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Uduak The Time Stopper

Fifteen minutes. That’s all it had taken to kill almost everyone in the village. Well, to be honest, the attacks had started a few weeks back. But they were sporadic. People had been disappearing into the jungle. They had found only traces of splattered blood of the victims.

Most people suspected some sort of animal had been killing them off. Some thought a lion. Others a pack of famished hyenas. The tribal chief had even suggested an angry gorilla.

Bat Uduak knew it had been none of those creatures. He had been out with the search parties. He had seen the tracks. If you could even call them that. They had looked more like the tracks of a python. But there had been lots of them. As if a pack of pythons had been hunting together.

He had mentioned it the first time they discussed it around the community fire at the center of the village.

The chief had mocked him. “Do you know how stupid you sound, Uduak?”

Everyone laughed along with the chief. Uduak was so embarrassed that he left the fire immediately and went home to sleep. But the next day, he could still see people smirking when they looked at him. But only until the next victim disappeared. After that, they lost one villager every other day.

People had stopped venturing so far out. The attacks had come closer and closer to the village. They held council meetings almost every night. They had called in hunters and witch doctors from far away tribes. But so far no one had come up with a solution. Until yesterday.

An old woman named Zodwa had appeared. Dressed all in white. She had promised to resolve their problem. The solution would be to prepare a great sacrifice. Thirteen animals of thirteen different species. Goats, sheep, chicken, ducks, swans, peacocks, hogs, cows, monkeys, frogs, pythons, turtles, shrews, and even rats.

Zodwa would bleed them out in the center of the village and satisfy the appetite of this famished creature. She said it was called Umhyg’vhoxr.

She told them it was an ancient creature that appeared once every century to feast on human flesh. All she required for payment of her services were the seven youngest children in the village.

Uduak protested violently. His youngest child had been born only two weeks ago. But the chief had promised the children to the woman anyway, despite Uduak’s threats and his wife’s screams.

They had been to no avail. Uduak had made preparations. He planned to flee with his wife and child at the first light of dawn. But the chief sent ten of his mightiest warriors out well before first light to gather the children to the center of the village.

Uduak lay in his hammock and tried to comfort his sobbing wife. At first light, he walked out to the center of the village, where the old crone was making her preparations.

“If your sacrifices fail, and anyone else is taken by this creature, I will sacrifice you to it myself,” he screamed in her face.

The chief sent the warriors out to drag Uduak away, kicking and screaming his threats into the air.

They tied him to the center pole of the men’s hut.

He struggled to get free from the ropes as he watched the old crone dance and chant around the village center as the villagers brought her the animals. One by one, Zodwa sacrificed them and poured out their blood onto the dirt as the sun rose higher in the sky.

The old crone had marked off the village center into thirteen sections. She sprinkled the blood of the 13 animals of each of the 13 species over the 13 sections. Zodwa had gone into a frenzied trance as dark clouds rolled over the village sky.

Groups of villagers stood around nervously in small circles, whispering in hushed voices as they watched her. Uduak could overhear Danai talking in one of the closer groups. She wished the old woman would hurry and finish because the entire ordeal frightened her terribly.

Danai was his wife’s best friend. Maybe she would help him escape so he could save his son.

“Danai!” he said. Not so loudly that he was yelling and might attract the attention of anyone else, but loud enough that she would be sure to hear him.

A moment passed and no one came. He was almost ready to call her again when she appeared at the doorway.

“What is it, Uduak?”

“Please, help me get loose. Help me save my son. If not for me, do it for my wife. You know the loss of our only son will devastate her.”

Danai looked to one side and then the other. He almost thought she was going to do it. But her face hardened.

“Sorry, Uduak. Your wife is my friend, and I feel bad for your child. But you can have other children. But we are trying to save the entire village. I can’t sacrifice the lives of the entire village to save your son.”

She turned and left. Uduak tried to hold back the sobs that welled up in his chest. He leaned forward and tugged on the ropes that lashed him to the pole with all his might. Uduak twisted and pulled until they cut into his wrists and he had no strength left.

Leaning back against the pole, Uduak could no longer hold back the sobs. He let out a loud wail.

“Shut up, Uduak,” said Tjaart, one of the chief’s warriors, who came storming over. “Zodwa says it will scare off the Umhyg’vhoxr. If that happens, the chief says he will come cut out your tongue and sacrifice your son himself.”

“Imagine if it were Mwangi, your son, who was to be given away to that old crone,” Uduak roared angrily. “Would you sit idly by while that witch fooled the entire village with her stupid rituals? She’s going to take our children, and people will continue to disappear. The chief is a fool to believe her.”

Tjaart slapped Uduak across the face. Pain exploded in Uduak’s head. Blinding him for a few seconds. He looked up and could see Tjaart’s mouth moving, but couldn’t understand anything the man was saying because of the dull roar in his head.

Uduak shook his head and looked down in shame at having been slapped while tied up without being able to defend himself.

“If I were not tied up, Tjaart, I would kill you with my bare hands. My rage and grief are so great.”

“You must not speak of the chief like that, Uduak,” Tjaart shouted back. “If you speak ill of him again, I will cut out your tongue myself.”

Then Tjaart moved forward and crouched down in front of Uduak, who was struggling against the ropes.

He placed his hand on Uduak’s shoulder and whispered in a hushed voice. “I’m sorry, my friend. I understand how you feel about your son. But you must let the chief do what he can to stop these attacks. It’s nothing personal. Every clan has lost a loved one these past few weeks. The life of your son is the price that is required to place an end to our suffering. Look on the bright side, your son will not die. He will live a good life and be well-taken care of in the care of Zodwa. Who knows? Maybe he will be trained by her and become a great mage himself.”

Uduak didn’t look up to acknowledge Tjaart’s words. He continued to sob quietly. Tjaart continued to squat beside him a while longer with his hand on Uduak’s shoulder until someone called him. He patted Uduak’s shoulder in acknowledgment of Uduak’s suffering before standing up and leaving.

Tjaart paused and glanced back from the doorway. His heart ached for the young father, who was grieving quietly. But Uduak still did not look up to acknowledge him. Tjaart held no ill will for the poor man. It was his first child. He had not yet lost a child, as Tjaart had. Three of his seven children had already passed on. He understood the grief that only a father could feel over the loss of his children. He felt bad for Uduak, but there was nothing he could do unless he wished to lose more children to this beast that was running loose out there.

After Tjaart had walked out the doorway, Uduak raised his head again to watch the Zodwa still chanting. She danced around the animals that she was sacrificing to the Umhyg’vhoxr. The woman seemed to near the end of her ritual ceremony. Having started with the smaller animals, she had worked her way up to the larger ones. Now, she was pouring basins of cow blood that the chief and his men were bringing her. Uduak moaned. This was it. The sacrifice was almost over, and then his child would be gone forever.

Uduak groaned again as he repeated his son’s name over and over. “Umukoro, my son. Umukoro, forgive me. Umukoro.”

He heard a slight rustle of thatch behind him. Uduak felt small hands pushing his hands back from the pole and tugging at the ropes. He sniffled and turned his head to see who was there.

“Danai?” he said in a surprised voice.

“Hush, man. Stay quiet,” she whispered as she tugged. “I couldn’t just walk in and untie you when you asked me to. Everyone would have seen it and killed me, along with the sacrifices. I snuck around to the back and waited for Tjaart to leave. But now I am here, you see. I can’t bear to think of Nkosazana’s child being taken by that crazy lady out there. She will treat him terribly, and perhaps even kill him. I couldn’t bear to have Nkosazana look at me, knowing that I did nothing to help save her firstborn child.”

“Where is my wife?” Uduak asked. “Why isn’t she here with you?”

Danai moved away from him, and he turned to see where the woman had gone. She was off in the far corner, pawing through items. She returned and Uduak saw she had a knife in her hands.

“She is tied up as well over in your home,” she whispered as she continued to saw away at the thick rope. “The chief is taking no chances. After you threw your fit, he had the parents of all seven children tied up in different huts.”

Uduak felt the tip of the blade nicking his skin as she came to the end. He flexed his muscles and pulled the rope taut to make it easier for her. The knife finally cut through the rope, and Uduak was able to pull his hands free.

“Umukoro and the other children are in the chief’s hut. Seven of the chief’s warriors guard them. Each child has its own protector. So be careful.”

He rubbed his chafed wrists for a second before grabbing the knife from her and sawing at the rope around his ankles.

“Thank you, Danai,” he whispered as he pulled the rope away from his feet. But when Uduak turned around, the woman was no longer there. She was long gone, having slipped out through the thatch wall the way she had come in.

“Thank you, Danai,” he continued to whisper repeatedly as he followed suit and slipped out through the thatch wall himself. “I will repay you for your goodness. I promise.”

Uduak walked straight out behind the house until he was well into the woods before cutting over towards his own home. He could see the villagers gathered into small groups in front of their homes as they watched Zodwa completing her mad ritual. She had finished slaughtering the animals and pouring out their blood into the hard clay ground of the village circle.

The smell of the blood of a hundred sixty-nine dead animals lay heavy in the air as Uduak moved downwind from the village center towards his home. He entered his home through the thatch wall as Danai had, still holding the blade that she had used to cut him free.

“Shhh, my love,” he whispered as he cut her free. “Let us save her son and escape from this place.”

“But where will we go?” she asked through sobs of her own.

“Anywhere we want. Far from here. As long as we have our son, it does not matter where we go.” Uduak whispered while going to fetch his gun from its shelf.

His wife’s face went pale when she saw the gun and asked who he planned to shoot. He didn’t intend to shoot anyone, only to scare them away from his son was his quiet reply. She was hobbling around the hut slowly as she gathered a few belongings. Uduak watched Zodwa as she began winding down her frenzied dance.

“Hurry, woman! We don’t have much time,” he whispered to Nkosazana. “I’m going to fetch our son. When you finish gathering your belongings, me down at the falls. We will cut downstream through the water to cover our tracks.”

His wife nodded silently as she gathered a few meager supplies in the kitchen. Uduak snuck out through the small hole in the wall and raced through the woods toward the chief’s hut.

Uduak heard loud screaming break out in the center of the village before he arrived there. He tried to glimpse what was going on out front, but all he could see were people running for their lives in all directions. He didn’t wait to figure out what was going on, but went ahead and pulled back enough thatch to see who was inside.

The seven children were all there. Lying side by side on mats that had been placed against the far wall. Four empty hammocks were strung parallel across the room, but there were no warriors there to guard the children. Uduak breathed a sigh of relief and pushed through the thatch to find his son. He rested his gun up against the wall and looked down to smile at his son.

Loud screams and smashing sounds filled the air. The smell of smoke began to fill the air. Uduak tiptoed toward the door to take a peek.

At first, he couldn’t tell what was going on. Screaming people were running in all directions. Massive clouds of dust filled the air over the village center, where the old crone had been just a few minutes earlier. Two of the huts over to his left had caught fire and were burning quickly.

The sparks from the burning fires floated through the air, landing on nearby houses. The houses burst into flames that rose rapidly and licked hungrily over the dry thatch homes. Then wafted into the air to be carried by the wind to the next hut.

Uduak could see other huts beyond the fire that looked like someone had flattened them to the ground. Loud crashing noises and screaming filled the dry, smoky air.

“What’s going on?” Uduak shouted at people racing back and forth. But no one stopped to answer him as they raced to put out the fires in the burning huts. Others attempted to pull out what little belonging they could before their huts burst into flames.

Beyond the dust and flames, Uduak saw what seemed to be a small dust devil of wind circling around the huts of the village in a clockwise direction. He couldn’t tell through all the dust and smoke in the air, but his house seemed to be burning as well. Hopefully, his wife had already made it out with their belongings. All he had to do now was grab his son and meet her at the waterfall.

Uduak turned back to pick up his son. He saw a woman race in through the door while screaming for her son.

“What is it, woman? The children are all right there.” Uduak shouted as he recognized the mother of one of the seven children who had been taken.

“My husband is dead. Everyone is dead. We are all dead.” She screamed at Uduak as she grabbed her child and ran for the door.

Another woman came in screaming for her child. This time Uduak grabbed her and shouted for her to tell him what was going on. The crazed mother struggled and screamed to get free, but he clasped her firmly. She finally fell, sobbing into his arms.

“Zodwa finished her incantation. And a whirlwind appeared from the direction of the river. It blew through the middle of the village. It sucked up the witch and her sacrifices. Then churned through the huts, knocking them down and sucking up all who were in its path.”

Uduak loosened his grip and took another look out the doorway. The mother yanked herself free and grabbed her child. She was gone by the time Uduak turned around. He could hear the sound of smashing huts getting closer. He raced to his son and squatted down to pick up his newborn carefully.

The stench of a dirty diaper assailed his nostrils over the stench of the dank, smoky room, but he didn’t bother trying to change it. He rose to his feet with his child and grabbed the gun with his free hand as he raced for the door. Not bothering to go through the back to avoid the warriors. No one was trying to stop him, anyway.

The thunderous smashing sound of something hitting the side of the hut roared around him. The thatched roof and walls came crashing down around him before he could get out of the building.

Uduak saw large dark tentacles moving in his direction as everything came crashing down around him. He felt the same slimy tentacles sliding over him and wrapping around his right leg. His knife came out of the sheath at his side, and he hacked it off. The blade cut through like soft gristle, and a loud shrieking sound filled the air.

Thatch from the roof and walls swirled around him as the beast churned through the hut. Then it was gone and everything fell silent. Uduak shook off the thatch that covered him as he rose to his feet to watch the dust moving back through the forest toward the river.

He breathed heavily with his hands on his knees till the fright had passed. Then Uduak remembered his son and began pulling back thatch to uncover the area around the hut. But his son was nowhere to be found. None of the other children were there either, as if the giant tentacled creature had snatched them all away.

He began pulling the thatch away frantically from the center of the house before sparks from other burning huts landed on it. Uduak searched desperately for his son. But the child was nowhere to be found. The only thing there was the floppy tentacle of the creature that Uduak had sliced off.

Uduak fell to his knees, moaning for his son. He stabbed the slimy tentacle with his knife and screamed in frustration and anger. Two other villagers came walking by in a daze as they gazed at the destruction and havoc that this vile monster had brought upon them. One of them began wailing loudly as the other tried to comfort her.

