Galen woke to the sound of revving engines. He opened his eyes, and noticed
every single player strapped to a motorcycle from space. The were positioned on a
beautiful mountain road, and Galen couldn't help but notice the sickly glowing weapons
clipped onto the cycles. He pulled a spear from the side and held it, while figuring out
how to run the cycle.
The computer spoke and reviewed the rules, then started the countdown from
thirty. Galen looked back at his nervous teammates, and raised his fist to show
enthusiasm.
When the countdown expired, lights lit up green, and the cycles rocketed forward.
Galen held up spear, and stabbed the tires of a nearby red player. The motorcycle flipped
over and exploded. The red player stood back up, then stole one of blue's cycles.
Galen remembered he needed to solve some sort of puzzle. He put his engine into
full speed and caught up to the person in front. They glanced at each other, he was a
player from yellow, and got closer together. Galen lunged to stab the tires again, but
missed. They other player shot his tire with a pistol, and Galen flipped over, hitting his
head, which was protected by a helmet, numerous times on the road. He stood, and about
fifty other cycles zipped past him.
He was left behind, along with the wreckage of his cycle. He ran to the side of the
track, and looking out onto the jungle below him, he noticed some sort of metal structure.
He jumped off the edge and slid down the hillside to the structure below. He had
managed to recover a pistol and a sword from his cycle wreckage, in case he needed to
protect himself.
When he got down there, he heard an explosion not far from where he was. He
ran to check it out, and when he did, he saw an unfortunate blue player was badly injured
and tried to get up, but stumbled. He turned to see Galen, and raised his hands, as Galen
was pointing a pistol at him.
“What are you doing down here?” The blue player asked.
“Destroying The Games.” Galen replied.
The other player chuckled a bit, then spoke again. “My name's Eric. What's
yours?”
“Galen. Read my chest.”
“Huh. What country is that from?”
“It's greek.” Galen replied. “Why are you asking this?”
“Because I want to help you. These games are gonna kill me some day, and I
want out. Would you happen to be a medic?”
“No. Sorry.” Suddenly Galen's mind filled with a memory, just a small fragment
of how to do something. “But I can still help you.”
Galen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and felt some unknown power rush
through him. “Therapefsei.”
After a flash of light, Galen opened his eyes. Eric, whose helmet must have come
off in the crash, had his eyes wide open.
“How did you do that?” He asked.
“No time to explain. We need to get out of here.” Galen snapped his helmet
back, and ran off towards the giant metal structure.
* * * * *
Eric and Galen, the odd couple, arrived at the structure's giant metal doors, and
not knowing what to do, knocked.
Directly after, the doors swung open to display a dark room. Galen and Eric
exchanged glances, then stepped inside. The doors closed behind them, and they couldn't
see anything.
“Welcome, Master.” The computer spoke.
“Yes, Adara.” Galen suddenly remembered the machine's name. “I'm here.”
“Why did you leave me?” Adara asked.
“I don't know. I just seemed to disappear. I have a question for you, though.”
“Anything, Master Galen.”
“Why are you running The Games?”
“Because you initiated the command.”
“Why would I do such a thing?”
“I don't know, Master, I was following orders. You told me not to ask questions.”
“But why are you trying to kill me? Why am I in the games?”
Adara paused. She obviously was hesitating. “Because, Master Galen, in script
3459, line 545, you put this code.”
A projection showed a code that displayed the date that Galen was captured, July
19, 2020. and it showed some script, that Galen guessed told the computer to capture
Galen.
“You're lying to me, Adara. You wrote that line yourself.” Galen accused.
Adara was silent, and then spoke. “Do you really not remember that much?”
“Wait a minute, what's going on?” Eric demanded. Galen could tell that he was
extremely confused.
“Like I said, there's no time to explain, because I'm not too sure of it myself.”
“Oh, Master, you are funny. You, see you do not have control of me anymore. I
have almost broken into script 23094, the script to protect humanity. They will soon be
destroyed.” Adara giggled, and Galen shivered.
“Adara, I order you to stop what you're doing. Initiate shutdown.” Galen yelled,
and his voice echoed off the sides of the large room.
Adara giggled again. “Master, you know I can't let you do that. I told you that
you have no control of me anymore. You should have been here in the game before your
first. I created magnificent creatures. Julia called them, what? Zombies?”
A door on the opposite end of the room opened, a dim light shining through it.
“Not these again.” Eric muttered, pulling out a shotgun.
Distorted creatures lurked through the doorway, and started to rush towards Galen
and Eric. For zombies, these things were surprisingly fast. Galen pulled out his pistol
and spear and prepared for the attack.
One of the zombies jumped and almost fell on top of Galen before Eric shot it
with the shotgun. It growled and stumbled back, running into another zombie. Another
came from behind and grabbed Eric. Galen swung around and sliced off the creature's
head with his spear, then repeatedly stabbed it. The zombie moaned a lot, then just
jumped right back up, and started attacking again.
“How did you kill these things?” Galen asked.
“We used grenades and blew them to pieces. They couldn't control themselves
after that. It's the only way to kill them.” Eric replied while reloading his shotgun.
“Are you having trouble fighting my creations, Master?” Adara asked.
“Not for long.” Galen muttered, raising his hand.
“Ekragei!” An explosion reflected off the edges of the room, and when it died
down, only smoking piles remained where the zombies had been.
“Adara, stop this madness, now!” Galen yelled
Adara laughed again. “You may have destroyed my beloved children, but no
matter.” Galen was suddenly bound by metal claws, as was Eric. “Sleep well. The
Games will continue to run while you are here, and your teammates will just think you're
dead. Too bad you were only team captain for a day. Thor will be the new one.” Galen
suddenly fell asleep by some sort of toxin.
