The Last Sand Golem

and down with waving hands while shouting ”Welcome back! ”

The empire was prospering and nothing seemed to stop its advancement.

…

In a vast desert, a lone figure could be seen marching through the sand tirelessly and without complaint about the intense heat from the sun. This lone figure is the last remaining piece of an old empire that crumbled down due to internal strife and neighboring countries, but now everything is burrowed underneath corns of sand or eroded by time. Hundreds of years passed after the great fall… Nothing was left of the old empire, except a lone sand golem that survived the harsh environment. His sole purpose was to defend the castle from intruders, but he failed.

No, they failed.

There were once thousands of them still remaining after the fall of humans but over time, one by one, they crumbled away, slowly running out of energy, eroded by the harsh climate, or being destroyed by desert creatures. Wildlife eventually reclaimed the regions over time and the safety of walls crumbled down, making the harsh environment even more deadly. Even though they tried their hardest to survive, learn from each other and sometimes even merge together, they returned to the sand they were made of.

#11160 got eaten by sand eaters, #47566 ran out of energy, and #44066 committed self-destruction after a system failure… Those were only a few of the many others that died near #11077.

Now completely alone, his only purpose is to wander around the plains for sand crystals that are scattered around the place, trying to sustain his energy, only to continue his never-ending journey of protecting the place that is now long gone.

He has no purpose anymore, but he still follows his old masters first command, which was etched in his very core. He could still remember his words even after hundreds of years, ”Live and protect the empire of living sand from any harm, golem number 11077. ” But without an empire to protect, without a master to receive commands, he could only try his best to search for sand crystals and prolong his time before he too crumbles to sand.

…

On a day like any other, the sand golem foraged through the sand in search of any energy source. Looking at his exposed core in his thorax, he could see the glowing crystal core slowly dimming, and flickering.

Opening the inner interface that was programmed into him he looked at his status.

[Golem #11077

Type: Common Footsoldier

Learned Types: Common Scout/ Common Shieldberear/ Elite Spear Thrower

System Rank: 5

Energy: 6%

Core endurance: 58%

Vital Sand capacity: 55%

Core Sand capacity: 35%]

His time almost ran out, but this wasn´t the first time he got close to his end, and sometimes the golem thought about just staying still and waiting for his demise, but he couldn´t. He never could. So he continued to move one leg after the other. while his featureless head scanned through the sand.

Just as the sun was about to set, 11077 saw something shimmer in the distance, he slowly walked towards it and kneeled down. Sweeping his hand over the object to dust off the sand, he saw a small yellow crystal. Another lucky find, a fist-sized yellow crystal was barely pocking out of the sand.

Inspecting the yellow jagged orb for any impurities he holds it high towards the sun. The light shone through the crystal, refracting bright yellow light on 11077s face. Only a few small specks of blackish flacks were in there. The golem was delighted as it was quite a rarity, with that he could repair his core and sustain himself for another month before running out of energy.

Holding the crystal towards his chest the sand parted, exposing a slightly cracked core. He gently pressed the energy source against it and the yellow shine slowly transferred toward the core. The cracks slowly closed up as the sand crystal turned transparent. The process took a few seconds before every last bit of energy was transferred.

#11077 decided to place the transparent ball on the sand for the scavengers to find and continued his march.

Even in these harsh environments life finds its way. The abominations and creatures that this desert created are ruthless and murderous and perfectly adapted to survive in these lands. Especially during the night, when the sand cools off, the scavengers and hunters come out, and the moon blossoms glint, making the desolate desert seems to come back to life again. Vegetation was rare everywhere else except near oases.

So looking at the sun that was slowly basking the desert in a red light the sand golem decided to rest for the day. Seeing a high sand dune with a lot of covers he marched towards it, but his slow and steady movements made the trip long.

The sky darkened and the howls of the hunters could already be heard and the golem was only halfway there. He scanned his surroundings and saw a wolf-like creature standing on a far-end dune looking around for any kind of prey it could fest. A desert Canis, or sand dogs as the humans called them, were once living side by side with them, but with the downfall of the kingdom and nobody taking care of them, they scattered away and became feral again. Not wanting to waste his energy the golem decided to make a slight detour away from the creature.