One warning I should say, it gets a little graphic and there is fowl language.
Prologue
October 2011, the first two mages appear, the first in Russia, the second in Canada. The United States Government finds information on the Russian ‘Superman’ on the internet and sends spies to figure out if the cyberspace rumours are true. The Canadian government keeps their ‘Superman’ a complete secret from the world.
May 2012, eight more mages appear: two in the United States, one in Canada, two in Russia, and three in England. All mages are conscripted by their governments for research purposes.
September 2012, the presence of mages causes the treaties between the United States, Russia, and England to weaken. Canada turns neutral to all three nations.
November 2012, The United States sends armed forces to Canada to force the Canadians ‘reconsider’ the neutral standing. This action increases tensions between the United States, England and Russia.
December 2012, The United States conquer Canada. Religious leader’s label mages as evil entities and encourage the destruction of magic users.
June 2013, England and Russia declare war on the United States, England requests the assistance of Europe. All but Germany accept the call.
July 2013, Germany unleashes three hundred mages against Europe. Japan reveals their mages by attacking China.
October 2013, Germany conquers Europe. Japan conquers China. Japan and Germany join the war.
November 2013, World War Three begins.
August 2015, The United States launches multiple nuclear bombs at Europe. German-European mages render the American bombs harmless.
September 2015, Nuclear weapons are classified as inferior and useless. Mages are classified as super weapons.
April 2016, Four million people have the ability to use magic. Every mage is drafted and sent to the front lines.
January 2027, Nine hundred and eighty million people around the globe can use magic. Mages turn against their home countries. Government authority loses power and every government official is hunted down.
January 2027, World War Three ends.
June 2027, most religions vanish, society collapses, and the entire world has become ‘Survival of the fittest’.
November 2027, mana reservoirs start appearing in random places.
December 2030, only one-sixth of the six billion people that saw the beginning of WWIII are still alive.
Chapter 1
2031
2031
At noon there was only a single red Hyundai coupe racing down a freeway. The long concrete path was overly crowded with all types of derelict vehicles. A young man, wishing he had more than jeans, running shoes, a tee-shirt and sweater in January, watched the red car weave through the carcasses of cars, trucks, and tractor trailers as it rapidly approached him. The car slowed, signifying that the driver noticed the young man walking down the side of the road. As the car came to a complete stop in front of the young man, the passenger side window slid down.
“Where ya headed?” the driver asked. The young man carefully examined the driver. He was wearing a brown hooded zip-up sweater, a plain white shirt, generic blue jeans, shoes hidden by the dashboard, and black rimmed sunglasses. The driver had shoulder length brown hair and stubble for facial hair.
“Uh. . . North, to Canada.” the young man replied, careful not to reveal his specific destination to a complete stranger.
“Why would you head there?” the driver asked with a tone of confusion.
“Colder weather means less marauders,” the young man pointed out. The driver merely made a grunt of agreement.
“Well if ya don’t wanna walk a thousand miles you can get in.”
“Thanks for this,” the young man asked as he climbed into the pristine red sports car.
“We’re going to have to get you winter gear if you’re goin' to Canada,” The young man nodded “It’s already freezing here.”
“Are you a magician?” the young man finally asked. The driver had been expecting that question since he rolled the window down.
“No, I am a mage. Magicians do cheap tricks for children. Mages can do things no one else can even dream of doing. And by the way the names Roy.”
“Oh, uh, Jeremy,” the young man replied. “So is the war over?”
“How long have you had your head up your a**?”
“My dad took us to our cabin when the war began so we would be safe.”
“Well you’re lucky we have a long drive. First off,” Roy stated as he put up his index finger “the war ended in twenty-seven. Secondly,” Roy lifted his second finger “You better have some social, gun, or magic skills if you’re gonna survive this nightmare we call Earth.” Roy calmly explained.
“What do you mean nightmare?”
“We got a lot to worry about. Marauders, ‘Last man on Earth’ a** holes, mana mutants, mana wells, slavers if you don’t have magic, and worst of all, Golem Tanks.” Roy, again, calmly explained “Just so ya know golem tanks are old military tanks that have come to life, thanks to magic.”
“Oh . . . well that’s . . . interesting.” Jeremy remarked “Do you know anything about the war?”
“Too much kid. I was born December first two thousand eight. I was drafted when I was eight years old, so I saw many battles.” Roy stated honestly while painful memories arose. Jeremy could see that this was not a topic he should pursue.
“Have any theories on what started the third?”
