The Overlord: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel (2 page)

Though I am only a year older than when I joined, whenever I look back, I see just how young I really was as opposed to how old I feel now. Though the Thralls are all gone now, there were many of us back then. We were a sleeping army. We were waiting. We were waiting for him, the Space Wizard.

The Thralls would have accomplished their extremist goal a long time ago had it not been for the intervention of the Overlord, may he journey in light. However, some would say that he was to blame for the Last War in the first place. Even so, it was him alone who managed to bring it to an end.

The Overlord chose to spare humanity by giving up his own. That's why kids like me joined up with the Thralldom. We held the Overlord as our hero. We coveted to be part of that force for good that had won the day all those twenty years ago, before we were even born. That's what kids like me wanted to believe, anyway. For all anybody knew, the Overlord was just a slave to his own designs, a man who only managed to save himself.

2

THE SPACE WIZARD

The Lair of the Thralldom was bordered by a post-volcanic forest. It was a protected paradise, one of the few expanses left on the earth that could still sustain life. Because it was so valuable, the forest was forbidden. Serving as a boundary, the Thralls never entered there, nor did the outside world.

Most of my service was clocked in those woods. Secret patrols kept people from coming and going, but my job wasn't nearly as interesting or as mobile. I was always stuck in one spot, standing guard over a cache hidden in the woods. Covered in moss and sunken into the ground was a sealed warehouse. It wasn't very big, but it had a musty odor that extended much larger than its own dimensions.

Situated away from the Lair, nobody of lower rank knew for sure what was being kept inside or why. We all had our suspicions, though. The inactive Blood Tech had to have been put somewhere. Why not here?

All the same, none of us knew what the Blood Tech even looked like. A dormant stockpile of weapons, maybe? I, for one, wouldn't be able to recognize anything if I saw it.

Protecting something that I couldn't see, I paced back and forth in front of its sealed door more times than I can ever care to count. The secrets that laid beyond the locks would drive me mad for hours. There was really nothing else to think about, for nothing ever happened in those woods.

Always it was silent, until an omen came to me through the trees. It was the clamor of a continuous rattle, banging at intervals nearby. The beat was odd, it didn't sound like metal or wood being smashed about. It sounded like bones.

I investigated. Quietly, I snuck into a clearing and discovered the source of the violent rhythm. Two bucks were facing off, their ornate antlers locked. Probably the last of their kind, it was a beastly duel. Hooves tore into the soft, dew-covered earth. Bulging muscles popped from their backs. Mouths flowed with froth as they heaved grunts of fury.

Again and again, they clashed until their antlers cracked and splintered, each losing a cherished armament. With shattered barbs, they pierced each other with broken spokes. Throats impaled and heads speared, the two brothers fell in defeat from one another. A deadly stalemate, the wild had shown me its omen.

Examining the fresh carcasses, I picked up one of the antler's barbs that had broken off. Deciding to keep it, I took it as a reminder to myself that there's still some life left in this ruined world, even if it's fragile life at that. Taking the fragment back with me to my post, time continued so mundanely that I could hear every drop of water running off of every leaf. It was then that the warehouse door creaked opened all by itself. My skin practically jumped out of my armor when I heard the cache break its own seal.

An ominous, synthetic voice then began to stutter through some old speakers beyond the darkness of the entrance. Breaking static, the voice came in clear, "This is the Far Stranger. Logging in. Acquiring connection. Activating the Blood Tech to standby. Energy system is fully operational."

The Far Stranger was the Overlord's personal artificial intelligence, designed to speak for the functions of the Blood Tech as well as maintain control over the use of the Wandering Star. In short, the intelligence served as a sort of regulator. Yet, the Overlord had taken the Far Stranger with him when he left for deep space. What was that synthetic life form doing back on Earth?

I didn't know it at the time, but up in the sky was the answer to my question. A fiery object came billowing down in thick smoke, streaming from the heavens uncontrollably toward the ground below. I soon lost sight of it and its noise ceased to ricochet toward my position. Something arrived and that something crashed.

