The Solar-Powered Man

Chapter 4

A man was fishing by Lake Umami. He hasn’t caught any fish yet, but he suspected that it was because of his bait. He lifted it out of the water and smelled it. Then he put it back. The silence bored him to sleep, oblivious to what he was about to get. As he was dreaming of cars and women, something was tugging the line. He woke up with a snort, and realized that the fishing rod was being pulled to the water. He reeled it in as hard as he could, but he had never experienced reeling in a fish that heavy. With one forceful pull, the fish finally went up. Then he fell off his chair, with his catch on top of him.

“Salmon, eh? Good choice man.”

He opened his eyes to see a half-man half-fish, licking the bait clean off its hook. He licked his lips. Then he got up and walked away. “A satisfying snack for all my hard work,” he said to himself. “Cool, I’ve never imagined Central to be like this.”

Central is the capital of Citamore, a country composed of Boreas in the North, Dubloon, Altara in the East, Central, Sterling in the West, and Suori in the South. Pryce marvelled at the tall buildings and watched as cars went by. He had never seen a better place than Central.

The Amphibian looked for the nearest park, and sat on one of its benches as he rested his feet and arms. He swam the length of the lake without breaks or food for three days. All he needed now was a place to rest.

Then, he heard a clang of metal. When he opened his eyes, a sword had pierced the wooden bench, narrowly missing his head. His heart palpitated as he stood up and narrowly missed another sword. He turned around, then bolted for the exit, grabbing a sword along the way. When he reached the exit, he was kicked so hard that he stumbled and rolled on the grass.

Pryce winced. When he looked up, he saw two murderous eyes, and a murderous smile to make it worse. He raised his sword at him. “Good-bye, Amphibian.”

The Amphibian was able to deflect the sword with the blade of his. He knocked the sword out of the man, and raised the tip to his Adam’s apple. “Who’s saying ‘good-bye’ now?”

“Very quick, Lithon Pryce,” the man said, running his hand along the blade. “Unfortunately, I am quicker.” He held the sword with two hands and kicked the boy. Pryce still held on to it, even though he felt as if his organs were rearranged. The man gave another swift kick, and Pryce let go.

Pryce was so enervated that he couldn’t even stand up. He concentrated hard, trying to look for the nearest body of water. A bead of sweat went to his eye, stinging it and making him shiver in pain. He moved a finger and the bead of sweat dropped to his chin. Then his eyes widened. He looked at the man. He was just as sweaty as he was. All he needed left was an opening.

“What are you staring at?” the man asked. Then the sweat on his face started to go to his eyes, and he rubbed them off.

“Are you crying?” Pryce jokingly asked as he rose.

“I’m not,” the man said. “There’s just sweat in my eyes.”

“Really? Here, have some more!” he pointed a finger at his eyes, and all the other sweat started going to it. The man laughed. Pryce raised an eyebrow.

“Do you really think that you could win against me?” He grabbed a sword and threw it at Pryce like a spear. The blade pierced his left shoulder, and the Amphibian moaned in pain. The man swept around him with his foot, looking for another sword to throw, and kicked one up. He kicked it in mid-air, and it was sent pummelling down to the injured Pryce. It pierced his right thigh.

“How were you able to do that?” Pryce shouted. His head was dizzy, and then he coughed out blood. He forcefully yanked the sword out of his shoulder, and blood came gushing out like a faucet. When he yanked the sword out of his thigh next, he knelt and screamed in pain. Gah, I might die from the lack of blood here. If he hits me one more time, I’m finished!