Chapter 3: Chapter 3: New Friends

The screen gradually disappeared, and just before it vanished, my body felt a force like being slingshot backwards.  

Before my mind could catch up, my body received a spine chilling coldness, with the feeling of being submerged underwater, I opened my eyes and quickly swam upwards towards the light.  Swimming faster and more anxious to breathe for air, when my body finally sprang out of the water and I gasped for air.   

A raging river was carrying me as I looked around, searching my surroundings.  The river appeared to be over hundred meters in width.  Stuck towards the middle of this vastness, my body began racing to swim to reach one of the banks.  Just then, the deafening sound of a flare gun being shot above startled me, as two columns of white shot up high into the air, feeling like they were attempting to escape the world.  

That was when I spotted them falling down.  Two dark objects falling from the sky, racing closer to my location.  As they neared, I could hear them screaming and see their arms and legs flailing, as they splashed hard into the water.  Are they the ancients, or the enemies?

Those prideful white columns could probably be seen for hundreds of miles.  Is this what the screen meant by, "miracle will be witnessed"?  Then, those two people I saw falling must be ancients.  It might be worth checking on them as they could be allies I desperately need.  

Both individuals came springing out of the surface, thrashing and flailing for air, probably just as dramatic as I had been earlier.  

"Hey! Are you all alright?" I yelled over the roar of the river. 

"I-I think so," one coughed out.

"Yes, what is happening?  Was I teleported?" the other yelled angrily.   

This was survival, looking at the white columns again, a sense of urgency grew over me.  We are going to be hunted again.  Quickly swimming towards the two and positioning myself in a floating position.

"We are being hunted," I told them flat out.  

"Let's stay in the river as long as we can to get away from the two white columns," I said with a loud voice as my finger pointed to the sky.

"They know where we are because of those?" asked the first man who was freakishly calm.

"This is like a manga story!" yelled the other angrily.  

"A voice called out to me upon awakening, that I must survive, and then I was attacked by a swordsman and archer.  Yes, manga might be right, many supernatural things have happened so far.

We should go down the river a few miles before we escape the water," I relayed. 

"My name is Dean," said the calm dark man whose head was bald wearing a blue windbreaker.

"Harry," said the upset man with black hair and white skin and a big nose wearing what looked like a track suit.

"My name is Joe," I shared.

We nodded at each other and I started swimming down river to speed up, looking back to action Dean and Harry to follow.  Once confirming they were able to follow, I kept up my paddling as we needed to get far away before more trouble started.  

"Horses are approaching!" yelled Harry.

I turned around to see 10 horses sprinting down the side of the river with a cloud of dust trailing behind them. 

"They will reach us within a minute," said Dean.  

"Let's swim out the river and take cover in the forest," I yelled and continued swimming to the bank opposite of the horses without acknowledging if they heard me.  

These guys definitely seemed conditioned for war games, as I haven’t heard a single complaint out of them.  The keywords I whispered must have been used to select these men. Hopefully, they can help me figure out this world, and how to escape it.  

The sound of crackling energy streaked through the air impacted near us as the water erupted in a towering geyser, sending a deluge of droplets flying and all 3 of us were tossed up and out of the water, spinning us high into the air.

Whoosh, woosh woosh woosh, thump.  

My ears caught the distinct noise of a volley of arrows passing by while we were floating in the air.  It looks like Dean, who was rotating faster than Harry and I from the explosive discharge, got hit by an arrow at the apex, just before we began to fall back towards the water.  Looking at the direction of the group on horses, my eyes went wide when I saw the incredible sight of a greenish aura forming around one of the people just before hitting the water.  I saw what could only be described as a ray being launched.  Instinctively, I dove down deeper underwater, with no time to worry about my companions, I began swimming in the direction I thought where the bank was located.  An underwater shockwave blasted into me, forcing out my remaining air and propelling me closer to the river bank.  

Using all my strength to reach for the surface of the water, my hands suddenly found dirt and I quickly crawled up the bank gasping for air and to run into the woods for cover.  At the corner of my eye, I could see Dean and Harry also doing the same, which gave me a sense of comfort, although Dean seemed to be injured.  

Another electrical discharge was heard approaching quickly as it zoomed past me and exploded far ahead in the forest, making a confetti display of the dirt, tree branches, and leaves.  

