“Listen, Catalyst is it, your friends have told us so much about you.
Especially the pretty one, what was her name? Oh yes, Annabelle, if I remember right.”
More dinosaurs filled the room and pinned me to the wall. They dug their claws into my shoulder.
“NO, don’t you touch her, or I will kill you! “I screamed.
“Ah, you are in to position to make demands, my friend. You are mistaken. The Duchess of death did not keep you alive to feed on you. I kept you alive because each of you contained the power I wanted. With your Powers, I will conquer this planet, and I will use your friend to Fix my ship, and then I will conquer Earth.”
I broke free of their grasp, and I punched the dinosaur in his long thin face with the shackle sphere. He started to laugh.
“My name is Ehud; I will be your downfall. He started to walk out of the room when I shouted after him.
“Let me tend to Toni’s legs; he has lost a lot of blood and needs a new leg; he’s no good to you dead. Ehud thought for a moment and then agreed he let Toni come in and brought in some equipment and tools.
“Toni, how’s she doing?”
He looked at me with sadness in his eyes.
“She is alive, they broke her, and she’s weak.”
“Well then we have to get out of here, we have to save them we have to escape. Give me some ideas.”
Toni’s eyes glazed over; his mind flew through history. He spoke fast and, his words slurred as he spits of a list.
“During the United States Civil, there was a Confederate General named John Morgan. With his fellow prisoners, they burrowed under their prison in Ohio, and into ventilation shafts, they succeeded in their escape. In 1943, Oliver Philpot and two others escaped a German Pow camp, with a tunnel a wooden horse and fake papers, escape successfully. During “The great escape” Two hundred men escaped from several tunnels at a POW camp. However out of the initial two hundred only three escaped.”
His rambling stopped, and he began to speak again.
“Catalyst most prisoners of war escape through tunnels or are rescued from the outside. We are being held in the mountain and not on the ground floor, what are we to do?”
The dinosaur men returned to grab Toni; I secured his new fake metal leg It fastened to his knee. It was more Like a pirate peg leg then a prosthetic foot. The dinosaur men refastened the metal sphere around my hands, ensuring I could not use them.
“Toni, I will save us. I will get us out of here! You have my word.” I said
They dragged him out of the room, and the door hissed shut. I heard the screams of my friends even though they think of metal walls.
“Dude, you said you would help us now help. How do we break out of here?” I asked Zadok.
He turned to me, annoyed, and spoke dismissively.
“What can you not comprehend, we cannot escape. Even if we managed to escape, we would get recaptured or killed, and if we eluded That, we would run into another beast or probably a Villain. Some people’s livestock. No matter what they do or go, no matter how much they try or do. They find only heartbreak and failure, and guess what, when you find success; it is only the prologue to further misfortune. A placeholder until the next problem. Some people never find their happy endings. If they did, people wouldn’t know that their ending is happy. We cannot escape. I learned that a long time ago. It’s time you do the same. He laid on the floor, in the corner like a dog. I sat down near him. My jaw clenched so tight it began to hurt.
“No. No, that is a narrow-minded view, and I won’t accept it. You know what you are, a crazy older man. I would endure a life of endless ups, and downs battle after battle after battle to spend what little time I could with my friends and family and Annabelle. Sometimes you must enjoy whatever calms you can because life is a storm, and another will come that does not mean you close your sails in this doldrum that you have accepted. A Fate I hope never to accept. I will figure out a plan.”
The door opened, and Ehud entered looking more human then dinosaur.
“Catalyst, I have broken the will of your friends, and now I shall break yours. Tell me what your limits are, tell me what your weaknesses are, and tell me how to leave this planet.” Said Ehud.
I spit in his face, laughed as it slid down his grey face.
“You find these childish acts amusing you won’t for long if you notice I am in a more human state. This is compliments of the girl Agatha. I took her blood and absorbed it in my bloodstream. It healed some of the dinosaur's mutated blood. I see the shock on your face mister Catalyst. I barely believed it myself at first, yet it is true.” Said Ehud.
