Iridescent: Chapter Sixteen

Iridescent

Chapter Sixteen

~Reaper~

After the Fall

Puppetmaster sat on a sand dune. He sat cross legged with the sun beating down on him. His cloak was draped loosely on his fore arms. Sweat dripped down his forehead. His white hair glistened in the sunlight. A grey hat sat lightly on his head. He closed his eyes in a kind of meditation. A small doll sat between his legs quietly.

In the weeks after the Tower’s fall, Puppetmaster left his shop and most of his dolls. He managed in the time after the fall to keep himself alive and make his way toward someplace quiet. Puppetmaster managed to live in the desert since and it seemed he did it easily though it didn’t look like he had any weapons of supplies.

As Puppetmaster sat still on top of the dune there was a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance. Shuppet, the doll, looked up at his master. The dust grew closer and the sight of a jeep and two motor bikes drove closer. Shuppet looked out at the entourage with curiosity. They swerved towards Puppetmaster when they saw him.

Puppetmaster opened his eyes and looked at the coming people. His eyes were narrow unlike his usual carefree appearance. He watched the entourage as they neared. The purple gem tied into his hair glowed slightly. Shuppet changed in his demeanor. He seemed waiting for a command from his master. Puppetmaster snapped his fingers and Shuppet started digging into the sand until he was completely submerged.

The group drew closer until they were at the bottom of the dune. Four people climbed out of the jeep and walked up the dune. Two motorcyclists walked up with them. Puppetmaster sat and waited for those people to come toward him. They came at him with guns drawn. The leader walked up carrying a shot gun.

“Get up!” the leader yelled.

Puppetmaster looked up lazily, “I really don’t feel like it, thank you.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, old man!” another man shouted.

“Do I really look that old?” Puppetmaster said to himself, “I don’t feel old. How do you know if you’re old? Do you just wake up one day and find out or is it a gradual process? Either way, I dislike the assumption that I’m an old man. Why do you assume that I’m old? What makes a man old, I wonder, that you would call me so? Am I making sense to your insignificant mind?”

“Duh…” the man had no way to answer.

Puppetmaster rolled his eyes and sighed, “The point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

“We aren’t talkin’ ‘bout books!” a woman entered the discussion, “We’re talkin’ ‘bout you, you old geezer, and I suggest you start speakin’ some English! We don’t like being confused!”

“Yeah!” the leader said, “Just hand over your supplies and we’ll think about letting you live!”

“Great, I’m quite literally surrounded by idiots,” Puppetmaster rubbed his temples, “I don’t have any supplies that would be of any use for you. I highly suggest that you keep heading east toward the oasis if you’re looking for water. It’s about three days ride from here as the crow flies.”

“Crows?” the man said, “We don’t want crows do we boss?”

“No!” the leader shouted.

“What about oasis?” the woman asked, “What is an oasis?”

“How am I supposed to know?” the leader cried, “What we need is water and supplies and this old man is going to give it to us!”

“My goodness you are all stupid!” Puppetmaster said under his breath, “Let me make this as understandable as I can manage without insulting my intelligence. An oasis is where you find water, the clear stuff you drink and keeps you alive. After you head off in that direction you can leave me alone.”

The leader aimed the gun, “We ain’t leaving until we get what we came for!”

“I give up,” Puppetmaster snapped his fingers, “Shuppet would you please get rid of these nuisances.”

The ground rumbled and sand shot up in the air. Several people stumbled backwards in the sand, tossing their guns aside. A large creature emerged from the sand. The creature had six bladed segmented appendages that the creature used as legs that sprout out from the creature’s human torso. The legs were ten feet tall. Though it had a human torso it did not have human legs. Instead of legs it had a long tail that disappeared into the sand so it’s true length was hidden. All along the tail were blades. The creature hand human arms and hands that hung lazily. Its nails were black and long. The creature rolled its neck and looked at the group’s leader with a cold stare. Its long white hair fell over one of its black and gold eyes. It smiled showing rows of razor sharp teeth.

The leader dropped his weapon and took several steps back, “What the heck!”

