Kopius woke to the scent and sizzle of cooking meat. He rubbed the grogginess away and slipped on his boots before stepping outside. Cici was whistling a tune as he cooked and gave Kopius a wide smile. After rinsing out his mouth and relieving his bladder, Kopius returned to a hot bowl of breakfast.

"No mush today?" Kopius asked as he dove into the hearty meal.

"Had some leftover meat," Cici answered between his own bites. "No sense in it going to waste."

Both men nodded their approval of both the statement and the food. Though Cici appeared in all of his morning-person jovialness, the meal was eaten in comfortable silence. Kopius made short work of the meat. He had also pulled out his food sack and offered one of the giant carrots to Cici but the big guy declined. The carrots lacked the general stiffness that he had received them in, as well as, the crisp sounds when he took a bite. Kopius noted that his inventory ring did not conserve the state of the food and that he couldn't just leave it in there forever without it decomposing.

"Did you find it?" Cici eventually asked after the kitchen had been broken down.

"Find what?"

"Your C.O.M.A."

"Oh that," Kopius answered. "Kind of."

"What held you back?"

"I'd have to show you," Kopius admitted. "It's either behind one of those statues or on top of this mountain."

"Alright then, we're heading through there shortly."

"Is there any light source in the Hall like that beam you lit inside the cave?"

"Afraid not, lad."

"You got anymore torches?"

"A few," Cici replied with a laugh. "I wasn't going to make you hold my hand on the way through."

"Good, my Night Vision wasn't giving me enough light in there."

"We'll set out shortly," Cici responded.

While Cici finished packing up his belongings, Kopius stepped in the cave and did the same. There wasn't much to clean or put away, so Kopius ended up twiddling his thumbs for a while. He went back to see how the light source worked only to find the stub of a used torch. Besides the small cupboard space that it sat in, there didn't appear to be anything particularly special about it. The way the torch sat in its sconce reminded him of the Coil of Cawbachu when they had ascended from Kickshaw.

Before Kopius could allow his thought to range too far, Cici pulled up beside him. The big man removed another torch from his person, blew it a kiss and the space lit up with it. The dark recesses of the cave couldn't hide from the light source, nor could the corridor that was the Hall of Dashwrath. The illumination sped past the stoic statues, reaching considerably farther than his Night Vision had. Where he could only make out the statues with his Skill, now he could clearly see every edge, blemish and artistic flare. With no other fanfare the two men started their journey through the Hall.

The walk was an informative one. Cici would point to the various sculptures and would give Kopius a brief breakdown of the ones he knew about. Some were local to the region, others were found in far off places. A select few, the more fantastical ones, were supposed to be from myth and legend though Cici was quick to point out that the two were often mixed in with reality. Most would be dangerous to come across in the wild. When Kopius asked where the statues of the redwhips were, Cici shrugged.

"Redwhips are native to the desert, like the Sands of Shirlavene," the big man said as he scratched his beard in thought. "Likely some fool tried to bring one south as a pet or companion."

"I'd hate to try and tame one of those," Kopius added.

"You and I both!" Cici replied with a laugh. "From what I've been told, they grow fast."

"How would you even capture one of those?" Kopius asked rhetorically.

"Steal one from a nest; that's no small feat either." Cici answered.

Kopius didn't reply to that but shook his head in disbelief. They had both been nearly murdered by the pair that had chased them, he couldn't begin to imagine the rage one might experience if someone were to steal their offspring. He shuddered at the thought and had to shake off the willies invading his personal space. If he never saw a redwhip again it would be too soon.

"Here it is," Kopius said as they approached his mark, pointing to the X he had carved the night before.

They stepped up to the carving and the two started to turn their heads as though they needed to ask for directions from a local. On both sides of the path, the mirroring image of rock golem duplicated its way down the hall. With the power of the torch, Kopius was able to make out at least one difference he couldn't see the night before.

Every stone creature carving that they had passed by was still connected to the mountain. There was no way to go behind any of them. The rock golem sculptures were standing, unattached to the wall. A person could, if slender enough, scootch behind each statue. Kopius had hoped he would be hit with some kind of video game logic epiphany, but was left with the same disappointment he had walked away with the night before.