I saw Harry tossing his palm and snarling at the men on horses, but I ignored it and kept on running into the forest.

"Dean are you hurt?" I said, a bit worried as we caught up together.  

"They hit my arm while we were in the air, it seems," as if it didn't concern him and he was already holding and inspecting the arrow in his hand.

"Did you see that magic they casted!  That was amazing!" Harry said excitedly, but his expression quickly turned sour.

"I tried to send one back, but it didn't work," he added, defeated.

We continued on jogging through the forest, and I knew we needed to find a hiding place to form a plan. The sounds of explosions continued in the distance behind us, it seemed the horsemen were firing randomly across the river.. 

Harry was still attempting to use magic, throwing all kinds of odd gestures, which seemed futile, but Dean nor I had the energy to refuse him.

"So far, I have witnessed an archer jumping several meters high, and those magic beams sent to us, which seemed to require some kind of buildup that created a greenish hue glow," I mentioned in between breaths as we jogged forward.

"Greenish hue?  I didn't see anything like that," Harry quickly retorted, looking at Dean.

"Me either," shrugged Dean with his calm demeanor.

"Ahh, you must be able to see the mana!" Harry said excitedly.  

"Huh?" I looked at him confused.

"In manga stories, they usually have to build up mana around themselves to shoot a powerful attack…" Harry paused, then continued, "You must have some kind of passive ability to see the mana buildup.  Do you see anything around me?" he mentioned while moving his arms to his chest and stressing his face. 

I just shook my head.  His expression was a bit saddened, but he continued trying as we moved along.

"I see something over there at 2 o'clock," Dean mentioned with a slight hint of excitement, pointing to our right.

As we changed direction, we came up on what looked like abandoned houses, or perhaps an abandoned village?  The grass was overgrown into the pathways slowly being erased by nature, windows broken, fence posts falling apart, and the houses crumbling.

"Let’s split up and check the houses for any weapons, shields, or anything metal," I commanded.  The two seemed to be in sync with my thoughts, as they quickly targeted a house they were interested in.  There were six houses in total, scattered without any organization to their placement.  

Looking around, I chose one of the houses without a door and slowly entered.  You could tell these were simple houses with wood panel floors and no cement foundation.  The floorboards were mostly warped with dirt peering through from below and between.  There was a shabby wood table and broken chairs, no kitchen except for some stove looking thing made of mud that was falling apart in the middle of the house.  Stepping forward to get a closer inspection, I noticed a blue object barely poking out of the stiff ash and dirt mix.

“Oh! HA HA HA!” echoed through the gaping hole in the roof.  In a rush, my right hand reached into the pit and scooped up the blue object, which seemed to be about the size of a marble, and perfectly sphere.  Concerned about losing the object, I tossed it into my jean pocket and headed for the entrance.  Poking my head out of the house, I made eye contact with Dean, seen carrying a short dull axe, who then looked towards the house Harry was investigating.  We quickly moved together and entered the crumbling home, passing through a broken door as we scooted inside. 

“What happened?” I asked, concerned. 

“Tell me if you can see something now!” a big smile on Harry’s face.  Just as before, he brought his hands to his chest, but this time I immediately saw a faint red hue surrounding him.

“Wow, I can see it, a small red glow around you, what did you do differently?” I inquired, impressed by the phenomena.  

“Earlier, I was trying to force something out, but I think it is actually the other way around.  You have to accept something to enter you, I think?” Harry shared this interesting observation, as he pointed towards himself. 

Excited with himself, he made a finger gun and pointed toward the mud pit in the center of this house.  Clicking with his tongue and bringing his thumb downwards, all our eyes opened wide when a small fireball discharged from his pointer finger and charged towards the mud pit.  As the fireball collided with the mud, a bright flare appeared and the mud exploded spreading out in all directions.  

“Whoa,” Dean said calmly. 

“What did you do now?!” as I exclaimed with obvious excitement.  This was an incredible tool to have for survival.  If we could all use this ability, it would let us make a stand and maybe turn the tables on this game.

“I didn’t think it would work that well!  Earlier I just shot a simple flame over there where that black mark is at.  But this time, I just thought about shooting a fireball from my finger. HA HA HA!” Harry laughed hysterically.  

