The Riddle Of The Future

Future Max

“Hey Will, what do you think the beam is?” I asked him. We had been walking nearly all day and we had left the valley far behind us. We were now walking through a small town. It was made mostly of farms. Every now and then you would see small houses but massive fields behind them. Everywhere you went you could hear the sounds of the animals. All these animals were malformed, so they all had extra limbs. I saw a horse with six legs and a pig that had two stomachs.

“The Lord of Destruction has special powers. One of them is being able to shoot out laser beams out of his hands. They are extremely dangerous and one touch can kill you,” he said. “I think when the riddle says, it can get hairy by the beam, it probably means The Lord of Destruction is nearby,” I froze, hardly listening to the last part. He had said beams shoot out of his hands and my mind wandered to my nightmare. My attacker had shot laser beams out of his hands! It couldn’t be Will though. Or could it? I wandered thoughtfully. I studied him peripherally. He was certainly built for the part and he is an extremely good fighter. Maybe he has been lying to me all this time? I decided to be careful what I say around him.

“If we find The Lord of Destruction, that means we will find Lucy,” I said. Wow, what a great start at being careful of what I say, I thought scolding myself.

“Most likely,” he answered looking at me sideways. I went silent, thinking about what it would be like to come face to face with her again. We kept walking through the fields and I was too busy marvelling at the animals then really concentrating on where we were going.

“We‘re going to stay with some friends of mine for the night, Alex. They live in one of these farms,” he said. I vaguely heard and just mumbled. We started walking towards a small brick house. It was painted red and there were two small windows in the bricks. There was a small chimney on top of a black roof.

“It’s a young couple who live there,” Will explained. How does he know so many people? I thought suspiciously. They had a large field that had many animals that looked like cows in them. We reached the white door and I saw a very large knocker in the middle of it. It was painted gold and it looked like a large ring. It looked quite heavy. Will reached out to knock it and when he released it, it made a loud bang.

“Max! Can you get the door?” I heard a woman yell. Max? I thought. The door flung open and a young man appeared. He was in his twenties and he had blue eyes. He was wearing gloves and ripped jeans. His t-shirt had a frog on it that said ‘hop along’. I stared more closely at him and something clicked. I thought his face was familiar! This man was an older version of my brother!

“Max?” I asked astonished.

“Yes? Do I know you?” he asked. He was staring at me like I was crazy. I seemed to be getting that a lot.

“It’s me! Your sister? Alex White!” I exclaimed.

“No. It… it can’t be,” he said backing away. His face had gone white. “My sister’s dead. She… she died five years ago,” I froze. My heart was thumping. Max ran back inside and slammed the door in our faces.

“I died?” I said quietly. “I mean, I’m dead?”

“That was your brother? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know,” Will said gently.

“Have I really died?” I asked. Will didn’t look at me.

“Tell me, Will!”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “You died five years ago,”

“How!?” Will was extremely uncomfortable. He looked in my eyes.

“You were murdered,” I shook my head.

“No, that can’t be!”

“I’m sorry Alex,”

“No!” I was yelling that as I backed away from him. “It’s not possible!”

“Alex! Come back!” but it was too late, I was running away. Will ran after me and unfortunately he was faster than me. He caught up to me and I was crying so much I could hardly see anything.

“How can I be here if I’m dead?” I asked through my tears.

“I don’t know. Mr Tall has very powerful magic,” Will said.

“Who…who killed me?” I looked at Will. He shook his head.

“The Lord of Destruction,” I didn’t say it like a question. It was a fact because I had known it all along. Will nodded. I was suddenly filled with such rage I screamed.

“He’s going to pay! He’s going to regret he killed me!” I yelled. Will just stood there and let me get all my anger out. Finally I stopped ranting and shaking.

“This ‘Lord’” I spat out. “Is going to die, whether it’s the last thing I do,” Will looked concerned. He hadn’t seen me in that room with The King of Blood, so he had never seen me this angry before. He certainly wasn’t expecting it to be like this, I thought smugly.

“Come on, let’s keep going,” he took my hand and led me away from my younger; excuse me, older brother’s house. I didn’t look back, determined to avenge myself and everybody else who has suffered at the hands of The Lord of Destruction.