Ultimus Chapter Thirty-Three: Retreat to the Light

Andrew and Erica had been firing at these Rock Drakes that were attacking from flames beyond. But unlike with the previous ones, where it was an endless onslaught with no sight. This one was almost drip-fed. Most of the time, they were given three or four at a time, with a few seconds of breathing time before the next four or so came through. The same was happening with Paul and Jonathan. They were being fed the larger animals at a faster rate than Erica and Andrew. Which led Andrew and Erica to take a few shots at the few who ran out from Paul and Jonathan’s grasp. Andrew knew something was being planned, but he didn’t know what. He looked at this ‘Titan’. It merely stared at them in content.

Arrow after arrow, bullet after bullet, the corrupted creatures fell. Erica tried her best to tell Andrew what she knew about Rock Drakes, something Andrew had never seen before. She told him that they camouflage into their surroundings due to their scales having Element woven into them, but this camouflage only worked best when the animal was still. She told him to watch for shimmering movement, as that would be one running in its camouflage. Andrew was blown away by everything she was saying to him; he started getting lost in his thoughts as he hunted and spotted for these movements Erica had spoken of. Everything was insane to him. There were so many strange and alien creatures. Heck, he had never seen a “Reaper” before. That thing was totally alien to him. This world as a whole was so different from what it was. Yet to them, a Reaper was something they had seen before. But they had never seen the corruption or the gods of this world before. Did that mean the creatures like Reapers weren’t created by these gods, but by man? Andrew could at least see that, being the case, they were able to build giant space stations. Plus, dinosaurs roamed the Earth again, not to mention were well over their normal sizes that people like Andrew’s dad knew they could reach. What could stop them from making their own creatures that weren’t from any part of the past?

“Hey!! You doing okay?” Erica asked as she aimed and fired her rifle. Andrew snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Erica.

“I’m doing fine, just trying to process all of this.” He said. Andrew started observing his surroundings. He spotted a hidden Rock Drake, its scales truly glistening in the sun. He aimed with his bow and fired his bow at the creature’s chest. He released the string and let the bolt of energy fly and hit the animal where he wanted it to. The beast roared out before beginning to heave, and fell to the ground, dead. Andrew sighed as he looked around for a moment to see if he could spot another Rock Drake. None spotted, he sighed and took a quick moment to see how much energy he had left for his bow. He had enough for fifteen more shots. He paused as he took in the realization that they’d probably killed well over thirty or more animals as they stood there.

Andrew heard another high-pitched roar screech from behind. As he turned to see, he saw and heard the Reaper fall to the ground with a thunderous boom. Dust flew into the air as it crashed to the ground. Erica looked over her shoulder to see what had happened and swore at what she saw.

“FREYA!!!” Erica shouted. Both of them stood there holding their breath as they wondered what happened to their friend and companion on this journey. Angrboda stood and gazed into the dust cloud from a distance. And as the dust cleared, they saw Freya stand tall above the corpse of the Reaper. She held her one axe in her right hand and her sword in her left. She sheathed her axe back into the loop on her belt. She grabbed the axe that was still stuck inside the creature’s skull and sheathed it too. She started to stand up when Andrew noticed something strange. The blood that drenched her clothes started to foam and curdle into a reddish-green color. A moment later, she screamed out in pain. The cloud that once was beginning to dissipate began to return in a green hue. Beginning to overbear her and engulf everything around the giant monster.

“Erica, what’s going on?!”

“I don’t— the Reaper. She needs to get out of there!!” Erica said, shocked at what was occurring. “Freya!! GET AWAY FROM THE CLOUD NOW!!” Erica shouted. Freya nodded as she stood up and started getting away from the dead carcass.

“What?!”

“Look, Freya has only dealt with tamed Reapers, and none that were dead. Reaper blood is basically acid. And once dead, the blood is forced through any wounds into a noxious gas to burn its killer or any scavengers near it. So she needs to get out of there.” Erica told Andrew. He took a glance back to Freya to see she was struggling with trying to get off the monster’s head and out of the acid cloud. He didn’t think she would make it. He wished he could do something… could he do something?

He opened up Knight Sky’s saddle bags to see if he had his mask and goggles still with him. He couldn’t remember what he had done with them. He dug through the bags for a time, time he didn’t have. For a moment more, he dug through the bag until he finally found them. He grabbed them out of the bag and put them on as he had Knight Sky charge into the cloud of acid. Erica looked at Andrew, flabbergasted.

“What are you doing!!” Erica shouted. But Andrew didn’t answer. He had Knight Sky run into the acid cloud to get Freya. As he ran towards the cloud, he noticed the acid cloud had gotten thick enough that he could no longer see Freya from outside the cloud. He hoped that if he went in there, he could find her before it was too late.

As Andrew and Knight Sky went through the acid, he could feel the acid burn his skin. The pain felt like needles stabbing his skin. He could see his goggles thinning out as he had Knight Sky run through the fog. Even Knight Sky seemed to be acting up out of pain. But they needed to get Freya out of there. Knight Sky ran for a few moments before they finally came across the corpse of the creature. He finally saw Freya stumble and fall off the creature’s skull onto the ground. Andrew redirected Knight Sky towards the skull and Freya. Andrew held his breath as Knight Sky reached Freya. He couldn’t lose someone else. Not for something that was all his fault. Andrew reached out for Freya.

“Freya, can you see me?” Andrew asked at a higher volume. She looked up at Andrew, her eyes red from chemicals in the air. But the blue of her eyes beamed through as she nodded.

“Grab my hand and get on!!” Andrew as he reached his hand out for Freya. She grabbed hold of his hand as he pulled her up onto Knight Sky. He tapped Knight Sky into a gallop, and with a roar, the horse bolted out of the acid. As he ran, Andrew could feel the acid burning his skin around the small parts of his exposed face and neck. He could see the lens of his goggles thin out before his very eyes. But within a few moments of running in a direction away from the corpse, they had found their way out of the acid fog and back into the dust, and element filled air. Andrew took a moment to survey the surroundings of where he popped out. He saw that he popped out about the same place he had entered from. Being able to see Erica waving her arms to catch Andrew’s attention. Andrew nudged Knight Sky with his feet to redirect him in the direction of Erica. Afterwards, he looked back at Freya to see her burnt face. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Takk skal du ha,” She said. He could hear her pain as she spoke. And while he couldn’t understand, he knew a thank you when he heard one. She couldn’t see, but he smiled back. He was relieved that he got her out of there. He wished he had gotten to her sooner. The burns looked bad on her face and hands, and much of her armor and clothes were damaged. He knew she was gonna need Paul as soon as possible.

Andrew rode up to Erica and got off Knight Sky and aided Freya into a comfortable position on his saddle. Erica looked at Freya; her eyes widened with shock.

“Dear god…” she gasped.

“She needs Paul.” Andrew said. Erica looked dumbfounded.

“No… I thought the green pus and red colored skin on our pale Viking was a normal thing.” She said in a clearly sarcastic tone. She went back to her saddlebags, digging through them for something. Until she grabbed something and went back over to Freya. A bottle of reddish-brown liquid. She aided Freya in opening her mouth and helped her drink the strange liquid.

“There, that’ll help her until Paul can look at her safely.” Erica stated.

“Just go get him!” Andrew shouted. Erica rolled her eyes as she got on her sabertooth cat and ran towards Paul. Andrew just stood there, watching her and her sabertooth fly towards Paul. He looked back over at Freya, who was lying on the saddle horn and Knight Sky’s neck as she breathed heavily in pain. He looked back over to Erica and whispered in a worried tone.

“Hurry.”

~

Erica was pushing Ajax to run as fast as he could. Paul was further out than she had expected him to be. She knew every second mattered in this situation, but with how far away he was, she just wanted to curse. Of course he would be far away when someone needed his help. Especially a serious injury being the problem. Erica was only shouting distance away from Paul now. She could see Paul and Grace running circles around one of the corrupted Tyrannosauruses as he fired his pistol into the animal. All the while, Jonathan and his horse were sprinting around as he shot 10-gauge slugs point-blank into the head of the animals that charged their way. Running away as the animals' bodies collapsed to the ground and moved to the next one.

“Paul!!” Erica shouted. Paul looked back. He took the last shot needed to take the tyrannosaur down. With a thunderous crash, it fell, and the dust flew into the air. Paul rode the sprinting Grace over to Erica.

“What’s it, lass?” He asked.

“Freya, she’s injured. The Reaper fell to her, but she got trapped in the blood smoke. She has acid burns all over her. We need to retreat so you can treat her!” Erica said. Paul stayed calm, but Erica could tell he was upset. Grace began to turn towards the direction that Erica came.

“She with Andrew?” He asked. Erica nodded.

“Get Jonathan to follow; we’ll meet with Andrew and retreat to…?” He paused, insinuating that Erica would know. Erica took a minute to think before it finally clicked.

“Delta Tower, it should be a safe location to hide from whatever the h&#@ that is and its horde.” Erica said.

“Alright, we’ll follow ya ta Delta Tower then.” Paul said, riding away towards where she came. Erica sighed as she rode over in the direction she last saw Jonathan. He still was blasting corrupt creatures as he rode. She rode as close as she could before shouting.

“Jonathan! We need to retreat!”

“You are not in charge of when we retreat from a fight.” Jonathan returned as he shot a carno in the head.

“Jonathan!! Freya is injured! Paul needs to attend to her, and there are too many monsters attacking us here. We need to retreat!”

“Look around us; there are only a few more of these things left! No thanks to you! We can kill them and send a message, or I can. That is up to you.” Jonathan said as he went on to continue the fight. Erica sat there on Ajax for a moment before growling, loading her rifle and helping Jonathan with the last few creatures.

