The Burden She Carried

Subject: Mia | Classif.: Barzakh

It was like the entire mountain was on the verge of snapping Mia’s spine.

Zaffre, the mech-human hunter, lay motionless on her Demonelk back. Despite being the size of a car in this form, transporting a quarter-ton of iron and cables took its toll on her. The sharp, irregular edges of the bot’s frame ate into her hide, imprinting her flesh with its weight. All four of her knees took turns creaking and complaining with every step her hooves took. If not for Acritae and adrenaline coursing throughout her body, she would have long been crushed under the burden she carried.

Clouds of gray smoke left her exposed skull with each tired, teeth-rattling breath. Forest soil felt like quicksand under her hooves, the weight causing her to sink, sapping away her strength. But she had to keep moving. Her Dad gave her the chance to escape; there was no way she would waste it.

If it were her younger self, the Mia who lived in Pitstop, she might have stubbornly stayed behind. But after being exposed to the world of Aberrations and unimaginable horror, she knew there was only so much she could do. That… thing… in the cavern was unlike anything she had faced before. If guns and even Lynn’s magic had no effect, what hope did she have? She would only be holding her Dad back. He would be too worried about her to fight at his best.

There was no sign of the dragon in the cavern, but it was the least of her worries at the moment. Mia was glad to be able to leave the cave in one piece. And despite the immense weight pushing her down, gravity became her silver lining, helping to keep the damaged bot secure on her back. There were no cave bots to interrupt her escape. No cave-ins despite how much the earth rumbled and roared. All she had to do was get to Byzantium Village as fast as she could.

Zaffre’s condition was critical. In this state, not even her Dad could help the robot. Only Dr. Awesome could do something about it, she hoped. The only question was—could she even make it in time?

Making it past the mouth of the cave, the sight of the orange car parked right outside stacked another burden on top of her. This time, within her mind. It reminded her that the trip from the village to the cavern was about half an hour. Granted, the car mostly maintained cruising speed the whole time, but thirty minutes still felt far too long. Far too daunting.

Mia made it a point to learn how to drive when this was all over.

The regret of not having learned it sooner was converted into magic. Fuel for her emotions. Strength for her muscles. She pushed forward into the Red Rainforest with renewed resolve. Pain be damned.

The alien trees vanished in the wake of her charge. One by one, they disappeared as she approached them, reappearing only when they felt safe and far away enough from her. Despite being just one Demonelk, she thundered through the woods like a stampede. Weight and desperation multiplied the force of her steps. Fallen leaves fluttered. Soil shook. It was like the rainforest itself was giving way for a mythical creature, neither fully metal nor monster, out of fear and respect.

Mia panted like the beast she was, sucking in the air around her like a vacuum. Maintaining her speed as an enormous creature was a challenge even without her metallic passenger. She had only just learned how to run as a Demonelk. Now, she was pushing her newly-acquainted body to its limits. It was like learning how to cycle, only to take part in a race the very same day. There was only so much she could do before she started to lose stamina.

Mere minutes later, and she could no longer feel her body. Only a blazing fire. Unlike humans, Demonelk do not sweat. This lack of perspiration, combined with the crushing weight on her back and the lactic acid tearing through her muscles, brought her dangerously close to collapse.

But she would find no rest. The ground she was on turned black, enveloped by a magic circle. Mia’s racing heart came to a sudden stop. Terror took over. The sinister circle continued to expand, covering the earth with so much foul intent, the trees vanished.

Glancing behind her, every single tree was gone; it could no longer be called a forest. The land was stained jet black as if the earth had been charred and burned to a crisp. But even wildfires leave behind remains. This spreading corruption left behind none.

All Mia found was dread. A tidal wave of fear flooded her mind. The tiredness was swept away from her thoughts. Exhaustion can wait. Every cell in her body screamed at her to get the hell away from the encroaching evil. Her animal instincts yelled, “An unnatural disaster is coming!”

Re-energized by a surge of emotion best-suited for running, she raced against the enlarging magic circle. But it was quicker. Intent on covering the entirety of the Spire, the circle was not bound to physics or logic. Within minutes, the entire rainforest disappeared. The land was so empty, Mia could see the village from where she was.

While her sight was clear, her mind was not.

The only thing that ached more than her joints was her heart. Dad. Worry besieged her chest. At first, it was panic and self-preservation. But once she realized she couldn’t outrun the wave of darkness, that fear for her life morphed into fear for her Dad’s. Whatever was going on in the cavern, she could only hope he would come out okay.

She had never felt concern like this before. But why? Her Dad had always walked out of hell and came back to her. He was invincible. So why then, was her chest so tight? She couldn’t put it into words, almost like a deep, primal fear within her warned her that he was in danger. Danger, the likes of which he had not seen in a long time.

