Chain Melody 1

“Now listen girl, this is important. If you’re ever to escape that Relic and make it your own you have to understand how this world works. This world of gods and dragons, of the Builders and man, and of course the accursed spawn of Cometia, the Crimson Comet God of Destruction; the demons. For now though, we’ll begin with the Builders and their song as it is what gives shape to our modern world, the one born after the fall of the great technological empire Automina and the concurrent destruction of the civilizations of the Age of Ash which made all of the Relics in this world including the one that has bonded to you.)

“Shut up you old coot. You knew as much as I did and we were both wrong…”

“Talking in your sleep Bandit Eater.”

“It’s Chain you grinning idiot.”

“Likewise Bandit Eater; it’s Roc, the Bandit King.”

The young maid groaned but did not put up more of a fuss than that. She was alive and that was more than she had been expecting. Being alive however it was imperative that she determine her current situation. That the Bandit King, a man elevated by the Builder’s Song beyond all normal men and known as a Hero, was speaking to her directly was concerning. Her last memory before recalling the voice of the old man who taught her the ways of magic and the Builders was of being struck down by the Hero’s fist. She was sure he had intended to kill her and could not fathom why he had spared her. Spared her he did though and now Chain had to figure out why it felt as though she was bouncing up and down with her back bouncing consistently off of a wall. She could feel her limbs but she could not move them at all as her arms were pressed fast against her sides and her legs together and she was thus forced to open her eyes to get her bearings. Summoning up the strength to force them open she was assaulted by the Builders’ Song which she had been trained to hear as she lay eyes on another person who was worrisomely far below her.

♪~ Child framed with red cherry locks ~♪
♪~ Azure eyes and resolute hands ~♪
♪~ From above the storm astride metal doll ~♪
♪~ Crafted by genius and forged by hope ~♪
♪~ With pearly gun and fiery ally ~♪
♪~ An unyielding aim for a future dreamt ~♪
♪~ Ever straight the pretender ~♪

The song fairly described the girl of some ten springs that looked up at Chain with a scowl but paid little heed to her outfit. The pearly gun for example, that resembled a rectangular box attached to a grip and trigger, was holstered under the girl’s left arm in a shoulder harness she wore over the regional children’s outfit of puffy shorts and short sleeved button up shirt. She wore the shirt collar turned up but otherwise did not deviate from the norm as she wore the arm length fingerless gloves and steel toed tights that completed the ensemble. Upon her right shoulder rested a blue squirrel-like creature with flame tipped rabbit ears and mouse tail.

“So, are you going to introduce yourself as well again just to keep me from calling you an idiot as well?”

“Did the Bandit King hit you hard enough to forget Chainmaid?”

“No, no. I remember all too well. You’re Finch Misthead., Independent Operator of the Bright Rift Sentinel Corps. You’re also a Hero in possession of a spirit you call Matches. Though, the Builders’ Song doesn’t sound out of tune around you anymore.”

“That’s because she made her song her own Bandit Eater.”

The voice of the Bandit Eater came from behind Chain but it was much too close for comfort. Her senses starting to come back to her Chain started to put together why as she realized that Finch was outright running and that they were in a stone hall with light bleached white walls and a band of glowing red paint adorning them. That Finch was so far below her and that she was bobbing consistently herself Chain had a dreadful feeling as to why but looked back over her shoulder and was again met with the Builders’ Song.

♪~ Under forest high and forest low rose man as giant tall ~♪
♪~ Skin black as ash from battle’s scorch ~♪
♪~ With envied purse for bounties won ~♪
♪~ Garbed for war for guarded coin ~♪
♪~ Left held dragon’s maw and right the moon in chain ~♪
♪~ Hailed as savior and sung as king ~♪
♪~ Ever nimble, the highwayman ~♪

As with Finch the Builders sang of Roc, the Bandit King, whose shoulder Chain found herself dangling from against the giant’s back. She lost any concern for her location however as she noticed the chain that she dangled from. The weapons that Roc carried and were part of his place in the Builders’ Song, a dragon motif hand cannon and a giant, iron spiked ball, were held together by that chain that was normally wrapped around his waist. It still was but the chain currently possessed an incredible length and from the grip of his holstered hand cannon to where the spiked ball hung from his waist opposite it had another point it had wrapped itself around. To say wrapped around however was an understatement. Chain was a maid of fifteen springs, an adult in the world she lived, who was fairly pretty with long brown hair and a shapely figure with long limbs though she was arguably too thin to put her figure to use beyond her bosom. She was not short per say either, but she most definitely was not tall. None of these features save her head and hair were determinable in her current state however as she was not so much wrapped in the chain that held Roc’s weapons together but was encased within a bloated cocoon made of it. The sight of her body so held summoned up an old fear and she began to panic, her green eyes widening and beginning to glow.

“Bandit King! Something’s wrong! The Chainmaid’s eyes are glowing.”

“Of all the times… Calm yourself Bandit Eater. You’re in no danger as long as you cooperate.”

“No, no, no, no, no! Not again, not again, not again! Let me, GO!”

Griped by an unexpected and uncharacteristic panic, Chain began to attempt to break free. Her desperate thrashing meant little against the strength of the chain cocoon that held her and her panic intensified as a result. He eyes continued to widen and the green glow that they cast grew more intense with her panic. Her panic was forced to take on a different form however as the cocoon suddenly grew tighter and tighter and she could no longer breath.

“I told you to calm yourself Bandit Eater. If you can’t then I can’t assure your well being which would not be of benefit to either of us.”

Chain did not heed Roc’s words and could not overcome her panic. As a result the cocoon of chains that held her tightened and tightened until she blacked out.

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater