Obsidian Blues by J. S. Miller

Author:J. S. Miller [Miller, J. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“Now, Westley, I do hope you won’t take my asking as any manner of insult, but why on Earth did we leave all those lovely men, women and children to die?”

We’d been walking on Cobblestone Road for quite a while. To my surprise, it extended far beyond Astoria’s city limits, transitioning back onto the main planet by way of a sloping corkscrew bridge that was thoroughly disorienting. Before Coppersworth’s question, the only sounds for hours had been our feet shuffling, the gargoyles’ wings flapping, and the roadside torches crackling. I was sore, exhausted, and grouchy as hell.

“Because we’re not on Earth,” I said. “And no one’s going to die. It was a bluff. Why would he attack Astoria if I’m not there? I’m chasing him. He’ll focus on me.”

“Ah, so we are the ones in mortal peril. Perhaps I should have remained in Astoria as well.”

“Feel free to head back if you're scared. I'm used to being on my own.”

“Yes,” Coppersworth said after a pause. “I imagine you are. If that is true, however, I must ask … why are we doing this? Who exactly is this woman to you?”

“I told you. She’s a friend.”

“You’ve known each other for quite some time, then?”

“You ask too many questions, C-Dub.”

“What I have done is stand by you when no one else would,” he said, raising his voice. “Or nearly no one else; I beg your pardons, Sir Statues.”

“None taken, C-Dub,” the gargoyles said in unison.

“I have stood by you,” Coppersworth continued, turning back to me. “And you offer little else than insults as recompense. I have a right to know why I should allow myself to be led by the nose into battle.”

“You want to know why?” I shouted, spinning to face him. “Because a long time ago, I didn’t do anything … and everyone else paid for it. Elena could already be dead, for all I know. But I can’t do nothing. Not again.”

For another few seconds, the silence returned. Coppersworth’s eyelights flicked between me and the ground before he finally decided to break it.

“I am terribly sorry for your losses, West. But loss is a demon we all must face. My question remains. Who is she to you? Why is her life more valuable than all those in Astoria?”

“I gotta admit, Boss,” Cagney said reluctantly. “Me and Brando been wonderin’ the same thing.”

I was struggling to think of an explanation that would make sense even to me when all four of us stopped, staring at the horizon. Flickering orange light touched the sky just above the next hill. The glow was too broad and intense to be from torches. Something else was burning. Something big.

“Oh my word …” Coppersworth murmured.

I was already running, Chemslinger in hand. Cresting the hill, I saw a small farmhouse, its roof and walls ablaze. Behind it, fields of crops were burning. A bonfire raged in front of the house, its logs piled high, crackling, popping, splitting apart like … like skin. Oh, no. A human hand fell from the pyre and landed on the blackened earth.

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