The Steel Oath

Chapter 2 | Awakening

"Without a clear moral vision, we devolve into moral relativism, and from there, oblivion." 

-Benjamin Aaron Shapiro

Incredible. Ben thought. Simply incredible. He stood in the cool crisp night air of an unfamiliar land. The moon and stars illuminating wide, lush fields. In the distance, sycamore trees sprawled up and scraped at the sky. He simply marveled for a moment, taking in the beauty of nature. The calmness of night. The tranquility of solitude. Then he got back to the matter at hand.

Now, I don't know much about my situation. Logically, I should still be within a few miles of my home in Los Angeles. But something more primal within me tells me that may not be the case.

"Hello there, traveler!" Ben's head jolted to the side, looking for the source of the voice. His eyes landed on a frail looking old man who stood ten feet from him. How had I not heard the man approach? He now stands but meters from me. Ben thought. But it was but a weak old man. What harm could he possibly cause?

"Hello there, sir! Wonderful night." 

"Indeed. You aren't from around here, are you son?"

"I'm not quite sure, sir." Ben answered honestly. His mind was now at ease. This friendly old man could certainly help him.

"Well, that certainly is an odd response. Not that it makes  a difference." The old man wore a large grin on his face. "You're too far away from town for it to matter anyway." His body began to shake violently. No, not shake. Expand.

The old man's limbs stretched out with a sickening squelch and a series of cracks that sent shivers down Ben's spine. Ben looked on in unmoving horror as the old man grew. After only seconds, the old man was now a sickening sight to behold. His skin was stretched out over his now emaciated body. It struggled to cover the whole of his towering size. He must be at least 12 feet tall! is what Ben would have thought had he been in a less vulnerable state. As it stood, all he could think was Run. And that he did. He bolted in the opposite direction of the creature. He heard it cackling behind him as he ran. It took but two steps for it to almost close the distance between itself and the sprinting Shapiro, for the height distance was too great. Shapiro claimed to have been 5 foot 9 inches throughout his adult life, but privately knew himself to only be 5 foot 5 on a good day. This meant that his legs were less than half the size of the creature's, and it had obviously done the math as well. It was leisurely strolling behind him as he sprinted as hard as he could to keep away. 

"Come on, little man. You have to be able to run faster than that." The creature hissed. It reached its long arm down and slapped him to the ground. "Even children have put up more of a fight." He looked up into its cold eyes. It was mocking him. Playing with him as a kitten played with a mouse before going in for the kill. Ben tried to think up some way to save himself, and in his right mind he might have. But this creature did not fit into Ben's knowledge of the world. So he lay there, cowering. At the mercy of the creature.

It looked down at him, disappointed. "Spoil all the fun of it. Not like I care." It then opened its mouth. Ben looked into its black hole maw, powerless against the creature. He closed his eyes, praying that his death would be quick, but knowing that it wouldn't. At that moment, the creature's head exploded.

Ben immediately fell to the ground, blood and viscera spraying all over him. He stared forward in stunned silence. A cloaked individual approached.

"Looks like we've got ourselves another one."