The Game Begins

Waves crashed against the sand and a warm wind blew through the trees, a bore was walking along the beach following a strange sound from the night before, it saw an unusual sight, a giant mettle bird lay in the sand, smoke rising from its wings, and four humans lying outside of a large gash in its body. Slowly the boar approached the people lying on the sand, they were unmoving and death filled the air around them. Then the largest of them began to move, the boar ran in fear.

Nicolas was the first to rouse from the crash, but he had no memory of the plain going down, the last thing he remembered was the voice that said that someone would die. Then Mical woke and moaned in pain, his left arm wrenched from the socket and a metal shard stuck out from the skin. Nicolas looked toward the source of the sound seeing the state of his friend all he could say was, “Bro your arm.”, his voice racked with pain and disorientation.

“Believe it or not it doesn’t hurt as bad the second time.” Mical said the fear of death from his wound apparent but not the first thing Nickolas heard in his voice.

Understanding what his friend was afraid of, “I don’t know if their okay or not, I just woke up myself.” Nicolas explained. Then he crawled to Mical’s side to inspect his arm, fear was plastered on Nicolas’s face as he remembered the final words that the voice said about one of them dyeing and the way that his friend looked he was in the most danger right now.

“Trust me its better if I lose some more blood first, that way I’ll be numb and not busting your ears from yelling in pain. Since your moving go look after Gordon, Crimson, and the pilot one of them is dead,” Nicolas looked toward him in fear and disgust, “I remember what that thing said, and that means one of them is dead now and since where awake we need out find out who and tend to the injures of the ones left alive.” Mical said his voice uneven but emotionless his face set in an iron clad blank stare out at the sea.

“Okay, I’ll see about them but you’re the first one I’m treating because you’ll die otherwise.” Nicolas said with a force in his voice that had not been there before. Mical smiled, the only sing other than the blood that he was still human. When Nicolas finally made it to the others Gordon and Crimson where starting to stir but not wake, “Their alive at least.” Nicolas called.



“All three or only the two that I care about?” Mical asked in a shaky voice, the fear was apparent and the pain bled through, he was no longer trying to hide it.

“Crimson and Gordon at least, I don’t know about the pilot yet he is not out here.” Nicolas said. His voice cold and firm, he was thinking the worst for the missing man. “He may still be in the plane; I need to see if there was a first aid kit in there anyway.”

“Okay Nicolas, but give yourself a minute, I know that you have never gone through a crash like this before. Trust me you should sit and get your head cleared.” Mical said his eyes fixed on his friend, he could see that Nicolas had no real injuries on the outside, just some cuts and bruises, but his insides had to be in shock or failure. He knew the pain his friend was in, and having him run around now was not going to fix anything.

“Your right, I can’t help anyone if I exhaust myself now.” Nicolas said. He sat down by the plane and closed his eyes, his face went blank and sleep slowly took him. Mical grinned, he was hoping that his friend would fall asleep, he knew that Nicolas would never stand for what he was about to do.

Mical mustered all of his strength and willed the pain to be less, he move his right leg first to see if he even could, then he moved his left; the pain was instant and almost unbearable, but it was familiar. He fought for the strength of mind to once again take control of and move every muscle like he did so long ago. No cane or walker there to help support him the first time he is able to stand he falls and lands on his face, sand drove in his eyes, and his arm felt like it was going to fall off. Mical rolled over on his back and wiped the sand from his eyes with his good arm, and tried again to stand. This time he went slower not wanting to fall again, the pain was dulled by his drive to move, but even still every step felt like he was driving a spike through his leg. He had done it, standing by where his friends lay on the sand he had to see with his eyes weather or not the pilot had died. The pain was getting more intense by the second, and the few feet that he had to go felt like miles but he had to see.

When he made it Mical felt like he would collapse at any moment, but he had to go a little more the cockpit was in view but the chair hid the pilot’s body. Mical could see his legs they were black with burns and there was a red stain under the seat that he could only guess was blood. Not wanting to see any more Mical fell over letting his body give to the pain, and then he heard a voice, “You’re pathetic, and week but you’ll do for my master if you can get to me.” Then Mical saw the shape of a serpent slither away into the sand, and then he let the grip of unconsciousness take him.

