Amulet of Bolli Part 2

72 comics.
by on August 19, 2023 at 12:00 am
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No stealth and no zapping meant more running—they booked it down the hall as Tora searched for options. FPS was right, they weren’t losing these bloody things. Why wasn’t the electricity enough? Damn, he wished he’d studied up on asuran tech.

“What about yer other powers? Fire and all that?” Tora tried.

“Regrettably, I’ve yet to master them!” FPS admitted.

Great.

That meant searching their surroundings for options. There was nothing but closed doors on both sides of the hall. Frankly, it was a pretty boring hall. No decor of any kind—no paintings on the wall, no vases or statues on the floor, and certainly nothing flashy on the cei—

The ceiling had a sprinkler system.

Tora screeched to a halt just as they passed it, turned on his heel, grabbed his pistol and—

Got barrelled over by FPS who’d been running right behind him. The two hit the ground hard as his pistol went flying.

FPS paused over top of him, suddenly flirtatious. “Well, this is sudden,” he cooed.

“Dogs,” Tora reminded him.

“Oh right, I forgot.”

How did he forget?!

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by on August 19, 2023 at 12:02 am
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Tora scrambled out from under him before FPS could even properly move aside. He needed his gun, wherever it flew off to. As he searched, he could hear the dog golems approaching—slower, jankier, but no less aggressive.

“BARK. bark. BaRk.”

The pistol was nowhere nearby—how far had it skid off?

“Hey uh, feelin’ electric yet?” Tora called behind him as he searched.

“BArk. baRK. Ba—”

“Oh very.” The tone was suggestive.

“BARk. BA—”

“I meant yer zappin’ powers, dipshit!”

“—ark. BArk.”

“Oh right, uh, I’m afraid it’s only a little charged?”

BWEEEOOOOOP!

A laser sliced the air inches from Tora’s nose. He jumped back with a yelp.

“Fffffuck me! How ‘little’ is ‘little’?!”

“Well, it could use a boost—” BWEEEOOOP. “Oh dear.”

Tora didn’t look to see as more lasers shot off. The pistol, bafflingly was nowhere in sight. “Where the fuck—?”

“Bork!”

The thief stopped. The bark sound was different than the rest: squeakier for a start, and closer, like real close. He looked to his feet and found a tiny golem dog sitting before him wagging its tail. Well, sort’ve—wagging was a bit generous a term—it was more like spinning, like a blade on one of those flying charr contraptions.

More important though, was what it carried in its stone mouth: his pistol.

For a moment, Tora hesitated, but the dog golem didn’t seem hostile: its blue crystal eyes lacking the angry red glow of its bigger siblings.

More lasers sounded off, burning jagged lines into the hallway.

“Miss Bandi? Maybe we should keep running?”

The dogs were on them: slow, janky, and with shitty aim, but upon them nonetheless.

“I’m getting you that boost!”

“Pardon?”

The little dog didn’t seem to bite? Oh fuck it. He reached down, took the pistol, scrambled back into position and—

BWEEOOOP.

—A laser knocked the pistol out of his hand. He yelped, flew backward, slammed

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by on August 19, 2023 at 12:04 am
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into FPS (who was apparently behind him?), and the two of them hit the ground as the pistol went flying.

It hit the sprinkler.

An alarm sounded as the dogs got doused by a sudden shower.

It wasn’t exactly how he wanted that to go, but sure.

“Oh a boost! I see!” FPS said excitedly, getting to his feet.

It happened in minutes: FPS reached out his glowing white staff, a flash and a crack of thunder erupted, and the wet pack of dog golems became a glitching pile of sparks and stone. They twitched as their circuits fried, steam rising between their joints. Then finally, they fell still.

Relieved, Tora picked himself off the floor, and dusted himself off. FPS stood before him, proudly admiring his destructive work.

The strange little dog from earlier was gone—had it got caught in the blast? It hardly mattered. What did matter was he was out one pistol again—he could see it at the edge of the electrified pile, sparking with the rest.

The alarm stopped, and the sprinkler with it.

Tora sighed, fished out some gloves and slipped them on as he made his way to the pile. They were a special sort Dwag had made for him to help him steal the more dangerous materials she’d asked of him. He wasn’t sure what made them work—enchantments, maybe? Whatever it was, it was enough to handle an electrified pistol.

