Randy Ramos

If animals talked

                Everything changed when we found out that animals had the ability to speak.  Every animal, from the largest wale to the smallest ant.  At first people were surprised and thought they had gone crazy, others just accepted it.  We all thought it was a good sign meaning we would all understand each other and get along better.  We were wrong.  The animals had different plans; they demanded that we stopped killing them for sport, food, and protection.  We would not agree to that, and then they rebelled.  It took almost ten years to finally agree most of their demands.  Then their last demand came, destroy all weapons, we all laughed at this saying we would never agree to do.  We were already reduced to vegetarian and taken away from some of our homes, now they want to take away our weapons, our only need for protection.  They have to be joking, we would never agree to such stupidity.  They declared war on us that very day.  What did we do?  We shrugged it off, thinking they were no match for our superior intelligence and power.  We would come to curse those very ideas later. 

The animals were far more organized and battle ready than we ever expected.  Sending every bird and bug they hag in their arsenal to destroy our crops was their first move.  We were able to counter it of course, but not without thousands of people dying of starvation over the following months.  They switched to offence immediately, sending those same birds and bugs to attack our people nonstop until we were forced to hiding into our homes from protection.  Although  not a lot of people died during this attack, people were blinded and severely wounded.  While we were cowering in our homes, the power assault began, tigers, lions, gorillas, elephants, rhinos, even bulls began the purging.  Our guns did nothing to help defend the towns.  We were no match for their sheer power and numbers.  The bulls and elephants destroyed whatever building was in their sight; many lives were lost during the demolition.  The ones who survived were running for their lives, getting run over by charging rhinos and being picked off by the giant cats.  The few who did manage to escape the massacre were trying to escape town, only to have massive gorillas waiting for them at every major exit.  In other words, they knew exactly what they were doing.  Even our house pets seemed to turn on us, giving valuable information about their former masters.   Some loyal domestic animals remained with us, warning us what was going to happen before it was too late.  But by then many people did not trust them and had them caged for our protection.  Planes and ships were no good, the birds blocked the pilots view, intending for the planes to crash and marine animals just sank any ship they came across with.  They were everywhere and seemed to know everything, almost as if they were planning it from the very start.  We had no chance to begin with; the human population was down by more than half within the first year of the war, they showed no mercy.  It’s not like we did anything to attack, we did, it’s just that they were more driven for their cause.  In their eyes we were nothing but savages bent on domination, they saw the war as a means to save the world from its truest evil, humans.  Maybe their right, we brought this war upon ourselves, maybe if we would have gotten rid of our weapons maybe this would have never happen.  Maybe this war was always meant to happen; they had given us time to advance our race so we would be a worthy opponent for them.  In the end it doesn’t matter, we failed to prevent human inhalation.  Even as I write in this journal, we are the last of the human race.  So I bid farewell for whoever might be reading this, for they are coming.  

March 2, 2012

 Untitled

                In battle Ezquiel truly felt at his element, nothing satisfied him more than to eliminate the evil that slipped into the world.  He was a War General, a rank only bestowed to the elite of the elite; this meant that in the midst of battle no one outranked him.   When he earned his title everyone was at an outrage, not because he received it, but because of how young Ezquiel was.  Twenty seven years of age, by far the youngest and strongest of the war generals there is.  He knew this was the reason for all the jealousy and hatred other officers had towards him; they thought he was pulling some strings or had inside connections.  No, he earned his title because he truly was one of the best warriors there ever was, he was strong, fast, agile, deadly with any weapon, and above all else he was a brilliant strategist.  Ezquiel was a big man, not muscle upon muscle, or nearly as huge as the other war generals, but if you saw him from a distant the last thing to cross your mind is to mess with him.

