Transition

The feeling of boredom slowly crept in to Alex’s mind. Maths. Every morning of every Wednesday. Head down on the desk, listening to the slow droning of the maths teacher. The gentle warmth of the radiator pipe. Just drifting off…

Chapter I

“Alex! Wake the hell up!” whispered Nick.
“Shove off!” replied Alex
“Seriously, wake up!” said Nick. His voice sounded like something had gone wrong. Badly wrong. Alex slowly became aware that his head wasn’t on the wooden desk, and he was laying down, not leaning on the wall. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, and meet Nick's gaze. Nick had always been the tall and slim one. Shallow set, deep green eyes with hazel at the centre, a mop of messy mud-brown hair and a small, mostly un-noticeable scar, that when you looked at it right, made it look like he was missing a chunk of eyebrow. He was an almost perfect opposite to Alex, who was short, somewhat more bulky shoulders, and large pale blue eyes, half covered by his blond, almost colourless hair. Amazed, Alex stood up, noticing the orange tinted sky with a few pale yellow, fluffy cotton ball clouds. Looking around, in disblief at the yellow sand beach, streching for miles in both directions like a path of solid gold. Staring back at Nick, he noticed he was still in the same blue jeans, same red-white chekered shirt and grey jacket he was wearing on the non uniform day at school, which seemed an entire lifetime ago. He looked down at himself, still in the black jeans which looked a size too small, purple shirt with claw marks embossed on it, but missing his red hoodie.
"This cant be real..." said Alex. Nick gave him a dig in the shoulder. Hard.
“Still dreaming?” Nick asked unsympathetically.
“Nope," gasped Alex "And you punch me again, I’m gunna break my foot off up your arse!
“So, how the hell did we get here, where ever here is.”
“Well if I knew, I’d tell you.”
“Wow, real helpful.” Alex said in an extremely sarcastic tone. “Is anyone else here?”
“I’ve heard screaming in the forest over that way.” Nick jabbed his thumb behind him. “ But I don’t think its people.”
“Wait, there’s a forest?”
“Yeah, while you were unconscious, I’ve been looking around, and there’s a forest about a 5 minute walk away.”
“How long was I out for?” asked Alex.
“Round about an hour, I guess.” replied Nick.
“Wait…. Did you hear that?” asked Alex.
“Hear what?”
“Shh, listen!” whispered Alex. In the distance, a high pitched screech mingled with the sound of the wind.
“What is that?”
“Well what ever it is…GAK!” Nick didn’t mange to finish the sentence, as at that time, two razor sharp spikes flew through the air and implanted themselves into his neck.
“WHAT THE FU…GAK!” Alex also never finished the sentence, as two more spikes impaled themselves in his neck.

Consciousness slowly drifted back to Nick.
“What….the hell…” he mumbled. Nick slightly opened his eyes and noticed they was no longer on the beach they had been earlier, they were in fact in a forest clearing, propped up against a tree stump. Same pale yellow clouds and slightly deeper orange sky. He saw Alex slumped against a tree stump next to him.
“Shh, rest. It is not that often people revive from the death trance this fast.” said a strangers voice.
Alex wearily opened one eye, and saw a person squatting in front of a small fire, set on a burnt stone.
“Who the hell are you?” inquired Alex, pushing himself against the tree, trying to sit up
“That isn't important right now, but I need you to trust me.” replied the person, if it was one. This new individual was slightly shorter than Nick, but with bright silver eyes and a small, combed mop of deep red hair, stood up and walked over to Alex with a bowl in its large hands.
“Here, drink this, you will feel better."
Alex gave "it" a look, and took a small sip, then a large gulp of the mixture. Colour then slowly returned to his face.
The stranger then got up and walked over towards Nick.
“Now you.” it said, pushing the bowl into Nick's open hands. As Nick took a sip. He felt slightly better, and slowly, the heat returned to his body.
“If you can, sit yourselves up."
Nick and Alex propped themselves up, slowly.
“You." it said and pointed at Nick. “Your name is Layton, am I right?”
“Yes, and how did you know?”
“And you must be MacGregor, is that right?”
“Okay, first you knock us out into some kind of death trance, then revive us with a potion, with could have been poison for all we know, and now you pull our names out of thin air, so excuse me if I sound a bit rude when I say WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON!?” Alex demanded.
“Fine then, let me explain.” the stranger said as it sat down in front of Nick and Alex.

