12 Miles Below

Father, of course, was aware of the danger. He’d simply glanced back at the incoming threat, then changed course slightly. I thought we’d be able to outrun it, but Father had clearly calculated that wasn’t the case. It was gaining on us from what I could tell. The creature moving faster than even relic armor was capable of. He said machines all had weakness, but that also implied they had strong points too.

“Hold tight, I’ll need to dodge for this. Don’t get in my way.” Father said in between breaths. His hand stopped supporting my weight, getting ready.

The creature opened its mouth, and a violet glow lined the jaws. Father didn’t wait for confirmation, instead making one low leap on reaching the end of a roof. He hooked his hand to the railing, killing his forward momentum and swinging violently down into the alleyways below. The move almost threw me off by sheer centrifugal force, but I’d held through somehow.

Above us, a bright violet beam shot through the air where we’d been a moment ago. The laser was blinding, remaining like a yellow gold ghost across my vision, even after I looked away.

Father landed with a thud, then sprinted down a few blocks.

“What was that?!” I yelled out, struggling to hold on.

“A drake. They’re stronger than Screamers, but they avoid close combat if they can. Those beams can cut anything for them, even shielded relic armor, so they rely on that first. They have powerful long distance sight to pair with the beam, but that advantage cuts both ways. It’s most vulnerable for a counterattack after it fires.”

The next instant, he leapt to the side into an empty pseudo house. Dust filled the inside, along with a table and chair set, all made of concrete. Table, chair and all.

“Get behind something and stay still as a grave, boy. Don't draw your weapon, stay still and trust me.”

A table and chairs didn’t make for the best hiding spot, but beggars can’t be choosers. I scrambled over and ducked, finding a good enough spot that covered most of me in the shadow.

Father hugged the wall by the door, flipping his knife out and leaving it off. He remained completely frozen, waiting.

I heard a resounding thud as something heavy dropped into the same alleyway we’d ended up in. The automaton had followed us. Now to see which direction it would go.

I could hear footsteps outside, slow and meticulous. Hunting.

Slow minutes crawled by as it continued to rifle through the nearby houses. I felt it turn and examine a house further from us. I thought I could even hear voices, or one single deeper voice. But it was too far away to really tell if I was just jumping at shadows.

It had picked the wrong direction to go down from the sounds. Hope was quickly crushed underfoot, by Father himself.

He turned the knife on, sliced off a small chunk of the doorway and kicked it outside. It hit a wall, loudly. The blue glow in our room winked out of view as he turned the knife off. Heavy footfalls grew in our direction almost immediately after.

I shot him a horrified glance, quickly signalling confusion. He tried to return a signal, but with the knife in hand, he couldn’t articulate the fingers well enough to communicate anything. So he shook his head silently instead, and returned to position.

The heavy footsteps came closer. Soon, I caught glimpses of the creature’s body through the empty window frame of our hiding spot. It walked on four legs, head shaking from right to left with each step. I curled further down, hoping it hadn’t seen me in the brief moment I’d seen it.

Then I heard it.

“Come... little human.” It was a heavy, low rumble that seemed to rattle in my head even after the words left. “Ssssss… there, lurking under your skin... is an infestation. It beats in your heart, spreading disease with every gasp…. I want to clean you of it.” Insanity left its mouth with each word floating through the cold air. It spoke like nothing I had ever known. The words individually made sense, but the whole just seemed too alien. Like these words were never meant to be put together in such an order. It's pitch and timber felt like coals raking through my mind.

It drew closer to our house. Father stayed where he was, flat against the wall.

“Sssssss.... Such a pristine violation of flesh, whispering lies in your head from a thousand tongues... I’ll bring you salvation. From that... rot. From that grotesque tumor cradled in soft tissue and bone, laying deep within.”

I couldn’t help but take glances through the window as it moved across the street from us. The size of its body was massive. It couldn’t possibly fit through any of these doorways, and it didn’t. Instead, it slithered its head into each, searching for us. Pace was slow and measured, no caution in the steps, only conviction.

“Ssssssss… Come out... little human. You poor suffering child. Let me... touch the marrow inside your bones. Let me... take you away. I'll be your refuge. Your shelter from suffering. I’ll clean your soul and skull of torment and depravity.”

The massive head trotted outside our doorway. It paused, then slowly turned to peek inside, the violet eyes scanning through the building I hid in. Dried blood speckled the almost pristine white fangs of the creature. The jaw seemed to be stretched in a perpetual smile.

I broke my gaze and hid further under the table, but somehow I knew deep inside that the thing had spotted me. I took a panicked look up again, only to catch it’s eyes staring right back.

It leaned closer to the house, “I seeeeeee you... cowering in the darkness, so afraid of the light. Venerate this moment. She has sent me to free you... of this agony you live in." It spoke, head snaking slowly into the house. Filling up the doorway and passing by it, inch by inch.

Thoughts raced through my head, lucid and unobstructed. This close, I could probably shoot the thing without missing. My fingers twitched to grab my pistol, but Father's warning rang through my head.

To trust him. To not draw a weapon. There wasn't much time to say anything else. My instincts warred with my logic.

Father remained unmoving at the doorway, as the machine head creeped by mere inches away. The drake didn’t seem to spot him, it’s eyes focused intently on me.

How had it not seen Father?

They have powerful long distance sight to pair with the beam, but that advantage cuts both ways.

Field of view! It hadn’t missed Father by accident. It hadn’t been able to see him at that angle, the vision too narrow.

Then my part in all this was to be bait. That's why he didn't want me to move or fight back. I'd lure the thing into believing it had already won.

I closed my eyes, and focused on remaining still. My world turned to blackness with only sounds left to paint the world with.

“Yes, yes... close your eyes. I bring you... what you’ve been searching for. The silence you so desperately crave."

A sound of something humming, electricity charging up.

Snap hiss of Father’s dagger being turned on.

Impact and metal melting.

Energy and lightning screaming past me.

Heat.

Heat that I could feel at the side of my exposed cheeks.

I ripped my eyes open again. The table in front of me had a hole melted into it. The beam that had caused the damage narrowly missed me, cutting into the wall behind. It must have tried to fire at me. And missed.

Father stood resolute, his knife embedded deep into the automaton’s head. Superheated drafts blurred the frozen air, a massive haze steaming from the maw. It struggled to turn, but the movements were overpowered by the ancient gauntlet, holding that knife.

The drake hadn’t missed by accident, it had been forced to miss. The thing seemed almost shocked at being caught flat handed like this.

Father cut the weapon down and twisted the knife violently in a fluid motion. The head fell limp onto the ground, critical metal muscles and tendons severed off. The body behind followed suit, slumping with a heavy thud, dust spilling into the air as it collapsed.

Only the eyes moved, turning to focus on it’s killer, the camera iris narrowing with hate.

It spoke as Father regriped his knife to execute a different cut.

“Ssssss… you-”

“Enough.” Father said and cut down. The knife glided across it’s neck with ease, splitting through the rest of the cables with expert direction.

The violet lights turned off, and there was only silence again.

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