Ezquiel was sent on a high ranked mission, now he was in the midst of battle.  Move slightly to the left, stab the open chest, duck, sever attacker’s legs, stand up, decapitate unaware enemy.  Three enemies down without breaking a sweat, it would seem alright if they were low class demons, but they weren’t.  These were sentries, some of the best demon warriors.  The objective was simple; kill the demons before they reach the city, this was a mission of up most importance.  Only one could go, for if a group went the demons would see it coming and scatter, they chose Ezquiel because he was skilled and powerful enough to eliminate the threat with ease.  Something went wrong from the beginning though, somehow they sensed him and started an all out attack.  Something felt wrong; he was killing them too easily, almost if they were low ranking demons.  Their armor seemed to say otherwise, it was too well made for it to be used by the grunts yet they were falling like grunts, without even putting on a fight.  “Why is this to easy, why did they engage me when they sensed me, why did they not scatter like they usually do.  Were they waiting for me, dear god were they planning this?”  It finally hit him; this was an ambush, sending the weak against him so he wouldn’t see the real attack coming until it was too late.  Ezquiel felt like an idiot, the fact that they did not scatter should have tipped him off, he had to get out of this mess quick.  Before he even realized it Ezquiel got run through with a blade, intentional or not, the blade did not pierce any vital organs, this was technically a minor wound for him.  Ezquiel turned around to see a tall dark figure with glowing green eyes.  It was none other than the Lord Demon holding a sword through him with a cruel smile on his face.  “Poor Ezquiel, betrayed by his own leaders to die by my hand” Ezquiel managed to yank the sword free from his body.   The words shocked him, “what the hell did you just say” he said as he gridded his teeth, “Did I stutter, I said that you were betrayed by your own kind young warrior.”  Ezquiel almost laughed out loud “Yeah and you’re the Lord of the Angel’s, if you’re going to try to mess with my mind at least put some effort into it” “Think what you will Ezquiel, but you and I both know that you would have been dead if I wished it.”  Without even realizing it he found himself nodding with the Lord Demon’s reply, “My minions received a message from your elders saying that you were to be eliminated; it instructed us what to do and where to go.”  “OK let’s just assume that I believe you, no, I can’t believe you, how can I believe you”, “have you noticed that my demons stopped attacking as soon as I struck you, or that I missed all internal organs and major arteries, that wasn’t on accident.”  He was making sense, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe him, “Looks like someone rose through the ranks quickly and others in high places felt threatened by you, young War General. You may not believe me, but you and I know that I am telling the truth.”  His instincts were telling Ezquiel to actually trust this Demon, suddenly he thought of something.  “There is a major flaw in your story Demon” “Oh, and what is that” “You said that the plan was to eliminate me, so why did you let me live, why am I still alive when the agreement was for you to kill me.”  “That’s completely true, the agreement was for us to kill you but when have you known for demons to keep their word.  What I see here is an opportunity for you and I to work together and bring those bastards down once and for all, it’s not often that we get a War General on our side.  They already showed that they are willing to bring you down for their own personal purpose.  And as you know we demons have been at war with you warriors for a very long time.”  Ezquiel could believe what he was hearing “You’re asking me to join the demons and betray them” “No, I’m asking for you to help us take them down and take revenge for what they did to you Ezquiel.  So….. What do you say?”

March 26, 2012

Untitled

            It had been two months since the demons have taken him in, Ezquiel had thought that the demonic lair would had been crawling with hideous demons, but he had been wrong.  Their community was actually as advanced as the warriors; he still couldn’t believe that he was in the heart of the demons home.  At first he was uneasy of the place, plus his name was known here, every demon has heard of the great demon slayer Ezquiel.  This was not a good thing, even though the Demon Lord gave orders to not attack his guest there were still times when he had to draw his sword.  “Poor Ezquiel, betrayed by his own leaders to die by my hand”, the words he spoke still remained in his head, how could they do this.  He did not know the reasons, only one thing was clear to him, he was going to kill the warrior responsible for this, and anyone who dared get in his way.

            Meal time was all ways a little uneasy there, since the demons main food source were humans Ezquiel had to make sure what was being fed to him.  He still remembered the conversation that he had with the Lord Demon about the issue and still felt that it was wrong, but there was nothing that he could do.  “Why do you eat humans?”  “Why do eat cows, chickens, and pork?”  “Well, it’s because they provide the required vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to live, if we don’t eat we will die.”  “Same here, humans are the only food source that will not make us sick; humans provide the essentials for our bodies to survive.  Without humans, we would die.”  “You do realize that we hunt you for eating humans, it’s not the only reason, but its reason enough.”“Well you warriors seem to think high and mighty of yourself, the only reason you think its wrong is because you humans actually thing you’re the highest life forms out of the whole universe.  Do you think that the animals you kill and eat would retaliate if they could talk, and what would happen in the world if the animals you murder would speak up and call it murder?  You think that us eating is wrong because you humans have feelings, the animals think it’s horrible but you humans don’t care because you’re superior.  You said that the reason for you to eat animals is for survival, well the same goes for us, we eat to survive.”  Those very words shocked Ezquiel, they did make sense but it was going against everything he believed in.

