The Survivor

My name is David Steiner. I am a sixty-year-old survivor. What have I survived? Well, I have survived over twenty accidents and five attacks in which at least two hundred other people have been killed.

I was only a two-year-old baby when I survived an air crash. Fifty people died in that air crash including my parents. I was the only survivor. Next day, all the newspapers carried the story of how a baby had escaped miraculously from the air crash.

I was six years old when I was riding to school on my school bus. On a sharp bend in the road, the driver lost control of the bus and it broke the side railings and fell straight into the river. Five school children and the bus driver lost their lives that day. Again, I was the only survivor.

Since then I have survived ten car accidents, two motorbike accidents, five bus accidents, one boat sinking, one helicopter crash and two plane crashes. I have also survived two shootouts and a knife attack.

I am not sure if I am lucky to survive those accidents and attacks or if I am a carrier of ill fate. I would like to think that it is the former.

I was leading my life quietly when suddenly another accident brought massive attention to me. A famous Reporter called Sandra Rocks from a leading TV news channel somehow got news of my miraculous escapes. She started chasing me for an interview. 

I kept refusing her for a long time. But, she offered me a lot of money. So, I finally agreed to come on her show for an Interview.

The Interview was meant to be a Live One. I was invited to the TV studio on a Saturday morning. The Interview was scheduled at 10 AM. I was asked to report two hours before the Interview. So, I went to the TV studio at 8 AM. The TV stylists brushed my face and explained me the details of the interview. They asked me to relax and look normal during the Interview.

Finally, the show started at 10 AM. Sandra introduced me to her Audience and commenced the Interview.

"It's unbelievable" Sandra exclaimed. "You survived all those accidents. How on earth did you do that? Do you believe that some higher force might be helping you?".

I nodded and replied "Yes. I think I am very lucky. God keeps saving me. I guess he has a higher purpose for me in life."

"So, tell us how does it feel like knowing that you are about to die? How does it fell in those last few moments?" Sandra asked me.

I answered "I felt really scared knowing that I am about to die. In those last moments, I felt very stupid and had many regrets. I felt like Death was the real truth. I was holding onto my life too tightly. I just wanted another chance to correct things".

Sandra chuckled and looking at the TV said "I guess God has given you many second chances. Do you think you have corrected everything now."

I smiled and answered "I realized it is a human folly. We never learn. I have been given too many chances already. But, it is the same feeling every time. I guess we just can't give up the feeling that life is temporary and it will end one day. We always keep looking for second chances."

Sandra asked "Did you have any near-death experiences or out of body experiences? How did it feel?".

I replied "Yes, I had such experiences on several occasions. I remember that during a recent Helicopter crash I suffered serious head injuries. As they were carrying me to the hospital I felt that I was traveling in air. As I looked down I could see my body lying lifeless in the Ambulance. I was traveling like a balloon in the Air."

I paused and took a sip of water before resuming "I stood in front of a tunnel of white light. I was about to enter it when I heard a voice saying,"Not now. Go back." Suddenly, I felt a feeling of falling down from a great height. When my head hit on the ground I woke up suddenly. My eyes opened to see the doctors applying the defibrillators on my chest."

Sandra said with amazement "Wow. This almost seems like a movie story." She asked, "Did you feel any intuituion before any such accident which warned you and saved your life?".

I replied "Yes, I feel that something around me changes and warns me of the danger. I was about to board an ill-fated bus to return home from a client location when I started feeling an uneasiness in my chest as soon as I sat down on the bus. Just before the bus was about to start I got down and decided to relax for another day and catch the bus the next day. I was sleeping at night when I received a call from my wife. She was in a great panic. She thanked God that I was alright. Apparently, she had received a call from the bus authorities informing her that I had been killed in a bus accident that evening. All the passengers on board the bus had been killed in that accident and they were still identifying the bodies."

Sandra gasped "Unbelievable. You are so lucky."

She was about to ask me another question when I told her softly that I wanted to go to the loo. She announced a commercial break and asked me to hurry.

I got up quickly and rushed to the toilet. I had barely reached the toilet when I heard a loud crash followed by a hysteric cry of a woman.

