"Dammit, Liam! Get back to work!"
I opened my eyes slowly, taking a moment to let them adjust to the bright lights of the break room before rubbing them.
"Jesus, Bill! Can't you just let me sleep!?" I yelled at the asshole that woke me up. "I've only been on break for…fifteen minutes?"
"Check the clock, dumbass! It's been almost an hour! Your break was supposed to be half an hour! I'm already being nice by letting you take an extra half hour!"
I sprang up from the desk, wide awake now, frantically looking around the room for a clock. Spotting the clock hanging over the only door in the room confirms what Bill just told me, it's almost a half hour past when my break was supposed to end. I scrambled to get out of the chair I had been napping in, and ran to my locker to put on my uniform before starting work again.
Before I left the staff room, I stopped near Bill and finished getting my barista apron on. "So boss, what do you need me to do?"
"You can stop sleeping on the damn job, for one! Get out there and help Chelsea with cash! She's getting swamped with customers!"
"Aye aye, sir," I replied jokingly as I made my way out of the staff room and took my place behind the counter, stopping at the other open cash register. "Welcome to Star Shmucks, what can I get for you today, sir?"
"Yeah, my wife wants one of those mocho choco latte bullshit thingies."
"Did she say what kind of latte she wants, sir?"
"How the hell am I supposed to remember what kind of girly coffee she wants?!"
This is going to be a long day…
I sighed as I clocked out for the day, having just finished up with the daily cleanup and putting away my work uniform in my locker. I made sure to wipe everything down and put all the various coffee tools where they were supposed to go. I stopped, looking around the store for a moment, hoping I hadn't forgotten anything.
The last time I forgot to clean up, Bill gave me an earful and made me clean up the entire shop by myself for a month. Grumpy old bastard.
Bill and I tease each other a lot, but we get along fine. It can be difficult to not get frustrated with each other, with him being my boss, but he is a good guy at heart.
"You finished cleaning up back there, Liam?" Bill called over to me, holding the door open as I approached, shop keys in hand.
"Yup. I'll see you tomorrow then, Bill. Have a good night."
"You too, Liam," he called as he headed to his car, leaving me to lock up the store for the night.
After I finished locking the door and testing it to make sure it was indeed locked, I headed for my car.
I am wiped…
As I got into my car, an old automatic, I stopped to rest for a minute, glad to be off of my feet. I closed my eyes and put my seat back, enjoying the peace and quiet for a moment before the inevitable drive back home would happen. I let my thoughts wander as it started to rain outside the safety of my big metal box.
Maybe I should try and look for a job elsewhere. I've worked at this Starbucks rip off for 2 years now and nothing has changed. My wages haven't gone up much, the customers are terrible and the coffee isn't even that good. I don't even get an employee discount. Chelsea is cute, but that doesn't really make up for all the problems. Oh well, nothing I can do right now, I guess.
A few minutes more and I inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. Of course the engine wouldn't start the first time, but after a few more tries it did it's job, roaring to life.
"Huh, maybe it's about time to bring the old girl back to the shop," I said to myself as I put the car in reverse, slowly backing up out of where I parked. After clearing the parking space, I changed the shift to drive and headed for the exit of the small parking lot.
'Bill really needs to expand this lot. It's too crowded and we have had too many accidents in it. I've almost gotten run over here myself,' I thought to myself as I turned onto the main road.
Ten minutes later, I turned onto the near empty highway and began my long drive home. I let my mind wander as I continued to drive down the near empty highway, enjoying the sounds of the rain.
Really though, what was Bill thinking? Naming the shop something like Star Shmucks is just asking for a lawsuit. Its nothing short of a miracle that I haven't lost my job due to my employer suffering from a case of sudden bankruptcy.
My attention snapped back to the road as a pair of bright lights suddenly entered my field of vision, making me swerve to avoid the likely drunk driver that drifted over to the wrong side of the road. I lost control of my vehicle, sliding across the road and hydroplaning. I braced myself for the inevitable crash while attempting to regain control, alternating between the gas and brake pedals in a desperate attempt to regain traction. I was panicking at this point, my heart hammering in my chest and a film of sweat on my face. I don't remember crashing, only my world turning to white as pain erupted from my head and losing consciousness.
