Trail's Tale

Trail and the two battle golems stood in the hallway outside while their king dallied with his favorite courtesan. After an hour had passed in silence, the golems started acting strangely.

The battle golems were relics of the old Kingdom of Q'thelas, carried into exile to Q'Inag during the Great Wars. Less than two dozen of them had lasted over the centuries, bound in service to the Wizard-Kings. They were sophisticated constructs, a blending of magic and artifice. They were used to standing guard for days or weeks, but they had memory and logic routines that let them make simple decisions based on past experiences. As time pressed on, the golems started shifting stances, extending and retracting their coppery claws, trading places and even patrolling the whole hallway.

Trail, on the other hand, had leaned against the wall and from then on remained perfectly still, providing no response to their odd behavior.

Finally, one of the golems spoke, a rare occurrence, its voice sounding like a man speaking from within a hollow drum, "This is taking too long."

"It's fine, sirs," Trail reassured. "The king can take as long he wants. Everything's fine."

The golem hummed, perhaps checking against some internal memory, "He has never taken this long."

The other golem turned its head to focus its watch-orb at Trail.

Trail said, "We dare not interrupt the king while he's enjoying himself." She pointed at the golem that spoke. "Unless you want to do it."

The golems suddenly stopped fidgeting. "We were ordered to stand guard."

"You check," the other golem stated flatly, indicating Trail.

The naga courtsied slightly and replied, "Good sirs, I am but a humble, under-aged escort. It would be highly inappropriate for me to approach the king while he is thus engaged."

The three stood silently for a short time longer. Then the first golem said, "Get an officer."

The other golem turned to look at Trail again.

Trail spoke up, "There should be an officer at the watch tower, am I correct?"

"Yes, miss," the first golem replied.

"I can fetch him for you, sirs," said Trail coolly, "so you needn't abandon your posts."

The golems settled into positions on either side of the door and returned to stillness.

Trail calmly walked past the battle golems, down the stairs and into the Docks District, never to return.