As per usual, Jonathan was right. There were only maybe four or five creatures left. Most were Paraceratheriums. It only took a few minutes to quickly shoot them all and leave nothing left. Jonathan cheered as he shot the last creature through the skull. There was a pause as he stared off into the shadowed wasteland. Erica stared at the creature that loomed above them. It just continued to stare at them. Its eyes were ever glowing with magenta. She didn’t like how it was still there; that didn’t mean anything good compared to what happened last time.

“Jonathan, we need to retreat now!” Erica said. Without warning, he began cursing, staring down the monster that towered above him.

“IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO!! YOU LISTEN TO ME!! WE WILL WIN!! MAN WILL ALWAYS WIN AGAINST NATURE!! THAT IS THE LAW OF MAN!! MAN OVER NATURE!! YOU WILL DIE!!” Jonathan shouted. He continued shouting, cursing the creature. Erica seemed to be one of the two to notice that the monster was looking at them with disdain. Its eyes began to glow brighter than they had previously. Erica didn’t like where this was heading at all.

“Jonathan! We need to retreat now!” Erica shouted. Jonathan groaned as he turned back to Erica.

“Can’t you just leave me alone for five minutes to gloat? Can’t I just have that?” Jonathan snapped.

Roars began to fill the air once again. However, Erica could not recognize them. She looked over at Jonathan; he didn’t seem to recognize them either. They both turned their attention in the direction of the roars. However, all they could see was the fire that blazed from the dead. Until something large flew above the tall flames: a dragon. Erica's mouth dropped as she saw the dragon fly up from behind the wall of fire, with another, and another, and yet another. All three followed the first in the direction of Erica and Jonathan. The creature’s wings yanked it through the sky. Throwing every muscle it had into flying as fast as possible toward them.

“Oh, my god…” Jonathan gasped as they watched the first dragon spew fire from its mouth in their direction. Erica and Jonathan both had their mounts sprint away as the purple flames engulfed the ground where they once stood. Erica took out her rifle and took a shot at the dragon that flew over them. She heard the creature roar out in pain as the bullet flew from her barrel and struck the animal. Erica unloaded the cartridge of the bullet and loaded a new one as she turned around and looked back to see the other dragons coming in. Erica quickly evaded the explosive fire streaks of the beasts. Erica took another shot at one of the wyverns coming her way. Landing her shot fatally in the head of one. With a roar as the shot landed. The wyvern crashed to the ground. Erica could hear more gunfire as Jonathan was shooting two sprays of buckshot at the animals soaring above.

“Jonathan, we need to retreat!!” Erica shouted. Jonathan cursed at her with a vulgar term.

“We’ll retreat when I am good and winning. Right now I will fight until I kill every last one of them!” Jonathan said. More roars, screeches, and bellows started coming from the direction of where the dragons had come from. Erica looked to see more flying creatures coming their way. However, it didn’t look like the same type of dragons coming as before. But what really scared her was seeing an ominous brown fog roll into the fires.

As soon as they touched, a large explosion went off, and the gas went up in a small cloud of flames and smoke. This explosion extinguished the flames of the Napalm and revealed what was behind the wall of fire. Monsters, true kaijus. One like the gargantuan that towered above them started emerging from the napalm flames unfazed. They were themselves enormous compared to everything they had fought up to this point. They were hideous-looking yellows and browns and almost looked as though they were made of sulphur. Large and strange tubes that looked almost like large cannons on top of these monsters' backs. Several roared, their lower jaws splitting out to the side like a snake’s. They started charging Erica and Jonathan along with the flying reptiles. Erica turned to Jonathan.

“Do you really want to fight off that Jonathan?! We need to go!” Erica shouted. Jonathan looked over and saw the horde that had formed and was charging them. His eyes widened before he said.

“I think I’ll take your advice on retreating now…”

~

Andrew watched as he saw Paul ride over on his dinosaur and jump off to check out Freya’s injuries. He looked at the burns on her arm and her face before letting out a hiss of sympathy.

“Is it alright, lass, if I touch yer face ta check yer eyes? I’m a have ta open up yer eyes forcefully to see it completely.” Paul asked. Freya nodded.

“Ja, selvfølgelig kan du det. Du er min helbreder, og jeg trenger deg mer enn noensinne.” Freya said. With that, Paul gently touched her face around her right eye and slowly pulled back her eyelids from her eye. Freya jolted a bit and seethed as he did this.

“It’s alright, hen, just take a look around in every direction ya can.” Paul said, and Freya did so. Paul did the same with Freya’s left eye.

As he did this. There was a loud boom came from where Erica and Jonathan had been. Andrew looked over his shoulder to see what happened. He could see a puff of smoke rise in the distance, and he saw Jonathan and Erica riding at them at full speed. Andrew heard Erica shout, “PAUL, ANDREW, GET BACK ON TAMES NOW!!!”.

“RETREAT TO DELTA TOWER NOW!!!” She continued. Andrew wondered what was the cause of this for a moment before getting his answer. The sky filled with shadows of flying pterosaurs and dragons! On the ground followed a new sea of corrupted creatures chasing them. Andrew looked at Paul with deep concern. Paul saw the same thing.

“I think she’s right, Paul…”

“Aye, Andrew, she is.” Paul answered. Both immediately ran to their mounts. Andrew helped Freya move back on his saddle.

“Vent, Angrboda, vi må få tak i henne.” Freya moaned. Andrew didn’t know what she was asking, except that it had something to do with Angrboda. It suddenly dawned on him. Where was Angrboda? He surveyed the area to see Angrboda eating the corpse of the reaper. The cloud of blood and dust had long since subsided. That was what she needed.

“If I ride over to her, can you get her to follow?” Andrew asked as he looked back to Freya. She nodded in agreement.

“Hvis du kan få meg nær nok, kan jeg komme meg oppå henne og ri henne tilbake til et trygt sted.” Freya said. Andrew took that as a yes. Paul, though, looked back in confusion.

“Wait, what?”

“Alright, let's go get her.” Andrew said as he got Knight Sky into a gallop.

“Andrew!! Wait!!!” But Paul’s pleas were too late. Andrew and Freya both rode back towards the dead Reaper to get Angrboda.

It only took Andrew a few moments to reach Angrboda. It was much easier to reach her without the giant cloud of acid around the corpse. Andrew stopped Knight Sky and looked back at Freya.

“Alright, do your thing to get her to follow.” Andrew stated. Freya smiled as she looked at Andrew.

“Nei, jeg følger deg tilbake på henne.” She said. Soon, Freya started getting off of Knight Sky.

“What are you doing?!” Andrew yelled. She hobbled her way over towards Angrboda. But Andrew rode Knight Sky in front of her.

“Freya!! Just call her.” Andrew said. She paused for a moment. Before she started going around Knight Sky. Again, though, Andrew rode Knight Sky ahead of her.

“Freya…” She looked up at him with frustration as he stood in her way. She held up her hand in front of his face. Expressing her wish for him to stop. She pointed in the direction of where the horde was coming from, and back at Angrboda. Afterwards, she started hobbling around Andrew and Knight Sky again over towards Angrboda. She whistled at Angrboda; Angrboda looked over at her and lowered herself down to the ground into a sitting position. Freya walked to Angrboda and started climbing up onto her saddle. Angrboda stood up with Freya staring down at Andrew.

“Hva venter du på? Kom deg til de andre!!” Freya shouted as she pointed towards Paul and the others running from the horde. Andrew knew what she had said, even through the language barrier. It amazed him how strong-willed she was.

The two rode in haste to reach the others before having to deal with the horde. It was going to be close, but it looked like they would make it. However, Erica and her Sabertooth changed direction and started heading along the edge of the cliff. The others were not too far behind. Andrew and Freya were on a ridge not too far ahead of Erica and the others. However, the only way down to them would put them in danger’s way. But they had no time to hesitate. Both Andrew and Freya immediately went down the ridge as quickly as they could. Andrew looked at the horde of monsters coming their way. Within this horde of corrupted creatures were, in fact, true monsters. Creatures that looked like the giant Titan that watched them. They were on all fours, and they had what looked like they were covered in sulphur, and they had cannons on their backs. He watched as a couple had stopped and started emitting a gas out of their mouths and blanketed the ground, and nearly reached where the ridge path met the road they needed to get onto. Now Andrew and Freya couldn’t see anything or anyone through the brown gas. Andrew and Freya got on the path they were heading and paused. Holding their breath as they watched and listened.

Suddenly, Jonathan and his horse appeared out of the smoke, coughing and hacking. It shocked Andrew so much he screamed. Jonathan was likewise shocked, so much so that he pulled on the reins of his horse too hard to stop. Causing his horse to stop and rear up, with Jonathan unexpectedly falling off his horse. Before any of them could react, his horse bolted up the ridge Andrew and Freya had just come down. Jonathan began shouting in French at Andrew, with Freya speaking her tongue at Jonathan. It was all confusing for Andrew.

Erica and Paul emerged from the smoke, coughing. They both stopped as soon as they saw Jonathan on the ground.

“What happened?” Paul asked worriedly. But before anyone could answer, Erica interjected.

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER!! JONATHAN, GET ON GRACE!!! THEY ARE RIGHT BEHIND US!!!!” Erica shouted as she started bolting. Jonathan didn’t even want to argue. He bolted for Grace; Paul held his hand out and helped Jonathan up. And without hesitation, they all ran.

Andrew and the others sprinted far from the smoke. He looked back to see the large horde and the Titan that watched them this entire time. Andrew’s breath quickened in fear as he saw the monster smile as his legion chased them, and as they got further away from him. His body slowly disappeared. Vanishing into the air in magenta lights, like he was never there. This terrified Andrew. For a moment, his mind wandered to what happened to the Titan. But he shook his head out of it. He needed to focus on the situation at hand; he looked back to see how far behind the horde was. And he was surprised to see they weren’t as far behind them as he had hoped. They needed to figure out a way to give them enough distance to escape the horde. But he had no idea where they were going. He knew the path only had two routes, but he had no idea where Delta Tower was. He needed to get to Erica and ask. He pushed Knight Sky to run faster; Knight Sky obliged. Soon passing the others and got close enough for Andrew and Erica to talk.

