Alien

Agashi's eyes snapped open, and the haze of sleep cleared from his eyes as he found himself away from his desk and thrust into what looked very much like a nightmare.

Blinking rapidly, he took in his surroundings—He could remember having a drink in his right hand, Rose's letter in the other hand and crying himself to sleep. He was no longer dressed in the clothes he'd fallen asleep with, but rather garbed in strange, coarse fabrics that chafed against his skin.

"Onward!" A voice screamed at him, a whip cracking in the air to enforce his obedience.

Agashi staggered forward, convinced there'd been some sort of mistake.

"You must have a death wish, son," an old man laughed beside him.

"Death wish? This is a dream, you're not real," Agashi blurted, confusion spelt across his face as he kept pace with the crowd marching around him.

"Somebody's dreaming for sure. I see you're in the blood lake without weapons. You'll be dead with the first wave. Remind me to take the clothes off your back when you die, it'll fetch me the extra credits wasted on you," the old man continued laughing, his yellow teeth causing Agashi to turn his eyes away in disgust.

A loud horn went off in the distance as they marched forward, and almost immediately, all the noise and chatter died down. Agashi realized that everybody standing around him was armed, but he wasn't, the old man wasn't teasing him.

"What's that sound?" He asked, his breath trembling while his mind tried to make sense of all this.

"What's wrong with you? Did you get knocked out last time out? you're asking what the Sibith horn is for? You'll find out for yourself soon enough," the man chuckled, adjusting his helmet.

Agashi wanted to ask more questions but the crowd around him began to hurry forward, the urgency in their steps suggesting that something was up.

“You there, find your class and stay with them. Break rank again and you'll answer to me," one of the whip carrying enforcers screamed at him.

Agashi nodded shakily, he could see the men separating into groups, and having no idea what was going on, he followed the old man.

"The bastards are coming," the man cursed, clutching his axe tightly and adjusting his helmet once more.

"Who's coming?" Agashi was aware that his questions were upsetting the man, but this was the only person he could talk to here, everybody else either looked too hostile or simply too important to spare him any of their time.

"We're all going to die," a weary voice moaned ahead of them.

Agashi's companion, seemingly grateful for the interruption, peered towards the source of the noise.

"I saw it, the wild-bird. You all know what it means. We cannot fight today."

"Shut up, old man. How do you suggest we earn our credits then? follow you to your dreams? I bet there's a bigger bird handing out credits over there," someone mocked.

The entire company of men laughed at the joke, but the man didn't look fazed.

"HIGAN MURAR FASATARIIIIII." The words were twisted and wreaked of anger. Silence descended as the men marched into what looked like an arena and the gates shut behind them.

"You better pray to your seven stars to remind you how to fight. Those words you just heard? Demon tongue and I bet my last credit they don't care if you lost your memory or not. They'll kill you all the same."

Agashi shuddered as the old man's warnings found their way into his ear. How did he get here?

"Prepare yourselves. The bastards are close," a shrill cry went up from the front of the company.

"URRGUUU" The loud demonic voice reverberated, and then it happened.

The deafening sound of the horn echoed through the desolate landscape, and a horde of creatures came into view, emerging from the shadows, their sinister forms clad in dark armor. Demons.

"Shields," the shrill voice at the front of the line cried again as the company raised their shields in unison. Agashi could hear the shaky breaths all around him. The man who had been crying about his dream found his way to the back of the company, his armor clattering as he trembled.

Agashi pinched himself as he tried to make sense of the scene unfolding before him. He could see the demons, the malice gleaming in their eyes as they advanced continuously till they stopped a little distance away.

"Any second now boys. I can't be the only one waiting to cut some demon hide. Haaaaa"

"Huuuuu," the men screamed in response, raising their weapons.

Agashi stood transfixed to the spot, still trying to make sense of what was happening. He could still remember the texture of his desk, the feel of his shirt's fabric. He could remember falling asleep on his desk, there was no explanation whatsoever for the madness unfolding in front of him.

A loud horn tore Agashi from his thoughts as the demons poured forward. He was tossed this way and that as the men who stood around him rushed towards the fight. Agashi felt raw fear creeping up his spine, he hadn't taken this seriously up till now, he could see the demons in their full bloodthirsty glory and the men daringly brandishing their weapons in the face of almost certain death.

LOOK

The whisper sauntered into his ears above the noise of the battle raging all around him. Agashi felt a gentle breeze on his skin, the hostilities around him appearing to freeze as he tried to find out where the whisper came from.

COME

It came again, the subtle whisper that no one else seemed to hear. His eyes were getting hazy, his head heavy as the surrounding view got darker and darker.

NOW

The whisper persisted as he drifted off into the darkness. It felt like he was floating in some sort of fluid for a while with his eyes closed tightly, he tried to open them but couldn't until he felt his feet planted on solid ground once more.

Agashi's eyes fluttered open, his breath heaved as he took in his new environment. There were no fighting men and no demons, just his heaving breath and a strange red ball at the center of the room.

COME

Agashi felt the pull in the direction of the orb. The whispers he heard seemed to be coming from that direction. He took another look around the room to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

COME

Whatever this ball was had saved him from the fighting. Hopefully, it didn't want him dead.

Agashi slowly approached the glowing ball at the center of the room, peeking to see if he could figure it out without needing to get too close. He could feel the orb pulse as the attraction between them grew, and for the second time today he felt his feet leave solid ground, his body levitating towards the orb.

Puzzled beyond his wits, Agashi scoffed. He was probably in some nightmare, and he would wake up soon, or so he thought. But then, rays of red light stretched from the orb towards him and as soon as they made contact, Agashi noticed movement in the far corner of the room. A demon.

Still struggling to free himself from the entanglement with the orb, he watched the fearsome creature reach for an ax and run towards him. Agashi closed his eyes, waiting for the impact, but all he felt was the pull of the darkness once more, and then the noise of the battle.

Opening his eyes, he could see the men around him staring at him with wide eyes, a weird message appeared in front of him; Congratulations! You have received the ultimate warrior system; Name: Agashi; energy level: 100; new mission alert: Kill the demon; reward: battle mode unlocked.

"MARUGA"

The demon's voice was too loud to be missed. The sound of its heavy footsteps and the drag of its ax head on the ground told Agashi this was one fight he wasn't getting away from.