Alex.J.Cobalt

The next morning, the birds sung over the Ruins of Evale.

It was a haunting sound. The city should have been alive with the noise of hundreds of thousands of lives being lived. You shouldn’t be able to hear the morning songbirds this close to the walls.

Tarya toed the ground with her boot. The ash was thick, covering every surface.

“What you think, boss?” Equa asked, wiping her visor with the back of her hand.

“I think it’s shit,” Tarya replied. Her own visor was clouded up, but she didn’t want to wipe it clean. She didn’t want to see the destruction of Evale in front of her.

It told her the truth. The prophecies were real.

Her brother was going to be the end of them all.

“You think you’ll be able to reason with him?” Equa asked, gesturing to the smoke coming out of Evale, “Evale tried to reason with him-”

“I’m his sister,” Tarya said. Even admitting it out loud, after what had happened, was tantamount to heresy. There was a price on her brother’s head, and every Captain in the land was out hunting him like Tarya and Equa.

However, unlike Tarya and Equa, the other Captains were out to kill him on sight.

“That’s not going to stop him summoning the power of hell,” Equa said, “you know that right?”

Tarya didn’t reply. Equa was right – there was no guarantee Natten would recognise or remember her. He was likely too far gone, consumed by the demon who he had struck the prophetic deal with two years before.

She’d have to face the reality, at some point, that her baby brother was now a merciless killing machine.

“Come on,” Tarya said, wiping her visor, “let’s get going.”

She pointedly looked at the floor. Reality was too hard to accept today. She had to try and save him, to believe he could be saved.

She couldn’t live with herself otherwise.

• Peace
  “What do you think?” Ilyen asked, taking another bite out of his dinner. The burrito juice dribbled out of the end of the paper wrapping, spilling onto the metal of the car. It sizzled gently when it … More Peace
• No way I’m eating that
  “There is no way on this side of the eleven circles of afterlife I am eating that,” Tanker scrunched his nose up at the proffered sandwich. “Oh come on,” Flanks said next to him, her voice crackling … More No way I’m eating that
• No Fighting, Not Anymore
  “We’re not fighting, not anymore.” Geiler held out her hand and dropped her gun on the floor. It rang out across the silent cavern with a resounding thud. “We’re not fighting?” Cenrath’s words rumbled at Gelier, a … More No Fighting, Not Anymore
• Peace (Stories on a Theme – “Hope”)
  “What do you think?” Ilyen asked, taking another bite out of his dinner. The burrito juice dribbled out of the end of the paper wrapping, spilling onto the metal of the car. It sizzled gently when it … More Peace (Stories on a Theme – “Hope”)
• The Runners (Stories on a Theme – “Hope”)
  Winya dropped her bags on the floor. The metal floor rung out as the heavy bags slammed into the floor. Winya winced. Rugs, then, Winya thought, looking around her tiny apartment. The apartments on Esl-5 were small, … More The Runners (Stories on a Theme – “Hope”)
• Music (Stories on a Theme – “Soft”)
  Anya shut her eyes and let the music drift over her pounding headache. The speakers were on their lowest setting, so as not to make it worse. The rain hammering against the glass of her window managed … More Music (Stories on a Theme – “Soft”)