Dimension Travel first draft

Dimension Travel
By
Joseph Lyndon Davis

Chapter 1
Shattered Dreams, left for Dead
Dimension #1
The nest of the Ravens

A human sized blue portal opened inside a room surrounded by books and puzzles. A woman with black hair and black eyes stepped out of the portal and looked around. She held a purple spell book in her hands and wore black clothing. On the bed that was centered in the middle of the small room was her husband. She rushed by his side and took his hand.
“I finished planting the letter,” she said as she stroked the dying man’s hair.
“They will be on to us soon,” he coughed violently. “You must do as we planned.”
She took out a dagger from her jacket and gripped it in her hand. She shook as she stared at the dagger knowing what she would have to do with it.
“I-I don’t know if I can do it,” she began to cry.
“It’s okay honey. Do it for the sake of the future, do it for the other races, and do it for our son,” her husband lifted up the baby that was lying next to him crying. He handed it to her and smiled. “Do it for me.”
Shaking the woman nodded and lifted the dagger above her husband.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too,” the woman drove the dagger deep into him. Her tears swept down her face as her husband shook spastically, then came to a cold stillness. Just as expected an orb exited his body and hovered above him. It floated slowly to the child in her lap and entered his body. She dropped the bloody dagger on the floor and cried hugging the child.
As expected the door was kicked in and a squad of people stood outside of the door smiling. A muscular but old man walked into the room. He wore black plate mail armor with the Raven emblem etched in gold on it. Observing his surroundings but then noticed the dead man on the bed.
“Looks like you already have done half my work,” the great Sky Niles king of the Ravens said. “Looks like all I need is to kill you for your crime in treason.”
“I found the cure to the Raven Devotion curse,” she said.
“Who ever wanted a cure?” He laughed. “We are perfectly fine the way we are.”
“Enslaving races and then killing those who oppose you, you need to change…”
“You use to feel the same way as I do, I guess you really did find a cure. I’m impressed but the cure is unnecessary. Let’s not do this the hard way,” he out stretched his arms. “May I?”
“You do realize that my baby is not guilty of anything?” She asked.
“Yes but for your crimes he will be sentenced to a life of enslavement, even though he is half Raven.”
She regretfully handed him over the baby but it had to be done. Sky turned around and walked out of the room.
“Do what you wish with her, then kill her,” he commanded before he left.
The Raven soldiers grinned as they enclosed on her, but she had other ideas. She grabbed the dagger and held it in front of her.
Sukusia you are free of the Raven Devotion curse and your destiny is your own. With the spirit of the good soul within you, you will save the worlds one day, she stabbed herself in her heart before the Ravens came close. She fell to the ground motionless but she knew she had started a legacy.
No regrets, Sukusia…


