The Goddess of the Stars, Part 2

     The appearance of the mechanical beast was sudden and violent, ripping the door from its hinges and toppling the clockwork sentries in a single blow. Heat blasted us from beyond the door as the brute shouldered its way in, and the statue of the goddess in the center of the chamber was reduced to rubble in the span of a heartbeat. This new beast was a frightening mass of random machinery; tension coils rippled like muscles on its misshapen torso, cogs spun madly within is iron rib cage, and piston-powered steel arms swung in wide circles. It looked vaguely human in shape, although it lacked the human body's grace and symmetry. One arm was considerably longer than the other, and what could have passed for legs trailed uselessly in its wake as it pulled itself along with clawed hands. Its heart was a steam boiler and its iron head was the furnace. Red-hot coals dripped from its gaping maw.
     The sight alone of such a nightmare would have been enough to send us flying, but the destruction of the door released whatever lever that held the metal guardians in their alcoves, and now these jolted to life as well. Without weapons or firearms, resistance against such fearsome foes was useless, and so out into the labyrinth we fled. Only the Royal Guardsmen remained, seeming to prefer death to the dishonour of retreat, and somewhere above the din I heard Hunnicut shouting at the men to make for our weapons in the antechamber. The Guardians poured out of the chamber then, and for a long while chaos reigned as we scattered like ants before the onslaught. I put up the best fight I could, but took a blow to the head during the running battle, and when I awoke I found myself alone in the dark. Off in the distance I could hear the clank of the Guardians' feet and the shouting of men, but the sound that broke over my ears most often was that of the monster automaton as it careened down random passageways. The entire labyrinth shook as it railed against  the ancient walls, and more than once I heard distant ceilings collapsing over the screams of men and the rattle of broken machines.

     The sounds grew distant as I waited in the impenetrable darkness, and eventually even the tremors from the steam-creature's rage subsided. I was utterly alone. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the small tin cannister that Tal Gromin had given me back in the maze's antechamber. Unscrewing the lid, I removed the two cloth chemical pouches inside. As instructed, I mixed these together and added some water from my canteen. I was rewarded with a soft green glow that gave me enough light to just make out the walls and floor of the small room in which I'd been hiding. It was devoid of any decoration or carving, and the domed ceiling arched up and away in the darkness.
     Steeling my nerve for what I expected to be a futile attempt to return to the antechamber, I began to ease my way back down the passageway. I walked for what seemed like an eternity, marking the walls at every intersection with a bit of the glowing paste from the tin to avoid becoming completely disoriented. The floors became increasingly covered with rubble as I crept, and I knew I was coming nearer to where the battle had started. So quiet was the darkness around me, however, that I began to wonder if the rest of the labyrinth had caved in completely, leaving me trapped in what would surely become my tomb. It was at that moment that I heard a faint "clank" down the corridor behind me. I scarce could breathe as I listened, and soon discerned the growing sound of metallic footsteps running towards me. I was being hunted!
     Mind racing, I cast about the rubble in the floor for something to use as a weapon, at last picking up a large brick and hefting it in my hand. It would have to do. I remembered an intersection just behind me where the tunnel opposite the one I was in had collapsed, and I determined to make my stand there. Placing my tin of phosphorous on the floor behind a pile of rubble, I returned to that intersection and hid myself as best I could in the collapsed passageway. I smiled with grim satisfaction at the soft green glow ahead; it looked for all the world as though someone was hiding behind the debris.
     The clanking footsteps had grown quite loud by this time, and I heard them slow as they neared me. I shrank back into the shadows as the ancient automaton walked past my hiding place, its attention focused on my diversion. If the machines were held in their alcoves by a lever in their back, I reasoned silently, then perhaps they have an off switch!
     With all my waning strength I leaped onto the automaton's back. I could feel a number of knobs and access panels. Locking my legs about its torso, I raised the brick over my head with both hands and brought it down repeatedly. The Guardian lunged backward as I did this, nearly crushing the breath out of me as it slammed its back into the wall. Again I brought the brick down, and I heard something crack. The spear in its gauntleted fist clattered to the floor, and my attack ended as abruptly as it had started when the Guardian grabbed my ankle and yanked me unceremoniously off its back. It threw me down the hall towards the sputtering phosphorous, and I heard another crack from within the Guardian's iron chest cavity as it took a step towards me. My attack had been mortal. Two more halting steps the creature took, and with a final shudder it came to a halt. The phosphorous died as I rolled over onto my back, and my last sight before complete darkness took hold was of the now-silent sentinel that stood above me, metal fist poised for a blow that would never fall.


To Be Continued....