I, Tucker Austin, author of this story, would like to dedicate this story to Aeria games for sparking my imagination to write this story
King of the Warriors
Prologue: Upsetting the Balance
Nerd: an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit. Also usually very shy. Geek: a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual. These two words described Jacob Robert Johnson to the tee. In fact he was the epitome of both of these words. Jacob Johnson was an electronic/computer genius, mostly due to his photographic memory, who worked for a company called 'Tronix, which manufactured the latest and greatest electronics in the United States. Since Jacob was the epitome of the words nerd and geek he wore glasses, a polo shirt every day with pens in the front pocket, and always carried a scientific calculator with him where ever he went. Jacob though was not fat; in fact he had average build as some would put it. Jacob was 1.83 meters tall, weighed about 75 kilograms, though he wasn't very muscular, had black hair and green eyes. Jacob was not the type who went to parties, social gatherings, or anything that consisted of a group of people. Most of the time he spent his nights and weekends watching movies, playing video games, and surfing the net. Some might call him a slacker, but he was no slacker when it came to calculations at work. He was 21 years of age with a PhD in electronic engineering, which he had gotten by the age of 18, and had worked for 'Tronix for the past three years. 'Tronix manufactured electronics from consumer to military grade. Jacob was one of the thousands of employees working in one building in Chicago, Illinois. He was also the only technician in the company. This was due to the fact that he was a genius when it came to electronics and computers. Also nobody liked him, and nobody cared about him. As long as he did his job, which consisted of him troubleshooting and repairing every piece of equipment that was sent to him, nobody ever saw for the entire day. But Jacob Johnson liked himself and his work just the way it was; he had no obligations to anyone, his parents were dead and he had been an only child. He had no girlfriend, just the thought of a girlfriend made him shudder, no friends, even nerd friends, he was free…and he liked it. But one day that balance, that Jacob Johnson considered his life to be, was about to be upset.
It all started on that fateful day on June 18th, 2009 just after he had successfully troubleshooted and repaired a military grade laptop. Jacob decided to start working on the AC power supply when suddenly there was a flash of light. The light was so bright that he had to shield his eyes. The light grew until it was a portal, at least it looked like a portal, and then a figure stepped out of the portal and into Jacob Johnson's life. The figure was a man, who was about 1.9 meters tall looked like he weighed about 114 kilos, and was very broad and very muscular. The figure looked around and then it stopped when his eyes focused on Jacob Johnson.
"Hello?" Jacob said.
"Are you JRJ?" The big man asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you JRJ?"
After a minute Jacob got it, "You could say that, I am Jacob Robert Johnson, and you are?"
"No time for that now, please come with me, we have to leave."
"Why?"
"Are land is being threatened by a superior force, you must come and stop him."
"You're joking right? This must be a misunderstanding, because unless you have some piece of electronic equipment that needs to be fixed I'm not your man."
"I don't have time for this. I'm sorry Warrior King."
"Warrior King? What're you talking…?" But Jacob never finished his sentence; the man put him to sleep, picked up Jacob and walked through the portal of light.
Jacob opened his eyes and found he was in bed. He sighed and thought, It was all a dream, the muscular man, the portal of light, all of that was just a dream. It's pretty bad when I'm dreaming that somebody takes me through a portal of light just so I can escape work.
"Are you all right Warrior King?" A female voice suddenly said coming next to him.
Jacob jumped and said, "Aaah!"
"I'm sorry I did not mean to scare you, are you alright?"
Somehow he found his voice and said, "W-where am I?"
"You are in the castle."
"The castle?"
"Oh, that's right, you came from the other world I will let Seona explain everything."
"Seona? Who's Seona?"
"She is the princess of this castle, our guide, and our ruler."
"When can I see her?"
"I'll take you to her now, if you wish Warrior King."
"Yes it is, and please stop calling me that."
"Why?"
"Because I'm no warrior, nor a king, and for that matter I'm definitely not a warrior king."
"Warrior King you are too modest." Jacob sank back into the bed and sighed, "Alright you may call Warrior King."
"Oh thank you Warrior King, would you like to see Seona now?"
"Yes please."
