Lightningbreaker

by L. T. Thornhill

  The chatter around him continued. It seemed as though Olympus did nothing to silence the crowd. Matteo realized that, perhaps, there might be something else the prince wanted to say. Something that required the people around him riled up in excitement.

  When it seemed conversations were getting louder, Olympus raised his hand, causing silence to descend. He walked over to Matteo. “Oh, yes. I knew who you were the minute I laid eyes on you,” said Olympus in a voice that only Matteo and his small group could hear.

  “That’s why you shot me with the Lightningbreaker,” said Matteo. “That’s why you kept me away from everyone else.”

  “Yes, I just wanted to inflict a little pain. It was quite satisfying, I assure you,” said Olympus, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. “Plus, I wanted to give you some level of comfort that you might just get out of here. You see, Matteo, while you might know everything there is to know about this world, I have the help of a god.”

  There was nothing Matteo could say to explain the sudden drop in hope he experienced. It was like taking a dive from the top of a cliff, only to find out that the parachute bag would not deploy the parachute. He saw Boran looking at him with new loathing, perhaps because the brother felt like a fool, not knowing who he really had as his prisoner. Emiri’s eyes traveled to the Minotaur Horn, still clipped to Boran’s belt, perhaps recollecting the trio’s fight with the beast. Her eyes opened wide and she quickly looked at Matteo as though she had realized something.

  “Everyone,” shouted Olympus, walking away from Matteo after a brief few seconds of eye contact. It was a warning. A sign of worse things to come. “For the next week, you shall face each other in a game of Battle Royale.”

  There was a tension in the air that seemed to settle on everyone like a fog. Matteo saw the guards fidgeting with their weapons and the crowd shift around anxiously. A little too frequently, glances were thrown at him. Some were filled with curiosity, others with awe. Quite a few looks held promises of opportunity, as though they were planning on what to do with him.

  “You shall be given two minutes to run into the forest,” continued Olympus, “after which my Shockers will fire lethal rounds, designed to kill anyone who hasn’t made it to the safety of the tree line.”

  Olympus pointed his staff at the forest. “Beyond the forest is a cordon of Shockers with a kill-on-sight command. Anyone who dares leave the forest will be killed.” He aimed the staff at the town. “Shockers will be present in and around the town. Anyone who so much as comes within view will be killed.”

  “One week.” Olympus raised one finger. “One survivor. I do not care how you eliminate the others. You will not have any weapons. I have heard of many items dropped around the forest. You may come across those items, or you may not. If more than one survivor remains, no one gets to live. However, there is one more opportunity.”

  A chill ran down Matteo’s spine that had nothing to do with the breeze brushing against his exposed skin.

  “Capture the man known as Godlike alive, and your entire group will receive a pardon.”

  Conversations broke out. The helmeted guards had to threaten each group with the pain of death to get them to quieten down.

  “Because we are fair and just,” said Olympus, his hands spread before him as though he was offering a prayer, and Matteo heard Kenji snort behind him—though no one else seemed to have heard the boy, “we will give Godlike, real name Matteo, an opportunity to save his own life.”

  Olympus raised his hand to indicate Matteo. “We will give him thirty seconds to make it to the forest, after which—”

  “Thirty seconds?” said Matteo, his volume matching the shock he felt.

  “—my men will shoot him with non-lethal projectiles meant to paralyze him. Whoever gets to him first can claim the bounty.”

  With a wave of the staff, Olympus jolted the Shockers into motion. Within less than a minute, a wall of Shockers stood on two sides, a large gap between them. In that gap stood all six groups of prisoners. The sun was behind the group, making their shadows stretch out as though they wanted nothing more than to reach the trees and hide within. Matteo’s group was positioned at the rightmost end, which meant he was close to the wall of Shockers that included Olympus, his two sidekicks, Lysander, and the siblings who had not only stolen his victory reward, but put him in the present predicament.

  It was clear from Boran’s and Emiri’s stony expressions that they wanted nothing more than to shoot Matteo then and there.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” said Olympus, looking like he was taking particular delight in making matters worse. “After the third day, I will be sending in my teams of Shockers to hunt anyone they see. If you are not making progress, you might as well not be doing anything at all.”

  There was no warning. In fact, Matteo almost thought that he hadn’t heard anything. It took a few seconds for his mind to send the message spoken loudly by Olympus. “Godlike. Your thirty seconds begins now.”

  Matteo looked toward his cellmates. He didn’t know why. Perhaps he hoped that while he was running away from practically half the population of Valhalla, he didn’t have to run away from people he had just gotten to know. They were not his friends; he understood that. Yet some part of him wanted them to at least find some indication of support.

  Matteo’s cellmates looked at him with sympathy. At least that was something.

  “Twenty seconds remain,” shouted Olympus.

  The announcement forced Matteo’s legs into motion. Before he realized it, he was already sprinting for the forest, knowing that no matter what he did, he would be too late. He passed Boran’s hardened face and came to a stop.

  There was no time to second-guess. Matteo knew that his life depended on making the most out of every second. He faced the siblings, turning his attention to Emiri in particular. “Turns out you’re not just mute, but quite dumb as well.”

  “Fifteen seconds,” said Olympus. The crowd began to get restless.

  Without waiting for a reaction, Matteo faced the forest again and crouched down in a runner’s starting position, as though he was participating in a hundred-meter dash. He heard quickening footsteps behind him come closer. Matteo kept his eyes on his shadow. A second shadow came into view, its arms raised above its head. Boran was ready to strike Matteo on his head, just like he had done in the forest earlier.

  Without warning, Matteo spun on his feet and snarled at Boran. His reaction caused a few Shockers to raise their weapon. Boran, on the other hand, blinked in genuine surprise.

  It was now or never. Matteo took the tiny moment of opportunity presented to him and grabbed the Minotaur Horn clipped to Boran’s belt. The brother reacted instantly, trying to pull himself back and bringing the butt of his Crossbolt down on Matteo’s head.

  The impact shook Matteo, and his hand almost lost contact with the Minotaur Horn. In the end, Matteo fell to his knees still clutching the artifact.

  “Ten seconds,” said Olympus.

  Matteo squeezed. The Minotaur Horn shattered, shooting out tendrils of bright aquamarine- and jade-toned energy like a complex spider web. The energy quickly flowed into Matteo’s arm, causing the veins under his skin to shine in blues and greens. It started with the veins in his palm and began to flow up to his shoulder. Soon, every bit of exposed flesh on his body, including his face, was glowing in a network of energy. Eventually, Matteo’s eyes shone, wisps of energy leaking out of the corner of his eyes.

  “Five seconds,” said Olympus.

  Matteo faced the forest. He felt another knock on his head. While the attack wasn’t painful, it caused him to fall forward, losing another precious second. Recovering, Matteo leaped toward the line of trees.

  He looked down, watching the ground pass him by in a blur of motion. Wind slapped against his face and body, and he felt the fabric of his shirt whipping behind him. The resistance did nothing to prevent him from crossing half the distance to the line of trees within a few seconds.


  When he began descending toward the ground, Matteo stretched his feet out in front of him as much as possible. He trusted the power of the Minotaur Horn to prevent him from crippling himself permanently from the waist down.

  The landing was not perfect. While he ended up on his feet, the force of the impact caused him to trip forward. He found himself running forward awkwardly as his feet tried, and failed, to find purchase on the ground. Eventually, the forces of friction decided to work for him and he came to a sudden halt.

  A bolt of lightning shot past his shoulder. Matteo didn’t have to turn back to realize that the Shocker firing squads were already trying to paralyze him.

  Matteo leaped forward. Another bolt passed by below him, hitting the space he had occupied a mere second ago. He closed the remaining distance quickly, watching as the forest came toward him so fast, it was as though he was only jumping over a few feet to reach it.

