My eyes widened in horror. Drago’s ambitions to change the world were sickening to the core. Whilst Drago Caracas wanted world peace, the manner in which he aimed at enforcing this was inhumane. Obsidian were content with shedding the blood of millions of innocent lives. A flame had ignited inside of me. A determined, explosive flame. A flame that would not be extinguished until my very last breath.
“How about no to both?” I asked angrily.
Drago laughed, his venomous laughter intoxicating his glorious office.
“Guys, we have three hours and twenty seven minutes left. We have to work with what we have and try at least. No point complaining. Zak, you said you were awake and blindfolded when they brought you here. What did you hear? What did you smell? Any hints at where we might be?”“I didn’t hear any sounds that proved we were outside. No sound of wind or the ocean. Meaning that we are still inside this mountain or whatever this place is. I’ve tried looking, but I can’t even find the door. Where on earth is the door?”I looked around the dim cell and the four walls looked exactly the same. No cracks. Just smooth, thi
02:30.We followed Señor Ramirez past the destroyed concrete and up a mini flight of stairs and out of the dungeon. We reached a half open door. I peered through the narrow gap between the door and its frame. I gasped.We were not far away from Obsidian’s headquarters and Drago’s office at all. In fact, we were directly below the President of Obsidian’s office.Which meant only one thing.We were locked up with three of the most dangerous creatures on the whole island.
I turned around. No signs of Señor Ramirez or the tiger or the bear. We needed the fire blaster to break down yet another wall in this old, candle-lit staircase. I checked my watch, rubbing the pouring sweat from my eyes as the sickening feeling of claustrophobia started to creep in.02:00.“I hope Señor Ramirez is on his way. We need him. Fast,” Zak said.“He’ll be here, I’m sure,” Rachel reassured.Tap. Tap. Tap.A growing crescendo of footsteps filled up the cavern, as the sound of the alarm was all of a sud
With our torches at full beam and the bright full moon watching our every move, vision was not an issue. But what really was an issue was the dying need to stop and take a break from all the sprinting up and down hills, jumping from one big rock to another and the excruciating soreness in my limbs and muscles.“When…will…we…get…there?” Zak breathed heavily, as our three predators showed no signs of slowing down any time soon.“Keep going, come on! We’re so close.” Señor Ramirez replied energetically, his years of experience in the army now coming into fruition.My heart and lungs were hammering against my chest uncontrollably now, as sweat poured down my face in the sticky, humid night.
I jogged crouched down towards the warehouse, my senses on sharp alert and clutching my sword and shield like my life depended on it. The spine-tingling thought was that it did. To my left, a column of black smoke was rising like a demon waking up from the jaws of hell. To my right, the relentless hailstones of arrows thrusting through the night sky whilst the ruthlessness of our predators acted as the perfect diversion for me to infiltrate the warehouse.I was about thirty feet away from the warehouse when a thought rushed to my mind. I realised that I had to act like I was meant to be here. I straightened my posture. Took a deep breath. I strode towards the solitary door confidently. I checked my watch. Five minutes left till the warriors returned to their position. I glanced l
The deafening explosion floored the Obsidian warriors, as the walls on the right hand side of the warehouse completely collapsed, leaving a mixture of big and small crumbles of concrete on the ground. The stifling midnight air rushed in, whilst dust particles and smoke flew about in a frenzy.“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Drago screamed, in disbelief that his plan was falling apart.Amidst the tornado of dust, concrete and warriors toppling over, Señor Ramirez, Zak and our three predators emerged. The warriors from where I was positioned sprinted towards them. I had the element of surprise, so I sprinted along and just as they were about to attack my saviours, I turned around and slashed my sword at their shoulder, injuring them but not killing them. The ba
I froze.The President of Obsidian strolled into the warehouse confidently, wearing a cunning smirk on his evil face. He was still dressed smartly in his suit and had no weapon on him. Strange considering we had just wiped out his whole army.He walked over his dead warriors, giving each of them a look of hatred. He stopped on the other side of the glass box, facing us. The fire in his eyes intensified as he glared at us. Our three predators got ready to pounce on him, but Señor Ramirez put his hand up, a gesture ordering them to hold back. For now.“So, Gerard Ramirez, it’s been a long time. How long has it been?”&l
“This is it,” Drago said proudly, with his arms outstretched. The familiar whirring sound of a helicopter emerged from outside, growing by the second. A rush of gusty wind poured into the opening of the warehouse that had been blasted open by Señor Ramirez. The powerful wind caused a deadly tornado, a mixture of dust, concrete, the stench of the litter of dead Obsidian warriors and the shards of glass teasing and intimidating us as the seven of us were stranded in the centre of the warehouse.Drago roared over the deafening raucous. “I’ve succeeded. Operation Golden Blaze will go down in history as the greatest revolution to ever grace this earth! Mark my words.”Our three preda
“This is Sir Cornelius Slater. He is a wealthy English businessman. In fact, he is the richest man in the UK, with a net worth of £450 billion. He has now integrated himself in the world of English politics and is the leader of the new Action Party. He is running for Prime Minister of the UK in the upcoming elections,” Malcolm informed, pointing at the close-up photograph of a man in his early fifties, with a few strands of white in his otherwise dark brown hair. The CIA employees around me were typing rapidly on their laptops and scribbling notes on their notepads. I certainly felt out of place here, as I simply could do nothing but look ahead at the large screen ahead of me and wait for Malcolm to continue. Senor Ramirez, who was standing next to Malcolm, whispered something in his ear. Malcolm frowned and nodded.