“Where is Delta Tower?” Andrew shouted as he rode by her side. She looked over at him and pointed over her shoulder.

“Delta Tower is that large building built in the hillside there,—” She immediately pointed at the natural stone arch that had come to be who knows when. “—and we’re gonna take that arch.” Erica shouted. Andrew knew exactly where she was talking about. He had been through there with Ruben several times over. Though it was usually more of a dangerous trek out with the larger carnivorous dinosaurs. And he had taken the bridge across the canyon plenty of times. Nothing usually was on there besides the few herbivores or small annoying corrupted carnivores that took its trails. He looked back, though seeing the large swarming horde behind them, not ceasing their chase of them. And he had doubts they would stop chasing if they crossed the bridge or even reached Delta Tower. They had to do something to make them stop.

“Do you still have any napalm?” Andrew asked while yelling. Erica looked at him, confused about why he was bringing this up.

“I got one, but I got the resources to make more. Why? Need to blow something— oh…” she shouted as it all clicked. Andrew nodded as she still looked at him.

“We need to stop on the bridge halfway, and light the napalm across the entire walk of the bridge. Hopefully that will deter them for long enough and maybe kill enough that we can escape from their sight of chase.” Andrew suggested. Erica nodded.

“Will do. How many arrows do you have left?” She asked. Andrew remembered that he had enough element shards for fifteen regular arrows. Not enough for more than one explosive arrow.

“I only got one explosive arrow.” Andrew answered.

“But you got flame arrows set on that bow, right?” Erica asked. “Just use that.” Andrew looked at her, confused about what she asked.

“Yeah, it does. But the napalm isn’t explosive enough to cover the whole bridge in fire if I hit it with a flame arrow.” Andrew pointed out. Erica looked at him with irritation.

“I got a Physics degree and a PHD Engineering. I know it won’t be combustible enough,” She growled as she pulled out a few grenades from her saddle bag. “That’s why I’ll tie these and Napalm containers together to give that explosive yield.” She added, sticking them back. Andrew’s eyes widened at the realization she was a walking armory.

“That’ll work.”

“Good, now we’re gonna have to stop and throw these just as the horde gets close enough that they can’t stop without either falling off or dying in the flames.” Erica said. Andrew looked at her with worry on his face.

“How close is close?”

“Close enough that I’ll have to join in and do some skeet shooting on some of these bombs to speed up the process.” Erica said. Andrew let out a worrisome hum as they continued to ride on.

Some time passed as the group reached the large stone arch. As they ran across, Andrew looked back to see the horde actually had dropped some distance, but the terrors in the sky didn’t. The dragons and other flying reptiles followed at about the same distance they had been. Andrew realized that they didn’t plan how to deal with the flyers. But as he was about to mention it, Erica yanked on her Saber’s reins, and he started skidding to a stop. It was show time. He pulled Knight Sky’s reins, and like Ajax, he stopped. Andrew watched as Paul, Jonathan, and Freya stopped. All three of them stopped as they saw both Andrew and Erica stopping.

“What’re ya two doin’!!” Paul shouted. Erica looked back at him as she grabbed everything they needed from her saddlebags.

“Just get to the tower!! We’re gonna give us all a big, hopefully permanent breathing gap between us and the monsters.” Erica said. Paul and Freya on their mounts seemed hesitant. They almost started getting off of their mounts before Erica snapped her head back to them as she held the grenades and the napalm bombs she had left.

“GO!! We’ll meet you three at the tower!!” She snapped. Immediately, Paul and Freya both tightened their positions on their saddles. For a moment, they watched, hoping they could do something before sprinting off in defeat. Leaving Andrew and Erica to fend for themselves. Andrew was beginning to sweat as he watched the horde come closer and closer. That didn’t scare him as much as the swarm of flying creatures coming for them. He looked at Erica, who was binding the last of the grenades and napalm bombs.

“How are we gonna deal with the flyers?” Andrew finally asked. Erica looked at him with a scowl. She looked into the sky and stared for a moment

“How many you suppose there are, 50? 60?” Erica asked. Andrew looked up again. He thought it could be 60, maybe at most 80.

“Around 70 maybe? Why are we caring how many there are?” Andrew asked.

“So I know how many bullets I’ll have to craft later to replenish. I went through over 100 today. This will probably make it 150, maybe 200, depending on how many you get with your wooden bow and how many we miss.” Erica answered. Andrew nodded, worried about everything that was about to go down.

“So, after we blow up the bridge, we’re gonna sit here and shoot the flyers?” Andrew asked.

“Oh god, no. Hell No. Once we light this bridge, we’re bolting. Your grip good enough to shoot horseback? Your sweaty hands aren’t gonna be a problem? ” Erica asked sarcastically. Andrew wasn’t really in the mood for it, though.

“I’ll manage.”

“Good, cause it’s time to burn this bridge down.” Erica said as she looked at the horde’s distance. Andrew looked and saw that Erica wasn’t kidding; they had to be close. The horde no longer looked as one body, but dozens of different creatures. All with each individual looks to themselves. He activated his bow and set it to the flame arrow setting. And as soon as she saw he was ready, she started throwing the explosive napalm. Andrew raised his bow and aimed, and released his arrows as he repeated this as she continued throwing. He didn’t watch the arrows hit their target— but then again, when you're hearing explosions and seeing flashes of light out the corner of your eyes. You didn’t really need to guess that you were hitting the ball. He could hear the screeches and panic of the creatures charging into the unexpected wall of flames.

Within the few moments, they had covered most of the bridge in flames. Leaving only one gap in the wall between

“Last one!!” Erica shouted. She threw it in the air and ran for her Saber. Andrew watched it for a minute to make sure it was positioned in the air right before he aimed and fired. Watching the arrow fly and hit its mark. The explosion was massive as the napalm lit, causing a super bright flash of light as a fireball landed in the opening and several creatures that had tried running through just moments before. Their bodies lit ablaze as the napalm stuck to their bodies. Their screams and howls filled the air as they collapsed to the ground and died from the extreme heat. Andrew watched as more creatures started running through the fire, unable to stop in time to save themselves from the fire. He heard even more screeching from the other side, either getting too close or falling off the bridge. He tried to stare through the bright wall of fire to see what he could see; at first he couldn’t see anything. But as his eyes adjusted, he could only see the glowing magenta eyes that stared right back at him. Hundreds upon hundreds of glowing eyes. All of them staring through the fire, before they dimmed and disappeared. He really hated that creature, but he hoped that was a sign for something.

“Andrew!!” Erica screamed before she fired off her rifle. Andrew snapped out of it just in time to scream as a giant pterosaur dropped right in front of him.

“Let’s go!! Before you die to a dragon!!” Erica shouted. Andrew looked up to see the swarm of flyers begin to charge. He looked at his Tek Bow and saw he had no arrows left. He ran out of element shards.

“Terrific—” he muttered under his breath as he sprinted for Knight Sky. He ran as he heard Erica’s rifle ring out several more times. As he reached Knight Sky, he grabbed his wooden bow and an arrow. He aimed at the closest scaly creature to him. Which wasn’t too far from him, a small flying lizard with a large head and big teeth snapped its jaw at him. He released the arrow and shot it through the chest, and flew past as he heard it hit the ground.

Andrew continued to wait and shoot for the smaller flying reptiles that came at them. While Erica mainly focused on the dragons that flew and attacked at range with their breath, which was becoming more and more of a hazard as they dodged the red and purple flames of these dragons. They had been sitting there for a moment, killing the flying swarm. Succeeding in killing most of the dragons and quite a good portion of the other smaller ones. Andrew saw Erica take her eyes off the sky, looking at the looming wall of fire.

“Okay, it’s time we go.” Erica stated. Andrew shot an arrow at one of the larger pterosaurs before looking at Erica.

“We still got a ton of these flying lizards!!”

“And if we stay, we might deal with large land lizards and other monsters. We’re going now. Kill the flyers on the way.” Erica commanded. Andrew didn’t argue. He switched his grip as Knight Sky sprinted down the bridge. Erica was straddling her running Saber backwards as she aimed her rifle into the sky. Aiming at the last few dragons.

Both of them killed several more of the flying demons that chased them, but Andrew knew they would not be able to kill them all before making it to Delta Tower. But they could at least kill the last of the dragons that were being a hazard. He aimed at the last dragon that was chasing them. Holding his breath as he tried to control the shaking coming from the jostling of Knight Sky running. He got his shot, and— Andrew released the string and missed as he was startled when Erica’s rifle went off, and the dragon dropped and disappeared below with her killing blow. He looked over at her, and she looked over at him and gave a smug smile. However, Andrew focused back up before he could react. He grabbed another arrow and aimed into the sky, just to see the flying creatures dispersing across the Sulphur Fields and Wasteland.

Not a single one was chasing them anymore. He looked at Erica to see if she knew what this meant, but she was looking at him, flabbergasted at what just happened.

“Do—do you have anything? Cause I don’t.” Erica finally said. Andrew shook his head, still in shock.

“I was hoping you would.”

Andrew looked out to the wasteland and sulphur fields where they dispersed. He didn’t understand why they left or what this meant for the other monsters. But he was just relieved they stopped. Andrew looked back to the road they would have to take to get to Delta Tower, and he and Erica rode their way there in silence.

The Terrible Demise Of Tortuga

Chapter five: Again and Again

-By SunnyFox57

Originally released sometime in January, 2024. Now rewritten and reposted January 10th, 2026)

The water around Aaron’s boat was calm along the sides of the boat in a way he knew couldn’t be trusted. It stretched endlessly, going on for miles, dark and glassy and reflecting the sky with a almost mocking serenity. He stood at the helm, one hand resting loosely against the wheel and the other braced against the worn wood railing. The boat knew him probably more than any other person did. They’d been through thick and thin together from the very beginning of his journeys. It probably knew him more than he knew himself.

