Hovering softly in the air, I looked down at the ground below with a sense of wonder, trying to comprehend my newfound ability to float. It was a perspective I’d never experienced before and it filled me with a sense of both fear and exhilaration.
Everything appeared smaller as I looked down, almost miniature in size and I suddenly realised how high up I actually was. I looked across the usually bustling courtyard and saw the trees lining the footpath looking bare and burnt. Their remains added to the nightmarish scene, with the vibrant red sky around them causing them to cast scary skeleton-like shadows over the charred lawns like reaching arms stretching out with clawed hands.
From the height I was, I could also see the top of the school buildings with balls and frisbees littered across the roofs from years of students inadvertently tossing them up there during breaks.
The main building was crumbling in places from where the earthquakes had weakened its structure. Various bricks on its facade were still falling to the ground with most breaking and shattering into pieces on the concrete below.
I looked up and could see beyond the school grounds, smoke billowed into the sky from various points along the horizon, interspersed with spots of flame which lit up the distance. A feeling of uneasiness rose in the pit of my stomach as I took in the carnage. Sounds of sirens and car alarms rang out from afar, adding to the sense of dread that was seeping its way into my heart.
Broken buildings rose like jagged peaks against the sky and the streets intertwined like veins between them. An eerie red mist floated down them and seemed to pulse with dim light. I held back my tears. Our beautiful town lay in ruins and my heart felt broken. I wondered where my mother was and if she was okay, fear rising again from within the depths of my stomach.
The monster groaned from behind me and the sound of its rage shook me out of my sadness, suddenly alerting me again to its movement, I turned quickly to face it. Taking a swing at me, its large pink glowing hand swept the air but I managed to avoid it by quickly propelling myself upwards which only seemed to anger the creature even more.
Charging at me with both hands open, it tried to grab me but I managed to manoeuvre safely out of its way again, avoiding capture. The creature turned and grabbed part of the main building's wall, then hurled it in my direction narrowly missing me.
The figure flew over next to me, their dark blue cape fluttering behind them, their sculpted mask hiding their identity, their body covered in a tight fitting costume made of a shiny material underneath their flowing cape that they had draped around themselves. Because of the low light, it was hard to make out any definition which would give me a clue as to who this person or thing was.
They grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the way, their skin felt cool as they intertwined and wrapped their fingers with mine. I flinched and instinctively went to pull my hand away but stopped myself, something about the gesture felt familiar and a misty memory started to form in my mind. I blinked it away as the stranger pulled me along after them, flying quickly away from the creature to move beyond its reach.
Pointing to behind the school gymnasium and holding my hand tightly, they flew me over to it. I looked down and saw Roderick looking up at me, his mouth open in shock. Reese stood beside him with the same expression on her face.
Roaring loudly, the creature thundered after us, crushing anything that got in this way. It balled up its fists and smashed them down onto the ground, crushing the cars that were underneath them sending glass and aluminium flying through the air.
Pointing again, the figure gestured to the ground behind the gym and I nodded as they took me down and we landed hurriedly on the grass. I understood that they were leading the creature away from the others to give them a chance to escape, I hoped that the others understood that too and were making moves to get into the car and leave. Shuddering slightly at the thought of them leaving without me, I shook it off, feeling weirdly safe with the stranger beside me.
The creature of light strode towards us, pushing past the splintered trees and the damaged gymnasium building to where we stood. As it drew nearer, the stranger turned and motioned to me to stand behind them. I did as they asked and peered out from behind their cape, watching with wide eyes as the monster started to glow bright pink.
Raising their arms in the air, the stranger threw them in a big outstretched circle, cutting through the air, leaving a large glowing white circle. They pulled their hands together then quickly made a flicking motion which enlarged the circle causing it to grow bigger and it wrapped itself around us like a dome.
The monster opened up its hands and I could see pink flames begin to glow from within it. Drawing back its hands, it threw the pink flame in our direction making contact with the dome that protected us. It shook on the impact but maintained its structure as the flames exploded on its exterior.
Screaming, the creature held up its hands then banged them on the ground in its fury causing the earth to shake. I stumbled backwards in surprise and fell outside of the dome of light, tumbling onto my back, landing on the grass. Seeing that I was vulnerable, the creature launched itself in the air and landed next to me on the ground. I gasped as I saw it swing for me and I rolled sideways out of the way.
I saw the dome flicker and disappear as the stranger realised what was happening behind them. They turned around just as the monster launched another ball of flame towards them. The stranger stretched out their arms again and quickly created another circle of light, shielding them from the attack. The pink flame crashed against it in a shower of sparks and the monster roared in frustration once more and began beating its chest with its fists.
As I looked up at the beast, my vision started to pulse and stats began to download like data into my vision. Shocked, I began blinking wildly but the text remained. I quickly got to my feet and started rubbing my eyes trying to remove what was going on behind them.
Moving my eyes left to right, the text wouldn’t disappear. I started to panic and claw at my eyelids.
“What is happening?!” I cried out as I hunched over and fell to my knees.
The screeching of the creature made me stop and I opened my eyes and looked at them and realised that the stats were about the monster itself.
NAME: Yverus
AGE: Unknown
SOUL AGE: Unknown
SPECIES: Cerebuian
TIME: 10:53am Monday 30th September 2024
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Cerebuas
DIMENSION OF ORIGIN: 3rd
HEALTH: 80/100
MAGIC: 80/100
STRENGTH: 90/100
AGILITY: 40/100
SPEED: 50/100
INTELLIGENCE: 40/100
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
SPECIAL SKILLS: Can disintegrate certain types of matter with light rays, causes earthquakes with its size
WEAPONS: None
WEAKNESSES: Pure sunlight, fire and water
Interesting.