I ran back. To my horror, I saw that a heavy old air conditioner had fallen on the ground. It had fallen at the exact spot where I had been sitting for my interview just a few moments earlier. Everyone in the room was just staring at me in a mix of horror and awe.

I had just survived one more accident. This time on Live TV.

The End

Mystery Land – Chapter 5 – Celina meets the Dark Wizard

This is the fifth chapter of the Fantasy series "Mystery Land". You can read the previous chapters below.

Mystery Land - Chapter 1 - The Mystery Begins
Mystery Land - Chapter 2 - Celina's Gift

Mystery Land - Chapter 3 - The God's Well
Mystery Land - Chapter 4 – Abar shows what a mortal can do

Celina rode on Abar’s horse Swift. Swift galloped quickly through the Dark Forest. Celina had seen blood in her crystal. This meant that Sam’s life was in grave danger. She thought that King Riley might have sent men after him. She was unaware that it was not King Riley but the Elves who were after Sam. But then she did not have any reason to suspect them.

 Sam was riding gingerly through the Dark Forest. He was not aware of any danger looming over his head. His spirits had informed him that a powerful Wizard lived in these woods. He had come to seek her help to avenge King Riley. He had been informed by the Spirits that Celina hated Riley as much as he did. But he was curious to know why Celina hated Riley.

Elf Prince Yala had come to know that Sam had left his village. He wanted to capture Sam and reclaim the ancient Book of Enchantments. The book had belonged to the ancient Elves. Once they had the book it would empower them to defeat all the mortals and demigods and rule the world once again. Yala had assumed that Sam had gone to the Mystery Land. The Mystery Land was once known as the Elf Land. It was the home of the ancient Elves. But after the demigods stole the book from the elves they had lost their powers. They were driven away from the Elf Land by the demigods on the peril of their lives. He was sure the demigods who lived in the Elf Land had handed the book to him. He wanted to stop Sam before he crossed the Dark forest to reach the Elf Land.

Celina finally reached Sam. She saw a fat boy of around sixteen years of age riding a small brown horse. She saw hundreds of spirits accompanying the boy. “Why have you come into these Woods, Sam Thorne?” she questioned the boy. The boy looked surprised. He smiled and gave her a bow. “You must be Lady Celina, the mighty wizard of the Dark Forest,” he said with delight. Celina was amused by the boy’s manners. “That I am. But you have still not answered my question. What are you doing in these woods with all these Spirits? Why are you looking for me?” she asked him again.

Sam answered “My lady I come to seek your help. These spirits are my friends. We have all been wronged by the wicked King Riley. We have sworn vengeance against the King. I understand that you too despise him. I come to seek your allegiance. We shall defeat him together”.

“What makes you think I despise the King? How could a boy and few spirits dream to overthrow such a mighty ruler?” she asked him.

Sam replied “My lady my spirits have overheard you speaking ill of the King several times. I do not know why you despise him. But I know that you do. I request you to not underestimate my power. My spirits are not powerful yet. But, I know some dark magic which would make them very strong. I need your help to accomplish this task.”

Celina replied angrily “I dislike the King because he is an evil man. He has killed millions of people. He has even imprisoned two of my sisters. I escaped him by hiding in these woods. The King has powerful allies and Elves to help him. He can’t be defeated, Sam. His men are already looking for you and they mean to kill you. I am afraid I can’t help you.”

Sam dismounted from his horse and walked towards Celina. His spirits hovered over him. He patted her horse gently and said “My lady, I can understand that you are afraid of him. I am sorry about your sisters. His men killed my sister Sheila. She was a good wizard. She used to practice magic to help people. One day she saved a little boy from being hanged by using her magic. Riley’s soldiers captured her and hanged her for practicing witchcraft. They threw her dead body into the river. I saw her body floating in the river. I swore to destroy Riley and his men that day. I have a magic book of ancient spells. It was handed over to one of my ancestors by a demigod called Al. I can’t understand all the spells in this book as they are written in an ancient language. I need your help to interpret the spells. Using the magic from this book we can defeat Riley.”

Sam took out a book from his coat and handed it to Celina. Celina took the book from him. Her heart started beating fast as she saw the book. She wondered if it was the same mysterious book which had disappeared many ages back.  Now even the wizards thought that it was only a myth. When she opened the book a bright light came out of the book and she gave a cry in disbelief and exclaimed: “My god, this is the ancient Book of Enchantments.”

