The golems remained still, occasionally turning their heads around.
"I wonder why you don't just give them eye sockets and fill them with molten rocks. That way it gives a sense of life you know? Just having a pile of rocks for a face is creepy." Ash muttered as they waited for Ian to recover.
Ian scoffed, "Yeah sure. Why not ask me to give them wings while you're at it?"
Rish laughed but kept her eyes focused ahead.
"We should all take this chance to rest." Third Light said, looking at Han.
The latter nodded frantically and smiled deeply, "Thank you." His voice cracked from gratitude.
He lay down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
A shadow loomed over Han, jolting him awake. He spun and looked, seeing Third Light staring silently at him.
"Ian's ready. It's been an hour already, let's move." He turned around and started walking away.
Han stared at his back, 'I have barely slept and a kilometer is… something. Better get a move on then.'
He stood and dusted his body for the second time that day alone. 'At least my headache is suppressed.' Han tried to focus on the silver lining, no matter how small it seemed.
The golems released another cloud of steam, this one hotter than the last. Ian stood in front of them with a proud smile on his face.
"I can control them individually or I can give them basic instructions. Which do you think is the best?" His question was directed at Third Light but Ash answered first.
"We are dealing with water back crabs. Your golems, while earth-based, still possess molten rocks as a bodily fluid. The heat should be an important decider in this fight." The archer started his explanation,
"So I believe we should have them storm the crabs wildly. Naturally, they'll be destroyed pretty quickly but the molten rocks should provide an edge."
Silence.
'Shit.' Han cursed, a dull fear in his chest.
The quiet that ensued wasn't because the idea Ash proposed was bad but because he had answered a question that wasn't directed at him.
Third Light inhaled sharply and the members of the group looked at him.
A visible vein throbbed on his head as he clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth.
He lifted his hand above his head and specks of light gathered, forming his spear.
'He wouldn't!!' Han's heart started to pound, his vision became unclear and he was unable to move for fear of inciting his ire.
The shaft increased in luminosity, blinding everyone and Han heard a small curse from Ian before nobody could see more than a few centimeters in front of them.
Han squinted his eyes to spare his burning retinas.
Unseen by Han, the golems had started to move through the light to its source.
The ground suddenly convulsed and threw Han to the ground. His jaw hit the ground hard, sending white-hot pain through him.
Before his eyes could tear up, an unnatural chill spread out and sent shivers through him, freezing the open wound on his jaw.
He barely heard the faint call of an animal as frost crept lightly, unnoticed, on his skin.
The light impossibly brightened as he stood, hurting Han's eyes through his eyelids.
A massive boom shook the ground, and red-hot particles hit Han on his skin, burning through it like a hot knife through butter.
He winced and tried to move away but the temperature spiked as a massive torrent of flames consumed him and burned through his clothes, melting them and fusing them to his skin.
His mouth was wide open in a silent scream from the overwhelming pain that surrounded him from all sides. It was like he had been dipped in acid.
The temperature suddenly dropped to sub-zero levels, and Han was sent into a state of thermal shock, falling to the ground.
The blinding light died down, and Han could barely make out the vague silhouette of a massive bird that had crashed into the ground.
Black spots filled his vision and his breath became heavy and raspy. 'Is this how I die?'
"Oh? Han here is actually dying. We can't have that, now can we?" Third Light spoke but Han couldn't see him… or anything at all. He couldn't even hear or feel.
'Is this what death feels like? It's so empty, so lonely, so… warm?' A pleasant warmth spread through Han's chest, reinvigorating him.
Han let out a gasp and sat up. He felt fine, even beyond that, he felt great, like a new person.
'But I died.' Even in death, he couldn't escape easily.
Third Light was standing over him looking pale and severely spent, "You can't die. What will that say about my father's company?" He turned away from Han to meet Ash.
Ian was not looking too good either. His left hand was covered in ice flakes and he seemed paler.
Out of the three golems he had made, only one was left.
Rish and Ash were fine. They were rummaging through the body of the thing that had attacked them.
A massive black bird with a wingspan of 8 meters. Its feathers and talons seemed to be made of ice. Even its corpse released mist.
"We're lucky Third Light noticed its presence when he did," Ash muttered as he dug around a sturdy piece of bone.
Rish used her knife to fracture it, picking out the shards she could remove.
Her hands plunged deep into the flesh and ripped out a small ice-like crystal. The beast shard.
Ian shifted slightly, the ice on his hand had melted but it was still an unhealthy color, "Yeah, I was the second to notice it. We would be dead if it weren't for Third Light covering us with that light."
Third Light was standing not too far from Ash. He reached for his spear that was still lodged in the bird's eye.
The shaft was stained with the black blood of beasts.
"Ian, rest up. We'll hunt the water-back crab soon." The spear glowed and the blood evaporated.