Warsinger by James Baldwin (most important books of all time txt) 📕

the other side of the cistern, a chorus of hyena-like giggles pealed out from the darkness beyond the doorway.

“Wraiths!” Karalti cried.

Great. The damn things had probably been following us the entire time – watching and waiting for me, the undead-killing badass, to be too weak to defend against them.

I darted in, and triggered Umbra Blast a second time. This time, part of the construct's chest crackled with ice. Nothing fell off, but as the mud froze, big cracks appeared in its armor. And then I realized. Its armor.

Hope drove back the pain. I whooped, flipping up into the air over the Guardian's next swing, and hit Shattering Darkness. The Spear turned solid black, creaking as the blade and haft collected moisture from the air into a frigid coating of ice. I came down and slammed the blade into the golem’s protective shell, and as I twisted, the frost shot out from the point of impact across its shoulder and down its arm. The thick, protective shield of mud squeaked and crackled as it froze solid, then exploded into chunks as the construct twisted to dislodge me.

[Shattering Darkness deals 0 damage!]

“Eat it, asshole!” I shouted, dodging the next swing. The Shattering Darkness icon was grayed out while the 10-second cooldown timer ticked on. I was almost out of stamina when the icon flared black and ice blue. This time, I struck the construct right on top of its head. Zig-zag cracks shot down through its mass. As the huge machine reached up to try and pull me off, the cracks split and half a ton of rubble exploded to the floor, revealing an impassive metal head with a slit visor, like a Templar Knight's helmet.

Each time the mud fell away from one zone of its body, it got lighter - and faster. I fell back to the door, drooling blood and heaving for breath. Karalti had planted her feet just out of range of the golem’s arms, maintaining her Circle of Protection with gritted teeth. A translucent violet barrier filled the door, Words of Power hissing on the air around her. The shadows on the other side leered at us, giggling. I glanced a HP ring and a nametag: [Lesser Wraith]. They were remnants of the Demon’s army, one of the few kinds of undead that had not vanished when he’d fled for Napath.

“I can't hold this for much longer!” Karalti snarled. “I can use the spell again, but there's a cooldown!”

“Here!” I pulled the pistol and shoved it at her. When the shadows saw it, they hissed and pulled away, if only briefly. “Take this and use it to keep them back while I kill this thing!”

“Okay!” She cocked the hammer back and braced it in a tea-cup grip.

I spammed HP potions and a Stamina potion, spat to the side, and rushed back in – then was clipped by a punch that sent me sprawling. Even as I readied the next strike, the Tomb Guardian raised both fists and began to slam them down like a tantruming toddler, smashing the paving stones and threatening to knock me off my feet. I Jumped, sailed up, and then came down with Shattering Darkness. This time, the entire armor shell on the front of the golem's body broke apart and sloughed away, revealing a broad golden chest, long articulated arms that looked like huge flanged maces, and - most importantly - a core. The golem's core was a floating, rotted purple heart throbbing violently in a space inside its chest.

“Herrrrrrreeee's Johnny!” I backflipped to the floor and rushed in, Spear raised to strike.

The huge machine went still, tensed, and before I could get within its guard, each one of its arms split into three spindly, spider-like limbs. The long 'flanges' were not the edges of a club: they were blades that were folded into the arms like straight razors. The golem flicked four of them open, using the two lowest limbs to cover its chest - and the core.

“What the-!?” I ducked into a roll and Shadow Danced out of pure desperation as two of the blades whipped through the air. They sliced through the smoke, hitting me for 100 HP - 20% of what it would have done if I hadn't been immaterial. The Tomb Guardian swiped continuously, forcing me to roll, roll, and then flatten myself down. The pistol went off from the doorway, and the Golem spun around from its waist, lifting its hands to strike Karalti. In its mud-covered form, its arms hadn't been able to reach the entry to the arena - but now it had an extra five feet of reach.

“Watch out! Get that barrier up!” I roared, and without thinking, I flung my hand out and willed a loop of dark energy out like a lasso. The Black Lotus noose snapped around the Guardian's upper right arm and pulled it back, giving me a moment to cast one of my untapped abilities, Dancing Fly. It boosted my Evasion by 5% every time I successfully avoided an attack, draining my AP at one point per second: a small price to pay for not being mashed against the ground. I was just about to let go of the golem’s limb when I noticed something. Its joints were not clockwork. They floated in their sockets, bound by thin, erratic streams of sputtering mana. Weakness spotted.

“Get over here!” I yanked the noose back as hard as I could. The huge bladed limb clanged to the ground, and the Tomb Guardian torqued wildly, unbalanced by the sudden loss of weight on one side, and swiped out so fast I nearly got a haircut. It was all I could do to bend back, like a limbo dancer, and then drop to the ground and lizard crawl away from the next blows. The swipes pinned me on my back, and as the golem lifted an arm to cut me in half, I spat a mouthful of blood I and lashed out with Black