“What was a monster from another planet, hell, another galaxy, doing here on Earth? And in my hometown?” I thought to myself.
I turned and looked at the stranger to see if the stats would change to tell me more about them but all that flicked on was:
CLASSIFIED: No data available
I looked at my hands and my vision crackled, clearing the data and downloading more. This time my own stats starting pouring into my sight:
NAME: Ariah O’Connoll
AGE: 16
SOUL AGE: Unknown at this time
SPECIES: Human
TIME: 10:54am Monday 30th September 2024
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth
DIMENSION OF ORIGIN: 3rd
HEALTH: 95/100
MAGIC: 10/100
STRENGTH: 90/100
AGILITY: 60/100
SPEED: 60/100
INTELLIGENCE: 95/100
SPECIAL SKILLS: To be confirmed once observed
WEAPONS: None at this date
WEAKNESSES: Powdered custard filled donuts and boy bands
I gulped as I read through the data and wondered what it all meant.
The creature then turned its attention to me again and drew back its arms, launching a tirade of pink light, hitting the grass in front of me first. The smell of the burning grass made my eyes water and I wiped the tears away with the back of my sleeve, momentarily losing sight of the monster. It swept its hand at me from the side, catching my face with its fingertips knocking me off my feet.
ARIAH O’CONNELL…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 94/100
I fell backwards onto my back, landing hard on my spine, causing me to scream out in pain. Quickly rolling over, I scrambled backwards out of the way, my back pulsing with agony. I got to my feet and I felt my hands begin to heat up. I look down at them incredulously. Light started to omit from them and I pointed it in the direction of the monster hitting it right between the eyes.
Stumbling backwards in surprise, the beast stopped as it used its hands to hold its head where it had been hit.
YVERUS…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 75/100
The stranger looked at me and then at the monster as if shocked at what they just seen. I looked at them and shrugged.
I felt the urge to run towards the beast so I did.
Running as fast as I could, I leapt up into the air taking off into the sky. I flew in the direction of the injured creature and felt my hands begin to glow again as if charging with power. I could feel a crackling along my fingertips as I lifted my hands in the air and threw a ball of light down upon the beast, hitting it once more in the head. It screamed in pain and stumbled into one of the school buildings, sending bricks flying into the air and crashing to the ground. Dust and concrete filled the air around us, enveloping the stranger and I.
YVERUS…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 65/100
Coughing, I flew up and out of the dust cloud, circling back to where the monster had fallen.
Dazed, it shook its head from side to side trying to clear its vision. It looked up at me with its big black soulless eyes and roared, reaching up, trying to grab me and pluck me from the air. I managed to avoid it but unfortunately I didn’t see its other hand come up from behind me and it wrapped its fingers around my arms and torso. I was pinned once more.
I gritted my teeth and strained against its hold as hard as I could but to no avail. It tightened its grip and I felt the heat from its fingertips start to singe my clothes and burn my skin. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and I started to feel weakened. I could feel my energy draining from my body as the creature closed its fist even tighter around me.
ARIAH O’CONNOLL…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 90/100…89/100…88/100…87/100
Launching themselves up into the air, the stranger appeared behind the monster. Their hands lit up with a vibrant green light crackling and sparking as they began to wind their hands around each other creating a massive ball of energy.
The stranger sent the ball of light into the back of the monster and it screamed with fright, letting me go.
YVERUS…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 60/100
Limp from exhaustion, I began to fall, unable to regain my ability to fly. The stranger turned and looked at me, powering up their hands again with vibrant white light, throwing it in my direction. It hit me directly in the chest and I felt my heart leap as it exploded with energy. The energy then pulsated throughout my whole body and suddenly I felt alive again.
ARIAH O’CONNOLL…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 100/100
I managed to stop myself from falling by using the new jolt of energy to launch myself into the air. I opened my arms and leaned back, opening up my chest and feeling all my fear dissipate.
Launching myself at the monster, I started to feel power surge through my entire being. With fury filling my soul, I used my anger to power up and I sent a ball of flame straight into its stomach. It exploded on contact against the creature causing it to stumble a few steps backwards.
YVERUS…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 50/100
The stranger flew over to me and put out an arm in a motion to stop me.
They spoke.
“You must save your energy Ariah. Get your friends and get out of here, I will hold the monster at bay to give you some time.” A male voice said from beneath the mask.
I felt myself panting within exertion but I lowered my fists and looked at the stranger before me.
“Can you tell me who you are?” I asked, curiosity taking hold.
“Not this time.” He replied. “Now get back to your brother and friends.”
“How did you know…” I gasped.
“I can’t tell you anything right now unfortunately, there’s no time. You will also have to figure out your power for yourself until we meet again.” He breathed. “And believe me, you haven’t even tapped the surface of it yet.”
“More power? Meet again? How did I even get the power I have?” I questioned, starting to feel frustrated at the lack of information. “Why can’t you just tell me?”
The creature rose and came towards us. The stranger motioned me to go and then launched another round of fire balls at the beast to give me time to get away.
YVERUS…
STATUS UPDATE:
HEALTH: 45/100
“Thank you!” I called as I turned and quickly floated back to the ground, my feet making contact with the earth causing me to stumble a few steps until I got my footing.
With my heart pounding, I ran.