As I slowly regained consciousness, I became aware of two things. My head hurt like hell, and I wasn't in my car anymore. I was lying down on what felt like grass.
Ugh, what happened? Did I crash? Must have, Im not in my car anymore. Was that a truck?
I slowly began to push myself upwards, feeling pain shoot through my body.
"Ow! Ok, first things first. How bad is it, doc?" I joked to myself, despite the pain.
I sat up and checked myself for injuries. The only noticeable injury that I could find was a small cut on my forehead which was bleeding a bit. Any other injuries seem to be minor scrapes and cuts, along with a number of bruises. My clothes were torn up a fair bit from the impact, tears and holes littering my shirt and pants.
"Pretty good, considering I was thrown from my car and off the road," I said to myself as I slowly stood up, the scrapes and bruises making me wince.
"I just hope the person I hit is doing as well as I a-" I froze after turning around and discovering that the highway I thought I was thrown off of was gone, a small meadow surrounded by trees in its place.
Okay, either I got thrown farther than I thought, or I'm missing something here.
I took a few steps forward, not quite believing what I was seeing. My eyes went wide as I looked around, searching for the highway that I knew was just around the corner.
It had to be.
"Hello?" I called out as I started to head in the direction I believed the highway was in, wiping away the blood that was starting to drip slowly down into my eye. "Is everyone else alright?"
Damn head wounds. Even shallow ones bleed a lot.
My time camping with my father as a child taught me many things, one of which is that even shallow cuts on the head and face are a bitch to deal with, and that they bleed profusely.
"No one is responding. That's never a good sign. Well, if the first aid kit in my car is intact, I should be able to get this cut patched up pretty quickly."
Trudging through the brush, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye that made me stop and look closer. My eyes widened and my breathing began to quicken, fear and the beginning of panic setting in. Less than 20 feet in front of me, there was a huge corpse, half eaten and now rotting. At that distance, it looked like some kind of massive lion, easily several feet taller than me and well over twice my size. Its back was facing me, allowing me to see a small pair of wings, one barely hanging on to the body by a small strip of flesh.
I stared at in in horror, not believing my own eyes.
"This...this is a joke, right? This thing shouldn't even exist. Am I hallucinating? I must have hit my head harder than I thought…" I laughed nervously as I tried to come to grips with what I saw in front of me.
Then the smell hit me.
I gagged, nearly losing my lunch from the pungent smell of rotting meat, quickly losing that battle as fear and panic began to take control of my body and my thoughts. My eyes were glued to the grotesque sight before me and I swallowed the bile that had risen up in my throat.
"Well Liam, you aren't in Kansas anymore," I nervously chuckled, trying to distract myself from this unbelievable situation.
I took a moment to try to calm myself. This isn't the time to be losing my head. I focused on steadying my breathing, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. I was a bit calmer after a moment, and I felt that I should be evaluating my current situation.
"Alright. So, taking into consideration the fact that the highway is nowhere to be seen, the fact that I can't see any buildings from here and the fact that i'm looking at the corpse of something straight out of mythology, I'm going to assume that i'm either in a coma and having a very disturbing dream, or…"
I looked around, trying to recognize anything as local flora. None of the plants surrounding me looked familiar, unnerving me further.
"Or...something has gone very wrong and I'm somewhere I really shouldn't be…"
A new smell hit my nose, somehow overpowering the stench of rotten flesh and catching my attention. It smelled sickly sweet, like rotten fruit and dead plants. Gagging at this new, terrible smell, I got to my feet and looked around, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. As I was moving to leave, not wishing to see the corpse near me any longer, I heard a noise coming from the direction of the corpse. A low growling sound.
My head snapped in the corpse's direction, cluing in a tad too late that if this thing was half eaten, something likely killed it and ate it, and that something might still be around. I stood frozen in shock as a creature that looked like it was made of wood stood atop the corpse. It growled as it slowly began to approach, snarling and barking like a rabid dog before it stopped a distance from me, head low and looking ready to charge. I was paralyzed with fear.
