Tevun-Krus #10 - TKX: Best of 2014

Sacrifice No More
A steampunk short by @ashiqtnt.

In the thick forests there was a cave. Even at midday the cave looked foreboding and the stench coming out of it was unbearable. The entrance was bigger than a normal sized adult and didn’t look too inviting. A red light was emanating out of it accompanied by a humming sound and pungent smoke.

Red stood a few feet before the entrance. She covered her nose and pulled her hood down to her eyebrows.  Her maroon robe, tied at the waist, fluttered in the slight breeze exposing her knee high boots. She sighed and pulled the goggles up from her neck to over her eyes and nose.

“At least this one has an air filter,” she muttered.

Ignoring the objects cracking under her boots, she pushed on through the haze. Suddenly the humming stopped. Red flicked her mechanical right arm, a slight mechanical whirring later a blade appeared from her hand. Raising the blade across her front she cautiously moved forward again.

“Are you here to kill me?” A voice asked startling her.

Red kept silent and stuck her back to a wall. With her free hand she slowly unsheathed her hunting knife. The smoke was still limiting her vision to just a couple of feet in front of her and the smell made identifying anything impossible. Only her ears could be trusted and even they were hearing things.

“You can tell me, you know. I won’t hurt you. You’re way too big for my purposes anyway. And your heart is not pure, is it Red?”

The mention of her name made her hold her breath. There was no way that he was supposed to know that. In fact, no one was supposed to know that Red was after him.

The smoke started clearing little by little and finally Red could see. When she looked down, her eyes widened in horror. The objects that cracked under her boots were bones of various sizes and shapes. She looked around frantically and then looked up diagonally. Framed by a red stained window, a little man was hovering. He was less than shoulder length to Red with fiery red hair and a clean shaven face. He had what looked like a metallic backpack on his back and it was expelling smoke making him hover in the air.

“You should be more careful when you walk around. All that crunching bones disturbs my concentration.”

“Concentrate on your death!”

He smiled at her, “it has been a pleasant meet. Next time, if there is one, I will be sure to kill you. Do give my regards to Sir Jacques and tell him that I’m not a giant. I’m not in his league.”

Saying so, he broke the glass behind him and then threw a few glowing balls about the size of a fist at Red. Red did not wait to check on the balls and ran out of the cave. Just as she exited the cave, explosions shook the ground throwing her off balance and face first into the grass. She turned around and removed the goggles gasping for air and then coughing violently when the smelly air hit her nostrils. Red stood up and put the goggles back on cursing the little man in every language she knew.