Metalmang

CLANG-CLA-CLA-CLANG.

CLANG-CLA-CLA-CLANG.

Kairos' hands and legs thundered over the stone floor of the tunnel, the steady rhythm repeating over and over. It was almost meditative, not unlike the sound of the belefpelesh waterfall that helped Kairos' cognitive matrix run at optimal efficiency. 

But creeping up underneath the stakkato, there was another sound. One steadily growing louder, menacingly crescendoing behind Kairos, forcing it to overclock its core and reroute even more power to the servos. The flapping and jittering of butterflies. 

Even considering the emergency measures, Kairos calculated, the cloud would catch up to it within fifteen seconds. The probability of reaching the cave behind the grapevines was exceedingly [ERROR: LOGIC MATRIX MALFUNCTION] 

Time for a change of plans. Squeezing the last bit of capacity out of its leg servos, Kairos catapulted itself forward. Mid leap, it spun around, letting its hammers shoot forth. Along the chains it sent a powerful impulse of the force bestowed unto it by the Moon Tiger, and the chainbound hammers cleaved two wide gashes into the buzzing swarm that was the Vermilion Duchess, squishing and disintegrating the insects in their path. 

The swarm collectively hissed and flinched as one, allowing Kairos to gain a foothold and retract its hammers. Stalling for time was the logical course of [ERROR: TACTICS MATRIX MALFUNCTION]

"By order of Lazuli the first, I challenge you to a duel on behalf of all Eidolowda. Your crimes against my people will not go unpunished."

A ripple went through the swarm, not once, but multiple times. Then a head formed, far above Kairos, out of human proportion, with two glowing butterflies mimicking eyes. It looked down on the golem, eyebrows raised, mouth distorted in an emotion Kairos was only able to interpret as amusement after several seconds. "You? A mere.. automaton? What makes you think that a few dozen pounds of steel can stand against one such as me?"

"I am no mere automaton. I am Kairos, krownmang to Lazuli the first and Zoye the second before him. I am child to Shattermaster and Copperflayer. My people have chosen me to protect their only hope at survival. I will prevail."

"Your people?" The Duchess retorted with a snicker. "Just because you've been living among this bunch of infighting refugees for a while, that does not make you one of them. You were created alone and you will die alone. I will rip your heart out in this remote little tunnel, miles from anyone who could possibly help you, and nobody will be the wiser. You're a relic. A fragment from a bygone era, a failed experiment of sorcerers long dead, and you will not be missed. So please, do your lady the courtesy to die quickly, yes? I would like to go collect my specialist."

That was not true, Kairos' memory matrix reminded it. Qen would remember it. Silent Qen, Deadly Qen, Qen with the hidden smile. It would not be forgotten. And it would not lose.

With a deafening warcry, Kairos barged forward, whirling both hammers around its wrists, infusing them with as much magic as it could channel at once, extinguishing swaths of butterflies with each step forward. For a moment, Kairos' optical sensors provided promising feedback. The cloud thinned considerably, the hammers spinning through less and less vermin as Kairos stampeded on and on, leaving a giant hole in the swarm. 

But when the golem turned, readying for another charge, they were everywhere. Hundreds of butterflies shot down, covering Kairos, paralyzing it, holding it in place. All over its body, Kairos was losing feedback to its haptic sensors and [ERROR: LOGIC MATRIX MALFUNCTION]

Hold.

[TACTICS MATRIX RESTARTED]

Not like this.

Kairos bellowed again, a wave of pure moonlight bursting from its torso, blasting the Duchess from its body, forcing the swarm back with a wall of divine force.

Kairos, Krownmang, lashed out. Each one of its hammers crashed against one of the tunnel walls, letting splinters of stone fly every direction and burrowing inside the rock, anchoring Kairos' full weight right where it stood. The wave Kairos had unleashed stopped expanding, but it didn't come down: It had now become a barrier between the Duchess and itself. Kairos' bull rush had left it between the archfey and the rest of the group. Which meant that there was only one remaining task.

Hold.

The spell it had reflexively cast wouldn't last forever. This had become a battle of stamina. The thousand year old golem versus the eternal archfey, locked in a perpetual tug-of-war.

"That was very unpleasant, I will give you that. But we both know you will not last against me." 

The butterflies already started gnawing at the barrier, biting microscopic pieces out of it and working tirelessly to widen them. Kairos didn't have the finesse to reinforce them one by one, so it simply channeled more of its power into the barrier as a whole, counteracting the Duchess' siege with brute force.

Hold, my loyal one. 

Soya, my Queen.

Damage assessment told Kairos that in the brief moment the swarm had had to eat away at its armor plates, it had done considerable damage. No vital systems were damaged so far, but.. Kairos awaited the Logic Matrix error, but it did not come. The golem was completely focused on its all consuming task.

Disabling most of its servos and other non-essential systems like its chain winches increased Kairos' raw force output, but it already felt its reserves drain at a worrisome pace. It could not tell how long this tug of war had lasted already; Its inner clock had long been disabled to enhance output.

Hold. Help is on the way.

The barrier had thinned by now. There only were a few inches of it left, separating the struggling Krownmang from the once again formed humanoid form of the Vermilion Duchess that stood in the midst of her swarm, laughing hysterically, madly, while the rest of her fed on the rest of Kairos' divine might. The reserves were up.

It simply was not relevant. Bypassing the emergency seals on its power core, Kairos now began channeling its very self into the barrier. If it could not hold, nothing else mattered. 

"You are the right time, the opportune moment, the used chance. You, my child, are Kairos. Go seize a meaning." Was what father had said, nineteen seconds after the genesis.

"Have you ever wondered what the meaning of it all actually is, ke?" Was what Zoye had asked, twelve days before the last night.

"Kerazhang are we still here, Kairos? Milowda should be long dead." Qen had said, three days ago.

[ERROR: MEMORY MATRIX MALFUNCTION]

As Kairos now recognized, this was it. It had found a meaning. 

[ERROR: LOGIC MATRIX MALFUNCTION]

It would shine bright in these last few moments, giving all it had to buy just a little bit more time, and in this last radiant act earn justification for its existence.

Wait for me, my Queen. Only a moment longer.

And then, with a sizzle, the stream of magic flowing out of Kairos' core faded out. The barrier that had previously been kept up by sheer force of will and desperation crumbled and collapsed, and the Vermilion Duchess surged forward, opening her mouth impossibly wide. 

The unleashed swarm rushed past Kairos, but the manifestation of the Duchess herself crashed into the titanium golem, eyes flashing, jaws biting whole chunks out of its chest, ripping and tearing out vital systems in a shower of dancing sparks. 

All of this, Kairos only noticed at the very edges of its consciousness. Power to its haptics had been reduced to the bare minimum. But it still felt it when a hundred tiny teeth closed around its core and started wrenching. 

The last thing Kairos saw was an archfey in a vermilion dress, illuminated by a violently blinding corona of yellow light behind her. But beyond her victorious laughter, there was also.. shouting? The Duchess, already dissolving again, was holding a translucent orb. With a detached fascination, Kairos realized that

[ERROR: POWER CORE MALFUNCTION. ENTERING DEEP STANDBY.]