Hi there fans! This is one of my "serious" stories! I had a lot of fun writing this one and I would appreciate feedback!
"I'm scared, Mark."
There was nothing I could say to that, really. I couldn't tell her that it would all be alright, or that I would protect her. You can't really protect people from the terrors of the Void. Her hand, small and fragile, was captured in my own as I dragged her as fast as I could. Her shorter legs couldn't keep up with me —being two years younger was probably a huge disadvantage in running. I could hear her panting, but we couldn't stop. Not now. Not ever. Not while that thing was chasing us.
An ear shattering roar, deep and guttural, sounded off from somewhere in the distance. I could hear it, otherworldly but still terrifying; the sounds of the Void hummed with its master's calling. The sound of tunneling, both fast and frenzied, permeated the ground around us. I wanted to run faster. It didn't matter where we went, it just mattered that we got away. Unfortunately, my sister had different plans.
I felt my arm tug, and immediately my momentum was stopped with the entirety of Mai'Un's weight. Turning, I could see her there, collapsed on the ground with her legs given away beneath her. The sun, almost fully set, bathed her in the light of twilight. Even now endless stars encompassed the quickly approaching night sky. She was trembling, and soft sobs made it past her lips from tiny lungs. I knew then that she didn't collapse from exhaustion.
"We can't do this, Mark… They're going to catch us. They're going to catch us like they did Mom and Da—"
"Stop that, Mai'Un!" I interrupted her. I knew where she was going with this, and to be honest, I wanted to give in to the defeat as well. These creatures were no joke. Fast, and if not that explosive, but always deadly were the creatures of the other side. Always monstrous and always ravenous in their pursuit, they would chase what they could relentlessly and without abandon. Every documented intruder varied in size, shape, and purpose, but what they all had in common was something as terrifying as their visages.
They had a need to devour. They all devoured, in some way or shape. Like our parents before us, and surely like countless people before even them, this creature from… was it a different dimension? Who knows. It would find us and consume us, just like all others who would stand before them, whether willingly or not.
My eyes widened as I realized where my thoughts were going. I clenched my hand into a fist, then squeezed as hard as I could. I felt my nails make indents into my palm, and I was sure that if I squeezed any harder I would draw blood. It didn't matter though. The pain had done its job; my fears had been handily vanquished, at least for now. Using both hands, I hooked them under my sister's arms and pulled her to her feet. Tears had already begun to stream down her face, but I wouldn't let that daunt me.
"We're gonna get out of here, Mai." I said. I wasn't nearly as confident as I made my voice seem, or at least as I hoped I made my voice seem, but I had to try regardless. "I told you that I'd always protect you, right? We're going to get out of here, and away from that… thing. Okay?"
Mai'Un stared at me. Her lip quivered, and her face was partially hidden under her long, purple dreadlocked hair. Despite this, I could tell she still felt apprehensive. So I smiled. I smiled my hardest, brightest smile. I smiled so hard you could see each and every one of my teeth. I smiled so hard it hurt my cheeks.
"When have I ever failed to protect you, Mai?" I asked. I saw a little bit of her light return to her eyes. "What about when that huge roach came after you? Did I let you down then?"
Wiping away tears, Mai'Un shook her head in the negative.
"And what about that eyeball squid? Didn't I lose it?" I saw a smile on the edge of her lips. I was getting through to her. "And finally, what about when that weird guy in the hood came? Didn't we get away from him too?"
Mai'Un nodded vigorously. Her hair bounced and bobbed with her agreement, and I felt the hope and joy return to her. Setting her down, she was only a head shorter than me, I grasped her shoulders. The action steadied both her and myself, and I could see her staring up into my eyes. They were so innocent and pure. They peered into my own eyes, looking for comfort and answers I wasn't sure I could provide.
"We'll get away now. Just like every other time. Okay?"
"Okay," she mumbled. Her answer was partially muffled by the sound of her sniffles, but it was fine. She was standing now, which meant she could run. Grabbing her hand again, I turned and prepared to bolt, when once again the sound of ethereal, crackling buzzing echoed in my ears. We hadn't even made it more than three steps when the sound of rocks and dirt cracking apart met our ears. Directly in front of us the very ground moaned against its abuse before exploding outwards. Falling back with my sister safely in my arms, we tumbled away from the force of the blast. I landed on top of her, hoping to shield her from the latent debris.
"SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
There it was. That scream up close was somehow even more horrid than from far away. Covering our ears, Mai'Un and I sat there frozen as a large, menacing claw emerged from the hole. Light, and what seemed to be electricity, both of which were purple, pulsed and flowed from the gaping hole, but that hardly did more than conceal what was to come. Somehow not seeing this abomination instilled more fear into me than being able to see it fully. With this realization I came to a terrible, horrible conclusion.
This beast was worse than the other ones. It wasn't like the purple bug that came after us. I don't remember what exactly prompted us to venture into the forest, but whatever the reason wasn't worth encountering that monster. It chased us, but it did so as if bored. As if it wasn't really us that it was interested in. As soon as some creature, savage and primal, roared its challenge through the wilderness, the Void Hunter immediately changed its focus.
It wasn't like the Eyeball Squid either. Vel'Koz, I believe the natives of the area called it. That creature was simply curious, and when it saw that we had nothing to offer it, it discarded us as if we were little more than ants. To it, whatever it was, I suppose we were.
Not even the Hooded Man, who was highly enthusiastic about bringing us to the Void, wasn't this bad. He was manic and fanatical, but he was little more than a human regardless. He chased us the hardest, seemingly more interested in Mai'Un than me, but even he gave up once he grew tired of us.
No, this Void creature was different. For an hour now this… thing… chased us. No matter how far we ran, or how long we did so, this creature would be able to find us. Pursuing us first through desert, then sea and town, this creature hunted us like prey. Swimming through land as if it were water, this creature was very much unlike the others indeed.
This creature had lived here longer. It wasn't impressed by everyday things it could find anywhere. It was interested in us in particular, and it wouldn't let us go.
I acted out my decision before it was fully thought. Shaking Mai'Un as violently as I would allow myself, I broke the girl out of her daze. Then, without a second for her to gather her thoughts enough to be scared again, I pushed her. Away from the hole, the beast, and imminent death, I willed my little sister away from here. Hopefully she would listen to me for once.
"M-Mark?" she whimpered out. Her eyes were wild, and scared. They were filled with so much uncertainty and longing that a small part of me lamented the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to see them again. That part was immediately smothered by both my fear of the creature behind me, and my mounting resolve.
"Go!" I yelled. My voice, hardly a whisper over the undulating pulses of the Void hole behind me, was intense enough to rouse my sister. I could see the glistening of her eyes as she shook her head so rapidly I swore it would fall off. She started to step forward, most likely towards me, but all I could see was her being closer to the monster.
There was a stick on the ground. It was in my hand and soaring through the air in less than a second. It narrowly missed the girl, and her surprise was evident.
"I said go, Mai'Un!" I shouted. "I am your older brother and you will do as I say!"
Once again the girl shook her head. The tears flowed freely once again, and it was all I could do not to run to her and hug her, and rub her back, and tell her it would all be alright. But that would be wrong. If I were honest, it would be more accurate that the poor child would lose another of her family to the Void tonight. Regardless I picked another object, a rock this time, and sent it sailing through the air. This object came much closer, barely skidding past her cheek, and the shock on her face almost broke my resolve.
Behind me a second clawed hand emerged from the hole. Grasping at the disheveled land around its emergence site, the two appendages found purchase, then immediately worked on pulling its body out. Surely I hadn't much time left now.
"Mark… no… please. I can't… not you too."
Mai'Un's pleas killed the small part inside of me that told me I was being a good older brother to her. That little tiny part that kept me going throughout these years shriveled up as I contemplated what kind of horrible person would cause so much grief to a perfect little angel like her. This time it was my turn to start crying, but I sucked back the emotion.
Reaching my hand around my neck, I pulled out a chain necklace. On it was a pendant in the shape of a cartoony blast. Palming the pendant, I threw it hard. It flew, straight and true, well over Mai'Un's head and a good distance up the hill we were heading to. The hill wasn't steep, but getting that far would at least get my little sister a little bit farther away. Mai followed the path of the thing I had thrown with her eyes and, upon seeing the general area where it had fallen, turned back to look at me with eyes full of temper. Whether she forgot her fear or not mattered little. She soon rushed off to find the item I had thrown. Good. Now, for this thing behind me.
