Kam interrupted my conversation by whispering, “Well, if you don’t mind, I am going to catch a few z’s. Wake me up in…” He looked at his watch and groaned, “45 minutes and I will finish guard duty.” I nodded and he laid back. Within a minute, he was breathing heavily, fast asleep.
Him too? That is so annoying that they can do that… Anyway, back to our previous conversation: what is my spirit animal? Does Kam have one? To answer your second question, yes. It is odd that she hasn’t shown herself yet. As to the first, well, I am not going to answer that. It is up to him to reveal himself and thus far he has purposely chosen not to. Spirit animals are mysterious for reasons that even I do not know.
Fair enough, I guess. Whatever it is, it’s small. Can you tell me what Kam’s is? How about Hector’s? Hmmm, I would, but I am not sure how. Kam’s spirit animal is… complicated. As to Hector’s, he doesn’t have one. Only the more powerful spirits have one, and even then, it isn’t very common.
He doesn’t have one? Vienna said he was one of the strongest Argonauts! Well, like I said, spirit animals are only present in the strongest of the spirits. Hector’s spirit is not very strong. The boy himself has incredible fighting prowess, but that is all on his own. Truth be told, if he didn’t have such talent, he would most likely be assigned to the Horatii.
I thought about this and gained a little bit more respect for Hector. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about him, based on what I had heard. Still, he had definitely earned my respect.
I mentally filed away the information that I had learned and woke Kam up for watch. He was awake instantly (which is again, super annoying!) and sat up. I laid down in my sleeping bag and, despite all the stuff I had on my mind, I fell asleep fairly quickly.
18
A Trap, Yes. Thanks for the Warning
KAMARON
My watch went by without nearly as much drama. Every once in a while, the grass would rustle with the wind. Other than that, nothing happened. No glowing eyes, no obscure warnings. Truth be told, I actually nodded off a few times because of how boring it was. (Don’t tell anyone I said that. Vienna would kill me if she found out!)
Hector woke up at exactly 7:00 in the morning. No joke, he was awake and gathering his stuff up by the time it was 7:01. Garrett, on the other hand, took far longer to wake up. He sleeps like the dead, which is why he looks like a zombie in the morning.
After a well-placed kick in the side that was slightly cushioned by the sleeping bag, he finally said, “I’m up! I’m up!” He rubbed his eyes and yawned quite loudly. I tried to look away, but I wasn’t fast enough. I yawned in response. Dang it!
The sleeping bags folded right back up into their tiny squares, which we stowed in Hector’s backpack. I was still a little bit stunned by that, but Hector just simply shrugged it off, telling us, “All I know about it is it doesn’t reduce the weight. Spirits give you weird powers, but you can’t change reality. You can just bend it a little.”
With that, we started on our way. Hector guessed that the town was a little more than an hour away. I wracked my brain to think of an excuse not to go to the town, but I couldn’t think of anything. I gave Garrett a couple glances, but it appeared he didn’t have any ideas either. Phelix didn’t offer any helpful advice. He is only ever silent when I actually need his help. Typical.
We walked in silence until the sun was completely free from the horizon. We finally found a road that was so old, it was more dirt than asphalt. We were walking along this road with wheat fields on both sides when something ran across it. It was so fast that I could only catch a glimpse of its color. It was bright silver, almost metallic. Before I could see any more details, it had disappeared into the wheat field on our left.
Hector paused and looked in the direction it had run. His equipment didn’t appear, so I assumed that he wasn’t too worried about it. Still, I noticed that he walked quite a bit slower after that. I was itching to summon my bow and armor, but I resisted the urge.
It was strange, now that I had the ability to summon weapons and armor at will, I felt naked whenever I didn’t have them. It was like I had walked out of the house without any pants on, or I had forgotten to put socks on under my shoes.