Several hours had passed before Gordon woke up; amazed that he was not hurt after he looked around at the scene of destruction in front of him, the plane was nose deep in sand Nicolas was laying against the side of the wreck, Crimson was lying next to him, he had tried to shield her from the blue light as he was standing next to her, but he did not see Mical or the pilot. He remembered what the voice from the ring of light said and not seeing his friend or the other man made him fear for their lives. As he rolled over onto his back he never let Crimson out of his sight, he knew that if she was the one to die Mical would never forgive any of them for letting it happen. When he lay on his back he looked up at the sky, it was an odd color, it looked almost green, he dismissed it to the disorientation from the crash. Lying on his back for a few minutes he let himself rest and waited for the sky to turn blue again, but it never did. Thinking that everything would be fine after he put his worries to rest he sat upright trying to see if he had any injuries or wounds. Seeing that he had none he tried to stand, as soon as he was on his feet he fell to his knees, “Now I know how heard Mical had it trying to walk again, but I have to do this, if I don’t he may die.” Gordon said to himself, and he tried again only to fall again, this time he hit the sand with his fist sending a jolt of pain up his arm that caused him to jerk back and shout out in pain, this caused Nicolas to wake up.

“The hell are you doing, you could break your arm like that you moron!” Nicolas shouted once he saw what Gordon was doing, he was standing to come to his friend to help him, but Gordon raised a hand to stop him, “Why?” was all he had time to say.

“I have to do this on my own, I have to help Crimson.” Gordon said through gritted teeth, the pain that he felt was written all over his face, there was no reason he had to do this on his own, but something deep in his soul drove him and it forbade him from taking any help at all. He brought his left foot forward and using all the strength he had to push himself off the ground to stand on his own two feet, he stumbled as he tried to gain his balance. Once he was stable he looked at Nicolas and smiled for a moment then he looked around the beach again, his smile faded and a look of despair fell on his face, he still did not see Mical and Nicolas did not seem to share his concern, “Where is Mical, I don’t see him out here?” Gordon asked.

“He is lying over there by the water.” Nicolas said pointing to where his friend had been lying; all that remained of him now was a few spots that looked like someone fell and a red stain where his wounded arm had bled onto the sand. “Oh no, where the hell is he, where could he have” then Nicolas stopped, the plane! Nicolas lost all the color in his face; there was no way Mical could have moved that far without hurting or killing himself. He ran toward the hole in the hull of the plane, stumbling and falling Nicolas would not quit once he hit the ground he began to crawl on his stomach. Once he had made it to the plane he saw Mical lying there, he was still as stone and there was a small puddle of blood around his arm where the shard stuck out. “Thank God, he is still alive.” Nicolas let out a sigh of relief as he watched his friend’s body rise and fall as he breathed, but his relief became horror as he looked to the cockpit and saw the pilot’s chair, the black burnt legs of the pilot, and the large red ring that stained the floor. His face showed the utter fear that lay deep in his heart, he knew that the pilot was far beyond help and had been fore some time.

Gordon had moved to Crimson’s side to see if she was any closer to waking than before. He was sitting there with his hand on her forehead, hoping that the pilot was the one that the voice killed. At that moment her eyelids fluttered open and she began to move, and then she reached up and grabbed his hand her grip was amazing for someone who had been unconscious only moments before. Gordon let out a deep sigh of relief as he held Crimson’s other hand.

The last thing Crimson remembered was the bright flash of light, now she felt something on her head. She hurt all over and she could not see, she didn’t know if she was blind or if her eyes where just closed. She tried to open her eyes; the light hurt and made everything blurry, all she could make out was that the person next to her was thin and had dark hair. She felt them holding her hand and heard them sigh. This made the pain in her body lesson and her mind eased.

At that moment Gordon pulled her up into a hug, this surprised Crimson and she felt herself blush, she was not expecting this kind of reception. The surprise of the hug pulled her out of her stupor and back to reality, her sight was still blurry and she still hurt but she had to see who she was hugging. She lifted her arms, they felt like hundred pound weights but she fought through, placing her hands on the shoulders of the man who had been beside her for who knows how long. Her sight began to clear as she pushed the person back to see their face, and the moment she saw that it was Gordon she pulled him into a hug that was far more surprising for Gordon than the first was for her. Then Nicolas came out of the plane caring Mical in his arms, when Crimson saw her brother broken once again she was driven over the edge, “No. No. No, no, no, no. He can’t be dead please tell me that he is still alive, please!”

“He’ll be fine in a little while, but all I can do is stop the bleeding we’ll have to find some help or he won’t make it.” Nicolas said the look in his eyes was enough for the other two to know that he was serious.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m dead already, it will take a lot more than that to kill me and you all know that.” Mical said his eyes half open and a big grin on his face. There was no color to his normally tan skin and his voice was weak and there was no way or reason that he should have been able to talk then.

