The moment I understood how the golems worked, the solution had been obvious.

  Golems were large with an invulnerable surface. Their only obvious weakness was their slow movement speed.

  My first goal was to make them trip. Everything else would naturally follow.

  I stepped forward amidst the wind gathering around me, answering my calls before conscious thought finished forming.

  I saw Keiran glance at me, equal parts anxious.

  "Now?" he asked.

  "Yes."

  There would be time for more questions later.

  "Defensive perimeter!" he shouted. "Hold position around Mira! Our goal is to ensure her safety."

  The Knights held firm. Each best in class.

  I raised my hands and looked up at those purple dusty skies. The air folded inward violently. The wind reversed direction as pressure collapsed toward a single point beneath the advancing golems.

  Dust, stone and entire sheets of debris tore free from the ground, becoming one with the dense, roaring spiral.

  The tornado bloomed across the battlefield. It was impossible to ignore.

  Allies and enemies shouted. Enemy lines faltered. Mages put up hasty shields.

  I widened the vortex deliberately and watched it sweep across multiple constructs at once.

  They were heavier than I imagined. I had to push harder, now.

  As the wind slammed into the golems' legs from opposing angles, their balance calculations faltered faster than their enchantments could compensate.

  They fell like dominoes, one after another.

  The sound of massive stone bodies crashing downward simultaneously sent a shockwave across the battlefield.

  I fell on my back and Agnes picked me up in her strong arms, holding firm.

  The impact waves continued rolling outward, crushing enemy forces beneath the monsters their own mages had created.

  The ones escaping screamed. This was no place for decorum.

  Even the friendly knights—the ones in the same uniform as the ones protecting me—fell under the disaster of my making.

  My stomach was lurching. I would have vomited my insides out, but this was a plan I came up with. I had to live with it.

  Agnes looked down at me. Her big motherly eyes full of concern I didn't deserve.

  "Mira—"

  "I know."

  There would be time later to philosophize my guilt.

  The golems were down. For now.

  I had achieved my first objective.

  The dust had swallowed the battlefield entirely. Visibility was low. Enemy command structure was in chaos.

  Perfect.

  "Lift us now," I said, looking at Keiran. He understood my intention perfectly.

  He took out an inflatable canoe from his pocket. It expanded—enough for us three. He quickly put the shiny ruby gems I was intimately familiar with in its control centre.

  We lifted off. Shakily. The wind was too strong for us to ride. We would be swallowed.

  "You need to stop the assault, Mira."

  I nodded—cutting the tornado instantly. As the wind died down, the dust started settling. We only had a couple of minutes.

  I pointed to the closest stone giant. Its limbs were trying to grind upward and it would succeed if we were any later.

  I expected this, but the sight of scattered stone giants across the field sent a shiver down my spine. Even mountains could fall.

  Agnes's shield was layered tightly around us as we drifted toward the nearest fallen construct.

  Below us, I saw soldiers struggling to regroup around shattered terrain. We had to dismantle the golems before the enemy forces reorganized.

  We landed atop the nearest golem's torso.

  Up close, the construction was clear. Interlocking plates connected by magical conductivity layers—thin fields binding stone segments into a unified structure. Magical joints.

  Destruction wouldn't work here, but interruption would.

  I took a deep breath and extended a thin sheet of compressed mana, slipping it between the two plates at the hip joints.

  Resistance met me immediately—their enchantments attempting to reconnect.

  Stolen story; please report.

  I widened the layer slightly, digging the blade deeper into the seam.

  The connection snapped. Its entire leg detached uselessly from the body.

  It could only lay there now. Disabled.

  A friendly battlemage screamed somewhere:

  "She's dismantling it!"

  There was no time to acknowledge him.

  Another construct nearby began pushing itself upright. I flicked my hand, making it trip on a wind surge beneath it before it could regain its balance.

  I didn't bother dismantling its other leg—not like it could stand on one anyway.

  We moved to the next closest giant and I began dismantling it once more.

  Stone segments slid apart harmlessly. I was efficient now that I understood the structure.

  One by one.

  Leg by leg.

  My breathing steadied. I could do this.

  Agnes put me back on alert.

  "They're coming."

  Enemy knights were surging toward our position, cutting through defensive lines with singular focus.

  Of course it was obvious to kill me first. I had expected as much.

  Keiran stepped forward protectively.

  Metal rang against metal as he intercepted the first speedy attacker reaching our elevation point.

  More would follow. We made our move to the next fallen golem.

  Mana bolts slammed against Agnes's shields. Cracks spreading across her barrier. Her taut face had beads of sweat running down it.

  Insert. Break. Detach.

