SENTRY ISLE
Compendium 2020 – Story 8
By Andrew Hawnt
“Congratulations,
adventurers,” croaked the hooded figure with a flourish of one
hand. As his armoured fingers moved, ghostly ravens danced from the
surface of his grey robes. “You have done well to make it this
far. Welcome to Sentry Isle.”
The
isle was formed around a mountain of jagged rock, its surface pierced
by hundreds of giant black spikes. Things with spindly wings
screeched from their hiding places amidst numerous hiding places,
peering down at what unfolded below as the wreckage of a boat
vanished into the black waters beyond a shore that was soon lost in
thick, green fog.
The
group of four newcomers stared at him warily. John, Alyssa and Craig
had their swords drawn. Miriam held a glowing orb of light between
her hands, ready to charge it and attack the hooded creature with it
should he try anything.
“Let
us pass, Sentry,” John demanded. “We've got through all of your
challenges. We beat all of your monsters and traps. We fought off
your skeleton army and we navigated the sea of ghosts. We've earned
safe passage home.”
“You're
nailing the character thing, John,” Alyssa smirked. “Are you
going to keep it going once we get back to our world?”
Craig
chuckled. Miriam was stony-faced beneath the hood of her midnight
blue cloak. The mage needed all of her concentration.
“Shut
it, Alyssa,” John snapped. “I want to go home. Back to my house.
Back to doing dishes and worrying about bills.”
“You...”
the Sentry said, pointing at John. Three ravens made of smoke
fluttered away from the fabric of his sleeve as he did. “You began
this game. You brought your friends here with incantations nobody in
your dimension should know. What came before and what will happen
here lies upon your shoulders, John.”
“Just
tell us what we need to do to get across Sentry Isle,” Craig said
bluntly. “We're tired and we want our own beds. We want to go back
to the real world.”
“Ah,”
growled the Sentry. “The world you think of as real is just a dream
here, just as the world you have crossed by sword and determination
now is a dream there. This is the real world here and now. Why try to
leave it?”
“Because
these people deserve their freedom,” John said quietly. “This is
all my fault, and I'm sorry about that. We're here to end this game
and cross the Isle.”
“That's
more like it,” Alyssa grinned. “You heard the man. Fess up, Darth
Skeletor, or whoever you are.”
The
Sentry raised both hands, darkness swirling around them. Ravens flew
from him as four dice formed in the air, two over each hand. “The
game began by rolling a dice for each of you. The doorway to my world
opened when you all threw the same number and the incantation ended.
You are many, yet you are one.”
“I'm
not in the mood for riddles, Sentry,” Miriam said through gritted
teeth. “We've all had enough of your games.”
The
grim, dark visage beneath the Sentry's hood twisted into a gnarled
smile. “You act as one. You live as one. You will fight as one or
die as one,” it said. The creature gestured and the dice fell to
the ground.
“All
ones,” it said darkly. “Death beckons.”
The
screeches across the gloomy isle became screams as wings unfurled
from secret hiding places and stretched out as strange, elongated
beasts pushed themselves into the filthy air. The group of warrior
friends readied themselves for battle. The mage Miriam moved one hand
from the orb and moved her fingers in the air by her friends, trails
of light from her fingertips forming sigils of protection, their
energies dancing around her and the others.
“Stay
tight,” John said as the four of them moved so that their backs
were against each other. “Defence first and foremost, then push it
into an offence.”
They
had faced swarms of diabolical creatures before. This would be no
different.
And
then it was.
The
Sentry pushed itself into the air, hovering over the adventurers on
swirls of ethereal ravens. Deep violet lightning cracked around
steel-clad fingers, ready to be unleashed. The Sentry released that
power, but not at those preparing to fight the winged horrors. He
flung the energy at the island itself.
“Your
final challenge,” roared the Sentry, its voice now a bellow that
seemed to erupt from the mountain itself. “Face it as one, or die
as one.”
Sentry
Isle rose up. Rock exploded outwards, gargantuan columns of it
forming into monstrous limbs. The fog that hid the world swirled
around the grotesque transformation as trees became twisted claws,
caves became a mournfully gaping maw, crystals previously hidden
suddenly blazing with a supernatural green light. As the mountain took
its new form, the winged fiends descended, attacking as one, their
banshee wails piercing the cacophony of the living mountain.
“Go
for the wings!” John shouted, and the group did just that. Alyssa
screamed her warcry, almost loud enough to match the creatures
themselves. She swung her blade, taking off arms and wings and heads
as the beasts attacked. Miriam launched the glowing sphere and
controlled it psychically, ramming its charged form through the
torsos of flying monsters. Craig fenced with one of the flying
creatures, his blade clattering against huge thin claws.
“Fail
this test and I win the game,” roared the Sentry. “Succeed and
pay the price!”
“This
is it,” Craig yelled over the wall of noise around them. “This is
where we get to go home!”
He
lunged at the monster, breaking away from the others as he attempted
to run the thing through with his sword. The others screamed after
him, but it was too late.
Another
of the creatures descended from behind Craig and sliced into him with
six long talons, all of them immediately protruding from his front.
He dropped his sword, grabbing at the talons sticking out of his
chest and stomach, frantically trying to escape their agonising
intrusion. Another came upon him and sliced into his throat.
“Craig!”
John screamed, eager to move away from the others but fighting back
the urge to break away like his doomed friend had. “Miriam, get him
away from those things!”
