Nigel Journal Entry 3

Day 3

I… I don’t even know where to start. My hands are still shaking, but at least the blood is gone. Salt water’s good like that.

The black cloud that came in earlier today? It didn’t bring rain. Rain I could stand, but no. It brought something much, much worse.

Let me paint you a picture. Not literally, I suck at art, but picture this. I finally tear Licks away from his bubble popping adventures when this massive gong reverberated across the island and new letters appeared in the sky:

WAVE 1 INCOMING!

Licks left me a gift on my shoe and hid behind me in fright. To be honest, hiding was my first reaction as well. I should have listened to my instincts.

At the time, I figured that the cosmic power who had chosen me as its newest plaything was now telling me of an incoming tidal wave. My very own cosmic tsunami warning, how thoughtful!

I took Licks by the hand and pointed up to the cleared space near the top of the mountain. He wanted nothing to do with it, but I wasn’t going to just sit there and be washed out to sea. I ran to the northern path and began the steep ascent. After just a few metres, I felt something latch onto my leg from behind. Licks decided to tag along after all, so long as it was me putting in the effort.

He climbed until he could wrap his monkey arms around my neck and hold on for dear life. I, meanwhile, was doing my best to reach the top before the impending wave swept inland.

I paused every so often to look behind me, but never once did I see anything out of place. Even as I reached the top and saw the ocean above the forest of palm trees, there was nothing overly abnormal. There might have been a few more waves crashing against the beach to the west, but that was it.

Licks jumped off me in a hurry and ran towards one of two trees on our little ledge. He scrambled up its trunk and grabbed a bundle of hanging fruit before climbing back down.

I’ll admit, I looked on a bit greedily as Licks snacked on his banana. Licks saw me watching and offered me a particularly ripe one. Oh man, it was bliss! I don’t think I had ever enjoyed a better meal. We sat, legs hanging off the side of the cliff, waiting for the prophesied wave to strike.

Something was headed our way alright, but it was no massive wall of water. Licks spotted it first. He hopped back from the ledge with a wild shriek and pointed a hairy finger towards the western edge of the clearing.

Darkness was descending rapidly, and the excessive cloud cover did little to improve visibility. I couldn’t make out any distinct features, but I knew it wasn’t an animal. The thing walked on two legs, though it stood nearly two metres tall. It was far wider than any person I’d ever seen. I shouldn’t have rushed down. I should have stayed on the safe ledge and called out, but the prospect of meeting another human filled me with hope. I wasn’t alone!

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I slid down the gentlest slope I could find, landing at the bottom in mere seconds. Licks was more hesitant, but ended up following me just the same. It wasn’t until I was just a few metres from the newcomer that I realised it was no human.

I never believed in the paranormal. Ghosts, demons, and monsters were only found in supernatural books or television shows. How wrong I was.

The thing in front of me was covered in green scales. Bulging pearl-like eyes sat above a slit of a nose, and dozens of razor-sharp teeth filled its gaping maw. Deadly spikes protruded upward all over its body, and its enormous hands each had a set of claws longer than my forearm. It wore a tattered seaweed tunic and nothing else, not even shoes to cover its webbed feet.

Two objects hung suspended above the monster’s head. The first was a tiny lime green bubble, and just below that was a long horizontal red bar. I didn’t spare the bar much more than a passing glance, but more information blinked open once I focused on the floating bubble.

Murker (GM-1)

Health

8

Armor

0

Speed

2

Attack

5

The numbers caught me by surprise. I’m sure they were important, but their sudden appearance couldn’t have come at a worse time. It took a full three seconds for me to figure out how to mentally pop away the new bubble notification, at which point I learned that the universe hadn’t done me a solid by granting me a temporary pause in reality. The “murker” had closed more than half the distance and was still shuffling towards me on its two muscular hind legs, occasionally crouching down on all fours in eager anticipation.

I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this if it hadn’t been for Licks. The murker tried to take a swipe at my face. Might have taken the whole thing off, but Licks knocked the knees out from under me in his own escape attempt. I felt the tip of the first claw brush against my hair on the journey down. Far too close a call, and my savior monkey had just made it into the trees. He shrieked his encouragement, which wasn’t helpful, but I appreciated the effort.

Being knocked to the ground brought me back to the reality of the moment. No true born Aussie would just allow themselves to be eaten! Nah, this drongo was going to get his!

I jumped back onto my feet and punched the bugger right in the left thigh. It let out a howl of pain and tried swiping me again. It nicked my shoulder, but I barely felt it at the time. (Hurts like a mother now!)

It rushed me again, but I gripped its wrist and hurled it to the side. The monster was slow to get up, giving me time to see a quarter of the red bar had disappeared.

I pounced on the still-rising murker. With my left arm, I pinned its chin upward to keep its massive jaws closed. I used my right to pummel the side of its head, just below the ear. Again and again I slammed my fist into its head. Blood started pouring from the hole, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I still don’t know if it was fear, rage, or simply a will to survive, but something had taken hold of me.

It was another one of those giant thunder claps that finally brought me back. Looking down, I saw that I had turned the murker’s head into a bloody pulp. Kind of gross, and I was completely covered in gore. Looking up, I saw new letters fill the sky.

Wave 1 Cleared!

Constel Credits Earned: 5

And there it was. How to complete a wave. How to earn Constel Credits. How I would eventually die. A lot of my how questions were answered… but there are still so many whys. Why is this happening? Why me? Why here? Why now? I’m hoping I live long enough to find out.