Young Writers Society

Chapter 1

The year was 2023 and the gaming industry was booming. It quickly became the largest industry in the United States. In this day and age, only large companies’ games became popular, while indie games became almost unheard of. But there was a man who always wanted to become a game designer from a young age, and nothing would stop him from realizing his dream, so he set out to create a game of his own.

6 years later… The young man, Andrew Lord, was testing his game on his computer. “Ragnarok better be a success or my whole life’s work will just be a waste,” he said while placing the memory stick in the micro C port. Andrew leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head showing off his ripped body. As the file loaded up he thought to himself, Maybe if Ragnarok becomes popular enough I won't have to work my stupid job and busting my ass all day…aahhh construction does suck, but it keeps me fed.

He looked at the screen in front of him and noticed something strange, the file has loaded but the screen was like a window to a new world. His save had loaded with his character floating high in the clouds. His avatar was standing on the clouds as if they were solid “...what happened, the screen looks almost see through...but… why does it look so real?” he asked in a confused voice.

Andrew reached out to the screen and tried to touch it out of curiosity. His hand touched the spot where the screen should have been, but there was nothing there. “WHAT…”

He stared at the t.v. in astonishment when he noticed the clouds moving away. I never made the clouds move in the game. When the cloud moved away he saw a village below with lots of little dots scurrying all around. What? My character was in the middle of a mountain range, not this village… wait where did this village come from?

“This is too weird,” he said as his head slowly got closer to the screen before him. When his forehead touched where the screen should have been, he began falling.

Serene was a village girl. She was strong from all the work she did in the fields and was in her late teens, perhaps her early twenties. She wore faded and tattered clothes that looked as if at one point in time they had been a dress. With long and beautiful black hair, she stood out in the village.

Many people thought that black hair meant that person had been touched by the devil. Those who were touched by the devil were feared by most of what was left of humanity, so there were not many places they could go without fear of persecution and this village was one of those places. Serene dropped the bucket in her hand and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Well, it's about time for supper.”

She walked to her home, which was on the outer side of the village. When she opened the door she saw her little sister sitting at the table humming with her legs swinging in the air, a young girl between the age of six and eight. Serene looked to the left to see her grandmother preparing the stew for supper. She was not their actual grandmother but instead was a kind lady who took in the two girls when others wouldn't.

She smiled and sat down at the table as her grandmother passed out the portions of stew. “Grandmother.”

“Yes, Serene?”

“The beast men attacked another village yesterday… should we not run away to a safer place since they could attack us and eat us all any day now?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Do not worry Serene... just believe and the Raven warrior will save us all.” she said in a happy calm voice. “Haven't you heard the stories?”

“That's just it! They’re stories, nothing more. If he did exist, then why do villages get attacked everyday!!”

The old lady stared up at the ceiling and said, “When humanity is on the verge of death a warrior in black spiked armor will descend from the heavens and save humanity from its suffering.”

Just then a man burst through the door panting and gagging, with a terrified look on his face. He tried to scream but a hand grabbed his throat and snapped it like a twig and threw him away.

Serene looked on in fear as the large figure loomed over her. It was a hog-man, a cross between a human and a hog with the strength of 15 men and the appetite of a dragon. When the hog-man saw her little sister, it snorted with excitement as the younger the meal, the more tasty it was considered.

Serene felt him grab her throat and toss her out the door and on to the ground all the while she was frozen in fear. The shock and pain of being thrown awoke her from her paralysis. She picked her face out of the dirt and stood up only to see three hog men running after her.

No, no, nooo!! How can this be happening? I've got to run runaway and live... wait Nelia is still in the house with that monster!! Got to save her!

As Serene turned around to go save her sister, one of the hog-men smacked her aside and her body flew like a ragdoll through the air and smashed on the hard ground. She looked up. I-I can't move my body...this is the end! Huu...

She watched on as the hog-men each grabbed a limb of hers to feast on. Then came the pain as her legs and arms were torn off as if she was only cattle. That's the world we live in, humans are at best food for the beast men... Nelia! Nelia! She'll be eaten. Nooooooooooo! Tears streamed down from her eyes as she was about to die. “Please r-raven wa-warrior, if you exist… p-please save my s-si..ster…”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! What's going on!?” Andrew shouted as he fell from the top of the sky. He fell so fast, he broke the sound barrier. He should have been freaking out the whole way down until he hit the ground and died. But he calmed down quickly and he saw the village as he raced towards it. What he saw made him want to puke. A young girl was being torn apart and eaten. He had to save her and the other villagers who were in similar situations.

