Into the Gap

Yami’s heart raced as he ran across the vast jungle. He had no idea what to expect after he had dashed through that hole in the wall.

“I wonder what kind of magical beasts lurk around here? No matter, as long as they use magic, I’ll be able to turn it against them,” he thought to himself.

Once he reached a clearing, a strange boulder caught his attention.

“That boulder has an unusual pattern, and it seems to be a bit too green,” he told himself as he curiously approached it.

RRRRRRUMBLE…

Suddenly the boulder trembled as it unearthed itself. Simultaneously, a magic circle appeared on the boulder’s surface and a huge pillar of earth came shooting toward Yami. On instinct, he performed a dive roll towards his left and narrowly evaded a bone crushing blow.

He looked at the “boulder” again and he realized what it was.

“A great earth tortoise!” he exclaimed.

The earth tortoise roared as a magic circle appeared in front of its mouth, launching several more earth pillars towards Yami. This time Yami was prepared, he took out his broom and hopped on it like a skateboard, flying out of harm’s way.

The tortoise’s head is roughly fifteen feet from the ground, so Yami needed his broom so he could get close enough for an impactful return blow.

Leaning into his broom, he zipped to the right-hand side of the tortoise’s face.

“Let’s see you try a taste of your own medicine! Great earth punch!” he shouted. At this moment, a magic circle appeared in front of Yam’s outstretched hands and a massive fist made of earth came crashing toward the face of the tortoise.

The tortoise was taken aback, the impact forced one of its massive front legs to fall to the knee. Then it shook off the pain and fixed it gaze towards Yami.

“GRRROAAR!” it screamed, and another magical circle appeared launching several more pillars towards its target.

Zigzagging rampantly, Yami was yet again able to avoid the beast’s attack.

“Dang, the scales on its face were harder than I thought. Looks like there’s only one option left. I got to make this attack count,” he said to himself as he zipped to the rear for the great tortoise.

The beast tried its best to turn swiftly to catch up to Yami, but its massive body and poor agility didn’t allow it. Yami was already by the tail of the beast as he swooped down towards its underbelly.

“Great earth barrage!” he screamed. Several magical circles opened above Yami simultaneously launching gigantic earth fists to continuously hit the beast.

The attack finally overwhelmed the beast as it launched the beast to the air flipping it to fall on its backside. The bout concluded with the beast passing out and Yami landing on the ground with a victorious smile on his face.

“The beasts here are definitely tougher than the ones by the river. I never used so much magic before,” he said to himself as he breathed heavily.

After he caught his breath and consumed some of the food that he had brought with him. Yami continued to walk onward. Eventually, he found himself in another clearing. The area looked inhabited as he noticed some odd contraptions scattered on the ground.

There were huge metal rings with legs on the ground that had a strange material stretched all over its surface.

“What sort of strange table is this? It feels rather bouncy,” he thinks to himself as he examined one of the contraptions.

There were also huge metallic dentures clamped shut.

“What kind of frightening beast had such dirty teeth?” he asked himself.

Most of the people of Harmos who witnessed such devices would merely dismiss and ignore it. But not Yami. In fact, the area reminded him of his father’s craft studio, some of these contraptions even resembled some of the crude sketches that his father had. Tools and appliances for the aid of individuals are what his father called them. But Yami never would have imagined that those drawings could be turned to reality.

“Dad would love to study these,” he said to himself as he admired one of the metallic dentures.

He walked past the clearing and found himself on an uphill pathway. Yami discerned that the path was frequently used as the grass in the area hardly grew at all. However just before he reached the end of the he felt a sudden rumble on the ground.

SWOOSH!

He felt the ground being swept away from under his feet as he was thrust into the air in some sort of net.

“What the,” he shouted as he dangled helplessly.

Just when he thought the situation couldn’t get any worse the noise attracted a giant armadillo that burst from the ground and bared its teeth at Yami. He couldn’t react in time with his magic and just closed his eyes and braced himself for the Impact.

