"Prescott, help me! Please, I don't want to die! You promised!" said Bill. He had fallen victim to the Kolnar Contagion, the World Killer. The plague had rendered him with blood red blisters that made him look like a disgusting diseased strawberry with blonde hair.
"Yeah, I did. Sorry about that. I lied." I replied.
Bill was writhing around on the floor in screaming agony in the death throes of KC. He writhed from the pain and bled out. from his blisters, each shooting out a geyser of blood some of them hitting me in the face and my eyes. My enemy was dead, here, at the end of everything, in a world full of bloody despair and suffering from a disease that not the-
I awoke in a cold sweat in my hammock. It was dark in my room, but light didn't matter to me anymore. I could see in darkness better than I could in the daytime. Kolnar wasn't quite the World Killer as everyone had hyped it to be. Sure, it killed eighty-five percent of the population, leaving just under a billion souls left who were either immune or were changed forever and the immune were king of this infected cesspool of a planet. We Speeders were the real kings. We owned this planet, not the stupid Eumies.
Sorry, I must clarify a few things. That part of me watching my enemy die is the only memory I have left of my former life, the only positive fact is I know my own name which is the only link I have to my former humanity. I forgot to properly introduce myself. My name is Prescott and I am a Speeder. The Eumies were the immune who flourished after Kolnar. It was strange, the lower life forms had all the power, all the resources and leverage against Speeders. If not for this, they would be our subjects. The only reason why I know all of this is because of what everyone knew about what came to be called the Articles of History that was housed in the capital of North Tenumbra
Fifteen winters passed since the Kolnar outbreak began and children began to be born, the oldest one I know of being twelve years old named Cal. Cal was the son of King Stardecker of North Tenumbra and he is quite a thorn in my side. He was the only Eumie to stand up to me without fear. None. Cal was made of something I had not encountered ever in my life.
Kolnar gave us Speeders four abilities, telepathy, special physical sight, the speed of a meteor, and invisibility. The reason why they call us speeders is when we run, we warp reality with a black trail extending nine feet behind us. One would think that will all that speed, you would hear a lot of noise, the stomping of feet and moving faster than the human eye can track, but you would be wrong. When we Speeders move, reality twists and moves to our will and what people see is a black, spectral wraith coming at them and this causes them to quake in our presence, especially mine. I am the best of them. The Eumies in the first years discovered our weakness which was our dependence on cranberries of all things. Speeders needed to consume it once a month or we would get weaker, revert back to human and die of the Kolnar virus within seven hours. Made sense it would be something that can be grown, stored and protected. Kingdoms all over the world blackmailed us and enslaved us by controlling the cranberry supply.
The only one to stand up to me is Cal and he was calling me to him. Why would he? I did the bidding of South Latin, home to cruelest king the world has ever known. He had the largest army of Speeders and no one went against him without risking a war they would lose, yet he could not conquer the six other kingdoms. A kind of stalemate has existed for over a decade as no one could conquer him, King Vargas and King Vargas couldn't overtake the six others.
With hearing Cal's thoughts, I grabbed my robes and got dressed. My Krevla, a blade made for Speeder assassins of which I was one, the top assassin of King Vargas, was neatly fastened to my belt on my left side tailor made for me to strike at whatever target I was assigned to kill. I struck in silence, a whispering nightmare and a scourge to Vargas's enemies. I got into position and began to focus on Cal, my mind entirely focused on him and many times before, my body began to tingle and black light began to leak out of my pours and the tingles began to start at my feet and my body began to vibrate and blur. With my speed I could make it to North Tenumbra in half an hour. Running made me a god. Nothing could stop me, not Cal or any celestial being.
I found Cal in what was once a place of worship and it had a symbol on the roof I didn't recognize, but no matter. I ran through the door, leaving it looking melted as butter was over a fire. When my body began to take on my normal, human appearance I saw Cal sitting on a chair facing a front of a room with an altar to a forgotten god. I sat down next to him.
"What do you want?" I asked Cal, irritated enough at his very presence.
"There been a prophecy. The Seer proclaimed it." Cal's voice was calm and steady. He showed no signs of stress or anxiety.
"What prophecy?" I asked. I have heard of the Seer and she was reveared for her piety and service to the Higher Being. She was in the service of King Stardecker, who used her to protect his kingdom. Through her, she made North Tenumbra the wealthiest, most prosperous kingdom in the world.
"It goes as follows, 'The worst of the powerful will fall in disgrace and cowardice. He will be cast out into the eastern wilderness. If he survives, he will be the one to vanquish tyranny against a foe three times his original power. The most important lesson he will have to learn is to overcome fear with courage to defeat his undiscovered foe. If he doesn't face himself and ovecome with courage, all die."' Cal recited.
Cal took a fist out of his pocket quickly and blew a powder in my face, disorienting me momentarily. "You are a worthy adversary, Prescott, but it is time for you get what is coming to you. Congratulations, you are chosen. The Seer brought you here. See how fast you can run now. Now that you are a Eumie and hated by everyone, see how far you get. Goodbye, Eumie."
Cal left and I felt cut off from the minds of others. What did he do to me? I can't hear thoughts or read minds and I felt like I was made of metal. I couldn't run. I could only walk and hide through a kingdom of people that wanted me dead.
"I will kill you, Cal! I will come for you and anyone else!" I roared in desperate fury. Funny, I don't remember when I last tasted fear, but it paralyzed me. I was the one who the prophecy spoke about? Only time will tell.