Dogs and Wolves

My lips press against Kelly’s. I am about to do something incredibly dangerous again and this might be the last time I can let her know how I truly feel about her.

“I love you.”, I say to the smaller teen but before I can see her reaction I run off towards the stairs after Jose.

“Where are you going?”, Jose inquires as he sees me out of his periphery.

“I have a plan. Just hurry and get yours done!”, I respond as he reaches the bottom of the steps.

“Just don’t die.”, He says as he enters a full sprint. I cannot move as quickly as he can but I am not going nearly as far as he is either. If I have to guess he is going to grab that assault laser he found back in the base. But I need to focus on my own plan.

A deafening crash echoes through the air. I face the gate to see a dent in it. The golem has started to break it down. It probably will not take long so I have to be quick about this.

I lower myself to the ground, close my eyes, and rest my hands on the dry searing dirt. I feel the hot air around me as the sun beats its relentless heat down upon us all.

“Please”, I plead aloud as I feel the uncaring caress of the world, “I need to protect these people.” I am a dog protecting these sheep from the wolves.

“And so you shall.”, A voice says to me. I am unsure of who it is or where it is even coming from.

I suddenly feel everything… every spark of life on the walls. Every shell of the recently deceased, both the defenders and marauders. The strongest sensation however, comes from the mystical engine of the gargantuan machine. But none of that matters. Especially if I cannot stop that golem.

I feel myself rising to my feet. Almost as if something or someone else is guiding my body. My hands rise into the air above my head for a moment before I slam them into the hard ground. I feel no pain but instead can sense my hands sinking into the dry dirt as if it is merely mud. I am surprised by the fact I am not surprised at all by what I am doing. It is as though I know I have always been able to do this. Strange.

My hands slip further into the ground and that is when I feel, more so than hear, the ground in front of me arise. I have created a wall of earth. How did I do that?

“This wall shall not fall.”, That voice again speaks. Except this time I know exactly where it comes from… my own lips.

“What the fuck!?”, The voice of the marauder leader yells, “I thought this place didn’t have any mages!” “Break it down!”, He bellows probably ordering the golem.

I can feel the massive fist of the machine crash into the mystical wall.

“You will not pass.”, I say as I rest my hands on the opposite end of the wall.

With every break of the wall I renew it with more earth.

“This wall will not break.”, I say knowing full well that no one but myself can hear me.

I can sense Jose’s stare at me and the wall. I see he has made it back. A smile creases my lips as I perceive the energy of the assault laser. So I was correct after all.

“Why is it not breaking!?”, The leader’s voice booms in fury. And the bashing of the impenetrable earthen wall continues.

“Fuck you!”, I more so feel the words from Jose’s mouth rather than hear them as he fires the assault laser.

The engine of the golem falls still. It appears Jose’s plan worked as well.

“What!?”, The marauder’s voice screams.

Finally…

I feel all my energy sap away as I lean against the wall I created.

-- -- --

“The dog has protected the sheep.”, That voice from before says to me. Why did she look like Sarah? And where am I? These thoughts run through my mind as I look around at my unfamiliar surroundings. “You have done well.”, Not Sarah says to me. Despite not having her voice this “person” definitely sounds just as emotionless. Wait! Emotionless… Not Sarah walks up to me and embraces me in a hug. This feeling, it is so familiar. So uncaring yet comforting. My eyes open wide in surprise as realization dawns upon me. “Yes dear child.”, She says to me.

“You…”, I manage to stumble out the word as I look at the “person” before me.

“I am indeed.”, She answers my inaudible question once again. I rest my head on her shoulder as she continues to speak, “It is so rare these days that I receive a plea.” Mother Nature begins to rub a hand against the top of my head. “Therefore I felt the need to answer.”, She finishes.

I truly did not know there was an embodiment of the world. I never really believed it to be true.

“I very much exist young Ingrid.”, Mother Nature responds to my thoughts. Of course she can do that. She is all of creation, including myself after all. “You are quite frail in a magical sense.”, She continues. It feels like she just insulted me. “Yet surprisingly resilient for a human.”, She adds as if the words alone would comfort me. “You survive another day.”, The mystical being states as she lets go of me. “But is all of this suffering you endure truly worth it?”, She inquires with a raised brow.

“I…”, I stammer. “I think so.” A hollow smile creases the being’s entrancing face as a silence falls between us.

“You still worry though.”, She says finally breaking the stillness with her alluring stoic voice.

A gust of dirt and sand begins to swirl as Mother Nature turns away from me and walks away. I raise my burnt scarred arm in front of my eyes to shield them from the dust devil. After a moment I realize it is not actually a dust devil.

“Behold! Your fears shall be relieved.”, The being says as she stands still and turns back to me with arms raised.

Before us is a sight I have never seen! No longer is there a dust devil but the image of marauders running into a large mountain of a man with something on his back.

“Who the hell are you!?”, One of the marauders as he points a pistol at the man.

“You better stay out of our way if you wanna live!”, Another one adds as she pulls out a large knife.

The man remains silent and pulls the object off of his back. Realization dawns on me. Alton lowers the large heavy rebar club to the ground, creating cracks on the ground around the concrete head of the weapon due to its weight. The fools are about to all die.

“Hey man!”, The marauder with a pistol exclaims. “You’re outnumbered here! You’re one guy!”, He says almost as if he is trying to reason with the berserker.

Wordlessly Alton raises his club over his head without effort. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Mother Nature’s expression change for just a moment. One full of fury and rage. Alton must be channeling the fury of the world.

“Die!”, Is all Alton yells as he slams the club into the ground. Shattering the very ground. A large cloud of dust, blood, and body parts is raised into the air.

The cloud clears to reveal Alton standing alone as he calmly returns his heavy club to its sheath. The image dissipates.

“Alton’s alive!”, I say as I collapse to my knees as if a heavy burden has finally lifted from me.

“It is heartening to see you did not forget your roots.”, Mother Nature’s stoic voice knocks me out of my revelry. I look up at her to see her expression has returned to its neutral emotionless default. “Do you know the difference between a dog and a wolf?”, She asks me. I wipe my face, clearing away tears, as I stand back up to my feet. I am about to answer but instead she continues, “Domestication.”

A stillness weighs down upon us as she allows the word to sink in. Is she insulting me? Saying I am no better than a pet?

“It is such a cold word.”, The being lifts the silence with a quiet voice. “Domestication is neither good or bad. It merely is.”, She answers my thoughts once again. So it is not an insult after all. She is only speaking honestly with me.

“Why help me?”, I finally voice my greatest concern. She takes a few steps closer to me. While the distance between us is now small the silence feels quite vast.

“As I have already said.”, She answers, “It is so rare these days that I receive a plea. That I felt I must answer it.”

“You helped on a whim?”, I finally manage to ask before a silence can fall between us again.

“I am a fickle mistress.”, She states as if it is the most sensible thing in the world.