Dimension #2
The Dimension of the Red Sky

Sukusia and the only friend he had ever known, Gnarly, walked along the path that they had walked so many times before. They were surrounded by endless acres of farm land growing all sorts of crops that never seemed to rise above waist level. The dryness of the air made it difficult to breathe, let alone carry bags of wheat. They knew pain and pain knew them well, constantly beaten by the Raven guard for no reason. However, no matter how tired they were they continued anyways, afraid of being punished for not doing any work. Gnarly looked over at Sukusia hoping to start a conversation to take their minds off the pain. Sukusia was a brown haired brown eyed orphan boy who had been delivered to Gnarly’s family when he was just an infant. Gnarly’s family always considered Sukusia to be a human like them despite his black eyes. A Raven would never enslave another Raven, it was impossible. His family was told to take care of him as if he was their own and they had done that. They rose a strong 18 year old that could lift twice that of his own weight. Gnarly on the other hand had fiery red hair and green eyes, which were common among his people who were all driven into slavery by the Raven Army, an army set out on conquering every dimension. Whenever the Raven Army conquered another dimension with their vast numbers, they would force the inhabitants of the dimension into slavery, just as Gnarly’s race was. There used to be an Indian tribe that inhabited this earth when it had blue skies and a red moon, but not anymore. The sky was turned red after the invasion and the moon turned a beautiful blue. The elders say that the sky turned red because of all the blood spilled during the invasion, so much that it dyed the skies, but of course that wasn’t really the reason. Those who survived the Ravens wrath were thrown into slavery just like the other dimensions they conquered.
“Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had made a different decision a different way?” Gnarly said to Sukusia while they carried heavy brown bags of wheat on their backs. “You could see how your decisions could have been different and if things would have been better or worse.”
Sukusia just smiled, focusing on the dirt road ahead, trying to ignore the blisters that the heavy bags had given him from carrying them. He shook his head, acknowledging that he was listening.
“You know, you may not be able to see what would have happened because time travel has proven to be impossible. But it’s quite possible to see the first one hundred decisions ever made by the first two humans that ever walked the earth.”
Sukusia looked up at him with a curious expression on his face.
“Decisions?” Sukusia questioned.
“Yeah, you heard me, decisions, but the decisions are called dimensions. It’s quite possible to travel to them using the devices that the Raven Army equips. You see, for every decision made there is another world created for that decision. Like I said before, you can’t travel to your own decisions because the dimension travel devices are too weak to go beyond one hundred decisions. You can only visit the first 100 decisions ever made by a human being.”
“Where did you find all of this out,” Sukusia asked in a tired tone.
“From David.”
“You mean the old crazy guy in charge of telling the Raven Army how much crops we put in every month?”
“Yep, that’s the one,” Gnarly chuckled.
“Dude, he’s insane, you can’t believe a crazy person like that,” Sukusia argued.
“I know, but since the Raven Army doesn’t educate its slaves he’s the only one in this dimension who knows about that stuff. He’s the closest to the Raven Army. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s the only slave that knows about the Raven Army’s intentions. Why they are out there and what they are doing.”
“Well, if he’s right…I’d like to go to another dimension one day,” Sukusia said kicking a speckled rock he passed by.
“Maybe you will, I know I’ll try to. After all it’s one of my dreams.”
“Knowing you, you’ll never give up on that,” Sukusia sighed.
“You know me all too well,” Gnarly grinned.
“Just promise me, if you go, you’ll try and take me with you,” Sukusia stopped and turned to Gnarly and raised his fist to seal their brotherly promise. “I don’t want to stay in this place any longer than I have to. I hate this place just as much as you do.”
Gnarly paused, then smiled.
“Sure I’ll take you if I ever get the chance,” Gnarly met his fist with Sukusia and sealed the promise.
“Alright then, let’s get going before we get behind in our work.” Sukusia and Gnarly started walking again into the long day that they had been forced through. The sun was held high and the heat was unbearable but still they continued on the road carrying their bags. They would have to do this excruciating task everyday despite the fact that there were farming vehicles, but the Raven Army forced them to walk.
“What do you think some of the first decisions were?” Sukusia asked breaking what had become a long silence.
“That’s still on your mind?” Gnarly laughed. “Well I heard that one of the decisions was a simple choice of planting seeds in a garden over going fishing.”
“Do you really think that a small decision like that could alter a whole world?”
“Yeah, it was in the beginning of time you know.”
“Well, what were some of the other decisions?”
Gnarly smiled amused with Sukusia’s interest in this.
“I heard one of the other decisions it’s a bit of a small story.”
“So tell me,” Sukusia said impatiently.
“Only because you asked so nicely. The first humans had a passion for fish, and one of them made the decision to become a fish.”
Sukusia stood quietly studying Gnarly’s face with a strange look.
“You’re full of crap, now I know you’re lying.” Sukusia started walking again.
“What? No, it’s true! The other decision was to be an animal!’”
“I may be an idiot, but you can’t expect to fool me with such stupid stories.”
Gnarly laughed and simply ignored the statement.
Sukusia knew Gnarly well, Gnarly had always dreamt of leaving dimension #2 to escape the slave labor that he was forced to do everyday of his life. He was very strong and loved to snoop around hearing stories that people tell to increase his thirst for knowledge. He was taller than Sukusia and stronger than him as well. He tended to look out for Sukusia very often and treated him as a little brother, taking the blame for things that Sukusia did that caused him to get in trouble with the Raven Army. However thanks to Gnarly, Sukusia now has a fear of cats due to one of Gnarly’s cruel jokes that he plays every so often just for laughs.
Sukusia looked up often to see if the city was in sight, but Gnarly would always tell him each time that it would make it seem longer, but Sukusia didn’t care. He always did it just to annoy Gnarly because they both were dying constantly of boredom and ran out of things to talk about.
“You can just picture the city now,” Sukusia began.
“Yeah, a bunch of silos surrounded by grayish brown walls,” Gnarly said sarcastically.
“Yes, but your forgetting about the…”
“Shade,” they laughed together.
“How could you forget?”
“I don't know, must have slipped my mind,” Gnarly joked.
Sukusia and Gnarly finally spotted the large dull city and made their way to it with haste, picking up speed so that they were much faster than before. When they passed the gigantic door, they headed towards the center of the silo city and handed the wheat to one of the collection farmers who poured it into one of the gigantic silos. This is the place where the Raven Army gets their food. They would always come out of blue dimension portals, taking as much as they needed and leaving after they caused some chaos. Sukusia and Gnarly never knew where they truly went and what they did exactly. If they went around snooping they might find themselves severely punished if they were caught, but Gnarly did it anyways. No one actually lived in the silo city, it was more of a gathering place. Houses were scattered far and wide and were miles away from the silo cities. They had never seen another silo city before, but they have heard of bigger and better ones than the grey dull one they dropped their grain off to. Excitement filled their weakened spirits due to the fact that they were free to do as they pleased. Whenever the guards made Sukusia and Gnarly carry a load like that, Gnarly’s mother and father gave them the rest of the day off illegally, but they didn’t care, just as long as they promised to their parents not to get caught.
They walked through the weathered and beaten towers of silos. The place was surprisingly loud considering how few people were actually there. They headed to the tallest silo which wasn’t much bigger than the others but you could tell the difference if you were close up.
“Finish everything fine, Sukusia, Gnarly?” David the crazy man sat on a box stroking his beard and bobbing his weird glasses that looked like eyes that were set on a spring.
“Ay sir, that we did,” Gnarly answered back saluting him.
“Why do you act like a soldier around that guy?” Sukusia whispered.
“I know it sounds crazy, but this is the only way he’ll talk to me,” Gnarly answered.
“That’s really weird you know,” Sukusia said as he went off to fetch some water from the well.
“I know, he is crazy after all.”
“You know, you all are lucky you get time off after you’re done, in my day you had to work all day,” he raised his eyebrow. “But today might be a little short.”
“Why’s that?” Sukusia asked drinking some water he had gotten out of a well.
“Well ya see, the Raven Army is coming today to pick up some grain,” he grinned.
“Really,” Sukusia spit the water out and about choked on half of it.
“You okay boy?” David patted Sukusia on the back to help him from coughing. “But indeed, if you get caught doing nothing you know what they will do to ya even if you are doing something,” he grinned.
“Yeah well, we best be going now,” Sukusia and Gnarly sprinted away.
“Dang the Raven Army,” Gnarly cursed and followed Sukusia.
They were just about to exit the gates of the city when a round blue light appeared in front of it blocking their escape.
“Oh crap, they’re here,” Gnarly yelled. They began to run away from the portal trying to escape. Even if there were doing chores the soldiers loved to torment and punish the slaves of this world. It was best to avoid them at all cost. Being bashed in the head one too many is probably what made David crazy, so they don’t mess with the crazy dude anymore. When Gnarly and Sukusia thought they were home free a Raven guard stuck his foot out and tripped both of the boys so that the fell on their faces in the burning hot ground. The guard bent down and looked at them with a vile look on his face.
“Looks like we’ve got a bunch of slackers,” he grinned as another guard walked up behind them. “Look here boys, get up and get back to work,” He laughed with a vicious smile on his face. Sukusia and Gnarly tried desperately to get up but couldn’t, they were too tired and afraid.
“We can’t sir,” Gnarly stated bravely.
“What? You can’t? Well we need to do something about that now don’t we?”
“You mean help us right?” Sukusia hoped.
“Yeah right,” he joked as the guard picked them up by their torn clothes and began to shake them violently. The boys laughed while being shaken which confused the raven greatly.
“What’s wrong with you boys? Why don’t you fear me?” he stopped shaking them.
“We carry so much more wheat than you have ever eaten in your life. Your weak, why should we fear you? We could beat you so bad if only we had the energy,” they both laughed hysterically in his face. He became red and began to shake in anger.
“Uh oh Gnarly, I think we over did it,” Sukusia pointed out.