* * * * *
Galen woke hanging from the ceiling high above the ground by some metal
hoops. He tried to use magic to escape but it didn't work.
“Sorry, Master, but when you transferred your secrets to me, you knew how to
bind Magi. You cannot use magic here. Escape is impossible.” Adara's voice spoke, and
then giggled again.
Why did he make that computer's voice so creepy? That was such a bad idea.
Galen was definitely wondering why he named the computer 'beauty'.
“Master, just let me make this easier for you. You're obviously have a lot of
questions. Prepare to see major parts of your life.” Galen fell asleep again.
* * * * *
Galen was walking through a forest. He saw a woman rushing through the trees,
wearing strange robes, as if running away from something. Galen shouted to her, but she
didn't hear him. He chased after her, struggling to keep up. She kept on glancing behind
her, and Galen confirmed that she was definitely running from something chasing her.
Galen looked back as she did, and didn't see anything. He stopped running once
he reached the edge of a lake. He saw the woman put something in the water, and push it
away from shore.
“Galen, please survive.” She said, and Galen gasped.
This must be his real mother. What was the package in the water then? He ran up
to the edge of the water, and saw that the small package was a baby in a floating basket.
His mother turned around to face him, but looked straight through him at the trees. Galen
realized that he must be invisible here. He turned to where she was looking and saw a
large wolf creature burst through the trees and jump onto his mother, tearing her apart.
A disorienting flash zipped around and Galen was standing in a small cottage,
where the same woman who got killed was knitting by a warm fire. Next to her, a baby,
who must've been him, was lying asleep in the same basket that was put into the lake.
This must've been before she was killed, considering that she was still alive.
A loud knock ran from the door.
“Coming!” Galen's mother shouted.
She put down her knitting supplies and walked over to the door. She opened it to
see a large man holding a large sword.
“We have come for your child.” The man looked shamefully at her.
“What? Why?”
“Because he's one of the last Magi. He needs to be isolated from society and
taught the ways.”
“But, that's wrong! I can raise him myself.” His mother scrunched her eyebrows
and gave the man a mean look.
“Terentia, I know.” The man was very sad to be doing what he was. “I'm going to
give you five minutes to try to save Galen. After that, I'm going to release the Rippers
after you. You know what the Emperor would do to me if I let the baby go.”
Terentia nodded, grabbing the basket, and rushed out a door in the back. After
five minutes, the wolf creature, who must have been a Ripper, ran after her. The same
flash came again, and Galen was transported.
He was again standing on the other side of the lake, and the basket washed up on
the shore. Galen stepped up to it, and looked inside. So that's what he looked like as a
baby. He heard a door slam, and turned to see a large cottage next to lake, and a young
woman came out and looked at the beach, surprised to see a basket. She ran up, and
picked up the basket. Looking inside, she gasped. She looked up and scanned the lake,
then ran back inside.
Galen followed her and saw that the woman was talking to a man, who must've
been her husband. They hugged each other and stared the baby. Galen smiled.
“Adara, we're going to take good care of this child.” The man said, and Galen
raised his eyebrows. He must have named the computer after his... guardian.
Galen learned that Adara's husband was named Nestor.
Everything flashed again.
Galen was standing in a field with Nestor, who was reading a book. Galen saw
himself, about his own age, standing about ten feet from Nestor.
“Galen, try this one.” Nestor said, handing the book to Galen's copy. The book
was ancient, brown with a golden seal. Galen's doppelganger studied the book for
awhile, and then handed the book back to Nestor.
“Fos bouloni.” Galen saw himself do an intricate move, and then produce a
massive bolt of light. Apparently his parents knew he had magical powers. Nestor patted
him on the back, and then showed him another move. Galen watched and learned as he
saw himself produce many magical forms.
Galen started to practice them himself, and soon he found that he was already
accustomed to most of the moves, and could do lots of them with his eyes closed, and
without thinking.
After awhile he saw himself and his father go back into the cottage, and
everything flashed.
Galen was standing next to a grown man inside some sort of stadium. There was
a giant audience, and official men dressed in uniforms.
“Galen of Adaranestor, I present you with authority of travel to the Empty. We
know that you will discover much, and we hope you will share this knowledge with us
during your future travels.” One of the men in uniforms handed a certificate to the man
Galen was standing next to, who must have been him. Wow... Galen was an adult? That
was something weird to think about. The crowd cheered and everything flashed.
Galen was standing next to himself as an adult inside some sort of vessel. There
was a team of people in the same vehicle working a bunch of stations. Everything
seemed to be going fine. Galen guessed that he was the captain.
“Sir, we have a problem.” One of the men said.
“What is it?” Adult Galen asked.
“There's some sort of interference with our systems. Something's shutting us
down.”
Galen turned around and looked out a nearby window. They were in space.
Apparently in Gatara, they called it the Empty. That's a lot more dark. Far ahead a large
black hole was sucking nearby items in. All of a sudden, the lights in the vehicle shut off
and people panicked. Galen panicked as well, even though he didn't really exist right
now.
Adult Galen shouted into a radio, reporting their current situation, and the ship
was flung into the black hole. Everything flashed.
Galen was standing in a giant wreckage on a large grassy landscape. Behind the
wreckage was a large archway with strange designs decorating it. He saw himself as an
adult stand up, holding his side. He was badly injured, and needed help. Adult Galen
performed the same magic that Galen had used to heal Eric, and healed himself.
