"Still worth investigating," Asher decided, following the ancient road with renewed enthusiasm. "After all, we need resources if we're going to establish ourselves in the Republic."
The road curved around the mountain, gradually descending along a gentler slope than Asher had traversed in days. As they rounded a particularly sharp bend, an unexpected sight came into view—a broad terrace carved into the mountainside, upon which stood the unmistakable remains of a structure.
Time had not been kind to the building. Walls that must once have soared proudly now crumbled into rubble in many places. Columns lay toppled across what had been a grand entrance plaza. Nature had reclaimed much of the site, with persistent mountain vegetation pushing through cracks in the stone floor and climbing like skeletal fingers up the remaining walls.
But what immediately captured Asher's attention were the two figures flanking what remained of the main entrance—gargoyles, perched on stone pedestals that had weathered better than the building they guarded.
Each stood approximately twice Asher's height, carved from a dark gray stone shot through with veins of bluish crystal. Their forms were vaguely humanoid but with wild features—powerful limbs ending in talons, broad wings folded against their backs, and snarling faces frozen in eternal vigilance. Like the building they protected, they showed signs of age—cracks ran through their stone skin, and in places, chunks had fallen away entirely, revealing the crystal matrix within.
"Those don't look like ordinary statues," Asher muttered, instinctively dropping into a crouch behind a fallen column.
They are guardian constructs, Ruvia confirmed, her light dimming as if to avoid detection. Created through ancient Weaving to protect important sites. Even in their deteriorated state, they may still be active.
Asher studied the gargoyles more carefully. Despite their damaged condition, he could make out intricate runic patterns carved into their stone flesh—far more complex than the simple elemental runes he had mastered. Some of the patterns seemed to pulse faintly with a blue-white light similar to the electricity he had seen crackling along the tempest wolves' spines.
"Lightning Weaving?" he whispered.
Among other things, Ruvia replied. The Old Empire often combined elements in their constructs. These appear to utilize both lightning and air essence.
Asher weighed his options. The ruins clearly represented both opportunity and danger. Whatever relics might remain inside could prove valuable, but first, he would need to deal with the guardians. In their deteriorated state, they might be vulnerable, but underestimating ancient Weaving would be foolish.
"I think I can take them," he said finally, his hand moving to the pouch containing his prepared runic leaves. "They're damaged, possibly weakened by time. And I'm stronger than I was two weeks ago."
Are you certain this is wise? Ruvia's tone carried concern. These constructs were designed to defeat even skilled Weavers.
"Then consider it a measure of my progress," Asher replied with a grim smile. "Besides, we need whatever advantages we can find if we're going to survive in the Republic."
He spent several minutes planning his approach, studying the gargoyles for any sign of movement. They remained perfectly still, their crystal-veined forms catching the midday sunlight in flashes of blue radiance.
His strategy formulated, Asher extracted several runic leaves from his pouch—two with fire runes, three with wind, one with water, and two with earth. He arranged them for easy access, then took a deep breath to center himself.
"Here goes nothing," he murmured and stepped out from behind the column.
The moment Asher's foot touched the open plaza, both gargoyles' eyes flared to life with electric blue light. Stone groaned against stone as their massive heads turned in perfect unison to fix him with their glowing gaze.
"INTRUSION DETECTED," rumbled a voice that seemed to emanate not from either gargoyle but from the very stone of the ruins itself. "UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE. INITIATING PURGE PROTOCOL."
"Well, they're definitely still active," Asher muttered, immediately activating one of his wind runes.
The leaf glowed blue-white in his hand as he hurled it toward the gargoyle on the left. The rune discharged in mid-air, creating a focused blade of wind that struck the construct across its chest. Stone chips flew as the invisible edge carved a shallow groove in the gargoyle's torso—damaging, but far from disabling.
Both guardians responded immediately. With a sound like thunder contained in stone, they unfurled their massive wings and launched themselves from their pedestals. Despite their bulk, they moved with surprising speed, propelled by both physical strength and what Asher recognized as wind Weaving emanating from runes embedded in their wings.
