Ancient - 1. Shield

Ancient

Chapter-1: Shield

Axel

My mom could die for a piece of cheese cake. My dad couldn’t imagine his Sundays without barbequed chicken. My best friend Chase couldn’t get through a single day without having sex. Even Pooh, my basenji dog which my parents gifted me on my last birthday, couldn’t complete his fun day without peeing on Mom’s favorite rose plant in the backyard. I mean everyone has some kind of special thing which makes them happy no matter how awful of a mood they’re in; that special thing keeps them going and always saves the day.

Right this moment, I needed my special thing: The riveting aroma of ancient books. It always drove me crazy in a damn good way. That musty fragrance of old books is like drugs to me. It’s not possible for me to explain the high I get from reading these books. For me these books define the word nuance.

“We’re here.” Chance’s announcement made me realize that we were outside the oldest public library in the city.

Chance stopped his motorbike. I handed him the helmet once I got off his vehicle. “Are you sure you wanna be alone? I mean I can stay with you.”

“You hate everything which remotely resembles a book,” I mentioned, quirking my lips.

“Not if you have pics of hot, naked chicks on them.”

I could actually see him salivating thinking about those naked girls. I shook my head. “Shameless. Get out of here, Chance.” He chuckled but then made a serious face which meant he wanted me to know that whatever he was going to say, he literally meant it.

“You know Axel, you’re a very special guy and that butt-face is not worth all the worry lines you’re wearing on your cute face. He’s not who you want.” The butt-face he was talking about was my high school crush Tom Warren who crushed my feelings half an hour ago by telling me that he can’t be gay.

Yesterday was the last day of my high school life; within a span of twenty-four hours I lost both: my high school life and my high school crush.

Last year, on my seventeenth birthday, Tom kissed me.

Are we boyfriends? I asked him once my first kiss was over.

We’re…we’re a thing. That was his dumb reply. And since then we were a thing but today that thing ended.

I slightly arched by left brow. “And who do I want?”

A sinister smile played over his smart face. “You mean apart from me?” I lightly punched his arm and he pretended to be hurt.

“Asshole.”

“Okay, so I was saying that you want a guy who will come, riding on a white horse for you. He’ll be the hottest guy you had ever laid your eyes on and then he’ll walk to you like a badass and command you to take off your shirt.”

“Command?”

“Yeah command. Come on, I know how you like that type of guys.”

“I don’t.” I do.

Chance completely ignored me and went on with his story. He was surely enjoying this story far more than I ever could. “You would want to take off your shirt but you would try to play hard to get—”

“This is outrageous!”

“So you would tell him to fuck off. Then—”

“Enough of this bullshit. Why don’t you try your luck in writing story for a porn movie?”

“Because I’m busy in making them.”

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet you love me.”

“I do.”

“Aww, I love you too.” I kissed his left cheek. “What was that for?”

“For always being there for me.”

He smiled and put his helmet on. “I’ll pick you up in three hours. Don’t make me drag your sexy ass out of this boring place.”

“Get lost, Smartass.” He blew a kiss in my direction and rode away.

I sighed and made my way into the library.

This library was a huge one with millions of shelved books around but the biggest plus point about this place was that very few people ever show up here and today was no exception. This quiet place was heaven for me.

Ms. Stevens, the librarian, greeted me with a lovely smile. I handed her over my membership card and then began strolling among the lanes between the long, wide wooden shelves of books.

I finally got the book I was looking for. Mahabharata.

Mahabharata is a sacred epic Sanskrit poem from India dealing in many episodes with the struggle between two rival families. It is the longest known epic poem. The oldest preserved parts of its text are thought to be not much older than around 400 BCE, though the origins of this saga probably fall between the 8^th and 9^th centuries BCE.

Reading the English version of Mahabharata was like watching Game of Thrones with a different story and altogether different, unusual characters. In this saga, every character has their own story to tell. Sometimes you would find this book philosophical, sometimes devotional and sometimes just about plain right and wrong.

I first started reading it six months back. Since then I had kept reading it in bits and parts.

I took the book to the nearest empty table and dived into the mystic world of Mahabharata.