“Crap!” he screamed.

Suddenly a female voice shouted, “Knock out bullet!”

A massive metal fist—with sharp needle like knuckles—flew across the air and collided with the giant beast, knocking it out in a single blow.

“Whoa thanks…” but before he could express his gratitude, he was interrupted by the hooded figure below.

“Who the hell are you? And how did you find me?” asked the girl.

Meanwhile, back in the central city of Hamros, Lyra sat inside a large and dark room surrounded by columns that seemed to stretch infinitely towards the ceiling. This is the first time, since she was sworn into duty as a Keeper the Fates, that she had been inside this building.

As Lyra stared blanky toward one of the columns she wondered to herself,

“It seems rather odd for the Fates to summon me after a report such as this. He didn’t have the special implant and he threw himself into the Gap. For all we know, he may have already been eaten. No one can survive out there.”

RRRUMBLE

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the walls being opened. Hearing this, she stood up in anticipation but was quickly letdown when she saw the figures that emerged.

“Lyra! Did the Fates summon you too?” asked the stocky boy, Yuri.

“Wow so we’re all here together. I wonder if we’ll get a special assignment” said the tall girl, Adeline.

“I’m not so sure about that. I bet they want to ask us about the newbie I was showing around earlier,” Lyra responded.

RRRUMBLE

Lyra and the others turned to see the walls on the opposite side of the room being opened. A man wearing a brown hooded cloak emerged.

“The Fates are ready to see all three of you now. Please proceed,” the man announced.

The Fates’ attendant escorted the three of them into the room where the Fates, who were seated behind their bench, awaited.

“Welcome, children please have a seat,” said Lachises, one of the Fates who was wearing a black hooded cloak.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why we have suddenly called you all here,” declared Clotho, the other Fate who was wearing a black hooded cloak.

“We understand the three of you encountered a rather strange fellow during your last rotation, correct?” Atropos, the Fate who wore a white hooded cloak, asked them.

“Good evening, Fates. Yes, I was showing around a rather odd newbie yesterday. He did not even have the implant that you gave all of us keepers,” Lyra responded.

“He also seemed to be quite clueless while he was at the distribution center’s backroom. It was as if he was never oriented on the tasks,” Adeline added.

“He did seem rather fidgety as well,” said Yuri.

“I see, and he didn’t say or inquire about anything that you found strange?” Atropos continued to ask.

“He was quite curious about the Aru family. And about this person who can turn off magic,” said Lyra.

Suddenly the eyes of the Fates widened with interest.

“And this is what compelled the boy to jump into the Gap?” Clotho asked.

“I’m not quite sure, but I’ve never seen anyone willingly go the Gap, is there anything there of value?” Lyra replied.

The Fates looked at one another as if communicating telepathically.

“They are beginning to ask too much,” Lachises spoke directly into her sisters’ minds.

“Agreed, they shall be silenced then,” the two other Fates responded in unison.

They looked back and the children and Atropos raised her hands as she spoke.

“Thank you for your service children. But I’m afraid your services as Keepers are no longer required. We will be needing much more from you now.”

Suddenly a throbbing pain emerged from the back of the neck of all three children. Purple threads came bursting out from their implant scares and began enveloping the three of them forming one massive silhouette.

A bright green light shone throughout the entire room then suddenly a roar emerged from a monstrous figure which stood where the three children used to be.

GROOOOAAAR!!!

The monster had three heads – the head of a goat, a lion, and a snake – attached to one massive beastly body.

“Now go forth my Chrimera! We, the Fates, give you wings! Go forth and catch your prey!” as the Fates finished casting their spell, a magic circle came from the creatures back where wings started to sprout.

The ceiling of the room opened, and the creature sprang up and flew out towards the horizon.

“It seems there is someone tampering with our realm sisters. The boy and the UN cannot be allowed to survive,” Atropos tells her sisters.

***