And as if there wasn’t enough unease within her head, an ominous whistle blew from behind her. The high-pitched tune crept over her numb body and crawled all over her hide. It sounded like a kettle, but that was precisely why Mia was so frightened. It did not belong here. And it was getting closer.

She willed her fatigued body to run even when it could no longer. By this point, the only thing keeping her going was Acritae. The sound of the whistle chasing after her instilled panic into her veins. Injected fuel into the fire that was her overheated body. A second wind that pushed her forward.

But when the tune grew too loud to ignore, she made the mistake of looking back. It was the sound of the earth crying. It cracked like a frozen lake, but there was no ice. Only salt. Moments earlier, the black magic circle was like a shadow that had canvassed the land. Now, it was pure white. Everything behind her had turned to salt.

Everything behind her was dead.

Dad!

It took her everything not to turn back. To ignore her heart shouting at her to return to the cave. Seeing the total annihilation of nature caused her soul to sink to the bottom of her stomach. But imagining her Dad’s fate plunged it to the floor. She could no longer take it. Her body, her mind—she was simply too broken to keep moving.

Mia stopped. The weight on her mind and the burden on her back were more than the entire world. What was the point of running anymore? The encroaching wave of salt did not tire. Had no burdens holding it back. Even if she made it to the village, she’d just have to keep running. To where? How long?

This was like the escape from the orphanage all over again. And she was just so, so tired.

“... I-Iris…”

Electrical sparks singed her hide as Zaffre called for his daughter. The voice of the dying robot stirred something within her. That’s right. Mia was given a second chance. A second chance by her savior who pulled her up from the cliff. A second chance to fight back against the one regret that had plagued her for six years.

Back then, she failed the lives that depended on her for survival. Now, she had the chance to save one.

One was more than enough.

“Grraughhhhhh!!!”

With a demonic roar, the Demonelk stood up. She rose against all odds, hoisted up by the indomitable human spirit. With trembling legs, she stepped forward. But she did not fall. The weight of the universe was pushing Mia down, but the willpower inside her was like a black hole. There was no end to it. At that moment, her primordial desire to set things right was so strong, no god, no eldritch horror could keep her down.

She lurched forward. Step by step, she rebuilt her momentum. Breath by breath, she summoned every ounce of her being to make one final dash to the village. The salt was almost a whisker away from her, but it did not matter.

It could take her when she was dead.

Mia propelled through the desolate landscape as if she were the wind itself. A burst of speed that consumed her, turning her body itself into fuel. The shapeshifter within her, as if overriding the rules of nature and biology, compelled the Demonelk to sacrifice itself. Muscle or fat, blood or bone—there was no longer any difference. She shapeshifted the very fiber of her being with only one goal in mind.

Don’t. Stop. Moving.

She willed her monstrous form forward with sheer determination, no matter the cost. At any second, her transformation could be undone; she was destroying herself just to keep going. Forcing her body to press on this far beyond the point of exhaustion was the ultimate test of her Gift. Should she revert back to her human form, Zaffre’s weight would kill her. It was all or nothing.

But to her, it was worth it. Putting her life on the line for this stranger. Sacrificing herself as both a form of repayment and penance. And more importantly, she was carrying out her Dad’s wishes.

Run.

That was among the last words he said to her. She could not alter her Dad’s fate, but she could still change hers. Every second spent away from the wave of salt was another second spent as a good daughter. And she would make damn sure she'd live up to his expectations.

And as if fate itself recognized her resolve, the salt faded into nothingness. The dark engravings on the ground in front of her vanished. Trees reappeared once more. The spell was broken.

And that meant only one thing—her Dad won.

Relief washed over her. Soothing. Gladdening. But it was also a curse. This newfound emotion disturbed the fragile balance that kept her Gift’s overdrive state active. She fell, turning back into a fragile human girl. Death hovered fractions of a second away from crushing her into paste.

But that moment would never arrive. Both hers and Zaffre’s bodies were suspended in midair. Before her consciousness faded, she realized someone had picked them up. Only then, it finally dawned on her; she made it back to Byzantium village just in time. The giant guard, Fuzzy Wuzzy, saved them just before they crashed into the gate.

Mia breathed a sigh of relief. She could finally rest. Dr. Awesome could take it from here.

As everything faded to black, the thought of having saved a life instead of taking one for once became a soft pillow that guided her to sleep. Would the orphans be smiling down at her? How proud would her Dad be? It was the most satisfying rest she had in ages, even if it lasted mere minutes.

One could only imagine her surprise when she woke up to see the entire village burning.