by M K Hussain
Don’t know why they’d want to kill her.
Inside, he smiles as he looks at her, incessantly talking, never shutting up as she lays out every detail of her adventure before stumbling into this place. Only half-hearing her now, he realises that it was a combination of a few guard/prisoner attacks that led to both her legs being broken, possibly smashed to smithereens. As well as this, her spine was so damaged in one of the attacks that she couldn’t stand at all without some manner of support.
In terms of the extent of the damage, even Sarah was not aware how bad her injuries were except that they hurt… a lot. While she is talking, she is continually trying to build upon an artificially intelligent computer system she is working on.
“Well, seeing as you don’t really want to kill me as far as I’m aware and this is a rest stop for you, you don’t mind if I ask you a question, do you?”
Neil looks at her for a minute, then nods.
“How did you get past my defences?”
Neil looks over her weaponry stock one by one; some are slightly concealed, others spread out in every corner of the building while some lay on one of the tables before him.
Such fine details on the weaponry, exquisite production and craftsmanship and her modifications are all excellent.
“Like what you see? All of this junk you see around you, I made them from that. See any you like? Have whichever one you want – but only one, mind. Can’t let you be taking everything.”
Neil walks over to Sarah, sitting in her wheelchair, and picks up the dagger which she keeps on the back of her belt, concealed so that it is hard for anyone to see as Sarah is sat down most of the time.
“Hey, that’s assault!”
With the dagger, Neil creates a mark on the furthest wall from them both – an X. He stands back to where Sarah is and throws the dagger at the X. It lands dead centre. Neil points to the dagger and then to himself. He places a glass bottle on a windowsill, again on the furthest wall. He walks over to Sarah, hands her one of her pistols and then stands back.
“OK…”
Sarah aims her pistol at the bottle and shoots. She misses. She tries again and again. Still, the bottle remains intact. By now, she has emptied the bullets in the magazine of her gun.
Suddenly, Neil pulls out an arrow from his quiver and shoots it at the bottle. It smashes to pieces. Then, Neil places more weapons in Sarah’s lap and places more bottles in various places about the room. Finally, he returns to Sarah, pats her softly on her shoulder and walks away from her to work on his hunting equipment.
Sarah lets out a deep sigh, then changes the expression on her face to become more focused, more determined to smash all the bottles and not just one…
***
Much like the Commander, Brutus sits on a golden throne in a majestic fashion. He spreads his cape out on the seat under and around him and tilts his head to nod at all the reports flooding in from various prisoners about how many more have been recruited and how many slain thus far in every corner of Raeth. Brutus wags a finger and tuts at prisoners who want to touch him – admirers of his majesty. At the same time, paper requests are also flying in via big, grey crows from prisoners wanting to borrow or give their powers indefinitely to Brutus as a gift to their leader. Brutus laughs to himself.
This is great! I don’t need to lift a finger if I don’t want to and pretty soon, I’ll still get what I need – a ticket out of this forsaken world. As for these peasants, they can just tuck their head between their legs and kiss this world goodbye for all I care.
“Master? Master? Are you OK?” cries George, kneeling at his side but bemused.
Brutus is in a dreamlike state now and George’s words cut through it like a hot stabbing pain in the back.
“What is it, pest?” Brutus barks at him, turning to face the annoying rat next to him.
George shudders with terror.
“Th… The… The Commander is trying to hail us… you… on the screen, Master. He requests your presence, Sire.”
Brutus murmurs something to himself before sitting upright in his throne.
“Put it on.”
“Yes, Sire.”
An image of the Commander appears on a screen fixed onto the floor in front of him.
“You rang?”
“So you’re the one they’re all speaking highly of on Raeth, even amongst my staff. Nice of you to think so little of the rest of us, placing us at your feet like this.”
“What can I say? I just have such a charming personality, so much so that everyone keeps falling over on to my side – Team Brutus. But that’s not what you’ve called for, is it?”
“Down to business then, enough chit-chat. I’ve got something to discuss with you.”
“I knew it would just be a matter of time before you’d be knocking on my door.”
“Call it a mutually beneficial arrangement. You help me and then I’ll help you.”
“The great Commander needs my help? In other words, get to the point, Commander. I’ll die of boredom otherwise.”
“I… need your help in capturing three prisoners.”
“If they’re mine, take them.”
“They’re not, I’ve checked.”
One of Brutus’s eyebrows raises slightly.
“Who are we talking about here?”
“These three.”
Max, Rebecca and William’s photos appear on the screen.
“Why them? I’d have thought I’m your biggest threat right now.”
“Irrelevant. You get me them and I’ll personally lead you straight to Preb myself.”
With that, the Commander’s face disappears off screen.
“Hmm… why are these nobodies important to the Commander?”
Suddenly, an unknown voice speaks out.
“Um… Sire? May I present something else to you, instead? Believe me, you’ll enjoy this.”