"SKRAAAGH!" It screeched again, and now finally managing to pull itself out of its burrow, I was now able to see the beast for what it truly was.
Covered in chitin and gnarly, purple scales, the Void beast reared itself out of its hole head first. Screeching into the slowly mounting dusk, its cries pierced my eardrums, but I could not run. I had to be sure I was the first thing it saw. Before long the creature, whose upper body resembled something of a shark with its sharp, angular dorsal appendage, finished its roar. Lowering its head, it crawled slowly out of the hole sporting massive scorpion-like hind legs finishing in a tail. Its entire body was covered in sharp, deadly chitin that seemed as if armor.
It, whatever it was, was larger than me. If I had to compare its size, it was easily the size of a small bus. It stalked forward, its large, gnashing maw waving with the shaking of its head. Its mandibles, which framed its upper jaw, seemed especially deadly, and I could barely keep my eyes off their every movement.
"SKRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" It screeched once more, and thoughts of why exactly it hadn't attacked me yet flickered through my fear addled mind. I was right here, mere feet away from it as it snarled and screeched, and yet it still hadn't made any indication it even knew where I was. It screeched, yelling its presence into the wind, but still hadn't moved from where it stopped when it emerged. Why hadn't it attacked? Could it not see me?
The monster lowered its head once more, unwittingly facing towards me directly. Purple, hard looking chitin stretched over what I assumed was its head directly above its maw. Nowhere on its face could I see any sort of eye.
It actually couldn't see me.
But… that made no sense! In what way could this predator —for it indeed was a predator— find and hunt us down so efficiently without the sense of sight? How did it find us so accurately, over so many terrains and through so many environments, if it couldn't…?
Grass crunched somewhere behind me. Facing the beast as I was and shocked into a state of being paralyzed, I hadn't noticed that I wasn't moving.
"Mark?" I heard my sister murmur, her voice tender and vulnerable. I heard her take another step forward, the grass crunching under her footfalls, and once again I heard the creature screech. Turning its head away from me to only slightly behind and to the left, I could see it acquired a new target.
"Idiot! Why are you back here?" I yelled, not that it mattered really. The Void beast, its front arm-like appendages somewhat dragging the rest of its body behind it, lumbered forward to attack its new prey. Mai'Un let out a short cry, whether from my declaration or from the beast I wasn't sure, and immediately scrambled backwards up the hill.
"No!" I yelled. I couldn't let it go after her. "Come back here, you stupid beast!" But it didn't. It crawled forward with more speed than Mai was able to produce. Soon it would be upon her.
I didn't understand. What was I doing wrong? It didn't hunt from sight, for it had no eyes. It didn't hunt from sound, or maybe it just wasn't interested in me, because it didn't turn back. What was different between Mai and me that it would chase a farther target, rather than one that was much closer and standing sti-
That's it! I was standing still! The creature hadn't moved from its burrow until after Mai approached us. Somehow, in some way, the Void shark followed movement to track its prey. If that was the case, I would make myself a known entity.
"Hey, dumbass!" I yelled, getting up from my place on the ground. Just that simple action was enough to alert the beast because it stopped in its pursuit, though it did not turn. I would have to garner more of its attention.
"Come and get me, you Void scum!" I yelled, and with preservation instincts that would make Darwin cry, I ran up to the thing. Sensing my steps, I assume, it screamed what seemed to be a challenging roar. It turned on a dime, whipping both itself and its tail like a buzzsaw. In an instant it was now facing me and, much like it, I turned on a dime.
"Come get me, you overgrown piranha!" I yelled, though I'm sure it couldn't understand me either way. My screams were more for myself, really. They were some sort of defiant action against something I couldn't hope to match. Either way, I made my way back down the hill and in the direct opposite direction of my sister. I couldn't see her anymore, for she had already crested the top of the hill. Good, maybe she would get far enough away to escape.
The Void shark was now fully focused on me. I made no illusions about my escape. I could run faster than Mai'Un, but I could not outrun the beast. Forcing my legs to go as fast as I could, I ran. I ran and ran, until I almost couldn't see the hill anymore. My lungs burned, my chest heaved, and my legs cried out in desperation. Together my whole body moaned, and I almost couldn't hear the monster behind me snarl in its pursuit. Step after step, breath after breath, I ran. Hopefully it would forget about Mai. Hopefully it would…
It would…
Where was it?
