I Was A Warrior

In a world torn violently down the center, good and evil war. A race of things that are not human dominate the city, led by the very essence of Evil himself. Evil hated humans. Evil hated their free will, and their ability to be---evil would shudder---good.

Evil hated water. Well, clean water anyway---the purity and the cleansing properties of it. If water were to exist, it should be tainted. These beings, not humans themselves, didn't need it like the humans did. And contaminating all the water aided their fight against the humans anyway. It was a win-win situation.

Those who fight on the side of good were all humans, and they were few, and their leader unseen.

I was a warrior. One of the few who fought the torrential onslaught that raged against the side of good, a seemingly unending force that attempted to eradicate its very presence altogether.

"Where is your leader?" The servants of evil sneer. "Why do you fight?"

The leader of the evil fight, the liar and tempter himself, had taken many of us--with his honey-coated poisoned words, he drew them in. He promised them a better life, a chance to live and never die, and convinced them to join his fight. And so, they gave up their frail, mortal humanity for powerful immortality--and an unbreakable allegiance to the Evil one.

There were few who did not give in, and they left his palace of darkness having stolen some of his secrets.

The day came when he called me in.

In the ground somewhere, for the path was hidden from me, a dark, dank hole was his home.

He had the form of a human man, but not the look of one. His skin was pale and slimy, dark blue veins crawling beneath his skin, unhidden. His breathing was raspy and cold. I sat but a foot away from him, and a chill and a terror gripped me.

My heart struggled to beat as I realized that I was in the very presence of undiluted evil.

He spoke to me, but I blocked him out, so as to not be taken by his words. I did not trust my own strength--If I listened, I would surely fall.

One of Evil's servants came running in, breathless and in a panic. She bowed.

"Most high evil one," she panted." Something has happened. In our pool---it's---it's him."

The Evil one made a sound like a growl, and my skin crawled.

"Go." he said. "And take this thing with you."

I followed the servant girl. She was broken and worn, but I could tell that she had once been very beautiful. We reached the pool--A lake that belonged to the Evil one, full of contaminated water.

There, in the center (for the lake was not but 5 feet deep), stood someone--not being human, himself, but the very essence of good. He had the form of a human man, but not the look of one. His eyes shone bright, and sent a warmth through me. My heart struggled to beat as I realized that I was in the presence of undiluted good. In an instant, I knew that this being was our leader.

They spoke.

"You have come to try and defeat us?" The servant girl sneered.

"No," said the Good one. "I am only here for a moment, but I am sending someone else to defeat you. He's my son." The Good one took a taunting swim across the pool, and I realized for the first time that the water was clean--and probably the most pure, clear water I had ever seen in my life. Soon, he returned to where he had been standing.

"Oh, and by the way," he said with a smile. "He's human."