Mind's Journey 2: Of Monsters and Men (A Gamelit Fantasy Adventure - Book 2)

by William H. Dewayne

  G. brings us to a stop. “It won’t be much farther.” He gestures to the black scorches on the stony road. There’s an edge on the path leading to a lower path. I gulp, realizing that the Phoenix could be down there.

  “How close is Zero to the bird?” our energetic companion demands. “Zero is ready for a challenge.” He bounces around in impatient anticipation but doesn’t go ahead. At least he’s showing some restraint.

  “David, why don’t you go that way?” G. suggests with a cough, gesturing in the opposite direction. “We need you to make sure the plan goes according to plan.”

  Remembering how David acted earlier, this might be the best for him. If he’s not ready for this fight, he shouldn’t be too close. “No. That’s why I’m going with you,” he replies, his eyes and tone stern. “Maris is with the others to uphold their end of our little strategy. I need to uphold mine.”

  “But…” G. starts.

  “G.,” David interrupts, narrowing his eyes at his friend. “I’m fine.”

  The large man says nothing at first. Giving in, he shrugs his shoulders with a huff. “Whatever you say.” G. walks further ahead, reaching the ledge. His face takes this stony countenance. He jumps back, grabbing his spear. “We’ve found the nest,” he exclaims in a hushed voice.

  “How big is he?” Zero asks, pulling out his staff. He sprints forward, but G. throws his arm up, blocking the path.

  “It might be asleep,” G. hisses. “We have to be careful. If we scare it, who knows how long it’ll take to track it down again. Let’s do this right.”

  “Then what are we going to do?” our zealous warrior asks. “Zero is becoming impatient.”

  “I’ll go first,” G. says. “You guys hang back. I wanna try ending this before it gets started. If anything happens, carry on with our original plan.” David nods his approval while Zero leans on his staff, tapping his foot as if to tell G. to be quick.

  G. rushes over the side of the peak. David, Zero, and I follow behind him, peeking over the side to watch. Down a slope, he approaches a giant mess of smoking feathers, stones, odd-looking sticks, and bones. “The Phoenix’s nest,” David whispers in a stiff voice.

  Out in the open, G. approaches with a quiet speed. He holds his spear in front, every step of the way. When he reaches the side, he throws himself inside with a cry of triumph. His voice cuts short. I tighten my grip on my staff while Zero rushes forward. David’s face pales. What just happened?

  G.’s head peaks out of the nest. “It’s not here,” he yells in disappointment.

  What? We run over to find that G. wasn’t kidding. The winged predator wasn’t anywhere to be found. The nest only contained the bones of some of the bird’s past meals. I turn away from those, not wanting to think about what this bird calls dinner.

  “Did it fly south for the winter?” Zero asks with a frustrated laugh.

  David stoops down, touching the sticks and stones of the nest. He retracts his hand. “It’s warm. Wherever it is now, it can’t be gone for long. If we wait here long enough, it’ll come back.”

  As if some unknown deity cast some strange luck in our favor, the wind picks up. However, this was not a normal wind. It was hot, unlike anything I had felt before. I turn in the wind’s direction, and my heart sinks. Floating above us is the largest bird I’ve ever seen. Its wingspan is so large that a dark shadow falls on us, like a cloud blocking the Sun. However, this shadow isn’t normal, like the ones that float above the world. This shadow has a reddish tint to it, matching the red of the enemy.

  All across its body are red feathers. The bird’s body creates a silhouette, but I can see the underside of its body as if the red feathers are radiating light. A pulse of white courses across the feathers every other second. Wisps of black and white smoke hiss from the creature’s body. At first, I think it’s a trick of the weird lighting, but I realize that I’m wrong. Dead wrong.

  “The Phoenix,” I breathe. As if answering to its name, the giant bird lets out a savage cry of dominance. It sends a little quiver through my body. I don’t have to understand what the cry means in the language of birds to know what the cry signifies. The Phoenix knows we do not belong here. We’ve invaded its home, and it is giving us one chance to run away before…before what?

