Golem of the Crimson Heart

What an ugly choice... but I couldn't let them escape from this forest... These people would have done nothing but bad things. And now... I've done exactly the same. 

They were kids...no more than 20...yes the world's cruel and you have to grow up but they were on the wrong path....

My contemplation is interrupted by a feeling. My face is mending back like other cracks on my body. 

Looking at my severed hand, I notice changes. Slowly it begins to grow back. The same change takes place with my leg...but slower. It must be the blood from her wound fixing me..

Hm... what if...I look around and find my foot... I grab it and try to position it on the stump where my knee used to be. Ha! It sticks!But...it looks totally wrong..

Trying to wait a few minutes for a better result, I come to a conclusion...and a heavy feeling grips me.

I need more blood...

Staring at the girl I think...she can wait. And I turn my gaze to the boy's limp body..him..yes.

As I turn a little towards him I realize that most of his blood is smeared on the ground. I try to retrieve some of his blood through what I assume was an artery. Very little.

Looking at the blood- drenched earth, I plant my hand on the ground. A little.. I press harder.. Better but not enough. Hand and foot had not done fixing.

Sitting down I look over her unconscious body for a few moments. The wound in her leg didn't cause a great loss as I stuck my hand in it. The palm is coming out nicely but the leg is useless. 

A tough but apparently unavoidable decision. I move slowly and sluggishly toward the girl and lift one of her daggers. Quickly and without anything unnecessary. I mustn't hurt her anymore... this is not a fight to the death but an execution. 

With a gentle maneuver of the dagger and my weight behind it... it pierces the girl's temple easily..

A sure and quick death.

As I lay her head on my thigh one hand holds her by the wound on her leg and other one is holding her head toward the sky. Maybe she could take one last look at the sky. One last gesture for a misguided child.

 -------------------(Little time over)----------------

As I place the girl next to her brother's remains, a rising tingling hits me and makes me stumble back. My whole body feels like I'm being crushed under a fucking mountain!

As I try to regain my balance, I feel a new sensation... the ground beneath my feet. What's even more amazing are my own feet. From the sculpture of a would-be amateur, they slowly rebuild their shape and features after a master sculptor's work.

I turn my gaze to the rest of my body. My hands grow refined along with the rest of my so-called skin.

Hm. Must be my blood absorption.

But a new shock hits me real hard. What was before just a flat area becomes bulgy on either side of my chest followed by what I know are called an areola and a nipple. I just stare and...

Ooh boy...I'm a woman..One last look below the breasts confirms the rest..Yep...Nothing there. But still... great figure.

I was about the same height, around 6.1 feet, but everything had radically changed. My new skin was no longer dirty after who knows how long in the abandoned church. I was now a pale white with various marks and scars that continued the idea of the stone I was made of. But what caught my eye was an entire toned body. Looking as good as a soldier honed by years spent training and fighting. 

The train of thought continues as I see my hair...my hair as it cuts my vision...a strong black as a raven's feathers. And then I realize that besides all this... I have a face. As I grope I feel lips, chin and cheek. But I'm not perfect. 

Though my looks are completely human, I'm still a rock, smooth in most parts of my body except for a few wrinkles here and there. But as I run my fingers along my hand I feel the sensation of a creaking and squeaking as of two rocks rubbing.

Now my new eyes offer an outward glimpse of a new revelation. I can hear it! At last! That's what I'd have said if I was able to speak... but all that came out of my attempt was a muffled groan.

Well, at least I can see, hear and feel...But how bizarre is the peculiar case that I can't yet smell or having the need for air. 

Well, I think I could use some clothes. But it would be somewhat disturbing to strip the girl..AHA!. 

Next thing I know I turn to the siblings' luggage and search through it starting with the girl's.

This is great! I find a sleeveless black top and some hair pins to tie up my hair and a pair of baggy pants. And more tops ans shirts. Nothing but...aha! some coins and... a vial of some liquid...probably poison.

That reminds me of the poor girl in the church...probably something paralyzing.

I put the vial back in the bag and start digging through the boy's stuff.

Some meat for the road...probably from yesterday or the other day..cooking utensils and some spice packets..some water. A quill and paper. A map!! And some pennies..AH! A gold one..ooh..nice. But mostly useless to carry around.

Wait... don't let me forget the boy's book..maybe I can learn that spell and other interesting stuff. Maybe something about me and this..new.. body.

Bending over the book I realize that I need shoes..and a belt..iihh..they fit but as i move they are sliding off.

Annoying.. next thing I know I'm bumping into people and my pants fall down.. heh.. funny..

The whole movie in my head is ruined by the reality in my eyes. The girl's belt has holsters for knives. Perfect. And the book goes in my bag.

The spear is still strapped on the boy's back. Useful for...stuff... And I pick up the daggers from the ground and one last touch I take the boy's cloak and cover their bodies with it while I put the girl's cloak over my back.

One last moment to remember their existance ends and then I turn and leave their bodies behind. But I stop. A foul, stony taste plays in my mouth.. To leave kids like that in the woods..EEh..

I look around and spot a pine tree. Those light up fast. 

Not too thick, not too thin or tall. One blow snaps the trunk in half and I start pulling. It's irritating, but once I start, I might as well finish. Another tree like this one is snapped off and put side by side. Using the dagger I cut the branches and arrange them like a bed. If it wasn't a pile to burn the bodies it would look cosy enough to sit on it. But no can do.. next are the siblings..