“Don’t you touch her or any of my friends or so help me, I will kill you.”
He walked over to me and dug his claws into my back, ripping off a hand full of bloody flesh.
“AHAHAHAHAH I WON’T TALK,” I screamed through clenched teeth. Blood pooled at my feet, and pain seared through my spine. Ehud looked at me and smiled maniacally. He grabbed a metal bar and heated it.
“What are your weaknesses, young one,” Ehud asked.
I closed my mouth and held it tight. Knowing that I could not tell him anything. He dragged the hot metal bar across my shoulder blades I screamed, and I heard my flesh sizzling and popping as if being cooked. Still I said nothing. If I talked, then he would no longer need my friends or us. We would never get home.
“Bring in Agatha and the blood drawing equipment,” Said Ehud.
I looked over at Zadok, who sat in the corner as if nothing were happening. Still, Quiet, and unmoving. Agatha was shoved through the door. She looked weak, grey her, with her mouth gagged. Her eyes are wide. Ehud raised the metal pole again as if to strike my back, except he used it to burn Agatha and knock her to her knees.
“NO! No more!” I screamed.” I will tell you what you want to hear. My weakness is poison. I can control most earthly animal poisons; yes, the alien poison would be enough to kill me.” Ehud smiled and laughed.
“You lie mister Catalyst, your friend James told us if we introduce new poison to your blood, you will be able to control it henceforth. Your weakness is your feelings; he grabbed the rod and swung it at Agatha. He brought the pipe down on her shoulder. Sending her sprawling to the floor. “NO!” I screamed Again.
I tried to break free of my wall restraints.
“Catalyst you will not try to help her either, no first aid will be administered thanks to your visit with Toni. I know you cannot go five minutes without planning an escape. I promise you; you will not be tunneling out I have guards on the base of the mountain. They patrol the skies and even underground. There is no escape for you.” Said Ehud.
The men carried Agatha out as if to tease me even more. I pulled on the restraints again until I fell to my knees weak. Ehud laughed a deep and hearty evil laugh.
“You are breaking already. Imagine what will happen when we bring in the woman you love.”
He walked out of the door and chucked a hunk of bread onto the floor along with a bowl of purple water.
“All that I want from you Catalyst is for you to serve me. Your powers will be most useful when I try to conquer earth. You can either use them for me while you are living, or I will figure out how to take them from you and then kill you. The door slammed shut behind him, and I screamed and fell to floor, the pain covering my entire body. I fell to the floor in a puddle of my blood, and I slipped into sleep, craving for any nightmare that would be better than the one I was living.
Chapter Eight
“Zadok wakes up,” I whispered.
He rolled over to stare at me. His finger perched in front of his lips.
“Mr. Catalyst, would you please be quiet. It is the middle of the night, and I will not get beaten for you.”
I crawled over to where he was laying and sat next to him.
“I know what you said before; I have a plan. My friend James is also being held prisoner here. Ehud Locked my hands, and he Took away Toni’s sword as well as th
e rest of our weapons. Except James is his Arsenal. You see, he can make weapons from his blood. So, I suggest we get to James so he can make us weapons, and then instead of tunneling out or anything they expect we will kill all these guys and walk right out the front door. What do you think? Will you help us?”
Zadok thought for a moment. His breathing was heavy as he muttered to himself. He stood up and paced the room from wall to wall. He stopped and stuck out his hand. I shook it hesitantly and cracked a half-smile. Zadok cracked a sly smirk.
“Congratulations Mr. Catalyst, that is officially the worst idea I have ever heard.”
I let go of his hand and shoved him back. If he weren’t going to help me, I would do it myself. How would I get them to open the door? They only open the door to throw in the scraps off food, and I can’t attack them because they bring an entire troop. Then an idea had occurred to me. The next time Ehud would come to interrogate me, I would tempt him with what he wanted most.
