The Wizard Killer - Season 1

Episode 5

Not having a better plan, I follow the winding road on and on, until my entire body is screaming for me to relent and at least sit and rest, if not sleep. Other than birds every now and then, I haven't seen any signs of life. I've also found nothing to eat, and my stomach's really not happy about it.

Coming over a small hill, I laugh with relief as the road mercifully offers up a large rock in a good spot. Climbing on top and satisfied that no one's going to get the jump on me, I sit. Immediately, I feel the full weight of my exhaustion and my body slumps. Putting the sword and pistol down right beside me has my hands celebrate being empty.

Rubbing them, I peer around, taking in my surroundings. Unfortunately, the road ahead looks exactly like the road I've taken, dirt hugged by desolate forest.

Staring at the road ahead, I say to myself, "Should I turn back? Maybe try to make it through the forest?" Scratching my beard, I peek up at the orangey-red sky. "Night's coming." Yig, I forgot about night. How dead do you have to be to forget about the night? I slap myself a few times to wake myself up. I don't like the prospect of finding ghouls, or worse, at night. Until I can figure out what's wrong with this body and why my head's not clearing up, I need to avoid trouble.

Sighing, I look at the flowers and plants near me. It's got to be summer. Closing my eyes, I try to figure out how far north I might be, and more importantly, how many hours of darkness I'm going to face and just how dark it's going to be, but... I've got nothing. Rubbing my forehead, I know I've got to press on. Every muscle and joint in my body protests as I pick up my sword and pistol and continue.

I keep my eyes peeled for any sign of a rabbit or a deer that I can turn into dinner. I figure sorting out how exactly I'd cook one will be a fun problem to have.

Several times I stop and prevent myself from looking back. Each time doubt creeps into my mind, I shrug it off, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. I remind myself that roads lead to places, they don't just happen. Therefore, stay with the road, and don't double back.

Two hours later, my feet are cursing my every step as I make my way up to the top of a large hill. I promise myself that I'll rest for a good long while. The sun's a thin red memory on the horizon, and the stars offer little more than a set of spectators for what's to come. Staring out at the darkened landscape, I notice something shining. Wait, there's several shiny things.

I crouch down quickly, not wanting to be seen. My mind goes through a few of the things it could be, from potential bandits to animals to water. My throat's parched and sore. I'd easily kill for some water.

A few minutes go by with no change, and an eerie silence. Wiping my forehead, I go back and forth between whether to risk going down there, or staying up here.

"Yig it. I'm too hungry to stay and too tired to care." I get up and carefully start down the hill.

A few yards into my descent, I realize there's no forest on this side of the hill, only stumps and a few withered trees here and there. I bend down to touch the dark grass. It feels strangely crunchy. "What the yig?"

With a firm tug, I pull some out of the ground and examine it up close. I glance up at the dark sky and then look about, but there's not enough light here to see this stuff properly. A chill runs down my spine when I rub it between my hands. It crumbles right away. It's got a filmy residue. Sniffing it, it smells like... dry. Weird. A snippet of a memory flashes by, something about a banquet hall and the smell of happiness wafting in.

There's definitely something mana related here, I can feel it. I scratch my face again. What could have happened here to create such a wasteland? Whatever it was, it's probably long gone. At least, I hope so.

As I get closer, I see that the fleeting sunlight's been bouncing off levi-cars, lots of them, possibly hundreds. They're mostly in two rows, all pointing in the same direction — the direction I just came from. "Where were you going?" I wonder, and then I squint at them. "Maybe you were running from something."

Several of the levi-cars at the front are banged into each other. There are a dozen that went off the edge of the road and down into a ditch. I can't see any windshields and the two closest to me have puncture holes right through the roof.

Hesitating for a minute, I decide to run my hand along the roof of one of the levis. The paint feels old and mostly rough, with a few smooth parts. That was probably what I saw shining. "Maybe the roof holes happened after everyone was gone? How did you all just stop here, in the middle of nowhere?"

Squinting into a few of them, a chill runs down my spine. They're all still in gear, like the life was sucked out of them in an instant. "What the yig?" This is really starting to get under my skin.

Folding my arms, I lean against one of the levi-cars and stare up at the moon. It's so quiet, there are not even bugs calling out to each other. Gazing about, I catch a glow in the distance and stand up straight, taking my pistol and sword off the roof. The fiery image goes out but the hair on the back of my neck goes up. Tilting my head and squinting hard, I wait for it. The glow reappears and seems to be wobbling and getting bigger. Yig.

Licking my lips, I look about in the falling darkness for somewhere to hide. Desperate, I climb quietly into one of the levis, cursing the door as it creaks.

My chest is getting that pressure again -- is that a good thing? I'm probably about to drop dead. Just what I need, dying in the middle of some freaky dead-zone because my head's all scrambled up. I tighten my grip on the pistol like it's my only hope of seeing the morning.

Now, I wait. I hate waiting.

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