“Some say it was just the presence of mages, Veterans say it was when the U.S. invaded and took over Canada. No more questions for a while, ‘kay?”
Jeremy just nodded and laid his head against the window. After watching the lines on the road and listening to the quiet but powerful engine purr for what was an estimated hour Jeremy noticed they were slowing down.
“What’re we-” Jeremy started to say
“Gas.”
“Oh . . . that makes sense.”
The red sports car slowed as it rolled into the gas station and stopped beside a gas pump with a large number four above it. A slight thud sounded as the door locks opened and the engine shut off. Roy pulled the key out of the ignition, opened his door and climbed out. He walked to the back of the car and popped the trunk open. Roy slammed the trunk closed after approximately two minutes then went to and opened the passenger door. He was holding an M16 Assault Rifle, and a jet black pump-action shotgun. Jeremy took the hint, undid his seat belt then climbed out of the car.
“Where did you get the guns?” was the first question Jeremy had.
“Some house somewhere to the south. I hope you know how to use a gun kid.” Roy calmly said as he handed the shotgun to Jeremy.
“I know how. If I didn’t it’s fairly obvious. But what do I need a gun for?”
“You need a gun ‘cause your going inside” Roy pointed towards the small store “To find something to eat and there could be something in there.”
“Why are you staying out here?”
“Because I’m filling the tank and the roads are much more dangerous.” Roy stated as he grabbed the gas pump.
“It’s almost like we’re in some lame Zombie movie. Ya know?” Jeremy remarked with a smirk.
“Kid I’d prefer Zombies, because they don’t scare me nearly as much as people do.”
Jeremy opened the thick glass door and a small bell chimed to announce his intrusion. He started for the aisle with miscellaneous grain products. Loafs of bread, bagels, and doughnuts were in the aisle. All of the remaining products on the shelves were long past the point of being edible.
At the gas pumps, Roy observed three pick-up trucks approach the gas station at a regular speed. When the trucks got close enough Roy noticed they were marauders due to the sloppy job of welding random sharp objects to the grill work and bumper. All three pulled into the station and parked in front of the other pumps. Two raiders hopped out of the flatbed of the first truck and walked up to Roy. When they were in front of Roy he took note of the shredded, dirty winter clothes they had and their well displayed muscles; obviously gained from lifting all kinds of heavy objects, to equip themselves and their vehicles, and so they could over power their prey. He also noted their smell. They smelled like they had not cleaned themselves or even changed their clothes in ten years; Roy knew he was fairly accurate with that thought. A growing rumbling kept the raiders from saying anything.
Jeremy turned in the direction of the rumbling noise and watched the back wall of the convenience store come crumbling down under the weight of a massive tan coloured tank. It continued forward through the rubble crushing the coffee machine, two shelves and all they held. It halted as abruptly as it appeared and seemed to take note of the area. Jeremy heard muffled mechanical moaning as the head of the tank turned to aim the cannon at Jeremy. He recalled what Roy said about tanks as he watched a greenish-blue glowing ball launch out the end of the tank’s cannon in super slow motion. He thought to himself At least this will be painless as his life flashed before him.
Roy heard the crash and quickly spun around to face the convenience store and saw the steel behemoth had Jeremy in its sights. There was a dim flicker from the tanks cannon, then a blinding flash and a deafening boom as a massive ball of fire swallowed Jeremy and cast a shock-wave that broke every window in the immediate area and sent pieces of glass, window frames, counter tops and particles of flesh in every direction. Roy felt a shard of glass tear through his flesh forming a four inch slice across his cheek.
Roy had a high pitched ringing in his ears when he noticed all the marauders were already running to their trucks shouting for the drivers to get going. Once the first truck rolled onto the road there was a loud boom as another projectile from the tank landed directly under the first truck, fracturing the concrete and shattering the truck into broken burning steel, killing every marauder in and on the vehicle. Roy noted that tank was already turning to focus on the second truck and deciphered that the tank was attracted to larger targets. As soon as that fact dawned on Roy, he dropped his gun and started to run as fast as his legs could move in the direction the tank came from, hoping it would let one small bump in its road get away. Roy did not look back or even blink as he heard two more explosions signalling the destruction of the other two marauder trucks and the other marauders. Roy just kept on running in a very large zigzag pattern and hoping his car was safe or, at the least, still drivable.
After several minutes of sprinting away from the gas station Roy stopped to breathe. His lungs felt like they had countless knives continuously sliding in and out of the soft flesh. He quickly turned around to make sure the tank had not been following him, which he was correct about. Roy panted a sigh of relief then turned back around and began searching for a safe place to set up a small camp.