He walked through the dust and smoke toward the center of the village as sparks from the burning huts continued to waft down through the air. When he arrived at the center, Uduak saw that the creature’s swirling madness had put the ritual fires for the sacrifices out. Scattered ashes lay everywhere. But none of the sacrificed animals were anywhere to be seen, as if the monstrous beast had swallowed them up and taken them with him. Just as it had most of the villagers that were unfortunate enough to have crossed its path.

Uduak turned and walked toward his burning hut while screaming his wife’s name. He heard someone moaning and sobbing. Fearing the worst and expecting to see his wife’s broken body, Uduak was relieved to find that it was not Nkosazana. He could tell it was an older woman, but he wasn’t sure who until he pushed back thatch that covered her slimy, twisted body. The way she lay all crumpled and disheveled made it look as if the creature had vomited her out along its path.

It was Zodwa. Uduak roared in hatred. His first instinct was to drive the blade in his hand through her heart. But that would be a fate too good for her. Uduak wanted her to suffer. He wanted her to face the humiliation of recognizing what she had done.

He roared at her. A deep, primal roar, since no words could express the pain and anger that he felt. She closed her eyes and turned her face away from him until he finished. Smiled when she saw the chopped-off tentacle he was still holding.

“You follow that demon to its lair and kill it,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “Gather the other men and finish it. The poison I placed in the sacrificed animals has weakened it.”

Uduak’s rage increased exponentially when the full weight of her words fell upon him.

“You mean you knew this would happen? You knew it would return?” Uduak screamed as he pressed the knife over her heart.

She nodded. “I remember when it came to my village. I have studied and waited all my life for it to make its reappearance. The more it eats the slower it becomes.”

“That thing had not slowed down much, you stupid old crone,” he yelled.

“Your village was smaller than mine was. It wasn’t as gorged as when it killed my people. But it still slowed down some. And the poisonous herbs I placed within the sacrificed animals will weaken it. Gather the men and follow its tracks to its lair. Finish it off.”

Uduak looked around the village circle. Only a few women stood in front of their huts. “There are no men left in the village,” he laughed mockingly at the old crone. Pressing the knife below her ribs.

“Then you must kill it yourself. Eat the monster’s tentacle and absorb its power. Then you can kill the Umhyg’vhoxr before it regains its strength.” Zodwa whispered. “Then, after you kill it, continue to eat it. Start with its heart. Then you will be fast enough and strong enough to kill any more of those creatures that enter our world.”

“You are one crazy, old woman,” Uduak growled while looking down at the tentacle still in his hand before asking. “Should I cook it?”

Zodwa shook her head. She chuckled at the horrified look on his face as he brought it to his lips. Uduak bit off a small piece and chewed it tentatively. It was slimy, but sweet.

He took another bigger bite and chewed faster. The old woman smiled in satisfaction and nodded as she watched him chew. She placed her hand on his stomach and whispered an incantation over him.

“I’m sorry for the suffering I brought your people. I knew it would come, but I didn’t think it would do this much damage. I thought the poison would eliminate it more quickly.” she said shakily, with her dying breaths.

Uduak didn’t answer. In fact, he didn’t really even hear her as his body absorbed the essence of the beast the tentacle belonged to. He didn’t even notice the old woman gasping for her last few breaths of air.

Everything grew silent around him. The world seemed to slow around him. He tore off larger chunks of the tentacle and gulped them down without even chewing them up completely. Uduak breathed heavily as he swallowed the last bite and stood to his feet.

The old woman lay silent and still at his feet. He bent over to close her eyes. Then walked to the group of women standing by the huts. They stood still, like statues. It freaked him out at first. The entire world around him seemed to be standing still.

Then he noticed a bird flying overhead, only it wasn’t moving either. He looked around and noticed a grasshopper in mid-jump. It seemed to be floating in the air.

As he watched, Uduak could tell that it was still moving forward, but so slowly that he could barely notice it. He looked back at the women and noticed one of them seemed to be moving her mouth, but so slowly that he couldn’t tell what she was saying.

The sudden realization of what Zodwa told him sank in. He had absorbed the creature’s speed by consuming its flesh. Maybe now he stood a chance of catching it and killing it. He ran over to where he had left his gun and threw thatch around until he found it.

As he stood up and glanced over at the women, he could see the fear etched in their faces as they turned slowly toward him and threw their hands up into the air. He could hear the screams welling up in their mouths. Uduak smiled at the scene, even though he realized how grim things looked.

Uduak turned and raced down the path of death and destruction that the creature’s whirlwind had left behind. It wasn’t hard to follow at all. The spinning and swirling tentacles tossed everything in its path. Unlike its previous victims, the Umhyg’vhoxr did not hide its trail this time. Its path led straight to the river and the falls, where he was supposed to meet with his wife.

But it was too late. Her bag with their belongings lay just off the path where the creature had tossed it before swallowing her up. Uduak screamed at the falls before him. The monster’s trail led straight to the giant waterfall. He followed the trail to the river but lost it when it entered the water.

Uduak looked downstream, wondering if it had gone that way, but shook his head. It was in no mood to play games like before. It had cut a straight path to its destination. He looked up at the mist spraying up from the sheets of water and wondered if it had flown to the top.

It could move fast, but hadn’t flown before. He tried jumping himself. Wondering, almost hoping that if so, he had absorbed its power to fly. But even though he jumped much higher than normal, gravity still pulled him right back down, albeit slower and lighter than normal.

The only logical explanation was that it had gone through the falls. Was it back there watching him even now? Trying to hide from him.

Uduak walked up the shore toward the waterfall. The sheets of water barely moved as they cascaded down. He reached out a hand and placed it in the water. It split over his hand and water moved slowly to the sides of his hand as he watched it continue to drop slowly toward the river.

He watched it with mesmerized fascination. Then shook his head to draw his attention back to the task at hand. He walked around the sheets of slowly dropping water and found a ledge moving along the back of the falls until he came to the center.

There was water running along the back of the wall here, but part of it was darker than the surrounding area. Uduak placed his hand through the slow-running water and once again watched it part for him to see a tunnel inside.

The furious man stepped through quietly. Careful to place each footstep slowly in the pool of water that gathered at the base of the tunnel so as not to make much noise. The light coming through the water falling behind him lit up the tunnel with a soft white light.

Uduak could see that the tunnel widened immediately, and a dozen steps led up into the cavern ahead. A soft reddish-orange glow lit up the inner chambers above him. He let his senses adapt to the dark environment around him.

With each step upward, his senses adapted to the cavern. He could tell that this was a much deeper perception than he had before, consuming the creature’s tentacle. He wondered what he would be able to do after consuming the Umhyg’vhoxr’s heart. His senses tingled with excitement as he moved slowly and quietly up each step.

He could see dark tentacles moving slowly against the reddish glow. Uduak gripped the gun tightly in his hands, wondering what it would look like and where he should shoot it.

Low squeals and grunts came in longer, and longer pauses until, finally, it fell silent. Picking up bits of rotted wood that stood against the wall, Uduak tossed them past the creature into the center of the room. Its tentacles twitched slightly at the sound, but other than that, the beast made no other sounds or movements.

Uduak continued to move slowly and silently up the steps, but once he arrived at the top realized there had been no need for stealth. It disappointed him killing the monster would be this easy. He would have enjoyed fighting this creature to the death.

The creature barely moved when he poked a tentacle with his knife. He pointed his gun at the beast, but wasn’t sure exactly where to shoot it. The mass of tentacles seemed to come from everywhere.

He poked and prodded, finally locating the mass the tentacles came from. He pointed his gun in the general direction and pulled the trigger until he had no more bullets. Then came the hard work of cutting off the tentacles one by one because he wasn’t really sure that the bullets had done anything to it.

The giant mass that was left was slimy and gross. But he continued to cut into it. It had organs he had never seen before when he was cleaning the game he hunted. But he recognized the heart when he came to it. It was larger than his head. Eating it took more than one meal to consume it all. But he knew he was different when he had finished.

Uduak had wondered if the poison the old crone had used would harm him when he ate it. But just like with the tentacle, the flesh was soft, slimy, and sweet.

A large stone table lay in the center of the cavern where Uduak pulled the tentacles to lay them out. It wasn’t a hard task with his newfound strength. The flesh of the Umhyg’vhoxr didn’t putrefy like he had expected or was used to with other animals he had hunted. Maybe it was because of the cool, damp environment, or maybe it was because of the nature of the creature’s makeup. But Uduak stayed in the cave until he had consumed the entire thing.

Between the flesh to eat and the water from the falls, Uduak felt no need to return to his village. He didn’t attempt to venture deeper into the cavern’s tunnels until he had absorbed all the creature’s powers. He sensed that there were more of these things down there. Someday, they would attempt to come to the surface.

When they did, he would be ready for them. But for now, Uduak was content to stay where he was. Each bite of the Umhyg’vhoxr allowed him to sense that he was avenging the death of his wife and son, as well as the entire village.

When he was ready, he would return to shambles the creature had left his village in. He would take new wives. He would have more children. And when he felt ready, he would hunt more of these creatures and feed them to his wives and children.

And when they had absorbed these powers, they would exact their revenge against the entire race of these creatures. They would save other tribes and villages from their dilemma and be revered for their speed and power. He would bring all those villages together under his rule as chief. And his sons would be princes over each tribe and village.

Uduak stood at the edge of the falls and roared a loud war cry into the tunnels as a warning to those Umhyg’vhoxrs that hid deep within its caverns. Then he turned to climb the path back to his village with the last two tentacles slung over his shoulders. He would feed them to those who had survived the attack of the Umhyg’vhoxr and together they would rise from the ashes to rule the world.

0

Cursed Loot In Yokonagawa

Ren walked through the burning rubble of the once noble village that lay before him. His companions racing ahead of the flames to pillage and plunder the beautiful buildings that still stood. But he wasn’t in the mood. Something wasn’t right here. He could sense it deep within.

While his friends whooped wildly and shouted gleefully, Ren continued to walk silently behind them through the smoke and ashes. He didn’t like the way his commanding officers had handled the situation and set everything up.

It wasn’t that Ren held any pity in his heart for the enemy. They deserved everything they had coming to them for the terrible things they had done to his people. This was war, and both sides did terrible things to each other that they felt deserved justice and revenge. A war that had raged back and forth for over a decade.

He paused to look up at the once tall building burning to the ground to his left. Ren cocked his head and crouched down for a better glimpse under the smoke. Not that it was much better. The thick smoke filled the air all around him.

Ren walked around the area analyzing everything. Trying to figure out what it was his instincts were telling him wasn’t right here.

Something inside the building exploded with a dull roar and the flames lept even higher and burned hotter than that they had been before. Driving Ren back a dozen paces to keep from singing his hair and eyebrows.

Three men raced past him carrying bats of loot as they whooped and hollered all the way back to the boats they had left at the river. He watched until they disappeared before turning back to continue in the direction they had come from.

His feet burned and he jumped out of a pile of smoldering rubble and coal that he had been walking through. Ren stomped his feet a few times before the burning subsided.

As much as he wanted and even needed his share of loot to pay off his debts, he couldn’t bring himself to go through with pillaging this village. They didn’t deserve it. They were neutral in the war. In fact, they had once been allies.

But over the years, they had settled their strife and made a truce with their enemies. Withdrawing from the war had infuriated Ren’s leaders who still had a bone to grind with their enemy. Their allies’ withdrawal now meant that they no longer had the advantage.

After many meetings and long talks around the fire, they had grudgingly accepted the truce and promised to honor it even though they would continue their war.

So, this surprise attack was a low blow. Plundering their village for no good reason just didn’t seem right. His commanding officers had used some lame excuses. Something about past offenses that hadn’t been righted. But Ren sensed that there was more to it than that.

The war had left them in dire straights. The constant battles left the men little time to take care of their own homes and businesses and farms. The little crops that their wives and children grew were often ravaged and burned by their enemies who seemed to grow stronger and stronger over the years.

Ren feared that if things continued to go this way, they would no longer be able to hold back the onslaughts of the enemy armies that swept through from time to time.

Deep down, Ren sensed that attacking their unsuspecting allies was just a desperate attempt to raise the morale of the army while coming up with some supplies to keep them going.

But even worse, Ren felt that something was really off here. Even if their attack had been a complete surprise, they shouldn’t have overrun the town this easily. Someone somewhere should have a put up a fight or formed some kind of resistance. They had once been fierce and formidable warriors themselves. A few years of peace wouldn’t have left them this vulnerable and open to an attack.

Ren paused and crouched again for another glance around. The burning fire made it difficult to look very far past them into the darkness beyond. He moved his eyes slowly around the area, watching with his peripheral vision for any sign of movement in the shadows.

Something was coming, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Ren was sure of that. He could sense their former allies watching from the safety of the shadows and darkness to attack.

Suddenly, it hit him. He understood what was wrong. The silence was growing louder as if that made any sense. But that is how Ren sensed it. He didn’t hear so many whoops and hollers as before. As if, one by one, his fellow warriors were being eliminated up ahead.

Again, Ren watched a couple more of race past him toward the boat. Gleefully shouting at all the loot they had plundered from the Yokonagawa.

“C’mon, Ren! There is so much more back there! Hurry up and get your share before it’s gone.” Kota paused to yell out before racing off again to keep up with his companions.

Ren realized that all of the looting warriors were running back from the loot ahead, however, he hadn’t seen anyone come racing back from the boats after dropping their load off. Not one had returned to continue plundering the village.

He waited a few moments. Listening in to the silence between the crackling flames and snapping timber. A few more men came running back from their plundering with bags on their backs.

“Hey, wait!” Ren yelled out to them. “I don’t think you should go down there.”

But they didn’t listen or didn’t hear him over their own whoops and hollers of excitement. Again, Ren realized that the only whoops were coming from behind him where the others were still plundering and pillaging the Yokonagawa homes before torching them to the ground. But nobody was hollering or making noise back at the boats.

A pang of fear mixed with anger flowed through him. He had known that this wasn’t going to bode well for them. Ren had tried to warn their commanding officer of his vision, but the old man had laughed at him after calling him a coward.

