Chapter 14: The Junkyard Fights Back

Chapter 13

The doorway shot me out like a potato from a potato gun. Which is not a good thing. I flew through the air and landed on the dust next to a broken down automaton. Steve flew through the air waving his arms. It apparently helped because he flew right over me, but instead landed on a pile of scrap metals with a loud clang and an “ouch.” Alex however, had no such tricks apparently, she landed on top of me. It hurt, alot.

“Oh my, are you ok?” she asked as she got off me. As she got off I took stock of all my damage.

“I appear to be,” I replied. Steve, meanwhile, banged and clanged his way out of the pile of metal. He walked over to us twisting his shoulder around and around as if it was hurt.

“I am ok too, if anyone wanted to know.” Steve grumbled after he got out of his scarp pile. Caligula stared at us in shock, then dashed around yet another pile of scrap. I took a quick look around for a way to cut him off. Scrap piles, check; broken automatons, check; billboard welcoming us to Gila Claw, Arizona, check. Wherever the heck that was. It looked like we ended up on the outside of the junkyard. Great.

“Follow him!” I said, and followed my own advice, scrambling up and running in the same direction Caligula had, Alex and Steve hot on my heels. We rounded the corner and he was nowhere to be seen. Three paths leading in different directions through the yard were available, but I could not tell which he had taken.

“That way,” Steve said, taking the lead. His tracking spell must still be active. We took the middle path and, strangely enough, found our target. He had finished dragging a fourth automaton from the pile. Three looked like bronze cats with a sword attached to their tails, and the one he was dragging appeared to be a bull.

“Impossible,” Alex muttered. “Clarise defeated the Colchis bulls back at camp. They cannot be here.” Caligula just laughed and finished getting the bull out. He reached out his hands, palms downward and chanted something I could not understand. Then the automatons groaned, bronze complaining as metal that had not been in motion for the Gods knew how long. Then they got up, turning red eyes on us. The bull even snorted flames.

“You have got to be kidding me!” I complained. Caligula, however, was not laughing. His hair, which had been a dark blond moments before, now was silver. His face was more lined, almost as if he had aged from the spell he used to activate the automatons. He turned, and fled further into junkyard.

I could not handle it any longer. This man stole something from a God, and has put us through hell every step of the way since I met him. I have chased him through caverns, and deserts, and now he runs? RUNS? My Anger rose up and took control.

“Umm...Mark, are you sure you are ok?” Alex was asking, but I was gone. The ground under me started to boil as if it was melting from magma and liquid metal started to flow up my legs. Someone new said something, but I didn’t hear it. What I did hear was Steve.

“Mark,” he yelled, “the Item in your pocket. Throw it to me.” My mind barely registered it, but I threw the rod from my pocket at him. Then the metal rushed over my body and the Anger took control. Alex and Steve started climbing up one of the junk hills, but as far as my mind was concerned, they were already out of the way. I charged.

The first cat-bot pounced at me, but I rushed under it and charged the bull. It lowered its head and snorted flames, then it charged forward to meet me. I slid to the side and slashed the bulls flank with my claw, creating a large tear that bellowed flames in tandem with the bulls roars of pain. It ground to a stop, and the second cat-bot used it as a spring board, trying to land on me. It landed on me, but before it could react I closed my jaws on its throat and shoved an arm into its chest. The automaton groaned to a stop, and I threw it at the third bot who was chasing after Steve and Alex.

Ignoring what happened over there I found the bull weaving drunkenly as it tried to line up its charge, but the first cat-bot was nowhere in sight. The bull started its charge, but was off and slammed into the pile of junk next to me, then stopped moving. The first cat-bot landed on my back, knocking me down on my face. I could feel the automatons jaws trying to bite at my neck, but the liquefied metal was protecting me, if just barely. I tried to lift myself up, but the damn thing was too heavy. Then I heard a loud THUNK, and the weight fell off of me.

I got up, and registered a balista bolt sticking out of the side of the automaton. I looked in the direction the bolt had come from and saw Alex and Steve standing next to a platform. My mind registered that Steve must have provided the power to launch it with his magic while Alex aimed it. Then I remembered Caligula.

Apparently in this form, my sense of smell is a little stronger, because I could track him. I fell to all fours and charged after the trail, Alex and Steve sliding down their junk heap and trying to follow me.

“Mark, are you OK?” Alex was asking.

“You heard my Mother Alex, this is his rage. His control over this form is limited. We should just follow him to Caligula. There either Caligula will be defeated, or Mark will undergo some sort of shock that lets him regain control. She was pretty sure he would not attack us, and you saw how he protected us by destroying that automaton with the other one.” Steve gasped as he tried to chase after us.

I turned another corner in this Junkyard of the Gods - at least according to the sign we just passed - and then I saw Caligula. He was standing just to the North of the center of a giant circle. In the direct center was Ares’s shield, face up, leaking some sort of red fluid into the air. Around the shield was another circle, and around Caligula was a third, both of which were surrounded by sophisticated runes forming arrows to each of the cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West) and between each was runes creating symbols representing things that made me sick.

I ignored the runes and focused on Caligula. He looked at me, and his eyes went wide. There were burn scars on his face I had not seen before, and his silver hair was regaining its blond coloring with splotches of silver in random places.

I charged. By the way, I hate magic circles.

As I reached the edge of the first circle blue lightning lashed out from the South arrow and slammed into me, sending me flying back. Alex and Steve, wisely, jumped out of the way to not be hit by me as I flew through the air, the metal falling off of me like a snake sheds its skin. I landed and rolled in the dirt, my mind reeling from the lightning bolt. As I got up, my mind was clear again, the Anger was no longer in control.

“Are you two ok?” I asked as I shakily got to my feet.

“Were fine, are you ok?” Alex responded as she reached my side.

“Peachy.” I replied sarcastically, then I turned to Steve. “Any idea what to do about this?”

“Why are you looking at me?” he asked. I pointed at the circle.

“Magic there, and your the magic man. Get explaining.” Steve studied the circle as best he could. Caligula started to throw lightning from the South arrow, requiring us to duck behind an ‘Olympus Air-Refigerator’ which took the blasts of lightning like a champ.

“It looks like your basic magical circles, its the runes inside that do the real magic, the circles protect the magic and the magician from harm. The outer circle is supposed to prevent my magic from interfering, the second and third circles protect the caster from physical damage. His focus is apperantly split because interference from the outside - namely us.” Steve started. Then his eyes went wide.

“I have an idea.” He pulled out the rod that I had given him earlier. “I just need a distraction.” He then pressed a hidden button on the top of the rod. Chapter 15