I woke up on cold marble under open sky, the kind of dramatic staging that screams "budget blockbuster." No roof above me, just stars and a ring of torches the size of small bonfires. Surrounding what seemed to be a summoning circle, the same one I saw moments before I fell to what seemed to be a pitch black darkness before I awoke.
My eyes opened, looking around and seeing hundreds of armored soldiers in tight ranks, war banners snapping in the night wind. At the far end of the wide courtyard, elevated on a dais, stood the king in full regalia, crown gleaming like it was personally offended by subtlety.
He raised both arms. Voice booming across the plaza below. "Behold! The Otherworlder has arrived! Chosen by the gods to lead humanity to eternal dominion! With your power, we shall purge the lesser races and -"
I sat up slowly, blinking dust out of my eyes. "Okay… either I was hit so hard on my head, I'm in a delusional coma , or you people are **really** committed to the LARP. Which one is it? Because if this is theater, bravo—the costumes are on point. That or someone slap me back awake from this dream." The soldiers, the king, even the court wizards, they were all estranged to me.
A ripple of confusion moved through the ranks. The king's eyebrows shot up. "I don't know what this LARP is, but I assure you, our kingdom is not make believe."
I raised an eyebrow, frantically trying to logic my way out of this insanity. "Yeah sure, whatever floats your boat."
"I don't think you understand the measure of importance your appearance is to our kingdom," the court wizards butted in now. "We have summoned you to fight for us, to liberate our foes. Genocide of other men and beast alike."
"Look, I get it. You need a scary speech to rally the troops. Maybe the 'purge the lesser races' line tests well with focus groups. But come on, nobody actually means that stuff, right? It's just motivational rhetoric. You're not seriously about to start a continent-wide-" I was cut off.
"We are the better race," the king began his ramble. "You see in our world, everyone thinks less of us humans. You may not agree with our methods, but rest assured, my message to you, to my troops, is 100% sincere and clear."
My face went from having a raised eyebrow to now visually looking shocked. I was summoned but clearly, their intentions were far from what I expected. Before I can say my next sentence, that's when I felt it. A gentle ping behind my eyes, like someone tapped "send" on a very calm text message, the nearest side of my brain.
*Hey, Alex. Welcome to chapter one. They're not kidding. This is real. Think of this as their TED talk.*
I froze. Looked around. No one else heard it.
"Are you okay?" The court wizards can see my frantic face. I know I couldn't hide it.
"Eh, uh, hold that thought," I immediately knelt down, as if I was cowering beneath my own body. "Hey voice in my head, what gives?! TED talk!?" I tried to whisper to myself.
*As I said, hello Alex,* the voice, it was clearer than before. *Welcome to Aetherra. A parallel world, massively different to Earth, your Earth that you once knew.*
"Okay, you answered my where," I continued to whisper, while everyone around continued to look at me. Couldn't care less. "Who are you?"
*I can assure you, I am not God,* this voice, he began to explain. *Long story short dude, I am the Narrator of this story, your guide so to speak. Anyways, the king and his cronies, they're not kidding about this whole ordeal.*
*You're the author?* I thought back. *The one who decided my Sunday needed magic, war and God knows what else?*
*Guilty. And yes, they're about to launch a war that ends in extinction-level body counts on all sides. You're here to cancel the whole thing and then some. That's what I mean about their TED talk.*
*The hell you mean cancel? You're asking a lot for someone who claims they're not some type of God, you know?* I quipped back.
*Ah damn, I really had to go and get a naysayer huh?*
*Hey you're the one about to throw me into the wolves, humor me.* Seeing my current dilemma, I couldn't help but complain about my situation.
*You're the one that's supposed to humor me,* he sighed. I think he knew I was going to be very stubborn about this. *Alright buddy, since clearly we are in this together now, here's the deal: enjoy the long story I'm about to enthrall you on, be the hero or whatever I need you to be, get a nice girlfriend and enjoy your journey, and I'll make sure, for most part, make it livable here for ya, sound good?*
*And if I say no?* I replied.
*There are no no's here,* he answered. Not the one I wanted to hear. *To tell you the truth, this is a one and done deal, you're stuck here and for the better or worse, for everyone's amusement. Sorry not sorry.*
*Why am I not surprised?* I facepalmed. Ain't no way my life from being a decorated cop to being a, what they call it? An Otherworlder, is now my fate. *This whole deal really benefits you, of all people.*
*Hey, I'll make it up to you buddy,* he said so nonchalantly. *Well, shall we?"