“My name is Taka Boushi, and I come from a village north of here, and we have a prophecy.” Taka began. “That prophecy states that on this day, and child born in the 3rd moon passing, shall travel into the forest and find 3 strangers, one short with blond hair..” he indicated to Alex “and a taller one with brown hair, put simply, you two, but the third person isn’t due to arrive for a while. But, unfortunately, what these people do, we don’t know, as a large portion of the stone tablet that the prophecy is written on was lost in a flood many years ago.”
“Damn.” interjected Alex.
“Shhh, let it finish.” retorted Nick.
Taka ignored the comment.
“But it is believed that it floated down towards the tunnels underneath the mountains far to the South West of here.”
“How far are these mountains?” asked Nick.
“Around 20 days worth of walking.” answered Taka. Alex whistled, long and low.
“Anyway, enough of my stories, tell me about yourselves.” suggested Taka.
"I'll pass." said Alex, "I'm beat." and at that rolled over and dozed off. Nick, meanwhile, sat and explained about things he remembered, being that he was still groggy.

“Enough." Taka said suddenly as Nick was explaning the internet. "We must find the third before anything else gets him... Or her first."
“Anything else?” asked Nick.
“This island is home to many carnivorous predators.” replied Taka. Nick rolled over and shook Alex awake. The 3 moved off to a second clearing in the jungle. Shortly after they arrived, a feel of static started wafting around. Then, out of no where, a bright white ball appeared, about the size of a small car. Then, quickly as it appeared, it faded, leaving a body, curled up like a foetus, wearing a pair of worn, pale blue combat jeans and a bright green hoodie.
“Holy shit, its Liam!” whispered a surprised Alex. With almost super human strength and speed, Taka dashed out and dragged Liam out if the clearing, and lifted him onto his back. His face looked just as it did a few hours ago, brown eyes high on his face, and that crease along his forhead from an accident in his early years which a chair and his first
“We must go, the Ka’taks will be coming.” said Taka.
“Ka’taks?” Asked Alex.
“Large cat like creatures, they are black, and very deadly.” replied Taka.
“Like panthers??.” commented Nick. Taka ignored him, and the three of them then started to move back to the make shift campsite where Nick and Alex had woken up. There they waited for Liam to regain consciousness.

Some hours later.

“So, one more time, how does the death trance thing work?” asked Alex, slumped against the tree he'd woken up on.
Taka let out a long sigh, and shifted his legs to get more comfortable. “If you implant any kind of thin wooden stick into a certain area of the neck, the target will seem dead for some time.”
“And those areas are?” asked Nick.
“As I have said before, I’m not telling you until you trust me, and after I have taught you properly.” Replied Taka.
“But why do you think that we don’t trust you?” inquired Alex.
"Alex, could I speak to you for a moment," Nick said as he glanced at Taka "in private."
"Yeah, sure." Alex replied as he got up, and followed Nick out of ear shot of Taka.
"I don't like this." said Nick. "I don't like the fact he knows our names, and what we look like even though we've never been here, ever."
"Neither do I, but if this isn't all a dream, how are we going to survive?"
Nick looked at Alex, knowing that he was right. "Just for the record, I dont trust him." They walked back over to Taka, as Liam started to regain consciousness.
“Where……the……fuck……” grunted Liam
“Shhh, Liam, it's me and Nick.” said Alex. Taka pulled out a water sack and tipped a little of the revival fluid he gave to Nick and Alex into a small bowl, then walked over to where Liam was laying.
“Listen to me Liam.” said Nick. “This is Taka, he’s hear to help," glancing at Alex as he said it. "But you need to drink this first.” Taka then slowly poured some of the liquid into Liam’s open mouth. Suddenly, eyes wide open, Liam sat up like a bolt, and started at Taka.
“Who the hell is this?!” Liam half shouted.
“Calm down!” said Alex. “Like Nick said, this is Taka. He’s a friend.”
“He’d better be!” replied Liam. “And where in blazes are we?”
“I…we don’t know” replied Alex as he glanced at Nick.
“So… Any one else gunna magically appear like the Terminator?” asked Nick sarcastically.
“The who?” replied Taka.
Nick sighed. “Don’t worry."
“Now what?” Alex inquired.
“I must take you three back to my village for rest.” stated Taka “It is about a days walk from here, and if you are ready, we should go immediately.” So they set out in what seemed to be a random direction, with few trees and little shade to hide from the beating sun.

