by Ryan Sova
Garry frantically searched for where the Master might be when his shield spell suddenly shattered. At that same exact moment, an unseen force grabbed hold of him and threw him down rapidly towards the ground. Garry instinctively extended his hands to brace his fall. Just as Garry reached the ground, his body was twisted violently in a clockwise direction. This caused Garry’s left arm to be caught under his body when he landed. It snapped like a twig.
Garry screamed in pain. His body rolled slightly and then came to a stop. Garry immediately looked at his arm. It was now bent at a forty-five-degree angle in the wrong direction. Bone was clearly visible from the wound and blood was also squirting from the wound with every beat of his heart.
Garry immediately started feeling dizzy. Without hesitation, he cast another shield spell. A short distance away, the Master landed. He chanted a few words, then the ground started violently shaking. Suddenly, the ground under Garry rapidly shifted, throwing Garry into the air. As Garry fell toward the ground, the earth below him split. Garry fell into the crack. While he was falling, the earth closed up above him and the earth continued to open beneath him.
It suddenly became dark under the earth were Garry was. The temperature was also rising as Garry was continuing to freefall towards the center of the Earth. Garry was also feeling drowsy as well as dizzy. I need to get back to the island right now, Garry told himself.
He started chanting a teleportation spell. Once his spell was finished, he was pulled into the sea of colors. However, just seconds after entering the sea of colors, something grabbed ahold of him and violently pulled him back. Garry reappeared just feet from where the Master was standing.
Garry was now dazed, confused, and was already feeling lethargic from the loss of blood. The Master then shot a bolt of lightning, hitting him in the chest. Garry’s shield spell shattered. A jolt of electricity coursed through his body, and his face and arms were burned further by the explosion of sparks. Garry landed on his back and moaned in pain.
The Master said, “Where do you think you’re going, great and powerful sorcerer? We’re not done playing yet!”
It was at that moment that Garry realized that the Master had the power to kill him at any time. His spells were just strong enough to shatter Garry’s defenses without actually killing him. He could have easily killed me with his very first spell had he wanted to. The only reason that I am still alive is for his amusement. He’s toying with me.”
Once the Master was finished with taunting Garry, he quickly cast a spell. The temperature around Garry started rapidly dropping. Garry cast a shield spell to protect himself from the bitter cold. The Master responded by hitting him with another lightning bolt.
“AAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Garry screamed.
Garry’s head was now spinning. This was due to a combination of being electrocuted as well as a loss of blood. His body was already shivering. Fog was emanating from the area around him and the grass was already frosting over.
The Master spoke again, “I think that I’ll make an ice statue out of you Garry. You will be a symbol of my triumph when I burn this world and build my new world out of its ashes.”
Then the Master started casting another lightning spell. Garry quickly cast another shield spell just before the lightning bolt hit.
“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Garry screamed.
There was no place left in Garry’s body that didn’t hurt. The cold air around Garry had now reached the point where it actually felt like it was burning. His face burned, his arms and legs burned, his mouth burned, and every time that he took in a breath his lungs would burn. The one positive effect that this sudden drop in temperature made was that it had slowed his bleeding. Blood was now only oozing from his wound.
Garry thought to himself in desperation, I need to get back to the island. I’m gonna die if I stay here any longer!
The Master then started casting another lightning spell. Suddenly, an idea came to Garry’s head. Garry rose to his feet while casting another spell. He almost fell flat on his face due to how dizzy and drowsy he was, but he managed to catch himself. Garry finished his spell just as the Master shot lightning at him again. Garry generated a wave of energy and projected it at himself. The force of the spell pushed Garry out of the way, causing the Masters lightning bolt to miss him.
Garry’s body was then thrown rapidly across the Master’s backyard. Garry couldn’t see where he was going as he was facing opposite from his direction of travel. His body then slammed into a tree. After which, he tumbled on the ground and came to a stop. The impact that Garry had with the tree was directly on his lower back and, due to the fact that he had no shield protecting him, Garry’s back took the full force of the impact. Garry heard a loud pop when his body hit the tree. Once his body had come to a stop, Garry realized that he no longer had any feeling in his legs.
