Rend Hope

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my
friends and family for their support.  This tale may never have seen the light of day without them urging me on.

I would also like to thank Kathryn Daigle for helping me with ideas and giving me feedback.

Clayscence on deviantart for the amazing book cover.

Thank you all for believing in me.

Author’s Note

Thank you for taking the time to look at my book, I greatly appreciate it.  I largely enjoy science fiction and high fantasy tales, so I found myself a little surprised when I ended up writing a book set in a dark post-apocalyptic world with magic instead.  However, as I continued to write and the world began to take shape in my mind, I found myself enjoying it immensely.  I hope that my imagination entertains you for the many pages ahead.

Rend Hope

Copyright 2014 by Josh D. Webb

Chapter 1

Desert of Despair, located in what was once the western part of California

2235 A.D.

              Marie Livingston sat in a steel cage desperately trying to think of a way to escape.  Normally a group of cannibals like these wouldn't have been able to capture her.  The circumstances leading up to this situation were far from normal however.  She finger-combed her shoulder-length black hair as she continued to assess the situation.  She had enough magic energy to break the cage, but there were too many cannibals in the camp.  They would overwhelm her.  Picking the lock and trying to sneak away during the night was also impossible.  The only things they had left her were her worn clothes, but everything else was taken, including anything that could be used as a lockpick.

             
A few days ago her scouting team had come across an old man, although he was in his later years, his beard grey and the skin around his face was slightly sagging.  He was still formidable, so formidable in fact, that he took out her entire team like they were insects.  The fact that his sorcery was powerful didn't help, even she, with her gift of sorcery, had barely escaped death and that was because the old man didn't bother to pursue her.  He seemed distracted, like he was looking for something and that her team was just a minor inconvenience.

             
This of course led to her being an easy target for the cannibals.  The old man had shattered the weapons and armor she had conjured with her sorcery.  Because of this, she was unable to defend herself properly from the wretched meat-eaters.  So she had been captured and if she didn't think of a way to escape soon, she would end up a meal for these blasted cannibals.

             
The rattling of the cage brought Marie out of her thoughts as one of the cannibals slammed his hand onto it.  The dark-skinned bald man leered at the cage's inhabitant, wearing a ragged version of what was once a biker's outfit.

             
"Don't get too comfortable in there girlie!  We're warming up the stew just for you!" The dark-skinned cannibal said, laughing loudly.  A second cannibal walked up to the cage, dressed as raggedly as the first.  This one was a woman, red hair in dreadlocks. 

             
"Yeah I haven't had a good meal in days, I can't wait." The second cannibal said, licking her lips.  Marie cringed and glared defiantly at the two cannibals.  She made a mental note that if she was going to die, she'd at least kill those two first.

             
"Hey!" A commanding voice called, the man Marie had identified as the leader of this group walked up to the two cannibals harassing her, there was an angry look on his face, his left eye was glazed over with a white milky film, clearly he was blind in one eye.  "Stop messing around over there and help set up camp or all you get are scraps!" He scolded, walking back off to the rest of the group.  The second cannibal followed, but the first, the bald man, glanced at Marie one last time and grinned.  His smile was full of rotten teeth, he then turned and followed the other two.

**********

              As the cannibal leader approached the main campfire, he noticed something was amiss.  With his one good eye he noticed that a couple of his men were harassing a cloaked stranger.  The outsider was sitting leisurely at the campfire like he belonged there.  A black hood concealed the person's face.  The hood attached to a red and black flannel jacket.  Black fingerless gloves, worn blue jeans and black worn shoes completed the outfit.  The figure was wearing a large dark blue backpack, which his men were eyeing greedily and curiously.  Contrary to the stranger's relaxed attitude, he stood out like a sore thumb.

             
"You got a lot of guts coming here kid." One of the cannibals said, he had his greasy brown hair in a shoulder-length braid.  He towered over the hooded stranger, the cannibals had pegged him as a kid because the stranger was quite short.  Just a little bit above five feet. Another Cannibal with stringy chin-length blond hair and physically built like a twig joined his companion, laughing loudly.

