Grane – Day 6: …And Crumble
Day Six – …And Crumble
The door creaked open with a shrill cry, disturbing a dusty house that hadn’t seen life for years. Grane watched the dust dance in rays of sunlight, disturbed by the thought that this uninspired abode might be her final destination. She looked around trying to find a glimmer of something more. Rock stepped in behind her, instantly unamused by the shanty he found himself in. There was an abundance of unseen sights outside that he would rather be seeing.
“Nothing.” She thought to herself. “Nothing to be found but empty space.” She had never been one to believe in what she could not see, but continuous failures to find meaning seemed to have finally eaten her away. This was all the meaning she would find. It was all just unanswered questions stagnating in vacant space. She sighed in frustration and reached for her canteen. Closing her eyes while nursing her drink, she attempted to calm down. Rock stared out the window, unaware of his companion’s attempts to stem her anger. Grane shook, beset by frustration at her very existence. A flurry of motion followed. She wound her arm back and whipped the canteen at the ground in a silly and childish display she couldn’t prevent.
The canteen skidded across the floor with several thunks, precious water flowing out never to be recovered. Rock whirled around and watched, surprised to see such an outburst from his once-stoic friend. Grane watched the water fill the tiny creases and grooves in the wood and flow into the cracks between the boards, vanishing from sight as if it was as embarrassed and ashamed of her as she was of herself.
“Grane?” Rock called, but she was still lost and remiss, staring at the floor as if entranced. Suddenly her eyes lit up. “Go where the water goes.” she mumbled to herself. It was the oldest law of survival, and it was true here as well. She drew her sword and turned it downward to the ground. Rock steadied himself and looked around the room, half-expecting an attack to be approaching. Instead she lined up the tip of the blade with the space between the floorboards and let go. The blade fell, slipping between the boards until only the hilt remained. Grane looked at her partner and beamed a smile. When she looked away he rolled his eyes, never quite understanding her strange actions.
There was more to this place. There was more hidden under their very feet. Filled with hope for answers still, Grane pulled out her sword and began looking for a way down, kicking over everything she could find. Leaning against a dresser, Rock watched as she kicked over chairs and tipped over old furniture before coughing in the torrent of dust her destruction had kicked up. She turned to him and wiped her brow. He put his weight back onto his own two feet, glanced between the dresser and Grane. He them smiled and without breaking eye-contact reached behind the thing and pushed it forward, laughing as it smashed to the ground. Grane shrugged in bemusement as he stood proud of his imitation. Grane saw his head tilt and his eyes flatten. He pointed to something unseen and she moved to investigate.
It had hid a small hatch. Grane couldn’t help but to grin as she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him, pleased with his discovery. She inhaled twice and then exhaled, prepared once more to meet her answers head on. She lifted the hatch and the two descended down.
The floor was a solid 15 feet down, but was surprisingly better lit than the ground level. Light shone from glass cylinders above, lining the ceiling and guiding them to a tunnel that pushed further underground. Rock stared at the fireless light before squinting and twitching, momentarily blinded by the intensity. It was interesting indeed, but it was no time to dally. Grane guided him forward and they made their way down the tunnel.
Eventually it opened up into an astonishing complex of metal and glass. The sheer size of the room was dizzying, for it would take hundreds of men years to dig out such a thing. Many panes of glass sat on buzzing machines, pulsing lights and displaying strange images and symbols. She had found a still-living relic of the old world, and it was every bit as strange as she had imagined it would be. The two wandered about, enticed by the sights around them. The chamber went on, transforming from a cube to cylinder. The room descended below into the abyss, separated by a gigantic metal grate that served as a catwalk for the pair. The walls were lined with something she couldn’t make out in the dim light. Thousands upon thousands of large containers, gently seeping mist from the seams of the glass windows on each.
Grane stepped up to one, feeling the chilled air. She wiped at the cold and fogged window clearing a view inside. She flinched instinctively, momentarily startled by what she saw within. Disturbed, she checked another and then another. It was all the same. Humans. The things housed humans. Breathing, sleeping and healthy-looking humans. What purpose could such a place serve?
“Do not feel frightened.” a frail voice cooed. Grane reeled to find the source. A man slowly turned around in his chair where solid ground met catwalk. She had passed him before, but in his stillness and her amazement she hadn’t even noticed him. “They all still live.”
Along with the witch, he was the oldest thing she had ever seen. A frail mess of beard hair capped with a shining scalp, the man sat next to one of the human containers, this one sequestered away from the rest and decorated in so many cords of some sort that it almost looked like it had hair of its own. Flanking it was another chair like the one upon which the man sat. Now empty it must have once seated his partner.
“Who are you?” Grane asked, cautiously getting closer to him, stopping a few yards away. Rock caught up to her and stood ready at her side.
“No one of import.” the man replied slowly, his deliberate words making him seem almost uncomfortable with speaking. “My people are not like yours, Lady of the Sands. This is our last bastion.”
“You aren’t a god, are you?” She asked, her fingers twitching in anticipation of a something she could not pinpoint. “This is just another remnant of the world that was.”
“Right you are.” He said with a gentle smile. Still she found him disquieting on a base level. Something was wrong with him. He wasn’t a normal person.
“Then…the blight is…”
“The blight?” he repeated in confusion before resting his chin upon his hand. After a beat he continued speaking. “You must mean this.”
He reached to his side and pressed on one of the nearby devices, the clacks of which echoed throughout the chamber. Silence followed. She looked around, having expected him to be showing her something, however nothing seemed to change. Right as she was about to speak up, a distant but familiar sound filled her ears. The hum grew louder and soon from the darkness beneath the blight appeared. Rock grabbed onto Grane, scared witless at the sight. The hum remained gentle however, and the blight drifted over, coming to a rest near the empty chair.
