Ancient Colossus
I had taken months to get here. Months on top of years of planning. The result of a lifetime’s work now towered above me, casting the only shadow I had seen in weeks.
My skin blistered and cracked, sore from sunburn and relentless sandstorms aggravating the wounds. My feet were sore, my back was broken, and my eyes were trying to cry from the oppressively hot air, but my tear ducts were dry.
I could understand why a few people crossed the ancient desert that filled the middle of our land. The only souls I had encountered on my month-long endurance crossing were as dead as I should have been.
But never mind, here I was, the solution to all my problems. The beginning of my new life lay in front of me.
I stared up at the colossus overshadowing me, providing welcome relief from the burning blaze. As long as we had lived in this land, it had stood. Perfectly preserved for eternity. When it was built and why was a mystery. It had always been.
Its huge hoofed feet were taller than me. Its two thick legs towered up to a six-armed creature with giant wings outstretched to the heavens. Its giant head pointed up to the sky, and four eyes looked towards the stars. A wave of eyed socketed tentacles flowed from its scalp.
Held in one paw was a gigantic spear poised in threat at an ancient and unknown enemy. And in another giant paw was the reason for my journey. The Bloodstone. Rumours about it were widespread. It granted you wishes, infinite power, immortality, and more. I believed it all and had nothing to lose. Anything was better than my life these past few years. I had no plan beyond scaling this colossal enigma and loosening that stone. What happened next was in the hands of fate.
I reached in my pack for grappling gear, pitons, and a hammer. Ate the last of my meagre food, drank the last of my water, and looked up for a suitable anchor point. Spotting the flow of the bottom of a long robe that nestled around the colossus’s ankles, I flung my hook upwards. It caught firm, and I tested the rope. A good start. I kissed the hot burning sand goodbye and began my assent up the leg.
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