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ELINA TRUDGED AFTER Finn through the alder forest. They had been on the road for almost a week now, and she longed for a hot bath. They had made good progress the first couple of days travelling through the wilderness around Avros, but traffic had increased when they hit the main road to Pythia, which had frequently forced Henge to hide in the forest. After the first few times, Finn had led them down a narrow trail into the mountains around Pythia instead of going around, like the main road did.
Henge walked at her side, carrying most of their supplies on his back. "I can't wait to see Pythia again," he said.
"Why?" Elina asked.
"That temple complex is one of our finest works. If we have some time left over, I would be happy to show you around."
"I would love that." Elina looked up at Henge. He seemed so honest, so different from all the stories she'd heard growing up. "I wonder how the Inquisition came to have such a negative view on your people."
"What do they say about us?"
"One day, the Ochloroc rose up out of the Earth. They attacked mankind, enslaving cities and burning the land. Neither side could gain the upper hand in the war. But then the Manhir went over to the Ochloroc and triggered Ragnarok. That shifted the balance of power and helped the Ochloroc drive us back. Mankind made a desperate last stand at Gilgin. When all seemed lost, the Gods of Light sacrificed themselves in a great ritual which cast the dark gods and the Ochloroc from this world."
"That's impossible," Henge said, shaking his craggy head. "The Manhir would never side with the Ochloroc. We hate each other."
"I don't trust the Inquisition or their teachings," Elina replied. "But very few records remain from before Ragnarok. Human civilization lay in ruins at the end of the war. I don't think anyone knows for sure what happened."
"What do you believe happened?" Henge asked.
"It doesn't matter what happened a thousand years ago. All I know is that you're a decent guy and that the Inquisition is a plague on the lands. They and their teachings need to be exterminated. It's what we fight for."
They walked on in silence. Elina looked at Finn ahead of her. He looked a lot better in the outfit they'd found for him, almost respectable. He wore the leather armor and dark green travel cloak with a practiced ease and seemed at home in the wilderness. If she could win him over, he would be as much an asset to the Rebellion as Henge would be. She quickened her pace until she walked next to him. "What do you think of the Inquisition?" she asked.
"Their pay's good," Finn answered.
Elina stumbled. "You work for them?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure anymore, given the circumstances. But I did. I'm a ranger."
The road took a turn and ran down a gentle slope. The shadows deepened around them as they moved down the valley. Boulders lined the road, and the trees closed in.
"How can you work for them?" Elina asked. "Don't you care about how they treat the people who disagree with them? Or how they're so quick to brand anyone a heretic?"
Finn shrugged again. "A man's got to eat. And with my fiancée in Gilgin, it makes sense to me."
A stream ran across the road. Elina skipped from stone to stone to avoid getting her feet wet. "Don't you care about anyone else—?"
"Quiet," Finn cut in.
"I have a right to my opinion," she replied curtly.
Finn stopped and looked around. "It's not that." His hand went to the axe on his belt. "Something's wrong," he said in a low voice.
"How so?"
"I don't know," Finn said. "But I feel watched."
Elina looked from side to side. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. "You're being ridiculous," she said, and continued on.
She'd walked maybe twenty paces when a crash behind her disturbed the quiet of the forest. She spun round. What looked like a stack of boulders stuck together with clay sat on top of Henge. The thing was twice as wide as him, and was pummeling him with shield-sized fists. Elina froze in place.
Finn charged across the small stream at the creature. He bellowed a war cry and swung his axe at its shoulder; chips of stone flew away as he withdrew a few steps. The creature turned its head and looked at Finn, then got up and took a step towards him.
Elina gripped her staff in both hands and hurried towards the fight.
The creature took a swing at Finn, who ducked below it. His next strike bounced off the creature's leg. All that seemed to do was to enrage the creature further. Elina reached the creature and struck at its knee; it was like hitting a stone wall. The impact sent vibrations up her arms. The creature turned and spotted her; she leaped out of the way of its first punch, but the second blow clipped her shoulder and sent her hurtling backward. Pain shot through her, and for a moment she couldn't tell up from down as her head hit the ground.
When the stars cleared, the creature stood over her, preparing to crush her beneath one huge foot. Flakes flew from its side, and it turned away from her as Finn's blow distracted it. Elina pushed herself upright. Finn was backing away as the creature approached, drawing it away from her.
Henge ran past. She'd completely forgotten about the Manhir. He jumped on the creature's back, knocking it to the ground. Henge lifted his arm and punched their attacker repeatedly between its shoulders. She heard a crunch on the fourth or fifth punch, and the boulder-pile went completely still.
Elina walked up to the creature and looked it up and down. "What is that?"
"Something that shouldn't exist," Henge growled.
Finn tapped his axe on the creature's head. "How so?"
"It's an artificial creature made by the Ochloroc, a golem," Henge said. "If the Ochloroc are gone, then the golems should be as well."
"How do you make a golem?" Elina asked.
"I'm not sure," Henge replied. "It has something to do with a crystal they embed in the creature's back." He pointed at the hole he'd pounded in the golem, in which a shattered crystal lay. "It was said that they trapped the soul of a sacrificial victim in it, and used that to animate the golem."
"Well," Finn said, "now it's dead. Maybe it got stuck somewhere, like you did."
"Maybe," Henge said. "They're tough creatures."
Finn nodded. "Let's keep moving. I don't want to wait around to see if more of them show up."
They retrieved their gear and continued towards Pythia. The land sloped steadily upwards, and pine and spruce replaced the alder trees in the forest around them. In the early afternoon of the following day, they crested a barren mountain pass. The land on the other side fell away steeply, and the path clung to the mountainside in a series of switchbacks.
In the center of the valley below them, Pythia sat on the mound of an ancient volcano. The afternoon sun glinted off the white marble walls of the temple complex, creating a sharp contrast with the black basalt of the mound. A marble arch stood at the bottom of the volcano. From there, a staircase ran to the top of the mound. A thin wisp of smoke curled up out of the volcano's crater.
"Now, there's a pickle," Finn said after a moment.
Elina nodded. An army was camped in front of the gate. Its colors announced it as an Inquisitional army. "They must have guessed we'd take Henge here for answers," she said.