"I order the bartender to give me a round of Diet Coke ( I’m underage ) in a very manly way."
- |]agomar's Escape Velocity Nova!
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| A Story - Second Chapter | | | Author: | | | IP: | StCatherXXXX | | Date: | 07/21/02 08:07 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | none | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 9, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for |]agomar: 8.6667 |   | 
Jim's wagon creaked and groaned under our weight as it inched down the arid path to town. I looked up at the sky, seeing streaks of cloud made golden by the blinding sun, and smiled. We'd been gone about a half hour and all signs of civilization were far behind when the old man turned round to face me.
"Oh! Sorry for keeping to myself all this time, I've been thinkin'. Say, would you like me to tell you a story?" he croaked, grinning wryly with his yellow teeth glistening in the midday light. I nodded, but again a strange form of apprehension settled over me.
"There was once a child, much like yourself," he began, looking at me intently, "and, one day, someone wiser than himself told him what to do. Now this child - this boy - chose to . . . ignore the advise. What do you think happened to him?"
I gulped. Something seemed to have suddenly come over Teroil: he sat straight up, gripping the reigns of his horse tightly while glaring at me with dark, dark eyes. I shook my head.
"He is dead!" He cried, leering widely, and his arm laced out to grip my shoulder with more power than I'd imagined possible. The wagon halted and he hurled me down onto the ground. I rolled amongst the grass and screamed as a vast dread came upon me, while Jim disappeared behind his carriage. His horse reared and thrashed in its harness, glancing back at its master with crazed eyes. It fell dead immediately, and from behind the wagon a horrific figure at last emerged. Four spines it had, rising vertically from what looked very much like a head, and its body was draped with a ragged cloak that flapped in the light wind. It was completely black, the deepest and most utter blackness I could have imagined at the time, and its hands were razor sharp claws. It laughed in a hideous, piercing manner, sending birds shrieking from the undergrowth. The very grass around me seemed to whither as it approached, and when it spoke its words rang like steel on steel:
"So, little fool, you die." It screamed in laughter, and I cowered, clutching the ground in utter terror.
"They told me you had grown dangerous, had discovered some measure of your powers," it hissed, and cackled again. "How wrong they were! A mere worm you are, and I . . . will be an errand boy no longer!"
With that, he buried a talon within his cloak, drawing a massive ebony sickle from its folds. With a final blood-curdling shriek that echoed over the fields, he hurled himself upon me. I howled in fright and dove to the right, but it was no use: the sickle came down in a single blurred motion and then, with it but inches away from my sweat drenched neck . . . .
The world froze. My mind thrashed in confused fear, but through it all I heard the Voice echoing in my brain:
Very well.
I blinked, and felt my body spasm. A torrent of energy rippled through my psyche, a sort of power I'd never before known could exist. And yet I welcomed it readily, like something I knew was mine by birthright, by destiny. Indeed, from the very start I knew how to use the power I would later need in ever greater abundance, and perhaps that has been my salvation.
Or not . . . .
In any case, I breathed deeply, more deeply than I ever had before, and the world quickened before me. I saw the sickle rush eagerly through the last inches toward my neck, and, suppressing my fear, I leapt to the side in a single, fluent motion. Time returned to its normal speed, and the sickle dug deep into the gasping ground.
The figure wrenched its weapon from the dirt and rose slowly. I closed my eyes, and focused on what was now within me, molding it instinctively into something I could use. I felt the being's energy throbbing just before me, burning with dark flames of evil, and struggled to drown the rising fear. Then, with a hiss, the demon rushed toward me, cloak billowing in the breeze.
I stepped back, spreading my arms, and my entire body seemed to brighten as I tumbled to the ground and rolled lightly out of harm's way. It struck again in a rage, plunging its sickle down to sever my head, yet my anger had grown with my power and I grasped the weapon with blinding speed. The creature shrieked as white light shot through my arm, and, with a yell, I hurled it upon its back. Fear of what was happening to me and fear of the being before me disappeared from my mind, and I seized the sickle at last. But the demon arose, still undaunted, and sliced my shoulder with its talons, sending me falling to the ground in agony. Silence.