Ren began walking back toward the boats, but instead of walking straight back down the path his companions had gone, Ren circled around the burning buildings off the beaten trail.

It felt good to get out of the smoke and breathe fresh air once again. Ren moved quickly but silently through the trees, making his way back down to their waiting ships. Carefully watching for any enemies waiting to ambush him.

The waiting ships lay silently in the dark harbor. He didn’t see the guards who had stayed behind. Had they decided it was safe and abandoned their posts to loot and plunder with the others?

Ren watched with bated breath as he planned his best course of action. Rushing in would be foolish. He could die before warning his companions that something was wrong. If he waited to figure out what was going on, more of his returning companions would die, but if he left, he still wouldn’t know what was going on.

He decided that his best course of action would be to return to the men to warn them that something wasn’t right. Then together, they would figure out what was going on and how to protect themselves.

Ren slipped back the way he had come under the cover of the trees that hid him from the light of the full moon and stars illuminating the surrounding countryside.

He was about halfway back to the place he had come from when he heard another group of men returning with their loot. Whooping and hollering like those that had come before them.

Looking around carefully to make sure no one was watching, Ren waited till they were in sight before rushing out into the open air to meet them at the edge of the burning buildings.

“Hey! Stop. You can’t go down that way. Something is wrong. No one is returning.” Ren shouted in a hushed voice.

“C’mon, Ren! There is so much to plunder. We’re all going to be filthy, stinkin’ rich after tonight. Get up there with the others.”

The group had already moved on past Ren for him to physically stop them, and he didn’t want to yell after them to let their enemies know that he was onto them yet. A couple of more men came trotting down the trail under the weight of their bags of newly found treasure. Ren focused his attention on stopping them.

“What are you doing, Ren? Move out of the way. We’ve gotta drop this stuff off so we can get back up and gather more.” one of the men growled in an irritated voice when Ren wouldn’t let them past.

“You don’t understand. Something is wrong. No one is returning. I think they’re being killed when they return to the ships.”

“What have you been chewing on, Ren? There is no one here but us. The Yokonagawa all fled when we got here. Jump on this chance to grab yourself some goods.” the one named Ichiro said with a laugh.

“Yeah, Ren. We were going slow because my missus is a little larger than average, so it took me longer to find things that’ll fit her. And I saw a bunch of people come down here to drop stuff off and then come back up while we were still scavenging around. They must have gone back up on the other trail. You just didn’t see them.” Souma whined as he tried to push past Ren who was still blocking the path.

“Fine, go down, but be careful. And return this way to let me know you are okay on your way back.” Ren replied, letting them pass.

Ichirou and Souma both nodded as they raced past him without bothering to reply. Ren stood there for a minute watching them disappear toward the boat. Wondering if he was mistaken. Maybe he was just being overly cautious. Perhaps he was missing out on a ton of loot that everyone else was gathering without him.

Thoughts of treasure and great wealth filled his mind, driving out the worries that had plagued him since they had arrived. Ren continued walking up the trail towards the unburnt houses slowly. Waiting for Souma and Ichirou to come back up and tell him that everything was okay.

Other groups of looters passed Ren, and he was careful to warn them to keep an eye out for potential dangers. But like Souma and Ichirou, they all scoffed and brushed his warnings off as foolish advice.

Ren finally made it past the last burning house and into the section where his companions were still ransacking and pillaging. He set his sights on a house that seemed to be relatively untouched, and almost started heading toward it when he remembered that he was still waiting for Souma and Ichirou to return.

He looked back but they were nowhere in sight. If all they had done was drop off their bags and come racing back as excitedly as they had gone, they should have passed him well before now.

Ren sighed. Why did he always have to be like this? He regretted always having such a strong sense of moral duty to others. Putting them before himself. He had missed out on a lot of great opportunities because of it. And had almost died a time or two as well.

The thought of all those treasures waiting to be gathered was almost too much of a temptation for him. Maybe he could just gather a little bit for himself to have ready when the time came to leave while he warned the others.

He moved in the direction of the house, shouting out to others who were preparing to head down the trail, but none of them gave him any heed.

Ren was at door to the house. It was a small house. That’s probably why the others had passed it over in favor of the larger homes with more stuff to loot. But Ren could see that it was made of the finest craftsmanship. Whatever was inside would be top quality and fetch him a fine price.

He reached out to push the door open and step inside. Ren looked to the side and saw a large group of looters walking past him toward the boats. He felt that same strange sense of foreboding that he had earlier. Ren sighed and smacked his fist against the door with a growl.

Spinning around, he followed them from a distance. He could always come back and pillage later. This was a large town and there were still plenty of unburned houses. Just a quick jog down to the river to make sure his companions were okay. Then he would come back and ransack every last house and burn them himself.

It didn’t matter that they had once been allies. His leadership had just declared war on them with this act and they would all pay dearly for it, now that they would be waging battles on two fronts. Ren didn’t care. He had been raised to fight since the time he could walk.

He would plunder and get all the loot he could like everyone else to make the rest of the battles to come feel like they were worth something, Ren pondered as he followed the men racing down to the boat.

Ren watched as they raced excitedly across the planks onto the ship and disappear. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they hadn’t been attacked like he thought was happening. With a smile, he started to turn and walk back up the trail.

Then stopped and cocked his head to the side. What were the men doing? Why hadn’t they dropped off their bags and come back for more? What were they doing up there? He pursed his lips and tried to imagine what they were up to.

Ren moved swiftly, but silently toward the ships. He slowed down when crossing the wooden planks to avoid making any more noise than necessary. He boarded the ship and looked around. Everything was silent and still. Bags of loot lay everywhere, ready for the journey home. But none of his companions were on board.

He made a brief but thorough inspection. No one was around. Had he boarded the wrong ship? Ren walked to the edge of the boat and looked around at the others in the harbor. All were silent and still as well.

“What could have happened to them?” Ren wondered.

Another group of rowdy looters came trotting down the trail toward the boat. Ren moved back behind some cartons to watch and see what would happen to them.

They came running up the planks excitedly and tossed their bags of loot down. As soon as they did, each man turned and ran past Ren to the edge of the boat and leaped over the edge. Ren heard a quiet splash below, and then that was it. Nothing else. No commotion. No splashing around or calling for help.

He looked over the edge of the boat to the dark waters below. The bodies of the men who had jumped had completely disappeared as if they had sunk out of sight. But all around, the bodies of other companions floated listlessly in the waves.

Ren moved around the edge of the ship in horror. He recognized the faces of his companions under the light of the moon, as they rolled around in waves. Hearing the voices of others coming he raced off the boat to meet the men before they crossed the planks.

“Stop! Stop!” he hissed wildly as he flailed his arms. “Don’t go on the ship. Everyone who goes up there is dying!”

His companions laughed. “Don’t be silly, Ren. You were just up there.”

“I’m serious. Please, just put your bags down and come look over here to the side so you can see behind the ship. It’s full of our drowned companions in the water. Ichirou and Souma and everyone else. They are all there in the water.” Ren insisted.

The men looked at each other and shrugged.

“Ren wouldn’t be so stupid as to try to steal our loot. There is plenty for everyone tonight. But just to be safe, you stay with the bags, Jirou, while I go look.” Takuya said motioning for Tetsuya to follow him.

Takuya tossed his bag down and the other men followed suit. Immediately they all turned and walked up the plank onto the ship. Ren reached out to grab onto Tetsuya’s sleeve. But Tetsuya shook himself free and continued to walk toward the edge for the ship.

Ren dashed forward again and grabbed onto him again, this time by the arm. He also tried to hang onto the back of Takuya’s tunic as he pulled himself over the railing and threw himself into the cold waters below. Ren couldn’t hold onto him and concentrate on keeping Tetsuya from climbing over the edge.

He let go of Takuya and focused on preventing Tetsuya from jumping off the ship, but his companion was larger and stronger than he. Tetsuya shook himself free and jumped to join Takuya and Jirou in the water below.

Ren screamed in frustration and kicked at the railing. He raced up the trail while trying to understand what was causing this. He came to another group of men returning to the ships and tried to explain to them what was going on back at the ships.

They seemed worried and put their bags down on the ground. As soon as they did, each one began walking toward the ship with a strange look in their eye. Ren did everything he could to stop them. He knocked them over, but they just got right back up and kept on walking like Ren wasn’t even there in front of him.

He tried punching them. Kicking them. Pushing them around. But it didn’t matter what he did to them. They just kept walking toward the ship until they got there and threw themselves overboard into the cold, dark waters.

Ren ran back up the trail and tried again with another group. He got the same result. Everyone that put their bag of loot down immediately walked down to the ship and threw themself overboard.

He tried over and over with every group headed back, but it was completely useless. One by one, his companions drowned themselves mindlessly like a pack of lemmings. It was as if they became obsessed with jumping into the water after letting go of their bags of loot.

Ren even tried tying some of them up to trees to keep him from moving to the water. But they either cut themselves free, or another one of their mindless lemming friends would cut them loose.

As the moon moved across the night sky, Ren watched dozens and hundreds of his companions drown themselves under the light of the silent, twinkling stars.

After watching the last of his friends jump overboard, Ren fell to his knees in the middle of the ship and wept. Grieving the loss of his friends and companions. Frustrated at his impotence to stop whatever curse had caused this. Sobbing as he looked at the bodies of his drowned friends floating in the waves of the harbor.

Waves of emotion washed over him. Regret at not having demanded more from his superiors and understand why they had been sent here to their deaths. Guilt for not having been able to save his friends. Shame for being alive while they were all dead in the waters below. And rage. Fiery rage at whoever had done this to his friends.

Ren leaped to his feet with a roar. No longer afraid of making noise and being heard. Whoever he had sensed watching them earlier knew he was here. Knew he was still alive.

“Come and get me you cowards,” Ren screamed as he raced up the path toward the burning buildings. “I’m going to finish what we came here to start.”

When he arrived at the houses that his companions hadn’t yet ransacked, Ren began to torch them one by one, as fast as he could. Pulling firey torches of wood from the already burning houses and throwing them into the houses that still stood darkly against the night sky.

He worked swiftly and silently. Ren knew that he didn’t have much time. They probably hadn’t calculated on someone not-so-greedy person not touching their cursed objects. And right now, at this very moment were conjuring up some sort of incantation to try and stop him.
“Cowards! Come down from where you’re hiding in the hills and fight me like a man.” Ren screamed out into the darkness beyond the burning flames as he continued torching houses up and down the streets around the town square.

Ren didn’t have a death wish. He didn’t want to die foolishly. But his fury was so great that he wanted to kill his enemies just to avenge the death of his friends.

He heard them coming before he saw them. The patter of their feet as they raced down the street in his direction. Trying to come in behind some burning buildings. Hoping to catch him by surprise.

But Ren was ready for them. Trained by the most revered master in the land. A mighty warrior with every sense honed to the sharpest degree. A hardened soldier enraged beyond measure and thirsty for justice.

He didn’t even pull his sword to meet them. Ren ran directly at them. Sliding into them and bowling them over. Parrying the blows of their sword with his torch. Using their own momentum against them, Ren tossed them into the fire of the house burning beside them. One by one they fell kicking and screaming into the flame.

All of his rage and fury focused on avenging the death of his friends. Years of training, honing his skills to perfection. Ren didn’t even have to think. Punching. Kicking. Dodging when he needed to dodge, Ren made short work of his enemies.

And he still hadn’t even pulled his own sword. Sometimes using their own weapons against them. But most of the time, it wasn’t even necessary. His rage provided an almost superhuman strength to his killing spree. Breaking bones. Crushing their resistance. Tossing them into the fire as if they were ragweed.

The years of truce and lack of fighting had made the Yokonagwa soft. But they continued to pour down from the mountains. Eventually, Ren tired of toying with them and pulled his sword. They fell before Ren like hay before a scythe.

Soon there were bodies piled up in the center of the burning building and it took greater effort to toss them up there, so Ren moved the fighting back to another room in the house and continued to dispatch his enemies from there.

Eventually, his hand went numb and clave to his sword, but he continued to wield it wildly. Dispatching his enemies left and right as the building burned down beside him. Eventually, the flames consumed all but the pillars that had once held up the homes and darkness once again swallowed the town. And still, Ren continued his feud with the Yokanagwa, until every last one of them had been put down.

Ren looked down at the sword in his hand. He couldn’t open his fist to let go of the sword by willing it. He had to pry his fingers open to remove the sword. The exhausted warrior slid the sword back into its sheath and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Then looked around and sighed.

Seeing the bodies heaped up within the burning pillars was an eerie sight. It brought him no joy to look upon them. No sense of elation at the victory he had wrought single-handedly. But there was a sense of completion at having performed his duty.

He had finished the task his commanding officers had sent him here to fulfill even though he hadn’t agreed with it. And he had avenged the deaths of his fellow warriors. Not that it would do much good to bring any one of them back from the dead.

Ren moved out of the path of smoke coming in his direction and then stood there for a moment letting the cool, night breeze wash over him. Cooling his sweat-drenched body. He untied his hair and shook it out. He looked around for a place to sit and rest his weary bones.

“Well done, mighty warrior!” a loud voice boomed from behind him. “I have been searching for one as great as yourself.”

Ren spun around and jumped back at the sight before him. A large, majestic figure stood silhouetted in the darkness of buildings still burning behind him. He took a step backward with each step it took toward him until he was almost up against the building that had burned down behind him.

His brain tried to process what he was seeing exactly. The creature didn’t seem to have much of a face. The only distinct feature he could see clearly were its burning red eyes and the two large horns coming out of its head. A skull tied into place between his horns stood out with the skulls stuck to the shoulder pads of his leather and fur outfit that was covered with some sort of armor.

“Your heart is pure. Unaffected by greed as the others were. And you fight like an Ergavyan. Your father must be proud to have raised such a fine son as yourself. It’s too bad, you must die tonight. My orders are to make sure no one lives.”

Ren’s head reeled at the information he was processing. Trying to recall the Ergavyan legends he had heard from his mother’s bedtime stories as a child. This couldn’t be real. They were mythical creatures of magic and might who had once ruled the land. Remnants of their once great civilizations were all that remained in far-off desert lands.