The soldier tossed them each in a separate cell with bruises and cuts on their faces and bodies. The floor was cold concrete as were the walls except the many bars that kept them from escaping.
“You boys are lucky I didn’t hang you now!” The guard yelled. “So I’m gonna do it myself tomorrow,” he promised and went out through the jail door. They sat in the dark for the longest time quietly. Then they both broke out in laughter.
“Whew, that was defiantly worth it,” Gnarly said to Sukusia.
“Ah, no it wasn’t,” Sukusia became serious. “It was funny calling him weak, but now we have to pay the price.”
“Yeah… but if were going to be slaves all our lives, that’s the only way to get back at them for us,” Gnarly smirked folding his arms and closing his eyes. “At least we won’t have to be slaves anymore after death.” Silence fell over them and Sukusia drifted into a deep sleep.
Sukusia awoke and saw that the full moon was up in the dark clear blue sky through the jail bars. He didn’t cry or show any bit of sorrow. Be strong he would tell himself and he would be.
“Hey,” Sukusia heard Gnarly whisper.
“What’s up now?” Sukusia whispered back annoyed.
“I’m sorry for the position I put us in...”
“What do you mean? We both did it,” Sukusia responded very tired. “But now there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Oh yes there is,” Gnarly beamed. “I stole something from the Raven guard that came in while you were asleep.”
Sukusia saw the black object in Gnarly’s hand. It was a bracer for the wrists, it had a series of small buttons with numbers on it, a blue screen was set in the top. In the bottom of the bracer were 2 gold pins that dug into the flesh of the person when put on and there was a small box on the end of it that held something within it.
“What is it?” Sukusia studied the object.
“I don’t know but I snatched it from him when he bent down to check on me. The idiot didn’t even know.” Gnarly flashed the device to Sukusia with a wide smile on his face. “I think it’s a dimension travel device.”
“Let me see,” Sukusia got up and went to the corner of the cell. Gnarly attempted to hand him the device but couldn’t reach.
“Almost there, just toss it,” Sukusia commanded. Gnarly tossed into the air and Sukusia attempted to catch it. Instead, he missed and it landed on his left arm. It clamped on and pain shot through his arm. He yelled with tremendous pain gripping the device with his other arm as the needles dug into his flesh.
“What’s going on in there?” A Raven guard opened the jail cell door to the outside and hurried in. He peered through the cell and saw that Sukusia had the device clamped onto his arm.
“Oh no, hey John one of the kids got the dimension travel device you lost!”
“What!” an angry voice yelled. John walked in the room and ran through his ring of keys shaking with fury. Sukusia had no idea what else was going on and could only focus on the pain. John unlocked the cell and walked in then turned to him and pointed a gun at Sukusia’s chest. Sukusia finally realized the situation around him and in fear randomly pressed the buttons hoping that it would do something, but nothing happened. The guard shot Sukusia in his left shoulder. He fell on the ground hitting the device on his arm on the ground. The container on it opened to reveal two balls connected by a metal string. John walked in, in desperation Sukusia threw the weird object at the guard, but it stopped in mid air and it began to spin. The guard looked at the bracelet on Sukusia’s arm, the blue screen said 3, and John grinned.
“Dimension #3, another slave dimension, ten times harder on life than this dimension,” he laughed. The object spun so fast that he couldn’t see it. Then a whirl wind occurred. Then a circular light peered through to show a bright royal blue portal. Realizing that John couldn’t get around the portal without going through it Sukusia had an idea.
“Don’t even think about it boy, that kind of slave dimension work will kill a normal human.” John laughed. “Just stay here and let me kill you.”
“I’m going to die here anyways,” Sukusia clutched his shoulder with pain as he got up. “You know if I go through that I’ll get away, I’d rather take my chances there than here.”
“Sukusia don’t leave me here! Take me with you!” Gnarly pleaded. “Don’t leave me here to die!” It was of no use, Sukusia could not hear Gnarly’s pleas. He was in too much of pain and was concentrating too hard on John. Sukusia walked through the portal holding his injured shoulder. Gnarly’s heart sank, his best friend had left him for dead, forgotten him, betrayed him.
“I’m going through to get him,” John said and stepped halfway through the other side of the portal. “Don’t worry this won’t take long,” John stepped all the way through just before it closed.
“I’ll kill you Sukusia,” Gnarly cried out. “I swear it!”

Chapter 2
I.O.U

Dimension #3
The dimension of minerals

Rena was a slave to the Raven Army when she was captured out side of her village playing out in the grassy fields she enjoyed so much. She remembered her family well even for her young age. She often regretted going to the field on that day, if she didn’t go there, things would have been far different from what they were. She never would have been forced to hide her sister in the trunk of a tree. She remembered as the group of five Raven solders ambushed her, but she managed to slip past them dragging her younger sister behind. If Rena wasn’t gifted with natural speed and strength, her sister would have been a slave as well and would meet the same fate she had now. She had cried with her sister the moment before she was captured, she knew that she must sacrifice herself so that Carla could be safe. The men had dragged her into the blue portal as she kicked, screamed, and cried. She thought that she would never see her mother, father, brothers, and sister again.
Many nights she cried under the moon light behind the bars of her imprisonment as the men shipped her to lands unknown. Finally when the men delivered her to the destination she was surrounded by hundreds of workers, young, and old, male, female. Everyone moved slowly and dully through the hot day mining rocks and ores out of a large shaft. Ever since that day, Rena was forced to carry heavy rocks, and mine the ores out of the earth with dull pick axes. Every night she would sleep among the other workers who were respectable and would never harm anyone. She would eat her pitiful excuse for a meal every day, and as she became increasingly stronger she required more food. Some of the other slaves would often relinquish some of their food for her, and as payment she would help them out with their tasks with her natural strength. It felt as if she was part of a large family where everyone had to help out, or no one would survive. Often she cried at night for her parents but she never stopped working in fear of being whipped or punished.
As she became older she became more and more beautiful with every year, she was adopted by the lead hope speaker and her husband as part of the family. She lived with them safely but they feared eventually she would be irresistible in the eyes of a lusty Raven Solider, and would be shipped off for prostitution. The lead hope speaker -who often preached about how one day we could be free, and we should keep going on with our lives- proclaimed that Rena, like the other girls the had become slaves, be hidden so that no harm could come of her. For a few years she blended in with the crowd, and the Raven soldiers didn’t seem to notice her disappearance from the face of the earth. The people around her would surround her when she walked so that she would not be seen when going to a task, and it worked perfectly. When the soldiers checked quarters, the slaves stashed her away in a pot full of grain, she was never discovered. Other times when she had to shower, her friends would bring buckets of water and wash her behind the small huts they lived in. It was a good plan, but the hope speaks feared it was only a matter of time before the now 17 year old would be discovered.