Garry laid where he was, paralyzed and unable to move. The Master started laughing again.
“Bravo Garry!! What an amazing strategy!!! Perhaps if you just bash yourself into a few more trees, you’ll terrify me into submission!!!” the Master then started laughing hysterically.
Garry quietly started muttering the words of a spell while the Master was consumed in his laughter. It was fortunate that he was facing away from the Master as he chanted. Using his good hand, Garry finished tracing his symbols and pulled himself into the sea of colors. He reappeared at the island.
Garry immediately collapsed to the ground upon arriving at the island. Using what strength he had left, he said, “Help me!”
Anna answered, “OH MY GOD! GARRY!!!”
Anna ran to Garry and started examining him. As she was examining him, she said under her breath, “My God Garry, you’re so cold!”
Anna then screamed at the top of her lungs, “RYAN, GET OVER HERE! BRING THE FIRST AID KIT WITH YOU!!!”
From the distance, Garry could hear someone running in his direction. Then that person stopped a short distance away. Garry could hear someone rummaging through a bag, then Detective Grant was there standing over him.
Anna then spoke, “Ryan, get out the tourniquet. His brachial artery has been ruptured. We need to stop the bleeding right now or he’ll die!”
Garry could hear more rummaging as Detective Grant searched for the tourniquet. Then he felt Anna as she started tightening it around his upper arm.
While Anna continued to tighten the tourniquet, Detective Grant asked, “What happened, Garry?”
Garry answered, “The Master. I tried to stop him, but I can’t. He’s too strooonnnnng.”
Garry then passed out.
CHAPTER 29
Nephal rose from the ground and whispered quietly to himself, “I never thought it could be so easy.”
During Nephal’s dream, he had been in the mind of another man. A man by the name of Garry Henderson. A strange voice had spoken to both of them, giving them instructions. Then the voice showed them things.
Nephal excitedly ran to where Heragald was.
“Get up Heragald! You need to get up right now!” he said urgently to her.
Heragald was immediately wide awake, “What is it?”
Nephal responded, “I’m going to face the demon. But I’ll need your help to do it. Come, let me discuss my plan with you.”
Heragald answered, “You really think you can stop him?”
Nephal answered, “Trust me Heragald. What I have in mind, he’ll never see coming!”
****
Garry woke up. He looked at his arm. A bandage had been wrapped around his arm where his fracture was and underneath that was a splint. Just above the bandage was a tourniquet. On Garry’s right arm, Anna had hooked up a makeshift IV line to his arm by using a stick that she had jammed into the ground, a saline bag with a drip line, and a needle that was held in place with medical tape. A sleeping bag had been unzipped and draped over Garry as a blanket.
Every part of Garry’s body still hurt, aside from his legs. He still felt nothing in his legs. Garry sat up.
As he moved, a sharp pain shot up his back, causing him to shudder in pain. Anna immediately called out to him saying, “Lay back down Garry, you need to rest.”
Garry still felt somewhat lethargic due to his loss of blood. But somehow, he suddenly felt a burst of energy. He didn’t know where this energy came from but he was intent on using it.
Garry answered, “How long have I been out?”
Detective Grant answered, “About four hours and thirty-five minutes.”
Garry spoke quietly to himself, “Then there is still time.”
Garry then spoke to Detective Grant, “Help me up, I need to stop the Master. If I don’t, he will nuke the planet tomorrow and everyone will die.”
Anna answered, “No Garry, you’re not in any condition to go anywhere.”
Detective Grant added, “Garry, you barely escaped with your life last time. If you face him again, he’ll kill you for sure!”
Garry answered, “No he won’t! I know how to beat him this time!”
