《The Riftwalker: Rise of the Crimson Empire》


 Chapter 1: Road

    Chapter 1 ¨C Road


    The road was almost empty as we approached the halfway point in our trip. I could only see a few cars on the opposite lane every minute. At the time I was too distracted to note anything odd about this, and, as would eventually become a common occurrence, I would come to regret it.


    ~We repeat. Please stay indoors at all times for the foreseeable future. We will give regular upd-~


    ¡°News¡­ Really? Change the channel man.¡± The speaker was sitting in the passenger seat of our five-seater sedan. He was an athletic young man with long arms and legs, relatively good looking, and had short black hair.


    ¡°Kal. Shut up would you? They¡¯re saying something weird.¡± This time it was the driver that spoke. He was the oldest out of the four of us and so, naturally, was the most responsible. He was average height and build, his most notable feature was his curly orange hair.


    Kal gave him a smug look and started playing his music, cutting off the news broadcast. I still think to this date, that if he simply had bad taste in music, we would have been able to avoid-  No¡­ I get ahead of myself.


    Greg looked away from the road for a moment and gave Kal a hard stare. Then he started to sing along with what we all knew was his favorite song.


    Kal turned around with a wry grin. ¡°Watch and learn guys, road trips are all about messing with the driver.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®mess¡¯ with him too much. I want to get there alive.¡± This time it was the boy next to me who spoke. He was short and had a strong, stocky build. With just a glance you could tell that he worked out regularly. Considering he boxed, it would be a valid assumption.


    Kal turned to me next. ¡°Are you going to do that the whole trip? What¡¯s so interesting out there anyway?¡±


    As was usual for me, I was looking solemnly out of my window, watching the scenery go by. At the sounds of Mav and Kal, I turned around with a grin. ¡°You know me,¡± I said, ¡°I have to practice being quiet somewhere.¡±


    They laughed at that and we were silent for a few moments, enjoying the music and the pleasant atmosphere. The four of us were on a small road trip to attend a concert in Toronto.


    Another reason we didn¡¯t put that news broadcast back on, I suppose, was that we all had similar taste and passion in music.


    It had been a couple of hours since we had left Windsor, and after only stopping ¡®shortly¡¯ for breakfast, we were well on our way.


    I looked ahead through the windshield. ¡°You know, aren¡¯t there usually more trucks on the road? Last time I came here they were constantly on both lanes.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean, once, my dad had to honk at a truck for an entire minute before it finally moved back to the right lane.¡± Mav agreed with me readily.


    Kal gave a short grunt. ¡°Let¡¯s just take it as a blessing and speed up. I haven¡¯t seen any cops around.¡±


    The three of us looked expectedly at Greg, who shook his head slowly. ¡°You¡¯re right, it is weird. But no, I¡¯m not going to speed up. You guys all know how I drive.¡±


    That much was true. Greg had a reputation among us as the ¡°safest¡± driver. Personally I didn¡¯t see how constantly staying at a few kilometers above the speed limit at all times was safe, but I didn¡¯t complain. Much.


    Mav, on the other hand, had no such restraint. ¡°C¡¯mon man, we know how you drive, but we were already late in heading out thanks to someone.¡± He gave me a pointed look as he finished.


    ¡°Hey! How was I supposed to know my alarm wouldn¡¯t wake me up?¡± I replied indignantly. In truth I had simply turned the alarm off and continued sleeping, as I was up late the previous night. I wasn¡¯t going to tell them that though.


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    Kal ended up doing it for me. ¡°Yeah suuuuure. You do realize that we know when you check your messages, right?¡±


    I had accidentally checked my messages on my phone before actually sleeping, so I decided to play nonchalant and ignored the conversation.


    Greg thankfully changed the topic. ¡°Guys¡­ I think something weird is happening. I¡¯ve never seen so few cars at noon.¡±


    At his words I looked around and realized he was right. Rather than a few cars going by now and then, the entire highway was completely empty on both sides. While this was rare, it wasn¡¯t exactly impossible, so I looked to the sky without worry.


    ¡°Well, we still have jets,¡± I said while looking at three airplanes high in the sky.


    ¡°Jets, where?¡± asked Mav. Considering he was a plane freak, it was obvious he would be interested.


    I pointed them out to him and he frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t look like any jets I¡¯ve seen, look more like birds to me.¡±


    At his words both Kal and Greg looked up. I also gave the planes another look. Squinting, I said, ¡°Birds aren¡¯t that big Mav, you know that.¡±


    Kal, as laid-back as usual, said, ¡°They probably painted the jets for some event. I mean, when do you see three of them so close anyway?¡±


    Greg continued. ¡°Yeah, remember when they painted that one airplane as a movie promotion? Probably same thing here.¡±


    Satisfied with our conclusions, I put my head back and tried to catch some sleep. I spared a quick glance at Mav, and saw him staring at the planes as they disappeared into the clouds.


    He looked worried.


    * * * *


    ¡°Are people starting to burn their schoolwork already?¡± I woke up to an exclamation by Greg.


