“Did you see that?” Wrench said with a chuckle as he looked down at the bundle of cloth in his arm.
“Did you see a fire so close to being ignited right there?” he chuckled again as he continued to rock the child in his arms.
The large scorpion-like creature disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Remove such speed as if it had seen that itself, is what Charlie thought to himself as he watched intensely as the shadow of the creature was gone. Silent, he sat and stared, just expecting the creature to burst out and attack him.
Yet it never came. Instead, a grim silence hung over the area. Inching out Charlie crawled and scampered back to his area. Stopping he stared into the darkness. The last leg of the creature only just vanished into the darkness of the far cave.
“My that was close!” Wrench called down into the cave. Throwing his gaze upwards Charlie hushed Wrench. Giggling, he held the bundle of cloth over the side.
“If you need any help, I can always drop this down for you!” Wrench called cheerfully.
Silent, Charlie sat and stared. Bringing his legs into his chest, he felt his cheeks burn as his throat seemed to clog and become stiff. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he felt the fear, the anger, the hate, the want for this all to be over… the lust for his death.
“Do you think you will kill yourself?” the deeper voice that dwelled in his head spoke, “If so, then do it, and allow me to leave your mind and move to that of one of your siblings,”
“Well… I believe all are equal and life is sacred… but if you died it would allow us to go to another of your kin. One of those who are smarter, stronger, and will be easier to help,” a sympathetic yet cold voice of the softer one said.
“SHUT UP!” Charlie roared, even making Wrench above sitting back, “J…just be quiet,” he said as his mind began to swim in grief and the realisation of how close to death he had been. Sighing, the softer voice glanced from its throne within his mind to the demon that held the deeper voice. Shaking its head, and knowing what the other voice thought, it sat back and waved its hand.
“You have faith in him?” he asked, scoffing as he again shook his head, “You angles are far too merciful. This is why you were losing the war,”
“Were,” the softer voice corrected with a grin. Muttering to itself, the deeper voice relented control to the angle.
“You are like him you know?” the softer voice whispered into Charlie’s ear. Getting no response, she carried on speaking.
“Your father used to be like this a lot,” Charlie raised his head as he now listened to the voice, “but we made him strong, we forged him in fire into someone who could make the Merchant union kneel,”
Charlie raised his head, his voice shaking, he muttered, “who…. what are you?”
“The ones who could lead you to greatness, the likes of which you have never imagined,” the voice tempted. Snapping its fingers, Charlie’s eyes glazed over, before returning to their regular shape. Blinking, Charlie looked around. He stood in a familiar room. The scent of dwarven candles burning filled the air and lit a small, dim desk just at the other end of the room.
“Alright,” the deep voice of his father shook him. Stumbling, Charlie felt again his arms and legs working at full function, “I have found no use for you here, your clothes and belongings have been packed and placed into the back of the carriage outside. Leave, and don’t return until you have found something that makes you worth my attention,”
For a moment Charlie stared. His father didn’t care if he lived or died, but he thought at least he had a small flicker of love in him. Originally, he assumed that was why he had given him this chance to leave and prove himself. But now looking back he could imagine how his father had planned this from the start. Planned to send him away once he had lost all interest in him. Send him off to be made into a slave by the Desert Ghost tribe.
A small smile came to his lips. Despite everything done to him by the natives, they had indeed given him a sort of freedom.
“Have you ever seen what your father can do?” The deeper voice said, added. Again, their surroundings of Charlie changed. A field of gold grass stretched to the horizon. In a flash of red light, the field was flooded with bodies of Merchant Union soldiers and knights from a kingdom he knew little of besides the green dragon upon the red and white striped banner.
Knights, levies and footmen littered the ground. If not for their armour he would have not been able to identify the burnt bodies.
“Your father is a monster,” the deeper voice added as green flames flooded over the injured and dying in the last insult to confirm their death. Casually, as if taking an evening stroll, Charlie’s father walked through the piles of dead. Every few steps cast another wave of flame down onto the injured.
“Your father used us as a tool,” the deeper voice muttered again, its tone telling him that it tried to hold back some great anger.
“That is why you chose me?” Charlie said, the tears now stopping as he began to think.
“Close, we chose you since we believe you are nothing like your father. We can give you power, power in which can drive Mr Green Water from the lands of your friends, your loved ones, with little casualties,” The softer voice tempted.
Bashing his hands onto the side of his head, Charlie began to theorise. Those visions, seeing his father like… When someone had a mirage, they could imagine seeing almost anything. But they couldn’t smell, taste or feel. He had tasted the embers in the air, and smelt the candles in the musky office of his father. Those had all been too real.
Closing his eyes, he began to think.
“Why me?” He asked again.
