IGMS Issue 8 Read Online Free PDF Page A

hand and crashed into a closed shutter.
    The
volhov
stepped back. The golem swung his red arm in a backward arc and slammed it into the
volhov
's chest. The blow lifted the
volhov
off his feet and threw him across the floor and into the wall.
    The golem followed. The
volhov
tried to stand, but the golem bent to him and began with two hands to crush his throat.
    The soldier in the room charged the golem with a large hammer, but the golem reached up and caught the hammer haft in one hand before the man could land the blow. It wrenched the hammer out of the soldier's hand and threw it in the man's face.
    The
volhov
was spluttering. His face flushing red. He fumbled in a black purse that hung about his neck.
    The golem turned back to the
volhov
with both hands, but the
volhov
retrieved something from the purse and shoved it into the golem's open mouth.
    The golem shook its head. Its grip on the
volhov
loosened. It shook its head again more violently. It stepped back, clutched at its throat, its features contorted in a painful rictus. The golem took another step back only to stumble and crash into the table and onto the floor. It tried to stand, but could only get to one knee.
    The
volhov
stood, gingerly holding his own throat, and stepped over to look down upon the golem. He smiled.
    "At last," he said. "Perfect."

    The golem lay on the floor like a dead man. Braslava sat tied in her chair. The
volhov
had let her finger bleed until the blood coagulated into a gobbed mess on its own. Anja, under the watch of a new soldier, bent to serve the
volhov
a cup of tea. The wounded solider had been dragged out of the house.
    "Who in the vale has recently had a baby?" asked the
volhov
.
    Anja looked him square in the face, righteous anger burning in her eyes.
    "You need to think about next month, next year. I am only doing what must be done."
    "What could you possibly need from a woman who has just given birth?" asked Anja.
    "I do not want the mother," said the
volhov
. "I want the child."
    Anja's grip on the tea kettle changed and Braslava thought she was going to throw it in the
volhov
's face.
    "Would you rather sacrifice one child to me or a dozen to the Turks, who will hold their feet and dash their brains out against a rock? They will rape you and your jewess here. And if they do not kill you, they will sell you as slaves."
    Braslava knew this already. The Turks were excellent at burning fields and killing villages. They were excellent at cutting off the heads of men to collect their sultan's bounty.
    Anja did not answer.
    "I will beat them back," said the
volhov
.
    Braslava laughed. Giddiness washed over her like an unexpected wind. She should not have felt such mirth, she should not have laughed.
    The
volhov
turned.
    She nodded at the golem with her chin, suppressed a lunatic giggle. "You'll beat back the Turks with that?" He was a fool.
    "No," he said. He narrowed his dead fish eyes. "No. I will first make this golem into a molech. I will make it into a god. And then, when they are lined up in their beds at night, when they are clustered about their fires, I will send it in to steal their lives. I shall send it in to take the breath breathed into Adam's nostrils."
    A molech. What was this wizard that he could even consider such a thing?
    "I knew all along," said Anja. Her hand was in a pocket of her tunic. She yanked her hand out and shoved a string of garlics at his face. "Vampir!"
    The
volhov
did not flinch. He reached up and loosened a clove from one of the heads, slipped the meat from its skin, and popped it in his mouth. He began to chew. Around the garlic, he said, "I am not a vampir. I am a man who wishes to protect his family, his king. Nothing more. Can't you see that this golem is a gift from God?"
    "You shall have no other gods before me," quoted Braslava.
    The
volhov
heaved a sigh. "This is what I get from talking to women. I am not going to serve this god. It is going to serve me."
    He paused.
    "I need a child to feed