“So are you all ready to leave,” Rena adjusted her worn out shoe and threw her tattered hooded cloak over head.
“Ready already Rena my dear, no one can keep up with you,” the old lady sitting behind her laughed as she slowed tied her shoes. She was Gertrude, who was like a second mother in Rena’s eyes, and the lead hope speaker. Gertrude was the one who saved Rena from the soldiers with her plans, so Rena wouldn’t have to suffer like her when she was young.
“You’re much stronger than anyone of the slaves here, so full of energy all the time, and yet you lift the heaviest rocks daily,” Gertrude’s husband came behind her. What he said was true, Rena was the strongest, and it was a physical trait passed down to her from her real father.
“I know, I should slow down some times.”
“You should, you’ll kill us by rushing us all the time,” Gertrude laughed heartedly. “But you can go on ahead of us, I’m sure that the crowd is ready to cover you until you arrive at the cave.
“Okay,” Rena threw on her hood and walked out into the dusty camp and closed the door behind her. She walked on the dirt as it crunched beneath her feet heading towards the crowd that awaited her arrival. She turned the corner of an ally and saw the group was being harassed by three Raven Soldiers trying to cause trouble. She backed up to the corner of a hut and peered over the side hoping that they would go away.
“They do this everyday!” One of the Raven soldiers proclaimed to another.
“Why,” the other said hardly loud enough for Rena to hear.
“I don’t know, I think their waiting for someone,” the soldier turned to the crowd who were pretending not to hear the conversation. “Who do you all lead to the caves, surely we don’t have anyone here as a slave that of importance.”
“Everyone has importance,” one of the slaves spoke up. “But we don’t protect anyone, we are waiting for a… friend.”
“Okay, everyone go to the caves or you all will be whipped!” The Raven turned his attention back to his partner. “I want you to find out who they are protecting and why.”
“Yes sir,” the Raven said as the crowd of slaves dissipated. The Raven glanced over towards Rena, in a panic she pulled her head back as her heart beat rapidly.
Maybe they didn’t see me, Rena wished.
“Sir, I saw someone behind that over there, he’s wearing a cloak that I often see in among the group of slaves.”
“Really now,” the Raven turned and walked slowly towards her. Knowing that the Raven was coming, through Rena’s enhanced hearing, she fled as fast as she could towards her hut. The camp was surrounded by fence, in the middle of each wall and on each corner there was a guard tower. Each tower had at least three snipers in it and looked over the camp making sure no one escaped. The snipers quickly noticed that she was running from the Raven and they relayed the message to the ground units of her position.
Where do I run?, she thought as her mind raced. She headed down a small ally of huts trying to escape the site of the snipers but it proved to be no avail. The guards already headed her off and now were at the end of the ally trapping her. She stopped dead on a dime and turned quickly to escape but bumped into something hard. She fell on the hard ground and looked up to see that it was the man from the questioning. He reached down and grabbed her wrist and trusted her against the wall. Rena hit her head on the brick wall of the ally that separated the huts from one another. She managed to look up at his face with hate in her eyes.
“I didn’t realize we had such a pretty, special girl here,” he laughed. “Maybe if you give me a kiss I’ll save you from being punished.”
Rena stared distastefully at him, and after a couple seconds spat in his face. The man calmly whipped off the saliva from his face, but then took her by the wrist and tried to thrust her into the ground. His attempt to hurt her failed as she landed on all her arms and legs preventing the blow. This surprised the man as Rena tackled him on the ground with a powerful head butt then attempted to run but was surrounded by guards.
“Your going to pay for that dearly for that, I want her captured, don’t kill her!” He said as he redirected his anger towards the guards. “When you’re in my bed tonight your going to wish you hadn’t-“
“You wish, for you see, I’m not your average girl or slave,” she smirked as the guards enclosed on her. She calmly stood as the guards tried to tackle her, but when they did she jumped to the roof of a hut with amazing distance.
“Did you see that?” One soldier exclaimed, “She just jumped 10 feet into the air!”
“You fools don’t let her get away!”
Rena took off jumping hut to hut although they could barely support her weight and she could fall into one at any given notice. Her speed was undeniable, but she wasn’t going to get far without a place to go. She decided to head towards the gates and go into the caves where she could hide in the many abandoned tunnels they held. As she approached the main gate, a line of guards were waiting there for her with the large gates shut. Although she could jump high she could never make the distance of a jump like that, and the holes in the fence were too small to climb with. She looked over quickly to see one of the sniper towers and devised a plan.
She jumped on top of a hut in the far corner of the slave camp and jumped with all the strength her legs had landing her in the middle of the ladder that led to the sniper tower. It took her a moment to regain balance on the ladder but she began to climb it as fast as she could. The guards above noticed the noise below and peered over the trap hole seeing her. They pulled out their snipers and took aim at her down the ladder. Quickly, Rena switched sides of the ladder as they shot at her so they couldn’t see her.
“I can’t see her!” One of the guards said frantically.
“Just shoot through the wood then,” the other guard yelled aggravated. The guards must have given up on catching her already because of her great physical abilities. When the guards finally shot through the wood, almost catching her, she dodged to the other side again where she climbed up through the trap hole. The men tried to reload their shots in their snipers but failed when Rena jumped out onto the roof. She looked across the fence, it was a mighty jump. If she were to come short the fence would cut her up, if she made it there was a possibility that her legs would break.
I have to do it, She thought as the snipers from the other towers began to fire at her with poor accuracy. She took a deep breath and took her leap of faith, she cleared the fence fine with a couple feet to spare. The ground came closer and faster, she landed on it hard and rolled unsure if her legs were broken or not. She checked them, but no visible wounds could be seen. She attempted to get up but surprised that she fell as soon as she got up. Her head was spinning but that didn’t keep her from worrying about the guards that were pouring out of the large gates coming after her. She tried a final time to stand and succeeded as she limped towards the mines with the guards on her tail.
The guard’s heavy plate mail armor allowed Rena to escape as slow as she did. She made it to the clearing where the mines entrance was. The people there immediately noticed Rena as she limped into the clearing.
“Rena, are you alright?” the people began to surround her.
“I need to hide, the guards spotted me and their after me at this moment,” she put all her weight on the two men beside her. Gertrude was standing in front of her now that she pushed herself though the crowd.
“We’ll hide her in the mines, there are plenty of abandoned shafts. We’ll also give her our rations of food so she can survive down there by herself.” She looked sadly at Rena. “I do this Rena because I don’t want you to go through what I had to when I was young and beautiful like you. Hopefully one day you can be free and chose your own path. I’m afraid that this is the last time I might see you.” A tear came to Gertrude’s eye. “Take her now before the guards come.”
Rena looked back as the two men carried her into the cave, it indeed would be the last time she would ever see her again.