He’d sailed these routes so many time that sometimes it felt that even the sea too anticipated his movements. But he knew better than that. The ocean cared not about him, nor any other man. It had evolved over time, growing wilder and skittish the more it expanded. It had learned that it couldn’t trust anyone. Not the men who roamed it’s surface nor the men who went below. Not the creatures alongside or in it. Not the pieces of land and structures that depended on it to survive. It was all alone. It’d forgotten what it once was.

Aaron exhaled slowly, letting his eyes drift to the horizon as Tortuga faded behind him. This job was supposed to be simple. In and out. No complications. What was what Dante has promised, at least. Then again, Dante had promised a lot of things over the years didn’t always quite pan out. The thought pulled a half-smile from Aaron’s mouth. He hadn’t thought about it in years, not consciously anyways. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, back then, whenever he’d first met the man. In fact, it still wasn’t. It wasn’t something he could look back on and find funny, or ever tell his children or grandchildren. He’d been young back then. Too young to understand what fear was. To understand the darkness that tore at the edges of the world, ready to swallow it at any moment. Too young to understand how far a person in love was willing to go. Or not go.

He swallowed and tightened his grip on the wheel. It was better to not think of such things. There was no use in bringing up the past. Its not like it was part of the present. The dock of the far shore was slowly coming into view, its wooden planks jutting out from the shoreline like broken teeth. Gulls screeched and circled for scraps along the edge of the beach.

As Aaron pulled into it, he spotted Dante Schwartz. The man was perched on a few crates, legs swinging back and forth in a nervous manner, his head tilted upward. He looked older than Aaron remembered when last seeing him. Then again, everyone he’d known in his youth had been seeming that way recently.

“Surprised that you’re actually here! I half expected you to not show at all.” Aaron calls, as he hops onto the dock, boots thudding softly against the wood. Dante huffs a laugh at that. “Yeah well, I debated it.” He clambers to his feet and walks over to his..”friend”, gloved hands tucked into his pockets.

“You never could make up your mind at anything.” Aaron chuckles, reaching out to firmly shake the man’s hand. “So where’s your little buddy?”

Dante shakes his head and steps backwards toward the crates behind him. He scoots a few of them aside, to reveal a metal reinforced crate. On first glance it looked empty. But then there was a slight shift and two yellow beady eyes peered out. Its scales were a dark silver color, the only flecks of color were dotted along its horns and snout and snout. Aaron lets out a low whistle, kneeling in front of the cage and pressing one hand tentatively against the bars. The shadowmane makes no move to hiss or even change positions at all.

“So you were telling the truth.”

Dante kneels beside Aaron. “Aye. He’s the last one. Nobody wanted the poor thing, they all said he looks sickly. Absolute bonkers, in my opinion. He’s just a tad bit shy, that’s all.” He pats the cage fondly.

Aaron glances up away from the shadowmane and at Dante, studying him for a minute.

“If you care about him so much,” He says finally, standing up slowly. “Why give them away?”

Dante’s shoulder slump and he sighs, fidgeting with his gloved hands in a act of slight agitation.

“Because..I’m tired, Aaron. I’m tired of waking up, afraid of my own creatures. Of wondering if somehow…someway they can see what I am. I’m tired of being scared that one of them will someone break out of its cage and strangle me to death.”

Aaron says nothing, so Dante continues.

“I want out. I need something normal. Anything normal and predictable. Bloody hell, I’d even settle for being a taxi. Traffic, weather, crazy people..at least I know how that type of danger works. I’m tired of constantly looking over my shoulder. I just can’t do this anymore. I’m tired. Aren’t you?”

~

“Aren’t you?”

The question lingers somewhere in the back of Aaron’s mind as he sailed back towards Tortuga, even after finishing up with the transfer. The shadowmane had made no complaint or struggle being loaded onto his boat.

Yes, he was tired. Why wouldn’t he be? Everyone in his line of business grew tired eventually, especially if they’d been through what he had. He’d thought about quitting, many many times but…he just couldn’t seem to. He had never learned to quit. This was his job and his duty, and to abandon it now would quite frankly destroy any that was left of his sanity.

The return trip was quiet. The only sound was that of the waves shifting and a occasional bird passing by. By the time he reached Tortuga, the sky had dimmed to a bruised purple coloring. If he had to guess, it was almost seven o clock.

A peacekeeper, Helen, was already standing out on the docks, her hands on her hips. “I was beginning to think you’d gone off and died at sea without telling me.” She snorts dryly, as he hops down from the boat onto the dock. Aaron grins, as he ties it down.

“Sorry to disappoint. I’m surprised to see you here. Isn’t it Zooey’s shift today?”

Helen crosses her arms, watching him with narrowed eyes as he grabs the metal crate and hauls it forward. “Yes, well, she was posted at the city square with Paul today, since it’s a bit more..busy.”

Her gaze flickers from Aaron to the crate and then back again. Her mouth tightened, not quite in disapproval but not quite curiosity either.

“And what,” she begins flatly, “Is that supposed to be?”

“My new best friend.” Aaron says easily, shifting the crate’s weight against his hip.

Helen snorts at that. “Funny. What is it? Please tell me it’s not another Tyrannosaurus rex.”

“No..it’s a shadowmane, Helen. I learned my lesson last time.” Aaron chuckles, continuing to walk down the dock, boots echoing softly against the dock as the metal crate squeaks faintly.

“You know the rules, Buckleshoot.” Helen says, falling into step beside him, blonde braid swinging slight back and forth in the wind. “Anything with too much teeth, claws, attitude problems or violent tendencies gets shipped away back to where it came from.”

“This shadowmane doesn’t bite or claw. According to his old owner, he is quite timid. He won’t cause trouble.”

Helen sighs. “That’s what you always say, Buckleshoot.”

“Yeah well, I mean it this time. He won’t cause trouble.”

Helen studies him for a long moment, then sighs in a tired way that had nothing to do with her shift.

“Everyone’s suddenly bringing more trouble into this city lately,” she grunts. “More creatures. Unexpected arrivals. Etcetera. When will it ever end?”

Aaron snorts softly, as they near closer to his home. “Tortuga’s always had trouble, Helen. We just pretend we’re surprised when it shows up in more prominent ways.”

She huffed a laugh at that, shaking her head.

“Get it settled,” she says finally. “Then fill out the paperwork, unless you want another deceased animal on your hands.

Aaron smiles faintly. “Goodnight to you too, Helen.”

~~

To say that Paul was mad was an understatement. A HUGE overstatement. He was mad plenty of the time, in a calm resentful way, but right now…he was absolutely furious. The time had blown by after he helped the Peterson kids and then Elizabeth to their homes, him barely noticing or thinking about anything else. He couldn’t even remember relinquishing his post for the night. Adrenaline pushed him forward, as he angrily made his way through the city and towards Mrs. Lois’ house.

He felt like a ballon just waiting to burst or even a ticking time bomb counting down, as he finally reached the door. Paul rapped on it loudly with a closed fist. He knew that she was home. She’d probably closed up shop right after the kids went home, knowing her.

Sure enough after a few seconds, the door slid open a crack, Lois’ brown eyes peering at him narrowly. He wasted no time or energy trying to conversate after that, simply pushing past her and the door, into the room.

“Well, come in. I’m always happy when I have a unexpected guest burst through my door.” Lois says dryly, shutting the door.

“Oh, please. Don’t throw that nonsense at me. You knew I was gonna be coming here the moment that you started messing around.”

Lois sighs and gestures toward the two cups and teapot on the counter. “Tea?”

Paul’s only response was a glare. She sighs again and takes one into her hand, filling it up and then hobbling over to the living room. “At least take a seat for our conversation.”

Reluctantly he does as she says and sits down on one of the armchairs across from hers, still fuming.

“So, why are you here?”

“Don’t play coy with me!” He snaps. “I’m here because you broke our deal. You messed with the children.”

Lois sips at her tea slowly for a moment, then sets it down with a clink.

“What do you mean? I didn’t break our agreement at all. The poor child suffered from a mild spout of dehydration—”

“Don’t lie to me, witch!” He finally snaps, one hand balled into a fist, slamming into the table in front of them. A dull thud resonates through the room for a moment. Lois’ purses her lips in disapproval.

“Please don’t call me names. I am not a witch, nor anything of the sort and I do not appreciate being named such things as insults. I did not hurt the Peterson girl. Believe it or not, i would not hurt a child intentionally. That isn’t who I am.”

“I don’t CARE who or what you are!! We had an agreement! You leave me, Aaron and the rest of the people from this town alone and we leave you alone to do whatever you are up to!”

Lois regards him steadily, wrinkled hands folded in her lap.

“I’m afraid you misunderstand the nature of our agreement.” She says calmly. “I agreed not to interfere with you or your little friends. Not to completely blind myself.”

Paul lets out a sharp and humorless laugh at that. “You can’t just twist the semantics! You. Owe. Me.”

“I don’t owe you nothing. If anything, you owe me everything. Again, I didn’t hurt the Peterson girl. She was suffering from dehydration.”

Paul leaned forward in the chair, jaw clenched. “So the girl just collapsed all of the sudden? At YOUR shop? And you expect me to believe that was just coincidence?”

“Look Paul-” She began, reaching out to touch his palm. He instinctively pulls away immediately, expression darkening further.

Lois catches the cue and sighs, going back to sipping at her tea again, expression softening a tad bit.

“I don’t expect you to believe anything I say, Paul. But there ARE things greater than you and me. Whoever Fate chooses is beyond us. Certain doors are going to open for that girl, whether I touch them or not. You know what I mean. You’ve seen it happen before.”

There was a pause after that, silence stretching uncomfortably through the room, the only sound being the clock ticking faintly.

“I hate this. I hate you. I hate this place. I hate this belligerent world. How can we stand it? How can you stand it?” Paul finally says quietly, massaging his forehead with one hand.