After a while, Alex began complaining about his empty stomach, so Taka lead them into a small depression with some bushes at the bottom.
“These are Taktoa plants. Eat only the orange and blue berries, the rest will make you ill, especially the yellow ones.” informed Taka.
“Nice.” mumbled Nick, before turning to Liam.
“Do you still have that notebook I gave you before Science class?” he asked. Liam looked at his jean and had a root around in the pockets for the notepad, which was in the lower leg.
“Yeah.” he said as he gave it to Nick. “Why?”
“Do either of you have a pen or pencil?” he asked aloud. Alex looked in his jacket pockets and found a small black pen, which he then gave to Nick. Nick then scribbled down some notes and placed the notebook and pen in his back pocket.
“What has that about?” inquired Taka.
“I wrote down the Orange and Blue ones were okay to eat.” replied Nick.
“Good thinking.” commented Liam. After eating all the Orange and Blue berries in sight, both of which tasted horibble, the group continued towards the village. While walking, some dark clouds began drifting up from the horizon. As they group continued on, they came to the crest of a large grassy hill, and before them lay a wasteland. Smouldering piles that could of been mud huts, and the unmistakeable stench of burnt corpses.
“No...” gasped Taka. He dashed off towards the ruins, once again with the immense speed he’d shown before, and Liam, Nick and Alex were forced to give chase as best they could. As they approached the remains, they saw Taka leaning over a body, sobbing.
“What’s happened?” panted Liam.
Taka said something which sounded like "Have a stash".
"What?" asked Liam.
“Haka’tash have been here. They destroyed the whole village!” he half shouted angrily.
“Haka'tash?” said Alex.
“Big creatures, ruthless and simple.” replied Taka as he wiped a tear away, “They roam the country, attacking and pillaging villages. They hardly come here though, unless driven by a superior force like a ..." he paused "We must go!”
“What?” said Liam.
“Look!” said Taka as he pointed to a small pebble on the floor, which was moving, only very slightly. “A large amount on Haka'tash are coming, We must flee here now, before the scouts catch our scent!”

And so they moved, back to way they came, faster than before, almost sprinting. After reaching the outskirts of the forest, they set up camp.
“What was that back there, at the village. Why was the stone moving?” asked Alex, who clearly not listening.
“Haka'tash usually move in small groups, 15 at most. But occasionally, you get a smarter than average one, and he convinces others to join him. So for a while, you get groups as large as 100 around, until the dumber ones decide they don’t like their new leader and kill him. The group splits back down again and he process begins again. But, and this is a big but, they never attack settlements, especially ones this far East. So we’ve got a very smart one on our hands.” after this, Taka stood up and face the others.
“I must go to see if any made it the shelter, I will not be back till early morning. Stay at the camp fire until I return.”
And at that, he dashed off into the setting sun, and Alex, Nick and Liam had nothing else to do but wait for him. They gathered leaves for beds and lay there, with strangely, nothing to think about, and slowly, one by one, drifted off to sleep.

Chapter II

The next morning, as Liam, Nick and Alex eat the berries, Taka returned with a sad look on his face.
“Was anyone there?” asked Alex as he chewed through some of the berries.
“No, but I found some armour and weapons.” he replied.
“And where are they?” Inquired Alex with a small smile on his face. None of the 3 boys had any idea of the weapons that these strange people had, and were very interested.
“I left them at the shelter, they were too heavy to carry alone, so after you have finished eating, I intend to take you there, get you equipped and trained myself.” Taka told them.
“Sounds great, how far is it?” Nick asked.
“About a days walk at the speed you move.” Taka answered.
“That was 'summin I was meant to ask you, how do you run so fast?” Alex said.
“I suppose I could teach you on the way to the shelter.” chuckled Taka quietly, wiping a small tear from his eye.

After they had finished all the berries, Taka showed them which direction they would be travelling, and they began walking. Along the way, Taka suddenly stopped and pointed to a tree in the distance.
“See that tree?” he said “How far do you think it is?”
“I’d say about 200 meters, maybe more.” Alex suggested.
“Good.” Taka mumbled. He then turned to them and said “All three of you, run to that tree and back, as fast as you can!”
“Why?” asked Nick.
“It is a test to see how fast you can run. To the tree and back, go!”
So Alex, Liam and Nick all reluctantly sprinted to the tree and back as fast as they could and collapsed at Taka’s feet, panting like dogs.
“Hmm, you three will need a lot of work.” Taka said aloud. “Have any of you heard of Minta'kack?”
“Min…to…what?” Liam said as he continued taking deep breaths.
“It is an inner working of the body, a chemical the body releases, like the rush when you are in a fight.”
“I think…he means…adrenaline.” Nick commented.
“You know what I’m talking about? Good. Minta'kack is like this "adrenaline" and you control when you release it. But, it will take time to determine whether or not you will be able to use it, as the gland does not always develop during the baby's growth.” Taka told them. He bent down and rolled each of them on to their front, and felt around the bottom of their spines. After this, he stood up.
“Out of the three of you, only Alex has the gland.”
“So, I’ll be able to run like you, and be as strong?” Alex asked with a huge smile across his face, still panting slightly.
“Maybe, it depends on how well you control it. I will teach you over time how to control and activate it. It must become second nature to be used at its maximum potential.” Taka told him. He then turned to Liam and Nick.
“There is a lot you can tell from someone’s spine, if you know what to look for. Liam, you have very strong arms, but they can become stronger, you will possibly be able to used a Puble sword. It is very big, and can be devastating. Nick, your eyes are very sharp, and that helps your aim. You will be highly skilled with Shuk'ta bows.” at this, Liam and Nick looked at each other, smiling like Cheshire cats.

