Chapter 3: Kidnap

And we're back. This is another installment of The Zerg Third, and one that I bet generated a lot of excitement. When we left off, Kevin had just sold his Havahacks, or, as some of you have probably guessed, minerals. Kevin had also realized that Neville was not with him. Also, sorry I haven't written earlier. I was on vacation, as well as developing a case of writer's block and other stuff. Now, without further ado, Chapter 3: Kidnap.

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I was panicked. I had no idea where he was. I remembered that Oran had asked me to look after him. I wasn't really worried though, since I just thought he had gone back to the store.

I walked back to the store, luckily remembering the way. Along the way, I asked the people I met if they had seen Neville. They hadn't though, and most of them practically ran away afterwards.

I wondered about that, but not for long. I soon arrived at the store. Looking around, I couldn't find Neville. This was getting both worrisome and frustrating!

I asked around, trying to see if anyone had seen him. They all had the same reaction as the others. Even the shop owner tried to get me out of his shop.

I started to think back after that. I remembered that the last place I had seen him was in the alley where I sold my Havahacks. I decided to go back, trace my steps, and see if I could find him. I only hoped that he hadn't wandered off.

As I walked back, I remembered that Neville had been nervous around the shopkeepers. Maybe they had something to do with it, or at least know what had happened.

I wouldn't get anything from them though. When I got there, nothing was there.

I looked around, confirming I was at the right deadend. I was really confused. Even though there had been a table and a string to ring the bell, it wasn't there. All I saw was the note.

I picked it up. The ink on it was fresh, which meant it had been written recently. On it were the words "If you want to see the boy again, come to the garden outside the castle when the sun is highest. Bring the money."

Well, that told me the motive and where Neville was. It also told me that either these criminals didn't know about time, or the world didn't. I was inclined to think the latter, since I hadn't seen a clock since coming to.

Since I didn't want to lose Neville by ticking the criminals off, I basically had nothing to do for a few hours, seeing as the sun was about a quarter of the way through the sky.

With that thought, I felt as though I had been struck by an anvil. I started seeing things blurring past my eyes. It was completely incomprehensible. It seemed to last five hours. Or was it five minutes? I could not tell, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was five years.

What was that vision all about?

I was on my back, looking up at the sky. When I started to pay attention to my surroundings, I realized with a start that the sun was at the center of the sky. I had to get going or the people who had taken Neville might get rid of him.

I jumped up and started running. I felt responsible for Neville, and I was so worried about him that I didn't notice something. I was running as fast as a horse. Because of this, it took me only ten minutes to find the park. Upon arriving, I realized that the gate was locked. I wondered how I was supposed to get in, when I say a piece of paper. Grabbing it, I read what it had on it.

First of was a picture. It depicted the person I had sold the Havahacks to. Underneath was a WANTED sign. The reward said that the king would pay someone one thousand gold coins for the man alive, with a lifetime in prison for his killer. Underneath crimes was a single one. Apparently he had deserted his post as the high magi. A warning said that he was the most powerful in all of recorded history.

This was the man I had sold my Havahacks to? Well, at least I knew who had taken Neville.

I turned the piece of paper over. On it's back was a message. It said "The key is under the bench. Lock it when you enter."

I looked, but there was nothing there. I glanced around, and smacked my head. The key was in the lock!

I walked over to the door and pushed it open. Inside was a huge green park filled with trees. In the center was a clearing, and what I saw made me angry.

There was a campfire over which some people where hanging. Surrounding them was a ring of laughing men. In a cage off to one side was Neville.

This was not a park, this was a torture scene!

I started to run towards Neville, but stopped short when I spotted something. Over on the other side of the clearing from Neville stood the man from the poster. The one I had sold my Havahacks to.

"Going somewhere?" I heard in my head.

I started. I glanced around, but saw no one close enough to have talked to me. Then I heard the voice say "I'm right here. Guess."

I glanced around. I couldn't see anyone. But then, I remembered about the wanted poster. He was a powerful magi, which would stand to reason that it meant he could talk telepathically.

I tried speaking back to him. "Found you, High Magi."

The guy chuckled. "Well, looks like you found my message. Now, let's see what you can do."

Then, out loud, he whistled and shouted "Yo, boys. Looks like we got company." He nodded in my direction.

All the men looked towards me. They had grins on their faces from the "fun" they were having.

"Come on boys, we don't have all day." the Magi said.

The men glanced at the Magi. They looked back to me and glared. I guessed that they were mad at me for ruining their fun.

