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Remember

Shackles

Chapter Four

The creature walked into the horizon, ignoring the calls of the zebra. The orange rays of light cast by the sun making him sweat under his mask. He took out a map, attempting to find the next diamond dog camp. The featureless wasteland he was he was greeted with made navigation nearly impossible. He paused, suddenly struck with the notion of using camp names to navigate the treacherous wasteland. He placed his finger on the map. Pointing out a small dot. He traced a line to the next dot nearest to his finger. Noting the direction he would have to move in, he turned, faced the direction of the sunrise and took the first steps of his journey, his purpose.

Night fell and the creature had come upon a rocky outcrop not on the map. In the distance, a campfire, drunken howls and woofs coming from it. He slowly lowered himself from his perch. He took a moment to gather his bearings. He waited for the noise to die down. Remaining in the shadows, he vigilantly watched the group. Once he was certain that the diamond dogs were asleep the creature advanced, making as little noise as possible.

A diamond dog that was unfortunate enough to be assigned guard duty for the night took note of the movement of the creature. He stood and took a deep breath. The yell never left his throat. Its path became blocked by a spear that had lodged itself into the dog’s adam’s apple.

The creature quietly sprinted to the freshly made corpse and retrieved his spear. One of the resting dogs was a light sleeper. He noisily rose from his slumber, groaning and clutching his head as he did so. “Limp Biscuit, stop making noises! Some of us are trying to sleep!” he whispered. The creature stood still, his blood running cold at the prospect of being caught. The diamond dog watched the creature for a moment. “Well Limp? Go away! Get back to work! Some of us are trying to sleep!”

The creature winced. The high pitch of the dog’s voice hurting his ears. The creature stepped forward, brandishing his spear. “Limp Biscuit, go away!” the diamond dog growled, he began rubbing his eyes, his post-sleep grogginess now dissolved. The diamond dog’s eyes widened to the sight of the creature rather than that of Limp Biscuit. He screamed. The creature was not fast enough to silence this one and the entire camp slowly began sparking with activity.

The diamond dogs who were previously sleeping growled as they awoke to their companions scream. They all turned to the general direction of the creature. Fueled by adrenaline, they all howled and stood. They brandished their claws and spears and charged.

In that instant, it is worth noting what the creature did not remember, given what he did remember. He did not remember his first lover, Sherry, or what he had most madly loved about her, before it came to irritate him – her unembarrassed carnality. The creature did not remember his wife, whom he had also loved before she died. He did not remember Professor Stevens telling his class how Athenian prisoners in Sicily had been released if they could recite Aeschylus. He did not remember the surprise of seeing a college classmate’s name on the jacket of a novel not long after they graduated, or the respect he had felt after reading the book. Nor did the creature remember seeing a woman leap to her death from the building opposite his own just days after his college graduation. He did not remember getting three of his ribs kicked in by diamond dogs during a prisoner revolt.

This is what he remembered. His rags and a bottle of grog concealed within their folds. The gentle sloshing sounds it made, muffled by his clothes. He remembered the fire sitting in the center of the camp that stood between him and certain doom. Not only his body, but to his dream as well.

The creature reached down to his waist and pulled out a bottle. He threw it as forcefully as he could. The bottle exploded and sprayed all of the nearby diamond dogs with fire. He stood still as yet another memory burned itself into his mind. The agonized screams of the diamond dogs. Their cries as the fire burned away their flesh. Their frantic running about in the futile hopes that it would put out their flames. One ran right past him, its blazing arm extended in a hollow attempt to find water.

As the fires roared, yet another memory burned itself into the creature. The memory of laughter. He laughed for the first time in years. What started as a short chuckle soon grew into full blown laughter. He wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. “A baptism by fire, that’s rich.” The creature chuckled. “This is the first time I’ve seen it taken literally.” Soon his laughter died down and was replaced by the pained groans of the diamond dogs.

