The World Begins A New

It happened on the first Saturday of the new year, a sight unlike any other.  The sky was illuminated with a brilliant white light, tinged with blue.  A wave seemed to emanate from the moon, rippling outwards with a force impossible to ignore.  Expanding and sweeping away satellites in its wake, frying their electronic systems. Auroras danced and multiplied, painting the sky with vibrant colors.  The wave of energy breached through the Earth’s protective atmosphere, springing forth towards the surface.  The people witnessing were immersed in the beauty, unable to comprehend the scale and ferocity of the phenomenon.  Tingling ran though their bodies.  Children cried out for their parents, and those parents reached out for their kids.  Their skin glowed bright and with a flash of light and a soft pop, vanished out of sight. […??? years later…] A chilling voice called out to me.  My vision was blurry and my mind was foggy. “Wake up,” commanded the voice. I gasped for air.  “Your soul is alive once again…  Everyone from your era in history has vanished, but there is a way to save their souls.  First, you have more pressing matters.  Your presence is known.  There is a group heading this way and should arrive within the minute...” the voice paused. “Survive, and continue to survive, until the day we meet,” the voice echoed, fading away. I snapped back to my senses and found myself lying on my back in a dense forest, with the sun shining through the trees above and birds singing away. A moment ago, I was in my office working on pushing the next architecture changes we needed for our new education software.  What was happening?  How am I outside?  A sharp twang echoed through the air, followed by a swift whoosh. With a thud, an arrow landed just inches from my leg, the impact sending a ripple of vibrations through the ground. Flinching, as time seemed to slow down, I rolled to my side to get up and found myself quickly surrounded. Standing in front of me, a man brandishing a long sword reflecting the forest on its surface and another holding a bow with an arrow knocked, aiming directly at me. “Who are you people?” my words barely escaped my throat.  There was no response. The swordsman raised his blade high above his head, the steel glinting from the twinkle of sunlight flashing through the trees.  With a fierce cry, he brought it down in a swift and powerful arc towards me.  My heart was pounding.  Why was this happening?  I did not want to die like some vermin.  I gritted my teeth, shifting my weight and swung myself to roll towards the arrow. The blade sliced through the air as it connected and slammed into the ground, blasting away dirt high into the air.  My hands reached out, I grabbed the arrow planted in the ground and lunged myself towards the swordsman.  I could not hesitate, ignoring the danger, my arm swung and stabbed, with red engulfing my vision.  Before I realized what was happening, there was blood spraying from his neck.  Still slumped onto this dying man, a flurry of piercing arrows rained towards me.  Using the dying man as a shield, the man’s torso vibrated from each arrow piercing clean through, as the sharp points reached towards my face.  Quickly shoving the man off myself, I ran towards the trees.  The echo of arrows smashed into the trees exploding their bark behind me.  A path appeared ahead, but the clearing of trees was too wide.  I was reminded of playing war games in the woods.  We would always catch the newbies walking out in the open.  I had to go further into the forest. My new jeans and t-shirt were continuously getting caught and ripped in the heavy brush, with bugs gnawing at my elbows and legs.  Inside my tennis shoes, dirt and splinters were grinding and stabbing at my feet.  It felt like half an hour running through the thick brush when a steep rise of dirt, reaching several meters high appeared in front.  The dirt was soft and seemed to crumble but it was still able to hold my weight as I climbed up digging in with each hand and foot.   Reaching the top shelf of dirt and spreading my fingers wide to climb, the soil became softer and breaking apart nearly crashing me back downwards, as I continuously swam up the dirt finally reaching the roots of a tree that hardened the earth up on a perch. This is where I must make a stand.  A violent shake of the brush below reached my ears, as the archer popped out flying up high, far surpassing human capabilities.  What is happening!?  Frozen, staring at the graceful landing onto the decaying dirt, as the archer simultaneously pulled back on his bow.  The string hummed with tension as it dug deeper into the flesh of his fingers. Suddenly, a loud rustle from above in the trees came shooting down, as an enormous dark creature pounced towards the archer.  His eyes wide, he rotated the bow upwards and released the arrow hitting the creature, but its momentum kept on moving forward, tackling into the archer and knocking them down the dirt cliff.  I did not hesitate to run in the opposite direction, as the sweat was dripping down my face, dirt caked inside and outside of my clothes, as I was breathing rapidly down the hill.  My foot caught a branch as the world started spinning, feeling dizzy as an abrupt stop shot needles into my shoulder and legs.  Stumbling to get back up and hopping off the throbbing in my ankle as a flat clearing laid ahead.   Looking back to see what is happening, screeching, yelling, and soft flesh being ripped apart echoed through the air.  Without warning, my footing was lost and my knee jerked in the air.   I realized there was nothing below my feet.  It was too late, my body swung forward, the wind eating at my face, the freefall tugging at my bones made my heart rise, as I slammed into the water below. The world around me grew quiet, calm, and dark, as if time had frozen.  Ding! --- [Survival Rank has leveled up] Survival Rank: 1 Conversion Points: 2  Would you like to receive your reward? (Yes) (No) —