Except, before he could reach it, it disappeared—just blinked out of existence right in front of him.

“What the—”

“Bork!”

He turned to find that tiny dog from before behind him, blue eyes shining and tail spinning just as before. It offered him his pistol. But how did it—?

“Odd pup doesn’t seem to mind electricity,” FPS observed.

That wasn’t the only odd thing. It also seemed to either have some kind of stealth mechanism or it could straight up teleport. Off-putting to say the least.

The thief cautiously took back his pistol. “Thanks…?”

It just stared at him expectantly.

“Uh…”

“I think she wants you to throw it,” FPS offered.

“My pistol? Why?” But as he moved the pistol around, he saw the dog golem watching its every movement. Its tail seemed to spin faster with anticipation.

“To play fetch, I presume.”

 

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by on September 2, 2023 at 12:00 am
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“Yeah, no, I’m not playing fetch with a gun.” Tora stowed it away and started to walk off, but the dog golem followed.

He stopped. The dog stopped. “Right, okay.” Tora pinched his brow in thought.

There was no way they could do this damn job with a weird stone pup following them around. He went back to the dog pile. “Playing fetch. Fine. Sure.”

There had to be something else he could throw. He gave the pile of electrified dog scraps a quick look before yanking some sort of broken limb out of it. It was still wet and popping with electricity.

“How’s this, champ? Good enough?” He waggled it in front of the pup golem.

It responded with a few playful bounces, which was as good a validation as any.

He threw it down the hall and the dog blinked out of existence. The thief and elementalist exchanged a concerned look, then dashed off, hoping to be gone before it somehow blinked back.

*

They were lost. The dog chase had left them stranded in a maze of featureless hallways with no real sense of where they were. The thief and the elementalist paced down the stone tiles, peering through doorways, looking for hints on where to go next.

“There’s no staff here, isn’t that odd?” FPS remarked once.

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by on September 2, 2023 at 12:02 am
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He was right. No staff. Or at least none that were living.

What staff there was, were golems. They’d had to dodge one trundling down the halls with a fire extinguisher. It hurried off the way Tora and FPS had come, presumably to fight a fire that didn’t exist. A few similarly equipped golems followed it shortly after, sending the two plants scurrying into an unused lab room.

They saw a few golems after that, usually tucked away in lab rooms tinkering on one thing or another. No living workers though. An oddity for sure.

“Should we search the rooms, do you think?” FPS asked at one point, but Tora shook his head.

“We’ll be here all day if we do that.” Tora frowned as he peered through another door window into an empty lab. “Besides, people don’t just throw their valuables in random—”

“Well I’ll be, is that an enchanted axe?”

“What?!”

Tora practically flew to FPS’s side. The tree was looking through the door to some sort of large pantry: it was filled with shelves of frozen delicacies. At its very centre was a peculiar icy axe held in suspension over some altar.

It was an enchanted axe of ice, the kind you saw in legends.

And it was being used to keep someone’s food stuffs chilly.

“You’re kidding me.” Tora frowned.

“I guess Rakak really does throw his valuables in random places,” FPS observed.

“Yeah okay, one at least, sure, but no—no that doesn’t change anything!”

“It doesn’t?”

“We know he was after Bolli’s amulet for her legacy or whatever, alright?! He’s not gonna throw somethin’ like that into a damn closet!”

“Are you sure…?”

“Do you want t’search every bloody room here?!”

Neither of them did, but this did not stop them from finding several magic artefacts in other odd places.

Down the hall there was a magic torch shaped like a dragon being used for garbage disposal.

A few hallways after, there was a golem sweeping the halls with a massive enchanted hammer turned into a makeshift broom. The golem’s footsteps dripped with the hammer’s magic, dropping spots of quicksilver over the tiles.

A few rooms down that same hall, they found a warhorn with an animated wolf head being used as a vase for roses.

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by on September 2, 2023 at 12:04 am
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A few more rooms past that, there was a beautiful longbow made of vines and flowers that was unceremoniously dumped into a flower pot.

And then even farther from that, in a different hallway, they found a powerful shield with the Flameseeker Prophecies embedded into it being used as a coffee table in an empty break room.

