Dax hits Otto again, hitting him hard in the face repeatedly. It’s not the same sound as if he was hitting bone, it sounds like an earthquake in the restaurant as Dax’s powerful fists hit him over and over. Floor boards crack in half under the weight of Otto’s head hitting the wood. The walls in the room shake and the restaurant is being destroyed. My eyes widen in shock as Dax drags Otto across the bar top, glasses shattering loudly against the walls and floors. His strength is astounding. But the moment he takes a chance to look over at me, Otto strikes.

Dax breathes heavily as Otto is able to grab Dax by the waist and run him into a wall, Dax’s back hits hard against the wall, all the framed images come crashing to the floor. Otto wraps his hand around Dax’s throat, doing the same thing he did to me, but he doesn’t try to cut him. Just tries to block or crush his airway.

I feel weak, so weak, but I need to act fast. Think, think. He’s basically an inanimate object. Even though he can move, he moves at the behest of his creator, he’s clay. "Surge sursus," I say as I watch the golem rise from the floor. It shocks him enough that his grip loosens from Dax’s throat, and he falls from the floor as the golem continues floating until he hits the ceiling.

Dax is back on his feet as he comes to check on me. With Otto up on the ceiling for now, we’re fine. His large palms grab my face as he looks at my arms and eyes. A low groan leaving his lips.

He takes a pocket knife from his back pocket and I flinch as he pops the blade.

“I’m going to take care of you, you’re okay, babe. I got you,” he says as he slices his wrist and drops his blood on top of my bleeding arms. He pets my hair as I watch his blood heal my wounds. I still feel so out of it, like I can’t think.

“It will stop the bleeding and heal your wounds, but you still lost a lot of blood. How are you feeling?” I don’t answer and his palms are on my face. “Little witch?”

“Tired,” I say, pressing my face against his palm.

“We need to get the scroll from his mouth and destroy it,” he says, and it dawns on me that I don’t know shit about golems. If he wasn’t here, I would have probably died.

“Why are you here?”