             
"You looking for handouts junior?  Well sorry to say, but we're a little short on food! Maybe you can help us with that problem?"  The skinny cannibal asked, brandishing a hatchet.  "We're not asking for much, just an arm or a leg.  We'll even let you out of here alive.  That sounds like quite a deal, what do you say?"

             
The stranger looked up at the skinny cannibal.  Although his face was mostly concealed, his lips could be seen, which turned upward into a grin.

             
"Actually, it seems like a terrible deal for me, I think I’ll pass." He said.  The cannibals were not amused.

             
"Who the hell do you think you are brat!?" The cannibal with the braid exclaimed, grabbing the stranger by the front of his jacket.  He lifted the outsider until his feet were a meter off the ground.  "You want to enjoy our hospitality you gotta pay the price! Got that you little shit?!" he screamed in his face.  The grin was still on the stranger's concealed face.

             
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't make fun of my height or call me a kid, I'm older than I look." The hooded stranger replied.  Two yellow orbs started glowing within the hood.  The braided cannibal was confused for a moment until he realized those were his eyes.  Then his confusion turned to terror.

             
"He's got magic! The kid's a--" The big cannibal never got to finish as his head seemed to disintegrate.  Blood, bone and brain matter exploded backwards from where his head used to be.  The gore ended up splattering on his skinny compatriot who could only stare wide-eyed in horror.

             
"Get him!" one of the four remaining cannibals near the campfire shouted.  All four charged at the hooded man.  Who waved his left hand almost casually, the four charging cannibals were suddenly sliced in half.  Blood and other viscera spilled from their torn bodies as they crumpled to the ground.  The stranger rubbed the back of his neck and slouched slightly.

             
"Geez.  All I wanted to do was relax by a warm fire, but you all got to be assholes about it.  Ah well." The hooded outsider said, turning to face the leader of the cannibals and his last two henchman.  The two that were harassing Marie earlier.  "The world won't miss any of you anyway." the stranger finished, his voice suddenly becoming menacingly cold.

**********

              Marie couldn't believe what was happening right before her eyes.  One moment, a group of cannibals were harassing some stranger in a flannel jacket, the next they were all exploding in showers of blood.  She had no doubt that the stranger had sorcery.  What she didn't know was if he was a magi or necromancer.  He could even be a feral magi and not have complete control of his power.

             
The caged girl watched as the stranger crouched slightly.  When he sprang forward, he moved so fast that he was a red, dark blue, and black blur.  He crashed into the cannibal leader, the force of the impact knocked down both his subordinates.  As the blur returned to the human form of the stranger.  Marie saw that he had his elbow buried in the cannibal leader's gut.  Half a second later the one-eyed leader was tumbling across the sandy ground.  Finally stopping in a huge spray of sand and dust.  Marie's eyes narrowed, what kind of sorcery was this guy using?

             
The two cannibals who were giving her a hard time earlier rose to their feet, facing the stranger's back.  The dark-skinned man in the ragged biker's outfit tried to attack the unknown Magic user first.  Wielding a sturdy three foot long metal pipe, he swung in a downward arc, aiming for the back of the stranger's skull.  When the pipe was an inch away from impact it stopped suddenly.  Marie saw the dark-skinned cannibal strain against some sort of invisible force, it looked like the wind itself was forcing him back.  The caged girl's eyes widened in realization, the wind! The stranger could manipulate it!  So that was his innate magical power, he was an aeromancer-type of magi.

             
The pipe-wielding cannibal was still trying to fight against the cushion of air the hooded outsider had set up.  Casually, the stranger raised his right hand and made a backwards flicking motion.  Immediately the pipe-wielder was sent flying.  Crashing into one of the tents the band of cannibals had set up.  The female cannibal stood back up and pulled out a pistol.

             
"Dodge this you bastard!" She screamed, and fired at the stranger five times.  The stranger just held out his left hand, and the five bullets stopped just a mere inch from him.  Marie could have sworn she saw the stranger grin under his hood as he pointed with his left hand at the woman.  The bullets changed direction and crashed into the woman's torso with such force she was knocked off her feet.  She landed on her back hard and did not get up again.

