Melody stares out the window. The truck catches every bump in the sand. It ripples through my body. Milk sloshing in Nathaniel's belly. Barthelemy's empty thoughts ringing in my skull.
I grip my stomach.
Melody glances at me. "You okay?"
I gag and shake my head. "It's too loud in here!"
She sighs. "We'll be there soon." Then turns. "Tell me what happened in the mines."
I stare.
She leans in. "You said that you died, but... How did you come back to life?"
I recount the beginning of the story, leaving out the detail about her grandfather, and speak on my arrogance.
Melody's eyes widen. "They knocked you unconscious?"
I gulp. "After I woke up...I saw...their bodies scattered and in pieces. Pieces of the people I knew and loved."
Barthelemy teeters side-to-side. His hand slaps my foot. I jump. Melody adjusts Barthelemy's straps, then sits back and waits...
The Mines
I puked up everything I'd ever swallowed. Memories. Loss. Guilt. But my shame had no end.
My stomach rumbled and twisted with a hunger that choked me.
A presence... One I couldn't see... Whispered. "Go on and eat. Your troops are dead, aren’t they? They won’t mind.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes. “I can’t eat them. They’re my friends! How could I...?"
Tender lips pressed against my cheek, then slid over to my ear. “You’re nothing without power, so decide if a little flesh is worse than being powerless.”
The expressions on Heathcliff and Claudette... Their marbled eyes. Dead stare. Somehow beautiful. No longer carrying around the burden of mortality.
The presence chuckled from behind. “You can’t save everyone.”
It took my hand and pressed our fingertips to Claudette’s cheek. Her skin still warm. I trembled and thought of eating someone else, but who could I stomach?
Breath down my back. Hair wrapped around my wrists. Another kiss upon my cheek, then a tongue slithered out and coiled around my neck. White flowers sprouted from our skin, intertwining and forming together.
She spoke so quiet that I swore she was in my head. “You can’t save everyone, but you can save yourself if you just...eat." And, it vanished. The last trace of her existence was a white petal floating by my face and landing on Claudette.
“I won’t eat more than I have to." I told myself. "I won't become a monster.” Like Barthelo. "Just a bite."
My eyes locked onto Claudette’s. Something about her... Her soft, wet, lifeless corpse gave me a pain deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down. I put my thumb into her mouth, then held her head and pulled.
Sweet teeth, crunching roach shells.
Eyeballs bursting open, bland cherries without a pit.
Fingers wriggle, worms in the undergrowth.
Livers dry, soil in my mouth.
The heart of a close friend fed a beast in me. His power grows and I... I feel myself losing control. Control over what? Who’s body is this? Why can’t I remember? Why don’t I know who I am? Why? Why? Why?
I sucked the calf muscle off Heathcliff's fibula...or maybe it's his tibia... I can't tell.
Her again. “What we don’t eat enough of can be exactly what we need more of." It picked up Claudette's skull. "Take a piece of everyone with you before they're gone." Her head twisted upside-down, then her neck stretched and slithered around my waist. Eyes wide. "Who are you?"
I swallowed and wiped my mouth. “I don’t know."
She took my hand and led me to them, so I could eat my friends one by one. “Say their names, they won’t remember them in the afterlife.”
“Claudette”
Disdain
“Heathcliff”
Sacrifice
“Will”
Sadness
“Maury”
Youth
“Wren”
Forgotten
“Lada”
Humility
“Jarrell”
Shame
“Maxine”
Suffocation
“Maxwell”
Disgust
“Lundra”
Eternity
“Hali”
Purpose
“Presca”
Blood
“Dorian”
Blood-lust
“Felma”
Wicked
“Clyde”
Misery
“Castelle”
Decay
“Olnar”
Blisters
“Fiona”
Prisoner
“Reena”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Silence
“Reeda”
Mouth
“Reed”
Harm
“Reece”
Pain
“Pon”
Forgiveness
“Ike”
Selfishness
“Martin”
Abandonment
“Weston”
Death
“Westen”
Grief
"Silva”
Lie
“Grinfield”
Yes
“Grindrella”
Forsaken
“Wax”
Calamity
“Qustax”
Devour
“Perry”
No
“Anandra”
Ankle
“Alilee”
Ugly
“Ju”
Wishful
“Jin”
Murder
“Chela”
Shock
“Veesaline”
Humor
“Nepite”
Distrust
“Brownstein”
Unwanted
“Bowlin”
Broken
“Xeses”
Trigger
“Kola”
Identity
“Etta”
Collapse
“Inora”
Ignore
Their bones became the grave for my tears. The thing cackled. “Is it your friends that are covered in blood or are you covered in the blood of your friends?”
