time running out (assignment)

powers (assignment version)

It was probably thirty minutes later when I turned to look back, but all I saw was the same as looking forwards, so I continued onward. The sun didn't stop slamming down into me, and shielding my eyes with my arm did nothing, so I while I was walking, I was staring at the ground, making sure I didn't trip over anything.

I didn't see him at first. A shadow standing in the distance, watching me approach. When I saw the black on the ground in front of me, I looked up. A human figure, tall, muscular, with broad shoulders and wide arms.

I picked up the pace, the excitement of seeing another human giving me a boost of energy I didn't know I had. In no time, I had crossed the distance between us. But as I got closer, he grew less and less human looking.

He was probably 7 feet tall, with shoulders that spanned across 20 inches, biceps wider than his head. A barrel chest, and tree trunk neck, supported on legs that were not legs. Legs that were not even human. Legs that looked like a dog's.

He was not human. Not at all. But he spoke to me in English.

"Welcome, Amos," he said in a very high class, British accent. He knew my name, yet I did not know who he was, or even what he was. "Your sister is dying, Amos. She is nearly gone."

"Who are you?" I asked. It was all I could produce from my throat. Every other thought going through my head got caught up along the way, and I couldn't say it.

"My name changes depending on where I am, depending on what planet I am on, depending on who I am with," the stranger replied.

"How do you know my sister? How do you know me?" I asked, now able to produce real words.

He said nothing. The man with no name, the man who was not human.

"Can you help me?" It was the question I wanted to ask, the question I needed to ask, the only thing that mattered.

"No," he replied. "You are able to help yourself. I am here to help you discover who you are. All you know is that you are Amos Becket, you are lost in this canyon, and your sister is dying. You know more about yourself, you think, but do you really? Does it matter now?"

He was talking in questions I could not answer, statements I couldn't contradict, deny, or agree to. I said nothing.

He stared at me for longer than comfortable. His eyes seemed to change. Not shape or colour or anything. I cannot describe it, but they changed.

I didn't see it coming. One second I was transfixed by his eyes. The next, I was on the ground, struggling for breath. A fist that felt like steel had hit me in the chest, so suddenly that the shock was worse than the pain. He came at me, throwing punches like lightning, punches that landed lightly, and then affected me when his hand came up again.

Then he was off, standing over me, not even showing any sign of the onslaught he just pulled.

He took a step towards me, and I threw my arm up against what I knew was coming. Suddenly, he had disappeared from my line of view. I pushed myself up, and saw him lying on the ground 10 meters away.

I could hear him laughing. "Good," he called to me, pushing himself up to his feet. "Get up."

I got to my feet, bracing myself for another onslaught, and watched him race towards me. I could do nothing, nothing but wait for him to hit me. All I wanted to be was out of his way. And suddenly I was. I was behind him, and he slammed into the rock face I had been leaning against.

"You have powers, Amos. Powers you can't even imagine, and could have no idea existed in you."

"What are you talking about?" I yelled at him. "What is going on with me?"

Instead of a response, he charged me, but this time, I couldn't get out of the way. He slammed into me, throwing me back against the wall, hearing the distinctive snap of my arm as it landed behind my body. I screamed out in pain, an animal noise not meant for humans. I grabbed my arm, and my mind cleared of all the agony. Somehow, my arm clicked back into place, my bones resetting under my hand.

My arm was healing itself. A break that should have made me lose my arm was repairing under my touch. I charged at him, throwing my arm forward towards him, sending him flying backwards, back to a rock sticking out of the wall. His head smacked into the sharp rock, burying it. His body shook twice, before slumping to the ground. He disappeared. Out of nowhere, his body just went.

But I couldn't think on it too long. I had healed a broken arm - I would be able to save Eliza. It was time to get back to her. I knew if I made it there in time, she would live. But I had to be quick. Time was running out.

This is not the final story, it is but a, shall I say, a teaser, for the main story. I will be following it up with the rewrite and final copy. Comments, feedback, views and votes are much appreciated, but not expected. Thank you for anything.

Kindest Regards,

James Kerr, of KASH Prod