5
My eyes fluttered open. I surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings. There was a small pond in the center of this little forest, trees growing out in every direction. A bridge created a warped walkway that passed over the small pond, ducks the same color of tree bark resting around it.
I looked behind me. Ferns the size of a bear surrounded a sunset streaked white brick walkway, looping in a circle around the park. I gazed up to see the red tinted shade of the sky, slowly becoming the hues of an abyss.
๐๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?
I walked past the pond until I found a brown beach, covered in moss.
"It really is a parkโฆ. or at least it was."
I brushed my hand over the moss, tickling my palm in the progress. Nevertheless, I sat down on the forgotten creation. With hands like a cowboy at high noon, I pulled out my smartphone. I browsed through my sea of contacts and selected one of the five. Its loud ring gave me a small headache. It persisted three times before going to voicemail.
"No bars, I guess. I wanted to make sure she was ok."
The sun was moving farther and farther down the horizon. I looked down at the palm of my hand.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ? ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ?
I brushed off the leaves from my slacks and dark hair as I stood up. I heard my phone hit the mossy ground.
"Great, "my breath exasperated.
This is definitely one of those pocket dimensions I read about. They were worlds that existed in a plane of their own and could only be created and controlled by the creator. It was like building your own world in a game except others were forced into it. Maybe it was the headmaster's magic. I didn't really care at this point. My gaze was fixated upon my fallen device. I reached down for it. As I did, I was hit with an affliction of ice. The chill reminded me of Niflheim, the coldest of the nine Nordic realms. All the hairs on my body sprung up at once. I dropped my phone into my pocket and broke into a sprint.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ.
A shiver shot through me. I put my back to one of the massive trees deeper in the park. I shot a glance at the pond. The water was now like an hourglass, frozen in time.
"Oh no. I missed."
He sounded sarcastic and fiendish. I made the decision to sneak a peek and looked past the tree. A white-haired boy in my school uniform made eye contact with me. His eyes were bright green, but as cold as his stare. His impish grin gave me insight to who the student was. I never met him at school, but I know he almost killed someone from the class next to mine. He was pretty infamous in our senior class.
"Gelum Hiemis," I muttered
He was ten feet away. His cold demeanor was complemented by the icy aura that surrounded him. Multiple icicles had formed above his head and were pointed my way.
"Oi, lucky me. Not only do I get to fight without getting in trouble. My first opponent is the magicless dipshit."
He continued to slowly walk towards me. I spun my head around. I guess a magicless 4th year would be as infamous as him, but I liked to keep a low profile. I guess that didn't work. I now needed a plan.
๐๐ถ๐ฏ? ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ? ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ? ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ? ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต.
I was running out of time. I looked down for anything I could use. I spotted a broken tree branch by my feet. It was about as thick as my arm (which wasn't saying much), but it would have to do. I didn't look over now, but I knew what I would do. My hands shook intensively as I picked it up. I prepped my makeshift bat, awaiting judgement. Sweat was oozing out of every one of my pores. My temper began to rise and with it my body temperature began to drop.
"Oi, you better not still be there. I'm always ready to make a skewer or a new statue."
I was pretty sure I could tell where he was from the position of his voice. I sprung out from the right side of the tree, where his blind spot should have been. The front half of his body was already past the tree. I swiftly brought up the weapon over my head.
"Yaaaaah---Gah!"
Even though he wasn't facing me, his icicles still flew at me like homing missiles. One grazed my left arm while another dug deep into my right knee. I dropped the weapon and crumpled to the ground. The pain filled my body with the hymn of chaos. I struggled to move.
"Aaaaah!"
"You thought you could give me a little roundabout, didn't you?"
His cold eyes were once again fixed on me. More icicles formed around him.
"You put up a good fight... well not really, but at least you will be killed by the one who will become the mage."
My breath got heavier. Blood roared in my ears. He placed his foot on my head. I could see his pointed boot in high definition.
"Oi, well, I have had my fun now. Time to go."
He raised his hand up like a general issuing the sentence to death. I closed my eyes like a child, waiting for the storm to leave me alone.
๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข.
He kicked me onto my back. My chest was clearly exposed. He launched his arsenal. Blood trickling down from the chest. I gagged. However, it wasn't my chest.
"Awwwk!"
A jet-black spear was protruding from his chest. "Wah iz dat..."
He crumpled to the floor. A shadow in a humanoid form was the spears owner. It was fairly humanoid, but as dark as a nebula. I was frozen with shock. Suddenly the right hand of the figure began to grow skin, its hand becoming enveloped in flesh. Now it had a hand resembling my own. It glowed for a moment before disappearing from view. Though if I squinted hard enough, I could see the human-like hand again.
Its spear faded from existence and it turned my way, slowly rising from the ground until I could see its entire body.
"What the hell are you!"
Its solemn glare faced my direction, its body still facing away from me.
"๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐."
"My...my shadow?" I cranked my neck to look behind me, sure enough, my shadow was gone. It nodded.
"๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ก. ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ, ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ."
I gazed toward my shadow, my hand to my chin.
๐๐ฐ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎy ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ'๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ?
Something was off about all of this and I didn't know what. I want to trust this thing since it did save me, butโฆ.
"๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ. ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ. ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง."
With this new personal guardian appearing, I felt somewhat powerful for the first time in my measly existence.
"Let him come. I'm sure we can take him."
I slowly got to my feet. My shadow materialized at my back.
"๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ."
I was about to complain about my leg, but I felt fine. I looked down at the rip in my slacks.
"It's gone."
"๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ. ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐จ!"
I couldn't figure out why we couldn't just take him on. I mean, I felt great.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.
There was someone waiting for me when I got out. That one thought was swarming around in my mind. I couldn't shake it and I didn't want to.
๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข. ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ทe ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.
I had even more motivation to get out of here. Be it by winning or by somehow managing to escape, I would win.
Comments (0)
See all