Right now I was reading the part where Draupadi, who is the female protagonist of Mahabharata, washes her long, untied hair with Dushasana’s blood.

I had no idea when time flew by but when I took a look at the library’s pendulum clock, situated against the wall several feet away from me, I found that I had been reading for straight five hours. It was seven in the evening.

Where the hell is Chance?

I looked around. There was no one around, not even Ms. Stevens.

Usually I liked silence but this silence felt spooky to me. I closed the book, stood up and moved to put the book at its appropriate place but then I heard a deafening thunder. I jumped back in surprise and the book fell on the floor.

I was petrified.

“Ms. Stevens?” No response.

“Anyone’s here?” Eerie silence.

A creepy, dreadful feeling rose up from the pit of my stomach. I hurriedly headed towards the exit.

Once outside, my eyes roamed around. The scene that unfolded before me was surreal. The strong, whirling winds were howling like a gang of rapacious wolves. The bolts of lightning were flickering across the blood-red sky as if trying to split the sky into numerous shapeless pieces.

Red Sky?! What the hell?!

I pulled out my phone from the front pocket of my jeans with my trembling hand to call Mom but there was no signal.

Dammit!

I suppressed the sudden surge of panic, put the phone back in my pocket and began walking in long strides towards the nearest bus-stop, roving my eyes across the deserted road. There was nothing but littered cars, motorbikes and other vehicles on the dreary road.

I frantically glanced in every direction but there was no sign of any living being.

Where was everyone? Why there was no one around?

I was afraid that this void road, this lightning red sky, these invigorating winds were going to swallow me alive any moment now.

I was ready to lose my sanity to the fear that something really bad would appear out of thin air like happens all the time in Hollywood horror movies which I never dared to watch alone.

Please let it be a dream. Please. Please. Please.

I kept looking behind my back every other second expecting to see a wild animal or a mad man with a long, sharp axe in his hands, while trying to hasten my steps.

Was the world ending? What if the world had already ended? Was I the last human left still breathing on this whole damn earth? And, and how are my parents? Please, please let them be safe.

I was still praying for my parents’ safety when I heard the loud sound of horseshoes. I stopped and spun around.

I noticed a guy on a white horse was riding towards me.

White horse? I instantly remembered Chance’s story from this afternoon. Was he a friend of Chance? Oh God, please let him be Chance’s friend.

The guy’s striking light-blue eyes and fascinating dark-black hair suggested that he was not much older than me but the rigid expression on his face made him look more mature than his age. He was in black jeans along with a white button-down shirt which hung to his lean and muscular body.

The world was ending and I was drooling over a black-haired guy. Something’s definitely wrong with me.

While I was occupied ogling his body and his stubbled, stony face, he was busy giving me a hard and calculated look.

Once that hot rider neared me, his white horse lifted his front hooves high in the air and neighed. I quickly stepped back of the fear of being stomped by a giant horse. The black guy reined his ride and dismounted of the white creature in one fast motion. The strangest thing about him was that he wore a baldric over his right shoulder which supported his sword on his back. His back was as stiff as a soldier and the way he carried himself he looked like a warrior.

“Take off your shirt,” he ordered in his rough voice as he approached me.

“Huh?!” What the hell? He’s definitely Chance’s friend.

“I said take off your shirt. Now!” The impatience in his voice compelled me to come out of my reverie.

He was hot but that doesn’t give him the right to order me around like he owned me. Though, instead of lashing at him for talking to me like I was trash or dancing in joy that I was not the only human left on this planet or saying anything I just stood silent.

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this.” And in the next moment, he took his right hand behind his shoulder, swiftly drew his sword out of its sheath and slashed it in air right in front of me at least a dozen times but never touched my flesh.

I took some strides back in alarm. “Have you lost your fucking mind, you dumbass?!” Before I could reprimand him some more, my shirt fell to the ground in several clean-cut pieces. Asshole! I tried to cover myself with my hands. “What the hell do you want, freak?” He kept quiet and stared at my chest, tilting his head on his right. Pervert! “If you think I would go down without any fight then you are sorely mistaken, Asshole.” I pretended to be brave but from inside I was shivering like an autumn leaf.