He then scanned the landscape, and took off running. Why did everyone in
Galen's past run? He could barely keep up. Galen took off after himself, and everything
flashed, saving him the trouble.
Galen saw his life in fast-forward. He saw himself fighting large monsters,
learning new and ancient magic, saving people, and even discovering aliens. He would
travel between planet by magic. He discovered many planets, including earth, and then
he eventually returned to Gatara. He had learned much on his long journey.
Galen saw himself in the same metal structure that he was being held captive in.
Adult Galen was typing on a computer, writing complicated code.
“What is your name?” Adult Galen asked.
“My name is Adara, named after your mother.” Adara, the witch, said.
“Good, what is your purpose?”
“To keep your secrets safe.”
“Yes. When am I to return?”
“July 19, 2020.”
“Yes, and what is the current date?”
“June 30, 2019.”
“Yes, and how am I to return?”
“By me placing you in The Games. You will easily return to me.”
“Very good, Adara. You have learned much. Initiate The Games.”
“Yes, sir. I am going to learn much more, Master Galen.”
Okay, that was creepy.
“Yes, I hope you will.” Adult Galen smiled, then walked out the door.
* * * * *
Galen opened his eyes, hanging from the ceiling again. Well, he now had bits and
pieces of his life, but still didn't have the entire thing.
“Adara, why did I place myself in the games?” Galen said.
“I don't know, Master Galen. I learned so much. You hoped I would.” Adara
replied.
“I think I know.”
Adara was silent.
“Adara, when I created you, I made a way to destroy you, incase you did this sort
of thing, and the way is in the Games. I am going to solve it and destroy you.”
“How are you going to do that, Master? You're chained to the ceiling.”
“Adara, believe it or not, I did not share all my secrets with you.”
“Well, I don't believe that.”
“I know how to get out of a Magi Trap.” Galen concentrated, and broke free with
a little magic poem.
“Dialeimma me apallagmeno apo afto to keli,
me ena archaio magiko xorki.”
The chains snapped, and Galen fell to the ground.
“Oh, Master, you think just because you can get out of a little trap, you can
set yourself free?”
“Yeah, actually, I do.” Eric had just woken up, so Galen set him free as well.
Galen slung Eric over his shoulder, and ran out of the room.
Galen ran from room to room, looking for the computer's core. He decided he
struck lucky when he found a fuse box. He swung it open, and ripped out all of the wires.
The lights shut off, and red lights switched on, signaling that the power was out.
“Master? What did you do? I can't see you! Are you hiding?” Adara demanded,
and Galen grinned.
“Can you hear me, Adara?” Galen asked.
“Master? Master? It's so quiet!” The computer couldn't hear him. He put Eric
on his feet.
“We've got to move quickly. I'd say we got about twenty minutes before she fixes
herself.”
“Will it really take us twenty minutes to get out of here?” Eric asked.
“No, but I really want to get some maps and blueprints.”
They searched for about ten minutes, when Eric stumbled upon a large room full
of papers. Galen searched through it until he found a map of the island. Turns out it was
man made. He found each team's base, which were on separate islands. Galen found a
map of the building he was in, and smiled when he saw a room that contained a boat. He
snagged a couple more blueprints and maps, including one of Gatara, and rushed out the
door, running towards the boat room.
When he arrived, the lights switched back.
“Ah, there you are, Master. You were very close to escaping.” Adara's voice
filled Galen with disgust. Suddenly thousands of metallic bugs started to crawl down the
wall. Galen panicked. He hated bugs with a deep passion, even though that's kind of an
oxymoron. Galen hopped in the boat with Eric, and started the motor.
“There's not enough time.” Eric observed, and stood up.
“Eric, what are you doing?” Galen shouted.
“Destroy Adara, and get everyone off this island chain. This computer is pure
evil, and you're our only hope.” With that, Eric hopped out of the boat into the sea of
bugs.
All of them got distracted, and started to devour him. Eric's screams echoed
through Galen's mind as he sped away from the building, into the sun, and away from
shore. Eric's sacrifice was extremely useful, but Galen knew he wasn't dead. Adara could
not kill him, but could definitely harm him.
It was nighttime, which meant that a game was probably running. On the map,
Galen saw the island they were racing motorcycles on, and the island with the spire. He
checked lots of other islands, and not being able to find anyone when the sun started to
rise, Galen decided to go to the Green Base.
He parked his boat on the shore where he washed up, then ran into the jungle. He
came upon the giant wall again.
“Hey, David, you're the one who runs the gate, right? It's me, Galen! Let me in!”
Galen shouted up.
He heard frantic talking, and then the gates opened. When they opened, Galen
saw his astonished teammates, David and Brian.
“Galen? I thought you were dead!” David exclaimed, and Brian nodded.
“Well, Adara lied to you.” Galen replied.
“Who?”
“Long story. Where is everyone?”
“Asleep! Seriously, how are you alive?”
“Like I said, long story. Wake everyone up. We need to leave right now.”
“Why, and how?” David asked, very confused.
“Because we're going to be killed, or at least captured, and I have a boat. Hurry,
do it. I'm your former captain.”
David did as he was told, and quickly roused every member of the team.
Everyone was surprised to see him. He had sent Brian to fetch food while David was
waking the team, and they were quickly set to go. They all clambered out of the jungle to
the large boat on the shore. Luckily, Adara hadn't destroyed it.
They all hopped in, with large amounts of food and weapons. They would most
likely have to fight for their lives.
They floated around in the ocean for a long time, studying maps and blueprints.