"Where is this X of yours?" Cici asked after his initial inspection.

"Behind this one," Kopius pointed.

"They all look the same," Cici said as he moved the flame closer.

"Let me see that torch," Kopius asked with his hand out. "Maybe there is a clue behind them."

Cici relinquished the flame to his friend and Kopius got himself situated between the wall and the back of the statue. He moved the light up, down and sideways; finding nothing of interest. Kopius slid behind the statue next to him and inspected some more. He did this for each golem, on both sides of the Hall, twelve in total. Nothing.

Staring at the rock golem that appeared to be blocking the purple X, the two men took on a contemplative stance. They gazed at the statute as if they were art docents analyzing the meaning of some 18th century painting; as if any particular paint stroke was some introspective, philosophical statement.

Stolen novel; please report.

Now that the quiet part was done with, the two men began to test the structural integrity of the golem. At first they tried to push it. Next they attempted to twist it in place. They tried to set it on fire, douse it with water; Cici even sang it a song that only ended up charming Kopius. The last thing he could think of was climbing the damn thing and toppling it over, Raiders of the Lost Ark style.

"Am I going to piss off any ghost if I can knock this thing over?" Kopius asked while sizing up the sculpture.

"It's spirit, lad," Cici corrected, calculating his own thoughts. "Probably."

"Well then," Kopius replied. "Can we fight it if it shows up?"

"Celeste here would give us a shot, but your swords are useless."

"What about these," Kopius pulled out the two throwing knives.

Cici laughed.

"What? They cut that X out with no problem."

"Rock golems need to be broken into pieces, not stabbed to death."

"Fine," Kopius complained, returning the weapons. "Do they have weak spots, limitations; can we outrun them?"

"Out run them… maybe. Their power is supposed to drain the farther they get from their power source." Cici considered some more before continuing. "Once they pick up speed, it's mighty difficult to stop them. I imagine if you could make it back to the path we turned off…" He trailed off scratching his beard.

"What would happen on the path?" Kopius asked when the big man's pause lasted a bit too long.

"I'm not sure how it all works, lad. From what I recall, the spirit can wander freely but when it is within a vessel, like the statue, it can only travel so far."

"So, you're saying that if the golem reached the path it would… die?"

"No, no, not in the least," Cici said, waving a hand. "The spirit would leave the golem, return to the mountain most likely."

"There's a lot of 'maybes' in there," Kopius pointed out.

"Possessions are not a subject I have come across often; spirits or otherwise," Cici admitted. "They could become stuck in their vessel I suppose, I'm not really sure."

Kopius took in this information and let it settle in his mind. It had occurred to him on his walk back the night before that–if–the other half of the C.O.M.A. was behind a statue, then it was in a secret room. Secret rooms, as far as video games were concerned, generally had treasure or other valuable items hidden within. His mind had raced around with the possibilities; thankfully he was exhausted enough that the idea of riches beyond comprehension did not keep him up.

He had consistently forgotten about the threat of an awakened golem during his musings but now that Cici had given him more information, he still ignored it. The only thing that gave him pause was the idea that every golem in the Hall would come to life; that would be bad. Besides, Cici wasn't warning him, he was just informing him of what may or may not happen.

Kopius looked up and down the hall as if he were keeping an eye out for patrolling police officers. He looked over the statue in front of him to find the best way up. Standing a bit over ten feet, the fixture lacked hard edges or anything that might make a good hand hold. The legs were both oblong and attached to the torso which, itself, was a rounded out square shape. Its arms relaxed lazily to each side made of two long, slender ovals. Small, baseball seized circular rocks made up the hands. The head was the size of a watermelon with no other markings that one might expect; like eye sockets or a mouth.

Getting to the top and backdown wasn't going to be difficult but pushing the thing over might take more strength than he could produce. Grabbing the end of one of the statues arms Kopius hoisted himself atop a leg, used the wall for leverage to scootch to the golems shoulders and then straddled the things head as if he was going to suffocate it. Once comfortable, he reached down and asked Cici for the torch.

The Bard pulled a second torch from his stash, lit it and handed the new one to Kopius. Cici looked around like he had heard something, moving both feet as if he were nervous.

"You hear something?" Kopius asked from his perch, lifting his torch to illuminate the Hall further.