*Not like I got a choice in the matter, asshole.* I groaned, and I stood back up, face to face with the king. "Sorry about that, where were we?"
The court wizards went up to the king, whispered something to him. Not sure if it was good or not. "Ahem, as I was saying, join us in our campaign to wipe out all of those who oppose us, the true superior race of Aetherra. Let it be know that Valthar, is the greatest kingdom."
*Before you answer him,* he appeared again in my head, comfortable there rent free. *I did say he was serious about this whole mass genocide thing.*
*Bitchin', what would you have me do then?* I can only look at the king as I spoke in my mind. Glad I can only hear this annoying entity of an author.
*Waste them all.*
I was perplexed. I did not expect that one bit. *Kill them? You sure about that?*
*I know you have no problems with that, I know you're a cop through and through,* he reminded me. *I'm just saving you the trouble of knowing right from wrong, and in this case, this whole thing is screaming wrong. Plus, even if you didn't want to join them, I know for a fact they'll probably brainwash you or something like that.*
*I mean, most of my kills have been in self defense,* I recollected all the times, back in Chicago, back in Pilsen, the amount of times I killed in the line of duty. Not for pleasure or anything, but for my life. Theirs or mine, and clearly, it was always mine. *Even if that were the case, I'd have no idea how to do what you're telling me to do. I have no weapon.* I reached for my holster, empty.
*Not to worry my boy,* and what felt like an RPG, suddenly he did something. Like opening Pandora's box, everything hit me at once, power surging in my body like I've never felt before. I felt it, in my veins, in my bones. A burning sensation, that filled me abruptly. *There, now you're a walking weapon.*
The court wizard started to cough, almost overwhelmed the moment the author unlocked my full potential. "MY LORD!" He puked, barely able to stand as is.
The soldiers began to encircle me, the king began to be weary as he saw his court wizard be frail at my sight. "JULIUS!" He yelled out his name, trying to knock some sense into him. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
I looked into the palm of my hand then formed it into a fist. "This feels amazing!" I prepared myself. "What's next?"
*Focus your energy,* like a tutorial, the author began to explain. *Engulf your fists with elemental fury, if you think of fire, then fire will appear. The same could be said about the other elements. Now, smash the summoning circle. Smash the leadership into bits. Smash the invasion slash genocidal plans. You've got the precision and the firepower now. And no civilians, I know you have a glass heart for them.*
I did what he told me, I thought of the fire and like said, it appeared, wrapped around my fists. This only made the guards put up their shields around me. I glanced down at the glowing rune under my feet. Then up at the king, who couldn't believe that I stood against everything he was. "I will stop you right now. You. Your wizard. Your army. All of it."
His wizard got up, cleared the fear he had. Casted his power into his staff. "In the name of Julius, I cast thee, FIREBALL!" Like the name implied, a fireball formed at the end of his staff. And with no hesitation, shot it towards me.
With nothing but my fists, I punched it, deflecting it right back at him tenfold. And in mere seconds, the wizard was engulfed in his own flames, burning alive as his blood curling scream was heard in the room, terrifying the king and the troops. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"
"HOW DARE YOU!" The king exclaimed at me, for killing his right hand man as he suddenly became nothing but ashes. More troops appearing at the rear. "THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY MY GENEROSITY!?"
"Offering me a place by your side with your genocide, your ugly motives, that's no generosity. Not one bit," That sounded almost speech like. "How many lives have you taken? Before me? How many did you simply kill off, in the name of generosity?"
His men started to come at me, one by one. Even with their shields, their armor, my flame burned. So many tried to blitz me, but I simply punched away. Nothing but the sounds of screams can be heard, as they all died beneath my feet.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH-" I didn't even let him finish his sentence. His head, a clean hit with a simple punch, ended his terrible reign.
"Next?"
A warm rush hit me, power pouring in like someone cranked every stat to eleven. Magic reserves that could level mountains. I used it, every last bit of it. Leaving trails of bodies in this god forsaken fortress that was once theirs.
I didn't wait. Not one bit. And that was the scary part, I wasn't sure if I just lost part of who I used to be. Not even as a cop or a detective did I have so much bloodshed like I did today. Not a gang war, not a robbery, not any type of crime that could even describe the level of slaughter I left in the wake of my destruction.