“Patience. One day something good will come of this world or some of its people. One day we will be free to live in a world that won’t discriminate others. One day…we’ll all be free.”

~~

Author’s note:

This chapter is a lot shorter than most others of the reboot have been/are going to be, and I do apologize for that but i can’t say it wasn’t for a reason

PLASTIC BAG: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Chapter nine

( next chapter on allosaurus, last on dire wolf)

I started to put my diabolical plan to action. I fixed my club, and got a brand new shiny hatchet that was made out of metal. Upgrade! I went down to the beach and looked for those blasted Dino’s again, and there they were! Happily grazing at berries. How dare they relax when they know I’m their arch nemesis.

I crept up to the stegosaurus and then WABAM! I hit one in the face with my club extremely hard. I kept on hitting it, then it finally toppled over. The other two were coming, and I started to hit the last remaining female. The only male was on me, and I was at dangerously low health. I had to introduce my new hatchet now. “ meet…” I said into its face “ MY HATCHET!” I sliced it in the face, and just like that it fell dead.😵

I was sad, because the original stegosaurus I tamed was female, and now the two about to be tamed were also females. At least I would have more tames. The night started to close in on me and the unconscious Dino’s, so I built torches around us to stay warm and see. Then some annoying compys, raptors, and dilos come up and start to nibble at my to be tames. I easily kill all of them with my new handy tool and wait. Then guess what. THAT DARN CARNO SHOWS UP AGAIN. I had to leave my poor unconscious stegosaurus and flee to survive. I was so mad.

The next day I decide to see what’s beyond in the woods on one side of my territory. I take my stegosaurus and Lucy ( my female raptor) for protection. I see many strange animals I have never seen before. I hear a distant buzz, then look to see a mega sized wasp is ATTACKING A TEENY TINY BRACHEOSARUS. it was insane. I was thinking surely the Dino would win against a bug. I was wrong. That thing killed the dinosaur and ATE IT. Then it looked at me. And like usual, I ran. I slept under my covers that night thinking I had a some sorta bug curse .

"Chapter-one anglerfish"

The angular fish is swimming in the sea once there was a human in the sea and that human was basically food because flesh and food rhyme and then the angular fish was swimming after him he was trying to run in water the human but... The human was lucky The angular fish wasn't...the angular fish was training for speed... and then he caught the human And he was full finally... But there are more like a team, and they almost died. Because they weren't speeding because they didn't speed at all they didn't have any power ups and they had to eat cooked meat the healed up and had some levels in them but on the bright side? No one died no one dead at all Basically they have been leveled up because... They had more levels than EVER! But there was one twist, there were super slow. The anglerfish caught them, there was a right twist, actually, the angular fish was Next to their base... But they were eating the base

secretly there was an angler fish tamed, but he was stuck to a wall.... (By the way, that was the end.)

Dodo tales (s1 ep4) the last few episodes are In the snail thing, allosaurus, and ammonite sections.

.

Eventually they came to a large house of mostly stone in the middle of the forest.

"Well, this is it" his new friend said as he flung open the door. Before stepping in, he thought "what if this is a trap?" So he asked "how would it benefit you to save me?"

"I needed someone to.... help me with something " he replied. Then he remembered the conversation they had on the way here.

"Can we please get it over with!?" He asked

"Sure"

"Oh and By the way, if it involves me getting killed, then count me out."

10 minutes later, he found himself sitting on a couple pillars. "Stand up and wave your arms a little!" He heard the man shout at him

"What is wrong wi-" he was cut off by a massive footstep, not too far away.....

Plz put down name suggestions for the main character in the form of tips. I'm really tired of saying: he said, he asked, he ran, he found, he saw, I think you get the idea

The beast wars p4

So jack had just stopped squealing like a fan girl when she meets her hero for the first time, and went back to business and try to figure out what was in the egg “ a carcar, a stego, maybe a giga mmm a megalosaurus maybe” said jack “yuty” said berry “what!” A yutrannis” replyed berry “how do you know” said Eldon “in my birth pack I was the best at figuring out what’s in an egg” said berry “once I saved the whole pack from a giga” “good gravy” said jack “oh gravy sounds so good right now” said berry “well that’s good cause it seems like we will be eating some hart gravy with a yuty at our disposal”

P5 coming soon in next Dino

The Island- chapter VI

Marcel eyed the white and gray parasaur eating undergrowth about 100 feet away, with club in hand and bola in other. It was now day six on the mysterious island, and Marcel had spent the majority of yesterday recovering from his injuries and then setting out to tame a parasaur. He had tried to tame it like he had tamed Magnus, who was back in his home curled up in Marcel’s sleeping bag. Marcel had offered some purple colored berries to the parasaur, who had gladly taken them but ignored Marcel afterwards. He had tried again several times to no avail, and by that point it was too dark to see anything, even with his newly crafted torch he had made last night.

Now, as the parasaur grazed, Marcel thought back to his wild plan he thought of yesterday. He wondered if maybe he could knock out the parasaur and feed it berries until it woke up. He tried that very early that morning and it was promising, but the parasaurs on the Island were too fast and he couldn’t catch up. So he crafted a bola out of rope and rocks. How he knew how to craft one Marcel didn’t know, but he made one and was eager to test it out. Now, lying down in the bushes, he stood up and swung the bola over his head, trying to get enough momentum with the rocks. Then he ran over to the parasaur and threw the bola at its legs, praying it would work.

And it did. The bola wrapped itself around the dinosaurs legs and trapped it. Then Marcel took out his club, made from a thick stick and hide wrapped all over it, and began beating the creatures head with the crude weapon. The parasaur honked, but couldn’t get away. And then it dropped. Marcel thought he had killed it at first, due to how many times he hit the creature, but he see ut was breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then held his hand out to see if it would take food. The creature weakly lifted its head, but didn’t take any food. So Marcel waited…and waited…and waited…

Finally, the dinosaur accepted the food, and again after a few more minutes. And then, it pushed itself up to its feet, and looked down at Marcel. He now had domesticated a parasaur. He walked backwards slowly, and the parasaur followed him. He decided to call the parasaur ghost, due to his coloration, and Marcel and Ghost set off back to their house…

Marcel spent the rest of day six and part of day seven stitching together a saddle for Ghost. Made from hide, fiber, and a little bit of wood, Ghost now had a saddle, complete with pouches and bags for carrying recourses or items, and straps on the right side where Marcel could strap an extra spear. It took some time for Ghost to become comfortable with being ridden, but once he was tame he became a reliable mount he could run for long distances and carry a lot of weight. During the late afternoon of day seven, Marcel began making large torches to place around his house. Day eight was spent making storage bins to store items and tools in, and he also made a mortar and pestle, where he learned he could ground up flint and stone to make a much better firestarter he dubbed sparkpowder. Day nine, however…Marcel was not ready for what occurred on day nine…

Check Andrewsarcus for chapter V, and chapter VII will be released in ankylosaurus

The Obelisk

-Chapter 5- Last chapters were in Achitna, Allo, and other tamables in alphabetical order

-written by Moon

Curled up on his ledge, Forest gazed down at his two sleeping sisters on the moss covered floor below them. The basilisks voice filled his head, and he couldn’t chase it off.

Fjordur needs you…

You will save the world…

How? Forest caught himself thinking. How could I save the world, of all creatures? I’m just a silly juvenile Rock drake that’s spent most of his day playing hide and seek and being teased by his sisters.

And… how could I save the world from down here? He glanced at his sisters, breathing deeply in their sleep. I… I couldn't leave them.

Even if you had to save the world? He could hear the basilisks whispers much too clearly.

Forest slammed his eyes shut. With all these words and thoughts and… WORRY in his brain, sleep was a long ways away.

***

Forest was startled awake. His sisters were muttering sleepily, shifting in their spots, mother and father were in the next cave over, but he could hear sleepy mumbles and sighs coming from them as well.

Should I leave?

Forest sat up quietly at the thought.

Like, right now?

I have to save the world, apparently.

But my family…

Forest slid off his ledge, making a final decision. He breathed in deeply, and padded down the cavern hall to their study room. Small glow worms wiggled on the walls around him. He slowly made way into the smallest cave, which he could barely squeeze into.

In the cave, was a small plant.

It was the first and only plant Forest had ever seen. That was one thing his sisters would tease him about. His name. Forest.

He was a walking joke, in the dark, leafless caves. But when he found this plant, the adults let him keep it alive.

Carefully he tore the largest leaf off the plant, trying not to hurt any other part. He turned and walked another cavern. The one where he and his sisters would burn rotting sticks. He grabbed a chunk of charcoal from the floor and scraped a note acrossed the leaf, writing:

Gone to save the world. Can’t explain now. Be back soon, stay safe.

love you guys.

-Forest

The Surface - Chapter One (this is a few years after the prologue) Prologue is in Achatina, next will be in Ankylosaurus.

Jasper saw a basilisk in each of his dreams. It told him about the Surface, a dangerous region of Aberration. It told him to travel there. Upon waking, Jasper found the Rock Drake that he had hatched years back. They had grown to be good friends. Jasper said, “Hookfang, will you travel to the Surface with me?” Hookfang, who had also been experiencing dreams of the same kind, agreed.

Stars Of Hope: Spirits Of The Stars

Chapter 3: A Night Of Wonder

A human woke up silently and yawned it was night ‘hm… this is not normal for me to wake up at night oh well…’ they thought getting up from their bed. They went to grab their supplies for this night they grabbed a few spears, a shotgun, some ammo for the shotgun, some food, and some armor. They walked out of their stone base and breathed in the night air silently and walked into the woods.

~~~

Cloud and Jungle waited patiently for the wolf to get back to the place they heard some footsteps, “those are human footsteps “ Cloud whispers to Jungle they hid in a bush and watched a human walk by they held their breath as the human walked a bit closer. The human had stopped looking at the bush seeing something Cloud got ready to sprint away Jungle had slithered out of there already Cloud held her breath and sprinted to where Jungle went…

~~~

The human looked at the bushes seeing a pair of eyes then saw a white tail in the bushes then it disappeared. They sighed, “I dont know what those were but I hope its not any of the creatures that my father had hurt in the past or scared them…” they say their voice a female. She sighed and went to go get some berries for her dodo at home. She got berries and headed back home to see two creatures knocked out in-front of her base. She turned her head to see her brother, “Look! Silinia I knocked out this baskilisk and sabertooth!” Her brother said happily, “Jake…. Why?” Silinia said with a sigh as the two talked the creature’s were gone they had woken up and ran away….