We walked for a couple minutes when the mercury streak appeared again. This time it ran into Hector legs, knocking him off of his feet. My bow was in my hands before he even hit the ground, but my arrow was still too slow. It flew into the wheat long after the silver streak had disappeared once again. Hector stood and appeared to be unhurt.
“That thing is getting on my nerves…” he grumbled.
“Should we go after it?” I asked, simultaneously giving Garrett a triumphant grin. Like many brothers, we make everything a contest. I thought I had just won our most recent contest of keeping Hector away from the town.
Hector shook his head, “No, we will keep pushing for the town. Keep your weapons handy though. I want to be ready the next time that thing shows up.”
Darn, I thought to myself, I thought I had him on that one. He really wants to go to that town! We kept walking, but we all remained vigilant. From what I could tell, the silver whatever-it-was didn’t want to hurt us. It was fast enough that it could do some serious damage before we could even blink, but it chose not to. The voice intruded in my head: It is not your average monster, that is for sure. I would be careful the next time you raise your bow towards it. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I decided not to ask. The last thing I wanted right now was more lectures and sarcastic comments.
The rest of our journey went off without a hitch. We walked into town, stowing our weapons and armor so we didn’t draw any unwanted attention. To be honest, there wasn’t really any attention to be drawn. The town seemed to be abandoned. Really, to call it a town is not really describing it very well. Of the few buildings that were standing, most of them seemed to be little more than run down shacks. I walked over to a sign that had fallen over on the overgrown side of the road. It was hard to read, but I think it was the city name and the population. I read it out loud, “The city of Kingston. Population: 0.” There were also some words scratched into the bottom of the sign: “Get Out.”
“Sounds like a trap to me,” said Garrett behind me. “How about we take the sign’s advice and not stick around.”
The statement was directed at Hector, who shook his head and replied, “Doubtful. Besides, there are fresh footprints going through the town. I would be willing to bet that they are Nyka’s and Donovan’s. I am going to scout around the town and see if there is any other evidence of them. You two search the buildings for anything useful.” He started off in the direction of the footprints.
When he was out of earshot, Garrett muttered under his breath, “Yes, lets split up in this abandoned ghost town. That’s not the beginning of every horror film in existence or anything.” His armor and weapons appeared. He looked at me through his visor and shrugged, “You take the left and I’ll take the right?”
I nodded, “Yell if you see anything and keep your eyes out for traps or zombies.”
He scoffed at me and we went to work. The first shack I came to actually had a door, which I kicked in. Did I have to? No. Was it really, really cool? Yes, yes it was. It turned out there was nothing inside, zombies or otherwise. I moved on to the next one, which sadly did not have a door. I only had time to take a quick peek inside before I heard a deafening scream behind me.
The scream made me jump and turn around. I looked for Garrett, but naturally, he was nowhere to be seen. I did notice a pair of glowing eyes staring at me from inside one of the buildings across the street though. If I wasn’t terrified before, I definitely was now. These were definitely NOT the same glowing eyes we had seen last night. There was an aura of maliciousness coming off of them that caused me to release a very un-macho squeak. I could almost see a face through the darkness, but before I could make out any features, a hand grabbed me from behind!
Without looking, I swung my sica as I turned. It passed rig
ht through the green, translucent man that stood behind me. I stood eye to eye with him and, looking into his poisonous green eyes, I knew without a doubt that they were the same ones that I had seen across the street. The hand that was grabbing me was solid, but my sword had passed through it like it wasn’t there. Well, I’m dead, I thought to myself.
“So am I…” a voice said. It came from the translucent man in front of me, but nothing on his see-through face had moved. The terror that I was feeling suddenly doubled, to the point where I felt like I was gasping for air. I have never been so afraid in my life.
A voice broke through the fear, On my mark, stab him in the heart with your sica and run! Before I had time to question him, Phelix shouted, NOW! With all of my strength and the last of my remaining willpower, I thrust my sword into his chest. To my surprise, it made contact! The green spirit’s grip loosened enough for me to yank my arm out of his hand.
“AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL!!!” the disembodied voice bellowed. I decided I did not want to get my soul devoured, so I turned and ran as fast as I could. I zipped towards the last place I had seen Garrett. The good news: I found him. The bad news: He was running towards me with another green man on his tail.
Jump! Yelled Phelix in my head. I leaped into the air, far higher than a normal person could have, just as a sword as big as me passed through the place I had been standing. Garrett slid to a stop below me, raising his shield in the air. I instinctively landed on it and he launched me into the air again, even higher than before. I pulled out my bow, unleashing two arrows into the green guy behind Garrett before I even hit the ground. Then, in one fluid motion, as if I had been practicing it my entire life, I landed and tucked into a roll, trading my bow for my swords! I came up right in front of the very surprised green apparition and swung my blades in an X across his torso. They connected with his body but didn’t seem to do a lot of damage.
“Gah! I will eviscerate you!” shouted the voice, which was now coming from behind me and in front of me at the same time. It swung its great sword at me, which I just managed to duck under. I stabbed him in the side then jumped back. My swords vanished and my bow appeared with an arrow already nocked. It flew straight and true, embedding itself in the green warrior’s forehead.
It said some more things about what it was going to do to me, which I ignored, and charged. His sword came around with incredible speed and I just manage to deflect it with one of my sicas. The force was still enough to fling me to the ground and knock my sword out of my hand. The green dude shouted with glee, bringing his sword above his head for a downward stroke. I knew without asking that I had exhausted my spiritual resources by this point and Phelix would no longer be able to help me. Time slowed and I thought to myself, I CANNOT die now! There is no way Garrett can take on two of these guys! I have to give him a fighting chance!
With a newfound determination, I launched myself at the warrior in a suicidal attack. That would have been the end of me, but something strange happened that saved my life. A metallic blur came out of nowhere along with the sound of a rush of feathers. The blur knocked the green dude’s sword out of his hands before he could kill me with it. He managed to bellow, “WHAT?!” before I crashed into him, driving my sword into his chest and carrying him to the ground with my momentum.
He dissipated with a hiss before we hit the ground. I rolled over myself hard, receiving quite a few bumps and bruises. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even bring myself to look for Garrett. My eyes began to close, leaving me with the final image of a winged figure with long, blonde hair descending down to me.
19
The Green Dude Needs Anger Management, Among Other Things
GARRETT
While Kam was busy taking a nap, I was fighting for my life. From hearing his story, I can conclude that the guy he was fighting was a whole lot nicer. My green dude had some serious anger management issues.
After I launched Kam off of my shield, I charged the green guy, who I have officially named Hulk (it totally fits!). I then heroically tripped over my own feet and stumbled full speed into Hulk. It was totally Kam’s fault because the shield-launch knocked me off balance. Anyway, the green guy was apparently too surprised or too busy laughing to react. I slammed into him and we both hit the ground together. I managed to redeem myself a little bit by rolling into a kneeling position while Hulk simply levitated himself into a standing position, which was really annoying.
“Foolish Human! Obliteration is your destiny!” Hulk yelled at me. These guys are really creative with their threats. He could teach a class on the subject. He swung his sword in an attempt to behead me. I rather liked my head, so I chose to block it with my shield. The force of the strike was so great that it lifted me off of the ground and sent me into a sideways spin. I somehow landed on my feet (Please tell me someone filmed that!) and lashed out with my own sword.
“ARRRRGH! I will DESTROY you!” he screamed. When I say screamed, I mean he literally screamed it so loud it made my ears ring.
With that, he tried to behead me again. I ducked his sword this time and slashed at his torso with my own. My sword made it halfway through him and suddenly stopped like it had hit a wall. Hulk lurched sideways, yanking the sword out of my hand. He then raised his own sword above his head and brought it down on top of me. I raised my shield to intercept the sword and they met with the sound of an earthquake. I managed to stop the sword, but the force of the strike drove me down on one knee. Using this to my advantage, I drew the golden dagger at my belt and pounced on him. He tried to dodge sideways to avoid me, but he was too slow to get away from the dagger. I drove my dagger into his right leg as I passed.
