Finish the Fiction Story Contest - Week #32 - @bananafish

Awakenings
by @f3nix

The hoverbike lay abandoned on its side, the engine still warm. The fine black dust carried by the incessant wind was a snake that crept in every small recess.

From the top of the dune the Tesseract 19 could be seen with the naked eye. The column pierced the black sea of graphite and challenged the dark crimson sky. The awareness of his distance made him wince. That construction was enormous. That impenetrable artifact, Moloch's sharpest tooth.

Intertwined with dust, the warm wind brought an imperceptible howl: the bark of the monolith, an omen of death.

The man waited, a stiff exoskeleton bent over the black sand. The helmet lay abandoned beside him. Soon the team would have arrived.

"Soon you will arrive too and everything will be accomplished, one way or another."

He thought of her smile, her courage, her strength. "My life, how could I've been so reckless to have you involved in all this?" The tears were already kneading blackened as the memories of their happy normality swept over him.

"I can not let them find me like this". He stared at himself from outside: another tower on a dune, far more uncertain than the one that howled his feral wish.

These and other demons echoed within the chambers of his soul, when his eyes met a green sprout. The man stared that little miracle that, against every odd, was striving to affirm its existence. In the midst of that sea of bottomless despair.

The tear finally found its way lingering and bathed a leaf. The man managed to pull himself together and, now smiling, he put on his helmet.

"This Moloch will tremble, time has come for an awakening."

My Entry:

Kunst Meister’s helmet gave him a virtual map read out of his location on the planet. His exoskeleton armor ready as ever, and with the laser gun in his hand he would be a regular terminator for any Moloch.

Only before he marched toward his next killing spree he took a moment to move his hoverbike in order to shield the green plant of life growing on the edge of this endless desert of despair.

Like the wife he’d left behind, this plant a reminder of why he fought so hard. For if he did not venture out into the depths of unforgiving mercenaries their black magic would find its way to his home, to his family.

It must not happen, and so he now walked forward into the abyss of sand dunes with the dark column of Tesseract 19 like a light house guiding his ship into the harbor.

If the team showed up they would undoubtedly find his hoverbike and follow his tracks. They knew where he would be going. Only first things first, this smaller tower that plunged into the ground must be cleared of Molochs.

Using stealth he made his way to the top of a dune where he could overlook the entrance to this smaller tower, close to his position.

He could see a sentry guarding the door with a lance at his side. Above him the stone tower façade stretched into the sky with no windows or openings; just obsidian stone that extended at least 1,000 feet into the sky. The distance changing with the sand drifts.

Kunst Meister took aim at the guard who remained oblivious to his last second of life. He squeezed the trigger sending a green pulse of laser that illuminated the darkness around them on a collision course with the sentry’s cranium.

This messy business ended in the speed of light.

Kunst Meister then descended in jumps down the sliding bank of the sand dune until he reached his bounty like a Predator on a distant planet. He searched the poor stiff finding some gold coins, and keys.

One of the skeleton keys fit the lock on the door made of marble resembling wood grain. It opened by being pulled back a couple of feet to clear the thickness of the wall, and then lowered into the floor.

Kunst Meister entered only to be instantly mesmerized by a dilapidated train station, a relic of a fallen civilization forgotten to time. There were lights working, and he could hear the faint sound of voices somewhere nearby.

He crouched in anticipation of a new battle with more Molochs. As he waited, trying to figure out his next move, he saw a sign listing destinations on the wall opposite of him. On the last line he read, “Final Destination: Tesseract 19 1,000 KM”.

Thank you,
Cyrus Emerson

Red Roses the audiobook for your consideration at the Voice Arts Awards (NYC), and the Grammys (LA). https://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Red-Roses-Audiobook/B07F2LWHPN

Red Roses narrated by Kira Omans
www.kiraomans.com

Red Roses music by Rike Luxx
www.rikeluxxbeats.com

Red Roses sound by Pond5
www.pond5.com

Also, available from The Author:

Fear and Loathing in the State of Jefferson - ebook
https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B079R5KLPN&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_GsURAbAVDYNEM

Lost Angel – Introduction with Ray Manzarek of The Doors
https://www.downpour.com/lost-angel?sp=249812