He found a wide trench like ditch and was very pleased to find out it was also dry. Roy sat down at the bottom of the ditch and put his hand on the cut. He felt the familiar and warm energy erupt from his chest and flow through his body into his hand. A tingle ran through his face as the cut sealed itself, making Roy shudder at the always strange feeling. The cut soon vanished leaving only some dry blood on Roy’s cheek.
Nightmares of the past plagued Roy’s mind as he slept. Memories of the war he was forced to join and the destructive riots afterwards. Several times Roy woke up with a start, having to remind himself that it had been nearly one full decade since those events. Each time he lay back down on the cold soft grass, he deeply wished he did not have any of these memories that made him fear sleeping.
Roy waited until the next day to go back to the gas station where the group of marauders had been destroyed by the Golem Tank. Since there was huge cloud of smoke Roy was very surprised when he found his car and the gas pumps almost completely unharmed. Some scratched paint, dents and missing windows is a lot better than a burning shell. Roy quickly got into his car as two thoughts came to him, one being the golem didn’t hit the gas pumps because there was nothing near them, the other was there was nothing near the pumps because the golem let them get away from them to make sure others would be there in the future. He quickly discarded the latter because golems don’t think, they are no smarter than an average rock, but he knew after a long enough time all things change.
Hoping to salvage his assault rifle, Roy scanned the area and noticed the black spot on the ground. The once expensive rifle had been crushed flat by the Golem Tank, ruining two of the most valuable items in this world. A gun and ammunition. Roy wanted nothing more than to get furious enough to hunt down the artificial beast and tear it apart piece by piece, the same way a lion devoured a zebra. Anger was quickly defeated by logic and the logic said that to chase a massive, unfeeling, murderous machine was an all around suicidal thought, so Roy complied with his logic and climbed into his damaged red sports car.
An hour of speeding down an abandoned highway later, the red car flew into what used to be a sprawling metropolis. Roy did not see the name of the city, since the billboard had long since disappeared, but he did not care what the name had been. The food supply of the trunk had been running low for a long time and Roy could not make any more excuses. He knew he could have stayed at any one of the farming villages he had come across and helped, but he would have attracted more trouble. Being a mage was much more of a curse than a blessing. Before drifting too far into memories and running the risk of destroying his car, more than it already is, Roy forced the memories down and focused on the road.
A large grocery store caught the eye of the driver. Turning the wheel to guide the car into the parking lot, Roy was relieved to see no barricades on the doors or damage to the building. Parking his car among the fifty or so rusted husks, he knew his car would be safe. Opening the trunk was a depressing sight. Three cans of food, a flashlight, six extra batteries, one nine millimetre pistol, four clips for the handgun, three clips for the flattened assault rifle, and a box of shells for the shotgun that was vaporized alongside the young man that had it.
Tightly holding the pistol and flashlight, Roy pried the former automatic doors open just enough to fit through. The large store was darker than a moonless night, ten feet from the thick glass door. Wading as far as he could into the thick darkness, Roy flicked on the flashlight when he knew he was a safe distance from the door. Quickly scanning the shelves, the almost completely barren shelf space did not surprise the scavenger. There was very little food left in the cities of the past world and more than a revolting amount of dust from the current.
All the long tall shelves had been picked clean of food in the last few years. Roy made sure he didn’t miss anything by walking up and down every aisle and checking the stock rooms. A curious thought ran through his mind as he finished checking the last shelf, he wondered if there was still running water in this large store. The best place to confirm his suspicion was the bathroom of the large store. Cautiously making his way over to the bathrooms, near the front of the store where he was highly vulnerable to the outside.
The sight and sound of water rushing into the sink was the most wonderful thing Roy had seen or heard in over a month. Now he just had to figure out how to fill the two empty ten gallon water jugs that sat in the back seat of his car. Roy decided he would go retrieve the jugs and break off the drain pipe to fill them, using the sink as a funnel. He was happy now that he had a plan to get more, very needed, water so he could live just a bit longer.
Reaching in through the rear windows of the red car, Roy was only able to grab one jug at a time. He set the first on the ground beside his leg and leaned back into the car through the window to grab the second. As his hand closed around the handle of the second jug, He heard several vehicles roar into the parking lot. Roy released the water jug and quickly dropped to the ground beside his car and the first water jug.
