Well, by extremely popular demand, (dreemun… -.-") I've decided to post my special little secret for everyone. To those many impatient people who are waiting for Locusani: Saavedro's Tale, I give you a little peek into the story – just so you know what to expect. I feel that I owe you guys that much. So, here it is – a few little snippets of Locusani: Saavedro's Tale, which is due out late this Fall. Enjoy this little diversion in the meantime.
The last thing that he remembered was the darkness… and the fear.
There was such a powerful aura of it here; a curtain of sickly panic that threatened to envelop him.
And then he was running.
Flames sparked up from nowhere and revealed two shadowy figures, one with eyes that gleamed like rubies of malice, and one with eyes like cold, unfeeling sapphires.
He ran until his legs could take no more, and the ground shook violently and fell away, leaving him trapped on a pillar of stone. Step by nervewracking step, the demons approached, and he, as if hypnotized with fear, continued to back away, until…
Nothing.
The last thing that he thought was this had all happened before.
I stood a few feet from the blue button, staring at it as if it were some alien device. Ahead of me, the circular chasm yawned, empty and black, save for the gilded latticework cage that lay at the bottom of it. One false move, and I'd be sent tumbling into its depths…
Feeling a bit dizzy all of the sudden, I stumbled back, clutching the top of the button's stand for support. The button depressed, and the three sconces on the wall opened, shining light in three perfect beams towards the ceiling. Soon, the fuzzy image of a man wearing glasses appeared.
Wait…
That face… I… I've seen it before…
Dead. Dead. Dead…
Stop it! Just leave me alone, please! Stop…
The sound of another voice startles me, and I jump back, half expecting the worst. But there was no one in the room except for me, and the voice, an empty, false hope of help.
It was then that I realized that the voice had been my own.
No. No! I can't take this anymore!
Atrus… you win. I submit – you've finally broken me. Please… get me out of here!
Fool. He will never come back. Not for you. He doesn't care about you.
No!
He didn't care about Narayan.
Stop it!
There is no way out. You're going to spend the rest of your life on that miserable little outcrop named J'nanin. You're going to die there. Alone.
"Why?!" I scream, as if my shouts could break the ice the way that I had been broken. But the only reply that I got as I collapsed in anguish was a cold echoing of my own words, as if the very walls were mocking me…
There. It is finished. Now when I launch my plan, he will see all the misery he has wrought.
But first, I must launch my plan.
You know what you must do, don't you?
Oh, yes. I remember.
The symbols. The scanner. Reprogram the scanner, and change the symbols. Make him search for them. Make it so that he must hunt for the tiniest clue, a single sign, anything to save his world. Show him how it feels to be a prisoner at another's mercy. Leave him to work through his mind-numbing puzzles on his own. Go to Narayan and wait for him there. And when he finally comes crawling back to you, begging for mercy, show him none.
Yes, Atrus, old friend. You will pay…
Aaaaaannnndddd… that's all that you guys get to read! If you want to hear more about Saavedro and his battle to strive on his own, press one. If you want to hear more about Saavedro's plans for revenge, press two. If you want to hear more about Saavedro's flashbacks to the past, press three. If you want to talk to an actual human being, send me a review (For Tangled Vines, not for this little blip, though you may certainly comment on it) or an email message. If you just want me to get a move-on so that you can read my new story, damn it, look for Locusani: Saavedro's Tale to be posted sometime in October or November. Until then, keep on keepin' on!