by C. S. Harte
“But this time you got me.” Kayla smiled.
“As long as you don’t blow us up, we got a shot at this.” Jamie laughed.
Kayla kicked Jaime.
He winced in pain, but still managed to laugh.
“Look, there’s an instruction dais.” He pointed towards a lit pedestal in the forest.
They made their way towards it. The instructions read:
Hunt the hunters before they hunt you.
“Whatever is chasing us, I hope they’re not aliens,” Victor said.
An arrow zipped past them. More arrows followed. “Duck!” Victor yelled. He caught one arrow aimed at Kayla.
Jaime and Kayla ducked.
Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. “Nice reflexes.” She looked for the shooter.
The sound of branches snapping filled the air.
“We should find cover.” Kayla pushed herself up and took a step forward. She heard a loud click and was pulled into the tree line hanging by her ankles.
Jaime shot a fireball at the rope holding her.
Victor ran to catch Kayla before she fell to the ground. “We need to be more careful.”
Kayla nodded. “Thank you.”
“It’s getting dark. We’ll be at a disadvantage. I think we should head back to the beach. Seems safer than the forest,” Jaime said.
Victor stared at the woods in front of them. “Agreed. This place isn’t safe.”
“Wait!” Jaime held his fist up in a stop gesture. “Did you hear that?”
Feet shuffling.
Leaves rustling.
“We’re surrounded,” Victor said, his muscles tensed. “There’s a lot of them.”
“What do we do now?” Kayla asked.
Several leaves drifted to the ground. “I think they’re up in the trees too. They got us surrounded high and low,” Jaime said.
“I don’t suppose you can knock down all the trees around us so they can’t hide behind them?” Victor asked.
Kayla closed her eyes and placed her palm on the ground.
Shake.
The ground around her vibrated — imperceptibly at first, then quickly to robust tremors. Frightened screams enveloped them from all sides, mixed with sounds of bodies falling through leaves, grunting as they hit branches on the way down. The trees nearest to them toppled over.
“I think they’re retreating. I can hear them running away. Good job Kayla!” Victor said. The tension dissolved from his face.
She blew on her knuckles and wiped them on her shirt. “Piece of cake.”
“Is that it? Are we done?” Jaime asked.
“If we were, a doorway would open,” Victor answered. He picked up a broken branch from the ground and ripped off his shirt sleeve. He wrapped the sleeve around the top of the branch and gave it to Jaime. “Here you go, turn this into a torch.”
Jaime lit the makeshift torch.
The flame illuminated something reflective on the ground heading towards Kayla.
“SNAKE!” Victor warned Kayla.
Kayla turned around but was too late. A massive black python was already around her ankles and climbing.
Both Jaime and Victor turned to look behind them.
Waves and waves of snakes were slithering towards them.
“Not good,” Jaime said.
“You create a ring of fire around us. Buy us some time. I’ll try to help Kayla,” Victor ordered.
Jaime blasted the ground in front of him. Many of the snakes stopped at the fire wall. Some didn’t seem fazed by the fire and went through as if it wasn’t there.
Kayla tried to pry off the snake with her hands, but the python was squeezing too hard.
There was a loud snapping sound followed by a blood-curdling wail from Kayla.
The serpent had snapped her tibia bone.
She tried to use her Telekinesis to force it to uncoil, but the pain in her leg made it impossible to concentrate.
Victor picked up a rock and bashed the snake’s head. “This might hurt you too Kayla.” He pounded at the head.
Kayla howled in pain with each strike.
It took several hits, but Victor was able to flatten the skull. The python released its hold as the life drained from its body.
Kayla stared in shock at her leg, the bone was broken through the skin.
Victor shook Kayla. “Hey, look at me. We can fix your leg. I need you to make a shield that covers all three of us. You have to do that right now!” He pointed at Jaime who was fiercely fending of the snakes crossing the fire line with a long tree branch.
The fire-resistant snakes stayed away from Jaime at first before becoming more aggressive and latching onto the branch Jaime was swinging.
Kayla held her fingers to her temple in an attempt to concentrate through her pain. A shimmering purplish-blue circle of light formed above them. It swiftly expanded to form an enclosed space large enough for all three to stand underneath. It was also strong enough to prevent the snakes from coming through.
“How long can you hold this up?” Victor asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She grimaced as the pain intensified.
Victor stared at Jaime. Both exchanged looks of grave concern. They were in danger of failing their Final Exam just minutes after it started.
41
A steady stream of water dripped on Maria’s forehead. She reflexively wiped at her face and rolled to her side. The drops continued into her ear, tickling her awake. She looked up to see a low-hanging, dark brown ceiling, just tall enough to stand straight, but not tall enough to ease the feeling of claustrophobia. Her hand ran across the surface. A thin layer of slime coated her fingers. “Where am I?”
Naveed was asleep next to Maria. A small fish nibbled on his hand as it dangled over the ledge in a vibrant crystal blue pool. He lifted his hand from the water and rested it on his chest. The movement triggered bioluminescent algae to flash a cascade of green and blue lights giving a magical quality to the water. The light show not bright enough to wake Naveed from his sleep.