  Before we end up like the bones in his nest, a voice inside me answers. Focusing my vision, I take a look at its status. It is far stronger than the monsters we’ve faced. Hope we aren’t biting off more than we can chew. The Phoenix opens its mouth again, but another cry of warning does not exit it. Instead, I gaze into the maw to find a dark pit, one where its meals go. In that abyss, a bright, red light appears deep inside, like a little eye staring back. The light grows redder and larger in a second. What is it doing? “Scatter,” Zero yells, pushing me along. Everyone springs away from the nest as red-hot fire sprays from the monster’s mouth. The flames engulf the nest.

  As I land on solid ground, I hear the crackling of the sticks, stones, and bones. I release a shaky breath as I realize that if we were a second slower, that would be us. Hot air blows around me from the flames. A worrisome thought wonders what it would be like to burn alive, but I grab it and throw it into a chest, deep inside my mind, keeping my worries for later.

  Now is not the time to lose my nerve. This monster has every intention of burning us alive; if I falter for a second, my worries will become reality. I cannot allow that to happen. Our goal is to kill this monster, take the Memento, and return to the village triumphant. Getting burned and eaten doesn’t fit in that plan.

  Still, in spite of the heat, my blood runs cold as the dark, red-feathered bird floats above us. It’s so big. With each flap of its wings, I can feel the hot wind pushing me back. “Stand your ground,” G. yells. “Stick to the plan, and we can win. Don’t lose your nerve.”

  “Zero wasn’t planning to,” Zero yells back.

  The monster opens its mouth, and flames rain down on us again. I jump out of the way, rolling across the ground. I keep in mind that if even one of those flames hits me, I’ll catch fire. G. had warned us about the dangers of fire. Once they catch on to you, it’s hard to put them out. That fear fills my body with fresh energy, making up for what I lost during our climb up the mountain. When I’m out of the monster’s range, I turn around to face it again. I take my staff in both hands. Not sure what it can do against a flaming bird. Hope it doesn’t burn up. Glancing at it, I shake my head. Even if it looks like Zero’s bo, to this day, I still don’t know what’s special about this weapon. Whatever the answer, it doesn’t matter now.

  Out of the corner of my eyes, I watch the flames flicker, dancing across the ground, spreading wherever it can find kindling to continue its fiery existence. I glance up at the sky and see that the Phoenix is staying close to its nest, while the flames drive us back. It floats down and perches on the side of its burning bed, screeching at us.

  We can’t hit it at this distance, or even follow up with our plan, I realize. We have to close the gap. I look to the side and see that G. and Zero have noticed this. Both seem to move with the flames, taking every opportunity to move forward. Zero seems to have an easier time of it, darting around as if he’s done this before.

  “C’mon,” Zero yells as he springs over a wall of flames. “Do you think this is enough to hold back Zero?” The Phoenix lets out another cry, and as if in accord with its will, the flames grow taller and hotter. I spring back, avoiding being singed. My foot slips on a rock, and I drop to one knee. I push myself back up to my feet, but I freeze as I catch something out of the corner of my eye.

  Farther away from the fight, David is leaning against the wall, pushed back by the growing flames. As the fire surrounds him, David stands still. I pause waiting for him to act on some plan he’s been concocting since everything went wrong, but he doesn’t. He stands as if paralyzed. His eyes have gone white. Even from this distance, I can see that his body is quivering. Something’s not right.

  The flames keep closing in. Then,
David acts and does something I never thought I would ever see. He drops to his knees and screams. The cry is hollow and sends chills through my body. The fire is unaffected by his screaming and closes in further, wrapping its arms around his body.

  “David,” I scream. A surge of energy fills my body, and I run toward him. He’ll burn alive, I realize in horror. I move past the Phoenix’s attacks, dodging them as I make my way toward my friend, running faster than I thought my legs could carry me; but I know it isn’t enough. David’s screams are becoming more high-pitched and sounding closer to actual pain by the second. I’ll never make it. Just then, something, or rather, someone darts past me.

  G. dives into the raging flames. For a moment, I can’t see him through the blaze. In the blink of an eye, his arm bursts from the fire, hurling the boy out of the fiery snare. David’s body, sputtering with fire, rolls to safety. With eyes closed, his crying stops, but he’s not taking a simple nap. At a glance, I know those flames won’t flicker out on their own. G.’s words around a campfire weeks ago echo in my mind. “If someone catches on fire, smother the flames as fast as you can. Every moment the flames live, the closer a comrade is to death.”

