by Shawn Muller
Unfazed by what was before them, the skeletons continued their advance, weapons at the ready as the trolls began to chant in unison. As one, the balls of death lashed out to smash through the lead elements of skeletons, breaking and crushing bones to pieces under the heavy balls. Again and again, the balls flew out of the trolls hands, connecting over and over into the amassed horde that has slowed to a stop in the freezing waters.
The speed at which the balls flew through the air drove the fog away from the water’s edge, giving the humans a perfect view of the skeletons being annihilated beneath the trolls onslaught. It didn’t take long, and before the captain had realised it, the skeletons were gone, destroyed into hundreds of tiny pieces while the chains of the trolls slowed down, the whistling fading away as the fog closed in once again to reclaim the battlefield.
Chapter 6 – Arise like a Phoenix
“Ngh!” was all I said, again, as I woke up.
Slowly I opened my eyes, my vision blurry and my cheek stinging from a solid slap by an open palm.
“Good. You are awake at last.”
I turned my head slightly to the right, trying to focus on the blurry, moving face which hovered above me. The visions melted together, the blur disappearing to leave an old, wrinkly face looking down at me. I blinked once or twice, re-gathering my thoughts, trying to piece my life together. Then it clicked into place.
My right arm shot out from under the pure white linen sheet which covered me, grabbing hold of the old man’s throat. I grabbed insubstantial air as the man vanished, only to reappear at the foot of the bed. I sat up and lunged at him, intent on killing the bastard.
Again he vanished, leaving me to fall out of the bed and land, naked on the cold, tiled floor. My wind knocked out of me, my body burning all over as if I had lost all my skin. But I did. Didn’t I?
Visions of a dragon, wild chase through the woods. The Ghosts dead hacked down by skeletons. Skeletons chopping at Mia. Mia dead! I began to cry as these thoughts flooded through my head, ending in pain as the memory of a sun’s fury washed over me, burning me, obliterating me where I laid trapped under a horse.
I let out a scream, remembering the pain. The scream unending as was the relentless memory, my skin blistering, cracking, blackening, and the blood in my veins boiling inside me. The air in my lungs vaporising, scorching my throat as it left me. My eyeballs exploding from the heat as my face melted off, the bones becoming soft like wax before bursting into flames, leaving nothing but ashes to drift on the winds.
A door creaked open and hurried footsteps came closer. Gently arms closed themselves around me, holding me close to a warm body. Soft, gentle words calmed me, quieting my screams as the memories dissolved, leaving me exhausted.
“It’s Bob alright. You’re safe now,” a familiar voice said.
Raising my tear streaked face I looked up into the face of an angel, renewed weeping, of joy as I held her tight.
“Easy there bud, let’s get you back in bed,” yet another familiar voice.
I looked around me, the room filling with familiar faces. Max by my side, Deez, Bruce, Ivan, Li, Titanius, Fremod at the door, Thackeray, the snobby elves, short Ward and his sons, the hulking orcs. Carl and Ricks, the entire Ghost Company. Even Veggie, the albino looking human shaped ogre looked in shyly.
I let myself be led back to the bed, Mia tucking me in as I drifted off to sleep once more, this time where I dreamt good dreams. I woke up, calmer this time and without a slap to the face. I looked around and saw Mia dozing in a well-padded chair at my side, her head lying on the arm of the chair and her feet stretched out before her. I tried to sit up, and hearing me move, Mia opened her eyes, looking slightly bewildered. Wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth, she looked at me before smiling, grabbing my hand in hers and giving it a bit of a squeeze.
“Hello sleepy head,” she said gently. “No, don’t sit up just yet.”
“Thirsty,” I croaked at her, my throat parched from the screaming earlier.
Mia got up from the chair and fetched a cup of water from a jug which sat on a plain wooden table which was by the bedroom wall.
“Here, let me help you,” she offered, holding and tilting the cup for me as I took small sips.
I thanked her when I was done, and managed to sit up without feeling dizzy. I looked around the room, taking in the details for the first time. It was a large, square room, whitewashed walls, and plain. Not tapestries or paintings against it. A large single window was seated into the wall to my right, with a bright sunny day peeping through the half-drawn curtains.
The curtains looked to be plain linen, a deep red in colour, matching the dark wooden window frame. The floor was tiled with a cream coloured ceramic tile, something which looked too modern for this world, something which I would have to find out about later.
The bed I lay in was a solid, wooden base, same dark colour as the window frame, roughly the size of a double bed. I lay more or less in the middle of it, covered by the same white linen sheet as earlier. A wooden door was closed to my left, which presumably led out the room, and the wooden table and chair which Mia sat in were the only furniture which I saw within the room. I did not notice any wardrobes where clothes may be kept for me. I was still pretty naked under the sheet and very aware of it.