I screamed at it. “GO AWAY!" I looked around. It was gone.
I forced myself to walk. Something made me hungrier. Why don't I feel full? This scent is pure. I want it! I want to taste it!
I turn a bend.
Chuboki... His axe chopped into one of them, but their muscles were tough and their bones dense. Can I help him fight? ...probably not.
I kicked at one of them, but he was too fast.
He cooed. “That smell... Reminds me of a dear friend we once had!" He laughed. "Doesn’t it, Luk-ee?”
The other tilted his head. “He does have a familiar scent. However...” His hand plunged through my side. His eyes rolled up and peered into mine. “This isn’t the man we used to know.”
I choked and fell to my knees. A bloody puddle. The wound stitched itself closed.
The Axeheads shivered. Their eyes glued to me. Chuboki? Where is he?
“That’s almost exactly how fast he used to heal, huh?”
"Can he keep it up?"
Chuboki's axe struck the ground between us. He held a mad look in his eyes. I was terrified. A quick, precise slice went through one of their stomach’s. The other lost an arm.
A shard of ice aimed at his head—shattered by his blade. He spun on his heels, then bent backwards and dodged a kick. His axe swung upward, cutting off the Axehead's leg. He turned to the left, propping himself onto one foot, and kicked the same Axehead in the jaw. Chuboki swung his axe a second time and chopped the other in half.
The Axeheads rolled across the ground. Their masks settled in the dust. Could the fight be over just like that?
Chuboki looked at me...
This hammer he carries,
With the weight of the world on one end.
Clanging of metal coming from the forge.
Day in, day out.
Sepernum boils in the water.
A ladle sits in an empty bucket.
Embers crackle in an oven.
Chu, immortal.
Bo, man.
Ki, of the forge.
He is the one who lifts the sun high into the sky.
It is he who brings it down at night.
Chuboki, the man who flattens battlefields.
He split his axe into two large hatchets. "I was told Zachariah was special.” Chuboki faced the motionless bodies and drew in a heavy breath. "You’ve always shown restraint when it came to taking life, and I admire you for that, but if they can’t kill you... They'll take the things you love.”
“I can’t believe this is the one who got away!”
“Domino wants to play with the big boys? Fine!”
They shivered and groaned. Bodies lifted. Limbs twisting. “You wanna get your sister back? Redeem yourself? Wipe the slate clean?” They hung in the air. “If what you’ve shown us is all you got, then you’ll die today!"
Chuboki remained silent. The thought of angering that beast... We watched the Axeheads cry out, forcing themselves to regenerate. They grew thick horns from their heads and long snouts sprung from their faces.
Chuboki smashed into the ground. Rocks tumbled. Shards of ice all around. Bolts of lightning formed a net. He leapt, twisted and turned. A hammer striking a nail on the head.
No room for me to cut in. We've always fought to a draw. Was he holding back?
A shard of ice coming up from the ground. Dodged. Fists against his blade. The other severing fingers. And in a second... Snap—his arms... They held him by the neck. “We’ll eat you later, but for now watch us play with your scrumptious little king!”
How did they...?
My kneecaps covered in dirt. An eye popping from my skull. Eardrum ruptured. Everything's fuzzy. Jaw dislocated. Ice in my chest. Lightning in my veins. Fire... Fire! I'M ON FIRE!
My arms a few feet away. Nailed to the ground. A stake through my socket. Pinned down.
“You know, someone like you shouldn’t be allowed to exist.”
The other one's holding something...
“Then again, we’re the same as you.”
Bloody somethings... Chuboki?
“Hungry. Bored. Apathetic."
No, he's juggling...my organs.
"There might be one person who could kill you, but if we don’t try we can't be certain.”
Put them down.
“Our old friend, Theodore, the sheer power that flowed off him, covering the ground wherever he walked."
They're mine!
"He is the answer to stopping all of this nonsense.”
Give them back!
The Axehead licked his lips. “Tell us where he is, won’t you?" He struck the ground. "Tell us where you hid him!”
Who?
“Maybe this kitten needs more milk. Eating your own soldiers to stay alive. Tsk tsk..."
Who the hell is Theodore?
He giggled. “You really have no clue who you are? Who you were?”
Who I was?
He bursted into a fit of laughter that sent snot flying and tears streaming down his cheeks.
Is Chuboki all right? Is he still able to fight? I can’t heal anymore. Not even if I wanted to.