-selveevee

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Convergence

Chapter 1

It was a cool, clear morning on the island of Ragnarok. The island had been at peace now for many centuries. The island was home to many different villages spread throughout the biomes. Most were barely more than a couple houses rather than a whole town. However, there was one village in the southern portion of the map just on the outside of the desert that was much larger. Many of the inhabitants of the island lived there. Its name, was Solace. It had many layers, as it was built around the cliffs in the region. The houses were very small, in order to accommodate the people. In fact, most houses were limited to one room and sometimes a smaller closet space. There were a few larger buildings, such as the tavern, meeting hall, and council chambers. All along the paths and bridges that connected it all were people with stands, buying and selling whatever goods they had. It was in this village, that a man named Spark resided.

He was about eighteen years old, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was about six feet tall, and was surprisingly stronger than most of the other kids his age. He had been living on this island for as long as he could remember. When he was very young he was adopted by a traveler. Although he was not his father, Spark thought of him that way. He had taught him everything he knew, from cooking and making camp to hunting and how to use weapons. One day, he left Spark at a village and journeyed off on a raft. He was never seen again.

During his time living in Solace, Spark had made a few friends, and beaten just about anyone his age and a few years older in any sort of combat challenge as well as what was the common challenge of strength amongst the men, arm wrestling. Due to this, Spark was usually thought of as a man that you could go to that could get a job done. He was reliable, and respected by many of the older men.

When Spark wasn’t helping out around the village, making an occasional hunting trip into the woods, or winning arm wrestles in the tavern, he was often at his house practicing with his sword, strategizing, and thinking about life. He wasn’t overly ambitious or anything, but he was ready to move forward and see what adventure awaited him in his future. It was on one of those days that he heard a knock on the door.

Pandora

• Chapter 2 •

‘Dear Journal,

Things have been going well.’

‘The Wyvern Kingdom is huge and full of life.’

Wingbeats sounded quietly as a dragon soared high above the ground. Tall and rigid spires of rock rose beneath and around her, leading to the huge mountains ahead, sharp and pointed peaks dusted with white snow.

She peered down as she flew, tilting her wings and veering slowly left. She could see the Wyvern Palace standing at the side of the mountain, shining with glass and stone and a tall angled roof that glittered brightly.

‘The Poison Wyverns threw a huge festival outside their homes last night. Everyone was there, even the four tribe generals and King Toxin. Makes sense, though, since he’s a Poison Wyvern. Even he wouldn’t miss that.’

She flapped her wings once. Fire and Lightning Wyverns climbed in and out of their homes by the valley and gorge, the green and blue river rushing through the cliffs softly.

The beautiful pastel colors of Ice Wyverns glittered above her as they flew out from the peaks. Poison Wyverns climbed past the outcroppings and crowded by the place where they had hosted the festival. They were cleaning things up and scavenging food and treasures others had misplaced. She huffed a small laugh and turned once more through the air, beating her wings and flying downwards.

‘My sister is doing well, too. Still strange as always, but I love her. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what she’s thinking. She seems so curious about the world.’

She landed with a small thump by the valley, looking out at the river.

‘I wonder what she’s doing now.’

“Hey, Bria!”

The Lightning Wyvern turned her head to see two of her friends coming down from the caves by the cliffside. The first one landed with a thump and the other nearly crashed into her. They spent a few moments scuffling about and getting their tails untangled.

“Hi, Bright, hi Ember.” Bria said kindly.

“Sup,” Ember said as Bright pushed away from her.

“How’s the new hunter doing?” Bright asked excitedly, coming up and nudging Bria with a pale gold wing.

Bria chuckled, sitting down. “Good so far. Where’s Nettle?”

“Here,” The Poison Wyvern said tiredly, approaching from behind them. “And don’t ask. Stupid festival got me all over-stimulated last night.” Her grey-green scales were scuffed and her teal eyes half-closed. She looked absolutely done.

Ember laughed, and Bright said, “That was a blast. You guys should have seen Ember and her drums! She was amazing!”

“Aw, sorry I missed that,” Bria said. She’d not been able to be at the festival long, as she got caught up in her night training with Forn as he showed her layout of the kingdom.

“It’s fine.” Ember said. “Hey, you mind if we help you hunt, Bria?”

“Not at all. I’d appreciate that, thanks,” Bria said.

“Ugh, count me out.” Nettle said, settling down in a comfortable position. “By the way, how’s that sister of yours doing?” She asked Bria flatly.

Bria glanced at her and thought for a moment. “She’s good. Better.”

(Continuing through all Breedables alphabetically!)

—Moon

I infact didn’t bring enough arrows and ended up knocking it by punching. NEVER GIVE UP!!!

Clans

Chapter 3

Finch turned away from the bustling group of Raptors and slipped into the camp. The home of Mountain Clan was a large, long clearing full of small dens and dug-out hollows in the foliage. Small hatchlings flitted about in the center of the camp, the fading daylight casting long shadows below them.

She breathed in the scent of the breeze and sat down somewhere in the shade. She noticed the others crowded around the fight begin to depart and shook her head slowly, rubbing her face with both talons and laying down.

“Hey!”

Finch tilted her head upwards to see her littermate, Tail, above her, leaning over a large rock. Finch smiled at the sight of her, her tail swishing.

“You wanna get outta camp?” Tail asked.

***

The stars began to slowly appear as the sun disappeared below the forest. Pale yellow grass shifted quietly, flattened as Finch and Tail sat down in it.

Tail gnawed on a stick quietly, her voice muffled as she spoke. “You hear about those Raptors we scented by the border?”

Finch glanced at her, her tail flicking in curiosity. “I did, yeah. You think it’s another pack?”

Tail rolled onto her back and looked up at the sky, tossing the stick away. “Maybe.”

“Father says we shouldn’t trust other packs,” Finch said quietly.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be so cool to meet other Raptors like us?” Tail asked. The growing moonlight shone on her monotone scales, Her light colors and her fading dark brown muzzle edged with silver.

“I suppose it would be,” Finch agreed, turning her head to gaze up at the night sky as well.

“Y’know, I think we’re super lucky to have someone like your dad as our leader.” Tail said.

“You think so?” Finch asked.

Tail nodded. “Definitely. He’s awesome! Do you ever wanna be a leader after him?”

Finch laughed. “No! I don’t ever wanna lead a pack. You can do all that.”

“Yeah, I’d be a great leader,” Tail boasted, sitting up with her eyes shining.

Finch huffed slightly, her pale salmon feathers ruffling in the cold air. “Are you sure about that?”

Tail growled mischievously and leapt at her, knocking Finch over in the grass. Finch yelped and hissed quickly, cuffing Tail’s stomach with her back legs softly and pulling her friend down to the ground with her. There was the faint call of a faraway owl as they squirmed and fought playfully. The claw-shaped moon shone down on them and they hissed challenges and jibes at each other, before Finch shoved her away gently and fell onto her side.

Tail flopped back down into the dry grass, and Finch rolled over next to her. “I like living in a Clan,” she said softly.

“Me too,” Finch said. “Remember the stories of the old packs, the ones that moved around all the time and only had about five to ten raptors in them?”

“Loners,” Tail said.

“Yeah,” Finch said. “Claustrophobia must have been a big thing or something back then.”

Tail laughed, and they stopped as a Troodon screeched in the distance. They smiled at each other.

“Let’s get back,” Tail suggested.

They padded down to the small clearing, emerging from under a half-fallen log. Finch could see most of the other Raptors were sleeping already, apart from a few who were awake like they were. She and Tail climbed up to the den they typically slept in with a few of the other raptors, then curled up to sleep.

Finch listened to the crickets and sounds of the forest, resting her muzzle under her talon and closing her eyes.

(Last chapter was in Andrewsarchus, will continue through all Rideables in alphabetical order!)

—Moon

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Convergence

Chapter 7

Ryan and Brenna Stone both sat by the fire. Alex and Jennifer had gone to bed nearly an hour ago. Ryan had just returned a few days ago from a trip to Solace. Normally, he shared about his time in the village the night of his return, but he hadn’t spoken a word about it since. Brenna looked over at Ryan. He was staring into the fire. She didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts, but she knew she had to figure out what was going on.

“Ryan?” She started. Ryan’s gaze never moved. He remained motionless in his chair. He let out a small grunt, acknowledging the fact that his wife had just spoken to him. “Ryan, you haven’t been yourself lately. You’ve barely spoken a word since you got back. What’s up? Is something wrong?” A billion other questions filled Brenna’s head, but she held them back. She had always been a little worrisome. She didn’t want to overwhelm Ryan. Ryan took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and let out a long sigh.

“Do you remember the story I told the girls a couple years back?” He asked.

“The one about Helena and Mei-Yin?”

“Yeah. That one.” Ryan spoke slowly, thoughts swirling inside his head.

“I remember it. What has you thinking about it? You usually don’t remember most of the stories you tell. Even some of the ones you make up on your own.” Brenna smiled a little. Ryan, usually fond of Brenna’s light teasing, showed no reaction.

“That’s because it was real.” He slowly looked over at Brenna. “And I didn’t tell you all of it.” Although more questions began to flood into Brenna’s head, she waited for Ryan to continue. Ryan, still speaking slow as he sunk into his thoughts, continued. “Although Helena and Mei-Yin made it to Earth, they did not defeat all the titans that roamed the surface. In fact it is likely that they both died trying to fend them off. And they also were not originally intending to go to Earth. They had help from someone on the Aberrant Ark. It was Diana. Diana Altaras.”