Suddenly all the birds in the forest started to chirp loudly. Celina looked up and cried to Sam “Quickly get on your horse. We must leave at once. They are here for you.”

Sam ran to his horse and suddenly an arrow came whizzing past him and stuck in a nearby tree. Sam hurriedly jumped on his horse. His spirits turned the whole place dark so that he could escape in the cover of darkness. Celina shouted, “Hurry Sam, this way”.  Celina thought “Let me lead him to the Mystery land. Riley’s men will not dare to follow him there”. She patted Swift and told him “Lead me to your master”. Swift galloped at full speed in the direction of the river outside the Dark Forest where he had left his master, Abar.

To be continued.

Mystery Land - Chapter 4 – Abar shows what a mortal can do

This is the fourth chapter of the Fantasy series "Mystery Land". You can read the previous three chapters using these links.

"Mystery Land - Chapter 1 - The Mystery begins"
"Mystery Land - Chapter 2 - Celina's Gift"

"Mystery Land - Chapter 3 - The God's Well"

A

Bar decided that he would use the weapon Celina had given to him. He walked to the huge Iron Gate. He pressed the green circle on his weapon. A crystal appeared in front of his eyes. The crystal was glowing brightly with a blue color. He pointed his weapon at the Iron Gate and selected the image of the Gate on the crystal. He pressed the red circle.

 A huge blast echoed in the hills as the huge Iron Gate came crashing down. Abar ran inside wielding his weapon cautiously. The land inside was engulfed in a strange mist. Abar was finding it difficult to see what was ahead of him. His only source of light was the Full Moon in the sky. Abar heard a sound and suddenly stopped running. The sound was like the rumble of the earth during an earthquake. The sound was approaching closer now and Abar could feel the land beneath his feet shaking. Abar pressed the green circle on his weapon and pointed it towards the direction of the sound. He looked at the crystal to see if it could catch any image.

Suddenly the crystal showed an image of a huge monster on the screen. Abar pressed the red circle. A blast of red light escaped his weapon. He heard a huge shriek from the monster. The monster was hit. The blast had perhaps injured it but not killed it. The monster kept shrieking and was now running away from him. Abar thought that the monster’s cries would wake up the entire city. He decided to run after it and hunt it down.

Abar ran at full speed after the monster. The mist had now begun to clear. Abar saw the huge monster running away. He was astonished by the huge girth of the monster. The monster was at least twenty feet tall. He saw that the right hand of the monster was missing. He guessed that it might have been cut when he had shot at it. Abar pointed his weapon at the monster and shot again. This time the red light from the weapon went through the back of the monster. The monster gave a short cry before falling face down to his death.

Abar ran ahead of the fallen monster. He wanted to enter the city before sun dawn. He saw a couple of watchtowers in the distance. He slowed down now and crawled slowly towards the towers. The towers were well lit and they stood on either side of a wooden bridge. Each tower had two guards stationed on it. The guards were armed with the same weapons as him.

Abar knew that it would be impossible for him to take down all four guards at the same time. So he devised a plan to distract the guards. He quickly gathered some dried leaves and twigs and put them close to a bush near the first tower. He quickly took out a small bottle of highly inflammable dark oil from his shirt’s pocket and poured some oil on the leaves. He then quickly crawled to a hiding place near the second tower from where he could still see the place where he had placed the leaves. He took out an arrow from his quiver and poured a few drops of the dark oil on the iron arrow tip. He took the arrow tip and simply scratched it against a stone. The arrow lit up at once. He took a quick aim and fired the arrow at the dried leaves. The arrow went zipping through the air and landed at the perfect spot. The leaves at once lit up and big flames started spreading in that area.

The guards stationed in the first tower saw the flames and at once rushed to douse the fire. Abar waited for the guards to come down. He took out his mystery weapon and quickly took an aim at the guards posted on the second tower. He pressed the red circle and in the next instant, the two guards dropped dead. The weapon was very silent and did not produce any sound. Next, he took an aim at the guards that were dousing the fire. Just as he was about to press the red circle one of the guards turned back and saw him. He shouted and immediately took cover behind a tree. Abar only managed to get one of the guards with his shot.

