A slow trickle of madness. A sudden moment of realisation. And a soft brush of death across your cheeks, as your child laughed around you. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, only the tales drove us. Drove our greed to the pedestal of a dead God, with whispers of money, strength, and something more than that. I wondered, in that moment, where had it all gone wrong?
----------------------------------------
“But do you really have to go? Stef would be very sad, you know?” Soph, my wife, tried once again to dissuade me, and influence my decision. I had gotten tired of her, my fingers twisted in self controlled anger, barely kept from pushing her away. I had a bag to pack, and an entourage to catch. I couldn’t be wasting time on her.
“He’ll be fine. It’s just a few days. I’ll be back before he even knows it. And then he’ll be proud of his old man,” I replied hastily, as I finished putting my last packet of dried food in the backpack.
‘She never understands, she’d never understand. She always doubts me. I’ll show her, I’ll show her that I’m not a failure. I’m the goddamn man of this house!’
I saw Soph hesitate, stuck between wanting to ask something and feeling the threat of my bursting anger. I ignored her and went over the mental list of everything I’d need for this journey. Proliferation-and-tissue-remodelling band check. The firearm tucked beside my belt, check. Hazmat suit, check. Recorder, check. Pocket sonar–the undoubtedly most important item in the list. I took one last look in the bag just to make sure it’s kept safely–check.
And I was off. The handle to my apartment was within my grasp when I felt a tug. I looked back, grimacing, and I was sure it showed this time. Soph pulled on my bag, and she finally asked,
“What about me? Can you not stay for me? What would happen to us if something happened to you?” Her voice came out choking and stuttering. I was lost in thought for a moment, the emotions tugging for something within me which was kept alive solely by our son. I snapped back to reality in the next instant.
“Nonsense! What would happen to me? The Godwhale is dead! D.E.A.D. Dead! It’s a chance of a millenia. Do you not know what this could bring us? The kind of power, and wealth that you can only imagine. I’m doing this all for our family! Why can’t you see that?” I shouted, convinced by my conviction. Yes. I was doing this for my family.
She stepped back at my outburst, cradling her wrist like she always did whenever I got angry. It softened me just a bit, the rage still coiled within me, but a pang of guilt also found its way there now.
I did not stay there anymore, whirling away, and out of the gate swiftly. The outside world opened to a dirty corridor, partly lit by the ionic lights, and an ever present smell of rotting eggs. Half of the corridor was bright, and the other half–where I lived–covered in darkness. Some asshole had stolen the other light again.
I grumbled, my sore mood worsening, I strapped the bag behind me tightly and walked down the corridor and the stairs, trying not to trip against any homeless people which made the stairs their abode.
Walking through the road towards the rendezvous point, I spared one last glance back at my house. I don’t know what compelled me to do this, yet I was staring at the face of my 9 yr old son with his green eyes and brown hair, looking sadly at me through the sole window of our flat.
I waved at him. He waved back. I whirled around and walked away before anything else could break my resolve.
‘It’s for my family.’
----------------------------------------
Soon we were on our way. A series of jeeps following a single dusty path in the middle of the night. Even though no beasts existed around this area, due to the influence of the Godwhale, I still can’t sit back and enjoy the cold air hitting my face. No one in this entourage trusted each other. I just hoped that the ones sitting by my side were trustworthy enough.
“Have you guys heard?” Sat beside the driver, Martin tried to ignite some conversation as our jeep raced through the dark desolate roads towards our target. My hands were always on my gun, eyes at the jeeps behind and ahead of us. Nate was driving, and I hated the fact that we had to use his. It always smelled of blood.
“Yes Martin, yes. ‘The Godwhale can give you power, money, strength to beat up your wife-’ ” Jackson says, smirking at Martin as he said so and resumed, “ ‘-all if you can take a taste of the Godwhale’s blood.’ We have all heard it. I honestly call it bull.”
“Of course it’s bull. The Godwhale was just a huge fucking animal who learned how to fly. If I start gaining powers from every animal which flies, I’ll be God by breakfast as well. If that’s your only source of information, then I suggest we drop you at the next gas station.” Martin laughs as he says so, his laugh as shrill as the horns of the jeep. I can imagine his fat belly flopping around as he laughs.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Jackson, who was seated with me in the back, glares and spats “What the fuck is it that you heard then, huh?”
