Chronicles of Myth Volume One: Twisted Daydreams

Scene Thirty-four

I felt the rain on my hair; I looked into the skies and saw a field of grey clouds, the silver rain poured on the courtyard, Nolan let go of me as I stood up; I walked over to Galahad’s body and formed my stingers; I kicked him in the stomach and sent him skidding on the ground leaving a bloody smear on the ground, he staggered up heaving for air, his face reformed and he placed his hands on his jaws; popping his mouth back into place: “You call that a punch”. I saw his guardian, as surges of lightning on his limbs; he formed Typhon around his right arm; the muscles bulged to the point of bursting, the arm pulsed with energy and he pressed his feet into the ground, the air felt heavy; I held my breath in anticipation, I forced my nerves to calm as I exhaled my breath, “Come here and let’s settle this”. “Impudent child”! He rushed forward and I caught his fist with my tails; I twisted his arm and bent over to touch the ground with my hands; I bent my arms and sprang up kicking him in the torso, I ripped his arm out his socket and I grabbed it with my free hand as I spun back on my feet, I smashed his face with my impromptu bat and skewered him through the chest with my tails; I lifted his body above my head, his blood fell on me as crimson raindrops, I tossed him on the ground as I saw the expression on his face; I let go of his limb and he looked at me with a twisted smile as he reconnected his arm to his shoulder, I knew what the look meant: you’re a monster just like me, revel in this power; let it corrupt you. Ashton stood in front of me as I was about to thrust forward to end the fight, “Stop”. I fell into his arms, “That’s enough… please don’t do this, I don’t where the line is anymore, but I’m sure when you kill him you’ll be on the wrong side of things”. “Let go of me damn it”! I felt his hands touch my back, I was pacified as his fingers pressed into bottom my neck; “I’m sorry”. Ashton let go, as my stingers faded away; I stared at him blankly, “Ashton how could you overlook what he did”? I “He took one of our own… I can’t forgive that”. “I’m going back inside”, I turned my back and walked forward; “I don’t expect you to forgive him… just move on”. I clenched my fist and ground my teeth, I tasted blood in my mouth as I bit on my tongue; I spit out the bitter taste in my mouth and opened the courtyard doors, I stepped inside and shut the doors behind me.

I watched Nolan chase after Astoria, he bolted out of the courtyard and shot through the doors; the footsteps faded and I was left with Galahad, “Tell me something, is there a way of curing Nikolai”? “No”. “If there was would you have tried to find it”? “Ashton, I’ve made dozens of golems; I’m used to losing them one way or another it’s pointless to try and cure a golem, I find it easier to start from scratch”. “Galahad, bonds alone are rather hard to break especially so with the memories that strengthen them; stay with us if you want to, I will welcome you with open arms, but so help me do something like this again and that will be the end of you; that girl has seen more tragedy in her life as the rest of us, I don’t want anything to change the people I’ve learned to love”. He nodded his head, “Come inside, you’re going to get a cold”. I walked into a glass room, as I stepped out of the rain; I dried myself with a blast of air and did the same for Galahads fur, I straightened out my hair; he press his hands down his matted fur and smoothed out the clumps, “Try to play nice, would you”. I felt the tears well in my eyes as I walked down the glass covered hallway leading to the living quarters; I went up the stairs as my tears flowed freely; looking at my watch, 7:15 PM. The handle ticked slowly, I felt the agony of each second pass by as I walked into the lobby and found the other members surrounding Astoria, the atmosphere was depressing… all heads turned their eyes toward my saddened eyes. Elaine walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me, “Don’t cry”. I saw Draco walk up to me with a glass of brandy, “It happened just like that... it must be horrible to witness it firsthand”. I took the brandy and raised my glass, the others looked at me and followed; our glasses clinked with each other, we downed our glasses and turned our head to Galahad as he walked up the stairs; it was still, our shock and anger was pointed at him. He stood calm as he walked between us and parted us out of his path, he took his seat at the opposite end of the table; “Let’s call this meeting into order”. I took my seat: “Let your judgment begin”; Astoria and Elaine sat as my left and right hands, Ragnarok took his place next Elaine and Nolan sat next to Astoria, Thane and Draco sat with Elaine; Louis sat next to Lex, we pulled in our chairs and placed our hands on the table. “I’ll make this quick: all in favor of letting Leigh Galahad join our team”. “Ashton, shouldn’t we mourn the loss of Nikolai first”. I faced Ragnarok, “After we return home”, I said wiping the tears in my eyes; I raised my hand. “Very well”, Ragnarok raised his hand in favor, Thane and Draco looked at each other with pained expressions as Draco raised his hand, and Thane kept his hand still. Lex voted in favor with Louis, Elaine and Nolan kept their hands on the table; I rested my hands on the table and stared at my friends in shock, did Nikolai mean nothing to them. “A five to four decision”. Ashton said grimly, “Then it’s settled, Galahad welcome aboard”. “This meeting is adjourned”. Lex, Louis, Thane, and Draco left to their quarters after pushing in their chairs; I heard the chairs slide on the ground and creak, I gripped the arms of my seat and watched my knuckles go white. Their footsteps echoed loudly in my ears, as I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

