Page 4 of Souls of Steel
Still holding onto my friend, I turned on my heel and ran. Impossibly, there were still men blocking my path. I had no idea why they hadn’t all fled when they’d realized how dangerous the area was. We ended up climbing over each other in a last ditch attempt to escape.
They say that during the worst moments of your life, time seems to slow. I knew that such a thing was an illusion, since nothing could control or contain the power of time. But as I breathlessly and desperately fought to live another day, to not be swallowed into the depths of the earth I worshipped, I felt as if I’d been wrong about that and about many other things.
My mother had once told me that Gaia always listened to her children when they called out to her. I called, but her magic didn’t hear me. Her magic responded to another, to the song of the people who’d come here to stir conflict and do damage.
Then again, it was a little hypocritical of me to ask for that aid, when I’d always felt drawn to a different power. I thought about the chimera on the stage, about the gifts it had and the god it obeyed.
Tartarus and Gaia were not at odds. They were two primordial deities that worked in sync to protect Earth, and for that reason, they were equally respected by all. But I’d always been inclined to listen to Tartarus’s voice more than Gaia’s. My mother had said I could have a great life even as one of the Ungifted, but in my heart, I knew I’d been meant for something different.
An instinct I didn’t understand made me turn toward the chimera. I could barely see it now, through all the smoke and flashing lights, but it still drew my eye. The metal glinted like a star as the glow of Gaia’s magic lingered over it.
Several thoughts swept through my mind.
I wonder what it would’ve been like to touch it. I wish I could’ve done more. Please, Tartarus, help me.
I had no idea if the primordial deity of the underworld heard me but something—or someone—else did. All of a sudden, the Sphinx moved, its gigantic metallic wings propelling it into the air with ease.
It should’ve been impossible. Chimeras didn’t work without pilots. Their strength relied on the union between man and machine. Tartarus’s energies were incompatible with reality as we knew it, so they needed a conduit to be brought forth, to be channeled. Without the human being, the machine was just an inert tool.
Or so I’d thought, until now. Maybe I’d missed something all along, or maybe a pilot had simply slid into the cockpit of the Sphinx while I hadn’t been paying attention. In any case, the flying chimera was obviously making its way toward me.
I was so distracted by the sight that I stopped focusing on my main problems—the crumbling ground beneath my feet and the crowd around me. In the increasing chaos, nobody really cared anymore that I was a woman. Someone behind me grabbed my hair and pulled me back, simply trying to get ahead and save himself. I lost track of Louise, stumbled and narrowly avoided hitting my head against a rocky outcropping. It didn’t help since another person pushed me down again. I curled into a ball and covered my head with my arms, trying to avoid being crushed under the combined strength of the terrified crowd.
The irony was that this time, they didn’t even intend to hurt me. There just wasn’t enough room for everyone who was trying to make their way out. Most of the exits were blocked by crumbling stone, the magic of Gaia or the fire that had erupted because of it. The light underneath our feet made us all even more terrified. We feared that we would be swallowed up by the earth and never be heard from again, like so many Sun-Dwellers who’d dared to taunt and disrespect Gaia in her own territory.
For a few seconds, I thought I’d die like this, so stupidly, without accomplishing anything. And then, the crowd that had been threatening to crush me simply vanished, and a massive, metallic paw appeared in my line of sight.
The Sphinx loomed above me, beautiful and deadly. The lines of its body glowed with clashing crimson and green, the unanchored power of Tartarus threatening to crack the delicate circuits of the machine. And yet, it had come to my aid. It had reached out to me in my moment of need. I had to reach back.
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do this, but I ended up extending my hand. My mother had always said that sometimes, the simple solutions worked best.
The chimera couldn’t exactly respond in turn, but it—she?—still mimicked me, in her own way. She grabbed me in her massive, metallic paw and lifted me up, rescuing me from the cracking ground. The cockpit opened and before I knew it, I was inside one of the most mysterious, sophisticated machines on Earth.
I very carefully did not panic. There were all sorts of rumors about what chimera pilots needed to do to start their machinery, but on Earth, we hadn’t been able to verify any of it. Tartarus Base was scarce with the information it provided about our protectors. Still, if the Sphinx had come to me, it had to be for a reason. Surely, I’d be able to figure out how to work this thing.
Just as I thought this, the seat moved without me doing anything to guide it. Three bands slid around me, comfortable despite being metallic. Two others slid around my throat and forehead respectively.
Right. I’d already noticed the Sphinx was at least somewhat sentient, so she would probably show me how to pilot her.
She didn’t, at least not immediately. We just hovered there in the air, with me safely in the cockpit of a gigantic mecha. That was more or less guess work on my part, since I had no idea what was going on around me. All the systems of the chimera were dead with the exception of her wings and thrusters. The displays that should’ve shown me what was going on were blank. Since the shell of the chimera was so thick, I couldn’t hear anything either.
What was I supposed to do? How was a chimera even piloted?
The Sphinx seemed to understand my predicament, because her hold on my body tightened. Her voice drifted into my mind, fierce, yet calm.“A chimera cannot be piloted. It can only be tamed.
“I may have been born out of steel, tungsten, and diamond, but I carry the soul of the original Sphinx, the Great Riddler, the Devourer of the Unwise. I am the only one who can choose my tamer, and I have picked you, young Selene.
“However, this is not an offer you are obligated to accept. I will keep you safe regardless of what choice you make. But without an actual tamer, I can do very little to stop what is happening.
“That being said, if you accept, your soul will forever be bound to mine. It is not a decision you should take lightly.”
Her offer sounded an awful lot like the proverbial deal with the devil, as my ancestors had once called it. But the devil didn’t exist, and while it was terrifying to consider taking on such a burden, this was a chance I couldn’t discard.
Louise was still somewhere out there and all these people, no matter how crazy, needed help. I also suspected that no one, not even the terrorists, had wanted this to happen. The magic they’d used had been too powerful and it was now out of control.
“Does that mean that, if I take you up on this, you’ll help me save them?” I asked the Sphinx. “I have no idea how to do anything, how to use your skills.”
“It’ll be difficult and it’ll put some strain on your mind and your body, but it can be accomplished, just this once.”