Crawling to the rear end of the car, Roy made sure to stay as quiet as humanly possible. Peering around the corner, he was able to see six Marauder vehicles parked adjacent to the store's main doors. One Marauder climbed off the lead vehicle, an SUV, and started walking towards him. Roy retreated behind the car he was using as cover and tried to think up a battle plan.
“Where are you, you little rat?” the Marauder yelled with obvious rage.
“Oh s**t, oh s**t, oh s**t, oh s**t,” Roy whispered quickly. He wanted to slap himself for not thinking about checking for any kind of security.
“Don't worry,” Roy nearly screamed at the unexpected male voice “They're looking for little ol' me,” Roy turned to the voice and saw something he did not expect in the slightest. A man, his aura said he was younger than him and older than Jeremy, who is wearing faded blue jeans, very dirty white running shoes, and a white sleeveless shirt. The man's hair fell past his shoulders and is a colour between brown and red. Roy thought the word for it was auburn, but there was no way to know anymore. The man was sitting on the ground, leaning against Roy's red car with his legs on the door of the car Roy is using as cover.
“Uh, who are you?” Roy asked, not noticing he still had an incredulous expression.
“Call me Alan,” The man said with a smile “Just so ya know I am a mage, one of the more dangerous types.”
“Really?”
“I control the wonderful element of fire,” Alan said in response to Roy's sarcasm, after turning to face him. Roy instantly noticed the man’s eyes, his bright red irises.
“When we find you, we are going to eat you alive!” a second Marauder shouted interrupting the conversation between Roy and Alan.
“What did you do to piss them off?” Roy asked the confessed fire mage.
“Stole some water, let some people out of cages,”
“By yourself?”
“Of course. Who would be stupid enough to help me invade a Marauder base?” Roy nodded with a look that said Alan made a good point “Just let me take care of these guys.”
Alan went into a crouching position and ran away from Roy. The fire mage stood sharply, turning to face the Marauders.
“Hey! Smelly bastards! Over here!” Alan yelled as loud as he could. The Marauders on foot began running towards him and the vehicles jumped into gear to head towards him. Roy watched in disbelief as the Marauders and vehicles closed in around Alan, as he stood there with a smug smile on his face. Guns and makeshift spears were pointed at Alan, who only closed his hands. Alan quickly opened his fists and flames erupted in his hands climbing up his arms to the elbows. All the Marauders halted their advance out of fear.
“He's a mage!” three Marauders shouted in panic.
Alan threw his arms out in front of him and flames gushed from his hands. The fire acted like a liquid, flowing over Marauders and vehicles reducing flesh to ash and steel into molten puddles. Alan parted his arms, pointing them straight out from his sides not cutting off the flow of liquid flame. Fire spilled over many more Marauders and vehicles, incinerating everything touched by the heat of the inferno. Alan halted the flames on his arms to check for survivors, even though there was enough fire and smoke to hide an approaching army. By moving his arm through the air, as if sweeping filth off a desk, Alan commanded the small fires to cease and vanish.
One Marauder vehicle making its escape was seen after the smoke cleared enough. Alan lifted his right arm once again. He extended his arm out in front of him, curled three fingers, straightened his index finger, and erected his thumb, imitating a child making a gun.
“Bang,” the very instant after Alan spoke, the Marauder vehicle violently exploded from an unknown cause. Roy was dumbstruck by how much power Alan literally had at his fingertips.
“T-that was . . . amazing,” Roy stuttered out as Alan walked past him.
“I won't deep fry you under a few conditions,” Alan quickly turned towards Roy with a glare that could kill, startling him slightly “One, give me some food because it has been four days since I last ate. Two, let me have some water, for obvious reasons such as, it is hard being in the centre of a literal fire storm. And three, take me with you.”
“Why? Take you with me, that is.”
“I am sick off walking,” Roy nodded and Alan grew a large smile of relief.
“Then help me fill these jugs,” Roy heard Alan mumble something under his breath but could not decipher what had been said. Alan chuckling to himself made Roy come to the conclusion of it had been a joke.
Watching a bathroom sink tap fill two ten gallon water jugs was not what Roy would call fun; neither was having to see Alan basically giving himself a sponge bath from the other sink. Alan had been using his hands to soak his body with the cold water and proceeded to strip out off clothing and completely water log each article before putting it back on. After turning the tap to cut off the water flow Alan flipped his hair over his head as he stood up, spraying water all over the wall behind him.
“How is it you went four days without food and still look well fed?” Roy asked, finally voicing the question that had been on his mind for the last twenty minutes.
“How is it I went from average high school teen to human flamethrower? I'll tell ya how; it's because magic alters how our body works.”