The prophecies had a coffee stain.

“IS THIS FUCKER JUST THAT LOADED?!” Tora finally snapped. ”Fuck the amulet, let’s just rob em blind!”

A dramatic gasp. “Miss Bandi!”

“Oh don’t give me that, he’s usin’ a legendary shield fer a coffee table! This is fuckin’ stupid!” He gestured at it to emphasize his point. “Ol’boy’s so loaded with magic garbage, he doesn’t even care how it’s used. Is he really gonna miss one or two o’ these?”

“But Miss Bandi, to turn to crime?”

“We’re already robbin’ him!”

“We’re only getting back what’s rightfully yours. What would your long dead sister think?”

“Bolli was a pirate.”

“Oh yeah…”

“So if ya really think on it, I’m just honouring her in my own w—”

A roar of thunder interrupted them from the next room over.

“That didn’t sound good,” FPS said.

Another roar sounded, this time crackling with excess electricity.

The two left the legendary coffee table (Tora with some reluctance) and cautiously edged their way to the door of the neighbouring room. Peering through the door’s window revealed a golem silently working away in a kitchen. It was wearing a frilly apron and was busily preparing a sandwich: delicately assembling bread, lettuce, tomatoes, ham, and cheese into a perfect handheld delight.

Another rumble of thunder sounded, clearly coming from within the kitchen, but the golem didn’t seem to notice or care. It reached for a strange broken knife handle on the counter.

The knife handle shot out a magic blade of flame, and the golem proceeded to use it to toast its masterpiece.

“Oh yer fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Tora hissed. It was another damn powerful magic object.

“That’s not what’s making the noise, is it?” FPS frowned.

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by on September 16, 2023 at 12:00 am
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It didn’t seem to be. There appeared to be some sort of hidden thunderstorm localized within that kitchen somewhere, but the knife and the golem had nothing to do with it.

More thunder rumbled as the golem placed its king-of-sandwiches onto a silver plate and wobbled to the door. Tora hastily slapped another invisibility spell on themselves as the golem passed, and then slipped inside.

“That’s quite a handy trick you have, Miss Bandi,” FPS commented as he followed Tora inside.

“Sure.” Tora sauntered over to the counter where the magic fire dagger was. “Oh my!” FPS exclaimed. “The floor!”
“The wha—?”
When Tora looked, he saw sky where a floor should be: a wide gaping hole from

wall to wall. The only thing keeping them from falling right through was a thin bright blue membrane made of light. The magic barrier flickered and jolted electric sparks. It jerked in time with the thunderous rumbling still sounding nearby.

“Miss Bandi, if I may, we may want to skip this room.”
Tora considered this. It was sound advice but…
“In a minute,” he reached for the magic knife on the counter. “Miss Bandi! The thievery again?! Is now the time?!”

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by on September 16, 2023 at 12:02 am
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“Yeah, actually, yeah it is! At this point I’m half thinkin’ this Rakak character’s gonna be using Bolli’s amulet as a fuckin’ coaster, and we’re never gonna find the bloody thing. And I dunno ‘bout you, but I’m not leavin’ this damn lab without somethin’ fer my troubles,” he snatched the knife.

“Miss Bandi, I must protest—”

He could keep protesting, Tora was done. The exasperated thief turned to make for the door—and froze mid-turn. FPS babbled off something about “an honest life of a dog walker” but Tora wasn’t listening—he’d found the source of the thundering.

There, to the right of the counter, hidden between a shelf and a pantry, was a shockingly beautiful sword made of metals Tora didn’t recognize. “Shockingly” was the key word—from tip to hilt to the sculptures of dragons dancing across its length, the entire sword coursed with electricity. Its sparking form was mounted to a small space on the wall, tied up with a variety of wires that fed suspiciously into the floor.

And sitting atop a shelf just above the sword, was a tiny dog golem doing its very best to tug that majestic sword off the wall. It thundered at every tug.

“Shit—” was the only word Tora managed before the dog succeeded in its quest. The sword came off from the wall, the wires popped off it, and the floor went out from under him.