I turned, half expecting the Void shark to pounce on me, its ghastly fangs and mandibles tearing me apart in an instant. What I was met with, however, was silence. The creature, who I was sure had been following me, was now gone. Somewhere back there its heavy footsteps disappeared from the earth. Somewhere back there my heartbeat and panic distracted me from its vanished presence.
"No… Mai'Un." I gasped, voice only breaking out through every other breath. There was only one reason it would stop chasing me. It was going after my sister, and unfortunately the creature would reach her far before I would.
"MAI'UN!" I yelled in futility. She would not hear it, but I liked to think she would. That she would hear it and get away. Or hear it and somehow know not to move. Or hear it and… and…
I had been backing up while I was grieving, and in doing so hit my heel against something. Turning, I could see it. There, just behind me, was the pulsing, glowing sight of a Void borrow the beast had used. Just as menacing and otherworldly as its counterpart, I stared down into it.
"Are these connected?" I asked myself. Surely they had to be. Manic and upset, I didn't even think there was any possibility for them not to be. Gathering myself, I stepped forward. My beat up sneakers rest half off the edge of the Void.
"This is for Mai'Un," I whispered.
And just like that, I was gone.
XxX
Brother was gone.
He threw our pendant. The one thing I was able to get for him, he threw, up over the mountain. I'm not stupid like he thinks I am. He was sending me away. He was going to distract that thing while I ran away. How could he tell me that we were going to get away and then run back to it? What he really meant was that he was going to get me away.
What was the point of me escaping if he wasn't there with me?
Regardless I ran. I was slower than my brother, I knew that much. Still, I should be able to get a good distance away. Running up a hill was tiring, but I knew I had to go. It took me a bit, far longer than it should have, but I made it to the top.
"Brother," I whispered. In my hand I grasped the chain of the pendant with the important part dangling in the wind. "Why would you…"
"SKRAAAAAAAAAAGH," a screech went out. I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Turning around, I could see the monster as it burrowed straight and true for me, its stampede as unyielding as a bull. I backed up, shaking my head so fast it hurt.
Why was it back? Had it caught Mark already? That's impossible. It had taken me a bit to reach the top of the hill —right above what we thought was a short hill was just a prelude to another right behind it— but even so, it shouldn't have returned so soon.
Had brother escaped? No, that option was just as ludicrous. Brother had already risked his life to get me away. He wouldn't allow it to come back to me so soon. So what was the reason?
I decided I couldn't dwell on it. The thoughts would distract me, and as of now the beast had managed to burrow to the base of the first hill. It hesitated for a moment as it reached the incline, but it wasn't long before the creature decided that gravity was more of a concept than a fact. It burrowed diagonally upwards, and after long it would be upon me.
"Shit," I cursed. Brother would normally not allow me to curse, but then again he wasn't here right now. I ignored the cryptic density of such a thought, as my life was currently in danger, and got to work assessing my situation. Just like brother taught me to.
I was currently in some sort of playground. To be honest, it wasn't much of one really. A swing set stood opposite some sort of multifaceted contraption on a sort of plateau on top of the hill. Off to the side was a sandbox, and that was all that really made up the place. Behind the jungle gym was a set of large pipes, but their use was lost to me. Behind even those was a giant construct which had power lines run through them.
All in all, the park was unimpressive, but it was all I had to work with.
Stepping forward, I could hear the beast screech once more. It had reached the top of the smaller hill while I was surveying the area, but it seemed to be having a harder time tackling the steeper incline of the larger one. Good, I would need the time.
Somewhere in the back of my head, I noticed the beautiful view of the city that spanned the horizon. The tops of the skyscrapers seemed to be supporting the last of the sun's light, stretching its orange rays into a beautiful purple, before allowing it to fade into the navy blue of the night sky. I would stare at such a sight for as long as I could if I had the opportunity.
Yet another thing that was stolen from me.
I shook the thoughts out of my head. Now was not the time to mope. Looking around the playground, I could clearly see what my options were.