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Turning to look at Dean, my eyes turned downward finding him sitting criss-crossed on the floor in a meditation pose.  It only took a moment before a faint blue hue began emanating around his body.  

“Dean, I see something too, but yours is light blue!” I quickly shared.   He slowly got up and mimicked the actions done by Harry, but nothing was happening.  

“Sorry Dean, maybe yours is different?  Like that archer Joe told us about who can jump really high?” Harry tried consoling Dean.   With that thought, Dean looked around and stopped to gaze towards the exit.  He started walking, but stopped abruptly before the broken door.  Looking down at his fist, then picking it up and jabbing it forward.  A small shockwave was felt as the door exploded into splinters and flew out of the house.  

Harry and I standing back, both jumped a little from the unexpected event, but quickly started shielding ourselves from the flying shards of wood.  

“HA HA HA!  You did it Dean!” Harry said excitedly as he was dusting off the wood fragments.  

Dean turned around with a big smile on his face, but my eyes went wide when I saw a big splinter impaled on the side of his cheek. Pointing to my cheek to warn him about the injury, he just calmly reached for his face, pinched the splinter and yanked it off, staring at the splinter for a second before tossing it to the side.  He wiped his cheek to check for blood, but surprisingly there was very little red exiting the wound.  

“Let me try this too,” I said while beginning to kneel and sit on the floor.  Just as I was adjusting my legs into a criss-cross position, the sound of hooves galloping reverberated in the house.  

“Shit, did they cross the river already?” Harry queried with a puzzled look as he and Dean walked out the wide open entrance of the house.  

I rushed to pull myself up, and I hastily went outside to get a better sense of the situation.

“Based on the density of the surrounding forest, they are probably less than a mile away,” Dean said blandly while listening with his ear to the ground and continued, “If they are heading straight for us, we should expect them within a couple of minutes.”

Looking at the tree line surrounding the village, I spotted a small clearing that appeared to be the old path to enter this village.  

“Listen guys, we can choose to fight here, or we can run.  I think I have a plan, but we can vote on it,” I spoke out while steading my breath.  

“Running is not my style,” Harry blurted out first.  

“Do you want us to try using magic?” Dean asked curiously.  

“Yes, but this all depends on both of you executing an ambush.  First, Dean, you will knock down a tree as they approach, forcing them to stop in their tracks.  At the same time, Harry will fireball them as they group up from stopping abruptly.   If we can knock them down from their horses in one shot, it would be a perfect opportunity for a melee,” I explained my plan.  

I pointed to the clearing where they would most likely appear from.

"Just a few meters into the clearing there, they would be more focused on the exit of the forest as they would be gazing at the village like we were on our approach," I stopped to get some feedback.

"Sounds plausible, but you must verify if you see the glow on our bodies.  It will be risky if we cannot control it when the time comes," Harry added.

Dean was staring at the clearing thinking for a moment.

"Alright, but if I don't attack, we retreat in the direction they appeared from and we meet back at the river," Dean spoke more than usual.

"Sounds good, let's go find a spot," I replied, as I began jogging towards the path entrance hearing the sound of hooves drumming in the air.

The forest had many large and thin trees, and most were soaring into the sky.  The path at the entrance was roughly 4 meters wide with dense brush and thicket drawing a natural wall against the forest. Hills and ditches scattered along the inside the forest, which would make for great cover in a retreat.  

"That tree there, do you think you have enough power to take it down?" I asked, looking at Dean.

"Maybe, I will try something different," he replied.

"Let's do a triangle formation to melee them from all sides.  I will stand on the other side of path, and Joe, since you haven't done magic, come from behind them," Harry added.

Dean patted his side and pulled out an arrow hiding in the lining of his pants at the waist, then handed it to me.

"Use this," Dean handed me the arrow like it was delicate. 

Using my finger to tap at the needle shaped tip, I ended up poking myself and a drop of blood appeared.  Happy with having a weapon, I turned to look at the two who began attempting to cultivate what Harry called mana.

They appeared calm and at peace in this moment, the surrounding atmosphere felt surreal, hearing nothing but the heavy galloping approaching while these two were meditating in cover behind the enormous trunk of a tree. 

