loose stones flew outward. The winged beasts shrieked and scattered. The flames of the fires bent sideways. In the distant tower, Aria and Zareth felt the blast.
Varkas raised his head. Three meters of wolf. Black fur. Crimson eyes. Claws like knives.
The Golem looked at him. The core blazed with all four colors at once. Red, blue, brown, green. A storm contained within a chest of stone.
Varkas took the first step. So did the Golem.
The collision was imminent.