It walked over, and wrenched its sickle from my hands.
"So, young imp, you thought yourself mighty." It laughed again as it raised the sickle high above its spiny crown.
"Meet your death at last!"
At that moment, a tremendous trumpet blast reverberated across the land. There, from the road to town charged a white-robed man riding on a vast ivory horse, and his garments blazed like the sun itself as he hurtled through the shadows of clouds. At his side rose a massive sword, gleaming silver as it rushed ever closer. The demon shrieked in dismay and fled as the man thundered nearer, but it was to no avail. The sword leapt down with a life of its own, and the demon was torn straight in two. Its body disappeared as a black smoke in the wake of the rider, who checked his horse and came trotting quickly towards me. I'd never seen anything like him before, and though he saved my life I must say I was scared at first.
"Hallo there little boy!" he cried, his white mane shining in the sunlight.
"H-hhi" was all I managed to stammer as I crawled up off the ground. He smiled warmly, and dismounted, walking over to me.
"Well, you know who sent me. I came here as fast as I could, but I see I was nearly too late. Nevermind, all that ends well is well, I suppose." I grinned, instantly feeling I could trust this man. With the senses I now possessed, it wasn't a guess.
"You know of the . . . the Voice?"
"Of course! Though we call Him something else where I come from." He chuckled, then grew instantly serious. "Before we leave, I must tell you some things. It may be a lot to take in all at once, but you must try."
"Alright, I'll do my best."
"I know you have a good soul, and what will happen to you pains me greatly. But we are all born to something, and, if you are strong enough, you will survive and become mighty indeed. You see, you are a god, little one, and when you have come into your own you will have only one master - the Voice, your father. You are a great spirit of good, yet there are many beings of evil in this world and others, and they will seek to destroy you ere you reach the fullness of your powers. For in you is our hope. You could destabilize the very foundations of the world, and allow us, the people of light, to gain power at last over the minions of evil."
He smiled. "Sounds very dramatic doesn't it. But please, you must believe me."
I paused, and for a long time remained in thought. But minutes before I would have scoffed at the very idea, dismissing it as mere mythology. But I'd seen the demon with my own eyes, and heard the Voice calling to me in my deepest need. I'd felt power surging through my bones, and used it to manipulate the physical world. In that moment, I believed completely.
That is not to say I didn't have questions, of course.
"I believe you. But tell me - what is the Voice, really? And what was that, that creature you killed? Oh - and what other dangers will I face? And who are these - people of light, or the soldiers of evil?"
He laughed again.
"For now I will answer but one question alone, and then we must leave and find shelter somewhere. The Voice is the almighty, and all who embrace goodness are His children, from the mightiest god to the lowest animal. Many of your religions aren't too far from the truth, and some are quite accurate." He looked away and mused for a bit, seemingly lost in thought, then whirled about and seized my shoulders.
"Now we must hurry! Quick! Do you agree to come with me?"
"Well, I certainly do now," I said, smiling tentatively. I cast a quick glance towards Jim's stricken horse, and couldn't help feeling a deep pang of grief with the realization that my neighbour must be dead for the demon to have taken his image. The first tear of many I'd cry on the long road ahead slipped silently down my cheek. The man looked at me intently, and while I read pity on his face he offered no words of consolation. I hardened my heart, wiping away the tears and nodding curtly.
"Good! Very good indeed!" He called his horse and raised me onto the glittering saddle, healing my bleeding wounds with a single touch. I stared at him in amazement as he leapt nimbly into place, and we were gone.
Through the rushing wind he turned to me, and called out, "We will go find an Inn, and after that - we'll depart for another world!"
I chuckled, thinking it a joke. Sometimes, I still wish it was.
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