****
It had been a month and a half since they had last seen Garry. Food had run out two weeks ago. Water would be gone by the end of the week. The only food that could be found anywhere on this island, it seemed, were birds and fish. Detective Grant had tried to hunt some of the birds in the trees by using his pistol. However, a police issue handgun is no comparison to a hunting rifle. Detective Grant had expended three full boxes of ammo and had not hit a thing. They had also tried fishing in the ocean but had no luck there either.
Jesse had been inconsolable, screaming for food both day and night. Detective Grant and Anna didn’t want to even think about how bad things would get once they eventually ran out of water. Their only hope was for someone to find them on the island and bring them to safety. Neither Detective Grant nor his wife Anna had any hope of that happening though. Garry had been their only hope of getting off the island and they were almost certain by now that he was dead.
The one thing that didn’t happen was the nuclear bombings that Garry had predicted. By this point, though, Detective Grant would have gladly taken the bombs. A quick death is better than this, he thought to himself bitterly.
Anna had been in the tent for hours trying to put Jesse to sleep. By the time that dawn had come, she had finally put her to sleep. Anna then walked out of her tent, tears streaming down her face. She refused to even look at Detective Grant as he entered the tent.
Detective Grant quietly entered the tent as Anna left. He took a look down at his daughter who was sleeping peacefully. He wiped the tears from his eyes, then took aim. He fired two shots, hitting Jesse twice in the head.
From outside the tent, Detective Grant heard his wife scream. Then she started crying bitterly.
Detective Grant shouldered his firearm in its holster and then slowly walked out to be with his wife. She was on her knees when he left the tent, both screaming and crying. Detective Grant dropped to his knees and threw his arms around Anna. Anna put her arms around him and started crying into his shoulder all while screaming, “MY BABY! MY BABY!” over and over repeatedly.
After several minutes, Anna rose to her feet. She wiped the tears from her face, closed her eyes, and said, “I’m ready.”
Detective Grant took aim and shot her in the head. Once she had landed on the ground, he shot her two more times to make sure that she was dead.
He was now down to his final execution. Of all the executions thus far, this one would be the easiest. Detective Grant put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and, without a second thought, he pulled the trigger.
****
Scott Chandlee woke up. This was the fourth straight night in a row that he had seen this same exact dream. His wife Sabrina woke up due to Scott’s movements.
“Did you have that same dream again?” Sabrina asked.
Scott answered, “Yes, it’s so sad. It breaks my heart every time that I see it. Do you think that there could really be people out there, stranded on some island right now?”
Sabrina answered, “I wouldn’t doubt that it’s possible. After all, it would be a good way to escape all the hunting parties. But realistically, I would say probably not. You should try and get some sleep in case the scouts come back and tell us that we have to move again.”
Sabrina soon fell back to sleep, but Scott couldn’t get his mind off of his dream. While lying in his tent, he kept on thinking about the family that he had seen on the island. Who are they and who is this Garry person that left them stranded out there?
Scott, Sabrina, and their three daughters were all part of a group of survivors. This group consisted of thirty-six adults and nineteen children. They all worked together to secure supplies and stay hidden from the many hunting parties. No one, however, understood what was happening or why they were all being hunted.
It had all happened so fast. First in the cities where major rioting broke out overnight. By morning, all news stations had declared that the problem had been resolved and even went as far as to say that no one had been hurt. Social media, however, told a different story. Stories arose of mass killings that had taken place in the cities during the night. People were confused and divided. They didn’t know what to believe. Should they believe what people were saying, or what the news was reporting? Then the hunting parties arrived.
Massive groups of people started arriving in all the towns, villages, and rural areas. These people started killing everyone they encountered. Some people even reported seeing the dead men and woman rise up and join these hunting parties, however, this was still, even now, a major subject of debate amongst the survivors.
The news stations and radio outlets then changed. Regular broadcasting suddenly ended and was replaced by a live report detailing where the remaining survivors could be found. It was at this point that the survivors started forming groups and working together.