It had been a few weeks in the darkness of the caves, alone, in solitude. Rena had been surviving on the rations of food the slaves had provided her but ever since then she had not seen them. She thought about her past, about her family, about her other family with Gertrude. She missed them both dearly remembering all the good things about them and forgetting the bad things.
“Hello?” A voice echoed through the caves. Rena didn’t recognize it so she didn’t answer. “If you don’t come out and give up you’re going to be trapped in here and die.”
What is he talking about?
“We’re blowing up the entrance to the mines, if you don’t come out, you’ll be trapped in here forever and die. Now tell me where you are and we’ll spare you. You should feel lucky that the Guards leader has interests in you,” the soldier laughed.
Vile pig, Rena spat.
“Last chance or you will die.”
I’d rather.
She heard the solider leave from where ever he was and kept yelling the same sentences over and over until he was gone completely.
They wouldn’t really be that mad to collapse this mine, it has a lot of ore in it and it would be a total waste…After a few minuets there were only the sounds of dripping water, but out of the darkness a large explosion from above occurred. The shafts above collapsed immediately but by some miracle her shaft was untouched. Now she was trapped and would suffocate to death in time. There was no hope for escape, so she sat and thought about the past…

Pain shot through Sukusia’s wound from the bullet hole in his shoulder. He grasped it to attempt to control the bleeding. The pain was unbearable, so much so that he was unaware of his surroundings. He lay on the hard, cold ground and attempted to look up. He saw nothing but a black abyss. Sukusia thought he had gone blind, but then he heard foot steps heading towards him. He thought it was John and froze with fear. The foot steps stopped short of him, he didn’t breath. He waited several seconds to see what John would do, but then pain shot through him from not breathing for so long. He gasped giving away the fact that he was alive.
“So you are alive,” Rena’s voice proclaimed. “I’m so glad… you saved my life, I couldn’t let you die.”
Sukusia was too afraid to speak because the pain might erupt again.
“I found you in a room about 5 miles down the shaft being choked by a Raven soldier. Any enemy of a raven is a friend of mine, so I hit him in the back, grabbed you and ran.”
“Thank you,” Sukusia said grasping his wound harder as the pain errupted.
“You’re very badly injured, I dressed your wound while you were passed out, it’s about time I dress it again,” she began to apply the bandages. “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rena.” She said just as pain shot through Sukusia. He squirmed realizing that it was the medicine she had put on him causing the pain. “Don’t worry, this will help your wound heal. My mother always told me that the more this stuff stings the better it’s working, whenever I got hurt,” She paused and sighed. “But I haven’t seen her in so long…”
“W-Why?” Sukusia managed to squeeze out.
“Well… I’ll tell you if you don’t speak anymore, you need your strength.” Rena said as she applied more of the medicine. “When I was little, my sister and I were out in the fields playing in my home dimension. We went alone despite how little we were. We played until it was sunset in the wonderful green fields of grass. We were headed home when the insect army attacked. In case you didn’t know, the insect army is under the Raven Army, but it’s more like a division” She applied more medicine without warning causing Sukusia to jump.
“One of the insects managed to see us after we hid under a rotten tree stump. When it came to take us I told my sister to hide and fooled it into thinking it was only me. He took me to the castle and threw me in a cell. Later I was transferred to dimension #3 and was forced to work in the mines, to live with people I didn’t know, and eat food I didn’t like.” Sukusia couldn’t see Rena but he could tell by her voice that she was crying.
“Every day I kept getting stronger from carrying the rocks until I was able to carry small boulders. A few weeks ago a Raven soldier tried pulling a move on me. I immediately rebelled and ran away. The soldiers were so pissed that they blew up the entrance to the cave with dynamite, in attempt to burry me alive. I’ve been in here for a while and I was running out of air, but then your gate appeared and the cave was filled with oxygen again. I’ve been surviving on the workers lunchboxes that they left in here, however I ran out today. I fear that we’ll never escape, and on top of that, the Raven solider I stole you from is looking for us in the darkness.”
“I-I K-know how to escape,” Sukusia said weakly. His mind began to slow and he found himself unable to think, as if the blood in his head was being drained. A darker type of darkness now took over as he passed out.
Sukusia awoke again in the pitch black abyss.
“Your wound won’t stop bleeding,” Rena’s voice jumped out of the darkness sounding concerned. “If you don’t get proper treatment you could die soon.” Sukusia didn’t have the strength to talk. “You said you know how to get us out of here,” She held up his arm with the device on his arm. Sukusia wondered how she was able to see in such darkness. “I don’t know how to activate the dimension travel device but I have a way to get you the strength you need to get us out of here.” She took off into the darkness for a brief time. It seemed for a moment death had come to lay his claim, but Sukusia only passed out again when he attempted to lift his head.
Once again Sukusia woke up. He could hear something being battered in the distance. The noise stopped and it walked over to him.
“This is the rare clay that is found in the mines. It’s used to create a spell that binds people’s lives together. What I’m going to do is take a piece of hair from you and me and place it into this bowl. Then I'm going to mix it. After that all we have to do is put our hands in the clay and place a handprint on each other’s backs. If it works a tattoo like picture should appear.” Rena pulled a hair from Sukusia’s head without warning.
“Ill get this ready,” she said and prepared the clay. It took a while before she was done. When she finally did complete it she walked over to Sukusia.
“Now, I’m not going to do this unless I have your consent,” She said and held his hand. “If you want to do this, just wiggle any one of your fingers.” She waited patiently. Finally she felt a little wiggle. She turned Sukusia over and tore the back of his shirt off exposing his back. She dipped her hand in the clay and then pressed her cold hand on his back. A bright blue light emitted from his back. It grew dim and she was able to see that it was a picture of the sea and its mighty waves. She set the bowl on the ground and dipped Sukusia’s hand in the clay. She managed to press Sukusia’s hand on her bare back. Sukusia witnessed a bright orange light illuminating the room emitting from Rena’s back. He was able to see before it dimmed down that it was the picture of the sun. Suddenly he was filled with energy and strength.
“What is this? Sukusia stood up.”
“It’s my energy,” she answered. “You’re using the energy and strength in my body, that’s one of the benefits of the M-spell.”
“Thank you for saving my life Rena, I’ll get us out of here and repay the favor.” Sukusia felt around in the dark and pressed the buttons on the device that was clamped to his arm. He randomly hit buttons until the little box opened. He took out the two balls attached to the string, and tossed it. He could hear the balls spinning and picking up speed. Finally a blue gate appeared and he was blinded by the light blinding both Sukusia and Rena.
“Well Rena, my name is Sukusia. I guess were both in this together to survive.”
“You could say that.” She said as they both entered the portal.

