Cobby's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Cobby stepped onto the frozen plaza and counted the warlord's guards. Seven feet of cob and silk drew every eye, but Cobby did not slow. The warlord had poured radiation into the Icicle District and made Cobby out of a field. Tonight Cobby meant to end him. Before Cobby could speak, the warlord's closest friend walked forward with a wrapped bundle and a shaking smile. He hugged the warlord. Then he burst apart in a white flash. The blast knocked Cobby flat. A huge stone globe near the gate cracked into glowing pieces and hung in the smoke, drifting like a broken planet. When the ringing faded, the warlord was gone. So were his guards. Only a heavy ornate skull lay in the ash, dropped by the betrayer, untouched by the fire. Cobby picked it up. The crowd stared. Nothing else happened. The warlord was dead, and Cobby stood alone with the smell of burnt silk and a question no one had asked them yet.