The two corpses that had remained inactive were now twisting strangely. Their movements were unnatural, jerky, like dolls in a macabre puppet show. A low, guttural groan was coming from them, growing in intensity.
"Necromancy!" Commander Lucian spoke, his voice steeped in horror.
"But there haven't been Necromancers since ages, since the last purge!" Lord Elmsworth reminded him in a grim tone, though his eyes were fixed on the horrifying spectacle.
"Then how do you explain this…" Lady Seraphina spoke in a trembling voice, pointing as the corpses began to bloat.
Veins blackened and bulged under their skin. Bones audibly cracked and shifted, reshaping. Soon, both bodies swelled, growing larger and more monstrous, looking like gamma ray-infused monsters from Lorian's past life. Their tattered black clothes ripped apart, revealing grotesque masses of unnaturally big, lumped muscle and sinew.
"Flesh Golems!" Lord Elmsworth murmured, disbelief and dread mixing in his voice.
"All soldiers! Stay alert, and follow my instructions! Don't get carried away!" Lucian's command broke the silence, snapping the elite Thorne guards back to attention.
The soldiers reaffirmed their grip on their spears and swords, raising them at the Flesh Golems. Kaelen and Jax, their exhaustion instantly forgotten, took up their fighting stances, their faces grim but ready for this new, monstrous threat.
The silence lasted only a moment, broken by a horrendous, wet splattering sound as the two bloated figures- the Flesh Golems- finished their transformation. They stood nearly eight feet tall, a haphazard collection of stitched sinew and inflamed muscle, smelling of formaldehyde and death.
Commander Lucian didn't hesitate, "Focus on the joints! They are magically bound flesh, not metal- find the joints! Attack!"
The disciplined Thorne guards roared and advanced with their spears, aiming for the knees and elbows of the first Golem.
*CRACK*
The Golem moved with sickening speed that belied its size. It swung its massive, club-like hand- still loosely recognizable as a human fist- wide. It missed a man but struck the stone wall beside them. The impact sounded like a sledgehammer hitting rock, and chunks of plaster and stone exploded outwards, sending shrapnel flying. The guards scattered, momentarily stunned by the sheer, unleashed force.
Neither Lucian, nor Jax, nor Kaelen flinched. They gritted their teeth and braced for the monstrosities.
Kaelen, his face a mask of dried and fresh blood, let out a berserker cry that bordered on inhuman. He charged the nearest Golem head-on, slamming into its chest like a battering ram, seeking to topple the monster rather than cut it. The Golem barely staggered, but Kaelen bought his allies precious time.
Jax, having completely embraced his primal nature, turned into a beast built for speed and tearing. He danced around the first Golem's massive legs, his claws raking uselessly against the thick, magically hardened flesh. Realizing this was ineffective, he quickly leaped onto the Golem's back and clawed at the base of its neck- the point where the original body's head had been fused. He searched desperately for the weakest point in the necromantic bindings.
Lorian looked at Zara. She was still carrying Elara, but was trembling in anticipation. Recognizing her killer instinct, Lorian commanded her to hand Elara over and join the fight. Though hesitant at first, she obliged on his second command. She gently placed Elara's unconscious body into his arms and joined the fray.
Lord Elmsworth looked at his son and nodded in approval. Lady Seraphina felt relief, assured her son would not enter the fight himself.
Zara, flourishing her sharp claws, moved like a ghost around the periphery of the battleground. She spotted a guard stumbling, nearly falling into the sweep of a Golem's arm. She surged forward, dragged the man back by his collar, and plunged her claws into the Golem's Achilles tendon. The Golem didn't bleed, but it stumbled.
"Lord Warchief!" Zara shouted in her excited, feline voice, grabbing Lucian's attention, "They are not just physical! They are bound! We need to hit the core mass!"
The moment of distraction was all Kaelen and Jax needed. Kaelen drove his sword deep into the second Golem's midsection and twisted the blade with inhuman strength, splitting the torso open and exposing its core- a dark, pulsating mass. Simultaneously, Jax found success on the first Golem's neck, ripping away a large chunk of binding tissue.
With a final, shattering blow, Kaelen pulled out his blade as the second Golem collapsed into a decaying pile of gore and ruined clothing.
Now there was only one Golem left, the largest one that Jax had injured. It seemed to recognize its companion had been eliminated, and its necromantic focus shifted. It grabbed Jax and threw him against the wall, knocking him senseless. Surprisingly, it then ignored the smaller threats- Kaelen and the guards- and fixed its dead eyes on the terrified figures huddled by the door.
It charged.
The target was Lord Elmsworth.
Lord Elmsworth stood frozen, pale and wide-eyed, the vial of Celestial Nectar- the only thing that could save the woman who had sacrificed herself for his dear son- still clutched uselessly in his hand. The Golem was unstoppable, its speed terrifying. It raised its immense, crushing arm, intending to smash the Lord into a gooey pulp.
The sudden, random shift in attack froze everyone in their place.
A fraction of a second before the blow landed, Jax launched himself off the wall. He twisted in mid-air and, powered by a desperate, primal loyalty, sank his canines deep into the creature's exposed, torn neck tissue- the vulnerable joint he had discovered.
Jax kept viciously chomping the dead, hardened flesh, displaying the ruthless, tearing power of a true predator. He locked his jaw, ripping the vital, magically sealed cords that had animated the construct.
The Golem's attack stalled mid-swing. Its huge body shuddered, its unnatural groaning suddenly silenced. The immense, crushing weight of the Golem buckled. It pitched forward, narrowly missing Lord Elmsworth before collapsing with a sound like a thousand wet sacks hitting the ground, and disintegrated into a gooey pulp of rotten gore.
A pin-drop silence followed.
Jax let go, stepping back from the mound of dead flesh. He was covered in black, sickly fluid, but he was alive. He looked up at Lord Elmsworth, his eyes, still burning with primal rage, slowly calming down.
Lord Elmsworth was breathing heavily. His stare shifted from the steaming carcass to Jax, his savior. He raised his hand to steady himself.
"You... you saved my life," he whispered, the highest-grade health potion forgotten in his grasp.
"Master….." Jax replied, but could not finish his sentence as he collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth.