Intertwined
Page 10
I hadn’t even been thinking about dying and then she’d brought it up! This is going to hurt!
I was escorted down the dark hallway. The light got bigger and bigger until I hit the super dome in which Steven had been beheaded!
Thousands of people were screaming and cheering. “Whoo! Yeah!”
I walked out of the dark and into the giant dome of people as the bald man announced me with his weird cone amplifier.
“Entering on your left, William the Challenger!” The crowd went ballistic with excitement. People were screaming as if the world had just gone mad!
The screaming only increased as another tester, my opponent from Luke’s group, made his entrance. “Entering on your right is Charles the Undefeated!” The crowd tried to push over the rails to get a better look at the Champion even though neither of us’d been here before.
“Snuff,”
“Ahhh!” I gave out a yelp as something touch my back.
“Don’t worry lad, it's your horse, there's nothing to be afraid of. I turned to see a giant brown beast staring down at me! It had a monstrous mane of hair and had to be at least four times my size! “Huff, pwuuff.” It moved its lips rapidly as if laughing at me.
A man came around the animal! “Sir, the time is now, you must mount up and go to your starting position over there.
“What, now? On what?!”
“On your horse.”
“This is a horse?”
“Alright, very funny. There is no time for jokes. You have to mount up and get to the starting position right now!”
“How?”
“Get in the saddle. What are you, six years old?”
Feeling the man's anxiety I complied putting one foot in a little loop and jumped up and onto the beast! I felt it shudder slightly beneath me. I grabbed onto the handle thing in the front with both hands desperately hoping the animal wouldn’t shake me loose! I’m riding a giant animal! How cool is this! More like terrifying!
“Don’t worry sir, Comet is a trained warhorse. He knows exactly what to do. Just let him lead. Oh, and here you’ll need this.” The man handed me a rod and the moment it hit my hand I knew I was in trouble. I could barely lift it! The tip sank back to the ground below.
“Put the end under your arm to help take some of the weight. Don’t worry, just remember to try and not get knocked off. If you do, there’s no getting up. Good luck!” The man yelled to me as Comet started to trot off towards what I assumed was my starting position. I was sweating buckets inside my casket of metal. I don’t think all this armor will help. Why me, why do I have to do this? I hate my life!
I could barely breathe or see through the metal faceplate thing! This is going to hurt!
I could feel Comet steady breathing through my legs. Even he seems a little nervous! We came to a stop at what I assumed was where I was supposed to be and the announcer once again took over. “Who here is ready to witness history? Who is ready to see the power and strength of the men about to battle?” The crowd was roaring with anticipation.
The announcer uttered the fateful words clearly, “Alrighty then, let the match begin! Jousters ready?” When neither of us opposed, he continued. “Then let the competition begin. On your marks, get ready, CHARGE!”
True to his name, Comet burst forward! I could barely hold onto my jousting rod much, less aim! Charles came within range and lowered his rod. I tried lower the tip but only succeeded in almost dropping it! “Crack!” I felt his rod smack into my shield thing. Ow, that hurts!
“One point for Charles!” Came the announcement.
Comet stopped and began pawing in the dirt awaiting further instruction.
“Go you Buffoon! You have three rounds, there aren’t any breaks! You're already behind! GO GO GO!” Someone instructed.
I kicked Comet and off we went on another catastrophic run. This time I felt my shoulder shield get hit with much more force and I heard a “Snap!”
“Charles’s rod has snapped; that's 5 points for Charles!” The announcer boomed!
“Wait here for a second while Charles gets his knew rod!” Someone yelled at me.
“You got this William” I heard someone else yell from the crowd!” I looked around for a second trying desperately hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare. “Kick his butt Will! Stop embarrassing yourself and start hitting him!” Chris yelled from somewhere in the crowd.
I can do this.I closed my visor, once again shutting myself in from the outside world as the announcer yelled: "Get Ready, Go!" This was it; this was where it really counted. I kicked Comet's sweating body, and we were off once again! Charles was closing rapidly! 20,15 10ft. Dirt flew up behind him as his beast flew towards me! This is it!
I lowered my rod and pointed it at least toward where I thought Charles was and I felt a huge, "Crack! Snap!" And then my head being ripped backward!
I held onto my saddle with an iron fist refusing to fall!
The announcer squealed with excitement! "Ladies and gentleman William, the strong shattered his rod and Charles, made an illegal strike. You know what this means… It means that there will be a SUDDEN DEATH round! The score is tied!"
Wait, what? I felt someone rip my rod out of my hand. "Master William," Came to a young boy's frightened voice, “This is not good sir. The sudden death is not good at all!” His voice shook with fear.
I felt a heavier metal rod placed in my hand. Why does this one look so deadly! The point glinted in the sunlight revealing its razor sharp point!
“You all know the rules! Winner takes all including the loser’s life! This jousting match will be the last one for one of our contenders! Who’s ready for blood!” He screamed to the now crazed crowd!
“Blood, blood, blood!” The crowd chanted!
“On three, one, two, charge!”
I kicked Comet with everything I had! I felt his muscles bulge as if he could sense my urgency!
He shot off so fast I could barely stay on! I hung on as tightly as I could with my now burning legs! I felt myself being jostled free of the loop things my feet rested in! This is gonna hurt!
20ft, 15ft, 10ft, I leaned backwards desperate to hold my rod up. I can't do it; I'm not strong enough! This is it! I used every bit of strength I had to raise the tip almost letting it slip out of my sweat drenched hand. Please don’t let me die! “Shink!” I felt my spear connect!
The rod smashed into and then slid through armor and into flesh!
I couldn't let go of my tangled up lance and as Charles rode past I was pulled backwards from Comet! "Smash!" I felt all of my armor crunch onto me as the ground halted my progress downwards! "Whoosh!"
I can’t breath! “Huhhh! Huggh!" I tried to suck in air to fill my now vacant lungs; I was going to drown!
“AHHHH!” Charles screamed from somewhere behind me!
"And the winner is… William!" The announcement came, and the crowd went crazy! "Whooo! Yeah!”
"You did it, Will, you did it!" Came Jessica's yell as footsteps approached at breakneck speed! The footsteps stopped, and my helmet was pulled free! "Ahh!” The sunlight was blinding!
There she sat smiling down at me, and all of my pain and fear seemed to vanish in an instant! For a moment I thought I had died and was looking up at an angle. But that can't be true because even angels can't be this beautiful.
Then Rasben shattered the moment as he ran up to congratulate me. "Way to go, William,"
“Yeah, great job! You did it!” Came Rachel’s panting voice from behind him.
“You had us worried for a minute when you didn’t even know that you were supposed to go back for a second round!” Jessica laughed but at the same time looked me in the eyes for a clue as to whether I’d actually know what I was doing.
“Thanks for the compliments guys, but I can’t breathe! Can you help me get this armor off?”
“Ohh, yeah, no problem," Rasben said as they all looked helplessly down.
And then I heard him.
“Ahhhh! It hurts to bad!”
Charles. Turning I walked slowly over to asses what I’d done.
There was a trail of blood to the stretcher they had dragged him too, and he sat there holding in what was left of his bloody guts. There was no longer a metal rod sticking out of his stomach, but he was coughing up blood and crying in pain! "Make it stop, please make it stop!"
I began to approach to see what help I could give, but it ended! Just like that, I was gone; swirling into space amongst a void of color and trails that led me back to the modern testing castle from which I’d come.
Chapter 10: The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
Getting back from the simulator was normal. I landed back in my body in the bed where I'd laid down. Rasben woke immediately after me, followed by Rachel and finally Jess.
“Hey, you alright?” Rasben asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“You wanna talk about last night now?”
“Yeah, but we should go somewhere private.”
"Wait, talk about what," Jessica asked as we stood and began walking out.
“Nothing,”
“Yeah right, I’m coming with you guys.” She walked faster to keep pace with us.
"Fine, I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the whole team knew what happened. Hey, Rachel, you wanna come here for a minute.” I called over to where she and a couple of girls were splitting off.
After she came over I turned back to Rasben, “so where would be a good place to talk about this.”
“Well I was gonna say the rec room, but now that I think about it, I think the library would be the safest.” ¶“Do you know how to get there?”
"Yeah, I found it a couple of days ago. I remembered its general whereabouts from our tour. I’m sure I can lead us there now. You all are lucky to have me. Please follow me; I know the way."
Without a response to his sarcasm, the three of us followed Rasben down a dark hallway until we reached a large room that seemed much older than the rest of the castle.
Inside the hollowed out cave of a room were tons of shelves covered with real books. Actual books! “Why don’t they have holo-books?" I asked in amazement.
"Guess they wanted to go old school," Rasben replied as he lead us to a small oak table.
We all sat, ready to begin conversation, when out of nowhere Chris and Jack showed up.
"Hey, guys whats up?” Chris shouted across the room as they approached.
“Nothing much man, just sharing some stories.” I debated on whether or not to tell everyone about what I’d seen. The more people I told, the more people I'd have to help me. I think it's worth it.
“Well kinda. What we're doing is talking about a secret. Can you handle it?”
“Sure yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright, yesterday night, Rasben and I were trying to get to the girl's side of the hallway, to tell them we were in the deciding games the next day, when I saw the man from the forest!"
“Wait, the old guy in the shack?” Chris interrupted.
“Yes, him. He was being led somewhere so Rasben and I followed. They took him to a wall with a giant picture that opened into a secret staircase." ¶ “Wait, what?”
"I know, I know, it sounds crazy. But it isn't. It happened. We followed them down the stairs, and we found the man. He was in a cell."
“Why?” Jack questioned.
