Chapter Eighty-Six - Broccoli On Ice

Chapter Eighty-Six - Broccoli On Ice

Chapter Eighty-Six - Broccoli On Ice

We slipped and slid all the way over to the door leading into the fourth floor, then, with just a bit of finagling to keep my balance, I opened the large door and helped Amaryllis and Awen slip into the room.

Lights hanging from metallic gantries above illuminated a huge doughnut of a room. In its centre was a small stone platform with a large wheel on it, chains went from it to the ceiling, then all the way to the far end of the room where the exit was waiting in plain view.

Other than that, the room was nearly featureless.

That was, if you didnt count the ten or so machines skating around the room.

Insight, I said as one of them shot past. It looked like a metallic grasshopper. Six limbs that all ended with skates, the two back legs kicking out every so often to push the body along. There were big globular eyes atop it, and a hinged mouth with serrated teeth covered their lower face. The spines along the legs didnt look like they were decorative either.

A Brass Ice Slipper Golem, level 7.

Amaryllis head twitched a few times. All level seven, she said. And obviously not aggressive yet.

Do you think theyll let us just cross? I wondered.

Awen shook her head. We need to turn that wheel in the middle. Awa, at least, I think.

So, we had a nice big circular room, the floor obviously very slick with a layer of ice over what was probably more glass. And ten machines that looked like they meant business. We had to get to the middle, then over to the door at the far end.

Do you guys know how to skate? I asked the girls.

No, Amaryllis said.

Awa, I dont either, Awen added.

I hummed and added that to my tally of things to keep in mind. Okay, I have a plan.

Do tell.

I nodded. Awen, you can ride me. Ill skate over to the middle. Amaryllis, youre able to sort of fly. So Ill kick you up into the air and you glide over to the rock.

My harpy friend stared at me for a good long while. Counterproposal. We leave this room and I throw you off the bridge.

Rude, I said.

Idiotic, she shot back.

Awa, guys, Awen said. We, um, need to work together, right, Broccoli?

I dropped my glaring contest with Amaryllis to grin over to Awen. Youre right. Do you think the bots over there will slide out of their lane? We could fight them one at a time until the room is cleared.

Risky, Amarilis said. There are a lot more of them than there are of us.

Darn it. I watched as one of the nearly-robotic golems flew pasts with a scrape of steel on ice and a wash of cool air that sent tingles across my exposed skin. We cant just stand around and be this indecisive, I said. We need to try something.

Well go after the one on the farthest edge of the circle, Amaryllis said. I can maybe take it out with one well-aimed shot.

Thatll have to do, I said.

We gathered on the very edge of the little platform by the entrance. Amaryllis flicked her wrist so that her sneaky little dagger fell into her talons and she pointed it towards the golem that would pass the closest to us. It was still a ways away, taking nearly a minute or so to circle all the way around.

Electrical crackles and little sparks started to snap off of Amaryllis blade and her feathery hair rose on end a little. I felt the hairs along my arms rising as she started to mutter something under her breath. Close your eyes, she said.

Then I noticed that it hadnt reloaded yet and I let out a very inappropriate giggle.

The girls seemed okay, as far as I could tell. The other bots had mostly fired their bolts into the air to try and hit me, but I suppose I had been a small enough target--and a moving one at that--that they had all missed.

Sorry big guy, I told the golem as I crouched precariously atop it and aimed my spade towards the nock between its head and neck. I brought my spade down and smashed its tip against the fine rods and pistons and spinning shafts within, then when that only bent the outermost one I hit them again.

One of the golems eyes started twitching, so I knew Id hit something important. But I didnt have the strength to just end it in a blow.

I huffed and tried to think of a solution as we whizzed around the circular arena, my hair whipping out behind me like a lame banner. Magic? It was worth the try.

Standing a little taller, I aimed an open palm down towards the golem and fired a burst of cleaning magic into it. I saw the mana race across the golems surface and beneath the panels covering it. The oil on the gears I could see spinning away was wiped out, but that didnt seem like a way to destroy the machine any time in the next few minutes. Most of my mana was wasted cleaning off the surface of the ice we passed.

Dang, I said. That had been a waste.

Then I saw one of the golems skate past the freshly cleaned ice. It had to scramble a little as it began to spin out, one side slipping by much faster than the other. It rightened itself just fine, but that gave me an idea.

I jabbed my spade into the crossbow's mechanism. Something in there broke, and that was good enough for the moment.

Hooking a leg around the crossbows protrusion, I let my upper body dangle down behind the golem, face only a handspan away from the ice.

Reaching down, I tapped the ice with the tips of my fingers and shot out busts of cleaning mana to the left and right. It left streaks of sparkly-bright ice behind.

It only took a moment before one of the golems flew past the now extra-slippery ice and veered wildly off-course.

Oh yeah, I said with a growing grin as I repeated what Id just done.

A moment later my efforts were rewarded when two of the golems rammed into each other. Brass limbs tangled, skates were pulled off the ice and the machines flew off and into one of the walls of the arena with a crunch.

Congratulations! You have caused two (2) Brass Ice Slipper Golem, level 7 to skate off the mortal coil!

W-well done! Awen shouted from the sidelines. I have the rope!

Great! Tie it somewhere then give me the other end! I said.

The idea was to kludge together a tripwire to bring down the remaining golems. I eyed them, hoping to see them skate into a wall, but they were spacing themselves out a little more and were doing a better job of keeping steady as they skated along.

There was a loud clack from the six golems that were left, and that I wasnt riding on. Their crossbows were primed again. Oh no, I said as I saw a few of them turning towards the girls.

Amaryllis was still on her bum, looking mightily angry about not being able to stand, and Awen was tying an end of my rope to the large wheeled handle of the door. They were both prone and out of cover.

Pulling myself back, I straddled the golem I was riding on and started firing out balls of cleaning magic as hard and fast as I could.

Having magic smack them in the face did exactly what I wanted and soon they were all aiming at me.

Uh. Oops.

I got to put my new dancing skill to the test and I ducked and weaved atop the already shifty surface of the golem I was riding. Somehow, all six bolts fired my way missed or bounced off the armour of the golem I stood on.

Broccoli!

Awens call had me looking to the side just in time to reach up and catch the rope she tossed out of the air.

It was time to put an end to the chase!

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