Sacha D

Prolougue:

Many many years ago, there was an ultimate being full of anger and greed. It wanted to be superior and to control the surface of the earth. It had two minds, one of saviour and one of devil, an essence of good and bad; almost like two people. Jealousy took control of the devil and it split with the saviour, creating the ultimate power source, the centre of the earth. Now that the ultimate being was split, he banished the saviour to the underground. The devil used all it’s power to create the superior race: the human. Now the saviour is longing to resolve this monstrosity and is trying to find the devil’s race, hoping to come together again restoring the world we know as earth.

* * *

I scavenged through the dirt and rubble examining the underground, hoping to find a sparkle, at least a fragment, of metal. How many hours had I spent searching? How many months? At last a wave of dust washed over me like a ripple in the earth. I found a jewel, like nothing I’d seen before, shining in the dull cave around me, giving off a gentle and controlling glow. Bats flew overhead shrieking, sending shrill shivers up my spine. I looked up noticing a crack of light above me. It was Doug.

“He can analyse the jewel for me,” I thought. Doug seeped out of the roof hitting the floor with a depressing thud.

“Oh, clumsy Doug.”

“Sorry Isiah, I am half mole after all,” he said with a hearty chuckle.

“You’re also half robot so could you please analyse this stone for me?”

“It seems to be diamond, only green, Sir.”

Doug continued to share information about the stone. He explained that the gem spread all the way around the earth like a crust and that no one had ever been under this point in the earth. This is my chance, a chance for adventure – to dig deeper in toward the core, where no man has gone before.

“We’ll just have to be the first, won’t we Doug?” I said aloud.

I got home after a long walk through the woods, excited. Rhinolin was a quiet place, full of people you would meet and forget the next day; it was quite a tip. Tomorrow I’ll make the greatest discovery of my life, the greatest discovery ever. As I laid my weary head to rest, I dozed into a deep sleep. I woke up with a jolt, remembering my plan for the day. I started to pack a light travel pack: a rope, rations, pickaxe, dynamite, lighter. That should do it.

“C’mon Doug.”

I could feel Doug attach his body to my travel sack with his mechanical claws. I slung it on my back and ran out the door. As our destination grew nearer, I let Doug scout ahead. Soon, I’ll be famous. The thought floated around my head throughout the entire journey. A smile flickered across my face, and settled there.

Sprinting towards the cave, I felt a breeze in my face and I heard the rustle of the leaves under my feet. I looked knowingly at the great lake and spotted the autumn leaves falling, gliding on the breeze down to the water, predictably making small ripples in the water.

“Just underfoot,” I said out loud, “an adventure awaits, an adventure we always wanted.”

I ran down to the cave’s entrance and down I went – my eyes laid upon the glinting green again. I grabbed all the sticks of dynamite out of my bag and I placed them on the uncovered diamonds, unravelling the string as I went. I walked towards a huge rock with Doug on my back. I kneeled down behind the boulder and lit the string. 3…2…1… BOOM!

I stood up and checked the hole: clear. As for the excess diamonds, I put those in my bag. I strapped and looped the rope around a firm, connected rock. I started to lower the rope into the hole. I felt a shiver up my spine. Grabbing the rope, I dropped deep towards the earth’s core. Zip. My hands burned, bruised with rope burn. I peered deep into the subterranean fog, spotting two fluorescent green glowing eyes. Suddenly I remembered where I was. I was no longer in the known. I started to observe my surroundings, slowly realising the trees were hanging upside down on the roof of the cave. Grey leaves fell and landed on my head, dissolving into oblivion. I peered at the walls of the cave seeing a mess of bat blood frosting them. I crept over and wiped the blood. Fresh.

“I’m not welcome here,” I thought.

I looked back, seeing the eyes again. I blinked. They were duplicating. Soon, thousands of eyes were looking at me. I followed my instincts and ran in the other direction. After a few paces, I looked back again. This time, to my horror, huge rocky beasts followed me. Their limbs were floating away from their bodies – and they didn’t walk. They floated off the ground completely. I surged forward toward an eerie purple light in the distance, my feet almost losing grip due to the dense atmosphere. I sprinted towards the light hoping for a miracle. As I got closer and closer, my heart started beating faster and faster. I emerged from the fog to see that the purple light was being emitted by a huge crystal spinning ever-so-slowly. When I reached it, I stopped. I couldn’t run anymore.

“If I die, I’ll still have the knowledge that I discovered a new world.”

I sat down and watched the rock golems approach. When they came to about two metres away, they stopped. Within seconds, I had realised there was a force field. The vibrations from the barrier of energy protected the crystal. I knew this crystal was special. I fell down in amazement, knocking mine and Doug’s head on a rock. We floated into unconsciousness.

I woke up to two green eyes staring at me. I jolted up and grabbed my pickaxe from out of my bag, desperately pointing it at the eyes. Scrambling to my feet, the excess diamonds fell from my bag providing a faint light; a rock golem was staring at me!

“Stay back! How… did you get in here?”

“Me special. Me in prophecy. So you too? Only being from prophecy able to get through force field around crystal.”

“Wha - what prophecy?”

The golem pointed at the purple crystal and I realised there was small engraving on it.

“When two opposites meet, the prophecy will be complete.” I read each word carefully. “Who...who are the opposites?”

The golem gestured to himself: “Me, Haisi. You, Isiah.” Isiah pictured the golem’s name in his mind.

“Your name is just my name backwards. It does not mean we are special. It could happen to anyone.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What if this is a trap?” I thought.

“The prophecy means when you and me touch crystal with good intentions, no more problems.”

“What happens when we touch it?”

“No one knows.”

Haisi gave me a hopeful look. But what if he is tricking me? What if it—it kills me? What could happen? Thoughts were drowning me!

“What kind of good thing?”

“Me only knows it is one that will help, everyone.”

“Okay then, I’ll do it on one condition, you touch it first.”

I cautiously walked towards the crystal, my head filled with suspicion. Haisi had already put his hand on the crystal and his eyes were closed in calm concentration. Purple essence was flowing out of him like floating streams. Slowly, I put my hand on the crystal.

“OWW!”

Sparks jolted out of my skin.

“Why did you trick me?”

“Prophecy say good intentions. Good thoughts.” I reached out towards it. Good things will happen, right?

I placed my hand on the crystal and I felt its power overwhelming me. I felt icy hot. My body started melting and freezing. My head felt uneasy. My feet were floating and yet they felt stationary. Against my will my eyes were forced open. I lifted my hand only seeing an outline. I felt for my bag, knowing Doug was still there comforted me. I started to hear a ringing in my ears that was quickly replaced by a voice.

“Hello Isiah, it seems our bodies have been combined into one. We are opposites after all.”

“So, you are Haisi?”

“Affirmative. And look at what we can do now?”

I started to lose control of my mind and body. My hands started to form an energy ball, no colour in specific and... BOOM. It shot up through the roof. Our bodies started flying up and up floating through the tunnel, traces of crystal were embedded into the wall. It looked like a rainbow path. Eventually, we shot out of the tunnel arriving at the surface of the earth. I focused my mind and took control, flying our bodies back to the town of Rhinolin.

When we arrived, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, people whizzing around in the air and talking at the top of their lungs.

Everyone else was just like Haisi and I, except for one. It was double our size and flowing with energy.

“Who is that?”

“That Isiah, is our saviour; she is the essence of life.”