The Garden Within the Wasteland

Mary Wails.

I saw a man die today, or maybe it was a year ago.

I found him as he was bleeding out, his breaths spoke the name of an acquaintance of his that I couldn't quite hear, he held my hand and gave me his sword making me promise him something but he died before I could respond, it wouldn't have mattered if he heard me or not in the end, he was a dead man.

Every step in this gold sparkled land had the slight crunch of the corpse of something, but I never could identify it.

The only recognizable thread in my withered vision, was the great beast

The Enkidu, the animal, the beast, the Boar of liberation, all names referring to the same behemoth of metal. I never found the hatred in my heart or the fear that many expressed, even the slight quiver in the vagueness baldwin considered speech, to me the great beast was a constant, a must in the memories of every child of the waste, it was recognizable as the oppressive sun. Not a lot if known of the Enkidu, the name of its creator and father is gone, and the fates of those who lived on it are similarly forgotten, it's confusing how a thing so treated with such emotion, can be so little known, how can we feel towards what we do not know?

I see the boar in the distance, close enough to walk towards, probably today as well, the thoughts surrounding are plaguing me, voices of hundreds speak out to me, hundreds of my own voices consulting me and planning with me, I see each hand movements, each visual aid, and every sound cue, there must be a way onto this beast, and one of "me" must know

How did the old people of the Enkidu enter? How did they leave? Could they even leave? That beast was a weapon, wasn't it? Was it controlled remotely?

"Have you any knowledge of the beast?"

The words left me, running around me as sound, in search of the receiver

"All I know is its destructive ability"

"Not more than that?"

"Nothing more"

"And how am I to enter it?"

"You wish to be the one to vanquish it?"

"I want to know what it is."

"Are these bodies guilty of failing to discourage you?"

"All land is burial ground; every step Is made on a corpse"

I kept my march towards the metallic beast, each of my steps producing a sound that over shadowed the sound of my feet, yet I never looked down, I wasn't disgusted of what things I counited to crush under my feet, but I had no reason to look.

The beast appeared more clearly before me now, its metallic skin seems like it should be shining yet it is covered with dust and un-evaporated tears from the sky, its legs drenched deep into the earth, wires hung out like souls stretched out of their bodies from the beast, periodically it would flash and something in it would shine, that shine was all we had now, the form of the beast was hiding the sun behind it, its horns that laid so proudly on the top of its head seemed blunt now, the singular eye I could observer was hallow. Well, it was a machine.

"Nothing I can say may convince you other ways?"

"Do you believe me weak, Baldwin?"

There was no response from him now, as I kept the beast in my eye sight, my legs carrying me to it.

"You'll shatter a finger"

Baldwin said passively redirecting my eyes to my hands, one remained hanging idly on side, the other grasped and held the handle of that dead man's blade with such desperation. After a second my fingers simply fell apart, letting go of the blade and returning to the pocket of my jacket.

I took a deep breath, studying the area around me, nothing but a scrap-yard, where ill-fated sons and daughters go to perish, and to be looted. I have heard rumors, from those who travel outside of the major cities, that the feet of the Enkidu used to be a place fit of a harvest, I can see it clearly now, its legs are scrapped and robbed. The metal ripped off it with such terrible accuracy and distaste for aesthetic, and I see the ropes hanging around it, beckoning me to claim and climb it, and I had intended to, if not the sound of a thud causing me to pause, a thud that rang out in the quite lands, where not even the massacre produce noise, I saw the shadow, then I saw a man, thrown off the top of the Enkidu, his body was already ripped into pieces, similar pieces of iron stay grabbed tightly in his dislocated hands, his blood watering the lands in a ecstatic fashion as his pieces were joined in the pile, one of his hands landing next to my legs, it still holding that iron tightly.

"What a horrid sight!"

Exclaimed the ghost

"That explains the bodies"

"Have you no sympathy?"

"He knew his life, he knew the risk, he died as he knew he would"

"Do you not see yourself in him?"

"I do, and I am not afraid of death"

I finally allowed myself a look at my "Companion", in my younger years he had taught me what I know, but now he serves as nothing more than a burden.

He was a knight, his soul still draped in Armor from head to toe, the gaps in his Armor that appeared still sang nothing of his real appearance, as he had no more "Self" to show, his Armor must have some sort of colour to it, but all I see is the faint white hue that makes up his form, that same faint white hue I can look through constantly, that same white hue that lays on my eyes as a shield, that same white hue that makes up my soul.

I saw a particular breaking within the closest leg of the beast, the ripped and dismantled pieces of metal gave way for a clear stairway, as I approached it, I saw a poster looking back at me

It was a painting, or a picture, of a man with dried hair that curls, and only a single human eye, the other a cold slap of metal, he looked towards me, nearly muttering my name with his slightly open lips, there were words on top and below him

"No Saints, No Gods, No Knights"

"Only Humanity, Only Us"

That poster has an irony to it that I enjoyed. Maybe I'll be equally amused by any other posters.