Leaning down I put my hand under their back and lower back and I lift them up

together. 

As I lay them hugged on the stack of wood I feel something in one of their pants. Without pulling the coat off I pat and reach into a pocket and find what appears to be a red gemstone.

Sharp edges like a smashed glass. But I don't need it. 

I throw it on the coat and look for the boy's book.

The first page shows a red mark. Probably the insignia of the acolytes and their cult. Four lines passing through the side of a circle, one at the bottom and the rest at the top. Unimportant now. The next few pages talk about the blood and its value to the cult. 

AAGH.. more useless and even more stupid. After a couple of pages I find the spell.

  Ignition

 ~Novice level. Lower mana consumption. It relies mostly on the flammability of the material and mana used.~

 ~Leading the mana through your fingers and a sharp flick can ignite objects at a distance of a foot from your hand~.

Come to think of it...do I have my own mana? Well it's do or do not.

I stick my hand close to a twig under the two bodies. Pressing my thumb against my middle finger I try to focus my mana and finally snap my fingers. A small combustion happens in my hand but I fail to light the tree. Slightly frustrated I try again until the fir pins slightly smoke but no real flame and I turn back to the spell lecture.

~ Pointing the index finger at a target concentrates the ignition in a smaller area thus improving the results.~

Eeeeh...seemed so simple at first look. Pfff...should have put this one first.

As the instructions state, the flame follows my index finger as soon as I snap it and hits the bark in a spot no bigger than a quarter 

The flammable resin-rich wood quickly starts to catch fire but to be on the safe side I strike a spark in two other places.

The fire starts to rise and it becomes clear that it's not going to die down. Giving a glance that the fire will not spread among the rest of the trees I put the ianpoi book in my backpack and set off through the forest.

I'll check the map after I put some distance between me and the fire. Maybe I can find a route.

While I'm monologuing, I'm shocked and wide-eyed at what I see after the first tree past the clearing. A bear standing on two legs looking about a couple feet taller than me, with a brownish coat decorated with black markings starting from the top of his chest a little up his neck and over its long paws.

Holy fuuck...

For about 2 seconds I don't move and I look eye to eye with the bear which seems interested by what is going on. For those same two seconds the bear stares back at me while taking deep breaths as if he's waiting for something to happen.

No longer in the mood to fight this monster I take two steps back without taking my eyes off the bear. Come on and just let me go off my way. 

But bitch me, as soon as I thought that, the bear gets down on all fours and approaches me. Although I think I could scare it off or even hurt it a little, it doesn't seem aggressive.

Before I can try anything else he approaches my face and tries to sniff me. He continues along my shoulder and down to my knee and suddenly licks over my hand.

AAAh how cute!

I suddenly withdraw my hand and he freaks out jumping back about 5 feet.

Seeing the occasion, I quickly move through the woods and quickly try to put some distance between the fire and this strange bear. 

--------------(Just shortly before sunset)------------

For almost two hours I've been following the map I took from the siblings' possesion. But a little while ago I began to think I got lost.

I know I turned south after I left the church, but the girl and the boy must have chosen their own road. The trees don't help me find any settlement or even roads at all.

But I find something as good as a road. A small river. 

People use the water for grinding wheat. Perfect.

A realization hits and I slowly approach the river and lean over the water. Curious about my own face.

I look ...undead... a brief panic enters my thoughts. People will think I'm a monster! 

Although my hair and eyebrows are a beautiful black my whole face is pale with gray lips , showing no signs of life especially my white eyes devoid of any color.

I stumble and fall on the bank of the river looking at the deep amber sky with the sunset about to turn into night.

A beautiful monster..HA.

The smirk caused by the irony of fate ends and a blank stare takes its place. I'd better find something to do. Maybe I can start a fire and read from that book.

A few twigs of fir and a short log I found around were perfect.

Now the night has fallen over the forest. The crackling of firewood gently mingles with the sound of the river. Now I sit near a tree and lean against its trunk.

The books' section on golems specifies the blood golem, a subclass of the stone golem category.

~As a result of sacrifice and spells used correctly, a soul is summoned and bound to a non-living object. Thus the blood golem is born. Observation. The object must have bipedal characteristics. The golem evolves its physical traits and magical capabilities through ongoing intake of blood.~

The more I ingest, the more human I can turn.

~The core that forms upon completion of the ritual is the main source of energy that converts stored blood around the body in mana for two functions, locomotive activities and magical usage. Locomotive functions consume extremely little blood, plus the conversion rate between mana and blood is about eight to one. Using magic , the mana derived for spells is converted from a separate source of blood than the one used for motion. Warning. Golems can access the blood source set aside for motion to use magic after the mana-cast blood source is empty. The conversion rate of blood to mana for spells is three to one.~

But before I continue I hear a deep breath next to my ear. I roll a bit and I see the bear from earlier.

I get a little sick of this bullshit. This thing just won't leave me alone, will it?

But the bear does nothing and falls asleep on the spot. 

GAAAAH!!! With a twitch in my eye, I sit down and continue reading.

~Golems can enter a state of rest, similar to insects such as ants that don't sleep but through which they conserve and regain energy. In the case of golems, this does not recover lost blood. ~

Eeeh sleep?Come to think of it, maybe it's better to spend the night as the book suggests.

One last look at the sky full of stars and I place the book back in my bag. I rest my head and hands on my knees and close my eyes. I feel myself slipping into a somewhat drowsy but still somewhat awake state. Complete relaxation.