Doctor Crowe - Guardian (p1) - P. A. Nolte

1/ Dr. Crowe bursts through the back door of a small shop and into the main room.  It is after hours.  Atop him is a large, clay man.  A golem.  The first glyph in the Hebrew word "emet" (truth), carved into the golem's forehead, has been scratched out to make the word read "met" (death).  Crowe is worse for wear, his clothing torn in multiple places and the beak of his mask partially bent.  His hands, in particular, are bloodied.  Through the doorway, his assistant Nora has her crossbow readied, and has fired an arrow into the back of the golem's head, where it sticks with a soft splut.

Caption: The key to a golem's destruction is often the removal of a single glyph from the word that has been fed into it.

2/ The golem, distracted, has Crowe pinned to the ground, but is more interested in Nora.  Underneath him, Crowe tenses a bloody fist.

Caption: Or carved into its forehead.

3/ Swinging with all his might, Crowe's fist connects, flinging the golem's head back.  Droplets of blood from Crowe's wounds fly into the air, and where they hit the golem, what counts as skin starts to sizzle.

Caption: Or on a sign hung around its neck.

4/ The golem dissipates.  Crowe has risen to one knee as he shields himself from the thick cloud of monster dust.  Nora has so many questions, but advances hesitantly.

Caption: There really are too many methods to imbue formed clay with such a brutal mockery of life.

Crowe: Blood magic.

Nora: Doctor?

5/ Crowe stands triumphantly over the pile of golem dust, but the battle is not yet won.

Caption: But the most dangerous of all involves blood.

Crowe: The word was merely a ruse.  This... thing.  Whoever sent it...

Crowe: This is personal.  Very personal.