The Golem City (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The black zeppelin hovered just outside Yarnsford. The sun was at its evening lilt behind Mount Gilgamesh, leaving the town in a twilight haze. Lighted windows twinkled along the mountain face, small specks that glittered in the stone and dusk. A cool wind combed the hills.

"Are you sure you can't stay?" Turner asked Herrera again, taking in his bandages and swollen face. "You look like you could use a rest. Besides, my parents will never believe what we've got to tell them."

"You're very kind, Turner, but the Brigade still has much to do, and little time to do it. After losing Balsa and two of their fortresses, the Commission is weaker than a kitten, but those who remain will be anxious to do something desperate to resist the states putting them to rout. The sooner we put a broom to its remainders, the better, something our new friend Mr Kritzinger has offered to help us with."

Dorothea put her arms gently around him, mindful of his injuries.

"Will we ever see you again?"

"Of course you will," Herrera assured her. "You have proven yourself allies as well as our dearest friends! We have triumphed over great odds and, if I may say so, without overstating the case, saved the world from certain tyranny." He looked at her affectionately. "Are you sure you don't want us to take you home, young Dovetail?" She shook her head.

"This is her home," Turner said, exchanging smiles with Dorothea. "Has been since my family promised she'd have a place with us here, for as long as she needed one."

Dorothea looked at Turner with a smile on her lips and a vivid blush on her cheeks.

"I see," Herrera said, and beamed. "It does my heart good to have met such a fine and courageous pair. I look forward to seeing what the years make of you. Until then, look after each other. If all goes well, we will meet again."

Herrera scaled the short stair into the zeppelin's undercarriage. They watched as the door slid shut behind him. The battered airship began to climb, and the Brigade cheered and waved goodbye through the windows. Turner and Dorothea stood and waved until the zeppelin was nothing more than a shadowy figure creeping silently through the clouds, continuing to do so until the airship vanished.

Like the memory of a sweet dream.

******

Beneath the tranquil surface of the ocean, a veritable hive of industry was underway. The golem had slowly emerged from the remains of the toppled city and returned to work, tending the city as they had since the time of its creation, indifferent to the ocean's depths, fixing what needed fixing and restoring their world as best they could. Nothing went to waste. Portions of Fortress Six could be seen amid the restoration.

Before long, some semblance of the old city stood, restored against the shallow currents of the ocean, the light from the sun hanging over it like rolling laundry sheets. Now devoid of human life, numerous fish, squid and other tenants of the maritime frolicked among the edifices that rose up in their resident fathoms.

Emet walked along the ocean bottom into what had once been the palace garden, trailing a piece of driftwood. He set it down beside the carefully repaired statue of Corrin Dovetail, whose benevolent gaze rested on his new environs, the vines and flowers of his garden now replaced by a lush, undulating, fern-filled forest amidst a bounty of coloured coral and polyps.

Obscured by the deep, untroubled by the world above the waves, the Golem City lived on in peace.

*** Author Note

Dear Reader, thank you for being awesome and reading my small tale about a girl, a boy and some magic. I hope you enjoyed the Golem City and would love to know if you would like to see a sequel. I appreciate any votes or comments you've cared to share, and welcome you to enjoy my other works, should you be interested. I thank you again for reading.

- Timothy Andrews