Chapter 6: Mysterious Masked Menace

At the crack of dawn, Laura stood over Anthony’s still slumbering face. She slowly leaned her face closer, and that’s when he awoke. Upon getting startled, Anthony threw a punch out of self-defense. Laura dodged it, smiling at him.

“Good morning,” She greeted.

Anthony let out a long sigh, dropping his back down on the ground. “God, you scared the hell out of me.” He placed his hand over his heart, feeling its rapid beating. Anthony asked, “Were you watching me sleep?”

Laura chuckled, waving off his question. “Of course not,” She lied, “I had just woken up a little while ago myself, and was going to wake you up.”

Anthony looked sat up, rubbing his eyes before looking around. It was still fairly dark, so he couldn’t make out what time it was. He took a long and aching stretch; the bumpy soil provided little to no comfort. Anthony had thought to himself that maybe sleeping in a tree like Laura would’ve been better.

He turned to Laura and asked, “What time is it?”

“A little past four-thirty.”

Anthony scrunched his face. “Four-thirty?” He replied, his voice annoyed. Letting out an irritated sigh, he forcedly got up and began dusting himself off. “How do you even know what time of day it is out here?” Anthony asked, reaching down to pick up his bag.

“My internal clock lets me know roughly what time it is,” Laura replied. “Once you’ve been out long enough, your body can just tell.”

Feeling parched, Anthony took out his water jug and took a swig of it. He stuck it out to Laura, seeing she wanted any. She smiled and gladly accepted. Before the mouth of the bottle touched her lips, Laura realized that it might have been a little unsanitary to drink from the same part as Anthony, so she raised the jug in the air and let the water flow down into her mouth. After she was done, Laura handed the jug back over, and Anthony closed it back up.

The two followed the murder of crows as they flew through the jungle, leading them to Anthony’s campsite. During their small trek, Laura spotted a Davidsonia tree and ran toward it. In one leap, she went up into the tree and plucked out some of the fruit that was in it. The Davidsonia, or Davidson’s Plum, was an edible fruit that grew plentifully around the area. It was a common fruit eaten back in Amber Village. Laura leaped down with several plums in her arms and one with her teeth sunk in. She bit into it, the plum falling onto the pile in her arms.

She swallowed the piece of plum in her mouth and stuck the pile at Anthony. “Breakfast?” She offered.

Anthony took one of the plums. “Thanks, I’m pretty hungry.” He took a large bite, his face scrunched at the overwhelming sour taste of the fruit. He quickly spit it out, took out his jug, and tried to rinse the taste out of his mouth.

“Gaaah! That’s disgusting!” Anthony cringed, taking another drink and spitting out the water.

Laura picked up the one she was eating before with her teeth and tossed the rest into her mouth. “Is it?” She asked, her mouth full, “It’s a little sour, but it’s not that bad.”

Anthony nearly wanted to smack the rest out of her arms, but restrained himself. After an hour of walking, the two had picked up the scent of fire. Laura suggested they keep quiet, and as they got closer to the scent, the sound of people talking caught her ear. They sounded nervous and concerned. After hearing Anthony’s name be mentioned, there was no doubt in Laura’s mind that this was his group. She stopped, prompting Anthony to stop as well. A few of the crows looked back to see that their owner had paused, so they began circling back and perching in the trees.

“Laura? What’s wrong?” Anthony asked.

“Nothing,” She replied, “but I’ve taken you to your team. They’re straight ahead.” Laura pointed her finger forward.

Anthony looked in the direction in which she pointed. “Oh,” He said, before looking back at Laura, “well…thanks. You know, for helping.” Anthony smiled and stuck out his hand.

Laura looked at his hand for a moment, then smiled back and extended hers. The two shook hands, and she replied, “It was no problem. Maybe I’ll see you again.” Upon saying that, her cheeks suddenly turned a light red, and she looked away.

“Yeah, that sounds great. Maybe you could sneak into our territory next.” Anthony joked, chuckling as their hands separated.

Laura almost went to grab Anthony’s hand again, just to feel his touch once more, but restrained herself. She gave a shy chuckle, “I’ll make sure to send a crow as a notice.”

Anthony smiled and nodded. “I’ll be on the lookout. See you later, Laura.” He waved before turning and jogging off.

Laura gave a half wave back, but he had already had his back turned, so did not see it. She was ready to head back to the village, taking one last glance back, only barely able to see Anthony. She sighed and dashed off. 