'I can't move. Every single muscle in my body is screaming at me to move and I can't. Come on! I'm not going to die like this! Move, dammit!' I was screaming in my head, unable to move no matter how hard I tried.
The wooden wolf took a step forward, breaking a twig under its paw and snapping me out of my fear induced paralysis. I turned and bolted into the forest, not caring which direction I was going, intent on just getting away from this creature. My lungs were screaming at me, inhaling and exhaling rapidly in my blind panic to escape. My sides burned as they begged me to stop, to take a break. I briefly considered stopping to check if I lost my pursuer before I heard a snarl which couldn't have been more than a few feet away.
Fuck that, I'm not stopping to be this thing's lunch!
Tearing through the forest, I darted left and right to avoid trees that occupied my path. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, the nicks and scratched I received from the local flora didn't register in my mind as I focused on one thing. Survive.
I kept running, heaving and panting all the while. I could feel my legs get weaker and weaker, burning and threatening to give out from under me at any moment. Just as I was well and truly running out of stamina, I spotted a cave a small distance away.
Oh, thank God! I just hope that anything that might be living there doesn't mind me intruding.
I ran into the cave as quickly as I could, desperately searching for a place to hide. The cave was cavernous and open with nowhere to hide, small rocks and branches of various sizes littering the floor, with little else.
Nowhere to hide. Oh God, am I really going to die here? Trapped in this cave, who knows how fucking far from my family and friends?
I spotted a skeleton hiding in the shadows of the cave as I walked further into the cave, previously obscured by the lack of light.
Am I going to end up like that?
Walking towards the skeleton, I took in its appearance. It looked like some kind of small horse with a horn. I laughed, the action entirely devoid of humour.
Heh, now there are unicorns? Maybe next, I'll see a hyd-
My foot struck something and I glanced downwards. A large branch was at my feet, solid and sturdy. I stared at it, feeling determination begin to well up inside me, beginning to overpower my fear and terror. My survival instincts took over as my fear was quickly replaced with anger, the realization that I had to defend myself or die where I was sinking in.
No. No! I refuse to lay down and die like a dog!
I quickly reached down and picked up the branch, turning around and holding it at the ready, preparing to defend myself.
If this thing thinks I'm going to be an easy meal, it's got another thing coming!
I could tell that the creature had entered the cave, the smell giving it away before the sound. The growling and snarling was becoming more audible as it got nearer. The cave was dark, but I had no difficulty in seeing where the wolf was, as its eyes glowed a sickly green.
The branch was gripped hard enough in my hand to turn my knuckles white. I was prepared to defend myself when the wooden horror attacked. Keeping my eyes on the wolf, we entered into a staring contest, the wolf glaring at me as it waited for me to show any sign of weakness.
"Come and get me, you overgrown pile of kindling!" I shouted as I charged at the wolf, branch held overhead and preparing to deliver a blow to the thing's head.
Not expecting its intended prey to be fighting back, the beast took a step back in surprise and failed to move in time to avoid my strike, taking a solid hit to its head. A large chunk of its head broke off, its right eye no longer glowing. It yelped in pain, taking several steps back before glaring at me again.
"That's right, you son of a bitch! Back off!" I continued to glare at the wooden monstrosity, surprising myself that I could do so much damage with just a branch.
If I can keep this up, I might be able to scare it off. Drawn out fights are never good and i'm already tired enough from my running to keep this up for much longer.
Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to scare off the monster. It charged at me, snarling and barking. Makeshift weapon at the ready, I made another overhead swing, but this time the creature was prepared for it. Before the branch could connect, the wolf leapt at me, opening its jaws wide and snapping them down on my only hope. My eyes widened in fear as the branch splintered and cracked in my hand, becoming useless. The momentum from the charge and the weight from the walking bush hanging off of my weapon knocked me off my feet, my back slamming into the ground with the monster on top of me.
Shit! This isn't good!
The monster clawed and bit at me, easily ripping through my shirt and the skin beneath it with its thorny claws. It snarled in my face and snapped at me, trying to bite down on my throat and end my struggling. It took everything I had to make sure that it didn't turn my neck into a scarlet fountain. In a burst of strength from the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I managed to throw the wolf off me and to the side. I scrambled to my feet, tears starting to rush down my face from the pain and the realization that this was a losing battle.