"Follow me." He started to follow her when realized he didn't have any clothes on. In less then a second he had scrambled back into the bed by the time she turned around.
"Where are my clothes?"
"Clothes? Oh you must mean your garments."
"Yes my garments, where are they?"
"Your garments did not make it through the passage."
"The passage? You mean the portal of light that I saw?"
"Yes, the passage."
"Great, uh, is there something else I could wear."
"You shouldn't need your warriors garment right now so I will give you your regular garment." Warriors garment? Jacob thought. She handed him a garment which looked like it came from Middle Ages, which he put on in the bed under the covers as she told him how to put them on.
"Now we can see Seona." Jacob said.
"As you wish Warrior King." She led him through a series of halls and flights of stairs until they reached one of the castles spires. This spire was like many he had seen in history books, the one where the top looks like a rooks top in chess. He remembered the entire route due to his photographic memory.
"Lady Seona, the Warrior King seeks an audience with you."
"Thank you Shanay, you may go."
"Yes Lady Seona."
"At last I meet the great Warrior King."
Jacob decided to mimic her so he would sound better, "And at last I meet the great Lady Seona."
"Warrior King you flatter me, it is you who are great, not me." Jacob had never paid much attention to women, especially the beautiful ones, (although there was that one time when he noticed a woman who had just fixed her hard drive by herself who he had thought was techno savvy) but Lady Seona was like one of those flashing signs you just couldn't ignore. Lady Seona was 1.8 meters tall, looked like she weighed 66 kilos and had black hair and blue eyes. Then Jacob shook his head and said, "With all due respect, Lady Seona, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here."
"Ah, it is just as the prophecy says, "'He will not know his destiny, nor the ways of our people, but once he has learned these things, he will become great.'"
"There's a prophecy about me? How do you know I'm the guy who's supposed to fulfill this prophecy?"
"Because it is said, "'Go through the portal of light, the one who catches your attention first, that one is the Warrior King.'"
"But there was no one else in the room! Just electronics, no humans were around except me."
"Ah so it is true, "'He will come from a land that is not of our kind, but he will lead our kind to victory.'"
"But…wait a second, did you say our kind? You mean you're not human?"
"Are you a human, Warrior King?"
"Yeah, that's what my species is called."
"Species? Oh, your kind."
"Yes, my kind is called humans. But you're not humans?"
"You are correct, we are not humans."
"Then what are you?"
"We are the Aquanites."
"Aquanites?"
"Yes Aquanites of the planet Aqua."
"Never heard of it."
"Just as the prophecy said."
"Let me get this straight, you say that your prophets prophesied about a Warrior King who is not one of your kind, who doesn't know his destiny, and doesn't know your ways, but once the Warrior King learns his destiny and your ways he will become great. Is that pretty much it?"
"Your analysis is correct, Warrior King."
"But there is so many ways to translate those words. For all I know this whole thing could be one cruel joke."
"Joke? Oh, you must mean trick. I assure Warrior King this is not a trick."
"Then what is it?"
"I do not understand what you are requesting."
"Why is this Warrior King so important to you?"
"He is not just important to me, but to all of my people. To answer your question, the Warrior King is prophesied to bring peace back to our planet."
"Peace? You mean you're at war? With who?"
"Yes Warrior King, we are at war, as for whom, his name is Midvel."
"Midvel?"
"The leader of the rest of the Aquanites." Now Jacob was starting to get the picture, it was a classic battle: two factions fighting for dominance, one with a larger army, the other who is the heir to the throne.
"Let me guess, your father and mother died somehow but not before appointing you to succeed them by taking the throne, however since it was Midvel who killed both of your parents, he was hoping to claim the throne as his own, and since you have no brothers or sisters, you have been fighting him, for years probably, to keep the throne. Am I right?"
"It is true just as the prophecy foretold, "He will know the past, the present, the future, and he will know all other things."
"Wait a second, I don't know the past, I know the present, and I definitely do not know the future."
"Then how did you know my past without me telling you?"
"Just a guess."
"You still say you are not the Warrior King."
"That's correct."
"I hope you are wrong, for if you are not the Warrior King, my people and everything that we've stood for will be killed."