In the bustling city of Kinshasa in the Freki Empire of Africa, experiments went about their lives. A masked man quietly and elegantly passed through the sea of people with his arms behind his back. He strutted through the city, wearing a lavender purple cloak. The cloak had gold seams and was emblazoned with golden vines and leaves. The ends of his white pants were tucked into black knee-boots. The wooden mask the man wore was in the design of a wolf’s face. The mask was smooth and etched with beautiful floral patterns. The jaws of the wolf were open, but long enough that they hid the man’s large grin.

A ball came rolling in front of the masked man, and he stopped. Three kids came running over to grab it, but halted when their eyes landed on the man. Without saying a word, the man picked up the ball with his black gloved hands and handed it to the children. As one reached out to take it, they all noticed his wide, blood-red eyes with white pupils. Scared, they quickly took the ball and ran off, and the masked man continued his walk.

Once at the city’s center, the masked man looked up, gazing at the tall stone building that stood dead center in the city. It was massive, resembling a skyscraper. Rows of circular glass windows wrap around the building from top to bottom. The man let out a chuckle in his throat, his chest suddenly expanding. It grew bigger and bigger, catching the attention of several bystanders. After looking as though his chest was about to burst, the man threw his head to the side and expelled a red mist from his mouth. It was like a dragon shooting fire, and the man covered the entire area around him. People jumped out of the way, bewildered expressions plastered onto their faces.

Once the mask man was finished, a few moments later, several crimson arms began sprouting from the cracks in the ground. Beasts started to bore their heads out of the ground, letting out ear-piercing shrieks. Their heads had no eyes, no ears, only large jaws with rows of sharp teeth. These red humanoid beasts darted their heads around, then began rampaging through the city streets. Some people started to run or fly off, while others tried to fight back against these creatures. But they were fast and strong, their claws tearing through flesh and bone. Even if someone had managed to take out one, these beasts seemed to come in waves, with more sprouting and clawing their way out from the ground.

Hearing the panic and chaos down below, Emperor Freki got up from his chair and walked over to a window. He looked down to see the horde of flesh beasts wreaking havoc. He ran to his desk and pressed a button that turned on speakers all throughout the building.

“Emergency! Unknown creatures are attacking our people! Stop them!”

All the soldiers within the building stopped whatever they were doing and started bolting the staircase of the building. They stormed out of the building and instantly began fighting off the beasts. Emperor Freki was just about ready to join them when he saw a large shadow looming over him. He turned, and outside the window, the masked man was hovering in the air. Six bird-like wings of different sizes flapped, keeping him up. The top wings were the largest, followed by more medium-sized ones, and finally, the bottom two were the smallest.

The masked man shot through the window, punching Freki. The emperor blocked the attack, but was sent flying back. He crashed into his desk before slamming into a wall. The masked man planted his feet on the floor, retracting his wings back into his body. Freki had gotten back up, gritting his teeth. The masked man stood there, a crazed expression hidden behind his mask. Freki charged at the masked man, being a clone of Ferral, Freki was no slouch in terms of powers and speed. He delivered several heavy blows before kicking the masked man out of the window.

As he fell, the masked man slammed his right foot into the stone of the building, slowing himself down. He rammed his other foot and completely stopped himself right in the middle of the building. Freki looked down to see that the masked man had not hit the floor. Cursing, Freki started making his way down the steps to the floor that the masked man stopped at. This unknown assailant shattered the window below his head and crawled inside the room. Freki found the masked man and charged at him. The two engaged in a back-and-forth.

“Just who are you?!” Freki barked, but got no response. He went for a punch, but the masked man grabbed it and snapped Freki’s wrist back.

Freki wailed in pain, but continued to fight. He used his other arm to attack, but the masked man grabbed it and planted his foot in Freki’s stomach. With a forceful tug, the masked man ripped Freki’s arm completely off. The emperor stumbled as blood trailed in front of him, spurting from the wound. He put his back to the wall, trying to hide the agony he was in. From under the sleeve of his cloak, long red tendrils formed into the shape of a long blade around the masked man’s right arm. He charged at Freki, slashing downward, but Freki dodged it just in time. While he stumbled away, the masked man stuck out his left arm, shooting out more tendrils that made the shape of a larger arm. He grabbed Freki by his head and pulled him back, ramming the hand-blade through the emperor’s heart. Blood ran down his mouth, Freki’s face turning a ghastly white. The masked man took out the hand-blade, blood dripping from the tip, and tossed the emperor out of the window. His body was reduced to a bloody mess on the ground.

The masked man looked down, his grin growing larger. He noticed his beasts had begun to dwindle, so he puffed out his chest once more and sprayed the red mist down on the battlefield. Citizens and soldiers inhaled some of the spores, their bodies bursting open and giving way to the new wave of shrieking beasts. Satisfied with his work, the man sprouted the wings on his back and flew out the window, heading to his next victim.