“The same Diana Altaras from before we launched the Arks?”

“Yes. The same one.”

“What was she doing trying to return to Earth so soon?”

“When the whole thing with the Arks started, and even through the entire process, we were told to keep everything top secret. Only certain information was allowed to be shared, and only with those closest to us. I shared some of it with you, as well as Diana. She would not have initially known, except when I needed a technician, she volunteered her sister Julia. Due to this, I had to share info with Diana so that she could get what was needed from Julia without her finding out about the Arks. Because of this, Diana became more involved in the production and planning for the Arks. She decided to go to Earth because that is what we planned.”

“I thought the plan was to stay on the Arks until the Earth was clear of corruption.”

“That’s what we were told to communicate to you. Information was kept highly confidential. Technicians who knew what they were working on were not permitted to know about other areas. This was so that the plan could work how it needed to. See, the idea that the corruption would just go away over time was never a realistic idea. We knew the corruption would spread, and that we would be unable to combat it without a larger force of people who were trained beyond what those of the Terran Federation or the URE could present. That is why we made the Arks. There are too many details to go into it fully, but essentially, there is a part of the brain that remains active and intact for many years after a person’s death. Specialists found that using this certain Matrix of the brain they could replicate a person, essentially cloning them. The clone would contain many of their memories, essentially bringing a person back from the dead. Not only this, but the Matrix could also be altered to harbor different memories that were not the specimen’s own, and the person would have no ability to tell. Being one of the URE’s leading scientists in the neural field, they offered me a position in helping create and design these ‘clones’. Although I was not part of the crew who worked on obtaining the genetics for the individuals, I was heavily involved in the development of each ones’ mind. Essentially, we were able to gather this Matrix from billions upon billions of people. We picked those who would best help in the quest to reclaim Earth, and set them up to be generated on the Arks. The Arks are essentially the training program for people so that they will be better equipped to survive on Earth. Less than ten of us who worked on the project were allowed to retain our old memories, along with those around us who we wished. This was so that we could ensure that the plan of getting to Earth was followed while properly training as many people as possible.”

“Okay. I think I am following. So what part does Diana have to play in all this?” Brenna asked. Although it was a lot of information to absorb, she was used to it. After all, she was married to a neural scientist, complicated and confusing discussions were quite common.

“Diana was one of those people.” Ryan began again. “The plan was that within the first few years, we would all use Passageways, essentially secret tunnels that lead to other Arks, to go around and get people ready. The thought was that in a few years, we would have nearly everyone ready, and we could storm Earth with an army of billions. However, at this point it has been a little over 15 years since we got here. I am assuming that Diana came to the same conclusion that I did many years ago: all the members of that team are likely dead. It would seem Diana took matters into her own hands and helped those on her Ark prepare to reach Earth, though it would seem fate had a different idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“Diana was killed on the Aberrant Ark by Rockwell. At this point, we are likely the only ones who even know about the existence of Earth, and there is no one left alive currently on the Earth.” They sat there in silence for a moment. Brenna eventually broke the silence.

“For the most part, this all makes sense. But why are you telling me this now? Why not when you first heard about it?”

“Because it didn’t matter then.” Ryan shifted in his seat and looked at Brenna. “Brenna, listen. Eddie told me that we may have a war on our hands. From the information he gave me, it appears as though someone has found access to a Passageway, and are using it to amass an army in the north. The council meets tomorrow to make plans to counter it.”

“Does this mean that you have to fight?” Brenna asked nervously.

“Yes. But not only that. They want all people of the island to fight. In other words, you, me, Jennifer, and Alex will have to leave tomorrow night so that we can get there in time.” Ryan expected Brenna to freak out, but she simply stood up and sighed.

“Well if we only have one day to prepare, we best get some rest so we can make the most of it.” She headed off to their room. Ryan sat by the fire a few more moments. Questions began to fill his head. What would happen during the coming war? Was there any chance that other members of the team were still alive? Was there any hope of returning to Earth? He sighed. It was no use exhausting himself over it right now. He had an interesting day ahead of him.

The Five Talons of Abberation, Prologue...

A creature paced in the shadows, circling her. She heard it's growls and chitters, and it was clear that it was hunting her. That's why they had thrown her in that pit, after all. The creature emerged slightly from the shadows. A long, pointed spike was perched atop of its snout, with a smaller matching one underneath, on its chin. It had shimmering neon white eyes, and she watched as they hungrily glared at her. It's jaw hung open, like a door with creaky hinges, hanging in the cold, dank air. All was silent except for the creatures chitters. Drool hung out of its mouth, dripping onto the cold stone floor and echoing around the cavern. It had clearly been starved, and she was about to become its meal. It dashed forward, coming to a stop right in front of her. It lowered itself to the ground, looking at her with its empty, soulless eyes. It chittered and screeched, roaring in her face. Her eyes widened in terror, and a lump formed in her throat. It tilted its head slowly. It was... playing with her. It was obviously highly intelligent. She backed up against the wall of the pit, breathing hard. Then, it's long, spiky tail lashed back and forth as it got ready to snap at her. And as soon as it did, she ducked, dodging it's glistening white teeth. She ran across, and caught sight of a glimpse of hope. A bunch of small, sharp rocks jutting out of the edge of the pit. Unfortunately for the people who had throw her in here, she was a great climber. She ran towards the rocks, hearing the beast stomping behind her. She threw herself at the rocks, gripping them and climbing up them as fast as her limbs could move. Then, she ran out of that dark, shadowy place of no names as fast as she could.

-SangToareGirl

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Concergence

Chapter 6

It was a sunny day on the beach. The sky was deep blue. Thin, wispy clouds scattered the sky. Waves, capped with foam broke on the shore. Alex lay on her back in the sand, staring up into the sky. Her world was calm and peaceful. She wondered why her family didn’t find it so amazing; the beautiful skies, the roaring waves, the trees swaying in the breeze. And the dinosaurs! So many kinds. So many colors. Some of them so big that they could squash her in one step, yet so calm they she could touch them. What a world she lived in.

“Alex! Come inside! You’ve been out there all morning and there’s work to be done!” Alex heard her mother shout from inside their hut on the beach. She rolled her eyes as she got up, giving a small sigh. Chores. Sometimes she wondered if any other twelve year old girls had to do chores. As she walked over to the hut, she brushed the sand out of her dark brown mahogany hair. It wasn’t that she disliked helping her parents, but between her and Jennifer, her older sister, she felt like she did most of the work, not to mention she had always been a little rebellious.

She stepped in the all too familiar hut. It had the same old wood floors, with the same old chairs and table, with the same old doors to the same old bedrooms. Nothing in the house ever changed. Not like the skies. Jennifer was sitting on a chair reading a book. Dad had got it for her on one of his trips to the city of Solace.

“Alex, wash your hands and come help get things ready for dinner.”

“Do I have too? Why can’t Jennifer do it?”

“Because you haven’t done anything today. Besides, you know you do better in the kitchen.”

“Fiiine.” Alex groaned. She slowly walked over to the smaller table in the kitchen to get to work.

“You know what you don’t do better in?” Her mom said with a slight giggle. “Clean your room.” She answered with a smile on her face. Although Alex was a little annoyed that she had to clean her room, she couldn’t help but smile back.

———————————————————————————————

The girls all waited at the table. Dad would be home any minute. Alex thought she heard something. Silence. Then, suddenly, a large figure burst through the door. He held a sack which seemed fairly full, as well as a dead sheep on his back. His beard, nearly black, but still a little brown, neatly outline his beaming smile. He had been gone for a few days now, and they were all glad to see he had returned. After hugging them all, he set his things down and began butchering the sheep. Alex glanced over at the bag.

“What did you bring home this time?” She asked. She already knew he wouldn’t tell her now, but she asked anyways.

“You’ll have to wait until after dinner. After all, everything is better on a full stomach.”

When dinner was over, they cleaned up and lit the fire. Dinner had been quiet, as the girls ate as quickly as they could so they could see what was in the bag. Alex watched her father dump the sack out onto the table. A few trinkets fell out. One was a crystal, bright white and perfectly clear. Although Alex wanted it, she figured it was for Mom. Everything else, was papers. “Are you girls ready for a story?” Their father asked. He grabbed the stack of papers off of the table. Without hesitation, the girls ran over and sat by the fire as their father pulled up a chair. Alex loved when their father told them stories. She sat quietly and listened as he began. There was no title, but it did not need one, as the adventures that took place made up for it a hundred-fold. She listened intently to the tale. She heard of an Australian lady, a fierce warrior, a mad scientist, and an evil tyrant. Her thoughts and emotions swirled within her as she heard of them fighting massive beasts, traversing a metal fortress in the sky, and traveling the galaxy. Each new land they came to was different than the last. She felt sad as she heard of many people dying as the scientist turned on his friends. She felt triumphant when the friends survived being killed by the scientist themselves. Finally, she felt a little fear as the friends traversed their final planet, Earth, filled with towering beasts. The story ended as the warrior lady scared off the giants. They sat there quietly for a moment, thinking about all they had just heard. The only sound was the sound of the crackling fire. After a moment or two, their mother broke the silence. “Alright you girls, time for bed.” Alex and Jennifer got up and headed off to their rooms. As Alex laid down in her bed, she drifted off into thought. She would have to wait until her parents went to bed to see the stars. As she waited, she dreamt of Earth. She dreamt of the towering giants roaming the lands. She pictured herself fighting them off, like the warrior lady in the story. She wished it could all happen, but it was only a story after all. She quieted her thoughts, and listened. Finally, she heard her parents head to their room. Alex laid quietly on her bed. She wanted to make sure that they were going to stay in there. Upon waiting a few moments, she climbed out and crept over to the window. She slowly opened it, being careful to make as little noise as possible. She climbed through and dropped onto the sand. She ran a few yards from the house and gazed up into the night sky. The stars glimmered like jewels in the deep black shroud that surrounded them. She took a deep breath. It was wonderful. The dazzling sky. The crisp breeze that blew from the ocean, lightly spraying her face with water. She didn’t want to breathe out, as if the moment she exhaled it would all be gone. She wanted this feeling to last forever.