I quickly dissipated my equipment to gain more flexibility, using extra momentum to somersault into a standing position. My armor appeared again, this time with an axe in my hand. I threw it straight at his head and it stuck there. He now had three weapons sticking out of him, but he only laughed! “Ha! All of your weapons and more are not enough to kill me! Now you are disarmed and will DIE!” Then he charged at me, not even caring about the dagger sticking out of his leg.
He apparently didn’t know that I could summon more axes, but I chose not to tell him that. I charged to meet him, reaching my empty hand behind my back and summoning another axe where he couldn’t see it. He brought his sword down to meet me, which I deflected off of my shield and into the ground. I brought the axe around and slammed it into his side while he tried to pull his sword out of the dirt.
“DEEEAAAAATTTTTTHHHH! I will…” I didn’t give him a chance to finish the threat. I pulled the dagger out of his leg as I ducked under his right arm, then jumped and brought it down just above his left shoulder blade. I let go of it, ducking under his sword again as he tried to slash at me with it. The momentum of his sword turned him in my direction. Perfect. I grabbed hold of my sword hilt as it came within reach and yanked it out of Hulk’s chest.
He screamed at me in pain and anger, trying to get out another creative death threat. I didn’t give him the chance. Using my shield, I hit him behind the knees, knocking his feet off the ground and lifting him into the air. Then, with both hands, I slashed at him while he was in midair, cutting him completely in half. A blinding light and a concussive force like a bomb detonation knocked me off of my feet, launching me several feet away. Hulk disappeared into the light with one final scream of anger. The weapons that I had left in him clattered to the ground before disappearing a few seconds later.
I sat there for a few seconds to catch my breath. What WAS that thing? Bione responded, sounding out of breath himself, That was the embodiment of negative emotion. They don’t really have names that I know of, but as you just learned, they are quite nasty. They are nearly impossible to kill without the help of a spirit. Even with my help, they can still take a great deal of punishment. Oh. Well, I guess I owe you a thanks. Not a problem. You were fighting for my life too. Speaking of which, you should find your brother.
I cursed un
der my breath. Kam! I had gotten so caught up in the fight that I had forgotten about him! I looked around for him and saw him fighting down the street. I ran towards him, but it felt like I was running through cement. I watched him jump away from the green dude and shoot an arrow at him. It didn’t even slow him down though; he slashed at Kam and knocked him to the ground.
As the green dude raised his sword above his head for one final blow, I poured on the speed. There was no way I could reach him in time! I tried to yell, but my voice got caught in my throat. Then something came out of nowhere and knocked the sword out of the green dude’s hands. I didn’t get a chance to see what it was though because it knocked the sword directly at ME. I hit the ground, sliding under the sword. The blade still glanced off of my helmet and lodged in the ground behind me.
The force of the sword against my helmet caused my head to smash into the ground. My vision went blurry and I almost blacked out. I groaned and sat up. My head hurt so bad, I had to have a concussion. I looked around, trying to figure out what the heck happened. My mind was fuzzy, but one thought drove me: Kam. I have to find Kam.
I stood up shakily, looking for any sign of Kam. My vision was so blurry that it took me a few seconds to find him. He lay on the ground with a figure standing over him. No! I tried to charge the figure, but it was more of a slow stumble in that direction. I fell a few times as the world spun around me, but I couldn’t let it hurt Kam!
As I struggled to get closer, the figure came into clearer view. The girl had what looked like a large white backpack until the gigantic, white wings unfolded from her back. Blonde hair flowed down her back in beautiful curls. The girl looked at me and her silky voice said, “Relax brave warrior. I do not intend to harm your brother.”
The Wish Box Page 12