The Ring: Part IV

Conary pushed Devlin for the door. “Not now... RUN!!" He didn't wait for Devlin to reply. Instead, he darted out the door as the two statues came to life, then he turned to face the stone golems. He raised his arms... hoping he had enough power to do this right. “Run, Dev!" He needn't have worried, the rogue was already well clear. He made a gesture, and then made a throwing gesture. The far golem, the one closest to Devlin, suddenly dissolved into a pile of mud. But the one nearest to Conary was almost upon him. There was no time, and suddenly he felt like he was walking very slowly... Then he was hit from behind.

He had a fleeting glimpse of Devlin capering madly about... yelling at the golem. It turned to follow the older man, and Conary rolled away in the other direction. He had perhaps seconds to act... and very little energy for another spell. "Devlin! Head for the cliffs!" And then he changed...

Devlin looked back and almost fell. Where Conary had stood a few minutes ago was a huge white osprey, leaping up and diving at the head of the golem. For a few seconds, the golem seemed confused, but then it started out for Dev again. The osprey dove at it again, coming in over the water and using the air to counter the construct's slowing spell. Dev grinned, knowing now what Conary intended. He ran closer to the cliff edge. The golem followed, but now seemed confused. If Devlin stopped moving, it seemed to concentrate more on the bird. Finally, they reached a point where the ledge narrowed. Devlin had nowhere left to run, and felt the lethargy that the golem projected to those close enough.

For Conary, all this was a whirl of dives and loops... but now he too felt the golem's spell. He played one last gamble. This time he dove from the land side, striking it full in the chest. There was a low rumble and the ground beneath them broke free from the cliff. He pushed off against the golem's chest, and whirled backwards as it went over the cliff. The last thing he saw was the ground rushing up to hit him...

"Conary? CONARY! Wake up, o' scourge of the oceans!" A white blurry giant was screaming in his face... "G'day t’ya, yer worship!" A giant with a bad accent yet. But slowly his vision cleared and he looked up at Devlin. The man handed him a steaming cup of the worst stuff he'd ever tasted. "What happened?"

"You've been out for three days. The ship picked us up and the winds have been pushing us along at a very good clip indeed. We’ll be back in Camelot in a day or two. Ye had me scared out o' me wits for a bit there, changing back in mid air. But ye were lucky ye did it so slow that last time. You were bird until just before ye hit. And you are no wee lass. My back near broke hauling you to the dinghy!"

"Three days!" He groaned and sat up. "We've already been away so long!"

"Patience, lad. We're more than halfway home now. You'll see her soon enough." But as the day wore on, patience wore thin. Finally, while they stood on the deck at sunset, Conary turned to Devlin. "I can't wait any longer." He took out a scroll, read it again and nodded to himself. He looked at Devlin. "I'm going home. Care to join me?" With that, he read the words on the scroll...

And they went home... to Camelot...