They didn't rise high—perhaps twenty feet at most—but it was enough to give them a devastating aerial advantage. The gargoyle on the right extended one taloned hand, and Asher saw runic patterns along its arm flare blue. A moment later, a crackling bolt of lightning shot forth, striking the ground where Asher had been standing a split-second before he rolled aside.
"Lightning and flight—wonderful combination," he gasped, scrambling behind another fallen column as the second gargoyle sent its own lighting bolt sizzling through the air.
He needed to ground them—their ability to attack from above while staying mobile made them too dangerous. Quickly activating an earth rune, Asher hurled the leaf toward the center of the plaza. The rune discharged with a rumble, causing a section of the stone floor to buckle upward in a series of jagged spikes.
It wasn't the clean, controlled effect a trained Earth Weaver might have produced, but it served its purpose—creating obstacles that would make aerial maneuvering more difficult in the confined space. The gargoyles seemed to recognize the threat, adjusting their flight paths to avoid the newly formed stone spikes.
Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, Asher activated a fire rune and threw it with precision at the more damaged of the two constructs. The leaf ignited in midair, exploding into a ball of flame that engulfed the gargoyle's left wing. The heat caused the already cracked stone to expand unevenly, deepening the fissures that ran through the ancient guardian.
The affected gargoyle let out a sound like grinding millstones—possibly a roar of pain, though Asher couldn't be sure constructs felt pain as living beings did. Its flight became erratic, the damaged wing no longer able to support it properly. It descended, talons extended, attempting to turn its unplanned landing into an attack.
Asher was ready. As the gargoyle plummeted toward him, he summoned Ruvia's crimson spear and braced himself. At the last possible moment, he sidestepped and thrust upward, driving the spear into one of the deeper cracks in the construct's chest.
The impact jarred his arms to the shoulder, but the crimson weapon found purchase in the ancient stone. The gargoyle crashed to the ground nearby, momentum carrying it into a tumbling roll that dislodged more chunks of its deteriorating form. It struggled to rise, blue lightning crackling erratically across its surface as its internal essence matrix destabilized.
Before Asher could press his advantage, a shadow fell over him—the second gargoyle was diving, both hands extended, lightning arcing between its talons. There was no time to dodge completely. Asher threw himself sideways, but the guardian's attack still caught him with a glancing blow that sent him sprawling across the stone floor, his left arm and side numb from the electrical discharge.
Pain lanced through him, his muscles spasming from the lightning strike. The scent of scorched fabric and skin filled his nostrils, and for a moment, the world tilted alarmingly as his vision blurred. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, erratic from the electrical shock.
Asher! Ruvia's voice cut through the haze of pain. Rise! Now!
The urgency in her tone propelled him to movement despite his body's protests. He rolled to his knees just as the uninjured gargoyle landed where he had lain a moment before, its weight cracking the ancient paving stones.
His left arm hung uselessly at his side, the lightning having aggravated the old fire rune injury. With his right, he fumbled for his remaining runic leaves, finding a water rune by touch. Acting on instinct rather than calculation, he activated it and slapped it directly onto the gargoyle's leg as the construct advanced toward him.
The water rune discharged with surprising force, releasing not a gentle flow but a pressurized jet that blasted through the gargoyle's already damaged limb. More importantly, the water found its way into the cracks throughout the construct's body, reaching the lightning essence matrix within.
The result was spectacular and immediate. Blue-white energy surged uncontrolled through the water pathways now permeating the guardian's form. The conflicting elements—water and lightning—created a cascade of explosive reactions. Fissures widened, stone fragments flew in all directions, and the gargoyle's glowing eyes flickered wildly before dimming to half their previous intensity.
But the ancient guardian was far from defeated. Though severely damaged, it raised one arm, lightning gathering at its talons for another strike. Asher, still reeling from the previous attack, knew he couldn't dodge another direct hit.