The Other World

Archon - Part 3

Dom smiled. "Good! But don't let your guard down!" Dom yelled as he threw a punch at his opponent. "I think they're here to capture you!"

Of course they're after for me. You're always the main character in VR games. It would get boring if I wasn't in danger.

Sara stayed on alert for more of the mist. Sure enough, another cloud started to form around Dom's feet.

"Under you!" Sara warned.

"On it," Dom replied, spinning out of the way.

Now this is how you program a good fight scenario! Those training drills in the self-defense program were getting repetitive. Let's see... If I were a programmer, where would the next enemy come from?

Sara stayed in her low fighting stance and scanned the grass around her and Dom. Surprisingly, Dom appeared to be doing well despite now facing two hooded attackers. Aren't they supposed to be after me though? Something flashed through Sara's mind.

Oh, duh.

Sara tilted her head and looked towards the grey sky. A wisp of fog started to gather a few feet above her head. Sara sprung forward and rolled away from a new "Other" falling from the sky. Regaining her footing, she turned to face the foe and resumed her fighting stance.

Her eyes widened. Crap. The Other was already swinging a kick at Sara's lead leg. She tried to lift her foot off the ground to soften the blow, but it was too late. The Other's shin slammed into Sara's thigh, sending a painful shock throughout her body. Another burst of adrenaline hit her system.

That HURT! What kind of game makes you feel pain like that!?

Before she could recover, the Other started to swing a wide hook towards her head. Sara was furious. She growled and grabbed the Other's sleeve with a death grip as it approached. In one fluid motion, she spun her body around, turning her back toward the enemy, and ripped the Other's arm downwards over her shoulder with a vengeance.

The Other was flipped upside down in the air with Sara's maneuver. The only place left for the Other to go now was down. Although Sara wasn't the most physically impressive, she knew how to use what she had: intuition, knowledge, and leverage.

Sara's opponent hit the ground hard. She stood up and finished him off with a solid kick to the head.

Sara looked up and saw Dom. He had managed to keep both of his attackers at bay and the three of them were in a sort of a stare-down. All three of them were trying to catch their breath.

"Two down, two to go. Is this the best they got, Dom?" Sara put one hand on her hip.

Dom loosened his stance and rolled his shoulders around. "I don't think they were prepared for how good my new apprentice would be." Dom smiled at Sara. "Let's put them in their place."

"Alright." Sara tried her best to mask it but it was no use. Her face glowed with pride. Sara began to walk to Dom and the Others. Almost immediately she was knocked off balance by a loud cracking sound ripping through the air followed by a tremor rumbling the earth.

"An Archon? You have to be kidding me." All evidence of Dom's optimism immediately drained away.

The two robed enemies dropped their guard and looked towards black clouds that were gathering in the distance.

"Listen. We need to get rid of these guys and get back to HQ." The hushed, yet serious tone of Dom's voice made Sara's blood run cold. Dom's head frantically turned from side to side. "Over there," he whispered. "When I say "go", run as fast as you can to that tree in the center of the park. I'm going to draw these two away from you. When I get a chance, I'm going to throw you my key so you can get out of here."

"But I don't know how to..." Sara looked over to one of the foreign trees roughly twenty yards away.

"You have to. Just think of HQ and turn the key," Dom reassured her.

"What about you?" Sara looked at Dom's face. A new fierceness burned in his expression. He turned away to look at their assailants and shifted back into a fighting stance.

"Go," Dom said quietly. In an instant, Dom dashed towards the Others at an unnatural speed.

Sara stood dumbfounded, staring at an empty space where Dom had just stood. She snapped her gaze over to where her instructor had reappeared. He was now fighting both attackers in a frenzied blur of punches, parries, and counters. Remembering her orders, she shook her head and snapped herself out of the daze. Her heart started to pound as she made a run for the tree. A sharp jolt of pain was sent up her leg with every step she made. The kick from the Other had been even harder than she thought. Sara brushed off the pain the best she could and reached the tree after a few seconds.

She turned back to look at Dom. She watched in awe seeing that somehow he had managed to fight the two farther away from her and the tree. As she stood there, she caught sight of something glimmering in the air and flying straight for her.

The key!

Dom's key, still attached to the heavy chain, fell at Sara's feet. Sara bent down and picked it up, surprised at how heavy it was. As she stood back up, another, much stronger quake shook the ground beneath her feet.

"Open the door now!" Dom screamed.

Sara couldn't help but look towards the desperate cry of her instructor. She immediately wished she hadn't. The horror that now stood at the edge of the field made Sara feel as if she were a small child again, terrified of the monsters that lurked in the dark.

It's just a game, she had to remind herself.

An Archon as Dom had called it -- a giant human male -- had appeared from out of nowhere. It's skin from head to toe looked to be made of weathered stone. It wore a simple white tunic that covered the left half of its torso and hung down to its knees. On its head it wore a small helmet and covering its face was an expressionless mask. Its eyes looked hollow dead.

I don't want to know what it feels like to get crushed by a five-story tall giant. Sara clutched the key tightly. Take me to headquarters... Please. She turned away from the monstrosity and shoved the key into the empty air in front of her. Just as when Dom had done it, a large wooden door appeared. Sara pushed it open.

Another shockwave blasted in her eardrums and almost knocked her over. Without thinking, Sara glanced over her shoulder to look for Dom. Instead, she saw the giant's rough hand merely feet away. Sara's lungs involuntarily tried to gasp, but they refused to fill with air. Her insides felt as if death itself had seeped into her veins and was crushing every fiber of her being.

For the first time in a long time, Sara's mind went completely blank.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's scenes like this that make me mad because I want it to sound as good as it looks in my head.

Let me know what you think though!