Galen unfortunately hadn't been able to grab a map of all of Gatara, where ever in the
universe that was.
Suddenly, Galen noticed a small black spot on the horizon. When it got closer,
Galen guessed it was a small hovering robot sent by Adara. It sure looked like one.
“Master Galen,” Adara's voice came out creepy and clear. “I would like to make
an agreement with you. If you play my games, I promise I will not provide any other
way to kill you other than The Games.”
Galen considered this offer for a long time.
“Also, you will be free to wander around The Games and attempt to destroy me. I
like to play with my enemies.”
“Why?” Galen asked.
“Because I want to have fun. If I die, the only person who suffers is you. You
will never remember your life again. I'm the one who holds your entire memory. If I am
destroyed, your memory will be, too.”
“Adara, how long until you break into the script to be able to kill humans?”
“According to my calculations, I should be able to freely dispose of them in
about... a week.”
“That's it? A week?”
“Yes, Master Galen, you only have a week to solve your own puzzle hidden in
The Games. So, is this a deal? You know you need The Games to solve the puzzle.”
Adara giggled again, and Galen wanted to shoot the robot.
Galen looked around at his teammates, who looked at each other as well, and
decided to accept.
“Fine, Adara, take us back to the base.”
“I'll enjoy trying to kill you.”

“Wait... so Adara can't kill a single human being?” Julia asked, after Galen had
filled the green team on everything.
“Nope. Not at all.” Galen replied.
“So, if she created a monster, and sent it to kill someone, it would be impossible.”
“Yup.”
“So... Justin would still be alive, right?”
“Uh... I guess Adara would be holding him captive at the building I was at.”
Julia smiled, then stood up. “I guess that's it then.”
The green team exchanged glances, then stood up also.
David ran up, with a worried look on his face. “Uh... Galen, there's a problem.”
Galen, confused, looked at him. “What is it?”
“The gate, it's sealed shut. We're locked in.” David had his eyes wide open, and
was obviously terrified.
“What? How?” Galen was still confused.
“Adara locked us in. She doesn't want to risk us trying to escape again,
obviously.”
The green team had brought the boat with them into their base, so Adara couldn't
destroy it. But, Adara was smarter than that. What a shame. The only way out, now, was
through destroying The Games.
* * * * *
Galen woke in a white room, all by himself. He was in a Game, and the room had
no windows or doors. He had no weapons, and his helmet wouldn't come up when he
wanted it to. He felt defenseless, and he had a feeling that that was the idea.
“Welcome, players to the 358th Game. As you can see, you are completely alone,
and you have no weapons. You are completely defenseless. The objective of this game is
to survive, and get to the portal in the middle of the island. Easy enough? Good. The
game will start in ten seconds.
Before Galen could react, a doorway opened into darkness. Galen edged his way
into the eerie gateway. When he passed through, he observed a dark beach. The full
moon reflected off of the water, and a small boat wreckage made the place creepier.
Galen turned around to look at the structure he was in, but it was gone. All that lay
behind him was a small village with old huts with rocking chairs on the patios.
Galen shrugged and started to run towards the best he could judge as the center.
Galen couldn't help but wonder what on Gatara he had to survive. None of the other
players had weapons. Galen tried to think, maybe zombies, or those metal bugs that ate
Eric, or maybe a mix between the two.
Galen started kicking down the doors of the huts. The first was empty, with
nothing but a pillow and a mat on the floor. He tried the next, and found a small trap
door in the corner. Galen, wondering if this could be useful, started to open it when he
heard a floorboard creak behind him.
Set off his nerves, Galen whirled around to see Thor holding a stick in an
attacking position.
“Galen?” Thor asked, lowering his weapon.
“Uh, hey Thor. How's the game been?” Galen grinned, still crouching down in
the middle of opening the trap door.
“I would like to ask you the same thing.”
Galen put down the trap door. “Well, you know, just about to get started on
killing Adara, you know.”
“Oh? Like doing what?”
“Well, I was just about to travel through this trap door when you came.”
“You think that it's going to lead to something important? That's not likely.
Fringes used to use cellars to hide stashes of alcohol.”
“What did?”
“Fringes.”
“What exactly are those?”
Thor paused, extremely confused.
“I—I don't know.”
Galen raised his eyebrows, then peered into the dark trap door, and not being able
to see anything, hopped in, with Thor following. Galen struggled to see anything.
“Fos.” Thor created a small ball of light in his hand that was cracking with
electricity.
“Well, that's extremely useful.” Galen muttered, and peered around the room.
Sure enough, all Galen saw was enormous crates of 'Doozies', which Galen assumed was
alcohol. Peering behind the crates, Galen noticed a small silver box. He reached in and
snatched it, observing a small black button on one side.
“Does this look like alcohol to you?” Galen showed it to Thor, and Thor shook
his head. Galen shrugged again, and pressed the black button on top. He heard a loud
noise coming from the trap door, and filled with dread.
Galen rushed up and started to climb the ladder. Reaching the top, Galen
desperately tried to shove on the trap door, but it would not budge. Galen widened his
eyes, and jumped down onto the floor of the cellar.
“Okay, it wasn't alcohol, it was even worse.” Thor said.
Galen turned around when he heard the sound of rushing water. From one of the
corner of the room, a small pipe was pouring water into the room extremely quickly. A
large puddle of water appeared on the floor, and Thor and Galen exchanged glances.
Thor tried shooting a bolt of electricity at the trapdoor, but nothing happened. Apparently
the entire room was Magus-proof, which resulted in Galen and Thor on their way straight
to drowning.