———————————————————————————————

Alex looked up at those same stars from two years ago. The same stars and constellations. The same feeling. She hoped that this feeling would never fade. She wished she could sit in this feeling of peace and serenity for the rest of her life. However, she knew it was not possible. In a few years, it would be gone. It would dissipate into the past, as with the rest of her childhood. After all she was fourteen now. Soon she would have to start thinking about life as an adult. Jennifer was already twenty two. What would life be like when she was that age? Would she still have the same sense of freedom? A she thought, a meteor zipped across the sky. As it passed from view, the wonder of the moment faded. It was time to move on. Time to step into the future. She looked up at the sky one more time, watched for a few seconds, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and exhaled.

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Convergence

Chapter 5

The house was a mess of all sorts of things. There were papers covered in various scribblings, tools of unknown origin, various rocks that didn’t seem out of the ordinary, various assortments of feathers and leaves, as well as many other unidentified objects. There was a small table in the center of the room. The bed was covered in small wooden boxes filled to the brim with more clutter. Spark did not understand how someone could live like this. He did not see how Caleb could help them win the war, but if Cole trusted him, then Spark would too. The three sat down at a small table in the middle of the mess.

“Caleb,” Cole began, “we are afraid we may be on the brink of war.” Before Cole could begin another sentence Caleb already began to panic.

“War!? What if the island gets taken over!? What will happen to us!? WHAT IF WE DIE!?” Spark looked on and couldn’t help but feel a little pity for Caleb. He had at first thought he was a lunatic, but now he realized he was just the same as himself, a young man excited for the future. Only Caleb’s future did not involve war.

“Caleb!” Cole shouted. This appeared to settle him down, at least for the moment. “I understand that it scary and the future is uncertain. However, we are unable to prevent the inevitable. Spark and I are going to lead the army, and I want you to help us.”

“Me? Help? I am hardly built for that sort of thing. What are we going to do? Do we have a plan? Why can’t we hide? What if—“

“Listen Caleb, everyone here needs our help, so we are going to help them. If we hide, we will eventually be found and killed. I know you are not the strongest, but you are a great guy and there’s no one I would rather have fighting beside me. As far as a plan, you will have to ask Spark.” Caleb turned towards Spark. Spark could see the fear and anxiety in Caleb’s eyes. Cole looked over as well. They were relying on him now. Now was his first step as a leader.

“Well, I haven’t thought about it much, but here is what I am thinking. We can send John out to keep an eye on the trench. He is one of our best scouts. He can inform us if they begin to attack. In the meantime, the three of us will have to train everyone in combat. Cole, you can teach hand-to-hand combat, as well as archery if we have time for it. Caleb, you can help people in the medical field as well as any other duties you see fit to teach them. I can deal with swords. We will have to divide the people up in the morning for what we will teach them. As far as where to fight, I figured the desert would be the best place to begin, since it is open and everyone will have an easier time with their first battle. If we make it past there, then we can figure out the rest, one step at a time.”

“Seems like a good plan to me.” Cole said. “I can let John know tonight. You guys get some rest. We want to be prepared for—what are you doing?” Cole looked at Caleb who was grabbing a jar from under a heap of papers. He set it down on the table and dig through a pile of rocks and pulled out three cups. He poured the drink into each of the cups. Once finished, he grabbed his cup and raised it into the air.

“For courage and friendship!” He said. Spark glanced over at Cole. Cole smiled and grabbed his cup. The three of them touched cups and drank. Spark smiled. So this was how it all began, the three of them all gathered in a messy hut as they planned to lead an army. He imagined them when it was all over, standing with each other in victory. The next few days would be long and tiring, but to get to that result, to achieve victory and stand with his friends, it was worth it. Whatever the cost, he knew he would work his hardest to win the war. Whatever it took. Whatever it cost. They would win. They had to win.

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Convergence

Chapter 4

“Spark! Didn’t expect to see you here right about now. I heard the council needed you.” Spark was about to say something, but Cole held up his hand. “Someone saw you headed up there with Eddie, mentioned it to someone, and next thing you know, someone is announcing down here at the tavern. You know word travels fast around here. So what is it you need from me?”

“Well, I’ve got some bad news. Apparently there has been a sudden emergence of people in the wyvern trench. The council suspects that they will attack. I myself am a little confused by the whole situation, but I must respect their wishes. After all, why not prepare? Even if a war doesn’t begin, we can at least do something different than normal life.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Cole asked. Spark was puzzled as to why he would ask. He expected Cole to be eager to fight.

“They asked me to lead the army. I can’t do it by myself. I need you to help. You can lead part of the army, and I can lead the other part. I figured—,” At this Spark paused. Cole had a strange look in his eyes. “Cole, is something wrong?” Cole took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Spark, I haven’t been in a war, at least I don’t think I have,” Spark seemed confused by this comment, but a Cole continued speaking. “But I have heard about them. They are not some adventure. They bring destruction, death, and sorrow. It be wiser for you to avoid it at all costs. Hide out for a little while. Come back when it’s all over.”

“Cole, I can’t just leave these people to die. As far as we know there’s no way off this island, and if there is, the next spot of land can’t be for miles. These people may die anyways, but if I can save some or at least give them hope by leading them, I will. You don’t have to help, and I won’t make you. That’s for you to decide.” Spark began to walk away.

“Spark, wait.” Cole got up and walked over to Spark. He put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, this war is going to bend and break you in ways that you didn’t know were possible. I think you are a great man, and if you are willing to possibly give up your life for these people, then I am willing to do the same for you. One condition though: I want to bring on one more guy.”

“Deal. Have anyone in particular in mind?” Spark asked. Cole looked at him and smiled.

“Follow me.”

Cole lead Spark down the path. Although the tavern was nearly at the bottom, it was not quite the bottom of the path. Spark followed Cole as the looped around one of the pillars of rock that held the cliff up. As they reached the very bottom of the path where it merged into the beach, Cole turned toward the houses. He stopped at the second to last one. It looked identical to all the others, except for the big yellowish orange “C” painted on the door. “Alright, now before we go in, I need to warn you.” Cole started. “I know you are great at making friends with people, but Caleb can be a little, what’s the word, eccentric? I don’t know. Basically what I’m trying to say is he tends to get really excited about what he does. He’s sort of a nerd, but not really.” Cole paused, as if he was going to say more, but gently shook his head, deciding it was unnecessary. He stepped up to the door and gave it a hard knock.

“What exactly does he do?” Spark asked. Before Cole could say anything, a guy who looked like he must have been seventeen. He had rusty hair, glasses, and a jumble of papers in his hand.

“Hi! I’m Caleb! Inventor, gardener, explorer, —,”

“Yes, Caleb, we know.” Cole interrupted. “This is Spark, a good friend of mine. We are here to talk business.”

“Oh. Of course! Right this way!.” Caleb motioned for them to come inside. Once they were in, he closed the door.

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Convergence

Chapter 3

Spark headed down the path. His mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts. Part of him was excited that something was finally happening. No more repetition. No more days being the same, or weeks, or months, or years being the same. He was finally going to do something. Another part of him was excited that he was in charge. They chose HIM to lead the army. He knew he would have to be careful with those thoughts. He wasn’t usually a prideful man, just competitive. He wanted to make sure it stayed that way. It was then that another portion of his thoughts jumped in. How many people would die? Was it right to be excited for something that could bring so much death and destruction? He paused these thoughts as he came upon his destination.

He knocked on the door. No answer. He must be at the tavern, Spark figured. He never knew why Cole spent so much time there. He knew he was old enough to drink, but Cole made it a priority to avoid it. Whatever the case, the tavern was at the bottom of the cliff, and Cole’s house was near the top, so Spark had more walking to do. As he continued down, he looked around. It was nearing evening. Soon, the sun would hit the horizon, resulting in one of the greatest sunsets that the human eye could lay eyes on. He watched as families gathered together. Although there was not anyone younger than seventeen, people still stuck together. He had wondered in the past why that was the case, but he had long since given up his theorizing. As he walked along, he thought of all of them, torn apart as war ravaged their island. Their lives would be forever changed after the meeting tonight. Suddenly, the idea of a war didn’t really entertain him any more. In his mind, he was ready for it to be over before it began. As Spark walked into the tavern, he spotted Cole. He was sitting at a table in the corner with his back to the door. Spark walked over to him.

———————————————————————————————

Bolts of plasma flew by Cole’s head. He remembered being so excited to join the military. Now he sort of wished he hadn’t. Everything he had been told about war spoke of peace, justice, and companionship. The world was not peaceful. The lands were polluted and rotten. There was no justice. No one was captured or had a trial. People only attacked others and said the violent murder of their enemies would be justified in the fact that an officer could gain a promotion. There was no hope for companionship. Any friend you met one day would either have been blasted in the head or transferred the next. War was cruel. Cole felt a tear roll down his face. He thought of his friend Sadie. He thought of the day he was forced to watch her die. He wouldn’t let it happen again. Somehow, he was going to end this war. The sound of an explosion shattered his thoughts.

———————————————————————————————

Cole sat thinking about the dream from last night. It felt so real, as if they were actually his memories. But that wasn’t possible. He had always lived here, at least he felt like he had. But these dreams kept coming. What if they were true? What if this was all some illusion? It was these thoughts and sense of confusion that drove him to the tavern nearly every afternoon. He didn’t drink any alcohol or anything, and somehow Brad, the owner of the tavern, was able to make him something that eased his mind. As he sat at his table in the corner, he felt a hand on his shoulder.