The Pleasure of Memory by Welcome Cole

humming above that tree line. It wasn’t the wind.
    “What is it?” Luren asked.
    “Quiet!”
    The sound was indistinct. It was soft and susurrating, yet determined, and it was quickly growing louder. He handed the water skin off to Luren as he climbed back to his feet. As he studied that green ceiling, his stomach knotted. He suddenly realized exactly what it was, and he couldn’t believe it.
    Luren stepped in front of him with his face turned to the treetops. “Oh my gods!” he practically shrieked, “It’s a—”
    The forest ceiling exploded in above them. A wall of sunlight flooded down on them, pushed on by an impending wave of branches and debris. Chance threw Luren back into the wall and sheltered him with his own body as the first branches pounded the wet dirt behind them.
    Wreckage from the trees rained down on the road. Fractured wood barraged the dirt, some pieces large enough to shake the earth on impact. A fierce wind quickly whipped up around them, whisking the debris up into a cyclone of grit and leaves. A huge bough smashed against the stairs, showering them in splinters. A branch large enough to leave a mark, smacked Chance’s shoulder. He cursed and pressed himself harder into Luren and the wall.
    Though it seemed to last forever, the storm actually ran its course in short order. The memory of the chaos soon echoed off into the forest, and the world fell naturally back into silence, save for the last whisper of twigs and leaves trickling from the damaged treetops.
    Chance peered back over his shoulder. What he found was exactly what he’d expected, and the sight of it sent his blood boiling. Squatting in the middle of the road a dozen yards back was a large winged golem.
    He released Luren and marched toward the creature. “Again?” he demanded, “What the devil are you doing here?”
    Luren ran past him and slid to a stop before the beast, watching in obvious wonder as the expansive wings slowly wound down. “A winged sentry!” he cried out, “Finally!”
    Chance steadied himself by brushing the dirt from his arms as he braced his patience. He was feeling far less enthusiastic than the boy was. The stone golem squatted in the dirt like an ornamental lion. The great head was mantis-like and as big as Chance’s torso, and hanged low before its trunk. The eyes were widely spaced at each corner of the triangular head, and were as large as melons. They glowed with a brilliant cobalt-blue light. Intricately ringed horns erupted from the top corners of the head and curled around to the front of the face, the tips terminating just beneath the outside corners of the eyes. It squatted on thick haunches with heavy, clawed feet. Its wings were twenty feet wide and slowly undulating above it. All in all, the creature gave the impression of a skinny, wormy, winged gargoyle wearing an insect’s head.
    Luren was already dancing around the creature with a ridiculous grin possessing his face. “I can’t believe it!” he yelled, “I’ve visited the sentries a hundred times, but I’ve never seen one animate. You’ve always refused to show me. You said you wouldn’t waste the caeyl energy for a demonstration.”
    “And I stand by it,” Chance said as calmly as he could manage, “The energy needed for animation is significant. I can’t spare it just for your entertainment. You know that. It’s not a joke.”
    Luren edged in between him and the sentry and grabbed the sentry’s face, which was hanging nearly a yard above him. “My gods, they look even bigger when they animate. Don’t you think?”
    Despite his exasperation, Chance had to admit it was an impressive sight. From a distance, the sentry appeared solid. Only on close inspection did its ethereal nature reveal itself. It was translucent at the center, becoming nearly transparent at the very edges of its form. The outlines of the trees behind the creature were barely visible through its body, though the image was vague and distorted. As