            Months past and Ezquiel was getting impatient, to pass time he had been sparring with demon sentries.  Though Ezquiel was better at combat, there were still techniques he learned to better hone his skills.  Time finally came and the Demon Lord was ready to instruct Ezquiel of their attack, “We told them that we managed to kill you, so they won’t be expecting a surprise attack.  We need you to deactivate the shields that have been placed around the fortress, once that’s done ill send my finest demons in and begin the onslaught.”  “Wait not everyone has to die, only the ones responsible.”  “This is our chance to finally wipe out the warriors, the ones who betrayed you, and you don’t want to do it.”  “I’m just saying not all the warriors were in on my ambush so they don’t have to die.”  “I haven’t told you what the reward was for us killing you” this perked his ears up “what was your reward, demon” “one hundred thousand humans, the time has come for you to decide whether you’re still a Warrior by blood, or avenger by heart.” He couldn’t believe what he just heard, if this were true then more than just a couple of Warriors knew about his attack.  Did the Warriors finally sink as low as the Demons, or is this their true face of evil, one thing was for sure though, “They are all going to pay, by my hand, they will all die.”

            In the dark corners of the demon lair was a Demon Lord contempt with himself, finally things were going his way, then, and only then he smiled a very cruel smile.

No Mercy

            Deactivating the shields wasn’t hard, since the Warriors thought he was dead they did not even think about changing the shields.  As soon as Ezquiel deactivated the shields thousands upon thousands of Demonic Sentries marched in, Ezquiel could begin to hear the cries of unsuspecting warriors begging for their lives.  The onslaught has begun

            Once inside the Warriors fortress Ezquiel went on a rampage, cutting down warriors left and right, none were a match for him.  They had no right to live; he would have forgiven them if the ambush was just a set up for him, but to bring in one hundred thousand innocent lives into this mess was unforgivable. They got no mercy from his blade, their face said everything, surprise and anger for him being alive.  It did not matter if he was surrounded; Ezquiel took them all on, one by one they fell.  He did not go around looking for a fight like the Demons did, but if confronted Ezquiel wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.  They didn’t matter to him all he was after were the other War Generals, they were the ones who probably knew who wanted to get rid of him.  When Ezquiel was in the middle of battle he saw one, General “Dragon Jaw” Ruger the legendary war hero of Valenne, he single handedly took down fifteen Demon Sentries with one blow.  Ruger was massive, seven foot three hundred pounds of raw muscle, short pitch black hair, and the eyes of a cold hearted killer.  Finally someone worthy enough to test Ezquiel’s skills, Ezquiel finished taking down the group of warriors that engaged him and charged at the massive General.  “Ruger!” was all Ezquiel managed to say before he managed to doge Ruger’s blade, “what, you’re still alive you little punk” Ezquiel didn’t respond he only dodged and attacked with no mercy.  As he expected Ruger was way more powerful than any opponent he ever faced, this wasn’t going to be easy, “Who set the hit on me!” “You should be dead Ezquiel; the only way to get the answer is to kill me” Ruger said in a booming voice, “So be it”. 