As they travelled to the shelter, Taka began teaching Alex how to access his Minta'kack.
“You must use your mind, or you will never be able to use it!” He told Alex.
“ ‘Use your mind’ isn’t the clearest of instructions.” retorted Alex.
“Okay, fine. The shelter is only a little way away, I’ll race you.” Taka replied.
“Your on.”
“Start!” yelled Taka, as he raced off at normal speed, with Alex close behind. As they went further, Taka began to speed up.
“Your pathetic!” called back Taka. “You will never be good enough to use Minta'kack!” This made Alex angry. He didn’t like being told he wasn't good enough, for anything! As he raced along, he suddenly felt a very strange sensation tingle through his legs, more so than anything he had ever experienced. Alex felt stronger, faster even. Quickly, he matched Taka’s speed, who then stopped suddenly. Alex crashed into Taka, knocking them both over.

Taka laughed out loud. “Excellent work Alex. You do have what it takes.” Taka stood up and pulled Alex to his feet. Alex looked back at Nick and Liam as they walked behind.
“How far did we run?” asked a bewildered Alex, who only felt slightly out of breath.
“I’d say about 150 Tecs.” answered Taka.
“How far…” Alex began, but was interrupted by Taka.
“ A Tec is about Nick's waist from the floor, maybe less.” he told Alex.
“So, a meter then.” commented Alex as he looked back at other two, smiling. After a few minutes, Nick and Liam caught up, and they walked to the shelter, with Alex bragging all the way about his speed. As they walked, a small blob appeared, and slowly growing in sive. After some time, they nocticed a small entrance.
“This is the shelter.” Taka said aloud. The foursome quickly strolled over to the hole, and found it was roughly the size of Alex. Taka squatted, and made his way through the gap, with the others following closely. The tunnel must have been 20 meters long, but slowly opened up as they went along. Then, quite suddenly, it opened up it to a huge room. Some light filtered down from cracks in the high ceiling. The room itself was vaguely circular, and had a blackened pit in the centre. Taka walked off, leaving Alex, Nick and Liam to look about.
“This is the shelter?” inquired Alex. “Looks like a cave to me.”
“Numb nuts, the cave is the shelter.” Said Liam. “Look in the middle, see the black marks? That may have been a fire at some point.”
“Oh…” mumbled Alex. As they looked around, the floor was mostly hard earth, and beds made of dry plants, a small stream running through one of the walls and out a rather large crack in the stone floor on the far side, and a small area covered in a green tinged sand.
“You found the training area then.” Commented Taka as he walked over with what looked like several pieces of clothing and poles.
“Why is the sand green?” asked Nick. “The sand at the beach was yellow.”
“The colour of my blood is a dark green, and while my people stayed here, we practised with weapons.” Replied Taka. “Liam, take these.” Taka then passed over a set of thin-ish metal plates, fastened with fabruc straps and a very long, wide sword. Then he gave Nick a smaller set of leather armour and a very large Bow, almost as tall as him and a quiver. Taka turned to Alex and gave him a short sword along with a shield and another set of leather armour.
“These are the weapons of my people, and that Bow, Nick, is my own sister's, please treat them with respect.” he explained.

Over the months they stayed in the Shelter, Taka taught them the skills they needed to survive in the world they were in. They learnt to use their weapons with deadly efficiently, they learnt how to hunt and how to cook their food. Every so often, one of them would start complaining about going home, to which the same reply was made.
“You cant go home until the prophecy is fulfilled, and if time passes at the same rate here compared to home, we may have been searched for, and given up on.” The weather seemed completely random, sunny one minute, then it would rain drops of blood warm water the size of someone’s thumb, and at other times, be freezing cold, then turn into a lightening storm, which the three newcomers to the world had to adapt too, with it being more hot than cold, thankfully.

Chapter III

6 months later.