“Come, mighty warrior. Bow to your fate like a man. It is a rare privilege for one such as yourself to even see an Ergavyan such as myself, much less have the glory to be killed one of my kind.”

Ren snorted in disdain. It may have been more out of fear than of disdain, but he didn’t want to appear weak before the strange being that had just appeared.

“I bow to no man. Nor do I bow to any Ergavyan. And if you think men bow to fate, you are sadly mistaken.” Ren shouted loudly and more courageously than he really felt as he assessed his situation.

Unsure of his chances of standing his ground and fighting, Ren fleetingly considered fleeing. He had never fought an Ergavyan, nor had he ever seen anyone else fight one for that matter.

Perhaps they were slow and he stood a good fighting chance. Or maybe they were swift as lightning, like the Yovian Elementals in his mother’s bedtime stories. Ren fanned his fingers and flexed his fist as he prepared to grab his sword.

“Be careful human. Or you will face the wrath of Ergavya upon you. Look what I have done to your comrades without laying a hand upon them. Imagine what I could do to you.” The creature growled.

“Or maybe you are slow and don’t know how to fight. So you hide behind your magic in the darkness with your trickery.”

Ren reached for his sword and pulled it from his scabbard, and crouched for the charge. The Ergavyan smiled menacingly and shifted forward in anticipation. It charged at him without pulling a weapon.

It was surprisingly fast for its size. Ren ducked the first swing of its giant fist and took a swing at it. But his sword hit mostly leather and metal. Ren moved around it, dodging punches and blows while simultaneously seeking a weak point to connect the sharp blade of his sword that would do some damage.

The Ergavyan blocked his swing with the protection on its left forearm and swung at Ren with its right. Ren was tiring from his dance around the Ergavyan and ducked too slowly. Its fist connected with Ren’s body and smashed him back toward the burning remains of the building where he had tossed the bodies of the enemies he had annihilated.

“Had enough yet human?” the Ergavyan growled as it walked toward him.

Ren pulled himself to his feet and braced himself for his final battle. He glanced around him for something to climb up onto. Something that would get him high enough up to take a swing at its head. The pile of bodies behind him was the only thing around.

He flipped backward onto a body at the bottom of the burning heap and then jumped from one to another till he reached the top. The burning pillars of the building lit up the scene around him like one of the Hive Gnome deathmatches he had once seen while on a diplomatic trading journey to the lands in the North.

Ren sensed that this was the end for him. He had to pull out all the stops. There was an ancient form of calling up fire that his master had once taught him. But it was painful and sucked all of his energy. He had been sick for two weeks after. So, he had never used it again. He had never been in a position where it had been necessary.

He didn’t even want to do it now. His body had aged since then. And he was tired and weak from all the fighting he had already done. Ren sighed and raised his sword over his head. He closed his eyes and lifted the knuckles of his left hand to his lips.

Calming his breathing and focusing his attention inward toward his belly. He let his mind wander into the night air around him. He could feel the power and magic that lay heavy in the air. Ren had never felt it this strongly before. He breathed in sharply, channeling that power and magic through the crook of his fingers. He could feel his own strength growing.

The Ergavyan stopped coming at him and cocked its head to the side. “Where did you learn how to do that human?” It asked as if genuinely curious.

Ren didn’t answer but continued to suck in sharply and channel the power growing within him. He felt heat building up within him and he willed it into his sword.

His sword burst into flames, and Ren swirled the weapon around his head, leaving a glowing yellow trail of light that extended past the tip of his sword, effectively extending his reach.

The Ergavyan growled nervously and charged toward him. Ren leaped to meet it. Swinging his sword downward with all of his might. The Ergavyan’s arm sliced off cleanly and dropped into the burning flames that surrounded them. It howled and backed off. It roared at Ren again. He charged at it, but it turned tail and raced off into the night.

Ren was too tired to chase it. His energy was low. He had pulled enough power and energy from the air around him that he didn’t feel sick like before. But still, it had drained him. He stopped running after it and bent down to catch his breath.

It would be out there in the darkness. It would try to weave some magic spell against him as it had done to his companions. His best bet would be to get off the island.

Ren set all but one of the ships on fire and bid his companions farewell as he sailed out of the harbor. Careful not to touch any of the bags of loot that lay scattered across the deck.

He would return again another time to hunt the Ergavyan down and fight it as his ancestors had many years ago just like his mother had told him about in his bedtime stories. He would return with those trained to sense magic and they would hunt it down.

And if there was one, that meant that there would be others. He would unite the three kingdoms against their common foe and put an end to this senseless bickering and endless feuding.

And one day, he would lead his people united in battle against the Ergavyans to finish what his ancestors before him had started to wipe out this evil that killed his companions.

0

Dragon Rider: The Making Of A Warrior

The dragon and its rider bolted into the night sky as hot, angry tears rolled down Akio’s cheeks. They didn’t make it far before the whipping wind peeled each one away from his face.

Akio looked back to see the Enforcers still blocking the way home. They seemed relieved that he fled without putting up a fight. They hadn’t even tried to stop him from leaving or attempted to pursue him. He realized that all they had wanted to do was prevent him from returning home with his dragon.

The fear in his heart abated when he saw that no one pursued them. Suddenly, Akio felt like a coward. He the might dragon warrior fleeing from the people he had fought to save.

He screamed with frustration into the cold, night air. The silent stars above his only witness. Not even the moon was out yet to watch him ride the wind. Shooting across the sky on the strong, firm back of Yunlong, the dragon he had pulled from the clouds. His only consolation for all of his effort. Everything he had been promised was a lie. They had used him for their own end.

“Not a lie,” Yunlong whispered in his mind. “You should go back. To your people. To your kind. I will return to the clouds. I will be fine. You will be fine. Better than fine. You have achieved a great thing. You will receive great rewards. You will be a hero to your people for what you have done.”

“No!” Akio roared, so furiously that his voice cracked and his throat hurt. It felt like he had torn a vocal cord. But he didn’t care. It wouldn’t hurt more than the tear in his heart. It wouldn’t ache more than the pain in his soul.

He would be hoarse tomorrow. He wouldn’t be able to speak for days. But it didn’t matter. Nor did he care. There was no one for him to speak to now except Yunlong. And it wasn’t even necessary since the dragon could read his thoughts. Speaking to Yunlong was simply a human habit that made Akio feel like the giant beast could understand him better even though he knew it wasn’t true.

Yunlong understood the human more thoroughly with a single sweep of her mind than Akio could ever express with a million words. And that was why Akio couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his new friend behind in order to return home.

“It’s not fair you can’t go back home with me!” he whispered hoarsely and instantly regretted it. He swallowed the pain and coughed to clear his throat.

Akio felt the pale dragon sigh briefly. He picked up on a mix of feelings. Anger. Regret. Sadness. He caught glimpses of hundreds of previous battles. But a strong residual sense of loneliness pervaded her memories through all of them.

“Humans and dragons were never met to coexist. We were only intended to be used as tools for a specific purpose. The Enforcers are right. It would only create confusion if I were to return with you.”

The rider didn’t try to voice his thoughts. He could feel her in his mind. Deep in each thought. No matter how brief. She could feel his pain. Sense his frustration. And he knew she understood him.

How was that possible? Two beings that were so different. Two creatures that warred for centuries. Mortal enemies throughout time. Yet felt the same feelings. Thought the same thoughts. And connected at such a profound level.

“What will you do now, Cloud Rider,” she asked in his mind.

It brought a brief smile to his face in spite of his frustration. It was a compliment coming from her because when they first met, she had mockingly called him Earth Crawler.

“I will find a way to return home and reveal the truth. I will expose those who sent me. They will regret choosing me to do their dirty work.”

“You can still go back to your people. You just can’t take me. Tell them your truth. They are your loved ones. They believe the lies, surely they will believe the truth when you tell them.”

“They won’t. They’ll call me crazy. The Enforcers will make sure that everyone thinks I’ve gone mad. Without you, I have no proof. And that is the only thing they fear. Having their lies exposed and people learn the truth.”

“Why is that important? You know the truth. And that is what matters. You can live a long and successful life with your people.”

Akio shook his head as he tried to process his emotions.

“No,” he finally sighed. “I’d rather live alone but free than to be enslaved with lies no matter how comfortable they may have once been.”

The rider felt his dragon smile. “Very well, young human. There is hope for you. Maybe we’ll make a real warrior of you yet.”

0

Field of a Thousand Swords

“No! Please don’t. Stop. I’ll go for you if you let Kurou live.” Ami screamed.

Yasu lowered his sword and looked up at her with a grin. “That’s more like it. Do you swear?” he asked with a low growl.

Ami nodded as the tears ran down her cheeks.

“That’s not a good answer,” Yasu roared as he raised his sword and pulled Kurou’s head for the final blow.

“Yes! Yes, I swear. I swear on the life of my unborn children. I’ll go to your field of swords and fetch this Reaper’s Toll you are talking about. I swear it. Just let Kurou go.” Ami sobbed.

Yasu grinned wickedly as he lowered his sword. Then he gave Kurou a hard shove to the ground.

Kurou groaned and rolled over to look at Yasu. “No! You must not do this. He already had the Scarlet Terzite. If you give him the sword, he will be unstoppable.”

Ami shook her head and wiped the tears from her face as she shakily to her feet. “He is already unstoppable, Kurou. He defeated all five of us without it. The others are dead or dying. I just want us to live.”

Kurou groaned and refused to look at her.

“I will not look at your face ever again if you do this.”

“I don’t care if you don’t look at me, Kurou. Just knowing that you are still alive will be enough for me. The hope that someday you will look upon me again will be enough.”

“I will never look at you again,” Kurou spat in her direction, and then moaned in pain at the movement. Then he tried to push himself up.

Yasu kicked Kurou in the ribs. Hard. Ami heard ribs crack.

“Please stop it,” she sobbed. “I already said I would fetch your stupid sword. Now, leave him alone.”

Yasu smiled as he kicked Kurou again. “I don’t trust your kind,” he growled. “If I let him up, he’ll do something that would make me want to kill him. I need him alive for you to do what I want. So, it’s best he stay down.”

The large, burly man spat at Kurou who lay groaning at his feet. “Now, go fetch me my sword you snotty, little brat.”

Ami looked up at him pleadingly, “But where is it? How do you want me to get it if you don’t tell me where it is?”

Yasu snorted, “Seriously? You expect me to believe that line. You and your friends attacked me to try and steal the Scarlet Terzite. It’s obvious you wanted it to get to the Field of Swords. Why else would you have come after me like that?”

He reached down and grabbed Kurou by the back of his coat and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Walk in front of me down this way,” he grunted while pointing down the shadowy tunnel.

Ami walked slowly shuffling her feet more than she had to just to buy some extra time.

“What about my friends back there?” she asked.

“What about them? They’re dead. You can come back and bury them after you get me my sword.”

Amy asked him a few other questions, but he didn’t answer. Yasu told her to shut up and keep walking. He paused from time to time when they came to branching tunnels as if trying to remember which way to go.

Finally, he stopped and motioned for her to step inside. She walked into a massive cavern full of exquisite stalactites and stalagmites that had formed over hundreds and thousands of years.

They came to the other side of the cavern and Yasu motioned her through a smaller tunnel that led to another smaller cavern.

A soft blue glow filled the room. It was beautiful. It emanated from a round circle in the middle of the cavern.

“What is that?” she asked.

Yasu guffawed in scorn, “Seriously, you’re still gonna play dumb and act like you don’t know what that is?”

Ami shrugged and looked at him blankly waiting patiently for his reply.

“C’mon! That’s the portal to Sechya.”

“Sechya?” Ami exclaimed. “But that is over a thousand miles away. What’s in Sechya?”

Ami’s sobbing had ceased. She seemed enthralled with the sight of the portal before her.

Yasu scoffed. “That’s where my sword is, and it is far. That’s why you need the portal.”

“But I was told portals like this were dangerous,” Ami exclaimed. “In the stories, my grandmother told me as a child there is always a trap.”

“Of course, to keep others out. Your people built this and set traps to kill my kind.”

“So, what traps are here and how do we get through it?” she asked.

“Not we! You. I’ll stay here with your friend while you fetch me the sword. And don’t even think of trying anything funny. I’ll slit your friend’s throat without thinking twice.”

Ami sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Just tell me what it looks like and how to find it. Quickly, so I can come back and help him before he bleeds out.”

Yasu kept his eyes fixed on her as he pulled a piece of folded paper out of his pocket. He held it by the corner and shook it out so that it unfolded. It was old and brown and tattered and worn.

“Wow!” Ami exclaimed as she stared at Yasu’s crude drawing of a sword. “It looks like you drew that a long time ago. Huh? How long have you been looking for this thing.”

A low growl erupted from Yasu’s throat, “Far too long. Far too long. I spent my life searching for this weapon.”

“Why?” Ami asked.

The grotesque orc stared at her a long moment before answering, “Once I have it, I will exact vengeance upon my enemies. And I will drive them away from this mountain so my people can once more live in peace from those who have enslaved us to dig out the treasures the mountain hides. Then the treasure will be ours once more.”

Ami sensed the passion emanating from him as he spoke.

“So, what does this sword do?” she asked. “Why is it so important to you? And how will it help you?”

She looked back at the portal and squinted. It seemed like she could make out the faint outline of a sword on the other side of the glowing blue light.

“It’s the sharpest blade ever forged here in these mountains. Some say it is so sharp that it could cut through the hardest rock like goat butter in the summer sun. Once I possess it, I will slice through my enemy’s ranks as none of their weapons will be able to withstand me. With the Scarlet Terzite in one hand to protect me, and the Reaper’s Toll in the other, I shall be undefeated and vanquish my enemies.”

Yasu’s low growl increased to a roar so that by the end he was shouting the words at her as his arms flailed wildly. Ami had to wipe bits of slobber from her face with her sleeves.

“Okay, okay. I get it. So, how do I get through the portal then if there are traps? I can’t even see what is on the other side.”

Yasu grinned and pulled out the Scarlet Terzite. He stepped closer to the portal. The blue glow cleared so that they could see through to the other side. Ami could see a field full of swords all stuck into the ground.