Running was not one of such choices. The thing was faster than Brother, who in turn was twice as fast as me. The sandbox was also a no go. I wasn't sure how different sediments worked, but I was sure that sand was just a different kind of dirt. All that was left was the swing and the other thing, and out of those choices my mind was clearly set.
I ran to the contraption. It was a Frankenstein of a thing, and comprised of metal pipes and colored squares. On one side it held a board with small indents meant to allow a child to climb to its top, while on the other it had a rather steep slide that ran down its height. In between those two things was sort of a cubby, the likes of which I hoped I could hide in. It had many entrances, the most appealing of which was a rainbow colored tube that almost seemed to be a smaller slide.
Almost slipping on the wet ground, I nonetheless made it to the thing. My weathered old sneakers slipped and squeaked as I made them scale the smaller rainbow slide, which sparkled with the water from rain that had apparently fell not too long ago. Reaching the top, I dashed inside the contraption before bracing my back against one of its walls and waiting. I was sufficiently hidden from view.
Hopefully I would also be hidden from the monster.
Small earthquakes, localized in the playground, beat through the area. Heavy footsteps —one thud, followed shortly by another— crashed their way forward. I couldn't see the beast, obviously. With my back firmly planted to a wall that faced the thing, I didn't dare move for fear of drawing its attention. A life on the run had forced me to learn a lot of things very quickly, and this wasn't the first time I've had to hide from something.
The only difference being that all the other times I had Mark there with me.
I couldn't prevent the sob that escaped. Already I had the idea in my mind that my brother was dead. It was a reality we've always had to face, that one of us would be gone. I just never thought that it would be him. Surely he must have had similar thoughts.
Luckily my slip up didn't matter. The instant I failed to repress my sadness, yet again I must add, did the beast behind me choose to roar. Beastly, I think it was. That was all I could say of it. The beast roared a beastly roar as it stomped and scuttled to the center of the playground. My heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the larger footsteps, if they could even be called that, of the Void creature, only hastening when the thing seemed to be near.
Thud, thud, thud it went. One step, then two and three. Four went by, and suddenly it had passed me. I dared not look, but judging from the sounds of its steps the thing went first to the sandbox. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it did there.
A warcry and a massive stomp greeted my ears, and I just knew the sandbox was gone. I wasn't sure how I aimed to hide there, but I was sincerely happy that I did not. The beast, fiddling with the displaced sand, seemed to let a sort of confused noise when it didn't find anything substantial in its loose grains. Immediately consumed by anger at this, it seemed to thrash about. Whatever was left of that thing was sure to be little more than a memory now.
Thud, thud, thud it went again, and this time it made its way to the swing set. Surprisingly it didn't choose to thrash it as well, only letting out another cry. It was vile, that cry. Cracking and reverberating within my soul, I couldn't help but think it a horrid sound. Loud and intense, the beast cried its frustration into the air.
So intense, in fact, was its cry, that I could almost swear my mind started making sense of it. For a brief moment its beastly roars seemed to pulse and crackle like electricity, before a hissing, but nonetheless elegant, voice seemed to speak through the noise.
Child, where do you hide?
Where do I hide? Why must it know that? Why would it ask me such a thing, even though I so obviously didn't want it to know? What kind of hunter asks its prey where it hides? What child reveals to their mother where they hid the cookies?
The beast roared again. It had stopped looking, so my crazed, fear addled mind jumped to the conclusion it was trying to reason with me of all things.
Child. Return to us.
Return? How could I return to you? Like a petulant child I folded my arms. I would return to no such place I didn't belong.
Child, I will find you. You belong to us. You belong to the Void.
I belonged to no such thing! I belonged to no one and no place. To no Void, or no other such magical entity. I had no mothers and I had no fathers. I was my own person, and there was no one who could tell me otherwise.
You are Voidborn.
"And what of it?" I hissed, though too low for even my ears to discern. Why had I said that? I knew that I had said it, because I felt my lips move. The words, they were so instinctual it was almost creepy. And the creature. Its hissing and cracking… it was almost hypnotic.
You are Voidborn.
It repeated its hissing, taunting cry, and like a child to its teacher, I listened. I drank in every word and found truth in its cries. Was I "Voidborn"? Impossible. I didn't devour. I didn't hunt. I certainly didn't look like one of their monstrosities.
You are Voidborn.