Blood and lots of it. Hours went by, and then days. I couldn’t take it anymore. Why was he not coming to interrogate me and torture me? The longer I stayed there, the more chance of my friends being hurt was. I drove myself insane. I could not take the waiting and uncertainty anymore. If Ehud did not come, I would make him come in.
I walked over to Zadok and looked him in the eyes.
“I’m sorry, I have to save my friends. If they kept, you alive this long, they must need you for something, and if they need you, they will save you.”
Zadok looked worried and feared consumed his face. I beat him with the sphere cuffs. I hit him again and again and again. Blood seeped everywhere. At first, he screamed until suddenly, he fell silent, and I stopped for fear of killing him. There was so much blood it completely covered my cuffs and dropped onto my arms.
The door opened, and Ehud was standing there in the half-human form. He entered the room and reached into the pool of blood and absorbed it through his skin. Right before my eyes, I saw Ehud turn back into a Human.
“Restrain him! “, Ehud Shouted to his henchmen.
They attached my sphere to the wall. I saw Zadok’s fresh blood still caked to my cuffs. Ehud placed his fingers together and paced the floor.
“You see Catalyst; you are a villain. People have this belief that everyone is good that’s a lie. Everyone is a villain. Deep down all it takes to let this villain out is the right incentive or circumstance. Take yourself, for instance, a few days without seeing your friends, especially your love interest, and next thing you know, your beating this random guy to death. He didn’t help you escape; you justified it by saying you are doing it to try and save your friends.
Guess what everyone justifies their actions. Everyone is the hero of their own life story.
“Me, I accept that I am the villain. Your friends have blood. I want it. You and your friends have powers, and I want them. You’re a villain now, and I will make you prove it,” Said Ehud.
The cell door opened James and Agatha were pushed inside and then shoved to their knees.
“I will give you a choice, hero. Save your best friend or the one you think you love. The other I will take their blood and drain it from them as you writhe and watch.”
Zadok turned away from us. The dinosaur-men dug their claws into James and Annabelle. James screamed.
“Catalyst save Annabelle, don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.”
Ehud started to laugh as he unhooked my sphere from the wall and dragged me in front of my friends.
“Kill one of them, or I will slay them both.”
I hesitantly shuffled over to Annabelle and kissed her cheek. She jerked her face away,
“Annabelle I will get us all out of this I promise “
James and I locked eyes and nodded at each other. I lifted the sphere and bashed it into James' chest. Annabelle started to scream and cry. I hit the sphere against James' chest again. His blood splattered to the floor. I kneeled to catch my breath. Then I propped myself up with my elbows. James slumped to the floor in his blood. Ehud walked over
“I said, give me your blood.”
He reached his hand up and began to absorb the blood from the floor.
“You wanted blood. You can have it,” I said.
The blood turned into darts then shot through the air. They pierced Ehud’s body all over.
“Ha-ha, you think a few little spikes will hurt me?”
He grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. The tree Frog's poison has reached his heart.
James cuffs burst open, and he held a handful of Knives.
“Catalyst catches!” Said, James.
The dinosaur-men grabbed Annabelle and lunged for me. I clasped my hands around the knives and cocked my hand back.
“Annabelle duck, don’t flinch.”
I chucked a knife into the face of the dinosaur-man that was holding Annabelle. He fell, and She wriggled free. James tossed her a knife, and she turned and stabbed the men around James.
I dropped my voice to a whisper.
“Annabelle lower the door, don’t close it, we need to make a plan, and James is weak from the loss of blood.
Also, this new shmuck is named Zadok, and he has info on this citadel. We need to rescue Toni, Agatha, and Gabriel. We must kill all these Dinosaur-men to fix our ship and go home.
Annabelle, I missed you so much,” I said.
I pulled her close and hugged her tightly. She hugged me back then pulled away and looked at me in a way she never had before
“Thank you for helping to rescue us, what did it cost you? You almost killed an innocent man, Catalyst. That’s not you. You’re supposed to have changed. You're supposed to be becoming a Hero. Heroes don’t hurt people for their gain. I don’t know if I can be close to you anymore.”