At first, groups of survivors started forming resistance cells. These resistance cells mounted several counter-attacks, but none of these attacks were ever effective and always brought with them a massive number of casualties. In time, the survivors learned that the only way to survive was to stay in hiding. Some groups learned to adapt better than others. The group that Scott and Sabrina were in started sending out scouts to monitor the hunting parties and warn the rest of the group when danger was coming their way. They had even taken the clever step of doubling back to one of the abandoned cities while all of the hunting parties were still busy searching the woods for survivors. This didn’t last long, though, and soon Scott and Sabrina’s group were headed back into the woods.
The hunting parties they faced were relentless. They searched for survivors both day and night. Continuing to stay one step ahead of them was an exhausting task. But then without warning, the hunting parties just stopped.
Four days ago, exactly when Scott’s dreams started, the hunting parties stopped searching and remained stationed where they were. It was a nice break, not having to always be on the run, but people wondered how long it would last. Some noise in the camp caught Scott’s attention. Scott got up and walked outside. He looked to see who had arrived at the camp. The scouts had returned, all of them.
One of the scouts said, “The hunting parties, there all dead!”
A man in the group then asked, “What do you think could have killed them all?”
The man answered, “We don’t know. Between the eight of us, though, we found three separate hunting parties with more than four to six-hundred people per group. Everyone in these groups are dead. I even got close enough to examine some of the bodies and what I found was downright strange. They don’t show any signs of injury, none of them do, they're just dead! I don’t know how else to explain it! It’s like everyone just dropped dead!”
The group continued discussing this strange course of events for the rest of the morning. By afternoon, a large group of the survivors had left camp to go and see one of these hunting parties first hand. After they all had examined the bodies, the group then returned
to camp.
Over the next two days, the group decided to come out of hiding. As they migrated to the nearest city, they came across another two hunting parties. Just like the first three that they had already discovered, everyone there was dead. Many of the people in Scott’s group decided that, before leaving this time, they were going to commandeer some of the vehicles that the dead had been using.
While returning to civilization, Scott’s group came in contact with another group that had also been in hiding. This group also reported similar sightings. Over time, the survivors started talking about how they were going to rebuild their lives again. While this conversation continued to carry on, Scott heard a voice inside his head, “Scott Chandlee, you spent twelve years of your life as a fisherman in the Pacific Ocean. I have chosen you for that reason. The power grid will soon collapse as there is no one left to maintain it. Get the fuel that you will need and travel to Peru immediately. Once there, find a boat and sail to the Henderson Island. Only you can save the family that I have shown you in your dreams.”
Scott looked around. There was no one who could have spoken to him just now, no one with that voice. Sabrina, noticing that something was wrong asked, “What is it Scott?”
Scott responded, “We’re going to Peru.”
Sabrina was confused, “Why?”
Scott answered, “The family that I have been dreaming about every night. I know where they are!”
CHAPTER 30
Eliak sat down upon the grass. His bones ached and his ears rang from the commotion and sounds following the event of the day. Another child had been born the night before, which was certainly a reason to celebrate. As elated as Eliak was, though, his body was miserable. I suppose that being one hundred and twelve years old is bound to take its toll on anyone, he told himself. Eliak could scarcely believe that he had made it this long. It would not be long now before it would be his time to rest.
The warmth of the sun and the peace and serenity was soothing to Eliak. He needed to escape the noise and commotion of the village for but a moment, so he laid back on the soft grass and reflected. He had seen so much in his life and so much of what he had learned would never get passed down to his posterity. He gazed at the sight before him. This was a beautiful spot. He sat atop a great hill. The village and all of its commotion lay behind him. As far as the eye could see were rolling hills with vibrant green trees, lush colors from flowers and shrubbery from afar off, glistening blue lakes and streams and birds flying in the distance. The others had done so well in choosing this place. It was so peaceful and serene here and utterly without a trace of the horrors of their past.