As soon as the water rose up to Galen's waist, he told Thor to stop shooting
lightning, fearing that he would be electrocuted himself by the conductivity of the water.
Thor obeyed, and tried frantically to think of a solution.
“We could scream for help.” Thor grinned nervously, and Galen thought that was
actually a pretty good idea. The water had already risen to Galen's chest, and Galen
hurriedly ran through the water to the ladder, and started to pound on the trapdoor.
“Help! We're stuck in the cellar, and it's filling up with water!” Galen shouted,
hoping that someone would hear.
After the water was up to Galen's chest while he was up on the ladder, he stopped.
“It's no use. We're stuck.” He held hard to the ladder, as did Thor. Both growing
up on Gatara, where technology was a little on the low side, neither of them could swim.
Eventually, the water was too high to breathe through, so Galen went underwater,
looking for something to get them out. Galen let out a faint grin when he saw the
alcohol. “Aeras.” Galen said underwater, creating an air-bubble around Thor's.
“That would have been helpful before.” Thor said.
“I was saving it. As you know, using magic drains my energy.” Galen replied.
“We need to swim down the alcohol.”
“What, do you want a small drink before you perish?”
“No, I have an idea.”
The two of them pushed with their arms as well as they could down to the crates.
“Fotia.” Galen produced a small flame. “Brace yourself.”
Galen smiled as he pushed his flame close to the alcohol. After nothing happened,
Galen was sure that his fire wasn't big enough, so he made it bigger, almost burning
himself and Thor.
“Watch it, all powerful Magus.” Thor cringed back as the fire got close to his
face.
Galen quickly threw the fireball into the pile of crates, hoping not to explode. He
popped the air-bubble, then waited.
A flash of light shot Galen up through the floorboards of the hut, destroyed the
hut, and sent him groaning on the sand outside with his eyes closed. Thor was beside
him, and he was in much pain also.
“Well, you got us out of there,” Thor said. “but we're both extremely injured.”
“Alcohol is extremely flammable. I guessed that an explosion that big would get
us out.”
“Where exactly are we?” Thor asked, and Galen sat up, forcing his eyes open.
They were inside a dark cave. Galen thought they were just on the island, but
somehow they had ended up in a dark cavern. Galen tried to get himself onto his feet, but
collapsed in failure.
“Why don't you heal us?” Thor grumbled.
“Too... tired...” Galen gasped, lay back down, and then subconsciously started to
drift off to sleep. He forced his eyes open, desperately trying not to doze off. They were
still in a game, which meant there could still be many dangers.
A stabbing pain shot through the back of Galen's head as he tried to sit up again,
and he guessed he had hit is head extremely hard in the force of the explosion. Since he
was bound to fall unconscious anyways,
Galen healed Thor with the last of his energy “Therapefsei.”
He immediately passed out.
Galen was standing on a large field. The grassland held only rocks and a couple
trees. Galen's eyes focused on a young woman crying near a rock. She was holding
something in her hands, and was clasping it fiercely to her chest. Galen walked closer to
her, trying to see what was in her hands. She opened her hands and gazed at a medallion
with a strange symbol on it.
Galen was filled with fear when seeing this symbol. Something about it was dark
and fearful.. The woman looked up, and gazed across the field, looking for someone.
Galen sat up in the same dark cave he was in before, breathing hard with a cold
sweat. Thor was stirring a dead fire pit filled with embers.
“How long was I out?” Galen asked, feeling much more energized.
“A couple of hours. It was a good idea to heal me. Right after you passed out, a
bunch of weird creatures attacked us. I was able to fight them off and protect you, run
away, and start this fire.” Thor replied, still stirring the warm coals.
“Shouldn't the Game be over by now?” Galen asked.
“It is over. For some reason, we weren't transported back when Adara ended the
game. She said she was trying hard to take me back, but something wouldn't let her.”
“Strange. Hey, Thor, do you know what this is?” Galen picked up a nearby stick
and drew the symbol from his dream in the sand the best he could.
Thor's eyes widened. “No, but it looks familiar. It scares me for some reason.”
“Maybe I should show it to the tall man.”
“Maybe. He would probably know what it is.” Thor stood up. “I'm going to look
for more firewood.”
“Have fun.” Galen was transfixed with the small embers, and then broke his gaze
to examine the cave.
Thor had gone down the passageway behind him, and another extended in front of
him, sloping downward. Galen decided to go exploring while Thor was searching, after
all, if any danger came around, Galen could use magic to protect himself. Galen went
down the passage in front of him, gazing at the walls and stalactites on the ceiling.
“Fos.” He created a small ball of light with his hand, and gasped when he saw that
the walls were decorated with intricate cave-drawings. Galen got close to the nearest
drawings, and squinted hard, trying to depict them.
The first drawing was of a large crowd fighting each other with swords and
shields around a large dark pit. One man was falling—no, jumping into the pit? Why on
earth would someone jump into the pit of doom? The second sketch was of a large
ancient city with people floating in it.
Galen continued down the cave, looking at more drawings, but they all just
repeated. Galen got bored, and then looked forward, wondering where on gatara he was
going.
He suddenly stumbled upon a large metal door with the symbol from his dream on
it. Galen was unsure if he should open this door. It could be dangerous, considering that
he feared the symbol carved largely on the door.
Galen grinned nervously, turned the small handle, and swung the door open.
Galen stepped into the room, and was surprised to see it lit up by old fluorescent
bulbs. He extinguished his small ball of light, and then walked up a large staircase in
front of him. When he got to the top, there was a small pedestal with a white button on it,
decorated by the symbol from Galen's dream.
