Last Life Part 1: Homecoming

Flash-bangs and Flares

Saul

It was a cool evening, and there was hardly a breeze to stir the dry weeds crawling through the concrete.

My hands rested on the scarred side of the boar's snout as Sparrow and the ravens worked away on him, 'fixing him' as they said. All the while, Verres lay prone on the dirt, his trotters tucked neatly away beneath him. He was completely silent and his eyes were only half open, glossed over with film. Seeing what they were doing to him, I was shocked that he did not recoil, or even react out of pain.

Continuing to saw away and running their wires through his unmoving flesh, the ravens seemed to be re-circuiting him. Sparrow stood nearby, a tiny power saw in hand that she had used to sever some old connections. And I? Though now I was beside him, I had earlier been placed behind an old table, sentenced to eat leftovers (that were still quite delicious) as they repaired Verres. I felt somewhat guilty that I was unable to help, but this was way out of my area of expertise.

Finally, after two tense hours, we all stepped away. For a moment, the boar blinked at me and as if with sudden realization, his eyes opened wide, irises dilating.

"..."

"Are you... Alright?" I asked, backing away as he began to stir.

"No, I think that we haven't been properly introduced." The boar said. I backed away in awe, his voice... it was... He took a deep breath. "I am Lord-Prince Verres of the Sounder Azure and I am most honored to have made your acquaintance, Saul of the last life." Verres... So that was his name, and all along I had been calling him 'boar'. I smiled up at him as he rose, suddenly appearing to be the picture of dignity, worlds away from the shaking, mud-covered animal he had first appeared as.

Turning to Sparrow and her parents, he bowed his great head, "Well then. Your efforts have succeeded. This is tremendous work. I thank the members of the Verdant Unkindness for their generosity and forgiveness"

"Anytime." Corvus replied, bowing his head. "I trust that we now have an alliance between the Sounder Azure and Verdant Unkindness?"

"Most definitely, thanks again. Even if it be a volatile coalition, I accept. Now then, I shall not overstay my welcome." Verres got up, looking to me for a moment. "Are you coming, little one?"

I nodded then looked to Sparrow, who was leaning against Avis whilst watching me intently.

"Don't worry, you can always come back. I'd like that." She waved. "Go on now. I've let the people of Blackhill know that you two are coming. Safe travels and I hope to see you again sometime." Sparrow was smiling under her scarf, but for some reason her eye was shiny with tears.

I crawled up onto Verres, taking my bags, that I had set out earlier, with me. "Thank you, Sparrow, and the Ravens of the Verdant Unkindness. I shall never forget your generosity." I said, settling onto Verres' back and looking back at them.

Just as he was about to step over the retaining wall, Verres paused for a moment. Before I could say a word, Sparrow called out, "Hey! Take this!" I turned back and just barely caught a parcel she sent flying my way. Bound in rough burlap, the package was quite small. I pulled the twine off and in my palms lay a bottle of painkillers and a small, metal raven feather attached to a silver chain.

I smiled and shouted, "Thanks, I'll see you again sometime." waving at her until Verres was out of the compound. Weird, that I didn't really want to go.

----

By midday, the skyscrapers of Blackhill were on the horizon, perched upon a charcoal hilltop. Emaciated glass and metal skeletons that stood their distance from each other were retained by a massive, reinforced wall, complete with iron spikes.

"Looks welcoming." I remarked, patting Verres' neck.

"I am certain that any beast is welcome into that citadel." He humored me and then paused to get a better look at it. "Seems to be inhabited by some friendly folks hmmm?"

"What do you mean by that?" For some reason I got the sense he was still being sarcastic.

"Southwest rampart, they've got machine guns trained on us, Saul. I hope they like you, because they sure as hell don't like me." He growled, I could feel the machinery within him begin to fire up. Anticipating trouble, he roared, "Do something!" And right then, a single blossoming carmine flare went up in the air, right above us.

Panicked, I stood up on his back, waving my arms. "Goddamnit, I thought Sparrow warned them that we were coming!" I yelled as I frantically looked for something white, anything to make a flag.

Verres declined to reply, he instead decided to roar at the stronghold while stamping his hooves into the earth. Blackhill opened fire upon us, not directly, but close. The shots grew nearer as Verres backed up. The bullets only seemed to make him furious, and meanwhile I was plain terrified. As several bullets buried themselves into his bone with sickening crunching, he threw his head about angrily, and my belongings started to fly from my bags. My breath was beginning to catch, without thinking, I grabbed the first thing I could reach. I looked at my hand. That's it.

After I attached it to a bit of cord, I swung the flash-bang in a few short circles before throwing it into the air. It went off with a tremendous boom and brilliant white blaze in the sky. I hoped that would be enough.

Verres and I waited, holding our breaths, all was still for a moment. A white signal flare screamed into the sky, splitting the cloudless blue with ashen smoke. So... Were we welcome?

"I suppose that means... we're okay." Verres muttered, sending a black splatter of blood onto the dirt as he spoke.

"I guess so."