“Oh a lot of things, my dim-witted friend. A lot. Treasures at the top of the Iron tree, radiation zones, Crying trees. Of course, I hardly believe much of it. But there is one rumour which sounds very believable. It's about a hidden sanctuary within the Godwhale.” He stopped there, looking back at us with smiley eyes, clearly taunting us for more information. We didn’t give him that satisfaction.
“Tsk. Boring people. Anyway, I’ll tell you about it Nate,” he said to the driver, “Well people are saying that given how old the Godwhale was, it had swallowed a lot of things in its time. Lots of people. And there might be a safe haven inside it. A place safe from its acidic juices and enzymes. Even something from the Industrial Age would be priceless in the pawn shops.”
“Martin….are you suggesting we go dig through the Godwhale?” Nate finally spoke, and his voice gave me shivers. There was something suppressed in it, like a spring waiting to bounce. There was disbelief, hope, and… excitement.
‘These fucking blood addicts.’ I sighed, Joseph sighed, and the other two hollered in the dark. In a second I was alert, watching the other jeeps. Nothing happened. After glaring at the duo–who always carried a flask of blood freshly stolen from the blood bank. I don’t know when, but drinking blood like red wine had grown into a much more common practice since the last information age passed, and individuals got too powerful–I went back to sitting half relaxedly. The comfort-enhancers in the seats took care of me, while the anti-gravity engine kept the jeep a constant smooth ride. The smell of blood still grated me a little.
The rest of the night went like this, Nate being a constant driver–he had himself to blame. Ever since his Hypothalamus surgery, he hardly felt asleep–while we took turns sleeping.
In the shining dawn of a new day, I couldn’t help but think about what Martin had said earlier. Even if I never really got into the act of cannibalism, or much of a fan of these exotic meats, the temptation of the haven inside the Godwhale was very much alluring to me. But not for the reasons Martin might have.
I was not here for the money.
‘Money not more than what is required for my family to have a good life,’ I assured myself. I was here for my family after all. But…
It was a weird thing to wonder, but the Godwhale was called a God for a reason. As much as Martin liked to argue the opposite, not every flying beast was called a God, but it.
First of all, it was a 100m long behemoth, with an estimated weight of 150 tons. Yes! Very light for someone its size! It was hypothesised to be the necessary condition for its flight capabilities. And yet, the Godwhale didn’t really flap its wings and fly away. It seemed to just float there, suspended in the air like a puppet on a string.
And the Godwhale sang.
The song, like a mermaid of the past, had called so many people to it. So many lives which never saw the light of another day ever since they entered its domain.
Nobody knows what happened to them. Maybe they died. Maybe they became nourishment for the Iron tree.
Even the Iron tree, an anomaly in itself, was said to be birthed by the Godwhale. A twist in the rules of nature, something only a God should be capable of.
Secrets were buried in those soils. A kind of strength which only coils around those privy to them, and the ones who can manipulate it to their use. Above all though, there was something to be gained, just by exploring the carcass of a God. A fallen God.
My finger drummed against the sheath of my blade, and my lips dry over with excitement.
“We’re here,” Nate called. I was instantly on my feet, the jeep tumbled a little from the sudden change in centre of mass, but I was looking at the sight before me, even as others stirred awake.
My blood ran cold, my cheeks twitched in disbelief, and my eyes widened as the first hints of metallic leafs found my vision.
Those crystal like leaves, shining against the early sunlight, scattering light in a hundred ways and in a hundred colours, were only the beginning, or to say the ends of even more impressive iron branches.
I knew it was like this. Had seen it on the net so many times. And yet, virtual realism could never compare itself to the real deal.
In front of me, a giant metallic tree touched the skies. The magnanimity of the structure, and the ludicrousy of this being was not lost to me. And yet, despite the grandness of this ancient tree, it was only a sideshow to something even more mythical.
Lying at the foot of the tree, was the Godwhale. It was much more than I had imagined. Much more magnificent so close. Like a whale, it had a streamlined body, a white shade marred with blood splotches all over it. It was being desecrated by people who had reached before us, even as I gaped at the sight of it. It wrapped around the metallic base of the tree, the Godwhale was a being of utter grandness, incredible size, and the fate of another dead being.
My ears felt plugged, the world a bit muffled, and as blood flooded to my head, I suddenly laughed.
It was dead. I laughed even harder, arching my back.
It was dead, and now it was being mined.
Even a God can’t escape death. My stomach hurt, my jaw snapping tightly.
And finally I calmed down. The secrets were mine. I was gonna take them all. I was gonna be someone. Be someone more than just a man.
All for my family, of course.