Chapter 3
His last act of kindness

Dimension #2
The Dimension of the red Sky

Gnarly starred at himself in the mirror that the guards had placed in front of him before he was to be hanged. The guards wanted to let him see himself one last time, nothing, insignificance, uselessness. For that was all he was not, a mere slave nothing more, and there could be no less than dead. The chains that bonded his wrists weighted his thin arms, his ribs stuck out of his skin for he had not eaten since Sukusia left him to die. The guards laughed at him as he became ready for his demise. Sukusia had went through the blue portal and John went after them but neither of them returned. Gnarly hoped Sukusia was still alive some how, so he could kill him with his bear hands. Sukusia had taken his only chance of freedom, the freedom he had been waiting his whole life for, the freedom he earned, not Sukusia.
He left me… I can’t die now, I need my revenge, He thought with a horrible taste in his mouth. He will pay.
A guard opened the door and let himself in with a wicked grin of his face, matching his dreadful black eyes.
“Its time,” the guard said quietly.
Gnarly said nothing but walked slowly with the guard out of the jail house. A large group of people came to bear witness to his execution, including his parents. The guard behind him kicked him so that he fell amusing the crowd, but they did not laugh out loud. Gnarly didn’t bother looking at them, he could feel his parent’s sadness, and it was all Sukusia’s fault.
The executioner stood at the top of the deck with a black cap keeping his arms crossed starring at Gnarly with his raven eyes. He took control of Gnarly’s chains from there as the guard handed him over with the same grin on his face. The executioner pointed to where Gnarly would stand, and without a fight he walked over to the rope that hung from the gallows.
Two guards Gnarly noticed before were now arguing with each other about how long it would take for him to die.
“Ill bet he will last two minuets before strangling,” the guard placed some money into a hat. Behind Gnarly the executioner was binding Gnarly’s hands to his back, and placing the rope over his head and onto his neck.
“I’ll bet that he will die as soon as he falls, his neck don’t look too strong,” the other guard said.
“I bet I’ll survive for 30 minuets,” Gnarly shouted at the two guards.
They were shocked about the statement but then they seemed to become interested.
“So you want to bet your life, and if you were to survive for that long you would have us cut the rope?”
“I realize I’m pleading for my life, but I would pledge myself the Raven Army if I survive.”
“Having you join the Raven Army would just be a favor for you, but I’ll take that bet never the less,” the guard smiled. “But you’ll never survive for that long.”
“Surviving on my gallows is impossible,” the executioner laughed cruelly. Without warning he pulled the lever and the trap door beneath Gnarly fell open. Although Gnarly was not ready he tensed his muscles in his neck bracing himself as the rope tightened from the fall. Miraculously his neck did not break, however now he was being strangled to death. He tried to breath but was unable to. He kept thinking about living, he had to live.
I have to live, I have to kill Sukusia!
He kicked his feet hard and drew a small sip of air into his lungs as the rope became slightly loose. He kicked over and over again trying to draw breaths, successful but he wasn’t collecting enough air. His senses were almost all gone, except the sense feeling, which he wished it would be gone as he hacked and wheezed. His vision was completely black, he couldn’t smell anything but blood, and he couldn’t hear anything but his ears ringing. His frantic kicks were becoming increasingly weaker as his energy depleted but he kept going, he had to survive.
“It’s been 40 minuets,” one of the guards reported. “You bet him he survived for 30 minuets you would…”
“I know,” he interrupted. “But no one shows me off.”
“But sir, if he’s this strong to survive for this long he would prove to be a powerful soldier. He shows great promise, he could become a great general.”
“They day a slave becomes a general in the Raven Army is the day I eat my boot,” He laughed. “A person that does not contain Raven could never serve in our army.”
“Very well sir,” the young guard said.

No energy, perhaps I should just give up and die, Gnarly hung on the rope still, energy leaving his body.
No, a voice yelled in his head causing him to kick his legs for more air.
I’m just preventing the inevitable, I can’t last that long…
Kill Sukusia, fulfill your dream of revenge, the unfamiliar voice etched in Gnarly’s head. The voice caused him to kick again through the exhaustion receiving more air.
How could I try to live to such evil thoughts?
He stole everything away from you, the voice caused Gnarly to kick again.
Perhaps Sukusia deserves freedom, maybe I’m being selfish…
He has no right to your freedom that you earned, and he stole from you. He has no right to live your dreams, the voice caused Gnarly to kick, one last time. Come serve me and I will free you Gnarly. Serve me and the Raven Army and your dreams will be realized. You will be a god if you succeed with your heart.
Gnarly finally realized the voice was not his own, but it was indeed in his head, speaking to him. Since the voice offered him a deal that was irresistible, he without regret said, yes
Gnarly felt as if something had hit his legs hard, but he soon realized that he had fallen to the ground. Air filled his lungs and his site returned to him, although it was only blurs. He could see a man standing in front of him, he was very old and his hands were behind his back. Beside him was a Raven guard eating his boot? Gnarly put his face down into the dirt and fell into the deepest sleep.
“Lord, I’m deeply sorry,” the guard eating his boot said.
“Don’t worry, he was just a slave. But when I sensed his soul and heart from our home dimension, I came here and found our new leader,” the old man said.
“But sir…”
“His soul is stronger than anyone’s I’ve ever seen before, and his need for revenge to kill his brother makes his heart next to mine,” the old man paused. “He may not be Raven, but his heart is.”