“I’m in a cave. No, an underwater cave. With weird, but lovely ocean creatures,” Maria said to no one in particular. She saw Naveed sleeping by her feet. A mischievous grin appeared on her face. She cupped a small amount of water in her hands and splashed it on Naveed.
He sat up with haste. “What the—” he said before seeing saw smiling at him. “Not funny. Where are we?”
She shrugged. “You tell me.”
He scratched his head. “A cave. Great. I hate being underground or underwater and this simulation has both. This is literally a worst case nightmare scenario for me.”
Maria pointed toward a white pedestal. “There’s an instruction dais over there.”
They made their way to it.
Kill the seasoned sea monster that sees you.
Naveed pulled the skin on his face down. “Well, this just got unimaginably worse.”
Maria sighed. “Our talents are pretty much negated by this mission. My strength isn’t as useful underwater, and you could cause a cave-in with yours.”
“Plus I’m not a very good swimmer. I’ve always been more turf than surf.”
Maria sat on the edge and dipped her feet into the water. Another chain reaction of neon lights started from where her foot entered the water. “What sea creature do you think we have to kill?”
Naveed sat next to her and placed his head into his hands. “I can’t think of anything I want to fight underwater.”
The fire-immune snakes were using each other as ladders as they slithered up Kayla’s shield.
“Kayla, I’m gonna reset your leg. Not gonna lie; this will hurt a ton — the worst pain you’ve ever felt. But you have to keep the shield up, OK? Or else we’re done,” Victor said with a dead serious tone. “The good news is that when I’m done, you’ll start to feel less pain.”
Kayla nodded. “I’ll try.”
“Jaime, you hold her down as best you can.”
Jaime
knelt down next to her and held onto her shoulders. “It’ll be OK. Victor is a survival prep guy. He’s good with this stuff.”
Victor positioned himself to set Kayla's broken leg cleanly. “I’m going to start now.” He put a twig in her mouth. “Bite on this.”
She chomped down on the twig and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the pain.
Victor held up three fingers and started to count down.
Three.
Two.
He started on two. Very slowly he pulled on Kayla's ankle with both hands to stretch her leg.
Kayla screamed through the twig and frantically pounded the dirt with her fists.
Jaime couldn’t bear to look at the gruesome injury.
The shield flickered slightly, but nothing came through.
The snakes continued their climb on the force field. Some were not far from the apex.
A hollow click sounded to signify the bone was set.
Kayla's breathing was labored. “Oh my God, that was worst than anything I could’ve ever imagined.”
“At least you didn’t pass out. You’re getting tougher!” said Jaime. His attempt to cheer Kayla up was not working.
Victor made a poultice of mud and moss and placed it on top of the wound. “This will help stop the bleeding.”
“Are you guys done?” Jaime asked.
“She can’t walk. I can carry her for a little while, but we need to get somewhere safe,” Victor said.
“I want to burn down every last thing on this island,” Jaime said.
Victor’s eyebrow raised. “Can you?”
“I can try,” replied Jaime. His eyes glowed with anger.
“Do it then. Hopefully, that will kill all the hunters.”
“Kayla, I’m going to pick you up. We’re heading north towards the volcano, towards higher ground so we can scout our enemies. Can you keep the shield up while moving?”
“I’ll try,” Kayla said. She could feel her limbs losing strength. It took all she had to keep her eyes open as she was losing her battle against weakness and fatigue.
Jaime became a human flame thrower. As they made their way north, he streamed a wide cone of fire from his hands, burning huge swathes of forest, leaving a trail of ash.
They kept going like this for twenty minutes with Kayla periodically being shaken awake by Victor.
A piercing shriek sounded from the night sky above.
“We may have a bigger problem.” Jaime pointed up.
A monstrous vulture circled over them. The light from the burning trees illuminated the flying beast. Its massive wingspan covered most of the sky.
“We need to make sure it doesn’t grab us with those large black talons. They could crush a tree trunk,” Victor said.
Kayla watched breathlessly as it circled. The creature seemed to be eyeing her like a demon staring straight into her soul. It was gigantic with bladed feet and a razor-sharp beak, a perfect killing machine.
“Stay with us, Kayla. If your shields drop, the snakes will get us,” Jaime pleaded.
“If we get it low enough, can you engulf that monster in the biggest fireball you’ve ever created?” Victor asked.
Jaime smiled. “That sounds fun.”
“It figures we would be together in this mission,” Masa said to Helen, avoiding eye contact.
Helen, on the other hand, allowed her eyes to wander all over Masa’s body. “This isn’t the first time the universe has put us together.”
“That was another lifetime ago.” Masa took a step away from her.
“I don’t understand why you drifted away from me and continue to drift away now. If we don’t make it out of here, I would hope you at least tell me what changed between us.”
Masa let out a deep sigh.
“There isn’t anyone here but me and you…” She let her voice trail after seeing Masa walk away.