Abar rushed to take cover under some bushes. The guard who had managed to leap aside now started firing at Abar. But, he too was finding it difficult to identify Abar’s hiding place in the darkness. He stopped firing and waited for Abar to make his next move. Abar sensed the guard’s intentions and decided to play a trick on him. Abar had the ability to throw his sound at a distance so it would appear to his enemies that he was hiding somewhere else. He shouted, “I want to surrender. Please don’t kill me.” As soon as he said the words the guard started firing again. No sooner had he done this that Abar took out two poison-laced arrows from his quiver and fired in the direction of the guard. The arrows found their mark and pierced the heart of the guard. All the four guards lay dead. Abar quickly changed his dress with one of the dead guards and ran to the wooden bridge.

After crossing the bridge, he entered the city. A huge arc of at least a hundred feet in height and fifty feet in width stood at the city’s entrance. Abar entered the arc and saw two huge statues near the arc. He could not make out all the details of the statue. But, they looked like an Angel fighting with an Elf. It was almost morning and Abar wanted to find a place to hide. He quickly disappeared into a narrow alley and thought, “These people may be different than us and may have better weapons than us. But, they can still be killed.”

To be continued.

Mystery Land - Chapter 3 - The God's Well

This is the third part of the Fantasy series "Mystery Land". You can read the previous two parts using below links:
"The Mystery Land - Part 1 - The Mystery begins"
"The Mystery Land - Part 2 - Celina's Gift"

#1: King Riley learns of the God's Well
"Why are your here Son? What do you want from me now?" the old man questioned King Riley. The old man was King Patrick. He was a wise and just ruler. He had maintained good relations with all the neighboring countries. When Riley grew up he thought that his father was a weak King. So, he staged a coup and imprisoned his father. Even though, he had imprisoned him his father still loved him. Riley knew this very well and he came to him for his counsel for important matters. But, he dared not to release his father from prison for fear that the people might revolt against him.

Riley takes out an old scroll from his coat's pocket and hands it to his father. He asks his father to take a look at the scroll.

King Patrick takes the scroll from his hand. He wonders what secret his son had got hold of now.

The scroll read: "Today, King Arthur demonstrated a super-human feat. He was being shown the new Palace being built on the Southern side of the kingdom. As he was surveying the building, the workers that were putting a new pillar in place suddenly lost control of the rope tied around the pillar when one of them was stung by a king cobra. The pillar was about to fall with full force on two ministers who were standing near the pillar. King Arthur saw this and ran a hundred yards leaping like a leopard and with his strong hands stopped the pillar which was weighing at least a hundred tons. This account demonstrates that King Arthur is no ordinary human. He is surely a demigod."

When King Patrick had read this account he scorned,"Do you believe in this nonsense? Your grandfather created these myths to scare his enemies."

"No father, he didn't create any myths. This scroll was recovered from the great library of Thales. It has the royal seal on it. This account was written by none other than Arthur's most trusted minister Merlin."

King Patrick felt a lump in his throat. There was no point in pretending anymore. He asked,"If you know everything now, why have you come here?".

King Riley smiled wryly. "Don't be so bitter Father. I know now that King Arthur was a demigod. I want to hear it from you."

King Patrick acknowledged that King Arthur was indeed a demigod. The secret that he had managed to hide all these years was finally out.

Riley's eyes shined brightly with this confirmation from his father. All these years he had heard whispers and rumors. He had always been in wonder and awe of the accomplishments of his grandfather.

How could one man have defeated an entire tribe of Bali savages single-handedly? How could anyone have swum for seven days continuously to reach the shore after being shipwrecked? Which sane person wrestled with elephants and ran alongside horses? There were so many tales of Arthur's super strength that Riley almost thought they were all made up to deter his enemies.

"Why are we mortals then, Father? Why are we not demigods like my grandfather?" King Riley asked his father out of curiosity.

"Son, to become a demigod, a mortal must drink nectar out of the God's Well," King Patrick answered his son.

"Where is this God's well, please tell me, father," King Riley begged his father.

"The well is located in the country on the edge of this world. The same place that we all know by the name of Mystery Land," King Patrick replied.

King Riley sneered. So, this was the Mystery of this place. If he drank the nectar he would become a demigod and would rule over the whole world forever.

