The sky was a brilliant swirl of orange and red. Digo stood atop the battlements, eyeing the horizon, sword in hand. Sirris stood at his right side, Thrathnu to his left. "You're sure this will work?" Thrathnu asked.
"Of course", Digo replied with confidence. "It works on mice."
"Just because it works on mice doesn't mean it will work on monsters."
"We've done all we can, haven't we?"
Thrathnu sighed. "It seems that way. We're out of options."
Sirris turned to the side. "We're all counting on you, Digo."
"It will work."
Trust me.
The earth erupted. A bronze mountain shifted and began to walk forward.
"Stand your ground, men!"
A row of swords and spears bristled at the creature, its head outlined by the swirling red sun. It was big, so much bigger than he could have ever imagined
It strode forward toward the trap, but it was nowhere big enough. He was a fool to think he could trap a god like a mouse. A foot the size of a house crushed the mechanism like a dried twig. Soldiers swarmed forward like ants and were crushed A hand reached forward to blot out the sun
Screaming
It held Sirris in one hand and Thathnu in the other. Digo stared up at the cold, unfeeling eyes that gleamed at him with the indifference of the cruelest gods as it pinched off their heads
Sirris' head rolled in front of Digo and looked up at him. "This is your fault."
The crushed bodies of the soliders standing in a circle and pointing their fingers your fault your fault your fault
Digo's eyes shot open. Soaked in cold sweat, breathing heavily. It was just a dream, he thought. It's all okay. We won. The fort is saved, my design worked, boot camp is done, and I'm about to start my real career.
He sat in the dark for a few minutes. Then he lit a candle and got up.
---
Memories stirred in his head as he walked.
Let's hear it for the man of the hour!
I think your training is done.
Well done, Digo! That trap design of yours was brilliant!
"NO IT WASN'T!" Digo shouted, kicking a broken mug left over from the post-battle celebration. "It was a horrible, broken, slipshod piece of garbage that only worked half the time!"
A low, metallic groaning noise answered him. Of course he'd wind up here. The thing was still in its cage. It just stood there, eyes glowing down at him. Almost...placid. So different from the blood-crazed engine of destruction that attacked the fort.
I got lucky.
I'm a terrible mechanic.
And now there were going to be people depending on him. Depending on him to protect them from monsters like this.
Digo walked around the caged monster. Its head moved to track him, but that was all. The creepiest thing about it was how it didn't even seem angry or resentful. It just...was.
"Why doesn't it even try to escape?"
It doesn't need to. It doesn't kill and destroy because it's angry. It kills and destroys because killing and destroying is what it does. When it cannot...it just sits there.
It doesn't care whether it succeeds or fails.
It just does what it is meant to do.
"I understand."
Digo turned around and walked back to his room. Tomorrow, his new job would begin.