IRON GOD | 1: Peripeteia

[23] Kolo: Locked In

            Once she had gotten Azvalath through the door, Kolo took off on her own. Whatever was going on with Aza made her necklace tremble and burn as if it were alive. The sensation was familiar, but she didn't know why.

Gods be damned, she was tired of not knowing why.

Kolo went to the girls' room. It was the only place she could think to go in that moment. Channei wasn't there, but Lalek was. The muscular woman sat and stitched a torn blanket. Her enormous hands seemed unsuited for such delicate work, but Lalek seemed content. She hummed a tune until she noticed Kolo. "Why the hustle, little devil?"

Kolo paced around the room. "Where's Channei? Is she back yet?"

"She went to help Azvalath, I think. Why'd you leave him hanging like that?" Lalek nearly poked herself with the needle.

"You're not helping him either," Kolo pointed out.

"Maybe I oughta." Lalek sighed. "You know, sometimes I feel like the most useless person here. No one ever wants my help with anything, and I get fed up even though I like everyone."

"Why don't you leave, then? Or at least take a little break?" Kolo shrugged. "Go camping for a few nights, maybe."

Lalek chuckled. "Camping?" She set the needle down. "Well, they say we're allowed to leave, but..."

"But what?" Kolo stopped pacing.

"Are we really, though?" Lalek leaned back against the wall. Black hair fell in her face. "I don't even really want to leave. I just want someone to..."

"Hey Lalek!" Channei yelled from the hallway. "We need your muscles, sis."

Lalek smiled. "I'll be back, Kolo. Don't break anything."

"No promises." Kolo meant for that to be funny, but she couldn't even smile. All she could think about was how her necklace had burned next to Azvalath when he had gotten sick. Why did she know that feeling? It was all shut away somewhere, surely.

Kolo sat down on Channei's bed and tried to remember, but it was all shut away behind a door that didn't exist. She pictured the hallway like the one where she had seen all those animals painted on the wall. There was no door.

She imagined herself punching that wall with all her might, breaking its will to hold her mind captive. Instead of shattering, however, the wall erupted in white sparks.

Then there was a door where none had been there before.

Kolo reached out to open it but found herself hesitating. What would she find? Was it better left unknown? Her heart hammered in her chest. It was the heart of both a god and a child, she realized. How was that possible? How was she possible?

That was a question she couldn't leave unanswered. Kolo cracked the door open. A gust of wind swept her white hair back. Beyond the threshold was a vast tundra shrouded in flurrying snow and dimly lit by either the first or last rays of sun.

An outburst of caws and shrieks greeted her. Kolo looked up and saw a flock of pale-feathered ashcrows fly past. Their presence drew her forward. Following the ashcrows had always kept her alive. It was one of the few certainties in her strange life.

The door slammed shut behind her and vanished along with the wall. Kolo barely noticed as she ran after the birds. Nothing mattered but the promise of one more day.