I was ready to make a run to get away from this likely molester when he suddenly got down on his right knee and ducked his head down.

Okay, he’s surely a nutjob.

“Allow me to serve you in the name of whole Mebron clan.” His tone was changed altogether. I had no idea he could be polite too.

“Allow you to serve what? Food? W-what Mebron clan? Do you need a job or something?” I asked stupidly, still conscious of my naked torso. He looked up at me and found me trying to save my body from his stare. He immediately got off his shirt and handed it to me. I took it gladly and speedily put it on. It was quite large for me but I didn’t complain.

The guy’s upper body was naked leave off that baldric across his smooth chest. My attempts to not to stare his broad shoulders and wide chest were futile. This kind of body deserved to be worshipped.

“I apologize for...for your shirt but I needed to know that you’re the one. Forgive me.” All I could hear was remorse in his words.

“Who are you? What are you talking about? And…and stand up for God sake!” He stood up promptly.

“We have not enough time. I have to take you to the Sacred Land and we have just two days left to get there.” None of his words made any sense to me. Probably, he was a psych patient and somehow survived the end of world just like me.

Instead of dealing with him I decided to go to my house and check up on my parents. Maybe they survived this sudden disappearance of humanity from earth.

“I need to go.” I took a few steps back and was ready to turn around and leave in the direction of my house when his words made me stop.

“There’s no one at your home. There’s no one in this city, country or in whole world for that matter.” He took a cautious step towards me. “Only six humans are left and we are two of them. And if you want the world back the way it was then you need to come with me. Right now.”

I furrowed my brows in irritation. “Who the hell are you? And why should I believe anything you say?”

He slightly pulled his baldric down his chest to show me a mark there. It was a star having six points and on the tip of each point was another star. I gasped because…because I had the same mark on my body at the very same place. He slowly ambled towards me, looked directly into my eyes, hesitantly took my hand in his and gently put my palm on his chest, over that mark. I felt an abrupt fluttering sensation in my chest. I averred my gaze to my chest to find that the same mark at my chest was glowing through the shirt. I pulled back my hand and moved behind.

“What’s going on? What is this all about? What…what I have to do with anything?” A rush of questions flooded my senses and nothing seemed logical. I was losing my damn mind.

“I can’t tell you everything. Not now. Not here. You’re not safe here. Let me take you to the Sacred Land.”

“What is Sacred Land? Who are you? And what do you want from me?” He exhaled warily and gave me a pleading look. “I’m not going anywhere without getting some answers.” I made that quite clear.

“Sacred Land is a place where the other four survivors are waiting for us. I’m Abraham and I want you to allow me to serve you.”

“Serve me? But why?”

“Because I’m your Shield.”

“Shield?”

“Yes, Shield and it’s my job, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe, and to save you from every danger which is going to show up in your way pretty soon but I can’t do my job unless you allow me to. You have to say it. You have to say that you allow me to serve you.”

“This is all sounds ridiculous. But why—”

“Look I’ll give you all the answers you want but right now you need to come with me.”

“I—” Rest of the words caught in my throat when I heard some scary roars somewhere extremely behind me. I looked at Abraham and saw his eyes bulging out.

I slowly turn around to find more than a dozen giant lions just a few meters away from me. They were moving in my direction with their suave steps. There was swagger in their pace and their predatory eyes were filled with hunger. They kept roaring, probably in the excitement for having me as dinner. Their sharp claws, incisive and pointed teeth were making me wet my pants.

I had no doubt of being killed in coming few moments. I was going to die a long, painful death.

While going through the thoughts of getting killed in several different ways by the wildest animals I had ever seen in my entire life, I realized that I was not alone. I gathered whatever strength was left in me and whispered.

“Abraham. I allow you to serve me.”

TBC.

Author’s Note:

Let me know what you all think about this chapter. Your views are valuable to me  

If you need to know anything more about Mahabharata, Draupadi or Dushasana then you can ask me anytime though I will reveal more details about them in coming chapters.

   Jt_hooks for editing this chapter