A human face. Scaled to fit the massive body of the golem frame, it was that of a man. Wild pink hair on his head, with ruffs of pink going up the line of his jaw in a sort of odd beard. Blood shot eyes with stone gray irises, a large nose with what looked like a bit of blood on the tip, and a mouth filled with large human teeth, also bloody. We had interrupted its meal apparently.
After bellowing out its rage at us, raising great rocky arms over his head, he advanced a step towards Durahan. Geoff and I wasted no time. Before Durahan could close in and engage the human faced Dean, we fired our arrows. Our aim was true, but our arrows did little more than leave tiny scratches on the monster's rocky skin.
This did how ever, get its attention. For a single instant, the monster looked past Durahan, to Geoff and myself with an angry questioning 'huh?!' Noise. Durahan used that single instant to charge, swinging his great blade. The Dean however, turned at the last moment, making what might have been a fatal blow into a deep gash on its shoulder 'rock'. The monster's attention brought back to his challenger took a great swipe at Durahan, who just managed to hop backwards, avoiding a blow that would have probably sent him clear into the woods again. The monster's back turned, Geoff and I fired again, the arrows doing as little damage as the last ones, and not even getting the monsters attention. We were only making it angry it seemed. Again the Dean swung a massive hand at Durahan, again missing, splintering a small tree into toothpicks. Hitting the tree did slow the monster enough, and Durahan swing again, this time leaving a gash across the Dean's outstretched forearm. With a cry of pain, the monster rolled into a tight looking boulder, propelling itself forward and almost crushing Durahan. Again, the sword swing and we fired our arrows. Doubt started creeping into my adrenaline filled mind. Could Durahan last long enough to wear this beast down?
A tree crushing kick, and another heavy swing from Durahan, this time across the monster's upper leg. The Dean was becoming more and more angry, and not slowing down at all despite the wounds on his shoulder, arm, leg and as another attack swung wide turning a bit of the cave's entrance into gravel, it's side.
Durahan was fighting very well for his first battle. I could see the training back at the shrine showing through, his cuts aimed well and in perfect lines. But the Dean's tough skin, and furious rage was starting to simply outlast Durahan's endurance. I could see him slow down bit by bit, and so could Geoff. If only there was something else we could throw at the monstrous human faced Dean. From the tree line, where Sarah and Angel were hidden, a fist sized rock flew. Sailing in a perfect arc, it 'clonked' the Dean across the side of its head, just above a human looking ear.
This got a reaction. The beast clutched the side of his head with a hand and staggered backwards, growling in pain and rage. Durahan spotted his opening, but at the last instant, stumbled, his foot getting snagged by the root of a shattered tree. Recovering from the thrown rock, the Dean smiled and advanced a step, raising his hand to strike.
I cried a warning, too late. Just as Durahan recovered his footing, the Dean spin around, his legs planted firm, but his upper body spinning in a full circle, the back of his hand slamming into Durahan with enough momentum to cause a small ring of dirt to stir around it. I saw that Durahan had managed to brace himself against the blow, but the force of the strike lifted him off his feet, into the air, and out of sight into the trees, where he landed with a crash of metal and wood.
The monster paused, then turned towards Geoff and myself. We started firing arrows again, trying in vain to stop the monster from approaching, but it started walking, slowly, towards us. Part way, it picked up the remnants of a tree, and hurled it. Geoff and I abandoned our places, jumping away from the tree's path, and to new cover. Another fist sized rock sailed out of the trees from Sarah's position, the Dean again being hit on the head. With Durahan out of the fight, the Dean growled and charged towards the stone's origin point. Geoff and I had recovered our footing and managed to hit again with our arrows, but we were ignored by the monster as it drove towards the tree line.
Running after it, Geoff and I got there just in time to watch the berserk Dean pick up the boulder Sarah and Angel had been hiding behind, and raise it one handed over his head. Backpedaling, Sarah tripped, screaming in fear. But some thing stayed the Dean's hand. The boulder remained ready to strike, to bring down and crush Sarah, but the monster didn't.
Angel stood in front of it, arms wide to either side, blocking the path of the mad monster. I could make out Angel's face, and was surprised to see it calm, but firm, as if to say 'no, you may not' to the Dean. With a despaired scream of rage, the monster backed up a step, and looked ready to walk over Angel if need be, but he never got the chance.
Out of the tree line, Durahan, looking like he had taken a mud bath, then rolled around in a bed of pine needles and twigs, charged towards the back of the Dean. Bellowing a challenge, Durahan raised his great sword to shoulder level, pointed it forward and braced. Growling in surprise, the Dean turned and made ready to once again send the ghostly suit of armor into the woods. A great shrieking noise of metal being driven into stone, as Durahan thrust the point of his sword into the Dean's chest, all the way to the hilt, the point stopping a hairsbreadth from Angel's forehead as she remained standing on the other side of the monster.
Slowly, with a great sigh, the Dean went limp. The boulder falling harmlessly from his hand and rolling a ways before coming to rest by a demolished tree. The great arms sagging, the massive legs relaxing, bringing the monster to a kneeling position. The human face, once twisted into a face of rage, now expressed a sort of relaxed relief, a pair of tears falling down its pink ruffed face.
Durahan withdrew his sword, backing up a step and saluting the fallen monster in a knight's way. And with a final sob, the Dean fell forward, and lay still, dissolving in a puff of blue and pink motes of light, leaving behind a lost disk, a grim marker of the battle fought.
***
The trip back was a solemn one. No cheer from our group despite the victory. Geoff and I supported Durahan, who was limping badly, almost unable to even stand. Sarah, who had twisted her ankle in that last fall, was being carried by Angel. Angel herself, was looking lost again, tormented by something.
The searching of the cave revealed what we had feared. Dead animal bones, as well as human ones, piled into a corner in a disturbing show of order from a seemingly wild monster. Bits of what ever the hunters had with them piled into another corner. A pile of pine needles and straw piled into another with a golem shaped indentation in it. The monster had lived here for a while it seemed. But under the make shift bed, we had found something, the cause for our gloomy mood. A golem sized robe. Very dirty and rotting from the damp of the cave, it was still partially recognizable for what it was. A golem sized robe, decorated in a fashion similar to that of the shrine keepers.
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Okay okay, sorry for the delay, again... But life is a little busy. New games to play, a girlfriend to pay attention to, work to go to etc. BUT, dont worry. I am determined to see this story to it's conclusion, so yes, I will keep posting, how ever erratically.
Questions comments etc etc appriciated. Flames will be listened too, then laughed at most likly. =^_^=