Two Page Shorts by Nick Venom (top reads .txt) 📕

Maverick charged in, not knowing why, and stood in front of Aviana. “Hey, you’re hurting her.” 

The man scoffed at him. “What do you want, pipsqueak?” He asked. 

Maverick looked at the guy, thinking of what to do. He wasn’t armed nor could he wound somebody so easily as the man did. He knew his guilt would kill him. Instead, he took out two fingers from his right hand and struck the guy’s eyes suddenly. The man’s guard was lowered, underestimating him. The guy dropped his longsword and wiped at his eyes, attempting to get his eyesight back. 

Maverick turned towards the woman and helped her to her feet. He draped one of her arms over his shoulder and started walking towards the gas station.

“Get out of here,” She told him. Maverick shook his head. “He’s going to kill us both.” Her eyes pleaded with him, but he ignored it. Maverick looked behind him as the guy reclaimed his eyesight and looked at him angrily.

The man darted towards them, catching up in mere seconds. He shoved Maverick and forced him to drop Aviana. Maverick fell to the ground, scrambling to his feet; however, the man pressed his boot against his head and dug him into the hard asphalt. 

The man turned towards Aviana, who laid on her stomach, and noticed that she was muttering something under her breath. He took his boot off Maverick’s head and kicked her in the stomach, stopping her muttering. “You think I’ll give you any time to spew your cantations?” He shouted at her. He kicked her again, his boot pummeling her ribs. 

With attention off him and onto Aviana, Maverick slowly rose to his feet, facing the man. He charged forward, throwing all of his weight at him. He didn’t weigh much, not putting much force at the man. He slightly shoved the man.

The man spun on his heels, shoving Maverick to the ground. He grinned before muttering something faint. As he muttered, a fireball sparked into existence, something small at the tip of his fingertip. It grew larger and larger, reaching a few stories in height. 

With the chanting completed, he hovered the fireball over Maverick like a gun to his head. “Never be a hero kid. Or… are you a kid? You don’t look young, but your weight isn’t that of a twenty-year-old. How old are you?” 

Maverick closed his eyes, balling up. He heard the man roar in laughter, his laughter being cut short. He felt the heat dissipate as a heavy “thud” sound appeared next to him.

He opened his eyes, glancing at where the man was. There was nobody in front of him. He looked at his left and noticed the man embedded in chains, lying in a budding puddle of his blood. The heads of the chains popped out of his body, making a human skewer of sorts.

Maverick sat up, seeing Aviana panting loudly while on her back. She turned her head towards him, still panting, and muttered a “thank you” to him. He nodded his head, turning his focus back to the man’s corpse. It was stained with blood and gashes. 

“Let’s go to the gas station and we’ll call the police there.” He said, ignoring where the chains came back. The woman shook her head.

“I-In… my… pocket.” She muttered. “Grab the t-thing inside.” She instructed him. Maverick nodded, standing up. He approached her, bowing a knee. He glanced at her tanned face, bloodied and sweaty, before rifting through her pockets. He pulled out a small pen-like device that weighed the same as a standard ballpoint pen. 

“P-P-Press the b-button.” Maverick found a small red bottom where you press down on the pen to reveal the pen tip. He pressed the button, poofing a dark blue portal into existence. It opened in front of them. The woman motioned for him to help her up. He helped her up, following her as she led him through the portal. He hesitated but noticed the woman’s worsening condition. If he hesitated longer, she would die. He couldn’t let that happen again. He walked through the portal.

On the other side of the portal was an underground-like bunker. Maverick stumbled as he struggled to drag the woman to a nearby open horizontal capsule. He took her to the capsule and slowly lowered her onto it. Once there, the woman motioned for Maverick to grab a remote next to her. “P-P… Press R” She ordered. Maverick grabbed the remote and found the button labeled ‘Recovery’. He pressed it and the open part of the capsule barred him from touching her. She was locked inside the capsule through a thin sheet of glass. A slight yellow tint covered the capsule; a swirling cyclone beginning in the middle. Maverick took five steps back as he watched the cyclone completely cover the capsule, concealing the woman.

After two hours, the capsule’s thin sheet of glass that acted as a door opened up, revealing a mostly healed Aviana. She got out of the capsule, the wounds on her body being healed, but a few scars were left behind; primarily on her face. Her attire had been stitched together, almost brand new. The woman approached Maverick, bowing her head. “I am Aviana Everson, the first Nightstalker. Thank you, my savior.”

Maverick stared in disbelief. “Nightstalker? Savior?” He questioned, his eyebrows raised.

“I’m similar to what you call a superhero,” Aviana said. She turned around and walked over to a nearby two-chair table, sitting down at it. She rested her right hand on her waist and groaned. She took her hand off her waist and looked up at Maverick. “What’s your name?”

“M-Maverick.” He blurted out.

“Maverick,” She repeated. “Where is your family?”

Maverick looked down at his feet sheepishly. Aviana nodded and ignored her previous question. “What is your plan for life? Do you have a future?”

Maverick looked up at her. “Survive,” he muttered. Aviana shook her head softly and stood up.