Dimension #1
The nest of the Ravens

Gnarly stirred in a bed of soft silk next to a plate of the finest food he had ever set eyes on. He took the apple from the top and bit into it, it was as delicious as it looked. The food settled in his stomach filling him with energy and satisfaction for he had survived. When he finished eating he wondered around the good sized bed room. He peered out of the window to see millions of small lights in the darkness that formed the shapes of large buildings. Each building was close to the other, but every building was the same height, except for the building Gnarly was in, it must be the palace. There was not a star in the sky, in fact, you could say there was no sky. He turned back into the room where the emblem of the Raven Army was painted neatly on the black wall. The emblem was a silver shield with a large raven feather that crossed it horizontally. In the corner of the dark room a voice called out to him, causing him to jump.
“Gnarly, you agreed to serve me and I have spared your life. Now that I saved you, will you still keep your word?”
“Yes,” Gnarly said quickly.
“Good,” the figure stepped out of the darkness and next to him a girl. This was the man he was to serve, the white bearded skinny, squinted eyed old man was to be his lord. “I am Sky Niles, the leader of the Raven Army. I am the one who strikes fear, hatred into so many, and brought down all the major dimensions with my own iron fists. This is my grand daughter, Avril.”
They both had those pure black eyes, the trait of the Raven’s race. Gnarly couldn’t help noticing that Sukusia’s eyes were almost dark enough to pass as Raven, but he had a slight tint of brown. Avril wore a black leather bustier with decorative chains hanging from her back onto the back of her pants. The bustier exposed her neck with her dark skin, unlike her father’s. She wore a black choker with the Raven emblem hanging from it bringing out her serious, firm face. The same age as Gnarly, but she was very intimidating with the small spikes that poked out of her suit.
“Gnarly,” Sky Niles coughed as Gnarly broke away from his stare. “Gnarly we both know that you do not have Raven blood running through your veins. However I have chosen you as my successor.”
“M-Me?”
“Your heart is that of a Raven’s, and you seem to know what you want. You’re also clever from the stories I’ve heard about you. Many would disagree with my decision…” He said as Avril let out a humph. “…for you were only a slave, but I am giving you a chance to be something. Knowing that many Ravens will oppose you, are you still with me?”
“Yes, now I am more than ever ,” Gnarly said excited, he was going to be the king of the Ravens some day!
“Very well. I would like to assign you to my younger brother for training. His name is Luke Niles, and he has no tolerance for lazy good for nothings.”
“I understand,” Gnarly smiled.
“There is one more thing before I leave,” Sky Niles paused. “There are ancient rules of the Ravens that say the king of the Ravens must have Raven blood in their veins. But there is an exception, if you were to take a wife of Raven blood you would be accepted. So I thought you would maybe want to marry into nobility. My daughters you might not want to look at, for they are all married and are older than 30. But my grand daughters are all available and your age, as well as irresistible. Avril is the closest to your age, but later today you will meet all 13 and you will make you choice of your candidates.
“But sir, I don’t think that I would be appealing to them in my current condition.”
“Don’t worry about that, we will send a healer to fix your wounds. So after the healer does her job you will head down the elevator to the first floor.”
“Thank you sir,” Gnarly bowed.
“Very good,” Sky Niles said as he exited the door. Before Avril headed out the door she kept her eyes on Gnarly with a grin on her face.
“Out of the candidates, you better not choice me for my swordsmanship is unparallel to yours. Oh, and just to let you know none of my sisters plan to marry a former slave no matter who they will become.” She left.
Her words did not affect Gnarly because some day he would be king.
Gnarly stood in front of the mirror in his room. His face was full of blood splotches that leaked through his face when he had been choking on the rope. His neck was bothering him badly from the whiplash of the fall. A knock came from the door and a slender girl stood in the door way. This girl was unlike anyone he had ever seen before, slightly younger than Gnarly. She had white majestic wings although they were covered in brown dirt and it looked as if she had been beaten. Her blond hair was long enough to drag on the floor and her blue eyes could easily lose someone’s attention to them.
She must be a slave, Gnarly thought was he studied her wings.
“May I come in? I am here to heal your wounds,” she bowed.
“Heal my wounds? You should treat your wounds first, they look far worst than mine.”
“I cannot, for when I am punished I am not allowed to heal my own wounds or I’ll be beaten even more.”
I sounds like this dimension is worst for slaves than my own…
“Now sit on that chair and let me treat your wounds,” she pulled up the chair and Gnarly sat. He felt her cold hands on his back making him shudder, but then the pain in his back went away spontaneously.
“How did you do that,” Gnarly said amazed.
“It is a gift among my people, watch,” she put her hands on his face cheeks and they began to glow a pure white light. He felt the pain in his face disappear and his veins were healing as well, it was as if his whole body was being healed.
“What are you?”
“I am from a race of winged people and I was captured by a Raven Solider. I was torn away from my family to be brought here to heal these evil people that beat me when I make a mistake. The other day I dropped a picture of water, and it didn’t break, however I was still beaten for it.”
Her words brought back horrible memories from the time Gnarly was a slave making him shudder.
“I heard you use to be a slave to the Raven Army…” She walked to the door and opened it stopping for a moment. “Don’t forget where you came from and how you suffered when you are crowned king,” the girl left him.
Gnarly hurried to the mirror and looked at himself once again. The scars from being beaten as a slave was now gone as were the bruises and cuts from the hanging. He felt as if he had been born again, his back didn’t hurt him and his joints didn’t bother him.
“There’s no one who can stop me now,” he said as he flexed in the mirror.