A rising alarm then sounded throughout the entire forest. The Thralldom was being alerted for an imminent crisis. I was all by myself and it'd be some time before a transport could come to extract me. As long as I was still alone, I took the opportunity to investigate the opened warehouse.

There was a buzzer ringing inside while a red security light flashed round and round. I shoved the end of my assault rifle's stock into the cracked door and pried it open. A cold breeze then blew out from the dark corridor within. Inside, a vast arsenal had been piled alongside either of the decaying walls. There were all sorts of weapons, suits of battle armor, and strange strappings that appeared to be nothing less than jet packs. Yes, jet packs.

From years of isolation, the stash was all gathered in thick dust and dying fauna. I wiped off some debris from a helmet, only to be blinded by a sudden light coming from out of it. All around me, the supplies were powering up in rapid succession. The old room was glowing with energy.

The Far Stranger then spoke out through the rusty loudspeakers above, "All ordinances, live and ready."

I had a tough time convincing myself to set aside my desire to play around with the newly uncovered equipment. Deciding to exit the warehouse, I waited for my inevitable extraction. Whatever orders were coming my way, one thing was certain. The activation of the Blood Tech could only mean that its battery, the Wandering Star, had returned, but who had brought it back? Had a Space Wizard truly come from some Evening Galaxy, just as Zero had promised?

Outside, morning light was still dark from the slow rise of dawn. In the shadows of the rainforest, though, I noticed a massive illumination coming from beyond the timber tops. It was a similar light to that of the Blood Tech I'd just seen, only larger in scale. Finding a better visual through the trees, I found that the bright glow was radiating from the Lair itself. It was as if my surroundings had actually been asleep all along, and were just then been awakened.

Not long after, my extraction came. I was quickly whisked off as a legion of Thralls stayed behind to secure the Blood Tech. The only information that I could get was that the stockpile wasn't even close to what was available during the Last War. The forest cache was just a small portion that'd been successfully tucked away, and it was all that was left.

Arriving back, the Lair was in disarray. Operatives were running around in a panic while alarms were blaring without any real reason. I entered the frenzy and was immediately greeted by Captain Sentria. Though we were both around the same age, I was ranked among the lowly Bottom Bunks while she had achieved the status of a higher level. She had her own squad and was well on her way to the top of the Thrall pecking order.

Unlike me, she had beautiful dark skin, a complexion that complimented her unique features. A descendant with both African and Asian traces, she was a mind-blowing blend who could've gotten as far as she had using her good looks alone. All beauty aside, though, it was always the merits of her character, her strong will that put her into good graces with the Commander.

Sentria and I had been entwined together for the past year. When I first saw her, her face was hidden beneath a helmet. I had never seen anything more beautiful than when her long hair broke free from the restraints of her face guard. The flowing strands swept across her eyes and cheeks like a lush waterfall. Despite her beauty, it was the unwavering girl underneath that I fell for.

On the day we met, I caught her looking at me from afar. At first, I didn't think anything of it, but she kept on. Eventually, we loomed closer to each other, face to face. We had an immediate connection, like kindred spirits.

I inquired to my mysterious onlooker, "Why do you keep staring at me like that?"

She smiled at me with a fantastic grin, "For the same reason you keep staring back."

Upon my initial enlistment, Sentria had been assigned to show me around. She had led the way that whole day. One year later, we were walking side by side, old souls in step with the other.

"Did you see it fall from the sky?" she asked as we crossed through the mayhem of the Lair.

"Yeah, I saw something," I replied. "I don't know what, though. Do you know what it was?"

"How could anyone not?" Her answer was hard to take seriously, "It's the Space Wizard."

I didn't quite know how to read into her response. She hadn't exactly looked me in the eye when she'd said it. Sentria just kept walking alongside me without any indication of joking.

"The Space Wizard? You can't be serious." I continued, "Everything seems to be lining up toward the idea, but it's just a story, a made-up myth."

Sentria remained silent as we slipped out of the halls and into the armory. She then began gearing up to mobilize. Clearly, she wasn't in a joking mood.