Suddenly there was a flash of blue light and the hiss of voice that’s evil could be felt, “Good, you all are awake. I am Blue lord of fear, and now it’s time to start the game and you are my champions, in order to return to you world you’ll have to find the four gates and the four keys to open them, but there not gates like you’d see in your world they can be anything, same with the keys. Once you find and open all the gates you’ll compete in the Gates Tournament, where you’ll fight with the champions of my two siblings, Red and Black.”

“I’m not moving one inch until we see your face.” Mical crowed to the light.

“Shut up you idiot, you’re in no shape to make demands.” Nicolas said, shaking Mical, whom he was still holding.

The light began to brighten and fold its self into human form. As the light took shape the ground shook and the sky went black, an ominous and bone chilling wind began to blow and swirl around them. Then the light let out a blinding flash, when the four friends vision cleared they saw a man with long blue hair that waved and lashed in every direction, he was wrapped in a blue robe that looked like it was covered in faces that where frozen in fear. “Here I am in all my splendor, gaze on me and know that you have seen a god. Now if you are content I’ll take my leave. Oh and so you friend there dos not die I have alerted a nearby tribe to you arrival here. Let the game begin.” Blue clapped his hands together and there was another blinding flash of light and he was gone leaving only tracks in the sand where he was.

“So what do we do now, just wait for this tribe’s scouts to find us? What if they can’t understand us, or if they think that we were using black magic to call a demon or what if they decide to simply kill us on sight?” Crimson yelled pacing in a circle around the men, and then she looked at her brother and began to cry from what she saw. Mical’s arm started to bleed less, meaning that he did not have much time until he would bleed out.

Gordon looked up at her, “Forget what that thing said about death and gates and keys we need to help our friend.” He went to take Mical from Nicolas so he could begin with whatever he deemed necessary for their friend’s survival.

“I don’t think you can stay with us much longer buddy you’re almost out of blood, and when I reset your joint it’s going to hurt like hell.” Nicolas said with a soft voice but a stern face, Mical only smiled as his friends set to work to find what they would need to help him, Crimson was still walking in her circle crying not wanting to believe that this was real.

“Like hell I’m leaving Gordon alone with my sister,” Mical said, “I’ll make it just patch me up so I don’t bleed out.” His voice was weak and his face had turned white, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open as the shadows crept into the edges of his vision.

Then they heard Crimson yell, Nicolas and Gordon both looked just in time to see a black blur sweep in front of her then three of them came from nowhere and surrounded the men, and from nowhere chains bound them. Mical yelled in pain as the cold metal hit his arm, Crimson screamed out of fear and then she too was bound in chains, then there was a shout and the shadows lined up behind their captives. Then a tall figure stepped into view, at first it looked like another of the moving shadows until it got close and its eyes shined from within the deep hood that covered its face. “This is an odd armor you wear, and a strange beast that lays here slain. I am wondering how it is that only one of you is at the brink of death, a beast of that size would have killed this entire hunting party.” The figure shed its black cloak reviling a rather unusual sight, a man covered in silver markings. “Well how did you kill this beast and why is there only of you that shows the sings of battle?” he asked.

“Listen, if we don’t hurry than our friend is going to die, when he is in a better state than we’ll tell you everything.” Nicolas said his voice firm and reassuring.

“I’m still not out,” Mical said his voice barely audible over the waves, “and I will not let something that’s voice has so much evil in it that it chills your bones kill me.”

“You have a strong will small one, but is it strong enough for you to move more than you mouth?” the silver man asked.

“Move, are you insane he can barely talk!” Crimson shouted, the man raised a hand to silence her never taking his eyes off of the broken body of Mical.

“Can you move boy?” the man asked once more this time taking a step toward Mical, his eyes cutting the air they were so intense. Mical returned his gaze and grinned, as the chins fell from around his body. He used his right arm to prop himself up, and he froze staring out at the ocean.

He let out a deep sigh as he watched the waves crash against the sand, “What if I don’t move any more than this?” Mical asked still staring at the water, watching its movement.

“Why would you be worried of that? It seems that you will is of iron and your heart is of gold.” The man said.

Mical laughed at the man’s words. “How would you know that my heart is of gold?” he asked.

“The way that you fight to stay with your fellow hunters, or are you a band of lost tribe men?” The man asked a hint of humor in his voice. “If you are lost then where are your brands and binds?” he laughed as he finished speaking.

“I want you to make me a promise.” Mical said his voice booming compared to what it had been before as he turned his head to look at the line of black shrouded people then to his friends and finely to his sister. “If I stand and walk to you from here with no help then you have to answer all of my questions and then take us to where ever it is that you call home, sound fair?”

“And if you can’t then I’ll kill you, those are my terms if they please you we have a deal.” The man said with a grin.