What followed next went too fast for Tora to fully register: one second he was in the kitchen and the next he was in the sky beneath it. The air turned violent as he dropped through it, roaring in his ears and tearing at his skin. He only saw a glimpse of the kitchen falling away from him before he was forced to close his eyes. What little he saw was that of the tiny golem dog holding the sword on the shelf, and FPS hanging his head over the edge, yelling after him.

Maybe he was saying “I told you so.”

Sap pounded in his ears alongside the howling wind, working together to drown out all thought. Despite their efforts, one made its way through:

Ah, what a stupid way to die.

The wind howled louder to the point of deafening.

Then suddenly it slowed into gentler gales. His motion followed suit, slowing till it felt like he was floating. He risked one eye to peek, and confirmed he was, indeed, floating. Unseen winds swirled around him and pulled him back upwards. The kitchen drifted closer. A fierce wizened adventurer stood near its edge with his staff outstretched—FPS.

It had been a damn good idea to bring him after all, though Tora would never admit it out loud.

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by on September 16, 2023 at 12:04 am
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FPS drifted Tora back through the kitchen, then placed him gently out in the hallway just outside the kitchen door. Tora slumped against the doorframe the minute FPS’s magics ceased. He could feel himself shaking, see it in the quiver of his hands. His near death registered through his nervous system before it reached his brain.

I dropped the knife. It was probably plummeting to the ground now. It didn’t matter anymore.

FPS was saying something, the fierce look in his eyes replaced with concern. Tora couldn’t hear him, could barely recognize he was speaking.

“—Bandi! Miss Bandi?” FPS tried.
“Huh?” The thief blinked, trying to get out of his head and back in his body. “Are you alright?! You’re shaking.”
The tree man reached for Tora, but the thief knocked his hand away.
“I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Fine. I’m fine. I’m… fine.” He said it too many times,

refused to look FPS in the eye as he stood back up. “No to the kitchen, right? Hoo what a scare.” Was that casual enough? Did he sound like he was fine? He wasn’t sure.

“Miss Bandi.” The tree still sounded worried.

“Thanks for that, mate,” Tora tried more forcibly. He finally looked at FPS, gave him a smile. “Let’s uh, try somewhere else, ya?”

Before FPS could agree, they were interrupted by a tiny electronic bark. The two looked back at the kitchen to find the little golem dog from earlier standing out in the middle of the missing kitchen floor. The lightning sword laid beside it, pulsing and generating a single electric floor tile beneath it.

The thief and elementalist stared at it in disbelief. The little golem barked again, then picked up the sword with its teeth and dragged it over the gaping hole towards them. Electric tiles pulsed into life wherever the sword was dragged, and dropped out of existence wherever it left. They watched in wide-eyed silence as the pup happily trotted its prize over, crossed the threshold, and plopped the sword before them.

No one moved.
The dog golem barked and nudged the sword towards Tora.
FPS leaned in, whispered helpfully, “I think she wants you to take it.”
“What? Why?! I—” Tora started, but then suddenly remembered a particular limb of

stone and sparks from earlier—a limb he’d thrown off down a hallway. He eyed the sparking metal sword before him. “Oh. Oh wow, uh. This is… not at all what I threw, little guy.”

‘Little guy’ did not understand. It waited patiently.
“I think she wants you to throw it again,” FPS whispered.

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by on September 30, 2023 at 12:00 am
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“Yeah, I kinda don’t wanna throw it actually,” Tora whispered back harshly. “This thing almost killed me playin’ fetch. Also that’s a damn fancy sword. I’m good.”

The golem made a sad beep noise.
“You’re not thinking of keeping the sword are you?” A gasp. “Miss Bandi!” “Maybe?! I dunno!”
“Your greed almost killed you!”
“Uh no?! The dog almost killed me!”
“Well if you must insist on thievery, are we taking her with us then?”
Tora growled under his breath. His mind’s eye played back a series of other

accidents this thing could cause if it came with them. “Can we just punt it over the edge?”

“Miss Bandi!” FPS gasped, snatching the golem off the ground and holding it in a tight protective embrace. “You dishonour your profession as a dog walker!”

“I’m not—I just don’t want this thing tailin’ us.” “So then we’re playing fetch?”
“No!”
“Keeping her then?”

“I can keep the weird dog but not the sword?!”
“I think it’s more you keep both or neither. An all or nothing situation.”

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