Calm and Calamity

Chapter 59

Day: 667

Days Left: 4813

Lives Saved: 3

As soon as the golden knight forced the mask to Salim's face, it instantly activated. The bronze and rusted metal that the mask was made of spread across the rest of the old storykeeper's body.

Salim writhed on the ground in pain from the transformation. "You need to... need to run!" he cried out to the others; Salim's voice distorted and crackled through the gas mask that was fused to his skin. "Run!"

Once the bronze and rusted metal had coated the old storykeeper's body, numerous pipes, tubes, and funnels protruded out, covering his entire back and shoulders, along with a pair on either side of his face. Salim's limbs clanked and clattered as cogs and wheels appeared, the gears turning and clicking that matched his own heartbeat.

The three imps whimpered in fear as they ran away and back into the centre of the village.

However, Rin and Calixte hesitated, still frozen in fear from the golden knight. They both looked to Sumit, who was still lying on the ground, unable to stand up due to his injuries, then to the others who had fallen and unconscious. Rin considered transforming to help, but the risk was too high; her mask form was too unpredictable; she could save everyone or kill everyone or not even do anything.

"I said run!" Salim shouted once more at them. A puff of purple gas spurted out one of the pipes on the clockwork man's back, then another and another, until all of them poured out the mysterious purple gas in a constant stream.

Pushing through her fear paralysis, Rin rushed over to Sumit and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to support him up to his feet.

"But what about the others!" Sumit attempted to resist as Rin hauled him away from the battlefield.

"We can't help everyone!" Rin bit down on her bottom lip, her stomach twisting in guilt. She glanced back and saw Calixte still tending to Calanthe's wounds. "Calixte!" Rin yelled out to him. "We need to retreat!"

"We cannot leave them!" the amphibian rejected. "I refuse!"

"Calixte, we-" Rin spluttered. The purple gas emanating from the clockwork man had spread and covered the entire battlefield. Rin choked and heaved as the purple gas entered her lungs and scratched her insides. She held her breath, but the noxious gas lingered and was already inside her, clawing at her lungs. Rin hobbled away whilst carrying Sumit, both of them coughing and hacking, their legs stumbling and then collapsed onto the ground. The young woman clutched at her throat, gasping for breath until she finally lay on the sand motionless.

"No..." the clockwork man blubbered as he saw Rin, Sumit, and Calixte collapse from the noxious gas he could not control. Salim glanced around and trembled, his clockwork body rattling and clattering. The other fallen prisoners were coughing and wheezing, unable to stand back up and get away due to their injuries.

The golden knight watched in interest, her curiosity clearly satiated as to wondering what Salim's mask transformation was and why he was so hesitant and refused to use it. 

Now in his clockwork man form, Salim could move, his injuries gone or rather only on his human body. He could fight once again and would be even stronger than before, but...

He glanced around at the large cloud of noxious purple gas pouring out of him. If the other prisoners were exposed to it for too long, their brains might get damaged, and their memories might be wiped away. Salim stumbled up to his feet, then darted away from the village until he was a safer distance away from the other fallen prisoners.