  Another lightning bolt missed his cheek by inches. He watched as dozens more shot past him, some of them dangerously close while others at a safer distance from him, as though the shooters were not very good at handling the weapon.

  Until one bolt struck one of his calves.

  Matteo grunted instinctively, even though he felt no pain. The leg became paralyzed and Matteo could not prevent the limb from dangling beneath him. Immediately, the force of the wind hitting the leg caused him to spin in midair. His world became inverted. Below his feet, he could see the blue of the sky. Above him, he found trees flowing past him.

  While he was thankful that he had finally reached the space above the forest, Matteo wasn’t feeling any sense of gratitude for his awkward position. Instead, he watched in growing trepidation as the crowns of trees came closer and closer to his head.

  Eventually, he crashed through the green roof of the forest, leaves and branches giving his body a beating. His shoulder blades bumped against a large branch, but rather than halt his momentum, his body crashed through the branch. A thousand splinters of wood pelted his skin, none causing any serious injury because of the small boost in immunity that the Minotaur Horn provided.

  The impact did slow down his flight, causing Matteo to fall toward the ground at a steep angle. Along the way, his body clipped against branches, causing him to spin uncontrollably. Rather than try and protect all parts of his body, Matteo blocked his face with his forearms. He brought the knees of his still useful leg toward his chest, protecting his sensitive area as best as he could.

  Matteo broke through the branches, falling through empty space for a couple of seconds. Fortunately, he landed on his back. Instantly, he turned sideways and curled up in a fetal position. After the barrage of falling wood had subsided, he slowly opened his eyes.

  When Matteo faced the sky, the sight of hundreds of falling leaves greeted him. His fall had created new openings in the canopy, causing more light to filter through. For a few seconds, he thought of just lying there, letting the world go by as he reveled in the peace of the moment. That was when a glowing red bar appeared in his vision, the characters 150HP/150HP floating above one side of the bar. The bar depleted slightly and the numbers dropped down to 145HP/150HP. It seemed as though he’d still suffered a slight injury, despite the increase in agility. He understood why. There was no way one could bounce from branch to branch like they were in a giant pinball machine and not face the consequences.

  Then, Matteo remembered his cellmates.

  There were two choices. Matteo could run as quickly as possible into the forest before he lost his newfound powers. He realized that doing so would definitely create more distance between him and his pursuers, but it would also mean that he would be entirely alone. His curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know what was happening. When he spotted a small part of a branch near his foot, an idea flashed in his head.

  Recalling how long the effects of the Minotaur Horn lasted, Matteo realized he had a total of a minute and a half. Excluding his two giant leaps and the crash landing, he’d allowed himself a safe power duration of forty-five seconds. It probably hadn't been more than thirty seconds since he’d first jumped toward the forest, but he wasn’t about to take chances by overestimating the power.

  Picking up a large piece of a broken branch in case of an emergency, Matteo made his way in the direction of the town. He was thankful for having spent long hours exploring the forest in the game and knew that he was headed in the right direction. Even though he was limping forward, the power gave him the agility to move through the forest quickly. When he eventually reached the beginning of the forest, he hid behind a tree.

  The prisoners were all running toward the forest. Four groups were heading where they thought Matteo had entered the forest, obviously trying to chase the grand prize. Shaury was pointing at a different section, away from the others. Matteo pushed away from the tree and made his way to where he guessed his cellmates would enter the forest.

  When he reached his destination, he looked up at trees that would allow him to hide from view of the Shockers at the town. When he found a suitable option, he walked up to the trunk. Looking up, he crouched down on his good foot and launched himself upwards. He shot up like a rocket, grabbing hold of the first branch that he came across and pulling himself onto it. Standing on the branch and leaning against the trunk, he watched his team running toward the forest. Behind them, another team gave chase, murderous intent written on their faces. For some reason, they wanted to target the trio running in front of them.