No longer able to scream, the diamond dogs lied on the ground and simply burned, whimpering and grunting occasionally. A whistling noise was emitted from their charred throats. The whistling was sporadic at first, but soon became a melody and gave the camp an uplifting mood. The air, filled with music, seemed lighter and the creature slowly moved next to a corpse. The noise died down as he entered the camp and kicked over a charred body. He paused for a moment to observe it. He reached down and ripped off the burnt rags that used to be its shirt. He gave it a quick test and forcefully pulled at it with both hands. The burnt fabric tore apart nearly instantly. He looked down disdainfully and dropped the fabric. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. A diamond dog. It was crawling away, feebly attempting to escape the creature. The creature walked over to it and flipped it over with his foot. It whimpered. The creature looked down and noticed that the dog was bound in shackles.

The creature brandished his spear and held it to the dog’s throat. “Were you slavers?” he asked in a neutral tone.

“Get away from me monster.” the dog whispered.

The creature drove the tip of his spear into the dog’s abdomen. “Were you slavers?”

“N-no.” the dog hissed. Blood slowly trickled out of his new wound.

“What are you doing out here?”

“T-they were slavers. I used to be a healer for them. I felt bad about enslaving others and tried to leave.” the dog raised its hands to show its shackles. “You can see where that got me.”

“Where is your closest camp?”

“About five feet away from here.”

The creature drove his spear further into the dog’s abdomen. “Where is your closest camp?”

“Three miles to the south, the entrance is concealed by a forked tree, if you move the roots aside you’ll find the camp.”

“How many of your kind reside inside?”

“Not many, I can’t remember.”

The creature twisted his spear. “How many of your kind reside inside?”

The dog grunted in pain. “There are two colonies.”

The creature removed his spear from the dog and walked back to the center of the camp, hoping to scavenge some supplies.

“If you’re planning on fighting them you’ll lose. One creature itself can not overthrow an entire colony.” the dog gasped as it’s blood pooled around it. The dog felt a sense of euphoria. The world slowly grew cold and dark, and it closed it’s eyes.

Warmth, warmth was the first thing the dog felt as consciousness slowly returned to it. Pain, excruciating pain was the second thing the dog felt. Its abdomen felt as though it were burning. The dog whined as a spike of pain shot through his body. He opened his eyes and saw fire.

“Hrm, so this is Hel? I kind of expected it to look different. Not much, just a little more fire, a few screams of the damned here and there, perhaps even some ironic torture devices and some more demonic imagery. Where’s Teufel? Where are all the other sinners?”

“You’re not dead yet.” A second voice stated.

The dog felt himself being rolled to his other side as the voice silenced itself. The dog’s eyes widened. The dog saw a bipedal figure clad in rags.

“You’re that creature.” The dog whispered.

“Yes.”

“Why are you here.”

“I had questions.” the creature unwound the rags that covered his face.

The dog pulled its head back in shock. “That’s what you look like? You know, I actually expected something more demonic or monstrous.”

The man raised a black eyebrow in response.

“Well I mean you did kind of laugh while living beings were being burned alive. That’s not something most normal creatures would do.”

“I’m not normal, and apparently neither are you. And those ‘living beings’ as you called them enslaved and tortured others for a living. They went as far as to enslave one of their own kind. They are little more than feral animals. Back where I was from, we killed feral animals.”

“Why did you save me?”

“You were a slave like me. You too were oppressed. You regretted your actions and didn’t try to benefit from the institution your kind places on the land. You were innocent, at least in my eyes, of the sin of slavery. You did not deserve to die by my hand because of that. You’re different.”

The dog snorted. “Different, different how?”

“The other dogs looked like the standard grunts of your force. You looked like one of the wolves, fenises? Ferns? I haven’t heard the name of your breed in years. Slaves usually didn’t get to see a wolf unless they were going to be executed.”

“Fenrir, We’re called Fenrir.”