They unsheathed their swords. All of them glinted in the sunlight. Clearly the High Magi took care of his minions stuff.

As one, they all charged. Under normal circumstances, I would have been afraid. I didn't even have a sword!

And yet, something strange had happened to me. At the sight of the torture, Neville being caged, and the High Magi leading it, something in me had snapped. I now was FURIOUS.

When the first man got to me, I sidestepped out of his downward swing. I then swung my hand out and hit his gut. Hard. He went flying into two of his comrades. "Bring it" was all I said.

The second guy came at me with a different tactic. He swung wide, hoping to hit my waist.

Happy to disappoint, I ducked low and swung my leg around. My foot hit his kneecap with a resounding crack. The guy flopped over, holding his knee in pain. I grabbed his sword.

The next two ran to either side of me. Then one guy swung at my feet while the other one tried to cut off my head.

I, in response, jumped and hit the guy in front of me with my feet. Then I stabbed my sword through the guy behind me. Blood spurted everywhere.

I landed on my feet, breathing hard. It wasn't because I was out of breath. Actually, I felt really good. Great in fact. I had just killed someone, yet I didn't feel bad about it. I wanted more.

I turned to face the rest of the men with a grin in my face. I was going into a bloodlust.

The men seemed a bit unnerved by my smile, but pressed on anyway. There were about 20 left. This time, they were all in a group, surrounding me. The others must just have been faster.

Blows were raining down on me from all angles. I had my sword up, blocking the deluge. Inside me, I was fighting another battle. I felt as if I was three pieces, each fighting another. One was stronger than the others, but the others felt as if they were not actually me. And yet, they were.

The piece that was me finally won. I felt as if a wave had fallen over me. Red hot anger and power came over me. Instead of defending, I found myself attacking. The men immediately around me were quickly felled with a series of powerful blows. I was covered in blood, none of it mine.

The people that were left after five seconds must have felt I was too hard to beat. They slowly gave away, and pretty soon they were all running away. All five of them.

I heard clapping behind me. Spinning around, and preparing to rush, I found myself standing about seven feet from the High Magi himself.

"Nice. I guess I underestimated you. I didn't know you could kill someone that bloodily without a weapon." He complimented me.

Wow. I didn't even remember dropping it.

"Now, down to business. You have the money?"

"Wait a second," I said. "What was the rush of men? You make it sound like I haven't just killed a lot of them, or that you had attacked me!"

"Those ladies weren't my men. They were just people who like tortue. I had them attack you to see how strong you were. Congradulations. No one has done that good except me. Now. Do. You. Have. The. Money."

This guy was beginning to get on my nerves. I grabbed for the bag, but it wasn't there! I looked around, but didn't see it. I glanced over at the guys trying to climb the fence. Not there, though one guy caught my glance, panicked, and fell off the fence.

"Well, looks like you don't have it. Well, looks like the young man in the cage goes into the fire. Shame. He has such potential."

That startled me. For one, He wanted to kill Neville, and two, he said he had potential. I wondered what kind. "No" was my verbal response to what he said.

"Well then," he said with a grin like a child getting a brand new toy. "Guess we will have to see which one of us is more powerful."

Before I could even realize what he meant, he struck. He sent a bolt of lightning at me.

I absorbed, going into extreme pain. I yelled, but it was soon over.

I looked at him. He had a smirk on his face, and that drove me over the edge.

I lunged, and he neatly sidestepped. When I hit the ground I rolled. The High Magi flung a fireball at me. I jumped over it, landing in front of him. I swung my fist at his head. He ducked, and hit me with a blow to the stomach that sent me flying.

I could feel the power behind the blow. I mean magic power, not physical power. He was weak without his magic.

I got to my feet. Almost before I could react he had sent a bolt of darkness at me. I dodged to the left. I did say almost.

Now it was my turn. I ran up to him with lightning speed. I swung at his stomach and landed. He went flying. He hit the guy that had fallen of the fence earlier.

He got up swearing and sweating. "Now you're going to get it," was all he could say.

I laughed. "Give me the best you've got," I replied.

He didn't even reply, just sent a bolt of something through the air. I ducked, but it swerved around and hit me.

I gasped. Even more images were flashing before my eyes. Only, these ones made sense.

I, Kevin, was the master of the hyper-evolutionary race known as the zerg.

Unfortunately, I didn't really know what that meant, because I tuned the video off. I had a battle to fight.

Imagine my surprise to find it won.

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Again, sorry about how long this chapter took in coming out. Eventually I ended up cutting it short. Well, see you later.