I really am going to die here, aren't I? In this cave, in the middle of fucking nowhere!
The wolf quickly got back to its four paws, and prepared to charge again.
I'm going to lose my life to this thing…
As the wooden wolf looked like it was about to charge again, a bright light appeared behind me from deeper into the cave. The wolf took a step back, so I chanced a glance back at the source of the bright light. The light blinded me for a moment, but I walked forward towards the source of the illumination. I approached quickly, hoping that whatever this was, that it could get me out of my current predicament.
A sword?
A small sword lay against the cave wall next to the unicorn corpse, radiant and beautiful. The light that it bathed the cave in felt strong, yet caring and warm. Strange symbols were etched into the blade and a large diamond was embedded in the guard, making it look as if it were from a fantasy story.
"I might as well be in one, I guess!" I said to myself as I quickly walked over, reached down, and grabbed the handle. Upon gripping the weapon, an indescribable feeling passed through me. My entire body filled with energy and warmth, the pains from my wounds lessening and the strength in my limbs returning. I almost dropped the sword in shock, the sudden change in feeling startling me. I felt a small pressure in my head before I heard a feminine voice, commanding and powerful, echoing in my head.
"I know not what kind of creature you are, but I see your pure heart and feel your resolve! I am the monster hunter known as Sunlight Spirals! I grant you my power and my sword! Use it to defend those who would be victims to the evil in this world!"
The glow of the blade died down to a level that wasn't blinding anymore, though it was still bright. The cave seeming brighter than it should be, I glanced down at my body to see that I was also glowing brightly. The strange symbols on the blade were glowing and the blade was wrapped in fire, the heat intense yet not burning me. My wounds started to disappear, scabbing over and leaving faint pink scars in but a few seconds.
How is this possible?
A hesitant growl brought my attention back to the wooden monster, as I had almost forgotten that it was still here. It looked a little more apprehensive about attacking me, its easy meal no longer seeming quite as easy.
I lifted the short blade and turned to the wolf, the light from the sword bright enough that I could now see the entirety of the cave and its contents, the beast included. It looked almost afraid, seeing what seemed like living fire surrounding the blade and its intended prey glowing brightly. Levelling the sword at the monster, I took a step forward, taking great delight in the fact that my would be killer took a step back.
"What's the matter? Bite off more than you could chew?" I taunted the creature, the tables having definitely been turned. It glared at me with its one good eye and took another step back, clearly feeling very threatened. Good.
With the creature seemingly being made of wood, I expected the creature to be wary of the fire that surrounded me and my new blade, which is why what it did next surprised me.
It charged.
I took a step back, not at all expecting this kind of suicidal rush by the flammable creature. It saw my moment of surprise as weakness and leaped, its jaws open and drooling what looked like sap. Acting on what could only be instinct, I stepped to the side and swung the sword downwards. I struck the beast in the neck, a small crack and a yelp coming from the monster as the fire scorched it. The momentum carried the beast past me and to the ground, the hit seemingly doing little besides angering the creature and causing it to glare at me in hatred. It had quickly backed away from me, keeping low to the ground. As it made to retreat, it stopped suddenly and sharply turned its head around, looking at its back. A soft glow emanated from the wolf as I realized what had happened.
It was burning. Half of its back had gone up in flames, the flammable material having ignited from the brief contact with the weapon. I could only watch in morbid curiosity as the wolf dropped to the ground and rolled, attempting to extinguish the flames. The flames spread quickly, eagerly devouring the wooden fuel that it used to sustain its own life. Whimpering and yelping, the wolf looked at me. Its eyes seemed to be filled with pain and terror, silently pleading with me to help it. Hungry flames engulfed the rest of the beast, its head being the last part of it to disappear in the bright light.
The fire and light surrounding the blade and myself began to die down, getting weaker before dying entirely. A strong smokey scent permeated the cave, burning my nose and making me cough. I stared at the small pile of ashes that used to the wolf, trying to process what had happened.
I...I killed it...