"We aren't sure; we only talked briefly before we were interrupted and forced to run. In
our frantic escape Rasben and I were separated, and I found something extremely secret."
“What?” Came their eager voices.
“I know this is gonna be hard to believe, but I found a giant room, and it was filled with testers!"
"Wait, what? Why?" Rasben was just as confused as everyone else.
“Only they weren’t alive. The testers that were supposed to have gone home were in there. There had to be at least a dozen! They were hooked up to life support machines it was really freaky.”
“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” Rachel asked hesitantly.
“Guys I’m completely serious. This happened! Rasben back me up.” My voice rose as I tried to defend myself.
“Well, I wasn’t actually there. Are you sure?”
“Are you serious? Guys, I’m not making this up, it really happened! Disqualified testers were lying on tables. I know they weren’t faking it because they didn’t have colors flying around them.” I finished realizing I’d gone to far.
Chris jumped in, “what colors, what dungeon, what bodies? What's going on?”
Jessica followed. “Are you sure you’re alright William?”
Then a voice came on over the holocom. “Please report. All testers, please report to the group front doors immediately!”
I tried one last time. “I’ll prove it to you. I just need you all to have a little faith. I’ll figure out a way to show you, just don’t tell anyone. It could mean the difference between life and death.” I finished.
“I’m willing to trust you for a little longer.” Rasben jumped in saving me.
“Us too” Came the others’ responses.
"I promise you; I won't disappoint."
With that, we all hurried down the hallway and towards the front doors of the castle where we were met with a surprise.
Mr. Blackwood stood by the open door and quieted all of the testers gathered. “Please get in your groups and await further instructions.
Doing as we were told, Rasben, Rachel, Jessica and I found each other and huddled up.
Mr. Blackwood left his post by the door, entered and began issuing further instructions.
“I know this mission is very sudden, but it is vital that we see how you react when caught completely unaware. This mission is one you will take part in as a collective unit and in the real world. Each of your groups will work separately, as you compete against one another to find an artifact that will be made known to each group when you get close to the city limits. Any questions? Good, let's get on with it then. Please go outside and find an open downward rail cart. Hurry, hurry, time is of the essence.
Outside a row of tubes were waiting for us. "Let's get the orange one," Jessica said.
We hurried into the small compartment. We had to squish, but we all fit. “I wonder what we’re supposed to find?” Rasben asked.
“No idea, no idea.”
Stepping out of the tube I was just a confused as for when we'd gotten in 30 minutes prior. The tubes had taken us underground and then accelerated to the speed of sound. Everything passed in such a blur that I felt nauseous.
“Where are we?” Rachel woozily walked ahead of us.
“I have no idea, what is going on?” Rasben replied.
Before anyone else could speak, we were interrupted. A small fluttering sound began and a small black globe rose to greet us with a mechanical voice. "Don't be frightened testers. I am here to help. Listen, and you will receive the help you are looking for. Your task is simple, over the next rise you will see a city. Make your way there and search for an item made from amorphous metal. Once you find it, make your way to the fountain located at the heart of the city. The last teams to arrive will be participating in the next deciding game. Good luck, and hurry." It finished and flew off just as quickly as it had appeared.
“Alright, that was confusing, but I think we all get the point. You guys ready?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let's move.”
We quickly crossed over a rise quickly seeing the city that the holo bot had been talking about.
Even from this distance, I could tell the build
ings were old and dilapidated. The city looked similar to the one I’d come from and starkly contrasted where I thought ASTA would be taking us.
We walked for close to a quarter of a mile before reaching the city outskirts. Once there, no one smiled at us or even acknowledged us for that matter. No one looked up or in our direction. I felt like a ghost. Everything seemed odd and out of place.
These people reminded me of the testers who’d been lying on the tables with lifeless stares.
“You alright Will, you don’t look so good. What’s wrong?” Rasben asked.
“Nothing, it’s these people. Don’t they seem weird, like there’s something wrong with them?”
"Maybe, but we can't think about that. We need to focus on finding the amorphous object, so we don’t get put in another deciding game."
“You’re right, does anyone see a place that might sell weird sounding objects?”
Looking around nothing seemed to pop out. Old skyscrapers no longer in use rose up all around us draping our faces in their shadows. The scene felt cold and sad. Why here? Why would ASTA bring us here? Why not a simulation, why real life? What's wrong with these people? Why does everyone and everything look dead? This place is strange.
After walking a little while longer, we found a newer shop that advertised having the latest in technology. Upon entering an older gentleman, close to 60 years old, came out and greeted us.
“Hi children, how are you doing today?”
“Good, we're looking for something cool and new. Would you happen to carry anything like that?” Came Jessica’s smooth reply.
“I have some very old and valuable diamonds that have already torched to a brittle beauty of nine.
“What about metal, do you have anything new made from metal.” I cut in.
The man's eyes seemed to gain a sudden knowing. "Well yes, yes I do. In fact, I know just the thing." He said turning and opening a password protected drawer.