What Is It This Time?

A small Arlo sat atop a fence, kicking his legs as he watched his mother repairing part of this fence that a cow had broken the previous day.

"Now remember Arlo. Why are you not allowed to wander alone?"

Pouting, Arlo kicked his feet a little faster.

"Because I'm small."

Arlo's mother chuckled.

"Everyone is small at some point in their life, Arlo. Now, what is the real reason?"

A faint sting ran through Arlo's right arm as he looked off into the distance. Arlo knew why his mother was so concerned. Although it was far off on the horizon, even the small Arlo could see it from here.

The purple clouds, the ever-raging storm.

"Because of the Boundary," he muttered.

Arlo's mother finished with the fence, she leant against it, ruffling her son's hair. "The Boundary is dangerous. The monsters there like to go wandering, so I like you here with me. Some place where I can protect you."

Arlo looked up at his mom.

Her smiling face, so bright and full of life.

----

Rain whipped across Arlo's face as the horse he had stolen galloped into the dark.

Looking over his shoulder, Arlo scowled, seeing that the men had decided to follow him. The torches they held gave away their positions.

Reaching up with his left hand, Arlo pulled his hood back over his head as he urged the horse to go faster.

'What am I doing?'

He was fast approaching the ominous clouds of the Boundary.

The one place his mother had forbidden over everything.

The one place she had to warn him of time and time again.

Arlo again looked over his shoulder. Whether he was just unlucky, he had picked the slowest of the horses. Even with his head start, the thugs of the Red Sky were catching up to him.

It was all or nothing. Arlo knew if they reached him, it would cost him a little more than a few fingers.

The Boundary was rapidly approaching.

Large cliffs of rock rose from out of the ground, jagged purple crystals criss-crossed the cliff faces.

Arlo aimed for the entrance. A tight passageway where only a few horses could pass at a time.

This was it. All or nothing.

Crossing the Boundary's boundary, Arlo felt like his entire body had just been plunged into a cold lake.

This was the first danger the Boundary presented. The corrupt energy found within the Boundary caused a gradual infection of anyone present within it.

Again Arlo looked over his shoulder and still, his pursuers chased him. Their torches held high.

Looking at the bag he had tied to the saddle. Arlo questioned whether he should have left all the money with the townspeople.

An explosion shook the cliffs to his side.

Arlo turned in time to see one of the thugs swing his torch forward.

From the torch, a ball of fire shot out in Arlo's direction.

Wasting no time Arlo reached out with his right arm. Flicking the ball of fire, it exploded almost instantly.

He'd hoped this would slow them down. Arlo groaned, this had done nothing to stop his pursuers as they continued through the fire.

The tight passage opened up on the left into a steep slope down.

'I can use this.'

Needing to slow his pursuers, Arlo reached his right arm out to the path behind him.

Pressing his fingers into the cracks and crevasses of the rocky path, Arlo pulled.

Like a landslide, part of the path gave way. The thugs near the front had no time to react as the path disappeared before them. Three thugs and their horses tumbled down.

The remaining five thugs swerved to avoid the large hole left by Arlo's attack.

'Just five left. If I can deal with them, then maybe, maybe, I can turn around and just return-'

The barrage of fireballs resumed.

Weaving his horse between the uneven ground and the bolts of fire Arlo brought his arm up, shielding himself from another ball of fire.

Despite the heat of the blast, a chill ran down Arlo's spine.

Howls rang out from the surrounding area.

Frantically looking around, Arlo couldn't help but feel fear.

Not from his human pursuers but from something much, much worse.

With Arlo distracted, one of the thug's fireballs hit the ground beside his horse. The explosion sent both Arlo and the horse down the ledge.

Tumbling down, Arlo tried to curl up into a ball to protect his head.

His momentum increasing, Arlo bounced off the ground and landed at the bottom with a thud. The wind knocked out of him Arlo looked up into the dark, cloudy sky as more pain racked his body. He could faintly hear the thugs shouting at each other over the ringing in his head.

"Go down there!"

"You go down there!"

"We should just go back, I feel sick as is- What the hell is that!"

Flaming explosions sent debris raining down from the edge of the ledge. Small bits of stone pattered against Arlo as he lay there.

Then silence.

Breathing in, breathing out, Arlo forced air back into his lungs. Picking himself up, he clutched his right arm looking up.

"The hell," he panted.

Looking for the horse he had fallen down with, Arlo found it lying in a crumpled pile not far from him.

Stumbling to the horse, Arlo dropped to his knees.

"Dammit!" Holding a hand to the horse's mane he sighed. "I am so sorry for dragging you into this…"

Arlo paused. "Wait a second."

Without a second thought, Arlo sprinted away from the horse, the area he had fallen into was littered with odd rocks, boulders and weird purple crystals.

Reaching a rock, Arlo hid behind it.

Breathing heavily. Arlo peaked around.

The second danger of the Boundary presented itself. Its inhabitants.

A pack of wolves slid down the slope on all fours. If you could even call them wolves.

Mutated by the power within the Boundary these wolves' bloody muzzles bore rows of razor-sharp teeth, patches of exposed muscle sinew and burnt fur. Evidently from conflict on the ridge.

Sniffing the ground, one of the wolves found the horse. Making a noise, it drew the attention of the rest of its pack.

'Where to go… Back up?' Arlo asked himself. Watching as the wolves began tearing into the horse, Arlo shook his head.

'Further in.' He thought with a nod.

Was he insane? The thought had crossed Arlo's mind.