“Where are we?” I asked her in a whisper, my throat still feeling a bit tender.
“Safe, for now, I cannot explain it to you. But the custodian will explain all to you once you are up and about,” was all which Mia could say.
“Okay, so where are my clothes so I can get out of bed.”
Laughing, Mia reached under the bed and pulled out a larger drawer which contained clothes similar to what I was wearing when I first woke up in this damn world. The military issued combat fatigues, simple exercise shirt, and thick leather combat boots. There was even a few pairs of cotton socks and silk boxers, the type I use to like wearing back on Earth.
I began to dress, aware that Mia was still in the room, but minding herself by looking out the window. I noticed subtle differences in my body, just couldn’t put my finger on it. It seemed to me I was bigger, more muscular. My clothes I put on seemed larger than normal, yet I could not be sure as there was no tag to give the size.
I did notice that my scar I had for my appendix removal was gone, but it did not register. I padded up behind Mia and wrapped my arms around her waist joining her at the window to look out. We were looking out to a well-manicured lawn, with large oak and maple trees providing areas of shade.
Squirrels ran amongst the tree tops, chasing each other for the prized nuts. A soft breeze blew over us, the smell of water not far away. I looked to the right out of the window and saw the glimmer of a large body of water. Looking further out a thick, broiling mist hung out from the coastline, maybe two hundred metres from the shore.
I heard voices outside, recognising Bruce and Deez arguing about something. I turned to walk out the door, with Mia by my side. Before I could reach it, the door opened and in walked Max.
“Good to see you up and about there,” he greeted me with a smile and a handshake.
“Is it really so good?” I asked him sceptical of where we were.
“Yep, we are all here. Every single Ghost in the company, barring Hioki and Jos that is.”
“Really? How can this be? We all died. I remember my death and those before me clearly,” I said confused.
“We all remember our deaths. Although your awakening was the worst, it seems. Not all of us screamed like that.”
“I cried a bit, but once I saw Max and the boys’ faces, I calmed down,” Mia added.
“Unbelievable,” was all I could say.
“Let’s take a walk outside and show you around,” Max suggested.
I let them lead me out the room and into a long, white passageway which had dark wooden doors equally set within it. Turning left, we headed for a double door. Sun streamed from underneath it, so I gathered it led outside.
I could hear more voices which I recognised, and soon saw the large, familiar shapes and faces of my company. Max was right we were all here, where ever here was. As we approached the trees, the chatting died down as the company all looked at me as I walked closer.
“Well, look who rose from the dead,” Bruce said sarcastically, the entire group bursting out with laughter.
I laughed with them, euphoric to see that we had all, somehow defied death and landed up together. Now, all we had to figure out was where the hell we were and why were we still alive?
“Well, I am very happy to see that we are all here, alive and kicking,” I said looking over everybody who all looked very healthy and, slightly different.
“Now, does anybody know where here is?” I asked.
“Na, all I know is that we’re on an island surrounded by fresh water and that unwavering fog,” Bruce answered.
“Ja and the lake has some of the best fish to catch. Big tiger fish like fish, with razor sharp teeth. Not something you want to fall into the water to feel. I saw a small school of those fishes ripping a flock of ducks to shreds before the ducks even knew what was happening ek se,” Deez said wildly waving his arms about.
“So, we are trapped on an island then?” I asked as I gingerly sat down on a log close to a small fire which was burning in a fire pit which had a few whole fish cooking over the open flames.
“I suppose so,” I was told with a shrug of the shoulder by Max.
“Who keeps the place neat and tidy?” I asked as I looked around at the neatly trimmed grass and bushes.
“Dunno never saw a soul here other than us,” Deez replied.
“And who brings food and water?”
“It is always there when we need it. And what we want. Sometimes it is found in the kitchen, other times right here, other times in the garden. All we know is that it is delivered to a place where nobody is present. Almost like whoever provides the supplies doesn’t want to be seen.”
An impromptus picnic lunch sprang up in the warm sunlight, with the fish as well as fresh bread, fruits and wines finding their way to our gathering. We sat in a discussion for a long time, well into dusk trying to make sense of what was going on and where we were.
“So, this curator, is he the old man from Earth which opened the portals for us?” I asked those who were like me, from Earth.
“I think so,” Max answered
“I also believe that he is my old tutor during my studies at The Capitol,” Mia said.
“And from our dreams,” Babar added.
“The bastard, if I get my hands on him,” I began.
“We have all tried at one time or other. Even Fremod had a swing at him,” Bruce said with a laugh.
I grunted my sentiments as I still wondered what the hell was going on. We eventually all retired to our rooms within the spacious building, deciding to tackle the issue once more tomorrow morning.