She walked over and sat next to Zadok, introducing herself and making small talk. I sat next to James, and I began thinking of ways to get out of the building with all my friends and not letting any of them get hurt.
“She’ll come back around dude give her some time. Give me a few minutes, and then we’ll figure out how to get out of here. We have to bring this guy?” James asked.
I looked from Zadok to Annabelle and then back at James.
“We have to I almost killed him, and besides, it’s what a hero would do, plus he could be helpful he has a cool power.”
We busted Zadok’s sphere cuffs, and then we headed out the door. James formed his favorite blood sickle sword. His knuckles clenched around the blade.
“We should hit Ehud’s office first I am sure that’s where your weapons will be, and then your friends will be locked in rooms close by. The hard part will be fighting hundreds of dinosaur-men down a hundred stories.” Said Zadok
“Well, we better get started then,” Annabelle said as she pushed past us and out of the door.
We entered a dimly lit hallway, the ceiling hung low, bugs covered the ground, and moss caked the walls. Zadok led the way with Annabelle close behind. He made a quick turn, and in front of us stood a large archway. It was Ehud’s room and arsenal as well as the hold for his treasure and souvenirs. There were several dinosaur – men who stood guard. Before they could scream or flee or even attack, James had already killed a few of them, and I poisoned the rest.
We entered his sanctuary; the room was lavish with a burst of gold and purple color and trim. Along each wall from top to bottom sat rows of shelves on each shelf sat several relics. In the center of the room were Toni’s bone sword and Zadok’s amulet. Zadok grabbed the amulet and put it around his neck. His eyes flickered gold and then returned to brown. I grabbed Toni’s sword. We began to walk out the door when James turned to me.
“Catalyst, you sure you don’t want to take any of these other weapons. There are dozens here.”
I took a quick look around at the plethora of trinkets and treasures. A long time ago, a wise man once told me greed would never satisfy you; it will always destroy you.
“Annabelle, you take a w
eapon you want. The rest will stay here; taking them will only slow us down.”
Annabelle looked at all the weapons; she took her time and studied the uses of each one. She reached for a circular one. It was a perfect metal black disk.
Zadok said, “That is an ancient Chakram they are throwing weapons like ninja stars the chakram is larger and can also be used hand to hand. After we rescue your friends, I can train you on how to use them.”
She hugged Zadok tightly and tossed her arms around his neck.
“Let’s go rescue Toni first, he is the best fighter and our strategist,” I said.
Zadok looked at Annabelle and smirked his stupid smirk.
“I don’t think so; I think we should rescue that dragon guy first, once you take the muzzle off his acid can set us free.”
I looked at him and ran my fingers through my long hair. How would he know about Gabriel and his powers unless Annabelle told him? They only talked for a few minutes. I doubt she would have told him.
“Well, Mr. Museum Master last I checked I was the boss, and I say we should spring Toni first.”
Zadok stepped up to me and squared up his shoulders and clenched his jaw.
“You might not trust me; you might not like me. You know I am right and that you cannot doubt me. Plus, you said it yourself. I have been here the longest. I would know the citadel best. Now, if you follow me, I will take us to the Dragon man’s cell.” Said Zadok.
We left Ehud’s room and descended the building. We peaked into the next floor down were about twenty dinosaur men stood guard.
“Catalyst should we kill them or try to knock them out; heroes are supposed to try and not kill people, right?” James asked.
Zadok’s eyes glowed goldenly, and through his amulet he pulled a Katana.
“They are not people. They are beast that only knows how to kill, and we must kill them before they kill us.”
He sliced through dinosaur after dinosaur; the first few were taken by surprise. The next jumped upon him. His sword crashed to the floor. They lowered their teeth to Zadok’s neck, saliva dripped down his neck. When Annabelle dove through the air and embedded her chakram into the dinosaurs back, he fell to the ground and flailed about before dying. James cut his palm once again and was quick to make throwing stars and sent them into the dinosaur’s necks and killed them. After all the enemies were dead, we opened the door.
Journey to a darker world Page 7