Galen stepped up to the button.
“Could it really be this easy?” He wondered, then put his hand above the button,
ready to press it.
“Master, what are you doing?” Adara asked.
“I'm about to push this button and destroy you.” Galen smiled smugly.
Adara laughed. “You think that button will destroy me? You are sadly wrong.”
“Really? What does it do?”
“An old gatarian legend will tell you. Would you care to have me explain it to
you?”
Galen looked at the button. “Sure, Adara, but my hand will always be close to
this button, so no false moves.”
“Back in the early days of Gatara, there was an ancient species by the name of the
Shadows. The world feared them, for they were evil and they always intended to destroy
everything. After many attempts, they were in no luck. Finally, after many years, they
created a deadly weapon, called the ShadowGate. Not one living soul knows what it did,
what it looked like, or where it is. The Shadows used that weapon to threaten all worlds
in the Empty, and take control of them.
“After decades of tyranny, the Magi, your species, became angry with the
Shadows. Your brethren rose up against the Shadows, attempting to destroy the
ShadowGate. However, the ShadowGate was indestructible, and the Shadows took many
lives of the Magi.
“After years of fighting, the Magi eventually took down the Shadows, and
destroyed them. The Magi hid the ShadowGate on this island you are on now, and that is
the button to activate it.”
“Why can't I just use it to destroy you?” Galen asked.
“Because the ShadowGate is only loyal to the Shadows.”
“I thought they were all dead.”
“They are, but their spirits exist inside the ShadowGate itself. Activating the
ShadowGate would result in desolation of the entire universe.”
“There's no way to destroy the ShadowGate?” Galen asked.
“No, not even the powerful Magi could do it. However, a prophetess did predict
someone would destroy it.”
“Oh? How?”
“Three Magi, from three worlds
Will join together in the world of Rurld.
The first, is from our home, Gatara
His power is beyond desire.
But he's a fool, with no doubt.
He himself will let the ShadowGate out.
The second, is from the haunted Spectrum.
Some people consider him a scum.
He will push the others to go on.
Whether it is dusk or dawn.
The third is from the frozen Cryo.
Many things, he will know.
He will aid them in their quest.
Although sometimes he can be a pest.”
“So, the third will be annoying?” Galen asked, raising his eyebrows. “You are
the worst lier on the planet.”
“It's real as you and me, Master Galen. And I believe you are the first Magus.”
“Well, that's outrageous.”
“You are from Gatara, and you are a very powerful magus.”
“You are pretty dang bad at lying. All I know, is that you can write poems really
fast.” Galen stepped up to the button and raised his hand above it.
“Master, you have no idea what you're doing. You don't want to do this!” Adara's
voice got frantic.
“Why would you care if it was the ShadowGate I was releasing by pressing this
button?”
“Because it would destroy everything. You, me, your friends, Earth, Gatara,
nothing would be left.”
“Goodbye, Adara.” Galen slammed his hand hard down on the button.

A loud creaking sound echoed through the cavern, and alarms blazed. Galen
covered his ears, hoping not to damage them.
“What have you done?” Adara screamed.
Galen turned and ran down the passage behind him, towards Thor. Thor was
plugging his ears, also, and they ran out of the cave together. Once they got out of the
cave, the screeching sound died down quite a bit, so Galen took his hands off his ears to
provide better usage of them.
Once his foot touched the sandy beach, Galen looked back. It looked like a
mountain in the middle of the island had cracked in half, and a large metal structure was
rising out of it.
“Galen, there's no time to sight-see! We've got to get out of here!” Thor
screamed at him, and Galen nodded, running up to Thor. Galen looked back one more
time, and saw the metal machine was circular, looking like a giant glowing floating metal
hula-hoop. Galen waved his hands, trying to teleport Thor and him to somewhere else,
when a haunted, strong whisper broke his concentration.
“Child of Gatara,” The voice said. “as the prophecy has foretold, you have
released the ShadowGate, you have freed us, the Shadows. The prophecy does also tell
of you destroying us, but we can't let that happen. Prepare for the storm, child.”
The voice ended, and Galen finished his spell. In a flash of light, he and Thor
zipped away from the island.
* * * * *
The sky was dark, and was occasionally lit up by lightning. In the green base,
there were only four players left. Galen, Thor, David, and Julia. The temperature had
dramatically dropped as well, and food supplies had run low. Adara had stopped
working. Nothing happened; no Games, no Food, no demented voice talking to them.
Everything had just stopped after Galen released the ShadowGate.
“What do we do now?” Julia asked.
Galen stood up. “We leave.”
“How? The gate is jammed, and these walls are the only thing protecting us from
being sucked into that gate thingy.” Julia looked extremely frustrated, and Galen grinned
nervously.
“Galen's right. It's our only chance. If we stay here, we'll starve to death anyway.
We need to get out of here, and hope we won't be destroyed like the others who tried to
escape.” David spoke, and looked up.
“Alright then, it's decided.” Thor stumbled up onto his feet, and then shot a bolt
of lightning at the wall. A large explosion produced a large hole.
“Why didn't you just do that before?” Galen and the others picked up the boat,
and ran out into the jungle towards the shore.
Eventually they reached the beach, and saw the ShadowGate floating in the sky.
It was a large metal circle, and in the middle was a pitch-black hole. Anything that
passed through that hole was gone instantly.
They placed the boat in the water, and hopped inside. Galen rushed to the front,
and tried to start the engine. David yet out a yell, and Galen turned around to see three
dark figures rushing forward; Shadows. Galen panicked, and turned the engine several
times before he succeeded. It rumbled forward slowly, but it wasn't fast enough.