            The battle was fierce, neither Ezquiel nor Ruger seemed to give in, at first it seemed to be nothing but skill and strength at its fullest, but as it progressed the fight was nothing more than two monsters going at it with brute force.  These two were among the best Warriors that this world has ever seen, the sheer force of this battle was devastating the city.  Normally if Ezquiel fight for half an hour without breaking a sweat, but this time his opponent is different, Ruger was not the type of man that would underestimate Ezquiel he would not hold anything back.  As the battle wore on Ruger showed signs of slowing down, Ezquiel needed to finish this and fast.  Ruger charged with a series of punches powerful enough to shake mountains, Ezquiel swiftly evaded these as he got closer to him.  Ezquiel has been stabbing Ruger in the ribs every time he had a chance, it wasn’t a lot but still it had to do some damage sooner or later, in this case the stabbing was barely beginning to take effect.  Ezquiel saw his opening when Ruger wasn’t attacking as fiercely with his left arm, this is his chance to finally end this.  Ezquiel made his way towards Ruger’s left side, as soon as Ruger saw this he used all his force to do 720 degree double lariat spin, the split second Ruger spun Ezquiel stuck his sword into the left ribs.  The sheer force of the spin and the way Ezquiel stabbed him was enough to rip Ruger’s stomach open, Ruger dropped to the floor the moment later.  The only thing that Ezquiel regretted was not being able to get any information out of Ruger, “where do you think you’re going punk, I’m not done yet” came Ruger’s failing voice.  How was this possible the man literally had his guts out of him, “listen carefully punk, defeating me doesn’t mean you have won this war, in this fortress there are more Generals with the same strength I have.  You are all worn out, how can you possibly defeat all of them all by yourself, the reason for the generals for calling the hit on you was for this very purpose.  We thought that with your power great evil would come, it seems we were right, punk” these were the last words of the great hero of Valenne General Ruger “Dragon Jaw” , to make sure he died right Ezquiel decapitated him on the spot.

Truth

            The Battle with Ruger left Ezquiel with no strength and serious wounds; he still kept moving onward no matter how severe his wounds were.  Ruger was one of the strongest War Generals the Warriors had so Ezquiel figured that the rest of the battle should be pretty straightforward.  “So you’re the one who is leading this attack, Ezquiel” came and old voice, a voice that Ezquiel knew well, it was the voice of his mentor Deevan.

  The though on him having to kill Deevan sickened him, “Deevan I know how this makes me look, but I’m doing this for a good cause.  I do not know if you have any idea what was happened to me, but in the overall it is the Warriors who need to pay, not me.”  Deevan looked at Ezquiel with an intense stare, finally he broke the silence “I am fully aware of what was done to you Ezquiel, and I also know what the Warriors cover up story was.  I am also very disappointed in you Ezquiel, not only did you side with the Demon Lord himself, but you also kill one of our greatest Warrior.”  “If you’re trying to make me feel guilty Deevan it won’t work, I stand by the decisions I have made, furthermore, what exactly was my cover up story” Ezquiel said as he felt his anger rising, “Oh you know, Ezquiel refused to take Warriors with him to complete his next mission, he was overrun by Demon Sentries and killed, his body was never found.  Real convincing story if you ask me, some people wept knowing that that their fabled hero died in battle.  I think there was a monument built in your honor, the question is how will the Warriors cope their beloved comrade has risen from the dead and is helping the Demon’s in destroying their home.” His word shocked Ezquiel to the core, could it be true that not everyone knew about his attack, “So I take it that not everyone knew about the innocent lives wasted in bargaining with the Demons.”  “Those lives were a necessary sacrifice for the greater good” Deevan said in a care free tone, “Those lives were given to the Demons so they could kill me!” “And it is you who is helping those very Demons!”  “How is the killing of one hundred thousand innocent people for the greater good?  How could you just stand there after knowing what was done to those people, after knowing what was done to me!”  Deevan’s glare darkened “I will tell you the exact words passed down to the Leaders of the Warriors, A time will come when he will surpass every Warrior at a young age, he will be the strongest most naturally skilled Warrior, you should praise him, you should fear him, this Warrior will destroy us all.  You see Ezquiel there is little doubt that you are the Warrior mentioned in these words, it didn’t take me long realize it when you where but a child, that’s why I took you in and made myself your mentor.  When the rest found this out they wanted you eliminated for every one’s safety, Looks like the words were right about you Ezquiel, you and the Lord Demon will bring down everything the Warriors stand for.  Pleas Ezquiel stop this right now, there is no reason to continue this onslaught.”