“Are we really going to accept the man who killed one of our own into the fold”? I smashed my hands into the table: “Damn it tell me, are we”? Ragnarok stood up, “The loss of a member is insignificant when there is another soul willing to take his place”. “So all the memories we shared with him, no matter how few, means nothing to you”? I felt Nolan’s hand on my shoulder, “None of us are thinking that, Astoria; there is no reason to leave an empty hole in your heart”. I pulled back my chair and stood up, “Don’t leave”. “Then give me a reason to stay and listen”. I brushed off Nolan’s hand, and walked to the main hallway leading to the quarters; “Is this really what you want, Astoria”? I looked at Elaine: “I don’t know anymore, I just want to be alone right now”. “I’ve heard enough of your dribble, stop crying and grow up; death is the fate of the weak”. “Tell me something how much does he mean to you”? I faced Galahad, “Tell me, how did you see him in your eyes”? “That thing was just a tool, a weapon trained to think like a man; the memories you share with it are meaningless, golems are just mindless statues built for war and conquest, you tainted the reason why he was built; I simply corrected the problem”. “Do you know what it means to show compassion”? Elaine said to him, “You were a commander for an army of machines that have no spirit, no will, just programming; one of your soldiers defect and you eliminate the problem… is that it”? “I’m with Astoria, you don’t arbitrarily decide which one of your creations live and die, all because something in their programming was screwed with”. “Astoria, we’re going”. Elaine took me by the hand and Nolan followed us down the hallway, “Elaine can you tell me where we’re going”? “The library, we’re not going to take this lying down”. “We’re going to recreate Nikolai”? I asked Elaine, “Yep make a new copy and start from scratch; we’re going to make a golem that can’t be destroyed”.

“Those people never take the world for what it is… do they”? I faced Ashton holding the core of my creation, “Consider yourself lucky that golems can be rebuilt”; he smiled like an idiot, “Nikolai has become the lovable mascot of our motley bunch, anyone can tell that… so suck on that you bastard”. “Fair enough, it’s hard to let go of something you’ve fallen in love with is it not; but I want to know what you would do to bring back anyone else but Nikolai”?

“You’re asking what I would do when somebodies essence is completely destroyed”. “Yes”. “Sever the ties with their guardian contract and give them another chance at life”. Ashton held his swords at my neck, “What if they die then”?  “Want to find out”. I tossed Nikolai’s core into Ashton’s hand, he caught the remains of his friend. “I know damn well, that you would cease to exist”. “Actually that’s common misconception, even when your physical essence is destroyed something of you remains, the little specs of your identity subsist when everything is gone… if those specs are reformed in time, the soul can be reborn allowing for reincarnation”. “Fae are essentially immortal the way you put it”. “No we aren’t, that fate is far worse than death; all that remains of your life is an empty husk and the echoes of your memories, that is what happens when we aren’t allowed to go in the afterlife”. “You sound like you have plenty of experience”. “I’ve put down and permanently linked souls to limbo, if you would be so kind to indulge me, I show you firsthand what it’s like to live as a soulless mirror image of who you were”. “I’ve heard of the monsters you killed, you’re truly ruthless to bar them from judgment… we’ll get along just fine”.  “We’re alike you and I. At the end of the day we’re both monsters, looking a reason to on hacking away at people, to keep on fighting insurmountable odds; that is the life we chose, we keep killing because that is the only thing that satisfies us, we keep sowing death because it makes us happy; I can attest this to all of you, the blood we spill, the blood that stains our souls and bodies disabuses the illusions we’ve made for ourselves”. “Interesting… you say we kill to define our worth and existence, I’ll keep that in mind then”. “Does anything else bring you pleasure, think very carefully, does anything else make you happy”. I felt something stir inside me, a heartbeat… emotion; “No, it’s quite empty inside”. “You’re a waste of life, if you can only find joy in the suffering of others”.  “I don’t understand how there is more to being a warrior then”. “I’m glad you can see that, maybe there’s hope for you yet”. Ashton left with a grin on his face, “Better give this to the girls and Nolan”. “Oh and dinner’s at eight thirty sharp; our hosts have been kind enough to provide one last meal before we go home; so please behave”.