The next day dawned, bright and sunny, promising a glorious summer day. I started the day by leading the company for a jog around the island, which was roughly a comfortable ten kilometres. I practically sprinted the entire distance without breaking much of a sweat. Not seeing anybody huffing, not even the short legged dwarves, I led us through some callanetics, followed by hand to hand combat training, and for fun, wrestling.
At last, Babar and I had our wrestling match. It turned out to be a long, drawn-out fight, not one of us getting an advantage over the other. Well past lunch, we were still at it, by now, most of the company had grown bored and had wondered off to do their own thing.
Eventually, I called time, sweating, but not too tired. I was amazed at this and seeing that Babar, and the rest of the men were not tired anymore, I began to suspect something but could not put my finger to it.
The days flowed by, the weather stayed a regular warm, sunny day with the odd rain shower during the evening. We had formed a regular pattern by now. Exercising in the mornings, and relaxing in the afternoons. Most of the men took up fishing from the lake that surrounded us.
A huge tiger fish swam in the clear waters, big enough to bite off a finger or toe and always in large schools. We were a bit weary of trying and swimming in the lake in case a school of the tiger fish decided we looked appetising.
We began to become bored with the life on the island after a month or so living in the small cooped up area. We trained every day, and due to a lack of weapons, trained in hand to hand combat. We all became masters in everything from Li’s obscure kung fu style to drunken boxing, to kickboxing, Krav Maga, jujitsu, wrestling and even ballroom dancing.
The lack of tools meant we could not even try and build a raft to try and boat across the lake. Not that it seemed a safe option either. The permanent fog bank offshore looked thick and ominous, not something to sail into unless in a sturdy ship, preferably with the latest in navigational radar and sonar.
One night I sat in the commune room with Mia and a few of the men, voicing my frustration at just wasting away here on the rock while we did not know where we were, or how things were going between Prince Marcus and the cyclops.
“I mean, it’s been about a month now, and still no sign of this custodian or anybody else other than us,” I complained. “What is the purpose of keeping us here? We are all fit and healthy and simply rotting away.”
“I wouldn’t say rotting,” Max said flexing his biceps.
“True, I haven’t felt this refreshed and healthy ever,” Bruce agreed.
“Ok, ok. We are all bigger and faster and fitter than before like we have all been reborn or revitalised. But the question remains, why and by whom?”
“Those are the correct questions to ask indeed,” Fremod agreed.
“Perhaps Sir Bob, we should start asking more questions about our stay here, and focus less on training,” a shy Veggie piped up from the back of the group.
Veggie, it turned out, was the first member of the Ghosts to arrive here. He had left us to recruit more ogres for the Company, but he ran afoul of a pack of werewolves himself while travelling through the Great Divide Mountains before he could reach the safety of the Death Bogs.
“Ok, so we focus more on tactics and strategies than on fitness? Is that what you are saying?” I asked.
“Perhaps yes, we are all super fit and do not tire from the exercises we do, no matter how hard we push ourselves. So why not focus on the mind instead? Our magic abilities seem to have been nullified while on the island. But our thinking capabilities have not been stopped.”
“Hmph, interesting idea there, alright new plan of action then for tomorrow. After our usual morning workout, we break into platoons and sit down for a bit of a planning session, see what comes up,” I said to those sitting around me.
Nodding, smiles on their faces, they left for their rooms satisfied for now, that we will be doing something different for a change.
“So, it took you nearly a month to stop thinking with your muscles and to use your brain,” a familiar voice in the dark spoke.
I jumped out of bed, ready to wreak vengeance on the owner of the voice. Sudden light filled the room and before me, sat the old man from Earth on the padded chair which was in the chamber.
“You little sh.,” was all I could manage, before he pointed a lazy finger at me and I stopped in mid-air, still two metres away from him.
“Now, now Bob. You need to work on your temper,” he chided me as I gently settled on the floor, still in the motion of leaping towards him.
“Good morning Mia, so good to see you yet again,” he greeted Mia as she climbed out of the bed and donned on a nightgown.
“Greetings Custodian. Happy to see you as well,” she said with a slight nod.
I could only m
ove my eyes as I sat immobile on the floor, my eyes looking back and forth between Mia and the old man.
“Do you think he will behave?” The old man asked of Mia.
“I do believe so. Bob, this is the custodian of the island. Behave!” She warned me.
Slowly, I felt the stillness move off of me as if a thick blanket was pulled off my body and I felt movement return to my limbs.
“You lying little…” I began yet again.
“Bob! Enough!” Mia shouted at me.
Grudgingly, I shut my mouth and stood up right before backing off from the old man.
“Good. I see your sleep and relaxing holiday has not blunted your listening skills,” he said sarcastically.
“What do you want?” I asked through grated teeth.
“You should ask, what is it that you want?” He answered back. “And I will tell you what it is, Bob, and that is for your wishes to be granted.”