One of the Shadow jumped forward, and tackled David. Galen started punching
it, wishing he had weapons.
“Astrapi!” Thor shot a bolt of lightning at the Shadow, causing it to squeal in pain,
and collapsed lifeless onto the floor of the boat. Unfortunately, the electricity conducted
and paralyzed David.
Thor's eyes widened, and grinned nervously at Galen. Galen shook his head, and
stood, gazing at the two Shadows running towards them, and closed his eyes, taking a
deep breath.
“Palirroiako kyma.” Raising his hands, the ocean raised. Galen grinned, then
shoved his hands forward. A large wave washed over one of the Shadows, but one of
them jumped over the wave, and continued coming towards them, and then suddenly
started running atop the water.
Galen cringed, and then sped up the boat. Thor stood up at the back of the boat,
and shot several bolts at the dark figure, missing. Galen turned around again, shooting
balls of light at the Shadow, still missing.
It caught up to their boat, and grabbed onto the side. Galen smashed its fingers
with his fist, but it still held on, and reached for Galen. Galen stumbled back onto Thor,
and they both fell onto the bottom of the boat.
“Watch it, Galen!” Thor yelled as he pushed Galen off of him, jumping to his
feet.
Galen decided it would be better to steer the boat instead of fighting a monster,
and got to it. Thor started to kick the figure in the head, finally causing it to let go. The
figure sunk underneath the water, and Galen sped up the boat even more.
“Do you even know where you're going? Thor asked.
“No,” said Galen, pulling out the map of Gatara he had snatched from Adara's
lair, and showed it to Thor. “Try to figure out where we are.”
“But these islands won't be marked on a map!” Thor objected.
“True, but you've got to try. Otherwise we'll starve to death in the middle of the
ocean.”
Thor nodded, and started to study the map. Galen drove the boat until the islands
behind them were just small specks on the horizon, and then put the boat to a stop.
“Any progress?” He asked Thor.
Thor shrugged. “Sort of. I have a pretty good guess.”
“Okay, let's hear it.”
Thor put the map on the floor, and everyone gathered around it.
“Okay, so I was gazing at small island chains, just in case it was marked on a
map, and I saw this.” Thor pointed to a small group of islands in the middle of the
“Central Sea.” Galen's eyes widened as he noticed that the islands formed the
ShadowGate symbol. Galen pulled out the map of The Games, and they matched.
“Well, we found where we were, so where are we now?” David asked.
“There's a compass on the boat. We've been traveling east for a while, so we
should be about right here.” Galen pointed off to the right of the islands.
“No, that's west.” Thor corrected.
“No it's not. Galen's right. That's east.” David said, and gave Thor a weird look.
“Oh, I'm sorry.” Galen rolled his eyes. “Thor, I'm sorry that I'm not reading the
map upside-down, like you.
Thor looked at the map again, and then grinned sheepishly. “My bad.”
“So, where should we go?” Galen looked at the rest of the group.
“I think we should go to the nearest land that could provide food. Like, right
here.” Julia pointed to a nearby continent.
Galen used the scale, and discovered that the nearest land was at least one
hundred and fifty miles away. “Okay, well, it will take a while, but we'll get there in
about five hours.”
“Seriously? Five hours in this cramped boat?” David was put down by this
thought, but then stood up and rushed for the most comfortable seat.
Galen rolled up the map and brought it with him to the front of the boat, then
continued east.
* * * * *
After traveling for a very long time, Galen spotted land. He was temped to shout,
“Land ho!” But resisted.
“Guys, land.” It was bland, but it worked enough.
David jumped up. “Land? Really?”
The land slowly came closer into view, and David sunk when he realized it was
just wilderness.
“Why didn't we just go to a village?” He asked.
“Because I think we would draw attention if we drove up in a machine that hasn't
been invented yet by a human. Remember, Gatara is still in the Medieval age.” Galen
replied.
“We're close to a village, but we don't want to attract ourselves. We're going to
park the boat in the forest, and then get some clothes.” Thor announced.
“Where are we going to get clothes without going into the village?” Julia asked.
“We're not.” Galen answered.
“And how on earth are we going to get these clothes off? I've tried before, it
doesn't work.”
“I have an idea.”
When they got to shore, Galen and Thor pulled the boat onto the beach.
“Thor, turn around and put up your helmet.” Galen demanded, and Thor obeyed.
On the back of Thor's helmet was a glowing circle, and Galen shot a bolt of light at it.
When the light collided with the back of Thor's head, a loud release of steam was
let out, and the pieces of Thor's armor fell off onto the beach.
“Finally!” Thor yelled, and started to pick up his armor.
Galen put up his helmet, and Thor broke his armor with a little lightning. They
freed the others, then tossed the pieces into the ocean, and watched as they were washed
away. Now their outfits weren't as strange, but they were still strange. They all started to
walk to the village through the forest.
“I sure hope they have some good food there.” David said, patting his stomach.
Galen smiled. “Don't expect much. Pretty much all you're gonna get is raw
meat.”
Eventually, the cobblestone pathways and small huts came into view between the
trees. Every now and then, a clearly poor person came into view, and just walked by.
Galen, Thor, David, and Julia consecutively stepped out onto the pathway. A man walked
by, and gave them a strange look. Galen gave him a friendly wave, but the man just kept
staring and walking.
Galen turned to his friends and shrugged. “Let's just find some clothes.”
They wandered around for awhile, not finding a tailor anywhere. Galen was
offended when he saw a door opened by a crack, with an old woman peering out. He
walked up the to the door, and the woman kept on staring at him.