A small, gleeful-looking, round and fat prisoner is jumping up and down as George spoke. He turns to collect something from somebody behind him. He then turns and kneels. In his hands is a fluffy cushion and laying upon it is a big, red round Ruby in the shape of a P – a Gem! Brutus smiles ecstatically as he summons one of his prisoners. He raises a hand towards this prisoner who, under a trance, floats the Ruby from the cushion towards Brutus. As it comes nearer, the complex wooden pattern on his cane opens up to form an open cage-like structure. The Ruby floats in and then the wooden pattern closes in around it. A strange surge of energy empowers Brutus, who starts laughing uncontrollably.
“Now the fun begins…”
14
FIRST OF MANY
“Help!”
Rebecca is thrashing her arms about with her head going in and out of the yellow seawater. I hear the desperation in her voice as she gently sinks downwards towards the seabed. Her voice gives me strength within myself and I use it to swim up and up, trying to locate her as well. My eyes open in the water; I now see William trying his best to do the exact same thing, swimming with frustration. Then we see her as she continues travelling south. William and I make a mad dash for her, eventually grabbing her by an arm each and swimming quickly towards the surface.
With our heads above the water, we all cough violently, spitting out the sweet, yellow water, expelling it from our lungs.
“Are you all right?” I ask Rebecca.
“Thanks to you guys, yeah, just about.”
I hold her hand tightly to ensure she doesn’t sink again.
“Can’t you swim?” William asks her.
“I don’t know, I don’t think so… I think I nearly died just then.”
“GGGRRRAAARRR!!!”
Before any of us could talk any further, we all notice a most terrifying sight in front of us. A gargantuan sea monster covered in spikes and scales rises out of the sea. It bellows loudly, showing row upon row of extremely sharp, yellow teeth. The sound of its bellow knocks us 500 yards downstream. The creature had roared because it had noticed us and now thuds in
the water towards us rapidly.
“What do we do now?” cries William.
“Do you want to be eaten? We need to attack it,” shouts Rebecca.
She makes a good point because there is literally nowhere to swim to, especially at the speed this thing is charging at us.
“Right. Don’t fret, Becca. I’ve got this,” William replies, trying to keep calm.
He jumps at it, fists out, punching and kicking it this time with all his might. The monster flicks him back with a giant swish of its tail.
“Wooooaaaah!” shouts William as he falls back at us, his body disappearing in the water momentarily before reappearing and expelling water once again from his mouth.
“That was your great plan? What did that achieve?” I ask him, a bit confused.
“Dunno, just trying something new, anything to slow it down. Why don’t you try something then, hotshot? Make up for how weak you really are.”
William and I start arguing again in the water as Rebecca now takes matters into her own hands to sort us out.
“Men – always trying every which way but the right one,” she mutters under her breath.
As we continue fighting amongst ourselves, Rebecca outstretches her hands in the water and sends a spray of huge ice blocks to cover the distance between us and the creature. It simply tears through them as if they were paper. The ice also starts to freeze the beast as well as the water around it, but the thing again just shakes itself free, unfazed by its effects.
I look at it in disbelief, then at my friends.
I’m beginning to get angry with it.
“Stand back. It’s my turn,” I state unafraid as I concentrate deep within myself to generate and send great shockwave after shockwave in the crazed animal’s direction. The shockwaves hit the monster in rapid succession and with maximum impact, sending it into a frenzy. It rages towards us faster than before as the shockwaves slow it down just a fraction.
“It’s not working,” points out Rebecca as the monster throws its spikes in our direction. William activates his wrist device.
“Duck! I’ve had enough of this,” he states as the device opens up two doors in the sea. I duck to avoid the spikes and fall clumsily through it, grabbing rapidly at its watery edge, unsure of where it leads. Suddenly, I see and hear the beast roar behind me as it attempts to leap through it, tossing William through the other door and taking me along with it, its wide frame somehow condensing to fit through the narrow slot…
***
William sits up. He looks ahead at the door he had entered, laying diagonally on a mountainside. He stands up and runs as fast as he can.
Rebecca.
Max.
I can save them both.
I… just… need… to… get… to… the… Door!
He leaps at it but it closes a moment before he reaches it, the yellow water of the sea on the other side of the door disappearing from sight now. Exhausted and letting out a scream, William punches in frustration at the spot where the door had been, tearing a block out of the mountain.
A whistle and garbled speech from behind causes him to turn around suddenly. A large red-painted man, wearing just a loincloth, with a big, long, wooden stick whacks him hard on the head with it, knocking him out cold…
***
One of the spikes from the monster hits Rebecca hard in the shoulder, impaling her and pushing her deep into the sea again. She falls into the sea considerably deeper this time as a huge shadow crosses the surface past her.
The monster isn’t after me. The guys…
She looks over at her badly wounded shoulder. The spike has gone straight through it and she is currently experiencing the worst pain she has ever felt.
I can’t defend myself… I’m so tired.
