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~~Thanksgiving Special (Page 2 of 4)~~
At such close range, the sheer amount of light coming off the creature was blinding. Once the group was clear of the amassing lava, they started running again. Hector was surprised to find his iron box unharmed, save only a melted corner. He increased its pace as well but honestly didn’t have high hopes that any of the weapons therein would survive whatever the hell was going to happen next.

‘A molten rock golem,’ marveled Garovel privately as they ran. ‘Never seen one of those before.’

Was that what that was? Hector hadn’t made that connection, but he supposed it made sense. ‘Does that mean it’s on our side?’ he asked.

‘In theory, yeah.’

Hector looked back and saw the whole city being illuminated. The previously black expanse of cavern above them was suddenly alive with the burning reds and oranges of the golem’s molten glow. And maybe it was the light playing tricks on him, but Hector thought he saw something else there, too, moving among the giant stalactites above.

‘Wait!’ came Axiolis’ voice. ‘Everyone, stop!’

Hesitant, they all still did as he said.

Axiolis explained himself. ‘The worms surround this entire city, directly ahead of us as well. We should not venture too far away from the golem, else the worms will swarm.’

‘True enough, but we shouldn’t stay too CLOSE to the golem, either,’ said Garovel.

‘Then we may already be at the optimal distance from it,’ said Yangéra.

And no one looked pleased, but no one argued, either.

With that, the party stayed put, torn between bad and worse circumstances.

The reapers kept talking to one another, trying to brainstorm seemingly, but it didn’t sound like they were making much progress to Hector.

As he listened, his gaze returned to where it had been before, to the stalactites far above the golem’s still-expanding bulk.

And that was when Hector saw a second thing that he would not soon be forgetting.

At first, it was just a kind of murky darkness hanging high in the air, noticeable because of how undeterred by the golem’s light it was, unlike the rest of the fleeing shadows around it.

Until it took form.

It became a skeleton--not terribly unlike every reaper he’d ever seen. But it was so much larger. Impossibly gigantic. The equal of the molten golem. It had flames of its own, as well, but these were black as night and grew to cover its skeletal body in a way similar to a reaper’s shroud.

‘Oh hey,’ laughed Garovel, though he sounded rather nervous to Hector, ‘I guess we were wrong. The mist wasn’t for a golem OR a feldeath. It was for both. How wonderful.’

That was one explanation that Hector had not needed. He’d certainly never seen a feldeath before, but he’d still been able to recognize what it was almost immediately.

The feldeath began to descend, and four colossal scythes materialized into its skeletal hands--of which there were somehow now four as well.