As Liam, Nick and Taka stirred on their sleep, Alex sat by the entrance, grinning. Over the last 6 months, he'd grown bored of the daily training and, unknown to the others, had been up late each night for the last week, gathering branches and storing them in some bushes near the cave. The others eventually woke up, had breakfast and got washed away from the prying eyes. Their clothes were shredded wrecks of what they used to be, with dull fabric covering holes from cuts and tears from living in this new, harsh environment. Then came weapons training, and Taka was teaching them about each others weapons and how to use them.
“Liam, would you please demonstrate a back handed swing on the dummy?” Asked Taka. The ‘dummy’ was really just a tree trunk taken from the forest, and showed almost a months worth of chips, holes and chunks cut out of it where they had trained. When they had started, they we're barely able to dent it, now they could make fist sized holes in the thick trunk. As Liam walked onto the sand of the training area, sword in hand, the floor started to creak and bend slightly.
“What the…?” Said Liam. Then, very quickly, the ‘floor’ gave way, revealing a large pit Alex had dug, which Liam then fell in to with a loud thud. As the dust settled, the sound of Alex’s laughing fill the cave, quickly followed by Nick and Taka. Liam, on the other hand, wasn’t so happy.
“Alex, you son of a bitch!” He yelled as he pulled himself out of the pit. Alex had all ready bolted to the other side of the cave, far out of reach of Liam and his sword. However, Liam, followed by Nick and Taka, noticed a rather large bend in the otherwise straight sword.
“Alex, you idiot! Look what you’ve done!” Liam bellowed across the cave, violently waving the sword in the air.
“Don’t worry, that can be easily repaired.” Taka said as he walked over to Liam. “It will take maybe two, three days though.” Taka turned to Alex who'd crept back over, giggling. “Seeing as you know where to find these branches, go fetch as many as you can.”
“Ah crap…” Alex mumbled to himself, the smile on his face suddenly gone, replaced with a large frown.

Over the next few days, Alex, along with help from Liam and Nick, gathered lots wood for a fire, as Taka had instructed. Some smaller kindling to get it started, and large heavy trunks for the extra heat needed to repair the blade. Taka also went out, looking for supplies around the old village. When all the manual work was done, Taka got them to prepare the fire in a very peculiar way.
“Bore out the middle if the largest trunk, and leave a very thick wall.”
After they had done this unusual request using stones and some blades taken from the village, Taka filled the inside with the small sticks and some larger pieces of branch. He then placed the sword inside the trunk, as centre as possible.
“And now, we wait.” Taka told them.
“Wait for what?” asked Liam.
“I cannot make fire without a storm, is sets fire to a tree or two and I will go and grab a burning branch to set the inside of the trunk on fire.” Taka explained. He didn’t have to wait long. The next day a huge storm blew in; with sound claps of thunder and massive sparks of blue - white lightening, a forest fire soon blazed which put a dark, sinister glow against the almost black clouds. At the slightest indication of smoke, Taka immediatly dashed off into the forest, branch in hand. He returned with only a small flicker of flame of the end of the blackened branch. Quickly, he placed the flaming end on to some of the kindling inside to trunk, which soon was burning fiercely.
“There, now we leave it until it has burned itself out and cooled.” Taka announced.

It took a day and a half for the fire to go out, and a further day for the hilt to cool enough to be hold able. Alex was confused by this, as in all the cartoons and comics he’d seen, when working with metals, you generally had to get a big hammer and smash the metal into the right position.
“It is fine, trust me.” Taka replied as Alex voiced his concerns. Sure enough, as Taka pulled out the sword with a mighty heave, it was straight as a ruler.
“How?” asked Nick.
“It is a very special metal this sword is made out of. When it is heated to sufficient temperatures, it sets back into the position is was originally forged into.” Taka explained as he ran his fingers up and down the blade. Then, with sudden speed and strength, turned and brought the sword down on the trunk it had just been in, which was still pretty thick; a few inches on either side at least, and sliced it into halves. “And as you can see, re-sharpens the blade.” Taka then pulled up the sword and gave it back to Liam.
“That is how you repair both your sword and Alex’s blade, as they are made of the same material.” Taka said aloud so Alex could hear on the other side of the cave.
“So how do I fix my bow then?” asked Nick. “You showed the other two how to fix theirs.”
“Your bow is made of a very rubbery wood, bonded with a harder wood to give it strength. The wood won't break under normal use, it is very rare anyone broke that design of bow. If bad comes to worse, you will need to fashion a very similar shape out of the different types of wood. Both trees are easily identifiable, but rare."
"When will you show me?" asked Nick.
"Tomorrow, it seems another storm is advancing." replied Taka.

