Maya Tempora's Journal: Entry 2
by Carl van Ostrand

I am not used to being wounded. The gash in my shoulder throbs as I write, but thankfully I was granted a med-kit by my short-sighted bitch of a father. If he had granted me my Flexi Armor, this never would have happened. Nevertheless, the drugs help numb the pain.

The Cliffs of Ashrock are so unforgiving. This morning I asked Helios to scout for the Stone Golems I heard last night. He soon found their tracks, fairly new, so we decided to follow them. In the past, I have learned some larger golem herds will use the pass between the Cliffs of Ashrock, knowing they can fend off most threats with ease, save a few. With the golems in the lead, they would offer effective protection.

Thankfully, stone golems are not known for their speed, and we soon caught up to them. When we got close enough, the rear-most golem (and one of the best warriors, most likely) noticed our presence. I took one knee to indicate peace, to which the golem overlaid his massive forearms, to accept. After all, what threat were we?

I noticed some of the golems had sharpened one arm to a bladed point. This was something I had never seen before. It made me wonder if maybe the danger within the cliffs was now forged of flesh rather than the usual metal-clad cybernetic mutates - this is what happens to most escaped prisoners and fellow outcasts, who choose to be hastily outfitted with stolen parts, and join the band of freaks. They are dangerous and not to be taken lightly. As we neared the cliffs, my assumption seemed confirmed by the bodies, or should I say shells, of several metallic cybernetic mutates.

We made it about half way through the pass, when I noticed the golems took a new formation and released a low bellow. This meant battle I feared. I could not see what lie ahead of the golems, but it was not long before I realized what had laid waste to the mutates - and I should have guessed it by the quick decay of the scarce flesh within their metal shells.

Giant spider-like creatures, known as Dracknids, streamed down the cliff-faces like water. The smallest ones were at least 8 feet across, and they had long segmented necks sprouting from the middles of their abdomens. Mantis-like heads with eyes on all sides came complete with highly toxic fangs. The toxin is so strong it can decompose a human body in less than an hour. I had only heard of these beasts until this morning. I noticed the sun this afternoon was more red than usual.

I drew my sword and dropped my pack to the ground. My light-leather armor would do nothing to protect me, and my legs and arms were fully exposed. One bite, and I was dead. I called Helios to my sword, which he quickly wrapped around, enchanting it with flame. The golems were taking the brunt of the ambush, but two Dracknids approached down the cliff-face beside me. One foolishly leapt off the cliff, directly above me, hoping to pin me, but I side-stepped. The beast was stunned from the impact with the dense sand, and I drove my blade through its neck with ease, aided by the extreme heat imbued by Helios. The second Dracknid had managed to scurry behind me though. As it reared towards me, I spun around with an upward slice, shredding the tips off three of its legs. The creature's momentum, however, toppled the massive body on top of me. I lay pinned under the wounded Dracknid, with my sword an arms length away on the ground, and it's blood spilling on to my chest. Managing to get my legs firmly under its abdomen, I pressed with all my might. While this forced the creature off me, it also regained its balance and stood on the remaining five legs. I backpedaled several paces and it came at me again, neck coiled back in striking position. In desperation, I told Helios to jump from my sword in to the creature's eyes, which caused it to shriek in pain. This only angered it and it still came towards me. As it reared up to strike, and I tried to dodge, the massive stone spike of a Golem plummeted through the creature's abdomen, pinning it to the dessert floor. As the Dracknid fell to the ground, one leg flung out towards me, and the massive black claw on the end sliced through my shoulder.

I thanked the stone golem (the same rear-guard) for his aid as best I could - I believe "thank you" is best said with a slightly angled single nod, but I am uncertain. Possibly laughing at me, he released a tone that sounded much like amusement at my efforts to communicate. Nevertheless, if not for him, things could have turned out much worse. The golems being immune to the poison, only suffered minor losses, and we made our way through the scattered Dracknid corpses and out of the Cliffs of Ashrock. As the shadows grow darker we shall camp with the golems, on the northern face of the cliffs.