The Final Paradise

His wounds gripping at his limbs and chest like barbed wire, Ben crept into the welcoming light of the sick bay. In his trembling grasp he held a confiscated rifle. He was unsure whether any bullets were left in it. His brain wouldn’t allow him to compute the last twenty minutes of his life. He had no idea what had happened. All he knew was he had a lot of blood on his hands, and he had no idea what had happened to Link and Esfir. “Don’t forget who you are.” Ben looked up into the dizzying haze. She was there. His mother. His vision. She sat upon the now empty bed where Rocky had been earlier. She just sat there and nothing more, watching him. “No!” Ben screamed, feeling sanity ebb away from him. “Leave me alone! I don’t want this anymore!” “Don’t forget who you are.” “Shut up!” Ben fired a shot at the figure. It dissolved into nothing as the bullet screamed through the air and shattered a window on the other side of the room. Lights fizzed and glass crashed to the floor. “Shut up!” Ben felt himself hit the ground. “Shut up!” “Benjamin!” A hail of gunfire roared above Ben’s head, snapping him back to reality so fast it hurt his mind. The scream was filled with such hatred. Limping into the room, blood cascading down his face, was Edmund Eczalon. He was sporting a huge shotgun and seemed to have lost his right ear. He looked in incredible pain but was evidently so hell-bent on murder he didn’t feel it. “I’ve come for you Benjamin! Get ready to die!” Ben grabbed a nearby object, throwing it through the nearest window into the adjacent corridor. Before Edmund had time to reload the shotgun Ben picked himself off the floor and dived through the new hole in the wall, crashing to the metallic ground the other side. “God has sent for you, Benjamin!” Edmund was shouting from the other room, insanity pushing new tones into his screams. “I will deliver you unto him!” An explosion of gunfire forced Ben’s ears into submission. He spent a good few seconds rolling on the floor, his eyes surrendering to a blurry red haze and his ears completely consumed by a rumbling whistle. He had to think fast. He had to get out of there as soon as he could. Grabbing the long object he had used to break the window, he pulled himself to his feet and ran as fast as he could from his pursuer. Tirelessly, for what must have been half an hour, Ben stumbled in an almost drunken daydream through the corridors. He’d hurt himself so badly. He’d lost so much blood. He felt faint. Collapsing through a door, Ben let himself rest, watching the reddening world dancing around him like a narcotic nightmare. He couldn’t go on. He’d managed to find his way into some kind of storage closet, so promptly shut the door to prevent Edmund finding him. For as long as an hour he sat there, allowing his body to undo as much damage as possible. He silently waited as his system sealed wounds, repaired cells, created blood. All the time that he sat there, panting in a mad desire to grasp fresh air, he never let go of the long object. When he finally collected enough energy to move and his hearing returned fully, he felt okay to open his eyes and inspect his new friend. He was amazed at what he held. King Snake’s sword. It had evidently been stored in the sick bay with Rocky, and he had just happened to grab it. Ben inspected its beautiful unique carvings and the word ‘SNAKE’ etched into the handle. Everything had come full circle. Three years ago, back in England, Ben had been entrusted with this very weapon. He had been told to keep it away from the forces of evil. Over the past three years those forces had become all too powerful. Now Ben not only fought for a nation under fire, but for the future of freedom for humankind. He had never imagined his innocent trip to Calanimbus would turn out this way. He had to find the others. He had to rest, and then find the others. Rocky had obviously been moved from or had escaped from the sick bay, and Link must have got away alive. He had to be alive, or else everything was lost. Ben had never felt so vulnerable. He had never felt so insignificant. He had never felt so alone. He needed rest. He needed sanity. He needed to get to the Core before the time was up, and Calanimbus was cast into the abyss. Clutching at the sword, Ben knew what had to be done. He knew that fate had brought the sword back to his side, and that fate was telling him to slay the beast at all costs.