"Look I'm sorry about what's happening, I really am, but I am not going to get involved in some harebrained activity just so I can get killed."
"But you cannot die, it is foretold that the Warrior King is immortal."
"Well then, he definitely isn't me."
"Wait! I know how to find out whether you really are the Warrior King."
"How?"
"There are four tests you must perform."
"What are these tests?"
"The four tests are: Test of Mind, Test of Endurance, Test of Strength, and Test of Speed. It is said that the Warrior King will pass all but one test."
"Which one?"
"Silly warrior, you should know that." She said as she descended the stairs.
"Wait! When do I take these tests?"
"In one hour." She said as she disappeared around the corner.
One hour later Shanay came into his room and said, "They are waiting for you."
"Alright, let's get this over with."
"Follow me." He followed her through a maze of corridors, stairs, and doorways until they came into the arena. It reminded him of the Coliseum in Rome.
"Warrior," Lady Seona said from the seats above, "If you truly are indeed the Warrior King you will pass all but one of these tests, do you understand?"
"I understand."
"Then let the tests begin." The first test was the test of mind. For this test he was subjected to many people giving him a situation on a battlefield. Such as, "If you have 381 warriors and you lose 284, how many do you have left?" It was simple math…for awhile. Then it got harder and harder, but he got through it. When that test was over he was subjected to the test of endurance. This test consisted of them giving him two rocks, one in each hand, and telling him to hold up the two rocks as long as possible. Even though Jacob was not very muscular he would not give up on keeping these rocks up. Because of his conviction he held up the rocks for thirty minutes. His arms felt very light after letting the rocks go. But there was no time to rest; the next test was coming up.
The next test was the test of strength; he found that he had to fight the man who had taken him here. The man outweighed Jacob by 85 pounds and was 5" taller then him. And he was very broad shouldered and very muscular. When Jacob swung at his opponent's abdomen he nearly broke his wrist. Then a second later Jacob was hit across the face, what he described as a bulldozer running over his head, and was knocked out instantly. When he awoke he learned that it had been about an hour since the fight, and that he had lost. But he still had one last test to try. The test of speed. He was put up against their fastest runner. They were to sprint 100 meters and whoever got to the finish line first was the winner. Simple right? Wrong, the other sprinter was so fast that he dashed the 100 meters in ten seconds, while it took Jacob thirty seconds. He had lost…again. He had tried his best, he really did, but at least now they would take him back to where he belonged…Earth.
"Warrior, I can now see clearly from these tests that you are not the Warrior King. You may return to former place."
"Thank you, Lady Seona." He said as he headed back towards his room.
"What do we do now, Lady Seona?" Shanay asked.
"We fight to the death, Shanay." In a few minutes Jacob was ready to go. He was happy he was finally going to back to his life, where the balance would be restored. Shanay came in and said, "I will take you to chamber where you will return."
"Thank you, Shanay." As they walked he found himself wondering what would happen to these people. Who cares, he told himself, they got their problems and I got mine. When they got to the outside door of the return chamber, Jacob found himself wondering if he should say any last words. Since none came to him however, he simply said, "Goodbye Shanay."
"Goodbye." As he started to twist the door handle one of the castle walls suddenly exploded.
"Oh no!" Shanay screamed.
"What? What is it?" Jacob asked.
"Midvel." As Jacob squinted, after all he didn't have his glasses anymore, he saw people riding horses carrying swords, spears, and bows and arrows. Already arrows were whizzing past him and others inside the castle.
"We have to get to safety." Jacob said.
"There is no such thing as safe when Midvel is around." Shanay replied.
"What'd we do then?"
"We fight."
"But…" Suddenly an arrow was headed straight for him. His reflexes slowed, he saw the arrow tried to dodge, but his body wouldn't respond. He was like a deer frozen by headlights. His last thought was: game over. Suddenly Shanay jumped in front of him and took the arrow, which went through her heart. Finally his body caught up with his mind and he caught Shanay as she fell towards the ground.
"Shanay?"
"Yes?" She barely whispered.
"Why did you do that?"
"Because I believe you are the Warrior King and that you will lead my people to salvation."
"But…"
"Promise me…promise me that you will lead my people to salvation."