“So, that’s why they call it the field of swords,” she muttered. “How did they get there?”

“They were taken there when great warriors died. It’s a safe haven for them where they are protected from the elements until such a time as one worthy to wield them was found. Or at least that’s what the legends say. They say that the Reaper’s Toll was…”

“C’mon, I don’t have all day or Kurou is going to bleed out,” Ami interrupted him. “Let me go get the sword and then you can tell me all about it.”

Yasu cocked his head to the side and looked at her with a pleased look. “Yes, good. Go!” he commanded.

“But what about traps,” Ami asked. “What if I die going through. Then how will you get the sword.”

The orc grunted and frowned as if he hadn’t considered the possibility. “But your kind can go through there. Only I cannot. It is a trap for me.”

Ami shrugged. “Maybe, but there may be something else that triggers it too.”

Yasu smacked his face with his hands and sighed in exasperation. He walked around in a small circle and motioned her through. “Just go. I’ll take my chances. If you die, I will find someone else of your kind.”

“But you won’t have any leverage over them like you have with me and Kurou.”

“Argh!” Yaso roared. “So, what’s your plan woman. What do you suggest?”

Ami shrugged. “We should at least throw somebody through to make sure that portal won’t burn me up like it would you.”

“Haha! Very smart woman. You want me to throw your friend through first and then you will jump through and run away. I am not that stupid.”

“No, I wasn’t thinking of him. I was thinking of the body of my friend that you killed back there. You can throw her through just to make sure nothing will happen to me because I sure don’t want to die going through this portal today.

“Hmmmm…” Yasu growled. “I suppose you are right. I don’t want to have you die. Then who would get my sword for me.”

The bald-headed orc growled and ran his large rough hand over his grisly gray bread as he pondered his options for a moment.

“C’mon! Let’s go fetch the other body,” he finally said.

He threw Kurou over his shoulder and walked back through the tunnels the way they had come. When they arrived back where the fight had started, he pointed at one of the bodies on the ground.

“What?” Ami said. “You’re the big, strong orc. You can carry them both.”

“I’m not doing all the work here,” Yaso growled.

“Well, fine! But the other guy over there is smaller and lighter.”

Yaso set Kurou down and helped Ami heave his body over her shoulder. She staggered and stumbled under his weight as they walked back down the corridor. They had to stop a few times for her to set him down and catch her breath. Yaso had to set Kurou down and help her each time.

They finally made it back to the portal. It had closed again and turned blue. Ami heaved the weight she was carrying to the ground and placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

“Let’s go! We don’t have all day. I want my sword.” Yaso complained.

Ami pointed at the portal, “Well, first you have to open it though. Right?”

Yaso snarled at her and looked like he was about to say something but didn’t. He pulled the Scarlet Terzite from his pocket and held it in front of the portal until it cleared. He nodded for her to continue.

Ami picked up her friend’s arm and held it by the sleeve as she tried to push it through.

“It’s not going through,” she huffed. “Maybe he has to go through with the Scarlet Terzite.”

The orc snorted and his nostrils flared. “I’m not giving you the Scarlet Terzite, woman.”

“Well, do you want me to get through this portal or not?” she asked. “You’ve never actually used it before, have you?”

He slapped his thick orc hands to his face and roared as he turned away for a moment. Finally, he turned back and handed it to her.

“Fine, take it. But remember what I’ll do to your friend here if you try anything foolish.”

Ami took the red crystal pendant and placed it in her friend’s hand before pushing it through the portal.

“Be careful,” Yaso yelped. “If it falls out on the other side, we may be stuck her without being able to fetch it.”

Ami looked at him with a scowl but then paused for a second to wrap the chain around her friend’s hand so she could pull his arm back through when needed. Then she pushed his arm right on through the portal.

The orc breathed a giant sigh of relief behind her. He was so close that the sound and feel of his warm breath down her neck startled her so that she almost fell through herself. She jumped back, pulling her friend’s arm and the Scarlet Terzite back with her.

“What are you waiting for? Go on!” Yaso berated her.

“Calm down, orc. It’s my life on the line. I want to make sure there aren’t any of those traps that are going to go off after we get him all the way through. Help me turn him around so we can push his whole body through.”

The orc shook his head, “Not me. I’ve seen what it does to other orcs that get too close to this thing. Other orcs have tried before me. I’ve seen it. It was built to keep us orcs from going through to the other side.”

“So, how did you know that the Scarlet Terzite would get me through,” Ami asked.

Yaso shrugged, “My friend and I overheard two of your kind talking. They said the Scarlet Terzite would open the portal to the Field of a Thousand Swords. So, we took it from them. My friend tried to go through the portal. And it turned him into a pile of mush and goop.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ami said after a quiet pause. “Let’s push his feet through first.”

“Don’t let the Scarlet Terzite go through,” the orc rumbled in his all-too-familiar growl as he turned her friend around. The orc gave her friend a slight shove through the portal so he was about halfway through.

Ami lifted his upper body up and pushed him the rest of the way through while holding onto his arm. She let his limp body flop through to the other side of the portal and pulled the Scarlet Terzite off his hand at the last second.

“It works,” she shouted with a glance back at the orc.

He waved her forward and she took a step through. The shimmer around the portal had disappeared and the air was completely clear as if the very fabric that separated the two locations no longer existed.

Ami held up her face to the warm sun that she was now standing under and paused with her arms lifted up over her head.

“Hey! Get the sword,” she heard the orc yelling at her.

She turned and grinned at him. “Hang on to your horses there you impatient imp! Do you know how long I’ve been down in that cave and since I’ve felt the rays of the sun warming my body?”

Ami saw his face fill with rage and he flinched as if he were going to leap through the portal at her. She just grinned and looked back at the field around her.

It was full of pink and white flowers. Dozens of swords stuck up out of the ground around them with their sheaths beside them.

She pulled a sword out of the ground and waved it in the air around with masterful skill. She picked up its sheath and slid the sword into it. Then placed it on her side.

Ami turned and smiled at the orc. “Come get your sword, Yaso. I have no idea which one it is, but I think I’m going to keep this one.”

“What?” the orc shouted in a thunderous roar. “I’m going to chop off your friend’s head.”

He slid his sword from its sheath and reached down to grab Kurou’s head in a threatening gesture.

Ami just smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she placed the Scarlet Terzite around her neck.

“Go ahead. You can’t get to me. I’m safe. Do what you want to with him because I didn’t care for him much in the first place.”

The look of shock on the orc’s face at realizing he had been had was classic. He screamed and threw his sword at her. Ami easily dodged it and just kept laughing.

“C’mon, Hibiki!” she said kicking at the body of her friend. “You can get up now. No, need to keep acting.”

Hibiki opened his eyes and smiled at her. “Whew! That was close. I almost threw up when that stinky orc got close to me to help you pick me up.”

He reached a hand up and Ami helped pull him to his feet. “You always were a good actor.”

They glanced over at the orc who had a befuddled look on his face as he tried to process what was going on.

“What?!” Kurou yelled. “You’re going to leave me here to die.”

Ami shrugged. “Sorry, Kurou. That crazy orc would kill us all anyway if we gave him what we wanted. This is what we came for. Right? Our task was to get the Scarlet Terzite and come through the portal. I saw that Hibiki wasn’t really dead like the others. He had only passed out. I just had to improvise after Yaso bested you to get us over here.”

Yaso took a step forward and growled at them, “Careful, woman. You swore an oath on the life of your unborn children that you would get me that sword. Your word is your honor.”

Ami smiled wistfully, “Truth is, that I can’t have kids, Yaso. My doctor told my parents that years ago. So, that’s not something I’ll have to worry about. Is it?”

Yaso let off a string of thunderous curse words in his language that Ami had no idea what he was saying, although she imagined they were probably pretty foul as he took another step forward.

“Careful, Yaso!” the woman cautioned. “You don’t want to turn into a pile of goop and slime like your friend. Do you?”

He held up his hand and pushed it forward slowly. It came through the edge of the portal without anything happening to him. Ami and Hibiki took a nervous step back.

“It seems the portal is wide open. I think you forgot to close it behind you, little lady.” the orc said with a smirk. “When you called me an imp, I almost went into a rage and close enough to sense that the portal’s protection was no longer blocking me.”

Ami pressed closer to Hibiki and whispered for him to grab a sword while she covered him. She began to slide her sword out of its sheath. Hibiki lunged for the nearest sword sticking up out of the ground. But the orc was still faster.

He closed the gap between them and grabbed the hilt of her sword with one hand and slapped her to the side with the other.

The orc spun around and lashed out the tip of Ami’s sword clean through Hibiki’s wrist whose hand fell off still holding the sword he had tried to grab.

Hibiki fell to his knees screaming and clutching his wounded arm with his good hand.

Yaso walked over to the woman who lay sprawled on the ground where she had landed. “What was it that you said about improvising?” he smirked as he circled her.

He waited in front of her as she pulled herself to her knees. Ami had landed on top of a sword and pulled it up behind her back. Hoping that the orc wouldn’t see the tip until she had a chance to use it. Waiting for him to come closer.

Yaso didn’t disappoint. He got right up close in her face. Grinning with that taunting smile.

“Thank you for opening the portal, Ami. Now, I can find my sword myself. This turned out much better than I expected. In fact, I think I see it sticking up right over there.”

As he turned to point to the side, Ami swung her sword out from behind her back and shoved the weapon up into his chest as hard as she could.

He looked down at her in shock. “You don’t cease to amaze me, human. For a female of your kind, you are very resilient and so full of surprises. Too bad you are not one of us. I would take you for my wife. There would never be a dull moment with you around.”

Ami waited for him to step back or fall forward. But when he smiled, she looked down at the sword she had shoved at his chest. She pulled it back. Then sighed in frustration when she realized that the blade had broken.

The orc pushed his fingers through the hole the sword had made in his shirt, exposing the hard leather and chainmail protection he was wearing. He continued holding on to Ami with the other hand.

A glimmer of sunlight flickered in Ami’s eyes and bright flash accompanied by a swishing sound of sweeping sword before it connected with the orc’s thick arm. The orc screamed and let go of Ami immediately.

She fell back to the ground and saw Hibiki looking just as a shocked as the orc did.

“A hand for a hand, and a wrist for a wrist, you orc scum,” Hibiki shouted in gleeful anguish. “No protection there. Huh?”

The orc’s arms were thick and strong, and Hibiki only had one arm to swing the sword with. So, it hadn’t cut clean through the orc flesh and bone but gotten stuck about half way through.

The orc grabbed the handle of the sword with his good hand and roared as he pulled it loose.

“Your kind should know better than to mess with someone like me. You’re weak and pathetic. That’s why I didn’t kill you in the beginning but let you live. I should have followed my instincts and cut your heads off right from the start.” he spat at Ami who was scrambling to get away from him on all fours.

Hibiki was limping over to pick up another sword. He turned to face the orc with his sword pointed in its face. But the orc swatted it to the side. His powerful arm were no match for his scrawnier, punier opponent’s.

Even though he only had one, good arm to swing with, he drew his sword back and brought it straight down on Hibiki’s head, cleaving through his skull.

Yaso didn’t even try to pull it free. He left it there and turned to go after Ami before she became a threat. She had found a sword and was turning around, but Yaso didn’t even bother finding another weapon to face her with.

He simply dodged her attack and swatted her arm in the opposite direction. She attempted to recover and swing back in the other direction. But before she could come back around, the orc smashed her across the face.

Ami fell hard. The sword fell beside her. She lifted her head to look for it, but the world swirled around her from the pain of the blow. She felt around for the sword, but by time her fingers found it, the orc had already stomped his giant foot down on it.

Yaso bent over and swatted her hand away. He picked the sword by the handle, then wiped his face with the back of his other hand. He wiped away the sweat, but ended up smearing blood from his wounded arm which only made matters worse.

The orc spat to the side and stared down at Ami with so much hatred that she could almost feel the rage emanating from him.

“I rue ever considering accepting your offer to get the sword in exchange for your friend’s life,” he growled as he flipped the sword in his hand so the blade faced down.

Yaso raised it over her throat for the final blow. Ami raised her arm and turned her face to protect herself.

She heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh. She felt the splatter of warm blood across her face and body. But she felt no pain.

Ami pulled her arm back and looked up to see Yaso with a large blade sticking out of his throat and another through the middle of his chest.

He dropped his sword and reached up to feel the blade coming through his flesh.

The orc continued to look at her in disbelief as he tried to understand what had just happened. He turned around slowly to face Kurou before falling to his knees.

“What? How?” he said as he fingered the sword coming through the breastplate in his chest.

“I guess you were right about the Reaper’s Toll cutting through anything,” Kurou said before bringing a third sword across the orc’s neck. It took three or four hacks for Kurou to chop off.

“Do you think he’s really dead?” Kurou asked as he pulled the Reaper’s Toll from the orc’s chest.

Then Kurou came over and bent over Ami. She smiled at him and sat up trying to hug him.

“Oh, Kurou! I’m so glad you’re safe.” she said with a sob.

“Oh, save it, woman. Your tears don’t fool me anymore.” he said as he pulled the Scarlet Terzite from her neck. “You left me back there for dead.”

He stood up and walked away. Ami scrambled to her feet.

“Wait! Where are you going? I’m coming with you.”

“I’m going to finish my mission. You can go back to whatever hole you crawled out of before I found you.” he growled.

Ami fell to her knees.

“No, please don’t leave me. Stop. I’ll go with you and fight with you!” Ami screamed after him.

Kurou turned and smiled at the irony of her words before stepping back through the portal and closing it behind him.

0

Legend of the Burning Mountain Man

“Not again!” Avrey screamed out in anguish as he tore at the flesh on his chest. Drew backed up against the overhang of the cliff wall at the sudden outburst of his friend that seemed to come out of nowhere.

They had just been walking along the trail up the mountain. Chatting as if everything were hunky-dory up until five minutes ago. Then Avery had fallen silent.

That had been the first strange thing that had happened because Avery was almost never silent. He had talked incessantly for the past three days. Drew had actually been relieved that his new friend had shut up long enough for him to enjoy the natural beauty that surrounded them.