“Simple, your father turned us into tools, and your siblings are so similar to your father, we think they would do the same. And you… well, we laid low within your soul, so we could hide from him. Assume we were not dwelling inside of you, he quickly sold you off to the Chiefess. Who, whether you like it or not, the Chiefess had learnt something,”
Charlie’s eyes widened as the voice spoke. The next words shook him.
“Your father was going to kill you, if the Chiefess didn’t enslave you that is,” Charlie placed his hands onto the side of his head and began to rub his temples. Digging his head between his legs, he began to hold back the voices.
“Bastard, sick, sick bastard,” he said, putting his head back as he began to scan around the area. Dragging himself to the wagon, he used the makeshift knife on his arm to cut down pieces of wood. Dragging them over to the entrance, he began to make a ramp. Frowning under his mask, Wrench leaned forward.
“What would that be exactly?” Wrench asked, wanting to pry into the mind of the boy.
“I am taking a few ideas from the book you gave me,” Charlie responded, once making sure the bit of wood was in place, he moved back to the wreckage. Again, he cut down a similar-sized bit of wood and dragged it back to the entrance. Placing it down, he began this cycle again.
For a while, he did this as Wrench weighed the bundle of cloth in his hands. Was now a good time? No, best to see what the boy had planned.
“Safety is a false sense of security. With the knowledge you may harden your resolve, and only then can you sleep well,” Charlie said. Sitting back, Wrench stared at him.
“D…Did you just quote the book I gave you?” Wrench said, knowing his makes memorised the book in its entirety and that quote was about 400 pages in.
“I thought you hadn’t gotten that far in the book?” Wrench said, leaning forward with interest.
“I haven’t, I just remember skimming over it,” Charlie said as he placed down another plank of wood.
Once enough planks of wood were placed to make a slope, Charlie moved back to the carriages and wagons. Disappearing inside, he fumbled around for a while. Finally, he emerged, a large sturdy knife and a hammer in his hands. Sliding them across the floor, before then limping over and picking them up, he again slid them towards the ramp he had made.
Disappearing under the planks of wood, Charlie just… vanished. For hours Wrench sat in silence and stared. Had he died? Well, that would have been a boring way to go. For so long he was gone, the sun had already made its journey across the sky. Looking down at the bundle of cloth in his arms, he smiled.
Maybe every twenty or so minutes, there would be a small part or sound of metal against rock, but after hours, this slowed and stopped.
“I should probably get you home soon, shouldn’t I?” Wrench said as he moved to stand. The rumbling shook the ground. If it wasn’t for him diving the fingers of his robotic hand onto the ground, he would have fallen into the hole.
“Oh, no it seems you are coming back after all,” Wrench said as he stared at the entrance of the cave.
Creeping into the safety of the night, the scorpion emerged. Its large pincer legs first came out before the rest of the body began to emerge. The small black eyes of the creature locked onto the piles of wagons and carriages. Sitting forward slightly, he stared this interest. Wrench stared as the creature tipped forward as if trying to hide its body within the cave.
Seemingly finding no danger, it began to creep forward again. And again, it stopped and stared. Its large pincer from legs tapped onto the wooden planks left there by Charlie. Tapping the wood, the creature arched itself forward before moving back. Again, moving forward, it began to place more and more of its weight onto the planks.
Diving from beneath the planks, Charlie emerged with a flaming stick. Assuming that this scorpion was just a larger, grown-up version of the smaller ones, Charlie quickly located its eyes. Leaning back, he threw the stick forward. The creature tried to pull back, but its weight on the planks bucked. The front legs fell forward.
Wood splintered and filled the air as the legs fell and the creature began to struggle. Through the cracks in the wood, Wrench saw what Charlie had been at work doing. Considering the legs were curved, he had made an awkward thin whole, with intends into the rock at the front, that trapped the fallen legs.
Once the legs were locked in, he threw the flaming torch at the unprepared eyes. The flames curdled through the sky as the stinger of the creature came down. Cracking down into the earth, it only just deflected the burning torch. Moving its stinger away from its eyes, it… wa…. A flash of emerald filled its gaze as it saw Charlie before it.
Sitting back, Wrench covered the eyes of the child as I stared into the green flash of light.
“Hu,” A deep voice muttered into Charlie’s ear, “You have this much confidence in us?”
“Well, you are the reason it retreated before, right?” Charlie said with a smile as he launched himself forward with the small, almost shattered dagger.
“Even though you rejected our power, you dare use us?” the demon cackled. Staring into the black eyes of the frozen scorpion, Charlie smirked.
“You see I have had a hypothesis. If I died, you could simply jump into the mind of one of my other siblings, but as you said they are too much like my father so they would probably try and take you over. Binding you to their will. So that is why you chose me. You thought you could dominate me, and have a mortal vessel,”
“HA!” the deeper voice laughed.
“How about this, let's make a deal,” Charlie grinned, staring into the eyes of the scorpion.