"I have to pee," Cici stated plainly, to which Kopius now recognized the Potty Dance.

"Just pee down the way," Kopius suggested, pointing back the way they had come.

"I'd rather not," Cici answered. "I'll head back outside, have me some lunch after."

With nothing left to say Cici turned and began to swiftly walk in the direction of the cave. Kopius watched him go, eventually only seeing the light of the torch bobbing up and down as if the big man had started to run. Once the light disappeared in the distance, Kopius brought his attention back to the problem at hand.

He took a moment to dive into his video game knowledge to try and figure through his dilemma. To his mind, these things could open several ways. There could be a hidden mechanism; be it a floor tile or disguised lever. Puzzles or riddles were common enough, though nothing here indicated that was the way to go. He may need a key, a magic phrase, or hell, moonlight for all he knew; those were just the basics. Given the unique aspect of Metem so far, Kopius needed to exhaust all options.

As he sat there like a small child on the shoulders of the statue he ran through his list of video game logic. On a whim he spoke the word 'friend' aloud only to be met with more silence. He shrugged; Tolkien hadn't been writing about Metem after all. Leaning over to check the top of the two statues next to the one he was on produced no clue either. He sighed and looked over his shoulder at the smooth surface that made the sidewall of the hall. Wanting a better view than the one giving him a crick in his neck, Kopius tightened his thighs about the statue's head and started to sit-scoot around to the front.

The head moved; it twisted. Kopius only stopped when he heard the noise of stone gliding on stone. It wasn't the teeth rattling aggravation that stone grinding usually induces, this sound was less intrusive. He began to scoot again and the noise returned; he felt the head turn this time. A brief panic set in while Kopius waited to see if the golem had come to life. When no violence was forthcoming, Kopius found a suitable spot on the things shoulder so that he didn't have to hold the head with his thighs.

Kopius, wedged the torch in the nearest crevasse and looked upon the head of the statue like it was a complex math equation. With no markings or engravings to be seen he reached out, attempting to spin it. At first it did not budge. Putting the nogging into a chokehold of sorts, Kopius was able to muscle the thing to slightly turn. Tightening his grip, he struggled but the smooth, oblong stone that made up the head twisted. Unsure if 'righty-tighty, lefty-loosey' was applicable on Metem, Kopius kept turning the head.

Several rest breaks later and the head spun on its own like a wet slab of clay on a pottery wheel. Friction would eventually bring it to a stop to which Kopius would spin it again. This went on for a few minutes. Eventually Kopius spun the head back in the other direction until it became difficult to turn. Once that was complete, he loosened it again. Once the head was spinning on its own like before, Kopius stood on the shoulders of the statue. He waited a few moments for it to stop and, straddling the head, reached down.

For a rock the size of a watermelon, the thing weighed like it was made of condensed steel. Where Kopius had tried to lift the thing with no regard for his back, he now assumed the squat-lift position and heaved. He strained and grunted, twisting the stone as it slowly but surely rose. As he pulled up on the head, a cylindrical column–attached to the bottom–came with it. Two more feet of awkward pulling and the head came free. He held it cradled in his arm, with the shaft part resting against his shoulder. Gently, he placed the inverted piece atop the shoulders and gave himself a moment to rest.

Once he was recouped, Kopius used the roughy two feet of the column to grab a hold of and bring it down to the surface. In most cases he would have tossed the thing to the ground and let gravity have its way but he wasn't in the mood to anger the mountain god–spirit. With the head piece resting on the floor, Kopius returned to his perch on the shoulders. Removing the torch from its position, Kopius looked down the empty space where the statue's head once rested.

At the bottom of the hole–its diameter that of a softball–looked like something that he would be able to grab if he was brave enough to shove one of his arms inside. Kopius couldn't see anything that would harm him. No matter how he held the light, the hole seemed to be just that; a hole. Yet, his mind recalled this trope from any number of movies or books. If his memory served him correctly, and it didn't alway do that, about half the time the person had their arm ripped off or trapped. The other half of the time resulted in nervous laughter and maybe a clean set of underwear.

Hoping that 'throwing caution to the wind' was different from 'pissing' in the same wind, Kopius reached down the hole and pulled until he heard a 'click.'

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