“Good, that will make winning that much sweeter.” Mical said as he turned his gaze back to the water. He smiled then moved his legs to where his knees where touching his chest, and as if on que the others began to shout in protest knowing that if he stud up he was as good as dead anyway. Crimson watched in horror as her brother began to use his legs and arm to stand then she remembered what he told her the day after his crash, I will always stand for you even if it means my death, her shouts became louder and they were no longer protests rather encouragements. She began to cry as he finely stud straight his left arm flailing and limp.

“Don’t let them take you from us!” she shouted over and over.

“I never planned on it sis.” Mical said as he turned and began to walk toward the man who was now holding a knife that he did not have before. Nicolas and Gordon where still shouting for their friend to stop but he never heard their words only Crimson’s voice made it through as he took his first step. When his foot hit the ground pain shot up his leg and filled his whole body then Crimson’s voice came again and the pain was dulled, each step brought the same result as the first and only his sisters plea kept him moving forward. It was only ten steps to reach his goal but it felt like ten thousand. When he stud face to face with the man that he had made the deal with he took the knife from his hand and through it toward the hull of the plane, it landed pommel first right next to the gash in the side with a dull heavy thud. “Who are you?” Mical asked and smiled.

“I am Gal’Or of the shade tribe we do not have a home like the other clans we chose to move never stopping.” Gal’Or smiled and dropped his shroud that he had been wearing and until now had been holding in front of his lower body, he had on a pair of dark gray trousers, but no knife belt no sheaths nothing for him to hide that knife in nowhere that it could have been. “What else do you want to know ‘Walker’?”

“Will you help us or kill us Gal’Or?”

“I gave my word to help you if you walked to me and you did so death will not have any of you today.”

“I want you to answer my sister’s questions now; I’m going to rest now.” Mical closed his eyes and he raised his face to the sky.

“Girl, if you are his sister then come over here and ask you questions.” Gal’Or pointed to the line of hunters and they broke formation each going to one of the three bound people and the last going to Mical’s side, he had not moved, then Gal’Or snapped and the four hunters grabbed the chains and pulled them away as fast as they had made then appear. Then with a shout Crimson was at Gal’Or’s throat with his own knife.

“Why did you want him to move, why did you want to kill him if he could not, why, why,why?!” Crimson was shouting, tears strumming down her face like rivers. Gal’Or began to laugh, “Whats so funny?” she yelled and pushed the blade of the knife harder against his throat; red droplets began to form around the underside of the blade. All Gal’Or did was grin, then the blade began to shrink then it vanished all together.

“Think you for giving my knife back.” Gal’Or said with a big grin. “Now for your question I never wanted to kill the ‘Walker’; he was the one who wanted me dead his every move was his was of driving a blade in each of us, his will to protect you is stronger than steel and brighter than the sun that he now looks at. Is there more that you want to know ‘Knife’?”

“My name is Crimson, not ‘Knife’! Now where are we?” She yelled fear in her voice, she had withdrawn to stand by her brother’s side, he had not moved. He looked down to see Gal’Or standing where he was the only thing different what that he now had several small red trails running down his neck. Mical only grab his sister’s arm to keep her from retreating any farther.

“We are standing on the Silver Coast of the blue isle; this land is under the rule of the fallen god Blue lord of fear.” Gal’Or said with his head hung over and arm held across his chest. His stance said that this Blue commanded respect unlike the monster that only wanted the eyes of the four that it caught.

“I think we may have met this fallen god, but I don’t want you to show that demon any allegiance ever again or I will make you move to the next life.” Mical said, rage in his voice and fire in his eyes, “Now I want to know what knife you were talking about because I don’t see one.”

Gal’Or simply held out his hand and raised his head, then the silver markings that where on his arm seemed to move and a blade began to rise out of his palm forming the knife that Mical had thrown at the plane before. Mical’s face showed the essence of confusion. “There is still so much that you don’t know about us.” He smiled as the blade sank back into his hand.

“Okay than how did you do that?” Nicolas said from behind as he began to walk forward to stand with the other two.

“It is the secret art of our clan, and it is to be passed to one of you I believe.” Gal’Or said with a smile.

“What do you mean by that?” Gordon asked while advancing to stand with the other three, his face showed his desire to unravel the truth behind the last statement.

Gal’Or smiled’ “An the forth steps forward.” He looked at the line of strangers and saw that there was a common bond between them. He waved his hand again and the four hunters with him moved from behind the four strangers and stud behind their leader. “Do you have any more questions, because if not then the shaman will want to see you now.” He picked up his shroud and wrapped it around himself once again taking on the appearance of an irregular shaped black shadow. The four hunters the stepped in front of him and opened the fronts of their shrouds and wrapped the four blinding them and moving faster than the wind.