    ¡°Wha-?¡± I asked sleepily.


    ¡°Look ahead man, there¡¯s this giant bonfire ahead of us.¡± Kal told me excitedly.


    ¡°Bonfire? What?¡± I hurriedly woke up and looked around. Mav still looked worried, which I didn¡¯t care for, considering he was always quick to worry. Ahead of us, near London if I timed our trip right, was indeed a large bonfire. It gave an eerie light to the sky above it, but the longer I looked, the more I realized that the size of this bonfire was simply too large. If we could see it so clearly from this far back, then it had to be gigantic.


    ¡°Guys, isn¡¯t that fire a little too big?¡± I asked with a hint of worry in my voice. Mav¡¯s face started to pale at my words.


    Moments after I spoke, the fire died down to a more normal level.


    ¡°They probably threw a bunch of booze in as well.¡± Greg didn¡¯t look worried anymore.


    ¡°Crazy kids.¡± Kal nodded his agreement.


    I wasn¡¯t convinced just yet though.


    As we approached London, we started to make out more and more bonfires. At this point, all of us started to worry.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s a holiday thing here? You know how they always get the most snow,¡± Kal spoke. ¡°Maybe they want to have the most heat as well.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The three of us gave him a blank look, and he replied back hurriedly. ¡°Well, what else could it be?¡±


    We continued to drive in silence on the empty highway, all of us were nervous. This wasn¡¯t a normal occurrence.


    As we entered London, Greg slowed down the car considerably.


    There were no bonfires. The city was burning.

 Chapter 2 - Fire

    Chapter 2 ¨C Fire


    The fires were considerably larger the closer we moved. Soon we were engulfed in thick, blackish smoke.


    At this point all of us were silent, too shocked to say anything. Greg continued to drive very slowly through the haze. We moved undisturbed for half an hour, passing a few exit ramps.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± I suddenly exclaimed.


    Greg slammed the breaks, but the car still slightly hit the obstruction ahead. The smoke was so thick, we couldn¡¯t make out what we had hit.


    I looked outside and came to a decision. I found a piece of cloth and dampened it using a water bottle. Putting the cloth to my face, I opened my door.


    ¡°Are you insane? What are you doing?!¡± Greg yelled at me as I left the car.


    I didn¡¯t answer as I closed the door behind me, slowly making my way to whatever was in front of us.


    Breathing was difficult, but soon I was close enough to see that the obstruction was gigantic in size. It covered the entire highway and continued even further. As I touched it with my hands, I realized that it was made out of concrete. Moving my hand a little to the left, I felt both broken glass and splintered wood. I felt something small, and picking it up, I looked at what was in my hand. It was a damaged and burned doorknob.


    I was speechless for a few moments.


    ¡°It¡¯s a building¡­¡± I realized.


    I hurriedly made my way back to the car, coughing all the way.


    ¡°Did, did you find anything?¡± Mav asked me nervously. All of their faces were pale.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I answered, ¡°The thing blocking us, it¡¯s an entire building. Or rather, it¡¯s the rubble of a building!¡±


    I was met with silence for a few moments, then- ¡°That makes no sense!¡± Kal was the first one to speak.


    In response, I showed them the doorknob in my hand. ¡°I also felt glass and broken wood. I know it¡¯s hard to believe, but that thing in front of us is an entire damn building.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Once again, I was greeted with silence.


    ¡°Greg,¡± I spoke. ¡°We need to turn around. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, but we need to get the hell out of here.¡±


    He broke out of his stupor, and nodded vigorously. Putting the car in reverse, he slowly turned it around. While he was doing this, Kal turned on the radio and put it on a news channel.


    Static was all that greeted us. ¡°Damnit¡­¡± Kal punched the dashboard in frustration. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°D-don¡¯t worry. We can just head back. The smoke is probably destroying the signal.¡± Mav spoke nervously.


    It was then that our entire world shook.


    ~CRASH~


    Ahead of us we saw something black fall on the road and as it fell, the entire ground itself quaked violently.


    ¡°Wha.. What the hell was that?!¡± Kav was close to panicking.


    As the car slowly inched forward, it once again hit something.


    ¡°You have got to be kidding me¡­¡± I muttered under my breath.


    In front of us was another collapsed building, completely blocking the road. Rubble was still falling in places and I could see a few fires inside.


    ¡°W-what do we do now?¡± Mav whispered.


    Greg, having come to his senses, took charge. ¡°We¡¯ll take the exit we just passed. At the very least, we need to get out of this smoke.¡±


    The rest of us let out a sigh of relief, it was good knowing someone else was in charge.


    As we went down the ramp, the smoke around us started to clear. All around us we only saw destruction, every building we passed was collapsed and spotted with fire.


    We smelled them first. It was the smell of burned flesh, and soon enough saw corpses littering the ground.


    This time it was Mav who broke out of his shock first. ¡°T-This is like a warzone. Did someone invade Canada?¡±


    ¡°Invade Canada? You¡¯re kidding right?¡± Kal tried to lighten the mood.


