A Self-Study Within A Broken Mind

I have been told about my birth many times, and though the tales vary person to person, each upholds the basic theme of an unending conflict between two empires. From my first breath of dry, hot air, I was allied to one side, while wrapped in cloth of the other’s banner. I don’t believe that was when my story began, but to my family, and my affiliation, that day was the moment of great victory and pride. My first cry was drowned out by a cheer over the endless armies of red. Though they both carried that crimson banner, it was the emblems upon them that differed two proud empires. Ours was the golden scorpion, and theirs, the black wasp. We were the two factions that have been at war spanning uncounted millennia, always finding new ways to hurt each other instead of reaching a peace. It wasn’t until me that the cracked earth stopped running red with blood, but more on that later. “Amidst the glorious battle,” my dad bellowed to men gathered around us. “I felt the pain of my child arriv...

The giant skeleton of a bear drew her attention first. The bone seemed fused to stone, merged with time and gravity. Due to the grayish color of both surfaces, there was little to tell them apart from far away, but the rock in the form of a bear skull was a dead giveaway. She giggled in the cold air. The winter winds have descended already, but she was ready with an item to keep her warm. A glowing orange stone on a gold chain around her neck produced radiating heat around her. The skeleton sat against a cliff facing the sea. There was no indication how it died, but looked peaceful gazing into the distance with empty eye sockets. There had to be a reason who this giant corpse ended up here, but the girl was more excited the finally find it to speculate. There was no easy way to approach the giant structure. The ribcage twisted up with time forming a makeshift staircase up the cliff. Upon closer inspection, the bones and rocks were both chiseled out. Someone would be upset when their h...