Whose Sword Once Served

I was a horologist before I was a diver. Once I maintained the guardian automaton; now I search for her pieces.

With her great golden gladius, the towering automaton protected our coastal city. Her internal gears whirred above murmuring waves.

Until the day those traitorous waves bore forth a conquering armada and their war kraken. Tentacles wrenched the guardian apart, her fragments falling into the ocean.

Always the caretaker, I dive. Again and again, until I find the central gear, that whirring heart.

Tenderly, I hook it with tackle and pull it to the surface. My guardian will live again.

Gabrielle Bleu writes luminous science fiction and fantasy. Find more of Bleu's work at gabriellebleu.com.