  Shaury, Kabaka, and Kenji were almost near the tree line when the shooting started.

  The Shockers near the town began firing beams of lightning. Most of them were directed at the cluster of groups. Matteo understood the tactic. The Shockers were increasing their chances of hitting someone.

  It seemed as though someone’s aim was indeed true. A cheer ran out among the Shockers, Matteo guessing that one prisoner was already down. More cheers continue to ring out, indicating even more victims.

  Matteo felt a sudden drop in energy levels. He looked down at his arm and watched the glow of energy beneath his skin fade to nothing. The feeling was disorienting. He almost tripped off the branch, but prevented himself from falling by leaning heavily against the trunk. Rather than just use his hands, he used the maximum area of the upper side of his body.

  A blast of lightning struck a nearby tree, and Matteo turned his attention to his cellmates. A few Shockers had decided to take their chances with the two estranged groups. A member of the group was struck by lightning, but he didn’t go down. His teammates helped him up and they began sprinting again.

  A beam came close to hitting Kenji. Realizing that the boy was tiring quickly, Kabaka scooped him up in his arms and made a dash for the safety of the trees. The big man was struck once in the shoulder, but apart from throwing a grunt, he didn’t falter. His long strides brought him next to Shaury. Rather than slow down, he balanced Kenji in the crook of one arm and wrapped his other arm around the fleeing woman.

  Kabaka lifted Shaury and brought her close to his chest. In any other situation. the sight of a big man holding two people like children—well, one was practically a child—would have been quite comical. Not to Matteo, who watched Kabaka in awe and respect, as the man did not lose speed despite the weight he was carrying.

  Another bolt struck Kabaka in the back. His eyes bulged as his pace slowed down to a crawl. Shaury cried out, her voice echoing her concern. She yelled at Kabaka to put her down, but the man held on. He had managed to gain some distance from the other group, but they were now gaining on him. Matteo saw from their expressions that they held nothing but ill intentions for his cellmates. He had to come up with an idea to get rid of them.

  A bolt hit the ground at Kabaka’s feet, sending grass and soil flying in the air. The big man was just a few feet from the tree line.

  “Come on,” hissed Matteo under his breath. “You’re almost there.”

  When he was about to enter the forest, a bolt brushed against Kabaka�
�s hip. He almost dropped Shaury but, holding her tight, he made one last desperate move to bring his cellmates to safety.

  Kabaka leaped sideways behind a tree. He positioned himself so that when he landed, it was on his back, keeping Shaury and Kenji relatively free from bodily harm.

  When the dust settled, Kabaka was on his back. Shaury knelt beside him, shaking him to get a reaction.

  “Come on, Kabaka,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “Not like this. Please, not like this.”

  For the first time since Matteo had met Kenji, the young boy had nothing to say. He simply stood beside Kabaka’s prone body, looking at the big man with sheer helplessness.

  Matteo saw that the other group were almost near the forest.

  “Hey,” he shouted, loud enough for his cellmates to hear.

  Kenji snapped out of his daze, looking around him.

  “Above you, Kenji,” shouted Matteo again. “Follow the sound of my voice.”

  Eventually, Kenji spotted him. “What the hell are you doing there?”

  Shaury looked at Kenji and followed his gaze. When she spotted Matteo, her eyes opened in surprise.

  “Listen,” said Matteo, “We don’t have much time. I want you to point in the forest and shout as loud as possible that you have spotted me.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Shaury, anger gracing her voice. “You need to help your cellmate, not hide there like a coward.”

  “Do as I say,” hissed Matteo, a second before four people crashed through the trees.

  For the first time, Matteo noticed their clothing. They all wore the same uniform. The one boy in the group, who didn’t look older than sixteen, had a dirty white shirt and equally stained blue pants. The three girls, who looked around the same age as the boy, wore matching-colored shirts and skirts, their clothing falling into varying levels of unsanitariness.