The rain pounded as thunder and lightning punished the landscape of the tiny Wyoming town of Rock Springs. Kyjus slept in his bedroom of his house located at 3307 Bitler Lane. He slept unaffected by the storm that raged just outside his window as he was deep in a dream that as of late was all too familiar to him.
In it appeared an older gentleman with long flowing white hair and a long billowing red and black robe. In his hand he carried a black and gold cane that wrapped around a blue gem at its top. To look at him you couldn't be sure if the cane was for medicinal or for some other purpose.
He appeared in Kyjus' dreams frequently over the past few months. It was always simply to state you are one of the chosen and someday soon your time will come. After this he would simply disappear from his dream.
Tonight, however the dream was different. This time the figure appeared on a stone bridge; the rain fell heavily onto him as the lightning lit up the sky. The figure held up his cane as if calling to the storm. In answer to his call a bolt of lightning struck down at the diminutive figure, grasping the cane tightly the man absorbed the entire blast of the bolt. Turning toward the bridge he uttered something arcane and sent a bolt racing toward it. The stone bridge could not handle the blast and parts of it crumbled. The ground around the old structure began to vibrate and tremble as pockets of earth began to move and shift. A moment later the ground stopped trembling and the elder figure again strode forward.
"Greetings Kyjus, yes young Master I am talking to you. My name is Syrus. I am a noteworthy Mage here in the Orion sector of the Poseidon Galaxy." After a short pause Syrus continued "Many times I have come to you in your dreams telling you that your time will soon arrive. Tonight, I am sorry to say that we can no longer afford to wait.
You and a few select others, on a similar planet in a different universe entirely, are now needed by the Council of Minlavian Elders. I cannot give you any details of the operation in this communication, but I can tell you now that you have been identified, your life may already be in grave danger. I cannot tell you how, why or even whom your life is in jeopardy from, but I can say you would be wise to be leery of those you do not know. If something seems out of sorts it probably is so being cautious is prudent if you value your life."
Syrus peered around like he was looking to see if he was being watched. When satisfied he was not, he continued, "Now, onto why I am here, as I said my Galaxy needs you. You may not know it yet, but you have talents buried deep inside you that make you an asset in fending off the evil Dylonian's. I don't have time for the details now but once you arrive here in Desmonia you will be debriefed of the situation. I hope to see you soon." Having finished his speech Syrus began to fade out.
"Wait, Wait I almost forgot the most important part", Syrus said as he came back into view. "You will need to know how to get here. I can't give you specifics as I just relocated the gateway between our worlds and the fewer people that know of its location the better," the old man paused as if he were catching his breath.
Moments later he continued, "All I can tell you is that you need to look for the path that is there but not oft traveled. Your friend Ryan is the key. That is all the information I can give you, be conscious of your surroundings and vigilant in your attempt to join us Kyjus. I hope to see you soon." In a puff of smoke Syrus disappeared.
The mist of the figure hovered just outside the two-story Victorian house with gray stonework and navy-blue shutters. He paused a few minutes waiting for the small lad inside to stir. Once he did, he took a moment to read his thoughts, satisfied that his message was received he let the gate between him and Earth close.
After all he still had things to do.
The small boy sat at the end of his bed. What was with this weird dream he had been having of late. Shaking his head, he proceeded to get ready for school.
Ryan was downstairs waiting for him, so Kyjus grabbed a muffin and his books and left for school. Seeing Ryan brought back images of the dream.
What could the old man have meant when he said, "Ryan is the key"? He said "is" emphatically like it was important.
Again, Kyjus thought that he might tell his parents about his strange reoccurring dreams but again he thought better and decided not to discuss them. He continued to ponder the dream but then he thought to himself, what if it wasn't a dream? What if he really were needed elsewhere in another galaxy? What kind of powers could he possibly have? And what on earth did the old man in his dream mean by Ryan was the key?
"Kyjus, Kyjus, is something wrong?" Ryan asked.
Kyjus shook his head. "Just tired I guess," he said with a smile.
"Did you hear that we were going to be breaking in another scout leader on our scout camping trip this weekend," Kyjus said to Ryan hoping to make small talk and avoid any conversation about his mood.
Ryan nodded in the affirmative indicating that he had heard the news.
The two boys continued onward toward school, talking the entire time, about the trip this weekend and how great it was going to be that this was the last Monday to go to school until summer arrived.
The last day of school came and went and the weekend neared as Kyjus began to prepare for his trip. He packed his scout pack, his tackle box, and first aid kit into is very large backpack. In his scout pack he packed a sleeping bag, pillow, clothes for four days, lots of socks, his swimsuit, personal hygiene utensils, a science book (at the request of his father) and his trusty scout book.
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A week later the boys were camping. The sun had just peaked over the hills in Poncha Springs, Colorado. The sight of the snow on the far away mountain tops would take one's breath away if one would pause a moment just to take the sight into one's senses.
"While you guys are eating, I want to brief everyone on today's festivities." Simon proceeded to inform the boys of the hiking and the fishing events that were planned for the day.
Kyjus out of the corner of his eye looked at Tyler and saw that he seemed very uneasy and not at all his normal self. A look just beyond Tyler and he could see his older brother Mark, their new assistant scout leader that they were breaking in on this trip. Mark was looking at Kyjus and none too happily.
Was it because he felt that Kyjus was not listening to the scout leader? It made Kyjus more than a little uneasy as he could feel the almost cold stare on the back of his neck. Little did he know the events that were about to unfold would change his life forever.