  Before splitting up, Aurora gave us a few basic techniques to deal with burns. I grab the water canister at my waist and rush over to David. From beneath my armor, I rip off part of my outer shirt and upend the container, spilling the water on the shirt. The cloth absorbs the liquid, turning it a darker shade of gray. I drop to my knees and clamp the wet shirt on the first flame I see.

  It turns into a puff of smoke. Despite the cold wetness of the cloth, I can feel the leftover heat from the fire. I smother each flame as fast as possible, making sure that each flame was out before moving to the next one. Not sure how long it took to smother all of them, but I can’t relax because I remember who saved David. G. is still in there. Looking over my shoulder, I let out a gasp of surprise and horror.

  Leaning against his spear is G. His body is free of the fire and all flames smothered, but large, ugly markings cover his body. Smoke rises off his clothes. His entire being shakes in exhaustion and pain. “G.,” I call. He doesn’t answer. His eyes, red from smoke, pain, fire, and fury, bore a mental hole through the giant bird.

  Just then, I hear a new noise: a shriek of surprise. I turn again to find Zero standing on the Phoenix’s nest, spinning his bo. Floating above him, with its back to us, is the Phoenix, trying to regain its perch. “Zero’s got him,” Zero yells in triumph. He springs up and swings his staff at the creature’s head. The giant bird flaps its wings, propelling itself away.

  Zero puts his fingers to his lips and whistles. The high-pitched noise splits across the air. A second later, another high-pitched noise answers, and the shadow of a familiar creature darts across the ground. The Phoenix lets out another shriek of surprise as Zero’s bird swoops in, its talons clawing at the monster’s face. The Phoenix’s bar is dropping at last, but nowhere as fast as we need it to.

  Attempting to escape, the Phoenix flies back a little farther as the smaller bird continues its merciless attacks. In desperate retaliation, the flames of the Phoenix spurt out across its body, threatening to ignite the feathers of Zero’s airborne steed. Behind me, making me whip my head back, I hear a single grunt.

  Turning on his heel in a full circle, G. rears back, hurling his spear as hard as he can. G. used Flying Lance. My jaw drops. It sails across the air at the beast. For a moment, I wonder if the weapon will sprout metal wings and fly off into the sky, but it doesn’t. The razor point stays the course. It sails around and clips both of the creature’s wings and legs, making it cry a high-shriek of pain. The spear’s flight comes to a stop in the ground. I expect to see red blood spill from the fresh wound, but to my surprise, something far redder and hotter poured out in its place: fire.

  “Argh,” G. shrieks, rushing forward, ignoring his burns. He springs into the air, with an agility that I didn’t think he had in his condition. G. pulls a knife from his belt and swings as he flies past the monster. He hacks at its right wing, striking it mid-flap.

  G. lets out a bellow of triumph as he lands on the ground, near his spear. His knees buckle as he hits the rocky surface. To balance himself, he grabs his spear, pulling it out of the ground with a furious war cry. He spins around again and rushes back at the flying fury. He hurls his spear again, but this time, the blazing bird was ready.

  It flaps its wings furiously. It darts into the air. The sudden gust sends the spear off course. Even if the giant bird stayed where it was just a moment ago, the projectile wouldn’t have come close to hitting its mark. G. grabs his knife, and with another savage cry, hurls it into the sky.

  This sudden attack catches the Phoenix off guard, and the blade sails through the air, stabbing into the lower part of its left leg, finding a home among the raging flames, which rise with the monster’s renewed pain. Its H.P. drops a decent amount from that assault.

  G.’s body quivers in its rigid posture; then with a heavy sigh, he collapses on the ground. As if mocking us, the Phoenix lets out a series of cries. A quake of horror rocks my core. G.’s down. I glance out the side of my eye to find David lying comatose next to me. Both of the health bars are low, too low.

  This isn’t good. Our strategist and one of the team’s strongest hitters can’t keep fighting. Up on this mountain, that leaves only Zero and me to draw the beast out. With Zero’s skills and unpredictable nature, he might succeed without the creature realizing that it was being led into a trap, but what about me? The only reason I’m still on my feet is because I avoided being consumed by the flames like David and G.