Arlo left the safety of his boulder cover as he attempted to creep away.

Arlo had come prepared for the first danger of the Boundary. Using his power to influence the spread of corruption within his body. Where this innate corruption should be infecting his entire body at the same time. Arlo forced it all into his right arm although, this did not come without side effects.

A wave of pain washed over Arlo's body, spreading from his right arm.

"Ugh." Tripping, he dropped to one knee.

Arlo punched the ground. Not even needing to look behind him, Arlo began sprinting into the maze of scattered rocks.

The Wolves right on his tail.

Like before, Arlo tried to use the environment to his advantage.

Throwing rocks behind him.

Causing boulders to collapse, blocking his path.

The wolves ducked out of the way of the thrown rocks.

They leapt over the blocked path.

Seeing the path end ahead of him, Arlo quickly tried to think of a plan to get out of this.

Arlo couldn't think fast enough.

The wolf closest to the front leapt at Arlo. Its claws outstretched, it cut across Arlo's back.

Knocked off balance by the attack, Arlo was sent tumbling down another slope.

This slope was shorter than the last. Gasping for breath as he rolled onto the floor, Arlo looked up.

The wolf jumped, aiming for Arlo but Arlo was prepared this time.

Although painful, he reached up with his right arm and attempted to close his fingers around the wolf's throat.

Arlo couldn't manage to grab the rapidly moving target.

Rolling out of the way of the wolf, a thought crossed Arlo's mind.

'If these wolves killed those thugs what chance do I have against them?'

Claws outstretched, the wolf leapt at Arlo.

'Wait, I'm nothing like those thugs.'

Clenching his right fist, Arlo swung down.

The wolf howled as an invisible force slammed it into the ground.

"I'm much worse."

As the wolf tried to stand, Arlo raised his hand into the air. Forming a fist, he swung down again.

Blood sprayed out from the wolf's body as it was crushed into the ground.

Raising its head, the wolf let out weak howls as it called for its pack to come to help it.

"Would you." Gritting his teeth, Arlo shouted at the wolf. "SHUT UP!"

Curling his fingers around the wolf's throat, Arlo pulled, tearing the wolf's throat out.

The wolf stopped moving within moments.

Breathing heavily, Arlo wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up.

'Wait...' Turning, Arlo glared at the rest of the pack of wolves still standing on the high ground.

"What!" He bellowed. "I thought you were trying to kill me. So get it over with!"

But Arlo realised that the wolves weren't looking at Arlo, they were looking at something behind him.

"Oh great, what is it this time."

A large corrupted bear loomed over Arlo. The bear had similar features to the wolves. Although, unlike the wolves, its brown fur was matted with long dried blood.

Arlo scowled, quickly reaching up he attempted to grab its throat, to rip it out just like with the wolf.

With one mighty swing of its club-like arms, the bear struck the left side of Arlo's body, sending him flying through the air.

Although, Arlo's fingers had managed to find purchase. Not Arlo's intended target but a chunk of the bear's fur was torn off its shoulder as Arlo was lifted off the ground.

Once more, Arlo collided with the ground.

The bear howled from the pain, dropping to all fours it charged Arlo.

'If I let that thing get near me, I'm done for.'

As his hands pressed against the rough rocks on the ground, Arlo had an idea. Scooping up a handful, Arlo got to his feet.

Pulling his arm back, Arlo tried to concentrate as the bear rapidly closed the distance between them.

'Focus, not on each individual rock, just put enough force behind them.'

Swinging, Arlo threw his clenched fist forward. Opening his fingers, the stones shot out of his grasp.

Most of the stones missed the bear, but those that did sink into the bear's fur caused it to let out a loud howl.

But it didn't stop.

Crashing into Arlo, the bear knocked Arlo to the floor. Bringing its arms up, Arlo brought his arms to his body as the bear slammed into the ground.

Grabbing Arlo, he watched as the bear opened its jaws. Using his legs to push against the bear, Arlo tried to reach for the bear's throat, its eyes, anything, but Arlo couldn't. Something had changed, Arlo couldn't find anything to grab onto within the bear.

Which is when he saw it.

The bag of gold, the bag he had been holding onto this entire time.

Reaching out for the bag, Arlo pulled the bag over to him, causing it to fly through the air. Catching it, Arlo stuffed it into the bear's open mouth.

"Now die," he wheezed.

Creating a force inside the bag, the coins within the bag exploded outwards.

Within the tight space of the bear's mouth, the coins pierced its brain with ease.

The bear stood motionless, blood dripping from its mouth.

With the last of his strength, Arlo pushed the bear's arms apart. Dropping to his shaky feet, he looked up at it. With both hands, Arlo pushed the bear over.

Thudding into the stones. Arlo was satisfied it wouldn't be getting up again.

Arlo looked up, expecting to see the wolves, but they had gone.

Chuckling to himself, Arlo couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, oh, wait till I get to tell you about this Mom. I killed a wolf and a bear with my own hands."

Turning around, he collapsed to the ground. No more energy left in his body.

"You'd be proud of me… Wouldn't you?"

Slowly, Arlo's eyes drooped shut.

A man's voice. "What are you doing here?" An old man's voice.

Opening his eyes, a boot was inches from Arlo's eyes.

Fighting to stay conscious. Arlo looked up into the face of a man, an old man. With a long white beard and wrinkles all over his skin.

"Are you god?"

Hearing this, the man chuckled.

"No. I'm just the messenger."

Arlo's vision faded to black.