King Patrick saw the smile on his son's face and cautioned him,"No mortal who has set foot in this place has ever returned back alive. This place is guarded by fearsome beasts and demigods. Your grandfather had told me this secret when I was just a boy. He had made me promise never to attempt to venture into this place. He said that Immortality was a curse and he always wished to die as a mortal. I kept my promise. Now, I want you to keep out of this place. Don't be consumed by your lust for power, lest it consumes you".

King Riley mocked his father,"Thank you very much for your counsel, Father. Now, I will return back to you as a demigod. It is a pity that you knew this secret all your life and never made any attempt to become a strong demigod. Instead, you chose to live as a weak person."

He returned to the lift and ordered the soldier posted there to take him up.

#2: The Elf Prince Yala goes in Pursuit of the Book of Enchantments

Many thousand years back, the ancient Elves were very powerful. They had a special magic book called The Book of Enchantments. Some people said that the book was given to their Elders by God himself when he created this world. He provided them this book so that it would help them in building a great civilization. The Elf Elders used the book to build a great world. But, as time progressed they forgot the true purpose of the book and began to misuse it to fulfill their selfish desires. Their hearts were consumed by lust for power.

God grew angry when he saw their evil behavior and he sent demigods to attack the Elves and recover the Book of Enchantments from them. A great war was fought among the Elves and the demigods. At last, one brave demigod called Al managed to enter the Elf Palace and steal the book. The Elves were powerless without the book and surrendered. The Elves were banished from the Elf land which was now known as the Mystery Land. The demigods carried the book and hid it in a secret place.

It was believed by the Elves for a very long time that the book was hidden in the Mystery Land. So, they did not dare to attack the Mystery Land. They knew that the demigods could not be defeated without the magic book. So, they waited patiently for an opportunity to attack the demigods and reclaim their kingdom and magical book.

When Sam chanted the ancient enchantments and brought the dead to life, the Elves realized that the book was now in the possession of a mortal. The Elf King Runal ordered his son, the Prince Yala to go in Pursuit of Sam and recover the book from him.

But, when Prince Yala reached Sam's village he realized that he was already gone. Yala knew where Sam was headed and he turned around his horse in the direction of the Mystery Land.

#3: Abar reaches the Iron Gate

It was dark by the time Abar crossed the Dark Forest. He was standing at the edge of the Dark Forest.  A river separated the Dark Forest from the lands beyond it. From where he stood, he could see a hill on the other side of the river. The river flowed with a strong current and it was impossible to cross the river on a horse. So, Abar got down from his horse Swift, patted it and told him to return back to Celina. The horse neighed and disappeared into the Dark forest.

Abar took a deep breath and dived into the dangerous river. The river was deep and he had to swim against the strong current to cross it. But, Abar was a trained warrior. He was a great swimmer and with his great strength, he pushed through the gushing water with great force. After an hour's swim Abar was able to cross the river.

As he emerged out of the river, he saw a small rocky hill. He saw a bright light shining on the top of the hill. He climbed the hill. On reaching the top, he saw a huge Iron gate. The top of the gate was lit with flaming torches. The Iron Gate was forged into an invisible wall for he could not see any wall on either side of the gates. Nor could he see what lay beyond the gates.

He crawled silently to the side of the wall. He tried to feel the invisible wall with his hand. His hand made contact with a soft rubbery material. He tried to punch the wall but he just bounced back as if someone had pushed him back. He wondered how he would cross the Iron Gate to reach inside the Mystery Land.

#4: Sam comes to meet Celina

Celina sees Sam mounted on a horse and entering the Dark Forest on her crystal ball. She sees that he is accompanied by several spirits. She remembers the ancient prophecy of the Golden Circle of Wizards that a dark wizard would raise an army of the dead which would bring an end to a great tyrant's rule. Celina is happy that finally, the prophecy is going to come true. But, she sees dark clouds and blood in her crystal ball. She realizes that Sam's life is in great danger. He must be protected at all cost to bring Riley's rule to an end. She fetches her magical staff and rushes to meet Sam when suddenly she hears a horse's neigh. She turns around to see a beautiful blue horse without a rider. She recognizes it instantly as Abar's horse. She is concerned about Abar and hopes he is safe.

To be Continued.