Chapter 342: The Golem Maker Who Carried a Prison
Chapter 342: The Golem Maker Who Carried a Prison
Elyn’s POV
And that, surprisingly enough, was how I spent the rest of my day.
Well... most of it.
Brixton proudly led us through the quiet streets of the Golemhold Territory, pointing out places he liked while Thalira loudly insisted she had intended to show us those exact places first.
No one believed her.
Especially not Brixton.
Eventually, after several turns down wide stone roads and across a bridge carved entirely from shimmering gray crystal, Brixton suddenly stopped.
His ears perked up.
"We’re here," he announced.
I followed his gaze.
"...Where?" I asked him.
"My golem maker," he said. "I’ll show you."
He hurried ahead, and the rest of us followed after him.
At first, I saw nothing.
Then something moved.
The ground trembled beneath our feet.
A deep, slow, heavy sound echoed through the valley.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
My eyes slowly drifted upward.
Then higher.
Then even higher.
"...What..."
I kept looking upward.
"...is..."
Higher.
"...that?"
Standing before us was the largest demon I had ever seen.
No.
Calling him merely large felt insulting.
He was colossal.
He towered above the surrounding mountains like they were little more than pebbles scattered across the earth.
His back was permanently hunched beneath an enormous structure.
A... building?
No.
A castle.
An entire stone fortress rested upon his back.
And no...
I wasn’t exaggerating.
I blinked several times.
The castle wasn’t small either.
It had towers, walls, and windows.
Tiny bridges connected different sections.
There were vines climbing along the outer walls.
Shrubs.
Flowers.
Even several small trees.
Birds circled lazily overhead before landing upon the rooftops as though this enormous demon were simply another mountain.
"What..."
I whispered.
"...the..."
I stared a little longer.
"...fuck?"
My vocabulary had officially abandoned me.
The demon himself looked ancient.
His skin resembled weathered granite, cracked by countless centuries.
His arms were enormous pillars of stone ending in hands that looked less like fingers and more like carved cliffs.
He leaned upon a gigantic stone staff thicker than most houses.
His eyebrows...
I honestly didn’t know what to make of them.
Long, twisting branches extended from where eyebrows should have been, trailing almost all the way to the ground like ancient roots.
His face possessed no eyes.
No nose.
Nothing.
Only a single enormous mouth carved into the center of his face.
And yet...
I somehow knew he was looking directly at us.
"...Oh my," Velira whispered.
Vaelory froze.
Her eyes became impossibly wide.
"...By all things hum..."
She took one look at the enormous demon... then let out a tiny squeak before jumping backward.
Rin blinked.
"...Are you about to faint again just from seeing a demon?"
"I am not!"
Vaelory straightened immediately, smoothing her dress with as much dignity as she could muster.
"I merely..."
She glanced toward the giant again.
"...was startled."
Rin folded her arms.
"You squeaked."
"I did not."
"You absolutely squeaked."
"It was a very dignified sound."
"It sounded like a frightened mouse."
"I am not frightened."
"You jumped."
"I stepped back."
The two continued glaring at one another while I quietly decided not to involve myself.
Instead... I slowly turned toward Zorathys.
"...What exactly am I looking at?"
He followed my gaze toward the gigantic demon.
"An Elder Bastion Demon."
I frowned.
"...An Elder Bastion Demon?"
"Yes," he said. "They are among the oldest species in the Demon Realm."
His voice remained as calm as always.
"And now..." He looked toward the giant. "...they are almost extinct."
"...Almost?"
"He is the last of his kind. The others have gone into eternal rest."
"By eternal rest you mean..."
He gave me a look.
"Death, Firefly. The Elder Bastion Demons allied themselves with rebels some centuries ago."
"Okay?" I asked him.
I did not understand why he was telling me about a war when, honestly, it seemed there had been quite a lot of them in the Demon Realm, especially when we had been talking about the demon being extinct.
"They lost, and so they were punished. The surviving Elder Bastion Demons would forever serve the realm by using their backs to hold up prisons until they went into eternal rest."
My eyes widened.
"That building... that’s a prison?"
"Yes, Firefly, and it contains prisoners too," he said.
No way.
"Some have been there for centuries, others for a shorter time," Rin supplied.
I stared at the Elder Bastion Demon.
The enormous figure hadn’t moved beyond his slow breathing.
Birds continued nesting upon the greenery covering the prison.
Flowers swayed gently in the breeze.
It looked... peaceful.
Far too peaceful.
Then Zorathys spoke again.
"If you listen carefully..." His ruby eyes met mine. "...you’ll hear the prisoners."
I instinctively held my breath.
The breeze whispered across the valley.
Leaves rustled softly.
Birds chirped overhead.
For several long moments, there was nothing at all.
But then I heard a faint sound.
A scream.
Another.
Then another.
So distant it almost sounded like the wind.
Yet unmistakably, it was one rooted in agony.
My chest tightened.
The screams continued.
Some pleaded.
Some cried.
Others simply howled.
I slowly lowered my gaze.
"...They’re still alive."
"Yes."
I didn’t know what to say.
I wasn’t sure there was anything to say.
Zayrion adjusted his glasses, and his ears twitched thoughtfully.
"...This is my first time seeing one."
I looked at him.
"You knew about them?"
He nodded.
"I’ve read about Elder Bastion Demons."
His tails swayed behind him.
"But books and reality are very different."
He continued staring upward.
"I never imagined one would actually still exist."
Then he turned toward Brixton.
"You should have told me."
Brixton blinked.
"I wasn’t allowed."
"...Not allowed?"
"My father said very few demons are permitted to know where he lives."
Zayrion nodded slowly.
"...That makes sense."
"It does?"
"He carries one of the realm’s oldest prisons."
"...Oh."
Brixton looked upward.
"...I suppose he does."
Azerion, however, had been staring at the giant with a deep frown ever since we arrived.
Finally, he raised one hand.
"I have a question."
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed directly at the enormous Elder Bastion Demon.
"...How is someone like that a golem maker?"