The troop hiked a little more than a mile with only modest complaining. They went for a short canoe trip down a river whose name they did not know but in the grand scheme of things mattered little. They enjoyed the waves lapping into the canoe and were thrilled with the way the canoe swayed from side to side as it drifted down the river.
The canoe trip was nearly two miles but it took them back near their camp so it decreased the amount of walking they would have to do this evening. While this in itself was nice the great part about the canoe trip was that it took them straight to Lake Isabella, and Lake Isabella as all the second year and older scouts knew was some really fun fishing.
It wasn't long before all of them were in the water about waist deep trying to catch trout. They all waded into the water about 100 yards after the lake emptied into a larger stream. And for those first years it did not take them long to find out that here was the primo spot for fishing. In about three hours the boys had caught and cleaned enough fish to feed them all for dinner. Not wanting more than they could eat as that was normally bad news (bears) the scout leaders ordered the boys to pack everything up for the short (just over a mile) hike back to their camp.
Dusk was slowly fading as the sun set into the west. The horizon although mostly a yellowish orange, also had somewhat of a purplish tint. If was beautiful to look at but Kyjus had to admit to himself that it was somewhat aerie. He may be mistaken as he glanced back at Mark, who still seemed to be glaring his way. Maybe he was why everything felt so strange, almost spooky even.
Halfway through their walk it began to rain. At first it was just a mist but as they continued it began to rain more heavily. An hour passed as did the daylight. It was only supposed to be about a mile hike, could the scout leaders have made an error in the length of the hike or worse, were they lost?
Kyjus saw some light ahead and realized that they were exiting the forest onto a small trail about two thirds of the way up a steep hill. The trail ran parallel to the bottom of the hill. While the terrain would not have normally posed much of a problem, due to the rain that continued to fall from the sky in buckets, navigation was somewhat treacherous.
Soon after they rounded a bin they came into a clearing, the scoutmaster stopped the procession and gathered the boys close. Shouting over the rain he explained that due to the rain and darkness they had missed their turn.
He no longer knew where they were, but they had went a ways off from where they needed to be so they were going to head down the main trail. If he was correct in his assessment of their location, they would be coming to an old stone bridge. It was a bridge for the old loco that used to run through here bringing supplies to some of the mountain cities.
Once across the bridge they would double back to the north and find the eastern rim trail. Once they located the eastern rim trail, they would simply have to follow it too the path that led to their camp.
The scout leader felt they were still about a mile from camp, so he emphasized the need to press on. Kyjus was a little unsure why time was so pressing, as they were already drenched so it wasn't like they could get much wetter. Just then he smacked his forehead reminding himself of what a dolt he was. You have your pack with you and in your pack is your poncho all nice and rolled up.
A lot of good it would do him now, he thought to himself, so he just left it in his pack.
Minutes after they had resumed their hike Kyjus thought he saw a shimmering light below the path. Looking down he now saw the stone bridge. Off to the left he thought he saw something just beyond the initial stonework of the bridge.
Wait a tic he thought to himself, this all looked very familiar wait yes that's it this is the place that Syrus last appeared to him in his dream.
What could this mean he wandered? Then he felt it again that ice-cold stare on the back of his neck. Glancing back, he found that Mark was again glaring at him. His eyes were piercing red almost unnatural in their nature. It all felt very weird to him and yet it pulled at the very edge of his soul, tugging his inquisitive nature.
It was only one step, but it quickly became another then another and before he knew it he was half way down the hill and well off the trail. He could hear the others yelling for him in the background.
In the distance thunder growled as if in protest to the events unfolding. Then the lightning flashed across the night sky showing Kyjus that there was in fact something just off to the left and behind one of the stone bridge pillars. But what was it? He needed to get down just a bit further and he would know he thought to himself.
Just then he heard Ryan shout to the scout master, "I will fetch him".
Kyjus turned around to yell to Ryan to stay put but it was too late. He also noticed Mark's eyes were glowing bright red and Kyjus sensed that something was definitely wrong. As if to accentuate his point Mark's body appeared to shift and change into something not of this world.
His nose began to protrude, his jaws elongate, and his teeth extended to look similar to that of a wolf. In fact, he looked like that of a werewolf in ancient legends as his entire body began to grow hair.
With a mighty howl echoing into the night Mark or whatever it was now called made his move toward the boys charging as a hunter after its prey.
Ryan looked around at the sound of the howling and panicked. His body went rigid, and he couldn't move, paralyzed he stood rooted to his spot on the hill as imminent death stalked his way.
Kyjus could not understand what was happening to Ryan. Why wasn't he moving? The only thing that Kyjus could think of to do was to run. Although if he was totally honest with himself, he knew he would have no chance whatsoever of escape given the apparent quickness of the beast.
Kyjus did all he could do before he took off to run and that was yell Ryan's name and pick up a rock and heave it at the beast to get his attention.
At the sound of his name Ryan awoke from the trance of fear the beast had placed upon him. With the beast less than fifty feet he sprang into action and began to flee. He made it halfway down the hill when his foot caught on the root of a tree, and he began to tumble down the path. Head over heels he fell.
His fall was a blessing really as he tumbled off the path and past his friend Kyjus who was now doing his best to keep up. A few feet more he tumbled and hit a large rock sticking out of the ground. He heard a loud crack and felt a tremendous pain in his left shoulder. He began to swoon from the pain and blacked out. It was then Ryan knew the monster would take him.