Chapter One: Like a Zombie

Tom finds himself in a very peculiar situation. Not knowing what to do, he goes to visit an old friend in hopes of getting some guidance.

I awoke in a field, bathed by a blinding white light. No landmarks existed in this barren landscape, save for a black, marble mansion. It looked ancient. There was a pond next to the mansion, which seemed the only source of water as far as the eye could see.

What the f*ck... I thought to myself, I’m dead... Right?... I looked at my hands in front of my face, and sat up, looking at the rest of my body. I seemed fine.

“No. You‘re not," said an eerily familiar, British voice. I turned, unable to find the speaker, until I saw a frog. It sat just about a foot away from me. It was almost comical looking, with a head much larger than it should be, and it was able to stand on two legs.

"Did you just..." I started, pointing at the frog in disbelief.

"Indeed I did. Quite the observant one, you are." The frog replied politely.

"Wait… you’re the one who…” I began.

The frog nodded. Well, as much as a frog can.

“And… the blood and lightning thing…” I tried to ask, very confused.

“All in good time, chap, I assure you.”

“So then… where am I? Who are you?”

"We are in Ashran." The frog explained, as if it were obvious.

"Where the fu-" I was interrupted again.

"Forgive me, but we do not have much time, chap. I am Jayce," the frog said with a froggish bow, "You are Thomas Keir. And for the time being, you are dead." He paused, letting that sink in. I was confused.

"Okay… For the time being?" I asked quickly.

"You’ll be going back," Jayce explained, becoming somber for a moment. “You are the only one who can stop the Equinox. You are the only one who can save us all."

“The hell do you mean going back?”

“We stopped you from dying from your injuries, but your soul was overwhelmed by the power and left your body. We guided it, you, here to recuperate.”

“So… once it’s done.. I’ll come back to life… Like a zombie?”

“No,” Jayce quipped, causing me to pout a little. “Your body is healthy and intact; in a sort of coma.”

“So when-”

“Now.”

Suddenly everything blurred. I felt myself being thrown back across the seemingly endless wasteland of Ashran. Next, everything went dark.

I opened my eyes, squinting from the summer sun. It was spring when I fought the assassins.

How long was I out? I asked myself. My clothes were stiff and singed, and as I took a breath, the rancid smell of burnt and decaying flesh filled my sinuses. Looking around, the place was seemingly undisturbed since the confrontation. What was left of the assassins’ bodies were maggot-ridden and fungus-covered, with even some sprouts and saplings growing out of some.

I got to my feet with relative ease. My wounds had all closed, leaving nasty scars on my stomach and back, where I had been impaled, as well as the rest of my body. I looked like a botched organ donor. I found my hat among the corpses, dusted it off, and placed it back on my head. My coat was tattered, and my mask was so ragged I ripped it off with barely a tug. I sighed.

I needed to find out what happened to Izzy and Alex. I had no way to get into contact with them, since my cell phone was left inside of the house; even if it wasn’t, calling them would probably have freaked them out. I tried to think of what I could do. We had a friend who lived and ran a shop about 20 miles west of the town; and engineer named Jack. With any luck, Alex would’ve headed there for some help. I looked up towards the sun. It was just about noon, so there was no way to get my bearings off of it’s position.

“Great.” I muttered to myself.

I walked further out of the forest, trying to find an isolated tree that wasn’t competing for sunlight. “Let’s see, so in the northern hemisphere…” I talked to myself, reminding myself of which way the tree should point me. After I found a suitable tree with a lot of leaves, I circled around it, trying to figure out which side was denser. Satisfied with my decision, I stood facing the densest part of the tree and turned to my right.

“So, then… This should be west.”  With minor confidence, I walked steadily in my chosen direction.

After about four hours, I reached a small town. With only around ten houses, I knew it was the right place. However, the town looked abandoned. Building doors were left open, with trash cluttering the dirt streets. Something must have happened here while I was gone; I definitely would’ve heard about it from Jack otherwise. I hoped he was still alive.

I traveled down what I hoped were the correct alleys. I was always bad with directions here, and the dilapidated street signs were of little use. After some time wandering, I found myself in a familiar area. I sighed in relief, approaching the door to Jack’s shop. I knocked on it once, and it swung open.

“Uh… Hello?” I called inside.

Not receiving an answer, I walked in. It looked like Jack left in a hurry. There were tools scattered across some of the tables. I decided to give his recent project a look, a small motor on a table on the right side of the room. I put my hand on it.

No dust. I noted. It couldn’t have been left there for more than a few minutes, but I didn’t see anyone around town. That could only mean one thing. I heard a small shuffling behind me. I slowly began to slide my coat down from my shoulders.

Suddenly, the shuffling turned into pounding footsteps, charging at me with an adrenaline-fueled scream. I quickly spun, tossing my coat into the face of my attacker and stepping to the side swiftly. It worked, the arms catching around his head and blinding him as he bumped into the table.

“Jack? Is that you?” I called loudly. The man turned, swinging a crowbar at me with another primal shout. I ducked out of the way. As the man’s hands swung past me, I spun, hitting the back of his hand hard with my foot, breaking it. The crowbar skittered to the ground. The man balled his one good fist and kept coming after me.

“Jack! It’s me!”

He stopped in his tracks. “Wait… That voice…”

Slowly, he pulled the coat away from his face, standing up straight. Next to Jack, I might as well have been a dwarf. He was well over six feet tall, and built like a pro-wrestler. The look in his eyes was sheer horror.

“T-tom?” He stammered, staggering back, falling over his table. “Get back, demon!”

I picked my coat up slowly, laying it over my shoulder. I spoke in a calm voice. “Jack. It’s me. Calm down. I need your help.”

“I can’t help the dead man, you’re on your f*cking own!” He shouted, picking back up his crowbar and holding it defensively.

“I’m not dead Jack.” I assured him calmly. I walked up to him, reaching my hand out. He raised his crowbar and grimaced, bracing for whatever he thought I was going to do to him. Instead, my hand landed gently on his shoulder.

“See? Flesh and bone. And metal.” I smirked.

“B-but… how? Alex said… She said you weren’t going to be coming by anymore,” Jack explained, almost looking as if he were ready to cry.

“Alex is a little b*tch, what does she know?” I smirked. Jack laughed out loud, the laugh almost getting flooded by tears. He started to laugh uncontrollably, barely masking his sobs as he came up and wrapped me in a bear hug.

“You little sh*t… I missed you man! I missed you…” He told me, his pitch fluctuating with his tears.

“I missed you too man.” I strained, pushing my hand against his chest to loosen his grip, “But you might change that whole alive thing if you keep squeezing like that.”

He laughed again, letting go of me. “Gi… give me a minute.” He told me, sitting down on a chair and taking some deep breaths to calm himself down. I pulled up a chair to the other end of the table, sitting and waiting for him to collect himself.

After a couple of minutes he was ready. He exhaled a long breath before speaking. “Alright. So…” He began, leaning on the table and looking at me. “What the f*ck?”