In No Man's Land

Run or Hide

John couldn’t stand the brutal killing of the two creatures that rescued him from the dungeon of Zeus; although he didn’t want to go back with them to Ozenzo’s castle, he never expected Cerberus to kill them. He doesn’t know if he could trust Cerberus again but one thing is certain, he has to survive.

He fled from Cerberus and hid behind the rock some paces away from the sloppy path as he could hear Cerberus call out for him. He had a flashback to the first time he came across Cerberus, how his crazy demonic red eyes terrified him.

He could perceive the smell of Cerberus from where he was hiding. He could smell the hellish toxic pong from Cerberus’ body odor as one that just walked out from hell. At this time, John realized Cerberus was really a beastly creature from the cave of hell. He kept on seeing the pictures of the killing of the two creatures. He had made up his mind; he’s alone in this strange world and had to survive without seeking help from Cerberus.

He could hear the cracking fangs of Cerberus, his heart started thumping and his eyes were popping out in fear. He was hiding behind the rock and was spellbound and paralyzed with fear when he heard Cerberus yell, “John, where are you!”

Getting close to the rock where John is hiding, he could hear the heartbeat of John. He quickly makes his way behind the rock, on seeing John the hellish creature said in a soothing voice. “There you are. Come on friend, we need to get going, it’s not safe here.”

He could notice the shaking of John who was terrified. He however ignored and said for the second time, “It’s not safe here, we need to go.”

“I am not safe around you. I don’t need your help anymore, let me be,” John cried out.

“I killed for you and the best way to pay me back is to run away from me.”

“I never asked you to kill for me. You did it for yourself, not me. Just let me be,” John cried out.

“You lied. There’s no way in hell, I am leaving without you.”

Seeing that Cerberus’ mind is made up, John stood to his feet and started running away from him. He ran as fast as he could but there’s not a chance he could get past the creature of the underworld whose duty is to hunt the escaping souls in the underworld.

Cerberus locked his attention on John and charged towards him. From behind, the wild dog from the underworld pounced at John, and with his sharp claws; he scratched John’s back giving him a deep cut. “I wanted to bring you to my master the easy way but you are so stubborn. You shouldn’t have listened to those warlocks.”

“So they were right? You are indeed your master’s good boy.”

“Shut up!” Cerberus roared as he turned John to face up. He held John to the ground and started bringing the serpentine tail close to John’s face.

“Please… Please… Don’t do this to me. I beg of you.”

“It’s too late for that now. Besides, you were wanted dead or alive by my master.”

John’s whole life flashback to him, how he grew up living in the ways of boy scouts; his first kiss with his girlfriend inside the WIC Company’s canteen. He was trying his best to make his life work out but he wasn’t a dude of much luck. The way people insult him was probably a good reason for him to desire death rather than life.

He knew certainly that this was his last day on earth. No one will mourn him or even bury him. He was in a strange land very far from home.

“Any last word before I tear you to shreds?” Cerberus whispered into his ears.

“Make my death painless,” said John in a quivering voice.

Cerberus can smell John’s fear. This is the most exciting moment of his immortal life to see humans tremble before him and to make their death painful. “That’s a wish I can’t grant.”

Cerberus moved his serpentine tail towards John's chest. The serpent opens its mouth wide and is ready to strike.

“I got your greetings and I have come in person to reply to you,” said a feminine voice from behind.

As Cerberus turned to know who it was that spoke, his serpentine tail was ripped out and suddenly he became suspended in the air.

Realizing it was witch Neena, he began to squirm in the air. No one has ever been so terrified before Neena than Cerberus. He took part in initiating the war against the warlocks in the first place after the warlocks asked the gods to return to their dwelling.

From the underworld, he had heard the stories of the witch Neena and how powerful she became. As the gatekeeper of the underworld, he never wanted to have anything to do with such a powerful witch.

“Stop squirming, it will do you no good.”

Neena's story started from the first days of humanity. When the world was dark, spiritual energy ran through everything that existed, neither Good nor Evil. ‘The Elders’ called it ‘The All.’ Thousands of years ago, a woman came across that Nexus. She alerted her mate of what she had found. At first, they were afraid of it, but she pushed past that fear and tapped into this power. The woman was infused with more of The All than any human was supposed to possess. The woman shared that power with her mate and it changed them, making them immortal and invulnerable. It bonded them forever to one another and to ‘The All.’ They ascended to a place of pure, utter bliss that they shared with ‘The All’, known as the Higher Realm.

However, their presence there affected the Earth as ‘The All’ was contained to the Higher Realm. As a result, the world started to die. The only way to save the world was for the woman and her mate to separate their powers and allow the power of ‘The All’ to flow freely again. The woman and man were forced to abandon the Higher Realm, never to return again. Once back on Earth, the woman gave birth to a pair of twins that were conceived while she was in the Higher Realm. The first child was a female and had powers like her mother, just not as strong, and it was from this child that witches came. The second child was a male born with the same abilities, but he used the magic for dark purposes, and that gave rise to warlocks. Their other children possessed no magic of their own, but they and their descendants could tap into ‘The All’ as practitioners.

Every time a witch was born, he or she would inherit a tiny piece of ‘The All.’ However, with every new descendant, ‘The All’ began to weaken as it was spreading too thinly. In order to reclaim some of the magic it had lost, it needed one of the two immortals to return to the Higher Realm. The Elders were forced to make a decision and chose Neena's mate. Against his will, he was taken away from Neena, and she was alone for the first time in forever.

“Where have you been all these while? Many believed you have died,” said Cerberus as he continued squirming.

“Where’ve been is no business of yours. How about me killing you and making you disappear forever?”