He fumbled around in the air for a few seconds, then got his bearings and landed on one leg and one knee. His body created a large crater and a cloud of dust the size of a large truck. Oh my god! That was awesome! Totally a superhero landing! Wait, why am I not dead!?

The dust was quickly blown away and he was standing twenty feet from the girl. All the people looked at him in fear as if he was even more of a monster than the strange beasts who were killing them. What's with that look? Andrew looked at his hands to see blackness. Metal no armor… wait, this is my avatar’s armor.

What happened to me!?... I can figure that out later. My first priority is the people here. when he looked on at the scene before him with the blood and corpses sprayed across the land, he got angry as if a raging spirit was gaining control of him. It’s as if all of my character’s knowledge and skills are my own! They feel as if I've always had them! “If this really is my character, than let's test out its limits and abilities!”

Serene’s eyes were closing as she bled out, then she heard a large crack coming from the sky. It was a black object, and as it fell closer, she could make it out to be a man of some sort. It hit the ground with an earth-shattering smash. A massive cloud of dust came up from the ground beneath him. It can't be, could it!?

Everything became silent, none dared to move or make a sound. The dust was swept away by the wind and there stood a man... No, a monster beyond monsters. The armor it wore was jet black but shined with brilliance. It had etchings and spikes all over its surface, with horns protruding from its helm and where its eyes should have been were glowing red orbs as if they were made of flames.

The monster spoke with a voice so clear and so smooth that it could calm an angry volcano golem, it said, “If this really is my character than let's test out its limits and abilities!”

With that he stepped toward Serene calmly, the hog-men beside her dropping her limbs and backing up in fear as if this monster’s mere presence exerted a pressure which could topple mountains.

When the hog-men tried to run away, their commander, whose legs were rattling under him, shouted, “FOOLS! KILL HIM OR I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF!!” With that threat, the hog-men turned around and rushed the man.

When the first one reached him the warrior simply grabbed the top of the hog-man’s head and crushed it. The hog-men behind him stopped and looked back, then steeled themselves.

The second and third ran with their clubs raised right at the warrior who had killed their ally. The second swung his club whose weight alone was more than a mere human could lift. The hog-man knew there was no way a club flying at that speed could be stopped. Than the third’s club was swung and this human’s death was assured. Against all reason the warrior raised his hand not only in time to stop the one club, but both were halted as if they were no more than feathers.

He grabbed both clubs and snapped them like twigs before throwing them behind himself. “Now, I don't know what you are but what you have done is unforgivable, so I will end you.” At the sight of such an undefeatable enemy the hog-men simply slumped down on their knees as the warrior pulled a massive great sword out of thin air and severed their heads off in one swing.

The warrior hurried over to Serene and said, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.” With that, his hands began to glow a bright yellow as if pure life was swirling around between his hands. He put the glowing orb in his hands on Serene’s chest, it sunk into her body and instantly her limbs began to reform. First came the bones, then flesh wrapped around the bone, covering it till her arms and legs were back to normal. It felt more like she was feeling better than she ever had before, as if all of her body was perfect and had never been damaged before. There were no scars or scrapes.

Serene stood up after taking the warrior's hand, then she backed up and bowed, prostrating herself and said, “Thank you, O’ Great Raven Warrior!!”

“Raven Warrior?… call me Andrew. That is my name.”

With that, Andrew walked off as if what he had done was nothing important. He looked over at the commander of the hog-men who had five others guarding him. And thought, If they are as weak as the others this ought to be a breeze. Ohhh, I should check my offensive magic.

[Flaming basilisk]

Out of Andrew's hand came a snake made of flames, it was as thick as a grown man’s leg and 14 feet long. The snake opened its mouth and hissed before launching itself at four of the five guards. When it hit, it pierced their hearts and then set them ablaze.

The last guard of the hog-man general was cowering in fear as the general ran for his life.

“Basilisk! Kill the one cowering. But spare the general!” The basilisk immediately followed its master's orders.

Andrew teleported in front of the general and lifted him up by the throat and said, “Send the word out to all of your kin and tell them of what happened here. If you dare to kill any more humans, I will send your whole species to extinction.”

At this point, he dropped the general and the hog-man ran off with tears in his eyes, scrambling to just get away from that horrid monster.

 Author's notes: More chapters to come. I currently have about 20 chapters written but not edited yet. :)