Drew listened to the birds singing in the trees. He took a deep breath and let the smell of the forest fill his lungs. He had paused to let the breeze wash over him and cool away the sweat that had built up over the past hour since they had left the bubbling stream below.

But then the forest had gone completely silent. That was the second strange thing that had happened. He looked around to see what had happened to the birds. That was when he had noticed the fog moving down the mountain toward them through the trees.

Drew felt a twinge of nervousness. This wasn’t normal for this time of year. He had been up here several times over the past few years and had never seen anything like this.

“Hey, Avery! Do you see that? I think we’d better get out of here.” Drew mumbled quietly under his breath.

Avery didn’t answer him, but Drew didn’t take his eyes off the fog to look for the friend he had met at the base of the mountain when starting his trek.

At the time, having someone to keep him company had seemed like a great idea. Drew enjoyed having someone to chat with as they hiked over the trails. But now, he was glad that he wasn’t alone up here.

“C’mon, let’s get a move on it! We’ll get higher up the mountain and above this fog before dark.” Drew said as he picked up his pace.

Avery didn’t reply, even though Drew could hear him shuffling along the trail behind him. Drew threw a quick look over his shoulder to glance at his hiking partner.

His head was down as if Avery were staring intently at the ground. He was about twenty feet behind Drew although walking at the same pace.

Drew looked forward to watch the winding trail in front of him but then turned back again immediately for another glance at Avery. It seemed as if something about his face were glowing.

Looking back again, Drew couldn’t see the glow directly. Although he caught it again in his peripheral vision as he turned back to watch the trail in front of him.

“You okay, buddy?” Drew hollered out.

Avery still didn’t reply.

“Yo, Avery! Is everything alright?” Drew hollered back over his shoulder.

This time he paused his brisk walk to turn and face Avery. The fog was almost upon them. Running wouldn’t get them high enough up the trail before it covered them. And Drew was breathing raggedly. He wanted to stop to catch his breath.

Avery though didn’t stop walking, he just continued right on past Drew up the mountain through the forest.

Drew drew a deep breath and then started walking after his new friend. The trail twisted and turned up ahead, and ad they came around the bend, Drew realized they were headed directly into the fog.

“Hey, it’s getting dark. Maybe we should find a place to make camp. We need time to make a fire and set up while we can still see.”

The tall, lanky figure of his hiking buddy kept right on moving into the fog. Drew paused and watched him disappear into the mist. A strange sense of foreboding hit him.

Scenes from a hundred different horror movies flashed through his mind. Then he shook it off. That was silly. This wasn’t a movie. He pressed forward into the deep, grey mist that had suddenly flooded the forest.

All he had to do was find a nice place to set up camp and wait it out. Tomorrow the sun was come out blazing and burn the mist away so they could continue their climb up the Arntonas Peak.

“Yo, Avery! We need to set up camp, champ!” he shouted into the fog.

His silent friend was nowhere in sight. The fog had gotten thicker and he couldn’t see very far in front of him up the trail.

He kept glancing off the sides of the beaten path to see if Avery had possibly moved off to set up a camp. Drew began to worry that might happen, and he would walk right past his friend and not even notice where he had gone.

Then he would be alone on the mountain. Not that he hadn’t camped up here alone before. But Avery had been carrying a good portion of their supplies. He had noticed Drew getting tired and offered to carry some of his stuff.

Drew had been grateful even though he didn’t like admitting that he needed the help. However, he had recently been sick and was still recuperating. So, he had accepted the offer. It had been a relief to take some of the weight he had been carrying off his shoulders.

But now he began to regret it. What if he and Avery got separated here in the fog. He would be alone on the mountain, and the pack Avery was carrying had his tent and other necessary supplies in it.

He took a deep breath and picked up his pace in an attempt to catch up with Avery before darkness fell in the thickening fog.

Drew came around another bend and saw a shadowy figure standing in a clearing just off the trail underneath an overhang. He breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar frame before him.

“Wow! Glad I found you. I didn’t think you were going to stop for the night. I guess you were just looking for the right spot. This looks like a good one.”

He stood there panting and attempting to catch his breath. Avery still had his back to him, but shoved everything off his back and onto the ground.

“Give me a minute to breathe again, and I’ll start gathering wood for a fire.” Drew rasped.

Avery still didn’t reply. Drew didn’t take his eyes off the man. Something was off, but he didn’t yet know what.

“You feeling okay there, dude?” Drew asked.

A light yellow glow burst out around Avery and reflected off the fog around him almost as if he had tried using his lighter. But it didn’t dim out or fade away. In fact, it got a little stronger.

“Avery,” Drew said hoarsely. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”

His instincts screamed for him to run as fast as he could back down the mountain, but he didn’t want to leave new friend up there alone in the fog without knowing what was going on.

He stepped forward and put a hand on Avery’s shoulder. The tall, burly man shrugged it off and took a step forward. Avery was panting heavily as if he had been running for miles. And the glow still reflected off the fog around him.

Drew stepped around him and gasped at the sight of Avery’s body. His eyes were closed, but still glowed yellow through his eyelids. And there was soft glow emanating from the center of his chest as well.

He didn’t know what to say and stood there for a moment, nervously trying to make up his mind about what to do. Drew had always been rather indecisive and making split second decisions wasn’t easy for him.

Leaving was probably his safest option, but he worried about what he would tell people when they asked why he didn’t stay to help a dead man up on the mountain. Not there was much he could probably do anyway. But still…

“What’s going on, Avery? Are you feeling okay?”

Drew started to reach out his hand towards Avery’s shoulder to get his attention, but paused nervously without actually touching him. After a brief hesitation, he went ahead and placed his hand on Avery’s shoulder.

Avery’s eyes flew open and squinted slightly as if irritated.

“Leave me alone,” he growled. “I’m not feeling well. Something isn’t right.”

“I can see that,” Drew said with a nervous laugh. “It looks like there’s a bomb in your chest that exploding in slow motion.”

Avery looked blankly down at his chest as if he wasn’t aware that it was glowing yet. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it off to the side. He placed his hands on his chest and pressed against it as if trying to contain whatever was inside.

“Argh! Not again!” Avrey screamed out in anguish.

Drew backed up against the overhang of the cliff wall at the sudden outburst of his friend that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Avery pressed his fingers into his chest and tore at the flesh. The skin covering his ribs peeled away as if it were melting silicone.

“What do you mean, ‘Not again’? Drew shouted. “Does this happen often.”

Avery continued pulling at the skin that peeled away from his body all the way up to his face exposing the inside of his body. Drew could see the yellow glow inside Avery’s chest cavity, his throat, open mouth, and eye sockets.

He stood there against the cliff wall. Flabbergasted at the sight taking place before him. To shocked to move.

“What are you doing?” Avery roared at him. “Haven’t you realized I’m dangerous yet. Or do you want to die? Get off the mountain before it’s too late!”

Drew stumbled forward, past the burning man in front of him. He started to run, but tripped over the backpack that Avery had dropped earlier. He scrambled forward and picked himself up.

“Tell my wife, I’m sorry. I really thought I could control it.” Avery shouted after him. “And tell my kids I love them.”

Drew turned around to glance over his shoulder as he ran down the path. He could still see Avery’s glowing figure between the shadowy trunks of the trees around them.

He kept running until it got to dark to see. He had to slow down in the dark as he continued moving by the light of his cell phone. Drew kept going until his cell phone battery died.

Fortunately, he was out of the fog by then and a full moon was out that night. So, he was able to keep moving through the night until he came to a cabin. He managed to get the door open.

Once inside, he pushed furniture up against the door and windows. He managed to sleep for a few hours. As soon as the sun was up, Drew was moving down the trail again. Going down was faster and easier than the climb. He made it back by the end of the day.

He told the forest ranger what had happened. The police were called in. Nobody believed is story of course. They wanted him to take them back up to where he had last seen Avery, but Drew refused to go.

They never did find anything up the there and Drew never went back to look for his friend. Nobody knew anything about Avery or who is his wife and kids might be. Not that Drew tried very hard to find him.

Drew never could get the image of Avery pulling the skin from his chest right off up over his face. What was he?

At times he dreamed of Avery. Sometimes he was an alien from outer space. Other times he was a cyborg whose internal battery had malfunctioned. Other times he was possessed by fiery demons in the fog.

Drew saw a psychiatrist a few times, but it didn’t do much good. He could tell that the man didn’t believe him. The shrink often asked him what kind of drugs he was using before climbing the mountain or what type of mushrooms he had eaten.

For a while, he actually thought he was going crazy. But every once in while he would hear stories of hikers who claimed to see a burning man walking up and down the trails. Others disappeared completely and were never heard from again.

And Drew would wonder, if maybe, just maybe what he had seen on the mountain that day hadn’t been a figment of his imagination and had actually happened.

Maybe someday, he would get the courage to climb back up there and find a glowing Avery living in a cave or swimming in a mountain pool trying to find a way back down to his wife and kids.  

0

Gage the Aixtron: Return Of The Fallen Warrior

“Pssst! Hey Anwar, come over here.” Anwar whispered loudly across the abandoned, old junkyard.

Muhamed looked up from the pile of junk that he had been quietly digging through and set down a handful of trash that he had been sorting. He brushed off his hands and opened his backpack. Then placed a few items that he had set to the side that he deemed worth keeping into the old, greenish-brown backpack he had picked up a few weeks ago on the other side of the junkyard.

It was old but practical. Everyone had wanted the backpack. Some had asked him for it. Others tried to trade something else for the large bag. Imram had even offered him fifty Syndicate Pieces that were commonly referred to as the Haoding. But Muhamad had turned them down.

Having the larger, sturdier bag meant he could carry more than twice the amount of stuff back to the underground village easier. It had already paid for itself in the short time he had it.

Muhamed packed his items carefully inside the bag and closed it. Then he slid it over his shoulders before heading over to Anwar.

“What is it?” he whispered quietly while trying to figure out what it was exactly that Anwar had found.

“It’s an AIX-49, silly!” Anwar retorted in an aggravated but hushed tone.

Muhamed squinted and stooped closer for a better look. He could see an arm and part of its side where Anwar had pulled away the surrounding trash.

“I don’t know what an AIX-49 is, but I’m sure you can scavenge some of its parts for a fair amount of Haoding from the hackers over in Pagarh.”

He started to walk away, but Anwar grabbed onto his leg and pulled him back.

“Where are you going? Help me get it out. I want to take it down there whole. Not just a few pieces. I’m sure it will be worth much more this way.”

Muhamad scowled at the thought of all the work it would take to dig the robot out and drag it back to camp. “You should just cover it up and go see if you can find anyone interested in it before going to all that trouble. Besides, we only have a few hours left before dark, and I still have to meet my quota. I haven’t found much of anything that will interest the quartermaster.”

Now it was Anwar’s turn to scowl. “But someone else may find it and dig it out before we return. C’mon, help me out. I’ve already had more than my quota for the day. I’ll share it with you. Hurry up and help me claim it before Annisa gets here.”

The younger boy glanced over his shoulder and saw the lithe young, dark-haired girl coming around a pile of twisted metal over to his left. He sighed and threw himself down onto the dirty heap of rubbish that Anwar had been sifting through.

“Fine, I’ll help you. But I don’t like it. I’ve never heard of an AIX-49, but if they are anything like the Mechans, then it’s dangerous to even be messing around with.” he whispered hoarsely as he grudgingly began clearing trash and debris away from the machine.

“What did you boys find?” Annisa whispered when she came up behind them.

“An AIX-49,” Anwar said proudly with a big grin. “It’s what the previous generation of Mechanized Human Control Technology was composed of. They were…”

“I know what an AIX-49 is, silly. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” Annisa said with a scoffing laugh.

“Muhamad didn’t know what one was,” Anwar said with a quiet laugh as he jabbed his friend in the ribs. “And she does.”

Muhamad blushed but kept right on digging as if he hadn’t heard. Annisa crouched down and began helping Muhamad pull away the twisted metal and debris that surrounded the AIX-49. Anwar pushed her shoulder and took her place helping Muhamad move a chunk of metal.

“Go on, Annisa. Find your own scraps to meet your quota. This won’t count as much for quota, and we don’t have enough for you.” Anwar growled in a low voice.

“Quota! You have an AIX-49 that looks like it’s in decent condition, and you’re worried about meeting your quota. What’s wrong with you? Do you know how much this is worth?” she shrieked louder than she had intended.
Anwar slapped his hand over her mouth, “Shhh! Keep it down. You’ll attract the mechans. And yes, we’re going to sell the AIX-49 at the market tomorrow.”

Annisa scoffed again, “At the market, silly boy? You won’t get a tenth of what it’s worth at the market. They’ll only give you what it’s worth in scraps.”

“And you know where to sell it for more?” Anwar asked while trying to keep the hopeful plea out of his voice.
“I do. I have a friend who has an acquaintance. They are willing to pay ten thousand haoding for an AIX-49 or something equivalent.”

Anwar’s jaw dropped and his eyes glazed over as he visualized how he would spend all that money. Muhamad didn’t believe her and asked, “Why are they willing to pay that much for an old Mechan like this?”

She shrugged. “They didn’t say what they wanted it for, but from what I gathered they found a way to hack these things and convert them into fighting for us.”

“And you’ll help us negotiate a good deal with your friends?” Anwar asked.

Annisa nodded.

“Fine,” Anwar agreed while nodding at Muhamad. “We’ll give you ten percent of the price you help us get for it.”

“What?! No way, I want at least fifty. You won’t get anything without my help.” she said with a smirk.

“What?!” Anwar screeched. “But I found it.”

“No,” Muhamad retorted. “We’ll split it evenly three ways.”

“What?!” Anwar screeched again as he turned to face Muham

d. “But I found it. I should get fifty percent and then thirty for each of you.”

Annisa looked at Muhamad and laughed, “Boys, boys, boys. Math never was your strong suit in school. Was it? I’m leaving. Have fun digging your stupid AIX-49 out from under there. It’s probably no good anyway.”

Anwar leaped forward and grabbed her by the arm to stop her. “Fine, we split it equally three ways. But your friends better be legit.”

Annisa smiled and pulled her hair back. Muhamad slung his backpack off to the side under some shade. They began to work quickly to dig out the AIX-49 before it got dark. None of them wanted to be out after the sun went down.