True to Taka's word, within a few hours a massive storm arrived, larger than any they have previously seen, blowing trees around like matchsticks, a few even hitting the cliff-face out side, gouging huge chunks of stone out of it. The next morning, after the storm had blown itself out, Taka, closely followed by the others, left the cave to survey the damage.
"A few nicks, but the cave will be fine." stated Taka after a short while.
"Fine?!" said Alex loudly, looking at the rocks, which were easily 4 metres in circumference. "A few more of them and we'd have woken up with trees stick through the wall!"
"Have you ever noticed how long entrance tunnel is? The stone is easily 20 tecs thick. There's plenty more underneath." replied Taka. "Anyway. it doesn't matter anymore, we're leaving today for the mountains to the south west."
"What, today?" asked Liam, "We've only just got the hang of our weapons."
"And what better way to learn than by using them in life or death situations?" Said Taka with a smile. Alex,Liam and Nick looked shocked.
"You mean like, fighting Ka'taks and bears?" asked Nick.
"Yes, exactly that." replied Taka, still smiling. "You know the basics, so why should it be problem? One of the biggest parts of using these weapons is burning techniques into your mind, turning them into reflexes, not thoughts." Though this made sense to them, it seemed suicidal.
"Don't worry," Taka continued, "I'll be watching at all times."
"But you don't have a weapon. What if a pair of bears attack us? Or a Ka'tak?" said Alex.
"Who says I don't have a weapon?" Taka replied, lifting his hands, now balled into fists, and moving into a stance akin to boxers.
"Point taken." Nick stated.
"Good. Now gather you weapons, armour and supplies. We leave in 30 minutes." Taka told them. The rest of them moved towards the cave, almost sulkily.
"This is nuts!" claimed Alex, We've barely got the hang of our weapons, and he's already taking us to fight actual live Ka'taks!"
"Don't worry, I think Taka will keep us safe." replied Liam, "He knows what he's doing, so we will be fine."
"I don't know, he seemed a bit egar to go, and like Alex said, we can't use our weapons to the greatest efficiency yet, so god knows what's gunna happen." said Nick, looking at the golden-green sky. Within 20 minutes, Liam, Nick and Alex had gathered their gear, placed it outside the cave and were deciding on the best way to move it easily.
"Look," said Nick, "All we need is two strong branches and some big leaves, and we can make a stretcher and carry the stuff like that."
"Then how are we gunna keep the leaves attached to the branches?" Countered Liam.
"Some vines then, make a net, then it can double as a hammock." Suggested Alex.
"Use these." Taka said as he walked over from the cave entrance, throwing a few sacks at them "Alex, about 50 tecs of vines so we can make some rope. Nick, take Liam's Puble and chop down some trees, look for ones with thick branches. We'll need them for shelter.." said Taka.
"Will do." Chimed Nick and Alex together, and as Nick grabbed Liam's sword from its sheath, with a long slow rushing noise of metal on rough fabric. Alex placed his knife in his boot and sped off into the jungle, looking for vines. After they had both gone, Taka turned to Liam and looked him straight in the eye.
"There is something I need to tell you Liam." stated Taka in a harsh voice. "Something very important."

Chapter IV

Far north of Liam, Nick and Alex, the mountain range exploded with the sound of anger. A roar so loud, it set off several avalanches and shook stones and boulders from where they had sat for many decades. Deep with a now extinct volcano, seated upon a throne, which was atop a small rise, sat a Haka'tash. Although somewhat smaller than the other Haka'tash, his body was covered in hard earned scars, and a deformity that appeared to be an incorrectly set break, giving his left arm a distinct bend away from his chest halfway down.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WERE SURVIVORS!" he bellowed, almost jumping of the chair. "HOW COULD THERE BE SURVIVORS?!"
"Please, I'm only a messenger for the Mastan warrior priestess." the small cat like creature replied, receeding somewhat, fighting the impulse to back down. "She sends me with the message that there is a survivor from the attack on the Hell'ag village 7 full moons ago."
"EXPLAIN!" the Haka'tash shouted again.
"There is a possibility that some of the Hell'ag were out of the village when the hammer fell." replied the messenger, fear creeping into his voice.
"Then why, instead of searching for them, are you wasting energy coming to me? Is the might of the Mastan unable to kill a few Hell'ag?"
"We have a rough idea of their location, but..."
"But, what?" the Haka'tash interrupted.
"But a lone Hell'ag was spotted with three beings of unknown race." stated the messenger.
"Unknown race?" questioned the Haka'tash. "How can there be an unknown race?"
"We are unsure, but if they are allied with the Hell'ag, then they are a threat to the development of the Haka'tash and Mastan, and should be destroyed."
The Haka'tash paused.
"Agreed." he replied calmly. "Tell me, where were they last spotted?"
"The forest of the Ka'taks."
"Good... send word back to the Mastan my recommendation to ready her armies."
"I will. I shall leave immediately." the messenger said as he backed towards the big double doors.
"Excellent..." mumbled the Haka'tash, "The extermination of the Hell'ag will be complete soon, and the Haka'tash empire will finally come to fruition." He stood up, and made his way down the steps to where the Mastan messenger just left. As he reached them, they pulled open into a large, open hall, 50 metres wide, double that long, lit by lanterns of deep red fire. Even though the hall is usually filled with tables and hungry Haka'tash miners, it was now devoid of such, and now contained 1000 plus Warrior Haka'tash gearing up for war. Helped by smaller, pale skinned servants, they pulled on thick, loose fitting metal armour, and some lifted swords, long and curved tips, other helfting large hammers and yet more grapsing ling spears. The Haka'tash walked over to a podium like structure, a few metres tall, and raised his hands. The hall immediately fell silent.
"WARRIORS... OF THE HAKA'TASH NATION!" he bellowed, so those at the back could hear him. "I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED OF THE LOCATION OF THE FINAL HELL'AG SCUM!" The warriors cheered loudly, only to be silenced again with the raise of the hands. "WE, THE WORTHY, SHALL SEEK AND DESTROY THESE INEXCUSABLE BEINGS!!!" again, cheering. "AND WHEN WE DO, WE SHALL TAKE OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE!! AS RULERS OF THE WORLD!!!" a roar of approval washed over the one on the podium.
"CHIEFTAN, WE GIVE YOU OUR SWORDS, OUR LOYALTY AND OUR LIVES! WE SHALL DESTROY THOSE IN OUR PATH AND DELIVER THEM TO THE 7 GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD!!" the warriors bellowed, shouting the war poem at the top of their lungs.
"Deliver them, and wipe the Hell'ag race from the face of exsistance!" the chieftain replied, "Now go, your commanders will tell you how to go about your duties."
"Yes Chieftain." the warriors replied, and filed out the hall, the rattling of their armour following them, the hall slowly feel quiet.