"But Shanay…"
"Promise me."
"Alright, I promise. I promise I will lead your people to salvation."
"Thank you, Warrior King, my life is complete." She said then went limp with eyes glazed over. Respectfully, at least he hoped, he brought two fingers down her eyelids which closed her eyes. He got up and looked at the chaos swirling around him, and for some reason he analyzed the situation and came up with something he never thought he possessed…courage. He thought about his job, his life, his weekends, and then he compared it to this: chaos, adventure, danger, risk, commitment, all of these he had avoided like the plague. So he had a choice: go back to his dull existence, where he was almost guaranteed to survive the rest of his life, or stay here where he would probably get killed in a few days, but it would be an adventure and he would live. He looked from the door to the castle. Go back to my dull life, he thought, or to adventure? Balance or chaos? Safety or danger? Comfort zone or courage zone? Jacob then recalled a quote by Arnold Bennett: "The real tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature." Well Bennett, Jacob thought, I'm going to do something I never thought I would, I'm going to brace myself for one supreme effort in hopes of stretching to my full stature, my full capacity. Hey 'Tronix, he thought, screw you. And at that moment Jacob Johnson was reborn.
Adrenaline surged through his veins as he ran towards the person who had killed Shanay. The person saw him coming and fired arrow after arrow at him. One skimmed his shoulder, another one his side, his leg, and his head. But none of these stopped him from diving and tackling the archer. In one swift punch he also knocked the archer out. "That was for Shanay." He said. He was about to pick up the bow and arrows when a sword caught his eye. It was lying on the ground about ten feet away. He went over to it and picked it up. What he noticed about it was that it reminded him of a Katana, a Japanese sword. It was lighter then a broadsword but it was much quicker. He twirled it in one hand and then he ran for the central courtyard. When he got there he saw Lady Seona fending off men with broadswords. However she was having trouble wielding a broadsword, due to its weight, and she was soon over powered. Jacob slipped into the shadows as he heard a voice say, "Ah, Lady Seona your kingdom is captured, your subjects are captured, now surrender to me." Midvel was about 1.9 meters tall, weighed about 102 kilos, was very broad shouldered and had black hair and brown eyes.
"Never!"
"Come now, if you don't, I'll kill off all of your subjects one by one in front of your eyes."
"You'll never get away with this, Midvel."
"But I already have. Bring me her subjects forward, but leave her alive, I have other uses for her."
"Not if I can help it." Jacob said from the shadows.
"Who said that?" Leaping out from the shadows Jacob said, "I did."
"Who is this?" Midvel asked.
"Don't you recognize the Warrior King when you see him?" Lady Seona asked.
"The Warrior King? You mean that old myth. That's all it is, just a myth."
"Well you know what they say about myths." Jacob said.
"No, as a matter of fact, I don't."
"Some myths turn into legends."
"Kill him." Midvel said. Before his knights had chance to react Jacob had flipped over Midvel and his knights and then knocked out the men holding Lady Seona. Cutting her bonds he said, "Stay very close to me."
"You incompetent fools, get him!" Midvel screamed. They tried, but were not successful. Jacob didn't know how he was able to block their blades from cutting him or Lady Seona in half, but he did…somehow. For some reason he started singing, in his mind, the song Die Another Day which went like this: "'I'm gonna break the cycle, I'm gonna shake the system, I'm gonna destroy my ego, I'm gonna close my body now. I guess I'll die another, it's not my time to go.'" And for the first time in his life Jacob Johnson felt truly…alive. When five of the knights went down Midvel said, "I'm surrounded by idiots!"
"I noticed…good help is so hard to find these days, isn't it?" Jacob said.
"I will have your head."
"Go ahead and try." Midvel however decided not to take Jacob up on his offer.
"Next time Warrior King."
"I look forward to it." Jacob said as Midvel retreated along with the rest of his army.
"Warrior King I thought you had left already." Lady Seona said.
"I'm glad I didn't."
"I just knew you were the Warrior King."
"But I failed two of the tests."
"But I saw your strength, your speed, your courage when you fought off Midvel's men. You truly are the Warrior King. Thank you for staying."
"You're welcome."