“You want to be my apprentice?” She asked. Maverick’s eyes lit up, but then reality came crashing down. His doubts quickly overtook his positive thoughts.

“I don’t think I’m good enough… especially for this type of life. Every day you just fight strong people. I can’t do that. I froze when that man created a freaking fireball at the tip of his fingernail.”

“It was your first experience with magic, everybody experiences that feeling,” Aviana stated, walking over to Maverick. “I can train you to tap into your skills.”

Maverick shook his head. “I can’t do this.”

“You can. At the very least, you have courage. Even if it was applied wrong this time.”

“Wouldn’t I get you killed or ruin your reputation in this… magic world?” Maverick asked. 

Aviana shook her head. “Believe me, you couldn’t destroy my reputation.”

“Then-” He stopped himself, going into a fit of stammering and stuttering. After ten seconds of unintelligible stammering and stuttering, he gave up and nodded. I already saw too much… wouldn’t I be killed to keep the secret? Maybe, this will be a better life than relying on fifty dollars to survive. Who would I miss anyway? All my family or friends are dead or gone. This could be a better life? Or maybe it won’t. But maybe it will. You know what? I’ll do it.

He bent down on one knee and looked down at the floor. “I want to train under you… Master.” He said, Aviana smiled and held out her hand. Maverick looked up and took her hand.

“Welcome to the Magic Realm. Welcome to the underground world of Hidden Valley!”

***

Within the next few months, Maverick was taught numerous things about the Magic Realm. The Magic Realm was created by a God-like entity known as Isla. Isla is said to have been born around 500 B.C. and is the one that created the fifty artifacts that the Magic Realm fights over. 

These artifacts were created with the intention of giving weak people the strength to fight stronger people. These artifacts and the entire Magic Realm were being fueled by the Core Elements. Isla created the magic realm by twisting the properties of the Core Elements---Fire, Water, Sky, Earth, Light, & Darkness---to make them airborne. By making the Core Elements airborne, they were able to infuse themselves to humans through their mouths and noses. The elements became stronger as each generation came and went, inhaling more of the airborne elements and increasing the mana capacity of normal humans. 

Four of these humans later became the Four Kings and installed a balance over the secret world of Hidden Valley and the entire Magic Realm, a balance that can topple without a moment’s notice. The Four Kings used their magic to increase their lifespan and spread their knowledge to apprentice Magicians and full-fledged Masters. The Four Kings are Kenzo, Tamsin, Glyn, and Caius, and they serve to keep the balance intact. 

“Without the Four Kings, Hidden Valley would’ve been exposed long ago,” Aviana told him, standing at the front of the dining room where she had a whiteboard prepared. “They serve as the judge, jury, and executioners here. Anybody threatening to reveal Hidden Valley to the world is silenced, to say the least. Fortunately, there have been few cases of these rogue Magicians and Masters. If the world of Hidden Valley was exposed, it would be the death of the entire world. Humanity would fight against us since we’re different from them and the Magic Realm will retaliate. It’ll be a bloody civil war that will end with one side devastated.”

“So-?” Maverick raised his right hand. “-the Four Kings do this to prevent this civil war from happening? They’re that powerful to protect Hidden Valley?”

Aviana nodded. “They are the strongest in the realm. Their ranks are known as Elders and there are only four of them living at one time. However, they are helped by acquiring artifacts. The more artifacts you have, the stronger you become. That’s why I’m targeted so much.”

“Where are your artifacts?” Maverick asked.

“Artifact Room, duh,” Aviana told him, looking at him. “Stay away from the artifacts though. Most of the ones I have are humanity-ending… so keep out.” She turned towards the whiteboard. “Anyway, my role in Hidden Valley is that of a vigilante of sorts. As a Nightstalker, my job is to unroot corruptions and act as Lady Liberty, liberating normal humans from the grasp of corrupted Magicians and Masters. Today’s case was none the difference. That man---Aaron Hold---was enslaving humans and using them as his toys. I dealt with him, but my power has been… lacking, to say the least.”

Maverick nodded, writing her words into the notebook he carried. The notebook was filled to the brim with his newfound knowledge. Aside from the notebook, he had been bought new clothes. Instead of his worn-out clothing, he wore a cloak that snugged him tightly and a pair of black jeans that he folded twice at the ends. His short hair had been washed, revealing its natural red color - his hair had faded thanks to dirt and dust. 

“Okay, that’s the end of today’s lesson. I’ll be back soon, so don’t touch anything while I’m gone. Especially the Artifact Room. Got it?”

Maverick nodded, saying “of course” to her.

However, curiosity gnawed at him.

***

While Aviana was off on a mission, Maverick snuck to the Artifact Room, halfway across from the dining room in a dimly lit corner of the underground bunker. The doors to the room were metal ones, reaching eight feet in height and seven feet in width. The door had a rusty latch that was enhanced to prevent it from being easily opened.

Maverick had learned one spell, being Devour---which was a Darkness skill---, and applied it to the door. Devour consumed magic and earthly material with ease, only needing a twenty-second chant to activate. 

Now applied on the door, Devour consumed the magic enhancing the hatch and began consuming the metal door. Maverick waited a few minutes for the skill to be completed, leaving a large empty door frame in its