After I dealt with the ramble, I looked back - the summoning circle, right behind me along with the dead. I raised my hand, focused once more and released a powerful blast. Runes screamed and went dark. No more gates. No more arrivals. Door closed. Forever.
Then the castle itself. I didn't target the servants, I made sure everyone, civilian wise, were out of the area. One target only, the castle itself.
Support columns snapped like twigs. Towers folded inward. Walls crumbled in slow, thunderous waves. The dais the king stood on simply ceased to exist, swallowed by the collapsing stone. The war council, the elite guard, every officer who'd planned the purges, gone in seconds under tons of marble and steel. Surgical. No strays.
The roar of destruction rolled across the city like a physical thing. Dust billowed outward, then settled. I stepped out of the rubble.
The castle, or what was left of it, was a jagged ruin behind me. I stood at the edge of the shattered courtyard, silhouetted against the moon, facing the wide plaza below.
Thousands of faces stared up at me. More Civilians. Merchants. Families. Children on shoulders. Guards who'd been stationed outside the walls. Everyone who'd come to witness the "hero's arrival." Or so they thought, only a shadow of what was left.
They saw the king's crown lying in the dust. They saw the banners burning. They saw me, alone, untouched, glowing faintly with the fire still embalmed on my fists.
Silence. Then screams. Then a wave of horrified realization rolling through the crowd like fire through dry grass.
I exhaled. Hands shaking. Not from effort. From the sheer weight of what I'd just become in their eyes.
*Well…* I thought, *That's one way to make an entrance. You happy now?*
*It was necessary. You know why.*
*Yeah. I know. And that's the scary part.* I looked down at the sea of terrified faces, and the at my hands, how they ended so many lives than I ever could in my entire lifetime. *I stopped the war before it started. Saved who knows how many more lives. But these people? They just watched their entire government, their king, get turned into nothing but ashes and rubble. They're never gonna see me as anything but the monster who ruined their capital. Soldiers with families, they'll hate me for killing their loved one.*
*They'll hate you for sure. Fear you as they see you. That's part of it.*
*Part of what? Being seeing as some sort of Kingslayer? Is this the path you've destined me for? The trail of bloodshed that sets up my story?*
*Some worlds need a necessary evil at times, this is one of those, at least in their eyes.*
*I get it,* I sighed, I know what I'm about to carry. *Just seems so unfair, is all.*
*Don't worry, this is part of your growth into this world, so relax and enjoy what I'll bring to you dude.*
I laughed, hollow, but real. *Great, like that's comforting at all.* I said sarcastically. *Alright, guess this is the part where I dip into the shadows, huh? So cliché.*
*For now.* He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. *You're the worst, I hope you know that. Let's get this over with before we do anymore clichés.*
*Alright buddy, just start walking.*
I started down the cracked steps, through the settling dust, toward the stunned crowd that parted like water.
*Where to now, director?* I asked. *I know you said the shadows, any where in particular?*
*Any corner or shadow is fine. Breathe my dude. Let the world catch up. Then we see who shows up looking for the guy who just solo'd a kingdom.*
*Can't wait for the fan mail. "Dear Butcher of Valthar, thanks for the war crimes, five stars."* I continued my sarcasm, hoping he sees them in his words.
*You'll survive it. You always do.*
I kept walking. Past the remaining, scared guards. Past the staring faces. Past the ringing bells. Into the night.
*One last thing,* I asked, under the moonlight. *What's next?*
*Adventure.* He chuckled.
*Lame,* I smirked into the darkness, knowing how vague that was. *You're a dick.*
*Yeah, whatever buddy,* I know behind that pen of his, he rolled his eyes, I can sense it. *It takes one to know one.*
*Fair enough.* I chuckled.
I looked back, once more at the destruction. How my life was suddenly one hundred times more harder than whatever my previous life is, or was.
Thinking about it, the last thing I did. That one last phone call to home. My sisters, my brother, my parents. "Shit, today was family dinner, pozole, my favorite dish growing up…" All but an afterthought now. "Guess Mom will be disappointed about that wine and flan too now."
I disappeared into the shadows of the city—last Otherworlder, kingdom-killer, and apparently the only guy in the world who has the worst author living rent-free in his head. Great.