“So you're an expert on how magic affected our world?”
“Self proclaimed,” Alan stated with a small tilt of his head.
“Wait, back up a second. You were in high school when you became a mage? How old are you?”
“How old do I look?”
“Twenty at the most. But all schools were shut down when world war three began in twenty thirteen; more than fifteen years ago.” Roy looked closer at Alan's aura as he spoke and noticed the oddity of aura. There were the rings of age and the vibrant red in the centre, which showed his type and strength of his power. The rings were the oddity, there were thirty four rings but the thirty-fourth ring had the same diameter as the eighteenth ring on normal humans. The number of rings dictated Alan is thirty four, but the size of them said he is eighteen, a fact that is greatly confusing to Roy.
“Well that's what I mean when I say magic alters people. For example, it drastically slows the ageing process.”
“What else do you know?” Roy asked, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the last word.
“I like to assume that magic is only the basic elements of nature. Ya know, like, fire, water, wind, and dirt.”
“Then where does healing people fall?”
“What do you mean?
“The ability to heal skin and repair bones, magically.”
“Are you mocking me?” Alan asked with a dark glare, his right hand bursting into flame.
“Not at all, I am a healing mage,” Roy calmly stated even though his pulse had tripled and his throat had almost cut off his breathing.
“Really?” Alan shouted in amazement. The flames on his hand dissipated to stop worrying Roy “I've heard that there are less than a handful of people like you.”
Water splashing on the tile floor of the bathroom cut off Roy. He cursed under his breath for wasting the very valuable resource of water by letting it over fill the ten gallon jug. Roy quickly turned off the tap and ran his left hand over his head, through his hair in frustration. Both Roy and Alan could see that a little bit of the water had to be consumed for the cap to properly seal the jug. Alan took the chance and drank the excess water from the jug before letting Roy cap it. Alan hoisted the first water jug into his arms and nodded for Roy to start leading the way. Roy grabbed the second jug and the two walked out of the grocery store, across the parking lot to the red coupe.
Engine roaring, wind rushing past his ears and through his hair, bright sunshine on the hood of his car. Even though the world was far from peaceful, Roy always felt at peace and free when driving his car. It felt like nothing could ever go wrong.
“Hey,” Alan said, pulling Roy back down to earth “We should check that apartment building,” Roy looked where Alan was pointing and saw a skyscraper off on the right side of the car.
“Why?”
“Because it is really tall and there are countless places to hide food,” Alan said in a mocking tone.
“Fine.”
Roy guided his red car onto the downward ramp to the buildings garage and cursed loudly after seeing the large steel gate blocking his path. Shifting the car into reverse, Roy began guiding the car backwards up the ramp.
“What are you doing?”
“The gate is in the way,” Roy said without looking at Alan. Alan huffed and pulled the handle on his door to open it.
Climbing out of the red car, Alan nearly tripped on the seat belt he had ignored putting on. Alan raised his right hand as high as he could and placed his index finger against one of the bars. Roy watched as Alan dragged his finger along the bars and sparks rained down all around the fire manipulator. Before too long, Alan had traversed across all the bars and stood aside. He gave the gate a small push and the bars slowly leaned before falling to the ground with a loud clang. Roy drove the car forward, door open, up beside Alan.
“Why not just melt the bars?” Roy asked without emotion.
“I didn't want to draw attention our way,” Alan responded with a shrug.
“Yes, because what happened a while ago was Sooo subtle.”
Alan's mouth opened and closed several times as if he were about say something before he finally spoke “Shut up Roy.”
The duo of mages was surprised by the sight of no other cars in the concrete garage. Rolling to a stop in front of the stairwell the two climbed out of the red car before the engine had fully shut off. Roy grabbed his pistol and Alan's hands burst into flame as they both took a deep breath. The air smelled sweet, so sweet that it felt thick to the duo. Sweetness in the air meant only one thing to the two mages; a mana well. They both knew they had to be very careful now; all sorts of creatures were attracted to the sweet smell.
Proceeding up the stairs, following the smell as best they could Alan and Roy were growing increasingly nervous. The air was becoming sickening to the duo; it was almost as if they were walking through syrup. A loud roar echoed through the building, making Alan and Roy jump and begin scanning the area. The roar sounded like a person imitating a beast, but much more primal and bloodcurdling.
Knowing it is a bad idea, the two followed the noise because they wanted to know what made the sound. Heavy breathing could soon be heard by the duo as they found their way deeper into the building. A sign on the wall had the word 'Pool' printed on it with an arrow pointing in the direction they were already heading. As they continued the breathing got louder and the nerves of the two mages slowly faded as their bodies began to shake.