As she sinks, the blood pours out of her, turning certain areas of the sea a strange shade of orange. She blinks her eyes to avoid blacking out as she also notices several figures across from her.
Mermaids.
They look over at her in anticipation, their tails swishing this way and that way. Suddenly, the bloody water reaches where they hover in the sea. One of them, attractive in appearance, lengthy blonde hair down to her back, snarls to not only distort her features but to showcase a sharp set of ravenous teeth. She swims rapidly towards Rebecca. The rest of the mermaids follow suit, again rapidly approaching.
A small sliver of green light flashes into Rebecca’s eyes. An Emerald in the shape of an ‘A’ is floating by her leg on the seabed.
Is that a Gem… out here at the bottom of the sea in the middle of nowhere?
Rebecca groggily scoops it off the seabed and places it tightly in her fist. A strange surge of fury ignites within her, now feeling alive and with renewed energy in the wake of finding the Gem. The energy she feels also seems to temporarily fix her damaged shoulder.
Rebecca focuses on the threat in front of her. She outstretches her hands and uses her abilities to send out a tremendous heatwave towards the mermaids. As the threat continues gnashing their teeth at her as they get closer, the lead mermaid gets set to strike at the wave. As she jumps at it, it burns her to such a degree that she sizzles and disintegrates.
The remaining mermaids stop immediately in their tracks and retreat quickly, not only hoping to outswim the wave but to not have to face their adversary, clearly stronger than them. Rebecca roars, a sudden surge of renewed vigour unleashing inside. She changes in that moment, her body becoming temporarily transparent. The spike falls through her body, away from her and her shoulder permanently fixes itself. Rebecca quietly smiles as she notices this. She looks forwards at her would-be attackers. Some mermaids disintegrate as the wave hits them but some manage to outrun it, climbing onto dry land, luckily miles away for fear of the same conclusion.
Suddenly, Rebecca runs simultaneously out of renewed energy and becomes extremely drowsy due to increased O2 deprivation. Her body becomes solid once again as she closes her eyes for what she thinks will be the last time ever, blacks out and falls onto the seabed…
15
CHOSEN
“Attention, people of Raeth!”
An image of the Princess appears once again in the kys. The suddenness of her appearance and sound startles everyone from the prisoners to Reds, and to the guards themselves.
“The time for this announcement is due now as violet-purple day turns to scarlet-red night. You will have had enough time by now to settle into your new roles neatly. Among you all is the Chosen One. He, she or it remains unknowing of the fate that lies in front of them. Their survival will be up to them but this prisoner will be the One who will find the Door and walk through it.
“The decision of whom the Chosen One is will not be made by us, but by how you, the current residents of Raeth, will perceive this prisoner and their ability or abilities. You are the ones to make this happen. Depending on the circumstances, their appearance to you all will happen soon. Decide well for it could be you. For the one who is the One, and only for you, I say this – good luck, you’re going to need it.”
The Princess disappears off screen once more…
***
Brutus feels tense and disappointed.
I am the One, I am he. I must be. Look at everything I have done so far…
Why haven’t these idiots found the Gems yet?
“Joe, get over here now!” he screams at his cowering servant in the corner.
“It’s G… Ge… George, Master.”
“DOES IT LOOK LIKE I CARE, YOU IMBECILE?”
“No… no… it doesn’t matter, you can call me whatever you want.”
“Damn straight. Now listen here. I am the Chosen One. Go and announce it to them out there. Use it to my advantage, a morale boost, a re-energising of their efforts for me. Just go out there and get them to believe it. Double their work. Get it done. Leave my sight now.”
“Yes, mmm… Master,” reiterates George before quickly scurrying away to the balcony…
***
The Commander stands at the window of a room within the prison overlooking the prison yard and fence. He sighs deeply.
This constant search… Who could it be?
The Commander talks into his earpiece.
“Number 9, status report. This game just upped a level.”
“The northern continents are being cleared bit by bit by Alpha team. Beta team are currently sweeping across the edges of Raeth. Similarly, teams Epsilon and Omega have established a heavy presence within the eastern and western corridors.”
“That’s the good news. Now give me the bad.”
“The remaining teams, including Gamma, are finding huge pockets of resistance from the prisoners in the southern quadrants, hence why I have arranged for the majority of the teams to be stationed there.”
“Keep me updated on their situation. What of Number 1 and the Ts?”
“No response, Sir.”
“Keep trying.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The Commander pulls up a digital screen from within the window. He takes a look at the figures and statistics on the screen. A grim look shows on his face.
“Number 9, the situation is escalating. Proceed to D stage. Inform the teams.”
“D stage, Sir?”
“Positive. No capture, no containment, just seek and destroy unless I give the order otherwise.”
“And the data, Sir?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Very well, Sir…”
***
Prisoners across Raeth, the entranced and un-entranced, look at each other with disbelief. The infighting stops just for a little while as everyone, every prisoner, stops to ask themselves the same question –
Could I be the Chosen One…?
16