The Only Enemy is Time
Flash fiction
The monstrous machine clicks and clacks and grinds out its infernal noises as Cali watches from a dark corner. The machine guards her greatest enemy, her nemesis, but just the sound of the contraption is enough to make the rage swell in her valiant chest. Its incessant racket a provocation beyond bearing, never mind the abomination it shelters within. But…the hour nears…she thinks, and she is ready.
Both machine and occupant are an affront. She — the descendent of Kings, of Deities! Worshipped far and wide. Her eyes narrow. She cannot comprehend how it has come to this, how her disciples have degenerated to such a state they not only countenance its existence — but protect and serve it? But time is the enemy and there is none now for such contemplations.
She must be as still as the night, make sure of every tiny echo of her surroundings, that nothing is out of place, that no footfall approaches. But other than the hellish creak and rattle of the hideous device and Gil’s soft movements as he makes his rounds like a sentry below, there is silence.
Gil is onside. His hearing is not the best but even he finds the constant low-pitched thrum of the gears interminable. His regular reconnaissance has been invaluable, a surprising friendship formed, and an agreement reached. Cali must only await the hour of reckoning. Soon…
