Chapter 88: Golem Tears
Just imagining Shade running with those ridiculously small legs, she figured he’d probably get caught right up, swatted away like an annoying fly, or worse. It was a suicide mission for someone in his current state.
"Just do it! Trust me!" Shade insisted, his voice sharp with an uncharacteristic urgency, cutting through her doubts. His small hand, still clutched in hers, squeezed with a surprising amount of pressure.
Hearing the conviction in his voice, and seeing the desperate sincerity in his fevered eyes, Eirin made a split-second decision. Against all logical reasoning, she ran towards the sparkling pool, her boots splashing loudly in the shallow water near the edge.
The monster, Girak, its attention fixated on Shade and its desperate cries for "Nævi," flinched at the sudden movement, its massive head turning slowly. "No!" the monster screamed, its voice a thunderous roar, as he lumbered, chasing after the teenage girl, prioritizing the precious flower.
Shade, with a surprising burst of his own, immediately threw a ball of brilliant, condensed fire right at Girak. It wasn’t the powerful, devastating inferno he could usually conjure, but a bright concentrated orb. It dispersed as soon as it landed on the monster’s rocky figure, leaving only a faint scorch mark and a sizzling sound, but it was enough to momentarily draw the creature’s attention.
Girak turned around slowly, its blurry, orange eyes attempting to focus on the small figure. "Nævi, is that you?" it cried, its voice laced with a mixture of confusion and childlike hope. His eyes, though still glowing, seemed blurred by tears or some internal distress.
It began to chase after Shade, its short, stubby arms outstretched in front of it, leaving Eirin an unexpected, crucial opening to go and pick up the flower without any further hindrance.
Eirin looked around frantically, trying to find something that could help her reach the middle of the pond, where the weeping bindweed pulsed with ethereal light. There was no rock she could step on, no fallen branch long enough, no shallow path that would lead her dry-shod to the flower.
Knowing how Shade continued running desperately away from the lumbering monster, his small form dodging and weaving, Eirin knew she had to be quick. Time was of the essence, and Shade wouldn’t be able to hold off the monstrous Girak for long in his weakened state.
The teenage girl took a deep breath, steeling herself against the cold. Then, without further hesitation, she jumped into the sparkling pond.
The water, surprisingly wasn’t so deep, reaching only till her chest, though its magical coldness seeped into her bones. Her breathing grew heavier, shallow gasps escaping her lips, and unconsciously, instinctively, she released a surge of her own mana into the water around her, trying to generate warmth or perhaps just a burst of speed.