Chapter 6

A Chapter by Rasheem

Gabriel observed the area around him. In awe at what he sees. Ezekiel walked toward the forest ahead of them.

“Where are you going?” Gabriel asked

“This way we aren’t going to figure anything out by standing right here gawking at trees.”

Gabriel followed Ezekiel he knew the old man was his best bet of survival. Ezekiel stopped at a tree ahead of them. He placed his hand on the tree then rubbed the bark gently.

“This mage is very powerful to have cast such a powerful spell. It’s truly amazing I can’t wait to meet him.” Ezekiel said while stroking his beard.

“You mean the warden did this with magic?”

“The magic it would take to pull off something like this is on a god’s level. If he did do this I wonder why someone of that caliber would work under a tyrant king. He could just simply teleport this island somewhere were the mad king could not reach him. It’s something I’m missing.”

Ezekiel bent down to scoop some dirt off the ground. The soil slipped smoothly through his fingertips.

“I’m not sure if were still in the prison. This seems to be a whole other island entirely”

Ezekiel rubs his beard while he observes the area around him. Gabriel looked ten times more confused than the old man. He spotted a tree that had some fruit hanging from the branches. His stomach had been empty ever since he arrived at the prison. Gabriel walked to the tree and plucked a fruit from the branch. He was about to bite it when a scary thought ran through his mind. He looked back at Ezekiel who was still examining the mysterious landscape.

“Hey old man do you think this fruit is ok to eat?”

Ezekiel snatched a fruit off a nearby tree then bit it. Juices from the fruit wet his mouth as he chewed.

“Incredible even the food is real.” Ezekiel nodded at Gabriel giving the go ahead. Gabriel dug in without another thought.

Ezekiel traveled deeper into the forest and Gabriel followed closely behind with five fruits stuffed in his arm.

“Where are we going old man?” Gabriel asked after biting from the fruit.

“Not sure.”

Gabriel thought to ask Ezekiel something else but decided to take another bite than another Gabriel plucked fruits from the trees they passed by eating like it were his first meal after fasting.

“What was your life like before this unfortunate event occurred?” Ezekiel asked

Gabriel wiped his mouth. “I was training to be a soldier. I wanted to join the Ishar brigade.”

“Why did you want to be a soldier?”

“Because there the coolest! They get all the women and no one ever f***s with them! To have Luther’s crescent on your helmet is the greatest honor there is.” Gabriel kicks up dirt from the ground. “Now that will never happen.”

Ezekiel stops then turns around. “Hold your head up kid. I admire you for wanting to be a soldier even if it’s just to get women and wear some silly badge of honor but do you know the true meaning of being a soldier?”

“Yeah to enforce the law from anyone who’d oppose it.”

Ezekiel grins slightly. “To fight for those who cannot the children the elderly everyone you ever loved and even those you do not. Being a soldier means running in the direction that everyone else is running from. It means sacrificing your own life so that millions of others can live. Are you willing to accept those burdens as well?”

For a moment Gabriel doesn’t say anything he lets the words of the old man dawn on him.

“My mother died shortly after giving birth to me and I never seen my father I don’t even know if he is alive. Since I was a little boy I’ve been on my own. No one gave me anything I had to steal food and pray for rain so I could drink from the water puddles. I’m not sure I can sacrifice my life for people who haven’t so much as given me a coin.”

“Yet you went out of your way to help an old man like me someone you don’t know. If what you say is true then why did you risk your life to save me?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Ezekiel smiles very wide for an old man his teeth were in perfect condition. “ I know why it’s because you have a good heart. You’re also very strong I sense a lot of chi resonating from your spirit. I’ve taken a liking to you kid. In fact I’ve made up my mind you will be my protégé.”

Before Gabriel could respond with questions like why I would want to be your protégé and this Chi nonsense but has yet to show even so much as a small example of what it can do. Bullets whizzed past their heads. In one swift motion Ezekiel pushed Gabriel to the ground standing over him looking for the attackers. Gun shots rang out from all angles they went on for what seemed like forever Gabriel Folded up on the ground with his ears covered. When the gunshots finally stopped Gabriel had his eyes closed shut breathing heavily. The sound of footstep’s stomping through the ground was heard. Three prisoners holding Automatic rifle’s in there hand emerged from the woods. With blood lusting grins on their faces that slowly vanished once they saw what was before them.

Gabriel slowly opened his eyes and gasped immediately. Standing over him was a bloody Ezekiel. There were several bullet wounds in Ezekiel’s torso there was even one bullet that had passed through the center of his head. His beard was no longer snowy white but a dark emerald red. Yet the old man did not collapse he stood tall over a scared and confused Gabriel.

“Are you ok kid you weren’t hit were you?” Ezekiel asked blood oozing from the hole in his forehead.

Gabriel didn’t say anything he laid on the ground in shock not moving a muscle. Ezekiel looked at Gabriel other than the expression on his face he appeared fine.

“Good you weren’t hit. I can’t have my protégé dying before he even learned his true potential.” Ezekiel turned his attention toward his attackers. He began walking towards them slowly.

“What the hell how is he still alive?” A prisoner said as he reloaded his weapon.

“Shoot him again unload on the b*****d!” Yelled the prisoner’s ally

The prisoners quickly reloaded there weapons while Ezekiel walked casually towards them. The prisoner’s fired hitting Ezekiel all over his body however the old man continued walking like he was at the park on a sunny day. The inmates fired until there barrels provided them with clicking sounds. Ezekiel now stood directly in front of his attackers looking more like a corpse than a human. One of his eyes were shot out and his body was filled with holes the jumpsuit he wore was almost completely destroyed. Yet he stood tall staring at them with his one good eye.

“If anybody moves I will kill you.” The old man said while massaging his bloody beard.

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© 2018 Rasheem

Author's Note

If anyone is liking this story so far it gets better from here

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Reviews

barleygirl

I like the way you include lessons in your story. In the last chapter, you did a good explanation of chi & the other energies. In this chapter I like how taking fruit from the tree reminds us of Adam & Eve in the Bible, which you use here like symbolism. Again, the new style of dialogue is well done.

Here are a couple of suggestions. When the gunshots first start firing, try using onomatopoeia (made up words that sound like what's happening) such as: POW! POP! PING! POW! -- If you put these all in one line, crafted as a very short paragraph of only those "sound" words, then it creates a startling effect, as if we are being shot at (instead of explaining the gunfire in a longer paragraph, which is much less dynamic). Another place you can do this is when the gun runs out of bullets: CLICK! PLICK! SNICK! CLICK! -- just these "sound" words and that's all in the paragraph -- to emphasize & show how the shooting has ended, instead of explaining that the gun is out of bullets. These methods are ways to SHOW instead of TELL -- the first rule of good writing. Sounds & other sensory descriptions put your reader right into the middle of the action, instead of explaining, which can be boring.