Miriam
nodded and flung energy bolts at the attacking creatures, blowing
them to shreds and releasing Craig from their grip. He fell to the
ground in a bloodied heap. Immediately his pockets gave off searinglight, coins and trinkets and potions and scrolls flying from his
garments and into the pockets and pouches and hidden spaces in the
costumes of his friends. The rules dictated that the spoils of a
fallen player would be shared between their group.
Alyssa
reached out and pulled Craig's suddenly lifeless form over to them.
The three remaining fighters stood around the body, battling on.
Miriam
looked up at the gigantic form of the living mountain as it took one
massive step towards them. It was godlike in its incredible size,
deafening in its roar and utterly invincible. The Sentry hung in the
air before it and gestured for it to attack.
“Wait!”
yelled John, holding aloft a scroll that had been Craig's. “I have
the rules.”
The
Sentry gestured again. The mountain god stopped and stared. The
winged terrors fell back. All fell eerily quiet.
“If
a player dies,” John shouted, his voice raw and wavering. “Then
another can give their life points to resurrect him.”
“You
are weak, John,” growled the Sentry. “Your remaining life total
is not enough to bring back your friend.”
Alyssa
and Miriam stared at each other and nodded, then looked to the Sentry
and the behemoth that towered behind it. “But it would be if you
add ours to it as well,” Alyssa cried out.
“Alyssa!
Miriam! Wait!” John called out, but they had already reached
beneath their tunic and pulled out the gems they had used as life
counters in the game. John stared at the gems a moment before taking
them into one hand, laying down his sword and adding his own meagre
remaining gems to the stash in his hand.
The
Sentry regarded them. “You would give your lives to save his? Even
though that too would be snuffed out again the moment I release my
creations?”
John
nodded. “In a heartbeat. We played as one. We fought as one. At
least if Craig's life can be reinstated, we can stand and fight and
die as one, like it always should have been.”
He
glanced down at his dead friend and lowered the handful of gems,
piling them onto his bloody chest.
The
Sentry let out an inhuman howl, armies of ravens flooding from its
outstretched arms, wings flapping and claws grabbing at the warriors
as the gems began to hum and glow and blaze. The Sentry beckoned for
the isle beast to attack, and the giant thundered both of its massive
rocky hands down onto the group of tired adventurers. The weight and
force were impossible things. The party knew this would be their last
throw of the dice.
The
gems had become a piercing light now and Craig burst back to life,
gasping for breath and coughing up stray blood as his body repaired
and rejuvenated itself. He pulled himself upright with help from his
friends and stared up at the enormous beast and the Sentry.
“I
can feel... all of you. You brought me back?”
The
isle god screeched with delight at four fresh kills waiting for it.
It lumbered closer and thrashed out. The Sentry's winged freaks
screamed and attacked en masse. The sky was black with monsters, each
of them desperate to ruin and consume the four humans. With their
life totals spent, a single wound would kill them all.
John
raised his sword. They charged as one, leaping at the incoming
barrage of supernatural terrors.
Pain
never came.
The
armies of the Sentry fell to ash, the gigantic form of the island
beast crumbling and collapsing into dust. Debris rained around them,
bouncing off the shield Miriam had generated. They stood beneath her
iridescent dome and watched in awe as the impossible onslaught
vanished, drawn away from them by winds that span and raged and
cleansed. Darkness fell around them as countless visions of horror
disintegrated.
The
darkness parted, and Miriam's powers faded.
Light.
Piercing and clinical. Music. The smell of... pizza?
The
kitchen. They were home. They were alive and back in John's kitchen.
Their armour and tunics and weapons were gone, replaced by the jeans
and t-shirts and mismatched socks they had lost so long ago.
Craig
was there with them. They embraced, elated.
The
table was strewn with dice and rulebooks and stats sheets. On the
board in the centre of it stood the plastic miniature form of the
Sentry, four dice scattered around it.
Four
friends cheered and wept and held tightly to one another. The game
was over. They had crossed Sentry Isle and been granted their
freedom.
John
opened the front door and strode out into the street. He needed to
taste the air of home again. He breathed deep and froze as he saw the
sky. There was no moon. No stars.
Blackened.
Hidden. All light blocked out.
Ravens.
Millions of them filled the sky, screeching, ready to dive at him.
Twenty feet in the air over him, a familiar form descended from the
darkness.
“Game
over, John?” Bellowed the Sentry.
Miriam,
Craig and Alyssa joined him outside, each taking in the sight of the
Sentry with rage and horror. Alyssa grabbed John's hand and shoved
something into it. He opened his palm, as did his friends, then
looked back up at the fiend that had crossed worlds to face them
again.
“Our
turn,” said John.
They
rolled their dice.
===
©
Andrew Hawnt 2020
About
Compendium 2020:
Compendium
2020 is a project from author Andrew Hawnt and consists of 52 weekly
stories encompassing science fiction, fantasy and horror. They are a
mix of short stories and flash fiction, 100% original and written
throughout 2020. Why is he doing this? To keep the words flowing. To
keep the ideas coming. To dance in worlds that are his and his alone.
To prove that he can.
About
Andrew Hawnt:
You
can find Andrew on Facebook at facebook.com/andrewhawntauthor and on
Twitter and Instagram as @andrewhawnt. Formerly a musician and DJ,
Andrew is known for his books, comic book writing, music journalism
and more, including fiction in Doctor Who Adventures, the Judge Dredd
Megazine and others. Look out for his film work soon.
Comments