A Spark Is Enough

by Mr.Sir99

After surviving the brutal trials of Old Chicago, the young Guardian is thrust into a world of unknowns. In his search for answers, he will learn what it takes to be come a legend. A legend forged in blood. Shoot outs on The Tangled Shore, late night raids, and devastating losses. These are just some of the challenges the New Light, Klutz must face with the help of his Ghost, Spark

7. Epilogue

Traveler's Chosen.

The serene quiet of the early morning snowfall is only slightly disturbed by the small machine's presence. The machine spots the ruins in the distance and zooms over to investigate.

The years have not been kind to the rotten wooden structures that dot the landscape. The only telltale signs that some of these structures ever existed are the crumbling foundations.

The machine explores the remnants of civilization with a morbid curiosity. It wonders who used to live here, what they were like, how long they have been gone. It finds rusted tools and broken benches. It finds what's left of forgotten rugs and an old fire pit. The machine imagines the people who once lived here, gathered around the fire, sharing stories and laughs. How did it go wrong? The machine floats around until it finds the overgrown husk of some large contraption. Something bad must have happened to leave it in such a terrible state.

The thin layer of snow makes it a little difficult to make out details around the forgotten bastion. Luckily the wind is still, and the fresh snowfall is slow and gentle.

In a roofless shack, near the encroaching woods, the curious machine finds an array of hunting implements. Bows, so old the strings have disappeared, knives and arrows, dulled and blunted by the elements. Looking over the left behind supplies with its bright eye, the machine wonders if this was a place that once bartered in animal goods. Maybe they hunted beasts and bartered what they caught for other valuable materials? The bright machine wonders why they left behind so many tools? They must have left on short notice.

Away from most of the ruins, the bright machine notices a small field of stones. It flies closer to investigate, and is not surprised by what it finds. The snow covered stones serve as memorials to people that have passed away. The machine reads the inscription on one of the carved stones, learning small details of who this person once was. It learns that a baker is buried beneath the cold earth, a seemingly well loved baker. After reading the worn out stone, the machine shines a gorgeous light from its eye, scanning into the dirt below. After a few seconds, the light stops, and the mechanical being moves on to the next grave over. One by one, the machine takes the time to read the faded gravestones and scan over the spots they indicate. This goes on for some time. Eventually the machine comes to the final grave plot. The headstone is newer than the others. Upon inspecting the area, the luminous machine is interested to find a strange memorial of sorts. Near the stone, a few dozen arrows stick out from the ground like the quills of a porcupine. Many are withered or splintered, most are old and broken, though a strange few seem to be rather new. It is as if someone is still stopping by to honor the one that was put to rest so long ago. More so than the collection of arrows, the machine finds the inscription fascinating. It shifts its curved, blue shell as it reads.

'Marin Mansanas

Friend To Many

Guardian To All'

The machine blinks its bright blue eye after reading the interesting dedication. It thinks out loud for a moment.

"'Guardian?'"

It shakes the snow off of its shell and shines its brilliant light down into the grave. After a moment it splits the segments of its shell apart wide. Beautiful blue Light encapsulates the eye at its center and pours over the ground below.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading this story. I found a real love for writing while making this and I wish to grow my skills in future works.

If you have any advice or critiques of my work, please share! I'd also love to hear anything else you have to say about this story.

As for future adventures for Klutz and Spark, I have a few ideas for where I could take them next, but I'm unsure if I should continue with these characters or work on something entirely different. If you want to see more from these two, please let me know!

Thank you again for letting me share my stories with you. I'm still very new to fiction writing, but I hope to improve going forward.