“Well, as you said earlier I’d have trouble overthrowing the slavers in those caves. Two colonies, one was hard enough. If it’s two there’s probably going to be double the security as well. You are a wolf. You’re treated better than those grunts. I originally intended to seek my revenge myself, but I suppose that you would be justified in joining me on my quest if you wanted.”

“Wait, one!? You singlehandedly overthrew an entire colony!?”

“It wasn’t satisfyingly easy, but it was easily satisfying. I’m on a quest to eliminate the institution of slavery from this wretched land. To do that I’m going to kill every slaver I see or hear of.”

“You said you killed an entire colony. Did that include the pups and bitches?”

“They were being raised to become animals like the rest of these dogs.” the man panned his arms out, marking the remains of the diamond dog camp. “They were thriving off of the pain and suffering of others. I was a slave for longer than I care to remember. I lost count of the days long ago, but I’ve seen many things that a man should never be exposed too. Have you ever seen a child getting raped? How about a father having his throat slit for trying to defend his daughter? Or a pregnant mother being starved to death because she was unable to fill a gem quota? The bitches were all guilty. They saw all these injustices, yet they did nothing about it. Rather, they would raise their offspring to not only perform it, but to propagate it as well. Many beings lost their lives in those caves, slaves and slavers alike. Countless creatures had their lives ruined by those dogs. They were animals and deserved to die. Perhaps I too am an animal, but I was made into an animal by those dogs. So I will ask you. Will you join me on my quest?”

The dog looked away. I-I’m sorry, but I just can’t ally myself with one who would harm innocent pups.”

“You wouldn’t have to harm anyone. You said you were a healer. I’m probably going to get hurt quite frequently so you’ll be of use.”

“I-I’m still not sure.”

“I’m leaving this camp at sunrise. You have until then to make your decision.” The man rewrapped the rags across his face and walked out of the dog’s line of sight.

Dawn came and the creature walked up to the dog again. The creature remained silent.

“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t, I can’t join you. I just can’t bring myself to help something that seeks to destroy my kind.” the dog turned away from the creature as he said so.

“There is a camp five miles west from here. I cauterized and disinfected your wounds.”

The dog reached down to feel his wrists. “My shackles! They’re gone!”

The creature revealed a metallic object in his grasp. It clinked with the slightest of movement. The rust that had formed on it generated a scratching sound. The creature turned and walked into the sunrise.

The creature walked well into the day, stopping only to relieve himself every so often. The creature stopped near a hole. He dropped his leggings and proceeded to relieve himself. As he began redoing his pants, he heard a small rumbling. The creature quickly redid his trousers and drew his spear. The rumbling stopped. The creature slowly began walking away.

The sun beat down on the creature’s covered head. The creature pressed down on the cloth covering his forehead in an attempt to wipe off the sweat that coated it. Thirst, thirst was the most overbearing sensation he felt. His parched throat only grew more aggravated by the second. The meager provisions of his saliva were no longer sated his want. The heat from the sunlight caused the air to appear distorted and the creature felt as though his entire body weighed tons.

The creature collapsed onto his knees, the fatigue and dehydration catching up to him. He was not resigned to his fate. In the distance, he saw green. His eyes widened and he rose to his feet. Fueled by adrenaline alone, the creature began sprinting into the distance. The creature was greeted with the sight of a small pond surrounded by palm trees. The creature sprinted to the pond and dived head first into it. He was met with only darkness. The creature pulled his head out of the sand and fell back onto his rear.

“A mirage.”

The creature, drained from his rush, collapsed

Author's Note

Thanksgiving chapter. A happy Thanksgiving to all. No wait, Happy Holidays, yeah, that's vague and politically correct. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Sorry about long wait times, I've got a lot of stuff on my plate, but I'll have you know I waited until I was at least a little into the writing of the next chapter before I published this. So yes, there will eventually be another update. Expect it around December to late November.

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