“Oh my ******** god!” Alan yelled as loud as humanly possible.
“What?” Roy asked quickly, having been scared by Alan.
“There's candy in that vending machine!” Roy slapped his left hand onto his forehead.
Alan began running towards the vending machine, rapidly chanting candy over and over again. Just before the dispenser was within arm’s reach of Alan, the wall behind the machine exploded outward, destroying the machine and all its contents. Standing in the rubble of the wall and dispenser was a titan that used to be a man.
It was three times the size of a large bodybuilder and had an extreme amount of muscle. So much so, the muscle had torn through the giant’s skin and in some places, such as the things fingers, bone had ripped outward. The hands were amazingly massive; the open hand was the same dimensions as a fully grown male torso. It took a second, but Roy realized there was not a single shred of clothing on the thing, due to its inhuman size.
The behemoth turned towards Alan giving the first full view of its head. Its jaw hung open to accommodate the largely overgrown and grotesque teeth. Where a nose should have been was two parallel slits in the things face, the area for ears was similar. Not one hair was on the beast’s head, just ridges of muscle that mimicked corn rows. As Roy studied the face of the beast he could not help but notice, out of his peripheral vision, that the thing was indeed male.
Alan scrambled to his feet just before the giant stepped forward, onto his legs. Breaking into a run and almost falling several times, Alan raced past Roy and around the corner of the hallway. Roy could only stare wide eyed at the hulking muscle mass quickly crossing the gap between them.
The beast cleared three times the distance of a normal stride with each step. When Roy was inside the giants reach, it cocked its arm back. Launching a right hook towards its prey, the massive hand connected with Roy's torso and the mage was sent spinning into the concrete wall.
Roy felt several ribs snap when the mutant’s fist slammed into him and when he smashed into the wall. Lying on the ground with his vision slowly turning black, Roy summoned every ounce of energy he had and let it flow freely through his body. The feeling of ribs popping back into place and reforming was an extremely sickening yet relieving feeling.
“Roy!” Alan shouted from down the hall “Stay down!”
Roy saw the hallway grow exponentially brighter and dramatically increase in temperature as a large cylinder of flames roared by. The lumbering giant made a primal roar of pain and moved away from Roy to attempt to attack Alan. The roar did not cease, but more pain was present in it each second the flames hung in the air. One step more and the thing fell; its roar became a gurgling noise as the beast quickly melted into ash.
Alan extended an arm to assist Roy in standing up. Once Roy was on his feet he decided to investigate the room the titan had come out of. Alan followed Roy through the hole in the wall and muttered something about the wrecked vending machine. The two found a large pool in the room and the pool was filled with a surprising substance.
A crystal clear liquid occupied the pool which was throwing off an immense aura. The mysterious liquid had swirling blue patterns flowing through it, like writhing veins. The air smelled so sweet in the pool area, the smell of fresh cut grass, a spring rain, sugar, just everything that made air so pleasant was in this room with the strange fluid. Both Roy and Alan saw the huge crevice in the bottom of the pool where the strange fluid was obviously flowing from.
“What in the hell is that stuff?” Alan asked Roy.
“I have no idea. But it feels great just being around it.”
The air may have been sickeningly sweet, but it Roy could feel his fatigue slowly sliding off his body and his vitality returning. This strange fluid was somehow making Roy feel like the world was not such a horrible place. The presence of the fluid was making the memories of the war drift into the back of Roy's mind, all the times he had seen death and every time he had seen someone get mutilated by marauders, simply did not matter right now. Roy came to the conclusion that this was a mana well, something he had heard much about but never actually seen.
A sudden stabbing pain in Roy's back robbed him of the blissful feeling. Four more sudden pains exploded in his back and Roy knew he had been shot, but not with bullets. He spun around to see a marauder with an odd looking handgun. The details of the area blurred and Roy knew the tranquilizer fluid was pouring through his system.
“Alan!” Roy said as loudly and clearly as he could “Run!”
“What?” Alan questioned turning to Roy. A dart hit Alan in the torso not three inches to the right of his heart.
Roy barely saw Alan break into a sprint and point his hand towards the far wall. Roy's legs collapsed under him right after the wall in front of Alan shattered in a rain of fire. Alan disappeared through the fire, Roy was glad the fire mage would be safe and hoped for his own safety as his vision darkened and he slipped out of consciousness.