“What in the sands…” Grane gasped.
“Is this your blight?” the man asked sofly. Grane adjusted her stance instinctively, feeling as if she might decide to end the man’s life at any moment.
“It…” she stammered aghast“It is yours?”
“Not mine.” he laughed before spreading his arms out towards the cavern of sleeping men. “It is all of ours.”
“Why?!” She shouted. “Why do you torment us so!”
“It was once our hope,” he explained. “But now it just a broken machine running a corrupt version of its programmed routine.
“I…” she struggled to understand what he was saying. “Then you must stop it!” He laughed, sounding sure of his superiority as if Grane was merely a child to him.
“We can not.” he stated clamly. “She still searches for bugs, testing it again and again.”
“She?” Grane asked through gritted teeth. Again the man tapped at the panels beside him. The container next to him lit up and Grane could now make out the person contained within. A woman dressed in white slept calmly inside. The cords that emerged from the container all began in her head. All the things here were linked to her in some way.
“Our scientist.” The man explained. “Our leader.” Grane shook her head.
“You want to fix your pet?” She screamed. “It kills my people! It steals the light right from their eyes!”
“I understand your frustration.” He stated bluntly. “But my people are sick. Sick with something you are immune to. Something we intend to harvest.” Grane retrieved her bow from her shoulder. Confused, but similarly afraid of the man, Rock sidestepped slightly, bracing himself for what was to come.
“We are not cattle!” Grane bellowed. “You will not use us!” She reached her hand back for an arrow.
“I wouldn’t do that.” The man said, still inhumanly calm about the situation. He pulled something from behind him and pointed it at Grane. It was long like a spear, but instead of coming to a point, it ended with an opening that revealed the thing to be hollow.
Grane smiled. She had dealt with this weapon before. In the old world, it shot thunder. But the world had long since run out of ammunition for such a device. Calling his bluff, she drew an arrow as the man took aim. Deafening thunder rang out. She had made a mistake. There was motion to her side, and a scream of unknown words. Rock moved towards her and then hit the ground. Grane let her arrow fly and it struck the man in the eye. With a shriek he fell backwards onto the ground.
Grane quickly turned her attention to Rock. He lay on the ground, bleeding heavily from the side. She called out his name, but there was no reply. She crouched and turned his head to hers. There was no life left in his eyes. He had saved her. Why? Why had he saved her? It was counter to the very things she taught him. She stood up, breathing heavily and staring at the three entities in front of her. She felt more rage than she ever had before, and all of them would pay for that. She strode forward and drew her sword. The man looked up at her, one hand holding the arrow in his eye.
“You can not..” He groaned out, his voice no longer calm. Rather, he now plead to Grane. “It took part of you, right? She stopped and glared at him. He was right. She had not felt right since the blight touched her all those years ago. Her humanity was dulled that day. “It still exists. Your parents minds still exist.”
“You lie!” she screamed holding her sword above him.
“Look at it!” he coughed, weakly pointing at the blight. She turned to face it as it still gently floated and hummed a gentle melody. Again she saw the faces of the countless folk it had taken. In the middle though, she saw her parents. In between them was a young girl, familiar in a way Grane did not understand. The three faces looked at her in silence, as if asking her to save them. Grane’s muscles felt weak and she swallowed a mouthful of air.
“You must not kill our leader.” The man said in barely a whisper, life slowly leaving his body. “She can fix this. She can bring your parents back. “Grane looked at him, frozen in this idea. “She can bring you back.” Grane seemed to consider it for a second. The people of the wastes had ostracized her. They had feared her. They didn’t deserve saving, did they? Not by her. She could live in this paradise with her parents away from all the hardships of her old life.
“No.” She suddenly stated quietly before looking at the man one last time. “What’s gone is gone.”
The man grimaced and began to say something, but she made sure he wouldn’t have the time. Pulling her sword back out she stepped to the scientist frozen in sleep. With a scream she plunged her blade through the glass and into the woman’s heart. She withdrew her blade and a rush of ice-cold water poured out of the tank, soon turning red. Lights began to flicker all around her Grane turned to the blight and looked into her parent’s eyes one last time. They smiled at her, nodding with approval. Grane’s mouth twitched, failing to form a smile back. She whipped around slashing at the cords that emerged from the container. There was a loud whorl and then nearly every machine and light ceased to function. The blights humming stopped, and when Grane looked back in its place was simply a pile of dust, now mixing with the bloodied water that had begun to soak the flooring. Everything was over. She sheathed her sword and returned to Rock. Lifting him up gently with both arms, she took her leave.
She returned to the light outside and stepped into the greenery. How could such sadness be allowed in a world that could be this beautiful? There was never a point to anything. Just humans killing other humans to survive. That’s what this world was. That’s what this world would always be. Grane walked to the spot where the vast flows of saltwater met the sand. She stared into the blue, quietly begging her late partner for forgiveness. Grane stepped into the water, wading slowly until she found herself up to her neck. She took one last look at Rock, closed her eyes in sadness and let him go. His body would remain here in this paradise forever. It was the only thing she could think to do for him now.
A step forward and she was underwater. She stood still, thinking about how things had gone. Soon she was out of breath and her body gasped for air. Her lungs began to fill with water as she waited to die. There was nothing left for her now, she may as well meet everyone wherever death would take them. The vastness of the water hid her tears as things she began to feel cold.
“Grane! Stop!”
Suddenly she stepped back, her friend’s voice echoing in her mind. Her head now above water, she coughed up a mouthful of water and gasped for breath. Rock had saved her. He had taught her what it was like to care, and then he had given his life for hers. She wouldn’t waste that. Should couldn’t waste that!
Grane turned around and made for shore. She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she must live life as best she could for his sake, and for her own.