As Gnarly headed down the elevator in his new cloths marked with the Raven emblem. His smile could not leave his face no matter how hard he tried, he was truly happy. He crudely felt no guilt for wearing the symbol that he hated for so long, for it represented the thing he hated most, Ravens. His only concern now was being able to get his parents out of slavery like him.
Surely with the power I have now, I can get them out, he thought. Even though Sukusia tried to ruin my life he failed, he clenched his fist as the doors opened on the elevator. The words of that girl echoed in his head, don’t forget where you come from, but that didn’t matter now, who wants to remember the time they spent being a slave? He looked up and stepped out onto the red carpet that led to two large doors at the end of the hall. He pushed open the heavy doors with both of his hands into an audience room full of people and in the middle sat Sky. 13 girls stood in front of him in a line with unmoving expressions. Almost all were wearing the same black cloths as Avril was wearing, but now Avril herself was wearing a white dyed version.
Gnarly coolly walked to the throne and bowed down before Sky showing his respect for the king. The audience began whispering among themselves about his race, he was obviously not Raven with his bright green eyes.
“Silence!” Sky yelled now standing up with authority. “Due to the unwritten rules of our society, my successor must have Raven blood in his veins, but as you can see he does not.”
The crowd became more talkative with disapproval.
“However if he marries one of my granddaughters he will be accepted into our kingdom and a rightful ruler! Anyone who opposes speak now or keep your peace forever, and let me remind you that I have personally made Gnarly my heir.”
No one said a thing even though a sense of tension lingered in the air.
“Fine, then we will get on with our ceremony, Gnarly please stand,” the king motioned his hand and Gnarly stood. “Gnarly will choose five out of thirteen of my beautiful granddaughters to be candidates for his wife. He may only choose one of the five after a series of challenges offered by what the girl’s skill best at. If Gnarly loses a challenge he cannot ask that girl to marry him, but if he wins he can force her to…”
Force? Gnarly cringed, he didn’t like that idea.
“…so I suggest to you Gnarly that you do not challenge any of my granddaughters until you receive your training from my brother, Luke Niles.” The king pointed to a 40 year old plump man who just raised his hand with acknowledgment. “You will start your training with Luke tomorrow, but today you must choose your five candidates.”
Gnarly looked onto the line of the thirteen girls, not one was considered unattractive to Gnarly. His eyes came across Avril’s white attire and he couldn’t help wondering why she wore it and not the others.
“Lord, why does Avril wear white clothing?” Gnarly asked politely.
“Ah yes I forgot to mention that Avril is engaged to someone else. However she is not married yet is still a candidate for this event, meaning you can have her if you want her.” Sky chuckled. “But good luck getting her for her special skill is swordsmanship. Now Gnarly, I ask of you to treat my daughters well and never do them harm or they could end your life while you sleep.”
Are these girls that dangerous? Gnarly walked up the row of the lot, seeing who he liked the best.
“When you pick your five you cannot challenge any of the girls you didn’t choose, so pick wisely,” the king reminded him.
The first time he went up the row he could not make his first choice. So he went for another go, but this time he looked for a weakness. He looked for any sign of fear or uncertainty, surly if the girl was weak he could beat her easily at her own skill. He inspected them carefully as they starred out without a change in their faces. When he passed one of the girls he thought he saw her shake, but when he looked she wasn’t. He stopped at her and starred into her black eyes intently, and she blinked.
“Her,” Gnarly pointed to the girl.
“Dang it,” the girl muttered under her breath.
“Mary,” Sky yelled. “Step forward.”
Gnarly moved on down the row of girls passing Avril. Avril was sticking her tongue out at Gnarly, mocking him fearlessly. If he wanted someone who showed signs of weakness, she would not be the one. Annoyed he went back to the line as she giggled. He needed to find the weakest girls and stay away from the strong ones. The more scared the girl was the more he wanted her. When Gnarly moved down the line again he spotted a girl breathing rather deeply, so he stopped to observe her. The other girls seemed to be not breathing at all, but she was breathing more deeply.
“I want her,” Gnarly said as he starred at her.
“Christina please step forward.”
Gnarly moved to the back of the line again seeing Avril crossing her eyes.
“You look better that way, maybe you should stay like that,” Gnarly whispered then Avril frowned. Again Gnarly moved to the front of the line, seeking the weaknesses in the girls. One of the girls he was passing was sweating on her forehead, but she had to remain still so she couldn’t wipe it off. Surly sweating was a sign of nervousness so it was a perfect opportunity to pick her.
“She’s fine,” he said nonchalantly.
“Samantha come forward,” Niles said again.
Once again Gnarly passed by Avril who held up her thumb to her neck saying without words, pick me and you’re dead.
First disrespect, then comedy, now treating? Gnarly thought as he scratched his head. He passed her by again and ran down the row one more time. He stopped between two girls, only a little younger than the others. The girl on the right was innocent looking, as if she never seen any horrible deeds in her life. She must have been sheltered in her life for a long time, especially for a Raven. He indeed knew she was weak, most likely her skill too. A horrible wave of guilt came over Gnarly’s body.
“She…” Gnarly slipped.
“Jenna step forward!”
Crap, I didn’t mean to choose her! I’ve been feeding off the weak to get what I want. I’m no better than the Ravens, I’m becoming evil! I’m searching out innocent girls and manipulating them to do what I want through pressure and fear. I must choose someone strong before I change my mind!
“Avril,” Gnarly said as he turned to her. Sky seemed very pleased with this choice although he did not try to show it.
“Step forward Avril,” Sky said with a wide grin on his face.
“Yes grandpa, I was hoping you would pick me. Gnarly cense you have chosen me while I am engaged to another you must meet a smaller challenge for me.” The girl brought two rapiers from behind her and tossed one to Gnarly. Gnarly almost missed the toss but caught it by the handle. He admired the sword for the expensive jewels and marking it had on it, but it was completely dull. “A practice sword, you and I will go one on one. Three hits and the round is over announcing the winner. If I hit you three times I win, but if you manage to hit me once before I meet my goal you will be the winner.” Avril smiled. “I don’t expect a slave like you to know how to fight, so I gave you a fighting chance.”
“I will be the judge of this competition,” Sky said as he watched the two. “When I say start you both try to land hit on the other. Understand? Start!”
Gnarly never had held a sword before so he was unsure of how to use it. Avril charged at him with certainty that she would hit him, and she did. Gnarly tried to block the blow but she turned her sword around facing Gnarly tapping him with the tip of the sword.
“A hit,” her grandfather exclaimed. Avril backed away giving Gnarly a chance to recover as he held his sword in front of him. She charged again with the blank expression her sisters were using earlier, she was dead serious. She swung her sword from the right expecting Gnarly to block it, he did. She swung it from the left now and Gnarly tried to block the strike. Avril changed the course of her blade and came up underneath hitting him in the stomach with outstanding grace and precision.
“A hit, 2-0. Last chance Gnarly or you lose,” Sky warned him while wearing his awkward grin. Avril backed off again giving Gnarly time to recover but quickly charged again.
Last chance…
Gnarly blocked slash after stab, causing Avril’s expression to change as she became annoyed.
“Just give up!” She yelled her face becoming harder. “You’re not meant for me!”
Gnarly said nothing as he kept blocking the relentless attacks that became stronger, but less graceful. Avril was getting too cocky as she left an opening for Gnarly clearly. He took his rapier carefully with his two hands and jolted forward trying to stab her in the arm.
“You’ve got a lot of natural ability,” Avril said as she sidestepped the stab. “But your ability is nothing compared to my hard earned training.” Her slash was inevitable, there was almost no way that Gnarly could dodge this attack as her sword came closer. The world around him became slower as he tried to step back, but he slash was coming vertically and would not help him at all. The only way he dodge this attack now would have to be a miracle, and that miracle happened. Gnarly tripped on his own foot and fell back as the sword swung over his head completely missing him. He fell on the ground holding on to his sword as it hit the ground. He felt a tap on his chest, when he looked up Avril was leaning over him with her sword on his chest.
“Nice try,” Avril said politely for the first time. Her voice in that tone actually brought comfort to him even though he had lost.
“A hit, Gnarly wins,” Sky announced.
“What!” Avril yelled as she turned to him flipping her hair in a rage. “He didn’t even hit him pappy!”
“I won?” Gnarly asked in disbelief.
“Look at your boot princess,” Sky pointed to her boot which looked like something had cut it. Avril’s face became enraged as she looked up harshly at her grandfather.
“You’re going to count a hit to the foot against a hit to the chest?”
“The rules state you must get three hits before Gnarly gave you one, no matter where the hit was placed. You can’t argue with the rules my dear, you agreed to them.”
“But pappy, my faience and I were going to get married this week,” she argued.
“Then that will have to wait. Gnarly earned the right to keep you in the top five, so you will wait. However if he wins you over, you will have no choice but to marry him, but don’t worry the challenge will be much more difficult for him my dear,” Sky assured her.
Avril became flush with anger as she jolted the sword a Gnarly’s stomach knocking the wind out of him. She stormed off and dropped the sword loudly on the ground as she exited through the large doors. The audience whispered among themselves surprised that Gnarly had actually won with no training.
“Quiet please, I will have the girls now tell Gnarly what their challenges will be after his training. So please give them respect.”
Gnarly stood up trying to breath from the wind being knocked out of him. The girls that were not picked for the top five were now gone leaving four girls. Mary, the first girl he chose stepped forward holding a small pot.
“My skill is cooking, so we will have a c-cooking contest and have pappy judge it for us, determining the winner,