I had ended another creature's life. It didn't matter that it had been an accident or that said creature had been trying to kill me, It didn't help the weight that had settled in my stomach. It had all became too much for me.
So I broke down and cried as it all hit me.
I cried for the creature that I had killed. I cried for my family, who would believe me dead and who I would never see again. I cried because despite being the survivor of that encounter, I felt weaker and more alone than I had ever before in my life.
I spent several more minutes crying before I stopped, wiping my eyes and standing up.
Okay, Liam. You are still stuck in this forest and crying about it all day isn't going to improve the situation. Pull yourself together, man.
Standing up, I made my way over to the unicorn skeleton. The bones seemed ancient, looking brittle and grey.
"Whoever you were, thank you. Your sword saved my life and I promise to take care of it."
It may seem silly, but I respect the dead. I respect the life they lived, the impact that they made on the world and the family that they left behind. Every life is precious, even though sometimes you are forced to end another's prematurely. I had wondered what it would be like to take a life for years. I had heard stories from war veterans. About the horrors of war and how taking a life changes something inside you forever. I had wondered how I would feel and how it would affect me, though I had always assumed the body would have been human. Even if it was just an animal, it was still a life. It was still a living, thinking creature with wants and needs. Though that doesn't matter anymore. It was dead and I was alive. Though it wasn't intentional on the corpse's part, this unicorn's weapon was the only reason I was still living.
"I...I suppose I should get moving..."
Slowly standing up from my sitting position, I looked down at the instrument of war that had saved me, now having the time to take in the craftsmanship. It was a beautiful thing, the blade was about ten inches in length and seemed to be made of a silver coloured metal that gleamed softly with the little bit of light that came into the cave. The blade's sharp point and spotless edge told of how well it had been cared for by its previous wielder. The guard seemed to be made of simple brass, the arms of the guard bending upwards towards the blade. The handle was covered in fine leather that gave just a bit when I gripped the handle. A large gem that looked like a diamond was set in the pommel, the same material as the guard seeming to have been shaped around the chunk of compressed carbon, with the very end having a rather nasty looking point.
Despite the situation I was in and how anxious I was about what my next move to survive should be, I couldn't help but wonder how a sword that appeared to belong to such a long dead skeleton could still be in such good condition. I was no blacksmith or metallurgist, but didn't steel rust? Doesn't leather rot and brass tarnish? While not important questions, my mind was grateful for the temporary puzzle to try and solve, though it seemed that the knowledge I wished for was not going to be gained in a dark cave in the middle of a dangerous forest. I tightened my grip on the handle of the sword as I slowly exited the cave, my eyes searching for any more threats. Seeing that there wasn't any obvious danger, I stepped out fully and my eyes continued to wander, looking for anything that looked like food or a body of water to drink from.
I had seen what I had considered to be impossible several times today. A thought passed through my head at that moment. An intrusive thought, not one that was made intentionally.
I doubt anything could surprise me at this point.
The universe, having seemed to have heard the thought and taken it as a challenge, chose that exact moment to test that. My arms moved to shield my eyes as a bright light took up my vision. Trying to blink the spots out of my eyes, I could only stare in a mixture of awe and fear at the beautiful but imposing creature that stood where there was nothing before. It looked like a horse, though a tad smaller. Wings adorned its sides and a long horn was atop its head, more than long enough to gore me with. It was at least 6 feet tall and its coat was a pristine shade of white, contrasting starkly with the darkness of the forest. Its mane was coloured in a way that reminded me of the sun and it waved as though in a breeze. A stylized emblem of a sun was emblazoned on its flank, the red and orange standing out from the light coat colour. The beautiful creature looked like it was close to panic, looking in the opposite direction I was in and moving erratically, its head rapidly swinging back and forth as if looking for something. I nearly froze when it turned around to face me, the pale purple eyes locking with my own. I took a step back and raised the blade, pointing it at the winged and horned creature in barely concealed fear. It glanced at the blade and its eyes widened before it took a tentative step forward, its gaze fixed on the blade as if it had forgotten I was even there. I could only stare in shock as the creature spoke. A clear, unmistakeable word.
"Impossible..."