Harry was deep in concentration as a red glow busted out surrounding him as it appeared to grow denser and deeper in color.

Dean sitting in his criss-cross position began humming in a soft tone, as the faint blue hue illuminated around him.  It steadily spread out around his legs and arms and took a slightly darker blue than before.

"The glow is definitely there, even better than before.  This just might work.  I am getting into position," I told them nodding in approval of their effort.

I headed a few meters further down the path and went prone behind the crest of a hill.  In order to avoid being too far away when the melee starts, this position would let me approach quickly.

Harry jumped the brush on either side of the path and made his way behind a tree lined up with Dean, who moved to a medium sized tree trunk.

The sound of the horses was drawing nearer, and we all knew this moment of truth would decide our fates.

At this critical point in time, my mind began wavering, getting lost and distracted with the Sea of Feelings, remembering all the memories of people living a normal life, and those of my daughter experiencing a perfect life with her mother and I.  My emotions craving to feel my arms wrapped around my family again, as I wallowed in the echoes of their lives.

The sound of a tree groaning and creaking, and then in a flash, an explosive snap rung in the air, awakening me from my stupor.  My eyes turned to see the men on horses already in front of us, attempting to slow down as the tree began falling down.  

With a loud thud and bang the lead horse was instantly squished under the massive weight of the tree sending a gruesome sound of bones being crushed into my ears and the death wail of the horse, singing in the air.

Harry, not missing a beat, was spotted launching his fireball, but something felt wrong, the size was triple, no quadruple the size we experienced in the house.  

His startled face was brightened by the raging fireball which quickly reached the front of the horses which had compressed together from the abrupt stop.

The whole world turned white as the blinding light filled this section of the forest, and just as quickly as it appeared, it winded down to a focal point.  The compressed air formed a white shell as the shockwave was birthed with unstoppable force spreading out, growing further with an intense fireball following in its wake.  The compression slapped over the top of my body as I felt the intense heat singe my hairs, with the surrounding trees exploding from the pressure.

Feeling like my head was going to burst, the world drew a deafening silence.   As I looked up to see the damage, something slimy landed on my face blocking my vision and irritating my eyes.  I could feel chunks raining down on my body as I attempted to clean and blink away the grime.

Just as my vision was clearing, my head peaked over the hill I hid behind, only to see a towering column of fire rising to escape the top of the forest. The group we targeted was obliterated as the only remains were intestines and body parts painted and scattered around the point of destruction.  Hearing the faint sound of someone groaning, I quickly stood up and saw one of the hooded pursuers laying on his back missing both legs, shattered left hand and arm bleeding profusely, as he reached with his right into his shawl and pulled out a tiny blue spherical object.

My eyes went wide, as it looked like he was bringing it to his face, and I rushed over through the clear path made by the explosion, staring him down as I approached, and he began to talk into the object.  Leaping forward with the arrow in both my hands and swinging down with all the force I could muster.  That was when I felt the needle tip piercing through his ribcage, which caused him to expel his air and gasp as the glint in his eyes faded away.

I turned to check on Harry and Dean, but they were nowhere to be found.  

I yelled out, "Harry!  Dean!  Are you alright?!".  

"I'm alive, haha- *cough*", I faintly heard Harry coughing out.

Dean popped his head out from behind the thick tree, which caught on fire, where they had meditated for mana earlier.

"I'm alright.", Dean said, as we both moved to reach Harry.

Lying on his back with his eyebrows missing and his hair still smoking from the explosion, it seems he had been launched backwards a few meters.  

"Try not to move," Dean mentioned, concerned for Harry.  Checking his eyes showed his pupils were dilated and Dean began to run his hands through Harry's legs and arms to look for breaks.  Then, slowly patted his ribs to see if he would react to pain, when Harry yelled out and reached to grab near his left breast.  

"I think you broke or bruised a rib," Dean shared.

Harry, still somewhat shocked, slowly began to sit upwards while Dean helped support his back.  He must have been in pain as he quickly grabbed his chest and leaned forward coughing and twisting his face in anguish.

I closed my eyes and said, "You overdid it Harry!  But I think we are safe thanks to you."

When I didn't hear a response, I opened my eyes and the world around me was dark with a bright screen shining in front of me.

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