Ryan finishes explaining his class and the things he’s bought from the shop, and holds the gold-plated assault rifle in his lap.

“Can I have one of those?” Douglas asks his son.

“Oh yeah, sure,” Ryan replies, and buys another assault rifle from the stop, then hands it to his father.

“We should tell Logan about your class,” Rachael says. “He’d be able to help you use it the best way possible.”

“I don’t need any help using my class,” Ryan says, slightly angry that Logan is being mentioned.

“Ryan, these are serious times,” Douglas says, sternly facing Ryan. “You take help from whoever is willing to give it. Don’t forget that Logan helped us when we needed it. You need to help now, too.”

Ryan wants to disagree, but cannot. As he thinks about it, the possibilities of mixing Logan’s architecture with his own ability to buy anything Logan draws are almost endless. Logan didn’t specialize in just nice looking buildings, he also knew how to design for utility.

“Fine, let’s go back,” Ryan says, standing and exits the tent.

Ryan take fives steps outside the tent before a screech can be heard coming from the north. The ground rumbles and the trees shake, and the spotlight at the center of the fort is swung around to face the direction of the screech.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

At the north shoreline of the island, a huge monster towers above the trees. Its body is undoubtedly even larger than the island itself, and two giant, triangular eyes gaze downward. On each side of the monster’s body, three tentacles whip the air and crash into the ground, causing clouds of dust to float up.

“My God…” Rachael mouths when she sees the monster. Douglas and Ryan are too stunned to speak, their confidence totally shattered by the enormous beast.

“Everybody, evacuate the island! Evacuate through the west side!” The man in the watchtower yells and jumps down from his position.

He clearly has the right idea, and the Stone family follows him. The spotlight falls down, removing Ryan’s view of the monster. Now, only the moonlight and lack of stars behind it show where the monster is.

“Do you have anything that can kill that?” Douglas asks Ryan as they run.

“Of course not!” Ryan replies. He’s too scared to even think of something to combat the monster. After a few more steps, a layer of water rushes past Ryan and his parents, causing them to stumble and fall.

“Mom, dad!” Ryan shouts, and runs to grab is parents. Due to his enhanced strength and dexterity stats, Ryan doesn’t fall in the water and can grab their arms before they are pushed away too far.

The monster screeches again, and Douglas and Rachael are helped to their feet. Both their clothes are soaked, and Douglas has dropped the assault rifle, which is now washed away somewhere in the mud. Ryan turns his face north and sees the top of a white circle below the monster’s eyes.

“This is too insane,” Douglas says, hardly able to support himself. “This island has been safe for weeks, how can this be happening?”

He asks nobody in particular, perhaps God himself, and the enormous sea monster begins to move forward across the island.