Kashmir looked directly at John. "Men, who's hands be orchestrated by the Gods' will. I am cursed, John. I am cursed as I always have been. My sins lay heavy upon my shoulders, and now... Now... " He looked over and the body of his still wife. His voice
John sat up, "No Kashmir! No! You have devoted your life to searching for the Gods, they could not have been part of this! "
Kashmir looked back, "I have found the Gods, John. I have found them, right here. Amongst the ruins of my life. Our Gods, that we pray to. That we confide in. That we give our lives to. They are not holy beings. They are not the Gods we have believed them to be. How can they be. How can they allow this... "
John moved over to Kashmir, on his knees until he was in front of him. "Kashmir, blame not the Gods for this. Blame not yourself. There is good in what the Gods do. You know there is. "
Kashmir shook his head, tears flowing down his soot-ridden cheeks. "If there is good amongst the Gods, it is losing a battle we know nothing about. It has left me. They punish me for what I am. For who I am. For my existence. "
His voice merely a whisper now, "No Kashmir, you... You aren't right. You're a man, just as anyone else. You have no sin that could have brought this upon you. "
Kashmir began shuddering, his entire body quaking with each breath. The fury had not left his eyes, his voice grew louder, "No sin that you are aware of. Nor a sin I considered not paid in full with the absence of child!! "
John was taken aback, "Kashmir, of what... What do you speak? "
Kashmir stood up, "I am no man John. I am no human as this mask would have you believe. " He pointed to the remains of his wife that he had dropped on the ground. "This is a sign John. A mask, same as I am wearing. A sin from which I cannot escape, but for which I am not at fault. I DID NOT DESERVE THIS!! "
Kashmir placed a finger on his chest, "The Gods have forsaken me. Tortured me, and shown me for what they truly believe me to be. A masked sin in itself. "
John, still on the ground looked up to Kashmir, "No... How, how could they have? "
Kashmir looked down at him, "Because John. The Gods are not the benevolent beings we thought they were. This is now clear to me. They are weak, tyrannical, evil. THEIR OWN HATRED! It is spilling forth from the heavens! Don't you see!? They reject me for what I am! Their compassion better spent on those more deserving! I am a monster to them, a horror! " Kashmir's finger that he had placed on his chest began to glow white. "I will not have it, John! I WILL NOT TOLERATE THEIR INJUSTICE!! " His body began to glow a brilliant, searing white. His skin began to boil and steam, melting off his body slowly, white light radiating from his wounds.
John looked on in horror, moving backwards. "Kashmir! Stop! "
"NO! The syndrome of the Gods will NOT CONTROL ME! " The pain in Kashmir's eyes did nothing to betray the fire ripping through his flesh, screaming through his soul. He tiled his head back and released a howl never before heard by John's ears. Kashmir was engulfed in a white light as his magic tore the rest of his body away, forcing John to cover his eyes.
When the light faded John looked forward, trying to allow his eyes to adjust to the now pitch black sky. Before him, where Kashmir once stood, now was occupied by something unlike any that he ever knew existed. Towering over him, several feet his senior, stood a machine. Gears, pulleys, pistons... All the makings of a machine, formed into a humanoid figure. The flesh that entombed this beast now melted away.
John, horrified could only say "Kashmir... " The machine's head looked downwards at him, it's voice raspy, unkind. "I am done hiding. " Kashmir turned towards the body of his wife and walked to it. Kneeling it reached an arm out, sharp mechanical fingers extended over the body. In a flash, the body caught fire, the ashes raising into the night's sky. "Rest well, my love, " he said in the raspy, mechanical voice. " Standing up, without another word, nor a glance back to John, Kashmir walked off into the night.