Impossible. I didn't have scales, or wings. I didn't burrow underground and I didn't eradicate people with my eyes.
You. Are. Voidborn.
I was human. My hands creeped over my body as I assured myself of that fact. I had fingers, and toes. Two functional eyes and beautiful brown skin. I had nails, colored blue, and wore human clothes.
You Are Voidborn.
I wasn't. I wasn't evil. I was good. I wasn't a murderer and I wasn't savage. I wasn't slimy, or creepy. I wasn't… I wasn't. My hands had traveled all over my body by now. They were reaching, and grabbing, and pulling at anything to ground myself against the voices in my head, and they had finally made their way to my hair.
I wasn't purple. Purple like they were. But my hair was. Purple by birth, my hair was always an oddity.
Accept it.
Could it be? Was I Voidborn? The creature's hisses turned to soothing whispers.
You Are Voidborn.
I could be. I've always felt different. I could always feel it. I've always been different. But now, that feeling seemed to pool in my head, before sprouting out into my dreadlocks.
You are Voidborn.
Yes, that made sense. Why else would all their creatures be chasing me? They wanted to retrieve me. They wanted to take me back to where I belonged.
You will return.
Yes, I will. I didn't belong here. Not among these people. Not among these humans. My mind was in a haze now, but even I could recall the thoughts. I was to reveal myself to the creature. It seemed only right. Reaching up, my hand gripped the top of wall I leant against. Soon I would stand and reveal myself to it. Soon it would all be over.
At least, that's what I thought. As soon as I had stood, out of nowhere a conflagration of light, a small ball that seemed to roll and twist in itself, appeared. It landed just in front of the Void creature, whose back was turned to me by the way, and immediately exploded. The blast was powerful, and the Void creature was handily knocked away. Knocked out of my reverie, I quickly chased the alien thoughts from my mind. Looking to where the blast had come, I saw the most amazing sight.
Descending on what appeared to be pure rainbow, a pink haired girl landed just outside of the blast radius. Adorned in a purple and white "sailor" outfit, the girl wielded both her star tipped staff and her scowl with devastating proficiency.
"What are you doing in this world, Xer'Sai?" the girl asked. Was that what it was called? Xer'Sai?
The creature, Xer'Sai I think its name was, answered the girl with a set of snarls. The girl, who was resplendent with light, responded with a shake of her head and a "hmph".
"Well, whatever your reason, the Star Guardians won't let you roam free!"
The beast roared again, and this time I was able to hear its coded whispers. You will not stop us from taking what is ours! You will not stop us from having the child!
I don't think the girl could understand Xer'Sai, because she made no indication of it. Instead, the girl simply held her staff out front and released it. The thing floated in midair for a bit, before spinning rapidly. Before long the girl started floating as well. A small, concentrated ball of light started coalescing at the center point of the staff's spin, and the smell of ozone was soon apparent.
The Xer'Sai apparently could sense this danger as well as I could. It quickly scuffled back on its feet. Facing down the girl before it, it let out a ferocious roar.
You may defeat me now, but there will be others, Star Guardian!
"Goodbye, beast. Your Queen will join you before long," was all the warning the girl gave. A small beam of rainbow extended from the ball of light and, after a short bit of effort from the girl, a massive laser of white hot death consumed the Void creature. Recoiling from the glare, I dropped back to my place on the ground of the jungle equipment. After a while my eyes adjusted, and I spared a glance over the wall once more.
The beast was gone, replaced only by some scorched ground from where it once resided. Across the playground stood the girl. The "Star Guardian", I believe she called herself, now had her staff held firmly in hand once more. She stared, but not at me. No, her view pointed straight into the sky. I followed her gaze, only to see not one, but four shooting stars, all of different colors, falling from the sky.
With a huff belying exhaustion far deeper than someone of her supposed age should be experiencing, the girl closed her eyes. After a while she opened them once more, this time with a smile adorned.
"I'm not alone," the girl said. Her eyes were hopeful as she stared up at the stars as they fell.
"I'm… not alone," I parroted as I did the same. My words felt somehow different than hers, though. For the life of me, however, I couldn't picture why.
So enraptured I was by the situation and the shooting stars, that I hadn't realized my hair, both glowing and crackling with otherworldly energy, had finally started to die down with the Xer'Sai's defeat.
-Rdyk