Reborn: Age of Heroes

Eight - Dead Weight

I was actually never good at running.

I used to be thin. When I was young, I was a scrawny boy with tight skin wrapped around narrow bones. Growing up, my playmates were bags of flour and gallons of olive oil. Those things didn’t run, so I never acquired the need to practice my running skills. What’s funnier is that one would think that a baker’s son would develop a muscular stature because of lifting bags upon bags of wheat and kneading one thick dough after another. The joke’s on me because that wasn’t the case. No matter how hard I tried to build my frame, I never grew hard and strapping muscles.

That was before.

Now, resurrected in my new bulkier body, I knew that there was some strength packed into my muscular calves and legs. I did not know how to fight, but at least I was sure I could run. The robed man even pointed out that I was good at it. Are you proud of running away, boy?

Of course, I was not proud of it, but one thing’s for sure: I was glad that I could run. It was better to be called a coward than to be pronounced dead. Twice. Abandoning my previous resolve of not going out, I ran after Lyana and Amias as Magat slid the makeshift chamber’s stone door open.

The quake had returned just as Amias had said, and it came back with a vengeance. The tremors were more violent and more intense. The sharp stalactites that grew on the cave’s ceiling fell like a rain of daggers. I was screaming like there was no tomorrow as I ran, dodging the falling shards. We were lucky that the cave’s flooring wasn’t covered in moss, or otherwise, we would have slipped to our deaths. Sounds of massive boulders crashing to the ground resounded through the hollowness of the cavern. Billows of dust and debris filled the air, making it hard to navigate the dim cave. Amias held a flaming torch as he ran. However, its dying light did almost nothing against the looming shadows.

“Hurry!” The robed man raised the torch higher. “We are almost there!”

I squinted my eyes and gazed forward as I ran. Through the smoky clouds of dust, I could see a sliver of light peeking through the gaps of the boulder that covered the entrance. Running across a collapsing cave felt like a nightmare. With every crashing sound that the falling rocks made, my heart skipped a beat. I knew that I wasn’t the skin-and-bones kid I used to be, but I was sure that falling rocks wouldn’t treat my new muscled body like a Saint. I forced to place my legs in front of the other with all the speed I had. Behind me, shards of stone rained. Something aside from energy and blood coursed through my veins. It was fear. I knew that I was afraid, but I did not know why. I already died, and I was literally in Hell, so what’s there to be scared of?

A huge chunk of earth fell in front of me, pulling me out of my thoughts. It almost hit my head, but I managed to evade it. I stepped on a pebble and tripped. I fell on my back. My breath was almost knocked out of me. The tremors persisted, and the cave continued to collapse. With a grunt, I hauled myself to my feet. I was panting. The clouds of dust made it more difficult to breathe. All around me, stalactites were falling. I looked up in time to see a falling shard. I screamed like a scared old lady as I thought the rock would crash into my face. My body was frozen in terror. I realized I should step away, but I was pinned in place. I raised my hands to cover my face. I waited for a sharp heaviness to hit my head, but nothing came. Something grabbed me and pulled me to the side. I fell on my face to the ground. In a panicked move, I got up and saw the war chief beside me, getting to his feet.

“Move!” Magat yelled. “Run! Don’t stand around like a statue, you i***t!”

My heart was thundering between my lungs as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Did Magat just save me?

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, BOY? I TOLD YOU TO RUN!”

I nodded frantically and did as I was told. I bolted forward faster than a scared cat. I stopped screaming as my throat felt sore. My eyes were focused on the stone door that Lyana and Amias were pushing to the side. The ground was still shaking, and I fought to maintain my balance.

“Quick!” Amias had dropped the torch to the ground. Its flame died in an instant. “Help us push this door!”

Almost without my volition, I dashed forward. For a moment, the fear that had gripped me vanished. My arms and legs were sweaty, and my breathing was fast and shallow when I reached the stone door. I stepped beside Lyana and Amias and pushed. Hard. I felt the muscles on my biceps tear as I shoved the boulder to the side. With one forceful grunt, the entrance opened. Amias picked up his cane and stepped out, Lyana at his trail. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Magat emerge from the billows of dust. He leaped and managed to land outside the cave. As soon as Magat was out, I jumped.

I landed on my body, my hands cushioning the fall. The air was knocked out of my lungs. I took a lungful of air and rolled over. A loud, collapsing noise pierced the horizon as the cave crumbled in on itself. I stood up and watched the makeshift shelter fall into a heap of useless rubble. As if by some miracle, the Hell quake died down. Swallowing the lump at the back of my mouth, I looked around. Outside, Hell still looked just as I remembered it. Endless barren plane and burning orange skies. Despite the fact that there was no sun blazing across the horizon, the air felt humid. I wiped the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. It came away tacky with wet dirt and grime. “Is anybody hurt?”

“I’m fine,” said Lyana as she helped Magat to his feet. “How are you, Magat? Are you wounded?”

Magat brushed Lyana’s hands off of his shoulder. “No. I’m alright.”

I shifted my gaze to Amias. “How about you, old man? Are you hurt?”

Amias drew his hood back and patted the robe with his hands, sending small clouds of dust into the air. He did not answer and just shook his head as he stared at me.

I was about to answer an affirmation when strong hands grabbed the collar of my tunic. Magat clenched the fabric of my filthy clothes and pulled me closer to his face. His eyes were wide, and his forehead was creased. “The next time you have a plan on dying, leave us out of it!” Magat yelled into my face. “Incompetent coward!”

Just like that, the fear was back inside me. Magat’s eyes spoke of hatred. Veins bulged on his neck as he screamed at me. Almost without effort, he lifted me off my feet. “I… I’m s-sorry!” I blurted out in between choking breaths.

Magat drew his right hand away and took something from the belt around his waist. When he lifted his hand again, a silver dagger gleamed between his fingers. “Tell me,” he began, nicking my neck with the tip of his blade. “Why shouldn’t I kill you right here?”

“That’s enough!” Amias slammed the tip of his cane to the ground. “Killing Samuel would not help us. He is no use to us dead.”

Magat released his grip and shoved me aside. “He is no use to us at all. This boy you call leader is a dead weight. I would not trust my life on this useless heap of flesh,” he said and tucked the silver dagger back into his belt.

“Calm down, Magat,” chimed Lyana. “Give the boy some time. He just arrived here. He’s still making sense of what’s happening. I’m sure Sh’muel will come around.”

“He better come around soon. If he doesn’t, I will kill him with my bare hands.” Magat spun on his heels to face Amias. “What do we do now, old man? We got no place to stay, and that Hell quake might return any second.”

“It won’t. I think that the quake’s over. The circles of Hell are realigned.”

“How can you be sure?”

Amias pointed a finger into the distance. I turned around to see what he was pointing at. A massive pillar of fire blazed from the sky to the ground. From where I stood, it looked like a tornado of red flames. “That flaming cyclone is a tunnel to the world of the living. It occurs every time the Rings of Hell converge. Once it gathers enough strength, any of the Demon Kings can choose to rise to the surface, which means that time is running out,” he declared. “If you want to save humanity or at least escape this Hell, we should begin the Quest.”