Eliza In The Flesh!: the call of godspawn. X

The Duchess of Rainford was silently pleading in her head to the Mother below. She recited every prayer and every hymn that she knew in hopes the ground would open up and swallow the Godspawn whole. She realized as the girl began to lunge at her that some wishes go unanswered. 

 

Between the knight with his sword, the crow with her wings, and the thief with his wits, all would enter the house, none would come out. They become husks, subjected to the horrors of doom and its creeping inevitability. But on every opportunity, they, too, found a book in a library that would answer who stole their lives away from them, bit by bit. In a sense, they had more chances of living than any other unfortunate soul.

 

The knight was a natural. He was a protector, and he was talented. His heart was placed in the care of a young woman. Her story ends alongside his. There is something about love that makes it all the easier to take it away. That’s what the Godspawn did. Stole her away into the mouth of the beast, somewhere behind an invisible prison.

 

The knight had heard stories. Rumors to fuel his wishful desire. Soon, the love that started out his quest to find her twisted into desperation. It was no longer about marrying her. It was only about solving the mystery surrounding it.

 

A stranger came to him, a book in hands and stars in eyes. She was an older woman, serving as a messenger to deliver him the tale of where she might be. The knight, carrying his sword, went inside the manor, never to return from it.

 

The crow was unfortunate enough to have her wings clipped. She didn’t know by whom or when, she knew that a flightless bird might as well be a dead one. Be it by fate or by chance, she found a book in the middle of a thicket near a well with its pages open. 

 

Some people believe that birds cannot read. It’s a general rule for all animals after all, but crows are particularly clever birds. As are ravens. She read the words and gawked at the pictures, turning the pages until she stumbled upon a section about bargains. 

 

The crow longed for her wings. She longed for the sky, for the clouds, and for the sun, so she set out, leaving the book where it was and journeyed to the House of the Godspawn.

 

Any who pitied her would aid in her travels, some offering to come along. But once they reached the edge of the entrance, all their eyes screamed and fear as they scampered off in horror. The crow, undeterred, rang the doorbell, determined to gain her wings again.

 

Somewhere deep within the burrows of the manor is a crow. Some might not know it is one, she doesn’t believe she’s a crow anymore either, but this amalgamation, stitched up, ripped apart, then strung together again was once a crow. Somewhere in the flesh, skin, and hide is a pair of black wings attached to her back. She does not use them.

 

The thief wandered into a thicket. Drunk after his encounter with the prince and the dastardly attempt to steal his crown. All of that work to gain his favor only for it to crumble back down on him. He stumbled upon a book next to a well, and he brought it back into the nearest town with the intention to sell it. Instead, he was coaxed into the myths of its contents, and the promise of granting a wish.

 

The book was sold to a collector. The collector auctioned it to a library.

 

The thief took his wits to seek out the mansion of the Godspawn. When the girl met him at the doorstep, he planned to charm her into granting him a favor, intending to gain riches and gold. Instead, she flashed him a crooked grin, and he realized that she would not be easy to sway.

 

She began to speak, and he felt a rush of fear rattle his bones, yet he ignored every urge to run. She told him that he didn’t miss his wealth, he didn’t miss his novelty. She told he missed the companionship he had, and his selfish desire corrupting it.

 

The girl gave him a crown as she promised to grant him a favor, and the thief entered, knowing who he’d find inside.

 

The girl promised she would grant him a favor. One she saw would satisfy him. The thief entered into the darkness, knowing what he would find inside. A glint in the shadows revealed a crown just as the door closed.

 

The Duchess of Rainford had little to gain. The best the Godspawn could take from her was her soul as it seemed it was all she cared to lose. The cosmic balance the universe depends on requires a winner for there to be a loser. In order to win the game the monsters play, you always must have less to lose. 

 

Speak carefully these words, duchess.

 

Tread carefully, stranger.

You do not belong here.

These halls are filled with music

And The Mother filled with tears.

Run home with your evil

Your vice that taints the world

The curtain call is ringing

Your sham has been unfurled.

 

She will watch as the girl shrieks in surprise, her smile finally fading into desperate cries of help. And the duchess will exhale a breath she will not know she is holding, and open her eyes to watch the dawn. But she is not finished. 

 

Not yet.