Masa stopped to survey his surroundings. They were in the middle of an open plain. The horizon was invisible to them, covered in a dense fog from the ground to sky. There were no trees, buildings, or any structure in their vicinity. The terrain laid perfectly flat with no hills or mountains. Four weapon racks, one in each cardinal direction created a square around them. All weapons types from every period of history seemed represented on the racks. Short swords to lances. Long bows and crossbows. Maces, whips, flails, axes, and many types of shields.
Masa examined the north rack, picking up a spear. “We’re too open out here. We need to find cover. I don’t like the fog blocking our visibility.”
Helen picked up a sheathed katana and a wakizashi — a Japanese short sword — from the east rack. “I’ve always been partial to the samurai fighting style.” She found a dagger on the south rack and added it to her boot.
Masa returned the spear and also opted for a katana. He weighed the sword in his hand checking its overall craftsmanship and balance. A faint smile escaped his lips before being replaced by a frown. “There’s no instruction dais.”
“Yes, that is rather odd. I suppose part of the test is to figure out what to do.”
“I have a very bad feeling. It’s too silent here.” Masa stared into the fog.
“I can scout ahead to see if we can find some cover.”
“No!” Masa said in a sharp tone. “We must stick together.”
“I’m glad to see your concern for me. But this is my specialty.” Helen unsheathed her katana and faded into the background. Her grin was the last thing to disappear.
Masa sat in the center of the square created by the weapons rack. He started his meditation while waiting for Helen.
After her reconnaissance, Helen returned and dropped her invisibility. “The fog grows denser as you move in — to the point of complete disorientation. It doesn’t appear that we are meant to enter it.”
Masa stood. “Just as I had feared. We’re to defend this ground against whatever comes through.”
A horn sounded in the distance.
Then another, louder.
Then a third, the loudest yet.
“It would seem the attack has begun,” Masa said. His hand rested on the hilt of his blade.
Helen placed her back against his. “I hope it’s not bloody aliens.”
“Helen,” Masa said quietly.
“Yes, Masa?”
“Should the battle seem grim, I want you to become invisible and run. One of us needs to survive to help Kayla,” Masa said with a matter-of-fact tone.
“That’s absurd. I wouldn’t leave you to die here by yourself,” Helen seemed annoyed that he would even suggest such a thing.
“Your talent is best suited for escape. Mine is best for holding back invaders.”
“I already told you that I wouldn’t leave you. Besides, where would I go? There’s nowhere safe.”
“Then just disappear. Don't die!” Masa snapped. His voice strained.
The first wave of attackers penetrated the fog. Legions of spearmen with leather armor charged towards them from all sides.
Masa placed his palms on the ground. Instantly, an ice wall rose from the terrain forming a makeshift barrier around their position. Jagged icicles protruded from the exterior side making it impossible for anyone to scale. He left a sliver open on the west side of the wall, wide enough for one soldier at a time. This would be the choke point where he and Helen could dispatch the sim army with ease.
Each fighter had a face but no features; no eyes, nose, or mouth. The bodies dissipated as they fell, like steam coming out of a kettle.
“I can hear them chipping away at the barricade. How long do you think the ice wall will hold?” Helen asked as she struck down a spearman.
“If it falls, I will build another.”
Another horn sounded in the distance.
“Looks like they’re sending in reinforcements,” Helen shouted over the echo of the horn.
Masa didn’t respond.
Helen looked visibly tired. Her chest heaved higher with each inhale. “We can’
t keep fighting them off forever. We need to figure out the objective before we succumb to exhaustion.”
42
“Since you’re such a scaredy cat, I’m going to swim around to see if there’s an exit,” Maria said, grinning.
“I would go with you, but I’ll only slow you down.” Naveed stared into the pool without blinking as if expecting something in the water to come up.
“HA! Keep telling yourself that, buddy.” Maria laughed.
“It’s true! I don’t swim.” Naveed seemed mesmerized by the light show of the bioluminescent algae.” How long can you hold your breath?”
“Around four minutes. I've never timed myself to know exactly.”
“That’s much better than me.” He patted her on the back.
Maria took a pair of goggles hanging from a hook on the pedestal. She adjusted them to fit her head. “I’ll be back.” Maria gave him the thumbs up. She dipped her feet into the clear blue water, acclimating her body to the chilly temperature. Her eyes closed as she held her hands together and said a short prayer. After one last deep breath, she slid into the water.
The tunnels of the cave system were both wide and tall, big enough for several cars to go through. The generous girth reduced the feeling of claustrophobia but was potentially problematic in that larger creatures could use them also.
Bioluminescent fish, crustaceans, and vegetation provided the light source Maria needed to see in the otherwise dark underground tunnels.
She followed one particular school of fish. They were the brightest source of light for her but also seemed to be moving with a purpose, guiding her towards a destination. At each fork in the tunnel, the fish always went left, giving Maria an easy path to remember. They seemed to be leading her deeper and deeper, away from her starting point and the only source of air.
One minute passed.
Maria counted ten forks. The other light sources — the plants, crustaceans, and smaller fish — didn’t extend far into the cave system. They gradually lessened in number until the only source of light was the guiding school of fish. For Maria to continue forward, she would have to place her trust in them.