I was greeted with an abundance of blinding white light as a wave of cool, refreshing air slapped me in the face. I found myself in a narrow corridor that led to another door, which was twenty feet further ahead. Apart from the stream of white light shining from the in-built ceiling lights, everything else in the corridor was sparkling black, from the tiled flooring, to the two walls either side of me. Senor Ramirez stood by the door, gesturing me to hurry along. He seemed unable to contain his excitement, which was strange considering his usual stern and serious demeanour. “I just want to say a few things before we open this door, Marco,” Senor Ramirez said, breaking the eerie silence of the corridor as we stood in front of the mysterious door. “I know this might be all too much for you. After all, it was literally a
“Marco! We’ve arrived now,” I heard Senor Ramirez.I had drifted off to sleep, which was an inevitability in the scorching sunshine and the luxury of the Mercedes. I slowly opened my eyes, eager to see where we’d arrived. I looked through the tinted windows and was truly stunned at where the Covert Operations division of the CIA was located.“Thank you,” Senor Ramirez said to the driver. “Your car is a gem!”“Thanks mate! Indeed it is,” the driver replied, patting the steering wheel in admiration.
“Well?” I demanded, as Senor Ramirez helped himself to another cup of tea and sat down on the sofa.“Relax. Everything I said was a lie. Malcolm Sanchez told me to make something up so that you could enrol in the CIA. I’m proud that you agreed to join the CIA, but as you know, we cannot tell your parents or anyone about this. So, your parents and everyone at school will think that you’re off to a school in Singapore when actually you will still be in the United States!” Senor Ramirez chuckled.“You think this is funny? Is this some sort of game?” I asked incredulously. Senor Ramirez’s expressi
09:33.I had overslept once again. I groaned, as I uncurled myself and sat up on my bed. I winced in pain, as my ankle was still sore. My head felt heavy and a wave of thirst came over me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stood up. Limping off to the bathroom, I splashed three handfuls of ice cold water on my face, instantly waking me up. I looked myself in the mirror. Dark circles surrounded my eyes, as the events that had unfolded just a few days ago played itself out in my mind, like a ghost that remained persistent in its pursuit to haunt me. First, Zak and the tiger. The staircase that had appeared literally out of nowhere. Adrian’s betrayal. Obsidian’s headquarters. The dungeon. The warehouse. The laboratory. The bomb explosion. The helicopter chase.
I frowned at Señor Ramirez. Señor Ramirez turned round and stood up. A well-dressed man, probably in his fifties, strolled in and shook Señor Ramirez’s hand.“Welcome, Mr Sanchez,” Señor Ramirez said.“Thank you, Gerard,” his voice was deep and possessed an air of power and authority. “Marco, I am stunned by your abilities.”I nodded in thanks and looked at Señor Ramirez. He read my confused look.“Marco, this is Malcolm Sanchez, the Head of Covert Operations in the CIA.
Using his grip on my ankle as a pivot, I swivelled round and kicked him in the head with my left leg. I dropped on the warm sand, whilst Drago was sent flying back into the ocean with a loud crash. That bought me time. As he slowly recovered, I picked myself up and stumbled across the beach as far as I could. I fell to the floor, breathing heavily as another relentless wave of blackout dawned over me. I had to regain my composure. It wasn’t over. Yet.Drago slowly got to his feet, the blow to his head taking an evident toll on his body. He staggered through the shallow water and also dropped on the sand, panting desperately. The Golden Lea
CRASH! The helicopter plummeted headfirst into the ocean. I flew across the helicopter’s interior and my forehead collided with the backseat, as blood began to gush out from the bruise and mix with the water. Like a contagious virus spreading rapidly, the salty ocean water filled up the sinking helicopter. Tiny fish scuttled in, eager to discover their new surroundings. Holding my breath as hard as I could, I swam back across to Drago, whilst a growing feeling of nausea swept around my body. An unconscious heap of devilish flesh, I hastily dug my hand in Drago’s inside pocket and felt the crispness and smoothness of the Golden Leaf. I pulled it out. But it remained firmly put. I cursed to myself in frustration.
My fingers narrowly caught Drago’s helicopter skids, as just below me our helicopter exploded. A cloud of fire and smoke roared ferociously, as metal pieces were sent flying in random directions. The rotor blades dissembled and flailed about in mid-air, before crashing into the ocean. The metal body of the helicopter also plummeted into the ocean, creating an enormous splash that weakened my grip on the skid. My shoulders and arms struggled to keep hold of the skid, the sweat on the palm of my hands posing as a serious death threat. With all my remaining strength, I pulled myself up so that my armpits were resting on the skid. Perfect timing. I’d escaped from the clutches of death once again, and was now directly underneath Drago’s helicopter, flying away, with him completely immune to my presence.