“Did you see that?” Wrench said with a chuckle as he looked down at the bundle of cloth in his arm.
“Did you see a fire so close to being ignited right there?” he chuckled again as he continued to rock the child in his arms.
The large scorpion-like creature disappeared into the darkness of the cave. Remove such speed as if it had seen that itself, is what Charlie thought to himself as he watched intensely as the shadow of the creature was gone. Silent, he sat and stared, just expecting the creature to burst out and attack him.
Yet it never came. Instead, a grim silence hung over the area. Inching out Charlie crawled and scampered back to his area. Stopping he stared into the darkness. The last leg of the creature only just vanished into the darkness of the far cave.
“My that was close!” Wrench called down into the cave. Throwing his gaze upwards Charlie hushed Wrench. Giggling, he held the bundle of cloth over the side.
“If you need any help, I can always drop this down for you!” Wrench called cheerfully.
Silent, Charlie sat and stared. Bringing his legs into his chest, he felt his cheeks burn as his throat seemed to clog and become stiff. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he felt the fear, the anger, the hate, the want for this all to be over… the lust for his death.
“Do you think you will kill yourself?” the deeper voice that dwelled in his head spoke, “If so, then do it, and allow me to leave your mind and move to that of one of your siblings,”
“Well… I believe all are equal and life is sacred… but if you died it would allow us to go to another of your kin. One of those who are smarter, stronger, and will be easier to help,” a sympathetic yet cold voice of the softer one said.
“SHUT UP!” Charlie roared, even making Wrench above sitting back, “J…just be quiet,” he said as his mind began to swim in grief and the realisation of how close to death he had been. Sighing, the softer voice glanced from its throne within his mind to the demon that held the deeper voice. Shaking its head, and knowing what the other voice thought, it sat back and waved its hand.
“You have faith in him?” he asked, scoffing as he again shook his head, “You angles are far too merciful. This is why you were losing the war,”
“Were,” the softer voice corrected with a grin. Muttering to itself, the deeper voice relented control to the angle.
“You are like him you know?” the softer voice whispered into Charlie’s ear. Getting no response, she carried on speaking.
“Your father used to be like this a lot,” Charlie raised his head as he now listened to the voice, “but we made him strong, we forged him in fire into someone who could make the Merchant union kneel,”
Charlie raised his head, his voice shaking, he muttered, “who…. what are you?”
“The ones who could lead you to greatness, the likes of which you have never imagined,” the voice tempted. Snapping its fingers, Charlie’s eyes glazed over, before returning to their regular shape. Blinking, Charlie looked around. He stood in a familiar room. The scent of dwarven candles burning filled the air and lit a small, dim desk just at the other end of the room.
“Alright,” the deep voice of his father shook him. Stumbling, Charlie felt again his arms and legs working at full function, “I have found no use for you here, your clothes and belongings have been packed and placed into the back of the carriage outside. Leave, and don’t return until you have found something that makes you worth my attention,”
For a moment Charlie stared. His father didn’t care if he lived or died, but he thought at least he had a small flicker of love in him. Originally, he assumed that was why he had given him this chance to leave and prove himself. But now looking back he could imagine how his father had planned this from the start. Planned to send him away once he had lost all interest in him. Send him off to be made into a slave by the Desert Ghost tribe.
A small smile came to his lips. Despite everything done to him by the natives, they had indeed given him a sort of freedom.
“Have you ever seen what your father can do?” The deeper voice said, added. Again, their surroundings of Charlie changed. A field of gold grass stretched to the horizon. In a flash of red light, the field was flooded with bodies of Merchant Union soldiers and knights from a kingdom he knew little of besides the green dragon upon the red and white striped banner.
Knights, levies and footmen littered the ground. If not for their armour he would have not been able to identify the burnt bodies.
“Your father is a monster,” the deeper voice added as green flames flooded over the injured and dying in the last insult to confirm their death. Casually, as if taking an evening stroll, Charlie’s father walked through the piles of dead. Every few steps cast another wave of flame down onto the injured.
“Your father used us as a tool,” the deeper voice muttered again, its tone telling him that it tried to hold back some great anger.
“That is why you chose me?” Charlie said, the tears now stopping as he began to think.
“Close, we chose you since we believe you are nothing like your father. We can give you power, power in which can drive Mr Green Water from the lands of your friends, your loved ones, with little casualties,” The softer voice tempted.
Bashing his hands onto the side of his head, Charlie began to theorise. Those visions, seeing his father like… When someone had a mirage, they could imagine seeing almost anything. But they couldn’t smell, taste or feel. He had tasted the embers in the air, and smelt the candles in the musky office of his father. Those had all been too real.
Closing his eyes, he began to think.
“Why me?” He asked again.
