The End of Days

IV. Maturity

Cassandra had always assumed that the end of her world would be a gradual process, a slow heat death of the universe. Instead, it came in an inferno. Countless worlds had been ripped apart by Void, bleeding into existence, eating away at the fabric of Creation with a ravenous hunger. It was a war she would not see the end of. She had chosen to let her mortality reclaim her, to wither and die as the universe she had known did. Her workshop was as devoid of life as it had been in the days before, but now there was a fevered glow in her eyes as she looked down at her best answer to the destruction.

Dyeus was coming for her soon. She knew that much. She could still sense him, or at least the flicker of her own life-force that had put him into motion. Cassandra doubted that she would survive his visit. As far as she knew, she was the last mechanist. The others had either died or given their last spark to the creations of her own abomination. Whether they had loved him still or not, they were enemies to their own kind for their part to play in the horrors of war.

Somewhere, deep inside, Cassandra knew that the survival of her species depended upon knowledge. She had made Dyeus. She could destroy him. Not through combat or strength of arms, but with secrets. That was why she had bent herself to create, for the first time since Dyeus, a caeles. This one would be different. He would have something that Dyeus lacked, something that she had lacked when she created him: doubt.

Hidden, of course, because she had no wish for Dyeus to destroy him along with her. They had not spoken in years, at least. Certainly, it had been enough time that her hair slowly turned to grey and her face showed sorrow's lines deeply. Dyeus likely assumed she was full of anger and hate. He was not wrong to think that once she had lived in those, but now she was bitter only towards herself. Her own flaws had created her nightmare. But even after everything, in her own emotionally feeble way, she loved Dyeus still.

"Awaken," Cassandra whispered as she brushed fingers slightly deformed by arthritis across her last creation's forehead. He was a strange looking creature, a homage to the most ancient spirits of nature, as close as she would ever come to creating true life. He stood tall, taller than her, even when not counting his stag-like antlers. His legs were that of a great stag and his body was hulking even though what she sought to impress upon him was anything but combat. He too would know Void, as Dyeus's creations did. That much of a gift she had given him.

The dark eyes set into a featureless face studied her, his head shifting as he oriented completely to his body. It was metal, as she no longer had the resources to craft Dyeus a twin. It made him fragile, at least comparably speaking, but that was alright. "WHAT AM I?" His voice was cold, mechanical, and emotionless. A perfect child of Dyeus, save for her last gift.

Cassandra smiled, but the sorrow did not leave her expression. "You are a child. But you will not always be one."

Her creation was silent for a moment, studying her with his unblinking black eyes. "WHAT IS MY NAME?"

"Orobas," she said softly.

With his emotionless, featureless face, it was impossible to tell if he approved or disapproved. There was no tone to his voice that would show it. "WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?"

She cupped his big cheek in her fragile hand. "You are a guardian of life. Whether you accept this duty or spurn it, that decision is yours. We are free to choose, you and I, but we cannot escape choice."

"WHY MUST I PROTECT LIFE?"

"Because it cannot protect itself," Cassandra whispered. "Look into your memories, and you will see it. Flowers in spring, summer breezes through the green grass, raindrops on autumn leaves, snowflakes falling on a child's face. So much more."