    I stayed silent as my two friends continued to bicker.


    ¡°H-help¡­¡± We heard a small voice.


    The car abruptly stopped and Greg opened his door. ¡°You guys stay here! I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Saying this, he ran outside and closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Greg!¡± I yelled as I opened my window. Kal and Mav looked on silently.


    ¡°Are you okay? What happened here?¡± I could hear Greg asking someone on the ground. I couldn¡¯t hear the soft reply.


    ¡°Guys! Get me some water!¡± Greg looked back at us. I could make out a small child next to him.


    Both Kal and Mav stayed still, so I grabbed a nearby water bottle and went outside.


    ¡°Greg! This is dangerous, we need to leave.¡± I said as I cautiously approached my friend. He was a little too close to a nearby fire for my comfort.


    ¡°Hurry up! She¡¯s dying here!¡±


    I took a deep breath and got ready to pick up my pace. It was then that the world shook once more.


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    A figure flew through the air above us, crashing through pieces of rubble on the way. One of the pieces just happened to be above Greg at the time. Time seemed to slow down as I watched the stone fall helplessly. Where Greg had once been, there was now a large piece of rubble and a splash of fresh blood. He didn¡¯t even have time to cry out.


    ¡°¡­ Wha¡­ What¡­?¡± I stared in disbelief. That, didn¡¯t just happen, right?


    ¡°GREG!¡± I slowly looked behind me as I heard that grief stricken shout. I didn¡¯t know whether it was Kal or Mav, but both of them were looking in shock at where Greg had once been.


    The figure that flew through the air slowly picked itself up off the ground. Through the smoke caused by the debris I couldn¡¯t make out any details.


    No one should be able to survive a fall like that!


    In panic I hurriedly turned around and ran back to the car.


    ¡°Kal!¡± I screamed, ¡°Drive!¡±


    As soon as I was back in the car, the tires screeched and it was off. Kal was driving in panic.


    ¡°W-We just left him?! Stop Kal, turn back around!¡± Mav exclaimed.


    ¡°No!¡± I yelled. ¡°He¡¯s gone, we all saw that! We need to get the hell out of here, now.¡±


    Kal didn¡¯t say anything and just continued to drive, dodging obstacles on the road at a reckless speed. Mav looked at the two of us in disbelief.


    We all saw it at the same time. A figure draped in red dropped down from the sky in front of us, blocking the road and forcing Kal to slam the breaks.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Some vermin were still alive?¡± The voice came from the shadowed figure. The voice sounded male and was loud enough to shake the entire car. Without realizing it, all three of us were quaking in fear in front of this presence.


    The figure said nothing more and simply raised up its arm.


    ¡°Stop!¡± A feminine voice came from behind us. I turned around and lost my breath at what I saw.


    It was a woman. Or at least it looked similar to a woman. To put it simply, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, I could never even imagine such beauty. With long flowing blue hair, her face was pale colored and she had on a dazzling dark blue dress. It took me a moment to realize that her ears were sharply angled and that her pupils were bright blue slits, similar to an animal¡¯s.


    Unconsciously, I had slightly opened my door.


    ¡°Oh? You wish to save them? Very well, then let us continue.¡± The figure ahead of us moved towards the woman. More importantly, he had stepped out of our way and his terrifying presence had faded.


    While staring at the woman, I  noticed another figure slowly creeping close to the woman. Reluctantly, I changed my gaze. It was another man, and he had his right hand out in front of him. His mouth was moving rapidly, as if he was chanting something. The woman had her attention fixed on the man approaching her and was oblivious to the threat from behind.


    It was then that I made quite possibly the most important, (and stupidest) decision of my life. To this date I don¡¯t know why exactly I moved. Could it be that I was struck with ¡®love at first sight¡¯? Or maybe I had simply lost all hope of making it out of this alive.


    Whatever it was, at that moment I bolted out of the car and ran towards the woman as fast as I could.


    ¡°Wha!¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    I ignored the two cries behind me and continued to run at full speed. The woman¡¯s expression became one of surprise as she looked at me running, before changing into a regretful grimace.


    Make it in time! At this point I only had one thought in mind as I changed my direction to behind the woman. The man approaching her had finished chanting and an enormous flame ripped out of his hand. The flame flew towards the woman, coiling into a serpentine shape. At this point the woman felt the presence behind her and moved her hands in anticipation. Just as the flame was about to reach her, I shoved her out of the way.


    Before all was lost for me, I could see the woman staring in shock. In response, I gave a small smile of satisfaction as my thoughts became jumbled.


    At least¡­ I went out saving someone. That¡¯s got to count for something¡­ right?


    I instinctively moved my right hand in front of me as the flame approached. The moment it made contact, I felt pain beyond belief as I watched my hand burn to nothing.


    Before agony consumed me, I had one final coherent thought. Well¡­ Hopefully it¡¯ll be a quick death.


    It wasn¡¯t.