  The construct collapsed fully into inert rubble.

  Three down.

  Across the battlefield, surviving golems continued attempting to stand. I had to actively maintain rotating wind currents beneath them to destabilize every attempt.

  I was feeling the strain now. Sustained precision took more of me than raw output. Far more.

  Below us, the soldiers were fighting for their lives.

  Some enemy soldiers climbed the disabled stone toward our position.

  One broke through before Agnes blasted him backward instantly.

  Keiran knocked another one out. His sword was covered in blood now.

  We flew to the next one.

  The enemy forces understood one thing:

  Kill the child. End the threat.

  My hands trembled slightly as I reached for the fourth construct.

  Insert.

  I was met with more resistance. This one was bonded with a more complex pattern, leaving little room for me to sidle in.

  I stretched my mana layer thinner, seeping into the gaps I could find.

  The conductivity field flickered.

  Almost—

  Pain stabbed behind my eyes. The pressure building up like I was twenty metres underwater.

  Too much simultaneous control.

  I instinctively adjusted, prioritizing the structural anchors only.

  Finally, the golem collapsed permanently.

  My allies cheered. I ignored them.

  I was the centre of the battlefield now. Enemy commanders had redirected their entire efforts to eradicating me.

  Our only objective: dismantle the golems.

  Their only objective: dismantle me.

  Keiran staggered, blood running along his sleeve. Through his nose. His hair black and matted with blood.

  "Only three more," he said through clenched teeth. The greys shining like stars.

  I nodded.

  My stomach churned looking at the crushed soldiers beneath the fallen constructs.

  Allies or enemies. It made no difference.

  A sea of mangled bodies was sickening.

  I swallowed. We couldn't stop now.

  Dozens of focused wills converged on the single point in the sky where we hovered.

  Enemy knights surged toward our position with renewed urgency, cutting through defensive lines. No one bothered looking for survivors. Now was not the time.

  I began dismantling the next golem without hesitation.

  The sound of metal clashing only momentarily distracted me. Keiran fought with practiced grace, intercepting close-ranged attackers before they could get to me. I could tell he was reaching his limits.

  Mana bolts slammed against Agnes's shields in rapid succession, brilliant bursts creating cracks like ice.

  "Hurry," Agnes said, her voice tight.

  I pushed away the guilt that threatened to paralyze me. This construct was still standing—no, looming—over the battlefield. I closed my eyes, focusing all my energy on finding the gaps I needed to slip into. The consequences be damned.

  Insert.

  Break.

  Detach.

  The construct collapsed—one leg removed uselessly—falling first. The rest of its massive body with it. Dust billowing across the field like a wave from the impact. I didn't look at who fell under its weight.

  Two more left.

  My stomach churned when I looked at the crushed soldiers beneath the fallen constructs. Friendly and enemy alike, flattened beneath tons of stone. There was no distinction from this height. Only bodies. Only death. I had done this.

  My hands, my consciousness, my gift—had toppled giants and snuffed lives.

  Was I a murderer? Or a defender?

  I swallowed hard and pushed the question aside. Agnes and Keiran were depending on me.

  Wind surged again beneath the next rising golem. I pushed with everything I had, circled its ascending form, tripped its movements, delayed as long as I could hold focus. We lifted once more, drifting toward the next target under covering shields.

  Magic detonated around us continuously. Each blast sent vibrations through my bones. Agnes's breathing grew strained.

  "I am reaching my limits," she gasped.

  "Just two more," I replied.

  We could kill or we could die.

  I placed another invisible layer between the plates of the sixth construct. The enchantment resisted with all the prayers of its creators, forcing separation. I applied pressure methodically, sending fresh waves of pain through my skull and bringing me to my knees.

  The joint snapped.

  The golem fell again.

  Almost finished. Almost—

  But across the field, fresh enemy units advanced at full speed, their horns calling out reinforcements. They would reach us before I could dismantle the final construct.

  My vision was blurred at the edges as exhaustion crept through my body. I was running on fumes, operating only on the need to survive.

  I could still feel magic. I could still do this.

  I looked toward the final standing construct struggling to rise. The last giant left.

  I couldn't stand anymore, so I sat cross-legged. The wind trembled around it, responding to the intensity of my focus.

  We rode the wave to it. Agnes was shielding us despite her exhaustion. Keiran was bloodied, having protected me from any who had slipped past the party of Knights protecting us.

  My fingers flexed slightly, preparing for what would come next. The pain behind my eyes was heavy and constant, the dull throbbing in my skull now sharp pains.

  The moment stretched thin like the mana I slipped between the joints.

  Below us lay the final construct and the army of enemy Knights and Mages who knew we would come.