The Iron Skeleton

Chapter 39

Brant grunted. His spine met the ground again. Then he covered his face as Dove hurled corpses aplenty down onto him. The dead weight constricted all movement, no matter how hard he struggled. He craned his neck to see what Dove was doing, and gasped. 

Dove swept the crushed tanks off the ground and hurled them at the dome. At last, the iron skeleton gave way. With a metallic groan, the structure leaned over and fell onto the stronghold below, crushing it to bits. After the collapse ended, very little remained standing. 

Next, Dove clasped his fingers together, and Princess Chariya flew out of the rubble, bruised and bleeding. She gasped when she came face to face with the white-robed man. 

"Do not bethink I have forgotten thee." he spat in her face. 

"Neither should you think I have forgotten you." she said, choking the words out. "I remember you every day, you vile—" 

"Thou didst indeed slip through my fingers in the Iron Hallway, when I was but its overseer. But alas, here you are before me, and I intend not to repeat the pattern. Thou shalt not evade me again, Princess." 

"I beg to—" 

Dove gave Chariya no opportunity to finish her statement, slamming her into the ground. She yelped when her spine contorted to meet the contours of the bumpy terrain. Then he lifted her up again and grinned wickedly. 

"Thou art beautiful, fair, and lovely. And thy potential for greatness is admittedly immense. But alas, thou hast thrown it all away, and for what?" 

"The happiness and welfare—" 

Dove threw her into the ground again before she could finish. "I did not permit thee to speak. Now, believe thou me, it grieveth me much to contemplate my next action. But it behooves me to do so." 

Chariya opened her mouth, but her neck snapped before she uttered a sound. Her body went limp. Dove hurled her corpse at a rifle driven into the ground like a stake. The butt of the gun ripped through her belly and impaled her. 

Brant gasped in horror at the sight. He cried out in anguish as he struggled to remove himself from the pile of corpses before he became like them. Dove leapt high into the sky and hurtled down into the trapped warrior. 

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Aaron raced over to the mangled remains of the Sand Dollar with widened eyes. His eyeballs stung as wind rushed across their moist surfaces. He skidded to a halt and fell to his knees. His head dropped to the ground just before his tears did. 

He glanced up when he heard a dragging sound around the corner. Aaron leapt up to investigate, only to gasp. Sila dragged itself out of the wreckage with only arms, torso, and head intact, its legs nowhere in sight. It reached out slender fingers to Aaron. 

Aaron dropped down and grabbed the robot's hand. "Sila..." 

"Hannah gone." the robot said. 

"What?" he shouted, his eyes somehow becoming both wider and wetter. 

"Master, help." 

With that, the robot collapsed and moved no more. Aaron sobbed. 

After a few minutes of mourning, he snapped his head up at the sound of twigs snapping. Ace was approaching. 

"What happ—oh no." Ace mumbled. 

Aaron wiped his face, a fruitless gesture. "Sila said...Hannah's gone."