The cheiftan simply stood at the podium, with his crooked arm resting on the stone slab atop the pillar, smiling evilily.

Chapter V

"So, you're sure?" asked Liam.
"Absolutely, but you cannot tell the others, especially Alex." replied Taka.
"But..." Liam began, only to be hushed by Taka as Alex suddenly returned.
"Where's the vine?" asked Taka.
"Forget the vine, I think Nick is in trouble!" he panted.
"What? Where is he?" questioned Liam.
"Follow, bring weapons!" Alex stated, as he turned towards the trees. Deep within the forest, in a small clearing, Nick, with Liam's slightly oversized sword, prepared himself for his first real encounter. One that was heavily out matched. The pair of Ka'taks started circling, one clockwise, one anti-clockwise.

"Shit, at this rate I'll be dinner in 30 seconds unless I think of something!" thought Nick. He glanced around, looking for an opening in the Katak's almost perfect defence. He couldn't attack one without exposing himself to the other, which meant the Ka'taks could attack at their own leisure. Grasping the sword with both hands, out in front like he'd seen Liam wield it, he kept his eyes on both as best he could. Nick felt his back touch a tree. He glared back at the advancing Katak, and then looked at the floor. Loamy dirt. Suddenly, an idea. He grabbed a handful of the dirt and threw it at the furthest Katak's face. Most missed, but enough struck its eyes, blinding it. Nick pointed the sword at the nearest Ka'tak, and lunged. They were easily distracted, but Ka'taks are not stupid. With surprising agility, the large creature dodged to the left and made a swipe at Nick's exposed back as he carried past, and it connected, tearing old, dirty shirt and flesh. Reeling in pain, Nick made a desperate counter with the sword. Swinging it with his right hand, hoping it hit the creature. It didn't. Leaping out the way, the Ka'tak dodged and quickly recovered. With the other Katak almost able to see again, Nick was running out of time. With fighting out of the question, there was only one option.

Run like hell.

Turning round to what he hoped was the direction to the cave, Nick dropped the sword and ran. Drawing on his last reserves of strength, he pounded the ground, leaving marks in the soft earth. He rounded a tree and dived behind a bush, hoping he'd given the big cats the slip. He was bleeding heavily, and worn out. As he lay there, he heard rustling, and twigs breaking.
"This is not how I'm going down!" Nick thought to himself. He pushed himself up and lunged at Liam!
"The hell you doing Nick?" questioned Liam. Staring at Nick's pale face, then at the blood dribbling down his legs.
"What happened?" asked Liam. Suddenly, a roar from behind Nick rang clear as bells, and the pair of Ka'taks appeared.
"Crap! RUN!" Liam yelled at Nick as he un sheathed a short short.
"C'mon you oversized house cats. Lets 'ave it!" he shouted at the Ka'taks. Suddenly, dropping from out of the trees, Taka dived down on the Katak closest to Liam, jamming a small dagger in the Ka'tak's neck, severing nerves and blood vesselz. It quivered and dropped dead. Turning on the other Katak, dagger still dripping in blood, Taka raised his fist and the blade into a fighting stance. Roaring at Taka for the loss of its hunting partner, the Ka'tak lowered its head and prepared to leap. They were barely . Taka launched into a pre-emptive strike, aiming the dagger at the exposed back of the Kayak's head. The Katak lunged forward at Taka's waist, jaws open wide. The pair collapsed on each other, a furious blur of claws, fists and blade. Taka slashed at the Ka'taks chest, lifted his legs and pistoned them into the Ka'taks chest, pushing its off him and winding it. Taka quickly recovered and repeatedly stabbed the Katak in the neck and chest, making sure the thing was dead. Plunging the dagger in one last time, Taka left the blade deep, and turned his attention to Nick, now propped up against a tree trunk.
"We must get him back to the cave, I must treat him immediately." said Taka in a calm voice. Liam picked up Nick, gingerly threw him over his shoulder and they ran towards the cave.

