The Gamer: Battle Of The Ten Kings

Chapter 7.2

"Where did he run off to, that scampering squirrel?" A young soldier wearing black boots spoke up. British soldiers? Squirrel? What?"Speak softly, you dumb ass. He will know where we are." The red-haired leader-apparent admonished 'Black Boots'.

"Oh let's just give up and rest for a while. He's not leaving the island without a boat." The fat soldier who just caught up to the other three said.

"Okay. We can take a rest." 'Leader-Apparent' agreed.

'Fatman, the-dark-knight, who-probably-eats-a-lot-at-night' sat directly beneath my tree. Wow, this tree is sturdy! It can support him propping up against the trunk. How was Fatman able to run for so long? Stop! Just Stop! You were fat once, shouldn't make fun of him. Besides, he isn't that fat."That damned Norwegian King! Making us run his errands. What exactly, are we looking for? 'Something Magical!', he says. How do we go about finding 'Something Magical' on such a big island? We shouldn't be wasting time chasing that squirrel." The fourth soldier who had remained standing said with venom in his voice. Again, Squirrel?

"Watch your tongue, Aaron. We serve the King now. Don't insult him." 'Leader-Apparent' was apparently good at being a leader. Aaron didn't say anything further.

"We are not the only ones on the mission. Other groups are searching nearby islands." 'Black Boots' gave his two-cents.

While these guys were talking I was getting valuable rest. But I was still very hungry and thirsty as well.

"Enough rest. We go look for this 'Squirrel'. He might have already found what we are looking for. The King will not be happy if what he wants gets into someone else's hand. We find him or not, we head back to the fire before nightfall." 'Leader-Apparent' ordered.

Fatman lazily got up. The fire! I scanned the sky for smoke. Aha!Found it!Their boat might be there! I have a chance. I saw some movement below out of the corner of my eyes.

*Pttcchh* *Pttcchh* *Pttcchh* Three bodies fell down with a thud right below me. Leader, Fatman and Aaron. I was too shocked to move a muscle. Modern soldiers wearing advanced army combat gear carrying rifles on their backs and handguns with silencers in their hands surrounded 'Black Boots'. They made him go down on his knees. He raised his hands above his head.

"Vot is yor name?" A soldier asked with heavy Russian accent.

"Paul" replied 'Black Boots'.

"Have you found ze komponent yet?"

Paul shook his head.

"Are dere any oder Norwegian soldiers on this island becide you?"

Paul shook his head again. He was whimpering.

Head shot. Another Russian had shot Paul in the head from behind. Paul's lifeless body fell face-first on the ground.

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from crying out loud. The captain of the troop gave a signal with two of his fingers. All soldiers scattered about. I counted twelve of them. They had come from the direction of the bonfire. They must have seen the smoke and decided to check it out first.

Tears fell from my eyes. I didn't even bother to wipe them. Why did these guys have to die? Sure they were chasing me for my life just a few minutes ago, but they were human beings. What about their friends, family? What about their bodies? Will they get a proper funeral?

All these thoughts swirled around my head as I climbed down the tree. The soldiers had been gone for 10 minutes now. I arranged the bodies in a row chanting God's name again and again. In Hinduism, we say "Ram naam satya hai" (Lord Rama's name is the truth) as we carry a body to cremate it. How do I cremate these soldiers? There's plenty of wood around but no way to create a fire. If only I could manipulate Ki and create fire from my hands.

I wished for fire to burn the soldiers' bodies away. We cremate the bodies so that the souls that have become attached to the body after living in it don't linger around and go straight to heaven. The body that is made up of five elements: water, earth, fire, air and sky, disintegrates into those elements. They say human thoughts are powerful. Energy surged within me. There was sweat on my forehead, dirt on my hands. Pure air was swirling in my lungs and I looked up to the sky. I raised my palms and the energy in my lungs transferred to my palms through my veins.

Fire. The purest of all elements. Water after cleaning something becomes dirty itself. Air after we breathe it, turns into CO2 and becomes impure. Similar things can be said about the other two elements I was sure. I had conjured up fire.

Holos appeared before me but I didn't pay them any heed. I cremated the four soldiers bodies with whatever sparse wood I could gather. I didn't wait for their bodies to burn out. I couldn't. I had to run. And hence I ran. I ran to straight towards the beach where the soldiers' bonfire had long gone out. I ran and I jogged. Never stopping.

This war has to stop. I won't be part of this war. Even if I am a King. I can't let people die on my behalf.

On my way to the beach, I stumbled upon a small clearing in the forest. There were scorch marks on the ground as if there had been a fire there. But I saw no burnt trees, only black rocks. Then I saw it. A glowing rock; right in the middle of the clearing. It was neither large, nor small. It was a black rock that glowed with a golden light and had red cracks all over its surface.

Could it be? Is this the magical component that the Norwegians and Russians are trying to find? I slowly moved towards it. How could all of us have missed this before? I picked it up.

My body immediately went into shock. I saw thousands of images in rapid succession, not being able to grasp onto a single one. They went by too quickly to make anything of them. I couldn't feel my body anymore. There was this high octane ringing inside my head that confused me. At last the images became steady and I felt like I was standing in a very cold place. I saw snow and ice everywhere I looked. White sky, white ground. Nothing else. I blacked out.

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Author's note: How was it? A little emotion heavy and mythology heavy chapter. Did you like it? Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Let me know in the comments. As always, Thanks for reading! :) - Phenil