  Why didn’t G. let me save the kid? I lament. The burns would put me in the same condition G. was suffering from, but at least he’d be a greater asset to this battle than I will. What am I supposed to do? Without thinking, I reach for my staff. My hand grabs the handle. “Get ahold of yourself, Felix,” I assure myself. “You’re still moving, so figure it out.”

  Just then, the Phoenix lets out another blast of blazing fury. The flames dance across the ground, consuming everything in its path. Before I can move, everywhere I look is a sea of fire. The blaze surrounds me, threatening to swallow me whole, using me like our campfires use small sticks for kindling.

  I spin around, looking for a way to escape. Turning my eyes up, I see that the fire has already enclosed me in a fiery box with no exit. A small plan involving running through the fire crosses my mind, but the images of David and G.’s comatose bodies put that idea to rest. There’s only one way out. I summon my inner strength. You used Darting Arrow, the Voice says.

  I spring out over the flames, but that is not enough. It’s time to make this beast pay. No more holding back. Raising my arm, I hurl my staff at the cackling albatross. As soon as it leaves my hand, I know it’ll reach its mark. When that power takes over, I know I don’t have a thing to worry about. Whatever I want will happen. You used Skull Cracker, the Voice says.

  Just as I thought, my bo staff smacks against the side of the Phoenix’s head, sending out a high-pitched crack. The giant bird whirls around to face me, its eyes two burning coals. With a flap of its wings, the giant bird soars into the air. The gust pushes me back, but a firm hand grabs my shoulder to steady me. Zero appears next to me. He crouches and hurls his bo at the monster. The staff soars through the air and meets its mark under the giant bird’s open maw. The beast’s head whips backward from the shock of the blow. “Check on your friends,” Zero orders. “While you still have the chance.”

  Taking his advice, I rush over to G. and David while Zero watches the bird overhead. “Can you move?” I ask.

  G.’s head twitches a little and raises his right hand a little, but nothing more. “I’m out of the running,” he coughs, “I think I’ll be fine in an hour or two if Aurora can get up here to give some first aid, but I can’t help bring down that monster. Not this time.”

  “That’s fine,” Zero says with a grin. “Zero and Felix are more than capable
of it. Right?”

  I want to shout No at him. Not with G. and David flat on their backs, unable to help. I force a grin, trying to act reassuring.

  G.’s eyes widen. “What are you doing just smiling like that? Complete the plan. It’s the only path to victory,” G. yells. “Make it pay.” His words stir up my courage. Without waiting, I turn and sprint away as fast as I can. Zero whoops behind as he follows. We hurry down the rocky path, aiming as best we can for the ambush point. The Phoenix lets out another high-pitched scream. It’s a long, loud cry, and with each moment, it’s getting closer to us.

  Though it could go after G. and David, it won’t. The beast knows who will keep bothering it. As I run, I think back to the barren, rocky terrain of the wasteland between Aliyah and Verdeville. Back then, walking was a difficult task. How simple everything was back then. Intense heat chases me, its flames close to lighting our clothes on fire. I quicken my pace. “This is ridiculous,” Zero yells and whistles. At his command, his bird darts out of nowhere and slices its talons across its eyes. Flames spew from the Phoenix’s face, as fresh cries of pain fill the air.

  That moment of respite is all we needed to reach the waterfall. Zero springs across the rocks, reaching the clearing and taking his place in the water. I follow behind, scrambling to the side, ducking behind an earthen cleft. I glance around, spying all the pieces in place for our scheme, but with David and G. out of the picture, can we succeed? We have to, a voice inside answers. My hand clutches my staff as I steel my resolve.

  Zero whistles. The screech of his pet echoes through the air, and it darts across the sky, flying right through our trap. Another screech follows, the cry of the Phoenix, and a moment later, the fiery bird soars into the clearing. It spots us and dives, maw ready to consume us. A grin breaks across Zero’s face. He flips his staff onto his shoulder and holds his free hand up, extending his thumb and pointing finger. “Gotcha,” he laughs as his thumb drops back to his palm.