As the creature hung protectively over its master, Puppetmaster didn’t seem at all concerned. He looked up at the creature above him. The creature looked down and smiled.

“WHaT iS yOUr cOMmaNd, MaSTEr?” the creature stuck out its snakelike forked tongue.

Puppetmaster rested his chin in his hand, “Nothing for now. You’re presence seems to be enough to make them think twice.”

Sure enough, the group had dropped their weapons and tried to keep their distance. The leader however didn’t want to be intimidated. He pulled out a vial of Blue Gold and used it.

The leader created a ball of light in his hands and threw it at Puppetmaster. The creature used two of its bladed legs to shield its master. The blast shot off the glistening metal blades and didn’t harm Puppetmaster. The creature hissed; its fangs exposed.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Puppetmaster looked at the leader, “Don’t mind if I harvest your power do you?”

Puppetmaster flicked the purple gem in his hair. It glowed a bright purple. A light shot from the gem toward the leader. It struck his chest and remained like a rope tying him and the gem. The leader screamed as he held his chest.

“Now, now,” Puppetmaster said, “No need to struggle. It will hurt more if you do.”

Gold light seeped through the leaders fingers. The purple string of light reseeded and appeared to be pulling the gold light out of the leader. As much as he tried, the leader didn’t have a strong enough will to reverse the process. He screamed as he fought the force that was taking the light away from him.

“Come on, now,” Puppetmaster said.

He snapped his fingers and the purple string pulled the gold light out of the leader completely. The gold light was pulled into the purple gem and for a moment the majority of the color of the gem was gold. Slowly the gold faded into purple and the gem assumed its normal color and brightness.  The leader fell in to the sand. Puppetmaster watched as some of the others ran to their leader’s side.

“What did you do!?” the leader yelled, “My powers! That old man took my powers! Give them back! You can’t do this!”

Puppetmaster looked at the man with cold eyes, “You’re right, I did reap most of your powers but I did leave a little left for you to keep. If you try and develop it, it should grow again. But for now…will you hooligans leave me alone.”

Frightened, the others dragged their struggling leader to their vehicles and headed off. The leader’s shouts and screams for revenge could be heard until they disappeared in to the horizon headed east. Puppetmaster closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them a little while later and looked behind himself. The monster was gone.

“What do you mean you’re stuck?” he asked.

Shuppet, the doll, was stuck in sand. Its head was the only thing visible above the sandy surface. He looked at Puppetmaster and though he had no eyes, only shallow indents of where his eyes would be, he looked at his master with pleading. Puppetmaster shook his head and stood up. He dug Shuppet out of his sand trap and carried him in his arms.

When Puppetmaster looked up he squinted his eyes as he looked at the horizon. He shaded his eyes with one hand as to see better. A strange caravan approached slowly. It wasn’t headed toward him but would be in view as they drove by. There was a heavy duty jeep followed by a yellow school bus, several vehicles including a pick-up truck, some four wheelers and motorbikes and an animal transport truck.

“Are we going to scare them too?” Shuppet asked in his doll form.

Puppetmaster smiled, “No, I think it’s time we joined some people. It gets rather lonely at times.”

“You have me,” Shuppet said.

“I know,” Puppetmaster laughed, “but I need to keep my sanity in check and talking to a doll isn’t good for mental health, or at least that’s what my psychiatrist said.”

“He’s a moron,” Shuppet crossed his arms.

“Well, that’s why I stopped visiting him ten years ago,” Puppetmaster looked down, “By the way, have you always been able to talk so loud? I feel like you’re voice is defiantly louder.”

Shuppet looked up, “You’ve been sitting in the sun to long! I’ve always talked the way I do now! Have you gone mad?”

“Well, I was just asking,” Puppetmaster started walking down from his dune, “People still can’t hear you, can they?”

“No,” Shuppet stated, “I don’t have a mouth in this form!”

“That’s right,” Puppetmaster sighed, “It’s a shame really. You are such enjoyable company. You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

Shuppet shook his head, “You are the sanest person I know.”

“Either that or I’m so crazy I just end up right where I started,” Puppetmaster laughed.

“Yeah,” Shuppet agreed, “It’s probably that one.”