 Ezquiel’s eyes were at the verge of tears at hearing the words of his mentor, “If the Warriors hadn’t tried to kill me this wouldn’t have been happening, I’m sorry Deevan but I cannot go back.”  “I see, this means that by me being a Warrior I have an obligation to kill you, I know that I am no match for you Ezquiel but that does not mean I will go down without a fight.”  Ezquiel’s eyes were watery by this moment, “As you wish, father.”

            The battle was over within seconds, Deevan was no match Ezquiel and he knew it, the fight cost Ezquiel more than his father.  This fight caused the little shred of forgiveness that Ezquiel had for the Warriors to fade away into Darkness.

Untitled

            The attack started on midnight now the sun was coming up, the bodies of dead Warriors and Demons covered the floor of the fortress, it was a bloody massacre.  It became apparent that there was no end to the Demon numbers and the Warriors began to fade, one by one the Warriors died off.  Ezquiel was enraged, it did not matter what happened to him, all that mattered to him was the Warriors death.  He was not the sort of man that craved glory, he didn’t care for boasts, he killed the Warriors quickly and efficiently. He didn’t need to talk or taunt, the results would be the same, in the end any one foolish enough to cross his path would die

            He had just seen two Warriors dispatch twenty Demons with ease and were now headed towards him, “It’s Ezquiel, kill that bastard” one of them yelled. As they came closer Ezquiel recognized  that the one who yelled was a pompous Warrior named Dale who thought too much of himself, he was a fool.  Ezquiel was certain that the other Warrior no threat to him, but Dale was a different story altogether, Dale stopped in front of him and fixed Ezquiel with at menacing glare.  “Well Ezquiel, it looks like the angle’s smile upon me …..” that was all he said before Ezquiel slammed his sword into his neck and pulled it down towards his stomach.  The force was so great that Ezquiel could hear Dale’s ribcage break; Dale was left in a gurgling fit awaiting death.  The Warrior that was left just stood there never taking his eyes off of Dale’s bloody body, it was obvious that he recently completed his training and hadn’t seen an actual battle yet.  Ezquiel felt a pang of pity for this rookie, “Do you know who I am” the recruit just nodded his head, to frightened to do anything else.  “Then tell me” there was a short pause, as if he was choosing his words carefully, “Everyone knows who you are, you’re Ezquiel, the greatest Warrior that ever lived.  You died about a year ago while on a mission and nobody ever found your body, but you’re alive aren’t you.  You betrayed the Warriors, now you’re the one leading the attack.”  “Well you have most of the story correct except for the part that I betrayed the Warriors, they are the ones who betrayed me”, “Lies, they’re all lies, you wanted power so you decided to take on the Warriors!”  “Who’s the one that told you this”, “It was the mighty War Generals, shortly after the attack began they sent words of who was leading the attack.  Everyone thought it was a some kind of joke; nobody dared believe that you of all people would lead an attack on the Warriors.  You’re the person every young Warrior in training wants to be when they become full fledged Warriors” by this point he was beginning to choke up, if Ezquiel had any hate or pity for this Warrior his face did not show it.  “If you don’t want to die then run, get the hell out of hear and cry yourself to sleep every night.  If you choose to fight me I won’t show any mercy and kill you in a heartbeat.  If you don’t believe what I say, then stick around and see for your self” the kid just stood there thinking of his options, he looked at his sword and then at Ezquiel and took off running.  “How cute, Ezquiel the merciless feels sorry for new recruit and leaves him be, I guess dying made you soft” Ezquiel turned around to see three War Generals all ready to attack.  He knew all three of them; he also knew he had no chance of survival if he clashed with the three of them, “Luciala, Balderog, Zenthus, it really is a surprise to see you working together, are you really that scared of me.”  “Don’t play dumb Ezquiel, we know that the fight with Drugar took everything out of you.  All three of us are here to make sure of your death, in your weak state you alone cannot manage to defeat us all.”  “Who said that he is alone?” came a cruel voice “the way I see it its three on two , those are good odds for us” Ezquiel turned around to see a frightful image of a Lord Demon.  His body armor was covered in shiny red gloss, at first glance someone might assume it’s just the armors gloss but in fact it’s the blood of countless Warriors.  His glowing green eyes saw any sudden movement any Warrior dared to make.  “What took you so long Demon” “I was taking care of some personal business, no matter I’m here now, let’s get to work”