"Whoever it is, Commander Zero has ordered my squad to intercept him," Sentria explained. "If you're so sure it's not the Space Wizard, then come get in on the action and prove it for yourself. Just so happens that my squad is down one operative. I need someone to substitute." In my hesitation to say anything back, she added, "You know you want to. You're not going to want to miss this. We're taking out jet packs. First time they've been used in twenty years."

"Jet packs?" I excitedly pondered.

"Crash-course is in thirty minutes," Sentria said as she walked off on her way. "If you're up for it, meet me in the training area."

"Who is it?" I asked off subject.

"Who's who?" Sentria stopped to shake her head with a muddled scowl.

"You said your squad is down by one today," I clarified. "Who is it?"

"It's Fossil," she made known. "He wouldn't really tell me why, but he's asked to stay out on this one. I can't really tell him no, even though I've got the rank. He's the oldest man in the Thralldom and he's pretty much earned the right to do whatever he wants. At least, as far as I'm concerned."

"I should go and see him," I took it upon myself. "Find out what's up."

Didn't matter if it was day or night, Fossil could always be found in the same place when off duty. Outside our barracks was a triangular altar. Big and flat, it sat at the center of our courtyard garden. An artifact from the old world, only the older generations knew the true purpose of the altar. Fossil was one of these elders and he never wanted to discuss it. He was always there, though. He'd sit on its plain edge or stand atop of it with his head tilted toward the sky. Fossil had been searching for something up there since the day I arrived. I'm told he'd been searching for it long before too.

I approached the old Australian at his usual spot. Leaned up against the altar, I found him staring at the ground. Much to my surprise, he wasn't scanning the skyline like usual.

With his head bent down, it came to me just how worn Fossil really was. Beneath a crown of salt and pepper hair, tired wrinkles wreathed his face. He was no more than sixty years old, but he had the look of one who's much older. Which is not to say he couldn't hold his own in battle. In fact, Fossil was one of the best combat operatives in the whole Thralldom. He had seen more fighting than most anyone.

He was a Thrall since the days of the Last War. It must've been those trying times that aged him so far beyond his years. Everyone called him Fossil because of it. Whatever his real name was, it was forever lost to time. Most of the Thralls went by a different designation in place of the name they came in with. Fossil's title was just another mask hiding a former identity.

At one time, the old Australian was a great leader, holding one of the highest ranks in the whole Thralldom. For reasons of his own, he stepped down from leadership in favor of becoming a lowlife Bottom Bunk like myself. Thus, he was completely under the bearing of his younger brother, none other than Commander Zero himself. Fossil was never one to take orders, though. As he always put it, he chose to follow them freely as he felt like it.

I began toward the old man, "Sentria just offered me your spot on the upcoming operation."

Fossil cleared his throat and took his gaze from the ground to meet my eye level. "Go on and give it a go then, mate. If you think you're up for it."

"I haven't given her an answer, yet." I went on, "I wanted to talk to you about it before I did. Why'd you want to sit this one out? Rumors going around that it's the Space Wizard of all things."

"That's exactly why I'm not going," he told, point blank.

"Not sure I understand," I disclosed. "If all goes as Zero says, this'll be the return to the power that we've all been waiting for. The world will have peace."

Fossil barked, "That's a mouthful of bull dust! It'll only mean death!" The seasoned man then looked back up at the sky as he always did. He glared up at the atmosphere and let out a tired and begrudged sigh. "I've kept watch on these skies for years, hoping to never find that which I fear. There's much about the old world that you younger joeys don't know. I'll tell you one thing, there's no Space Wizard. He doesn't exist and never did, but there was a man like him once. Disappeared a long time ago. Whatever's left of that man, I fear he hasn't come to bring peace, but returns to pour judgment for the things that we've done."

My concerned curiosity asked, "What man?"

"The man who built the world as you know it, or the man who brought it down, depending on one's politics." He turned to me with grim eyes. "The one they call the Overlord."

Abruptly, Fossil marched off before I could ask any more questions. I decided that the best way to find out my answers was to take Sentria up on her challenge. That way, I could find out what was really going on for myself. Whatever had crashed out there, it was about to set off a chain of dire events.