The Axehead laughed himself out of breath, then wiped his face and smiled. “Man, that look on your face! This has been a real treat. Thank you, Zachariah.”
I can’t die here. Not yet. Not now.
“I’ve had my fun.”
Something... Someone... Please...
“When you are stuck in a cycle of ruining yourself for others, the thing that becomes apparent is...you're worthless."
What?
"You want a war with us? One that’ll throw the whole galaxy out of line?"
This isn't...
"That’s what it is, huh? You need the fight! The kill! Something to take your anger out on!"
Anger?
“You were betrayed before you learned to walk.”
Who hurt me?
“I don’t have an ounce of pity for you, Zachariah. Not a drop!”
Pity me?
“You wanna fill that pit inside you? Then swallow this—Theodore can help you. He can help everyone...but in order for him to help us I need you to look inside that meek head of yours and think if someone else is controlling you.”
Controlling...who? Me? Is he controlling me?
“Work it over for now. You’ll have plenty of time to think. I am not going to let you go without getting my fair share of revenge."
Move. Move! MOVE!
"You took this nation from me the way you've taken everything else in my life!”
What did I take? From who? I'll give it back.
“Zachariah, you weren’t there when we were with Theodore."
They're his friends?
"You weren’t there when he delivered us!"
What did I do to him?
"You want to be different? Stronger? Make a difference in this stupid fucking world? I’ll make a deal with you. A deal you can’t refuse.”
What deal?
“You’re weak not because you starve yourself, but because you haven’t ate anything that would sate your appetite!”
My appetite?
“You’re not like any Noble I've seen and believe me—I’ve seen them all! A creature like yourself can't live off of filthy, bland, sickening flesh. Human, Noble, nothing is ever enough."
So feed me... The bottom of my belly is touched by things which make me sick. How do I fill this pit when everything I shovel in tastes like shit?
“HEY! You listening to me?”
I'm here. I'm listening.
“Guess he is dead...”
The other tossed my organs aside and squatted. They stared into my eye. “I think this fool is still alive.”
“Should we kill him?”
“STOP STARING AT ME!"
His fingers plunged into my eye socket and pulled out... All these pieces of myself. These fragments of who I was. The person I thought I'd become. Even the things I wasn't. The things I couldn't.
“Go on...” Her soft hands rubbed my disfigured face. She smelled so heavenly. Lips kissed my forehead. Breath down my nose. “Don’t you wanna know what you taste like? Eat your eye to see the truth, Zachariah.”
I don’t have the strength to move. I'm pinned down. Stuck like this forever!
She squeezed my head. “Eat, Zachariah."
...or did she mean "eat Zachariah"?
The Axehead jolted. His fingers tickled my tongue. Squirmed along my esophagus. The flavor... My mouth watered. More!
"My hand..."
Melody stares. That same look again. I'm used to it, but it doesn't hurt any less.
She shakes her head. "You didn't die..."
I shudder. "A part of me did. The arrogant, careless, meandering side of me. I couldn't be that man anymore." I gulp. "I couldn't... I can't fight this war."
Her fist. My cheek. "Fighting this war? The one you created?" Her other fist. My other cheek. "No one's safe if you're hiding!"
I grab her fist. "No one will ever be safe..."
She shakes.
I shove her back. "Not as long as Nebula and her minions are alive."
Melody scoffs. "All this time you've wasted! Hid!"
Nathaniel stirs. I hush him. "I can't catch her. She won't come out when I'm around." We lock eyes. "What do you expect me to do?"
Melody looks at Barthelemy. "You can wipe people's minds..."
Maybe I shouldn't.
She raises a brow. "Can you curse them?"
I shift and rock Nathaniel. "Things would get worse..."
She snarls. "They already are! Look at us!" She gestures to Barthelemy. "We're on a farewell trip to drop off the man you put in charge!"
I dent the truck. "He kept you alive!"
Melody shakes her head. "No, you did!"
Nathaniel cries. Melody holds her stomach. My head aches... The crystal… I ruffle through my bag.
She groans. "Why can't you see that it's always been you?" Her eyes. "They cut my father's head off..." Her heart. "Right in front of me." Her voice. "Killed my mother after... If my brother hadn't..." She covers her mouth. Tears. "You inspired people... Inspired me..."
I pull out the crystal and give it to Nathaniel.
Maybe I'm still meandering. Which way is the truth? Melody sees right through me. She knows I'm still lost. Why am I lying to myself?
That part of me didn't die. I just repress. Deepening the wound.
My stomach grumbles.
I want to eat again...
