They’re not after us. They’re after him—
The icecat lunged, and this time Caldera couldn’t block it. Constructs are strong, but they’re predictable. I plotted its course and managed to get my leg up in time; my heel met its head and the force of the construct’s leap crushed its head into my shoe. Pain shot up my leg and I thumped back against the wall, but the impact twisted the construct’s body around; it would have broken any normal animal’s neck, and it was actually enough to stagger it for a second.
Caldera grabbed it before it could recover. As it struggled she lifted it in both hands, then broke it over her knee. It twisted and went still.
I felt a flare of space magic from the back garden.
A gate formed just outside the gate wards of the house, and something came through, massive and heavy. I felt the floor shift, trembling, first once and then again. I switched perspective, viewing the future in which I moved right to peer around the corner—
A giant hulking shape was right outside the picture window, nearly eight feet tall, ambient light gleaming off a polished body. It was shaped like an insect but moved with the precision of well-oiled machinery. Light caught on its eyes and on the blades and weapons in its arms, and as a triple-jointed leg came down through the broken window, the floor shook, first in the future and a second later in the present. The window frame shattered as it came through without slowing, its head taking out a chunk of plaster where the frame met the wall.
Mantis golem.
Oh, fuck.
Caldera was already facing the thing, and I felt her eyes go wide as it came around the corner. It swivelled towards her, the two of them facing each other in the darkened living room. Caldera is big, muscle and earth magic giving her the strength of stone, but compared to the construct towering over her she looked like a child. Mage and golem looked at each other, less than five feet apart.
Caldera hesitated, just briefly.
“Run!” I shouted.
The kind of magic you can use isn’t something separate from you; it’s a part of who you are. It affects your thoughts, your desires . . . your instincts. Air mages, when they’re hurt or in danger, their first reaction is to break away, create space. Ice mages try to control the threat, lock it down. Fire mages attack. Earth mages . . . they defend and stand their ground.
Caldera stood her ground.
The golem struck, swords flashing out. Caldera ducked under the first swing and was about to punch when the golem’s second hand came up, holding some kind of cylindrical device; Caldera twisted aside as a beam of golden light shot down, burning a glowing line along the floor, then had to dodge again as a sword blow nearly took her head off.
Mantis golems have four arms, and this one was holding two one-handed swords, the laser projector, and some other weapon I didn’t recognise. No human can use that many weapons, but mantis golems aren’t human and they have the strength and the parallel processing to use all four arms at once. The golem wasn’t especially fast, and its strikes didn’t have its full body weight behind them, but every one of its arms was attacking Caldera simultaneously and independently, like some kind of lethal golden windmill. No sooner had Caldera blocked one attack than she had to dodge the next.
I hesitated, caught between Leo and Caldera. I didn’t want to fight this thing, but if I left Caldera alone—
A grey shape darted behind the golem, turned its blue eyes onto Leo, and lunged. I’d forgotten about the other icecat. Leo screamed; I tried to get my focus up in time but the angle was wrong and I was thrown onto Leo with the icecat on top of me.
For a few seconds everything was chaos. The icecat was raking with its claws, trying to shred through me to get to Leo; Leo was screaming; I was swearing and striking with elbows and knees, the floor shaking as Caldera fought the golem. A future of my arm being burnt off flashed before my eyes; I twisted right and the golden beam of the laser seared a glowing line along the floor. Leo broke away, dashing for the door; the icecat bounded after him and I grabbed it, hanging on grimly. The icecat dragged me a couple more steps, then the futures flipped as it switched targets and turned on me, jaws opening wide to bite at my head.
I’d been ready for it. My dispel focus was in my free hand, and as the head came round I rammed the spike right through the construct’s eye. The focus discharged and the icecat spasmed, throwing me back. The spell animating the cat construct flickered and died. Icy claws raked the floor, then went still.
I looked up to see Leo fumbling with the front door. “Leo,” I shouted at him. “Stay here!”
Leo shot me a terrified glance, then pulled the door open and ran out into the street.
I swore and went after him. To my left, Caldera somehow got through the whirlwind of steel and landed a solid blow on the golem’s armour; plates cracked but a sword came around before she could pull back and I heard her grunt. I made it to the front door—
—and ducked back as a force blast nearly took my head off. Leo was out there but someone else was too, and the force mage was in the cover of a station wagon across the street. There was something going on, but as I looked back I saw that Caldera was struggling. The golem was pressing down on her, a golden swirl of death. I could go after Leo or help Caldera, but I couldn’t do both.
I hesitated a second . . . then turned back to Caldera, bending as I did to yank my focus out of the icecat. The mantis golem brought all its weapons to bear, striking at Caldera with three limbs at once. Caldera blocked a downward slash, ducked under the laser, and almost dodged the stab. It didn’t impale her, but blood sprayed and Caldera staggered and went down. The golem moved in to finish her off.
I charged with a shout. Futures shifted as the golem retargeted on me, and I felt a spike of terror as the golden eyes turned to look down at me. I feinted at the golem; for a second I had it on the defensive, then it moved into its attack routine.
All of a sudden the futures were a whirl of violent deaths, all of them mine. Move that way and I’d be impaled; move the other way and I’d have a severed arm; stand still and the laser would burn a hole through my chest. I ducked and dodged, staying half a step ahead of the gleaming blades. I caught flickers of futures in which I hit the golem, and none of them did anything. My dispel focus wasn’t recharged, and even if it had been, it wouldn’t even scratch a monster like this. I’d forgotten all thoughts of Leo, or the force mage who’d been shooting at me, or the ice mage who was still lurking around. My world had narrowed to the next two seconds, and nothing more.
The left sword came at my head and I half-parried with my forearm. Even using the angle to limit the blow, I felt the shock go up my arm, sending me lurching back. There’s this terrifying sense of power to golems, a kind of smooth, unstoppable force. So many of the machines we meet on a daily basis have checks, safeguards; it’s easy to forget how lethal they are until one’s turned against you. The laser fired and I ducked, letting the beam pass an inch or two over my shoulder, feeling the air heat and seeing the armour of the golem’s body backlit in the glow. Caldera was somewhere behind but I couldn’t take the half second to check. The golem still hadn’t used the device on its fourth arm: it looked like a torch with a gaping barrel. No time to study more closely. Swing, sword thrust, laser. Dodge and block and twist. There was a rhythm to the attacks, and I fell into it, matching the golem’s movements like a dance, and for a moment I was holding my own.
But only for a moment. I’m losing. Had to change tactics. Couldn’t break its armour. What to do?