The three worked tirelessly for a while to free the Mechan from the rubble and debris. Muhamad cleared the dirt and debris from around its face. Carefully brushing and blowing at dirt and bugs that filled the lines and crevices of its face and head.

Its face was completely black with a red rim around the top and backside of his head. Robotic sensors and antennas drew back from its head like braids of hair. It didn’t look anything like the modern-day Mechans that he was familiar with.

“What’s that?” Anwar asked from where he was working around the AIX-49’s feet. Muhamad looked over to Annisa who was reading off of a black rectangular object she had picked up.

“I thought it was trash and almost tossed it to the side. But it looks like it’s some kind of power supply,” she said with a shrug. “It might belong to this little baby here.”

Anwar grabbed it from her to read what it said. Annisa tried to grab it back from him and they wrestled for a brief second, but Anwar was bigger and stronger. He yanked it away and held it over his head. The girl pushed him and kicked at his ankles. He just laughed and moved away.

“It looks like it might fit right here,” Muhamad said, pointing to a hole in its head.

Annis and Anwar stepped in for a closer look. Muhamad reached out his hand and Anwar grudgingly handed it over to him. It took a few tries of pushing and twisting until he got it in the right spot and the piece clicked into place.

A greenish-white light lit up the circle around the AIX-49’s face and moved around in a clockwise rotation. Greenish-white lights also lit up along its shoulders.

“Stop! Turn it off.” Annisa hissed as she tried to push her way forward to pull the battery back out. Muhamad had already tried, but there was no way to get a grip on it to pull it out.

There was a loud hissing and vapor started coming up from underneath the AIX-49’s body.

“It’s gonna blow!” Annisa screamed as she and Anwar fled.

Muhamad raced over to grab his backpack but tripped in the process and fell down in a tangled mess. When he pushed himself up, the AIX-49 was already looming over him.

It reached down with its right hand which Muhamad realized was a sharply pointed claw. It hooked into his shirt and pulled him up onto his feet. The AIX-49 drew him close. Muhamad could hear soft whirring noises as if it were analyzing his face.

Muhamad looked around for his friends, but they were nowhere in sight. “Help! C’mon guys. Do something.” he yelled as he tried to pull himself free.

Just then he heard a loud shrill whistle waft across the junkyard. The warning whistle. Mechans were on their way. Most likely attracted by the commotion of Annisa’s screams and the Muhamad’s ruckus with this stupid AIX thing.

He could hear the faint whirring of the drones as came searching through the smog. Muhamad kicked at the AIX-49 and pulled desperately to get free from its claw. But its grip was too strong.

The AIX-49 looked up in the direction of the drones as they came into view. It cocked its head to the side and analyzed them as it had been doing to the boy. The normally aggressive drones paused as if confused by the sight of the AIX-49 and weren’t quite sure what to make of it.

After a few moments, the two drones moved on and continued to search the area. The AIX-49 continued to stand there holding Muhamad while watching the drones float around the area.

One of the drones paused its long, slow circle over the area. Then zipped down toward a pile of junk. Muhamad heard Annisa scream and the loud clatter of junk clattering as she jumped out of her hiding place. She came racing around the trash heap toward Muhamad and the AIX-49.

The drone didn’t have to circle around. It came straight up over the top and cut her off just in front of Muhamad. The faint whirring sound grew louder as it came lower in their direction. Annisa was stuck between two large heaps of junk and had nowhere else to run except back the way she had come.

The small girl turned to flee back in the direction she had just come from only to realize that the second drone had cut off her escape route. She glanced forward and then backward between the two before glancing over at Muhamad who could see the defeat in her eyes as she fought back the tears.

Muhamad tried to pull himself free again. He wanted to do something to help Annisa, but the AIX-49 held him back. He turned back and swung the fleshy, underpart of his fist at its head. But it didn’t do any good. His hand bounced off without even phasing the Mechan. Muhamad took another swing at the Mechan.

After his third swing, Muhamad felt out of breath. He took a fourth swing, but his arm felt heavy and his head felt dizzy. The AIX-49’s tight grip twisting his shirt and jacket up around his neck. Muhamad felt his legs get heavy and go weak as well.

The AIX-49 turned its attention back to the lad and said in a low voice, “When I let go of you, grab the girl and run for cover as fast as you can.”

Muhamad tried to focus and even answer, but his vision started to darken around the edges as he began to blackout. All he could do though was gasp for breath. The AIX-49 suddenly let go of him and leaped into the air.

It seemed to float up toward the closest drone now hovering over Annisa. The drone quickly shifted its attention from the girl and spun to meet the oncoming Mechan. It attempted to float up higher as it moved away from the oncoming AIX-49.

The Mechan had either calculated the drone’s movement or could fly because it continued moving over Annisa’s head along with the floating bot.

The boy wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was really true or just a dream he was having after passing out. He took a step forward in Annisa’s direction. But his legs buckled under him and he fell to his knees.

He took a ragged, gasping breath before glancing up as he pulled himself back up onto his feet. The Mechan had pulled a large sword with a glowing, white blade that seemed to crackle with electricity that it pulled from the air around it.

The AIX-49 brought it down over the drone. The sword seemed to cut through the large drone as if it were warm butter. The drone fell to the ground in two pieces just past Annisa. It turned its attention toward the second drone. And leaped towards it. But it had already turned and was floating over a large heap of trash.

The girl came to her senses and raced toward Muhamad. “C’mon, Muhamad. Let’s get out of here,” she panted in a hushed voice.

But Muhamad didn’t listen. He moved over to where the two halves of the drone lay still quietly clicking and hissing as it tried to move around. He slung the backpack down and managed to slide it into the bag. But it wasn’t big enough to hold them both. So, he picked it up in his arms and tried to carry it.

“What are you doing, Muhamad?” the girl hissed. “We have to get out of here. That thing will be coming back at any minute.”

“Do you know what this thing is worth?” he exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re not going to be able to run and carry that thing. And I’m not gonna dawdle around here while you try to drag that thing back to camp.”

Just then Anwar came out of the heap of trash he had managed to hide under. “It doesn’t seem too heavy. Just put it over your shoulder and run with it. When you get tired, I’ll switch and help you carry it. We’ll trade it off and on until we get back home.”

Annisa let out a gasp of exasperation, “We need to run home before that thing comes back and chops us up with its sword. I can’t help you carry that thing if I’m dead.”

She took off on a dead run through the heaps of grimy trash that lay smothered in the dark smog.

“Annisa’s right. It’ll slow us down. We can come back for it later.

Muhamad shrugged the second half of the drone at the base of a trash heap and threw some smaller junk around it to camouflage it. Anwar started to protest, but then helped throw trash around it too.

Then they both broke into a quick trot toward the camp. Muhamad was moving along at a pretty good pace, even though he was hugging and puffing a lot harder than Anwar. They were about halfway home when Anwar tugged on the backpack to take it from him.

Muhamad paused briefly to shrug it off his back when they heard the crunch of footsteps in the gravel. Both boys spun toward it. The AIX-49 swung its blazing sword at their outstretched arms holding onto the backpack.

They both let go and fell backward as they scrambled to get away from the Mechan. It stood there looking at them. Muhamad stood to his feet first when he realized that the sword had sliced the straps clean off the backpack.

“What did you do?” he squealed out chastising the Mechan as he waved the straps in front of its face.

“You shouldn’t take that back with you. They’ll be able to track it right to you.”

The Mechan reached down and pulled the drawstring that held the bag shut. He shook the drone’s half out onto the ground. He stuck his sword inside of it and sliced off a piece. Then picked it up with the hook of his other hand.

“This is the tracking device. I’ll take it with me to lead any others away from you. You can do what you want with the rest.”

Anwar finally stood to his feet. “You…you aren’t going to kill us. Or take us prisoners?” he stammered.

The AIX-49 chortled. It was a strange robotic sound, but the boys still recognized it as a laugh. They looked at him blankly.

“What?! C’mon. Don’t you boys recognize me?” it asked waving its sword around wildly in the air above its head before striking a pose with its hook hand on its hip and the sword pointed off over its left shoulder.

The two boys looked at each other and shook their heads before looking back at the AIX-49. Its light seemed to dim a bit and its shoulders sagged as it lowered the sword.

“Weird! We are on Autox. Right?” it asked.

The boys nodded.

“And this is Ayukana. Right?” it asked again.

The boys looked at each other quizzically and nodded again.

“So, it’s me. Gage, the AIXtron. Surely, you’ve heard of me. Right?”

This time the boys shook their heads. The so-called, self-named AIXtron looked around at the heaps of rubbish around it. Then up at the sky. It looked down at the drown at its feet. It sighed with a loud hissing sound as smoke rolled out of its back.

“What year are we in? How long have I been down here?” it asked.

“5781,” the boys both replied simultaneously.

“I have heard legends of a Mechan that defended us and led our troops into battle back during the uprising. But that was a long time ago.” Muhamad added.

The Mechan sat down and looked off into the distance. “That was long before either of you was born. I didn’t realize that I had been out so long since that last battle against…”

Gage stood to its feet. “No matter. Return to your camps quickly before more drones come. The next ones won’t be snooper drones, but full-on attack drones. Tell your people about me. If any of them remember me, tell them to light the fires of Pagarh. I’ll be around. Tell them I’m ready to take up the fight again. And only this time I won’t lose.”

Muhamad and Anwar raced back to camp excitedly. They told everyone that they knew about the AIX-49. Most of them just laughed and called the boys crazy. But a few of the elders cried when they heard the boys’ story.

“Yes,” they said. “We remember this Mechan. He was a mighty warrior. We almost defeated the Mechans. But they managed to defeat him. We thought he had been destroyed.”

Their hope was rekindled. And they rekindled the fires of Pagarh. Waiting for the return of their once valiant hero whom they hoped would once again return to save them.

0

The Thirty-Third Dimension

The buzz of static electricity filled the small dark room. A soft glow began to fill in shadows in the darkest corners of the cave. The clicking patter of small creatures who dwelt in the shadowy crevices and hidden cracks as they scurried for the safety of darkness intensified briefly. Then all grew still once again. But it was only the calm before the storm.

A loud crack shot out as a blueish-white bolt of electricity burst from the edge of the round opening overhead and connected with the square stone pillar that rose up from the ground. Six more bolts of electricity snapped out of various sides of the portal and connected with the stone. Then seemed to stiffen and solidify for a few brief instances as the form of a young man began to take shape within the light bluish-white mist that surrounded the stone under the pillar.

Ryuu breathed slowly and deeply as he waited for the transmission to complete. His head buzzed as millions of volts of electricity raced up and down his spine and throughout his body to rearrange his atoms. It was a strange feeling for sure, but it wasn’t his first jump. He knew it would pass just as quickly as it had started.

The ending was the easy part as his body came back together. He didn’t enjoy the start of the jump. Ryuu felt uncomfortable as the bolts of electricity began. Ripping the atoms that formed him apart and transferring them to the other end of the portal. Those were brief scary moments as he wondered if he would end up back in one piece on the other side. But it was almost over now.

Ryuu was careful not to open his eyes until the bolts of lighting stopped. But he wiggled his fingers and toes slightly. Careful to remain in the same position he had when he began the jump. Everything seemed to feel normal. When the last bolt of electricity disconnected from his body, 

Ryuu opened his eyes slowly and waited for them to adjust to the darkness.

He focused on the red glow of the nanobots that throbbed softly just under his skin around his wrist. They communicated with other nanobots in his system who were analyzing if everything was ok. Upload successful. Transfer 100% Complete. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Ryuu rose slowly to his feet. He raised his arms out to the side in a long slow stretch. Twisted his head from side to side to work out the kinks. He took a deep breath and pushed out his chest. He enjoyed these trips, but it was always good to come home.

The young man pushed himself up and down on the tips of his toes several times. Then Ryuu raised each knee a couple of times and kicked his legs out to warm up and get his blood circulating again. Ryuu raised his arms up over his head in a classic crane kick move as he spun his body around like a ballerina with his raised right leg pointed out. His body seemed to be functioning perfectly and Ryuu felt great.

He shook his arms and raised them in front of him like a boxer. Then he relaxed and looked around. His surroundings looked familiar, however, things were eerily silent. He peered into the shadowy darkness, but there was no one to greet him.

Ryuu glanced up stars shining brightly through the portal overhead. Something seemed off. Stars were different than they normally look from home. Stargazing had been one of his favorite past times growing up. And every time he jumped to a new portal in a different location, it would always take time to study the constellations overhead.

“Shirou!” He called out. “Hello. Is anyone here?” Ryuu didn’t like this. Not having anyone from his team to meet him. At the very least his handler should have been there to debrief him. Or Naomi the assistant who helped get him through the portals and back. He glanced back up at the stars overhead. This definitely wasn’t home.

Suddenly, he remembered that it was Shigatsu Baka. “Haha! Very funny, everybody.” Ryuu yelled out with a slap to his knee. “Today is the first day of April. You almost fooled me.” Shaking his finger in the direction they usually waited for him, Ryuu jumped off the stone pillar that he had been standing on.

But he didn’t feel the tug of gravity pulling him back down to the ground, and his feet didn’t touch the floor. Ryuu looked down in bewilderment. His body hovered there above the dark stones that lined the ground just inches below him.

Ryuu pointed his toe down toward the floor below him, and his toes brushed against a rock below. He kicked at it lightly. It felt solid enough, but he continued to hover there in the shadowy darkness.

He pulled his body down toward his feet in a half-crouch. Then from there managed to push his legs down toward the floor until his feet were on the ground. He took a few sluggish steps forward. Not that it was hard to walk because he didn’t feel any extra pressure or difficulty in walking. It simply felt like he was using more muscles than necessary to move in the direction he wanted to go.

The entrance to the cave was about ten feet away, so he decided to try to cover the distance in two quick leaps. Ryuu bent his knees and tensed his legs for the jump. With a quick push, he pulled his legs up and prepared to land.

But instead of coming down a few feet away as Ryuu had expected, he continued to float forward through the air about a meter off the ground. He pushed a leg down toward the ground but continued to move ahead.