“Simple, your father turned us into tools, and your siblings are so similar to your father, we think they would do the same. And you… well, we laid low within your soul, so we could hide from him. Assume we were not dwelling inside of you, he quickly sold you off to the Chiefess. Who, whether you like it or not, the Chiefess had learnt something,”
Charlie’s eyes widened as the voice spoke. The next words shook him.
“Your father was going to kill you, if the Chiefess didn’t enslave you that is,” Charlie placed his hands onto the side of his head and began to rub his temples. Digging his head between his legs, he began to hold back the voices.
“Bastard, sick, sick bastard,” he said, putting his head back as he began to scan around the area. Dragging himself to the wagon, he used the makeshift knife on his arm to cut down pieces of wood. Dragging them over to the entrance, he began to make a ramp. Frowning under his mask, Wrench leaned forward.
“What would that be exactly?” Wrench asked, wanting to pry into the mind of the boy.
“I am taking a few ideas from the book you gave me,” Charlie responded, once making sure the bit of wood was in place, he moved back to the wreckage. Again, he cut down a similar-sized bit of wood and dragged it back to the entrance. Placing it down, he began this cycle again.
For a while, he did this as Wrench weighed the bundle of cloth in his hands. Was now a good time? No, best to see what the boy had planned.
“Safety is a false sense of security. With the knowledge you may harden your resolve, and only then can you sleep well,” Charlie said. Sitting back, Wrench stared at him.
“D…Did you just quote the book I gave you?” Wrench said, knowing his makes memorised the book in its entirety and that quote was about 400 pages in.
“I thought you hadn’t gotten that far in the book?” Wrench said, leaning forward with interest.
“I haven’t, I just remember skimming over it,” Charlie said as he placed down another plank of wood.
Once enough planks of wood were placed to make a slope, Charlie moved back to the carriages and wagons. Disappearing inside, he fumbled around for a while. Finally, he emerged, a large sturdy knife and a hammer in his hands. Sliding them across the floor, before then limping over and picking them up, he again slid them towards the ramp he had made.
Disappearing under the planks of wood, Charlie just… vanished. For hours Wrench sat in silence and stared. Had he died? Well, that would have been a boring way to go. For so long he was gone, the sun had already made its journey across the sky. Looking down at the bundle of cloth in his arms, he smiled.
Maybe every twenty or so minutes, there would be a small part or sound of metal against rock, but after hours, this slowed and stopped.
“I should probably get you home soon, shouldn’t I?” Wrench said as he moved to stand. The rumbling shook the ground. If it wasn’t for him diving the fingers of his robotic hand onto the ground, he would have fallen into the hole.
“Oh, no it seems you are coming back after all,” Wrench said as he stared at the entrance of the cave.
Creeping into the safety of the night, the scorpion emerged. Its large pincer legs first came out before the rest of the body began to emerge. The small black eyes of the creature locked onto the piles of wagons and carriages. Sitting forward slightly, he stared this interest. Wrench stared as the creature tipped forward as if trying to hide its body within the cave.
Seemingly finding no danger, it began to creep forward again. And again, it stopped and stared. Its large pincer from legs tapped onto the wooden planks left there by Charlie. Tapping the wood, the creature arched itself forward before moving back. Again, moving forward, it began to place more and more of its weight onto the planks.
Diving from beneath the planks, Charlie emerged with a flaming stick. Assuming that this scorpion was just a larger, grown-up version of the smaller ones, Charlie quickly located its eyes. Leaning back, he threw the stick forward. The creature tried to pull back, but its weight on the planks bucked. The front legs fell forward.
Wood splintered and filled the air as the legs fell and the creature began to struggle. Through the cracks in the wood, Wrench saw what Charlie had been at work doing. Considering the legs were curved, he had made an awkward thin whole, with intends into the rock at the front, that trapped the fallen legs.
Once the legs were locked in, he threw the flaming torch at the unprepared eyes. The flames curdled through the sky as the stinger of the creature came down. Cracking down into the earth, it only just deflected the burning torch. Moving its stinger away from its eyes, it… wa…. A flash of emerald filled its gaze as it saw Charlie before it.
Sitting back, Wrench covered the eyes of the child as I stared into the green flash of light.
“Hu,” A deep voice muttered into Charlie’s ear, “You have this much confidence in us?”
“Well, you are the reason it retreated before, right?” Charlie said with a smile as he launched himself forward with the small, almost shattered dagger.
“Even though you rejected our power, you dare use us?” the demon cackled. Staring into the black eyes of the frozen scorpion, Charlie smirked.
“You see I have had a hypothesis. If I died, you could simply jump into the mind of one of my other siblings, but as you said they are too much like my father so they would probably try and take you over. Binding you to their will. So that is why you chose me. You thought you could dominate me, and have a mortal vessel,”
“HA!” the deeper voice laughed.
“How about this, let's make a deal,” Charlie grinned, staring into the eyes of the scorpion.