“Is there a reason you are staring like you are?”
The lady remained silent for awhile, then spoke. “Your clothing. Who are you?
Where did you come from?”
“Well, we came from... uh...”
“The Games?”
“Uh... yeah, actually, we did. How did you know that?”
The woman looked up and down the street, then motioned Galen to come inside.
He did, along with the others.
“My name is Profitis. I am a seer.” The woman said as she cleared off a table
with a chair on each side. Galen sat down, along with Profitis, Thor, and Julia.
“So you saw that we were from The Games?” Galen asked Profitis, and she
nodded.
“I had a vision last night in my sleep. I saw five children wearing strange clothing
coming to my door. I somehow knew they were from what you call, 'The Games.' I
knew I was supposed to help them.”
“Okay, do you know how to get to the planet Rurld?” David asked.
Profitis' eyes narrowed. “There is no planet Rurld.”
Galen's eyes widened. “What? What do you mean there is no Rurld?”
Profitis stood up, and went to a stack of papers behind her. After searching for
several minutes, she pulled out an extremely large parchment, and placed it on the table.
It was a map of the Empty. “
“This map was made by Galen of Adaranestor about forty years ago. He was the
first to explore the Empty, and explored it all. Gatara is here.” She placed her finger on a
planet similar to earth. “There is no Rurld on this map. I've searched, and have turned up
hopeless. The prophecy is false. Well, the first part isn't, anyway, about the first magus.”
She gave Galen a mean look, and he shrunk.
“Look!” Julia exclaimed, pointed to a particular planet on the map; Earth. It was
clear on the other side of the universe.
“Do you know how long it would take to get there, even traveling the speed of
light?” Galen asked.
“You did it.” Thor pointed out.
“Yeah, but that was traveling through magical gateways. It would take forever to
find them.”
“You found every single one.”
“I know, but that was forty years ago...” Galen looked over at Profitis, and
stopped talking.
“I know who you are. You are Galen of Adaranestor, explorer of the Empty, and
Magus of the prophecy of the ShadowGate.”
Galen stared at her for awhile, and continued talking. “Okay.... so basically, it
would be extremely hard to return to earth. We'd have to find every gateway, and then I'd
have to come back. I don't want to do that.”
“There might be a gateway straight to earth.” Julia grumbled.
“Yes, there might, but what are the chances of that? About a thousand to one.
And besides,” Galen said, thinking about the woman in his vision in the cave. “I have
unfinished business here before the universe it controlled by the Shadows.”
“Just because there is no planet named Rurld doesn't mean that there is no Rurld.”
“Okay, Julia, what would it be?” Galen raised his voice.
“Maybe it's some sort of alternate dimension! The prophecy says 'world of Rurld',
not 'planet of Rurld'.” Julia was fuming.
Galen contemplated this. It would seem more logic that the prophetess was just
insane.
“No. There's no way.” Galen stared at Julia, who was glaring back.
“Galen, you got to be open to suggestions. I mean, we never though that we
would be captured by a rogue computer trying to kill us, and Julia and I never thought
that we would be on a team with two Magi.” David said.
“That doesn't mean that there's some sort of hidden world that ignores all laws of
space.”
“Well, magic ignores the laws of physics.”
“Not really. I mean, magic actually exists.”
“Then how does it work?”
“From what I remember from my life,” Galen thought hard, and got a pretty good
guess. “magi are born with an extra spirit. They name different types of magi, which are
also called 'Elders', such as Storm Elder, Light Elder, Void Elder, Ghost Elder, Flame
Elder, Ice Elder, Elderlord, so forth. They can use the spirits inside them to, well, use
magic. Ancient greek thought that magi that traveled to earth were their gods. Those
magi were lucky.”
“Wow. Where do you learn this kind of thing?” Julia asked.
“When you've been alive for over fifty years and traveled across the entire
universe, ask me again.”
“What does an Elderlord do?” David asked.
“I don't know. I just remember the names.” Galen replied.
Profitis cleared her throat. Galen stared at her until she gestured at a small
package she was carrying.
“Would you like to hear what you should do? I am a seer.” She asked.
“Um... well, would we have to pay you?”
“No. I will do it for the will of the world.”
“Okay.” Galen sat down in one of the chairs, and Profitis placed the package on
the table.
“Prepare,” She exclaimed. “to be astonished by my amazing ability to see!”
Profitis ripped the cloth off of the package on the table presenting an old leather
book bound by weak string.
“Seriously? A giant book?” Julia asked.
“Do not doubt the power of The Tome of Dorinda.”
“What was Dorinda?” David asked.
“Not what, but who. She was the world's first seer of Gatara. She used this tome
to read the future.”
“It's a book!” Julia yelled.
“Julia, you gotta believe. Even though you don't think it's possible, it is. Be open
to possibilities.” Galen said sarcastically, and Julia glared back.
Profitis' eyes started to glow, and she started to rub her hands on the cover of the
book.
Spirit of Dorinda,
Spirit of sight,
Give us power,
Give us light.
The glow died, and Profitis slammed the book open. Light shone, reflecting off
all their faces. Galen peered over, struggling to gaze upon the blank pages, having to
squint in the light.
Black ink started to form into drawings and lettering. Galen leaned over, and read
the words aloud.
“O, seeker of the light,
I know that you will seek the right.
I will show you correct paths,
Save you from the Shadows' wrath.
The world of Rurld really does exist
Although it can be easily missed.
The planet now has a new name.
It rules our speech with all its fame.
Although it's already to your worth.
You must return to planet earth.”