The wall over the entrance loomed quickly ahead, and Ryuu had to throw his head back and bend over backward at the waist to keep from slamming against the sharp gray rocks that formed the walls around him as he continued to float down the tunnel feet first at a vertical angle.

He slowed to a stop and turned to look back at the distance he had covered. Almost 50 feet. Not a bad jump, he thought. The only issue was that he was just floating there.

Ryuu twisted and moved his body around until his feet touched the floor again. Fine, enough jumping for today. It was better just to walk around here. At least until he figured out how to move around this place.

He looked back down at the thin, red lines around his arm. Ryuu pulled up some numbers. Everything looked like it should. Except for one, small detail.

“Schmack!” Ryuu whispered to himself under his breath.

Everything was as it should, except for a few of the numbers at the very end. Someone on his team must have messed up. Or not. Maybe they had intended this to happen.

Latitude and longitude were correct. The time was correct. But he really didn’t know what those last few numbers meant. And his team had never changed them. Someone had speculated that they might indicate other dimensions around them in the same space and time.

If so, Ryuu had no idea where he was or how to contact his team to find a way back home.

0

Facing Mael’s Giant

Natalie faced the giant standing before her. A twinge of nervousness. She hadn’t expected Mael’s giant to be quite so big. Doash was almost four times taller than herself. It didn’t even have to do anything. It could just step on her like a cockroach or spider and crush her to smithereens. She turned on the chainsaw.

The giant growled in resonance with the sound of the churning motor. It followed suit almost as if keeping in tune with the sound it was hearing. She wondered what it would feel like to be run through with its giant horns

“Great, a musical monster!” she sighed.

The giant lumbered forward taking a step in her direction, close enough that she could see the large triangular tattoos burned into its massive, green forehead. At least it didn’t seem to move very quickly. It hesitated from coming forward but shuffled its feet slowly as if trying to decide what to do with her.

“Mael is dead,” she yelled up at it. “I killed him myself. I don’t want to hurt you. Just go back home where you belong and don’t ever come back to bother us again.”

The giant paused its shuffling and cocked its head to the side as if pondering her words. It looked over at the house it had just finished crushing before devouring the people who had come running out. It looked to the other houses beyond Natalie.

“Hungry!” it finally said. “Mael no give food. Eat.”

“Well, you can’t eat the people here. You have to go find food somewhere else. Go to a giant’s supermarket and buy giant food.”

“Hungry!” the giant growled again and took a step over her to move on to the other houses.

Natalie raced forward toward his left foot that was still planted on the ground. She drove the spinning blade across the flesh on his shins. The blade went in deep. Flesh, blood, and even a bit of bone flew in all directions.

The giant roared and swatted at her, but she had already moved on past it and circled around to the other side. She drove the chainsaw across the flesh above his ankle. Trying to go deep enough to cut through his Achilles tendon. Or at least where she imagined the Achilles tendon might be. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure. It’s not like she had ever fought a giant before. But Natalie was hoping to cut through the tendons that supported its weight so it couldn’t continue to move around and eat people.

The giant screamed and jumped forward before she cut through the tendon though.

“Pain! Hurt! Stop!” it screamed angrily at her as it leaned down toward her.

Natalie backed away and wiped bits of spittle that had rained down on her while it was screaming at her in rage. It was disgusting. Natalie gagged and turned her to the side for a second.

When she turned back, the giant’s left foot was over her head and coming quickly in Natalie’s direction. She leaped out of the way at the last second. Just far enough that the giant foot stomp just missed her. If she hadn’t turned to look or moved any slower, she would have been flattened like a pancake.

Natalie scrambled to her feet as the giant reached down for her. His right fist came down from the direction she was running in. She ducked and attempted to dodge, but was too slow. Its huge fingers were wrapping around her. Natalie jumped to climb over them and got high enough up that its fingers were only wrapped around her waist. Her arms were still free.

She smacked him with the chainsaw, but it had turned off in her fall and didn’t phase the giant at all. Natalie flipped the switch, but the chainsaw choked. So, she groaned and flipped the choke valve on. The angry woman kicked her legs, trying to get free while she attempted to turn the chainsaw back on.

It turned on after her third try. She pulled back on the throttle as hard as she could and drove the spinning chain down across the giant’s fingers. His index finger came clean off as the chain sliced through it and hit his middle finger.

The giant shrieked and let her go immediately. His opening fingers snapped the chainsaw out of her hands a good distance away. He shook her down to the ground hard. It knocked the breath out of her, but she managed to roll the way she had learned in gymnastics class as a child to minimize the damage.

She lay on the ground with the wind knocked out of her, moaning softly until she could roll back onto her feet. Natalie limped over to her fallen weapon of choice. The chain had come off, and she thought it had broken. But fortunately, she was able to slip the chain back into place while backing away from the giant and keeping an eye on it.

The giant wasn’t paying attention to her at the moment though. He was holding his hand and moaning over his chopped-off finger. As soon as he heard the chainsaw start back up though, the giant turned his full attention on her and roared in her direction. The giant threw its finger at her, and it came limping back in her direction with its usual lumbering gait.

But this time, Natalie knew what to do. She dodged the flying finger and danced around in front of him until he had his right foot firmly planted in front of her. Natalie spun around him and dug the chainsaw just above his ankle once again. Angling the blade of the chainsaw until it met with her previous cut. Then pressed in the blade on through until it sliced clean through the tendon that supported the giant’s full weight.

The giant toppled over onto its back and hit the ground hard. Stunned from hitting the back of its head hard. It gave Natalie enough time to race up onto its chest a jab the spinning chainsaw blade into several major arteries on its neck and then its wrists.

Green giant blood spewed everywhere as the giant writhed and twisted before expiring in the town square. The townspeople came out and cheered for Natalie who stood exhausted to the side. Several people brought her towels to clean up with before leading her to the mayor’s house for a giant victory celebration.

0

Blaze

“You better not come any closer!” Marcel shouted. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. If you come any closer, I’ll kill you. You’ll never get close enough to use that stupid chainsaw.”

Marcel felt rather silly for having yelled that same line again for the fourth or fifth time tonight. But unlike the previous times, he had always had a path of escape through the flames. Only this time he was completely surrounded by the fire. The only way out was past Natalie.

He nervously took a step back and stepped on a small branch that cracked loudly under his weight. The sound startled him and he jumped forward again.

“Listen, Natalie. I know you liked Mirek, but I was ordered to do what I did. It’s not my call to make. I would have been the one to die if I had disobeyed. You know how it is. You can’t blame me for what happened.”

The young woman said nothing. The fire roared loudly around him. The crackling flames and snapping in the underbrush unnerved him. He looked to the sides for a break in the surrounding inferno for a way to escape. Marcel licked his dry lips and took a deep breath. The heat forced him to cough.

The slobby, old man took another step back. Away from the girl who stood silently on the other side of the ring of fire that surrounded them. The heat burned into his back through his thin, red cotton shirt. Forcing him to take a step forward. He untucked his shirt and pulled it away from his back.

His pants were thicker and protected him better against the heat. He pulled them higher up around his large belly to protect more of his back. They slid back down to their usual spot. So, he pulled them up again and held them in place. Leaning forward slightly to keep the heat from blistering through his skin.

An internal heat welled up inside of him. Anger and rage at being humiliated by this bratty, little lady. She couldn’t treat him like this. Shouldn’t treat him like this. He wouldn’t tolerate it.

The fury boiling up within Marcel gave him a sense of newfound bravery. He took another step forward. Briefly enjoying a sense of relief at stepping away from the fire.

Marcel raised his arm toward Natalie and pointed a chubby finger in her direction. “That is enough there, young lady! I hereby command that you put that chainsaw down and go on home. You’re angry and need to take some time to cool your head. We can discuss this at a later time and I will convince Mael to forgive you for your insolence and insubordination.”

A brief smirk twitched at the corners of her mouth before the hatred and rage flickering in her eyes along with the flames brought the scowl back. Marcel could see the resolve. It was hard to believe that this was the same girl that had joined the group only 3 months ago. Marcel hadn’t expected her to last a week.

Now, she had hunted him down. Trapped him. And was closing on him. After killing everyone who had stood in her way.

Marcel knew there was no escape. He was trapped in this ring of fire that was slowly closing in on him. He felt the heat of the flames inching closer. Crackling loudly in his ears. Smoke burning his eyes.

He fell to his knees to beg for his life. The tears that began to run down his cheeks weren’t from the smoke and flames. It was fear for his life. All that he had fought for was now coming to an end. And he was so close to achieving everything that he ever wanted.

The blubbering man continued to plead for his life as he watched Natalie’s slow, measured steps coming in his direction. The low growl of the throttled chainsaw growing louder as she moved toward him. Scenes from his life flashed before his eyes. Marcel fell back on his elbows as he tried to move away from the edge of the chainsaw.

The grown man screamed like a little girl. He kicked at Natalie’s feet. Moaning as the spinning chain came toward him. He flipped over onto his belly and covered his head with his arms even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good.

He listened but the sound didn’t get any closer or grow any louder. Marcel wondered if he had already been killed, but his mind just hadn’t realized it yet. He held his breath for a second before opening one of his eyes and looking around. The grumpy, old man turned his head till he could see Natalie.

“Get up you big crybaby,” she growled. “Don’t think you’re getting off that easily. You’re gonna take me to Mael.”

Marcel’s heart skipped a beat and he stopped breathing for a split second.

“I’d rather you killed me now,” he sobbed. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Besides, you’ll never be able to get to him.”

He saw the glint of fierce resolve flash in her eyes once again. “That’s exactly what you said about me getting to you, and look where we are now. I’ll find that monster and kill him myself with my bare hands if I have to. And you’re going to take me to him.”    

0

Feeling Cross

Tora heard the noise before she saw him. Loud crashing. Shattering glass. Crackling flames. Terrified screams. She rounded the corner and looked past the mounds of destruction that littered the street. Tora paused before pressing into what was left of the large building before her.

The girl could barely see through the smoke and dust that floated down around her. She squinted against the burning in her eyes as she looked around for the beast.

At first, she could only see the hazy light of the sun trying to press its rays through the suspended debris into the interior of the building.

Tora’s eyes slowly adjusted to the scene around her. Her nose began to itch from breathing in so much pollution through the contaminated air. She scrunched up her nose at the smell of burning plastic and pulled her hoodie around to cover her mouth and nose.

It was too late. Tora felt a sneeze coming on. She squinted and pressed her finger under her nose while holding her breath, but it was no use. Her sneeze echoed loudly through the silence in what was left of the building.

Something rustled overhead. Tora glanced up into the shadowy darkness to the floors above and watched a large dark shape falling in her direction.

Hyacinthe landed with a resounding thud in front of Tora. The tentacles flowing from his back cushioned his drop from the building above. Tora took a step back but kept her weapon pointed down so the giant beast wouldn’t take her for a direct threat just yet.

“Stop it, Hya!” she barked out an order as one would to a disobedient puppy. “It’s time to go back home.”

Hya growled. Tora felt the sound reverberate deeply in her chest just below her throat and in the spine at the base of her neck. It still gave her chills when she heard it, which wasn’t often. Hya rarely made any kind of noise. Much less something that loud and menacing.

Tora managed a smile even though the sound unnerved her.

“Calm down, Hya,” she said in a softer tone. “It’s okay. I know how you feel.”

Hya growled again. Then snorted. He crouched down and exhaled furiously.

The girl looked around at the destruction and havoc that Hya had ravaged on the buildings that surrounded them. She could see a few survivors peering out from behind the rubble where they had managed to hide and stay safe during Hya’s rampage. Someone had pulled out a cell phone to film what was going on. Tora needed to deal with them and then get Hya out of here quickly.

“C’mon, Hya. It’s time for dinner. Let’s go on back home.”

The petite girl took a step forward toward the towering figure before her and stretched out a hand. Her light footsteps in the concrete rubble barely making a sound.

Hya hissed loudly and took a step backward. Unlike Tora, his huge foot crunched loudly as it shattered bits of rubble on the ground around him.

“Don’t touch me, child,” he growled. His giant fist balled up and ready to crush her.

Tora sighed and looked around at the destruction he had already caused. She was already in so much trouble. The girl thought about calling for backup, but she didn’t want to have to get anyone else involved. If she could deal with Hya by herself, they might not think she was so incompetent. Even though this wasn’t all technically her fault. Hya had done this to himself. But they wouldn’t see it that way. She would most likely end up becoming their scapegoat for this whole mess.

“So, you’re okay?” she asked. “You know who you are and what you’re doing here?”

Hya growled. “Of course I do. Did you think I’d gone mad or something?”

Tora looked around at the destruction he had caused. She bit her tongue at the sharp retort that was oozing its way out of her.

“You had me worried for a bit. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?” Tora said instead as she walked over to the man with the phone. He ducked down and covered his head with his arms. Tora yanked the phone out of his hand. Let it drop to the floor and stomped on it. The screen cracked, but she was too small and light to crush it as she had intended.

“Just making a statement,” Hya replied. “So, that they know what’s coming.”

“Well, I think you made your point clear enough,” the girl said.

Tora kicked the phone off to the side and pointed her gun toward it.

“So, what’s the next step in your plan.” The girl asked as she pulled the trigger. She held the trigger longer than necessary. Letting the irritation she felt over this whole situation ooze out through the barrel.

“I don’t know,” Hya admitted. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Well, you have to think these things through,” Tora snorted. “You can’t just do things impulsively and expect to get the result you wanted. Especially if you don’t even know what you’re trying to accomplish. What do you want out of this?”

Hya shrugged and looked around at the mess he had made. “I guess to make them pay.”

Tora cocked her head to the side and scowled at him.

“Knocking down a few walls isn’t the payback they deserve for what they’ve done to you. All you’ve made yourself a target. They’ll see you as a threat and come after you.”

Hya shrugged and looked down at the floor sheepishly. “I was just so angry at them, Tora.””C’mon,” she said softening her voice. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll take you somewhere safe for now.”

“Thanks, Tora. You’re the friend I can always count on when things get tough. Here, let me give you a ride.”

Hya wrapped her gently with two warm tentacles placing her up on his back as he prepared to leap back up into the smokey darkness overhead.