             
Marie took this time to quickly use her sorcery to blast open the lock on the cage.  Her action drew the attention of the stranger.  The hood faced her, she put her hands up in placating gesture.

             
"Easy! I'm not going to fight you!  Those guys were holding me captive!" She said quickly.  The outsider crouched slightly, the same position he used when he attacked the cannibal leader.  Marie waved her hands in front of her frantically.  "Whoa whoa whoa! I'm not a cannibal!  I'm not trying to trick you! Honest!"  Her words fell on deaf ears as the stranger leapt forward in a blur.  Marie cursed and closed her eyes waiting for her inevitable death.  She hoped it wouldn't hurt too much.

             
She felt a force knock into her and heard a loud explosion.  Then she felt herself moving swiftly through the air.  It was strange, Marie felt no pain. Tentatively she reopened her eyes and found herself staring at a dark blue backpack.  Surprised, she went to examine herself for any injuries.  The black-haired teenage girl discovered to her shock that the stranger had her draped over his right shoulder. 

             
"You okay?" He asked her, letting her back on her feet.  She nodded shyly.  She was weak at the moment and this guy could easily kill her, she didn't want to do anything to upset him for now.

             
"Um, why did you carry me over here?" She asked numbly.  The stranger didn't respond verbally, only jerking his left thumb in the direction behind him.  Marie's eyes followed his thumb to see a cloud of dust where she was just a few moments before.  So that's the explosion she heard when she closed her eyes.  The stranger turned to face the dust cloud.  It dissipated to reveal the cannibal leader, but something was different about him.

             
His skin was now a light gray color, and where his left eye used to be nothing but a pupil-less white milky film, it was now black.  A glyph, a magic symbol powered by sorcery of some sort replaced the pupil.  Finally the hole in his gut from where the stranger hit him was rapidly regenerating.  Marie had heard her magi master talk about stuff like this.  However, this was the first time she was seeing it in person.  The cannibal leader was a ghoul, a necromancer's minion.

             
"He's a...a ghoul." Marie managed to get out, the stranger nodded.

             
"I know." He said simply.  "Stay back, let me deal with him."  The outsider took a few steps forward so that he was standing between her and the ghoul.  The undead cannibal leader smiled widely, showing off his dark brown decaying teeth.

             
"Thought I was just another human didn't you?  Too bad kid, thanks to my master I've been given power to defy death itself!" The ghoul shouted, "You know, I should thank you for killing all those idiots.  Now I won't have to share your carcass with anyone!" he finished, and with that he closed his mouth and his cheeks ballooned.  The undead cannibal reared his head back and when he brought it back forward he opened his mouth.  A basketball-sized green ball of liquid flew from it.  Marie's eyes widened in alarm upon seeing the green ball.

             
"Watch out! That thing is full of poison!" She shouted a warning.  The hooded stranger still stood his ground.

             
"I know." He said simply and brought both his hands forward.  A powerful gust of wind blew the ball from its intended path and back towards the camp.  It exploded when it impacted on a tent and a huge ball of green gas plumed outward from it, covering the camp.  Marie watched in horror as the dead cannibals' bodies all started to literally melt from the poison.

             
The stranger then darted forward, moving insanely fast.  He ran up to the ghoul and made an upward chopping motion with his right hand.  Marie watched in amazement as the undead cannibal's upper torso was split open from his right hip all the way to his left collarbone.  Blood exploded outward from the ghoul's body as he howled in pain and staggered backward.  The howl soon turned into laughter though.  The ghoul's laughter, now a distorted version of its once human self, sent chills down Marie's spine.

             
"You can't kill me boy!  You might as well pray to whatever god you believe in because your time among the living is just about over!" The ghoulish cannibal boasted.  As he was speaking, his upper torso's wound started to glow black and knit itself together quickly.  Marie was starting to get worried, for a ghoul to quickly heal itself from a wound like that meant that it was imbued with some powerful necromancy.