Chapter VI

...

...

Hello? Is there any one there?

Pain. Am I dead? Wow. Some heaven this is. Is there anyone there? Here? Wherever the fuck I am.

Wait. Hello? HELLO!? Is there someone there!? Help! HELP ME!!!

Coma. Why can I hear Coma? Wait...

Oh shit...

Chapter VII

2 Days later.

40 Miles SW of the Cave.

"Commander!" yelled the Haka'tash scout as he lumbered towards to local Field Commander. "Commander Hor'ash!"
The hulking Commander looked over his shoulder, away from the small feast layed on the grass in front of the Commander.
"What?!" Hor'ash yelled back.
"We have..."
"MORE FOOD?!"
"No Commander, we found the underlings."
"Ah, excellent." Hor'ash said aloud as he stood, massive stomach wobbling. "Ready the main force. We move now!"
"Yes Commander, at once Commander." the scout said as he turned towards the main camp, passing orders to their respective recipients. Within minutes, the small army of Haka'tash was ready for battle.

Back at the cave.

"So, what?" said a sombre Alex, "He's in a coma?" and glanced and the now limp, pale body of Nick laying on a bed of leaves, face down so the wounds on his back could be treated.
"As far as I can tell," replied Liam, checking his pulse for the hundredth time, making sure, "He's breathing, but not reacting, and I'm guessing he won't be waking soon. Anything you can do?" he asked Taka.
"No, I do know a potion that will speed his recovery, but it is dangerous and may kill him," Taka stated, "And that is a risk I cannot take." A screech in the distance.
"Why not?" asked an angry Alex, "He is our friend! He's your friend too."
"The potion will almost certainly kill him!" replied Taka in a loud voice.
"So there is a chance, it will help him! Nick would have wanted us to do whatever we could to help!" roared Alex, and stepped forward to take a swing at Taka. Liam intercepted, grabbing Alex's wrist and pulling him into a bear hug, arms cross Alex's chest. Alex struggled, biting Liam's arms, drawing blood.
Another screech, much closer.
"Bastard!" Liam shouted in pain and anger, followed by Alex squealing as Liam pinned him to the floor.
"Stop!" yelled Taka, "We will achieve nothing with this!"
"Tell this fat son of a bitch to get off me then!"
"Tell this little runt to stop biting me!" yelled Liam.
"BOTH OF YOU! STOP!" bellowed Taka, louder than what they ever thought possible. They immediately stopped.
"I know you are frustrated, and I know you want to help, but the potion is very dangerous and will probably kill him."
Another screech, louder sti.
"What is that...?" wondered Alex aloud.
"What is what?" asked Taka.
Again, the screech rang out. Taka looked at the entrance of the cave.
"No... they couldn't have..." mumbled Taka.
"What is it!?" repeated Alex.
"We must leave! Now! Grab your weapons, armour, food, anything!" commanded a now terrified Taka, and made a dash for the packs near the blackened stone of the fire pit.
"WHAT IS IT!?" yelled Liam.
"Haka'tash scouts!" he yelled back. "I don't know how, but they have found us! We must leave!" and dashed over to the body of Nick.
"Can we move him?" inquired Alex.
"I do not know." replied Taka with regret in his voice, "I hope he is well to though."
"And if he isn't?"
"He may die." stated Taka.
"Fuck..." mumbled Alex.


"Commander!" yelled one of the lance captains, "How long till we encounter the Hell'ag and his troop?"
"Not soon enough!" laughed one of the other captains.
"SILENCE!" bellowed Hor'ash, "We will find them in the next 30 caws! Then we shall burn their hides!"
The foot soldiers roared their approval, then quickly went quiet as Hor'ash wheeled on them, giving them a deathly stare.
"They are restless, its been some time since we encountered the Hell'ag." said Ma'kesh, the second in command.
"Indeed, it has been. But soon, we shall have destroyed them all. A fitting end for what they have done."