Last Life Part 1: Homecoming

Pale Blue

Saul

I felt myself scream-without reason-maybe in a pathetic attempt to make him stop struggling, which as he did so he brought the walls of reinforced concrete crumbling down. It was as if he was some reaper, clad in iron and blood and bone and bristle, from the deepest levels of hell, coming to finally claim me in the night. His single mechanical eye blazed scarlet, washing the room with its bloody glow. And again, the beast roared, spraying me with rainwater and bile. Frantically, I wiped the burning sludge from my arms and pressed myself against the wall, preparing myself for a death blow.

Only icy drafts and stinging rain met my skin. Tentatively, I opened my eyes to see that he was merely standing there, breathing slowly and staring me down. I found myself frozen for the moment, transfixed by the sudden calm of his gaze. With care, I put my swords down, and approached the magnificent beast. I watched his breathing as his broad nostrils flared, blood and rain sludge oozing down his snout.

The single mechanical eye set deep in his skull now emitted a pale blue, looking me up and down with curiosity.

"Easy there... It's alright. I do not mean to hurt you. It's okay..." I said softly, more to myself than to the actual beast as I approached him. He rested his snout on the ground, and I lightly placed my palm on one of his tusks, feeling the icy cold that had seeped through to the metal interior. Every inch of my being wanted to recoil away but something was keeping me beside the glowering behemoth that presented himself before me. I rested my hand onto his snout, feeling the burning warmth from within. So he was alive... if you could call him that.

His eyes were slowly closing, for a brief moment where contact was made, his left, the mechanical of the two, blazed a brilliant white that immediately died down to the former pale blue before ultimately shutting down. And that was that. I could feel all the strength being leached from my body. I collapsed against the maw of the boar and submitted to my exhaustion.