Prologue, Part 2

A student of the future faces overwhelming odds during a life-threatening tournament.

The Camp of the Capital seemed much more like a high-tech village than any sort of campsite, with sprawling buildings dedicated to all manners of activities, from business and technical to recreational. It was thoroughly stocked with all of life's essentials as well as pretty much all of life's playthings and entertainment. All walks of life, from jocks to gamers, would've been happy to live here, and I admit I was tempted to sit back and relax. However, even at eighteen, I felt as though now was not the time for me to deem life unworthy of being prepared for.

 

We were given a few minutes to mingle, which I launched myself into for potential allies. The government ultimately decided everything, but that didn't mean our avatars in the program had to run around and kill each other. The stronger the alliances, the stronger the army...

 

A buzzer sounded, and a giant metal door that I had previously deemed a giant metal wall slid open vertically with a pneumatic hiss. All of our pupils contracted when broad daylight brilliantly illuminated the otherwise dim warehouse-like space where we had been mingling. Cautiously, we approached. Peering outside, we noticed beautiful rolling hills, a forest that lasted forever, a great ocean in the distance, mountains nearby. Where in the world were we? Certainly not the Capital anymore...

 

An unknown force gently pushed us outside, and a little dwarf appeared. No joke. A dwarf. Like, Lord of the Rings. In an equally little voice that somehow spread all over the realms, he spoke: “Six more of me, and then all of hell breaks loose!” Messages all appeared around us, and through it we learned that we are the avatars. Through hand gestures, we could activate a(n) “backpack/inventory”, “settings”, “appearance”, “apparel”, and various other gaming qualities.

 

I started to grow uncomfortable, as a second dwarf appeared before us. “Five more of me, and then all of hell breaks loose!” Tenderly, I leaned forward to touch it, and though he gazed at my fingertips through caterpillar-like eyebrows, he did nothing, and my hand passed right through him, and the first, as well. “That tickles!” They exclaimed, as their holograms shimmered.

 

I ran, with all my might. I was one of the shortest in the program at 5”2, and though I had a long, shapely torso, my legs felt especially comically short under these circumstances. Most of the other students remained dumbfounded, some of them broke off as well, but my thudding footsteps guided me to the forest. Soon I was crunching leaves beneath my feet. Another dwarf appeared before me, and stayed with me as I ran, as if an image attached to the inside of a helmet. “Four more of me, and then all of hell breaks loose!”

 

I continued to run, my breath coming haggard though my windpipe, my sides and ribs hurting, my knees aching. Finally I dove beneath a log and waited. Four minutes later, the other four dwarfs appeared, and indeed, all of hell broke loose.

 

Fantastical, illogical, unbelievable creatures appeared in the skies, came out of the trees, emerged from the ground like a zombie from a grave, a vampire from a coffin. My higher senses and emotions all abandoned me, and for a moment, I was left with a simple choice: Fight, or fly. I hesitated, feeling like fighting. I had felt invincible up until this moment, and I briefly considered taking on the animals. But as I watched one kill another with vicious fangs and claws that definitely weren't holographic, I knew instantly that fighting would be suicidal. As quietly as I could, I attempted to inch out from under the log in the cacophonous din of feral animals in a death craze, yet as my knees brushed against some leaves, every creature in the forest fell silent, and turned their beady black eyes at me. I froze.

 

The log that was previously shelter grew arms and legs, a scowling face, and re-formed itself into a stake. Though I tried to escape, the log brought its stake down through my abdomen, pinning me to the ground like a scientist pins a butterfly to a wall. It took me an agonizingly long several minutes to die.

Author's Note

This is an old work of mine, written when I was fifteen, inspired by a dream that I had. I discovered the work recently and liked it, so I have decided to revisit it. I will likely do a lot of editing and may add on to the story, or I may scrap it entirely. I would love constructive criticism over every aspect that could be improved.

Reviews

[Louis McKraker]

Neat. I haven't see a prologue done in two parts, I don't think.
I should have thought of that years ago.
Now onward to the meat and potatoes of the story.
So far, you have a good sense of alliteration, to be such a young writing, at that.