The Warkal. The device used for centuries to torture. Used by ancient Mesopotamia. Now it’s found. And the judgement day is here.

My name is the Other, I’ve been trapped various times, most recently by the MASTER. Who’s story will be told in the future. The Warkal is my fate and my future. I am the one who tortured and the one who is tortured.

This is my story, one of them at least. Bear with me as I recall my story. And on this foreign place ask if you will. I hope to be recognized. But enough of my rambling, I. welcome you, not S&M, to MY story.

“Fate Almighty, I’m going to die.” Cevv said.

“Don’t worry, this’ll all be over, one battle left and we’ll get to our families.” I say with a reassurance.

He turns to me with worry in his eyes.

“How can I trust the commander with the Warkal?”

I pondered this in silence for a moment struggling to find the words.

“I guess the thing is, you can’t.” I got up and walked out the tent, leaving him alone in the expanse of a singular lantern.

I spin my weave and remove the mystical mask I put on myself.

“Well now I know who has that acursed device. It’s supposed to be that’s for my use only.” I mutter to myself darkly.

Rain slams the ground, this world is often visited by all sorts of storms. The rain never stops, but a thunderstorm like this? It’s a celebration for the people that the gods have favored them.

They don’t know what the Warkal is, soon enough they will.

A little background into the sorts of magic folks around here do. By far the most interesting.

They can split themselves in two to travel the versions of reality. But people have started disappearing, which is why I’m here.

I exit the soldiers barracks smoothly, everyone’s too occupied with their drinks to notice, it’s also not abnormal to see a soldier go into town. Most of them are on a mission to drink. It’s easy.

“I would say I’m on a different mission though.”

Slipping into a bar and stealing an ancient torture device, that’s hard, especially when the man your stealing it from is highly ranked in his class. Remind me to tell you how I did it sometime.

Oh wait! That’s what I’m doing right now. Humor. Helps in the best situations, especially in ones where you have a high chance of dying.

“Sir? I’m going to need to see your identification.” The man at the front of the bar says. A guard. To a bar? What are you guarding in there? Gold?

When I tell him that he doesn’t find it funny.

“We have a high ranking officer in the bar, crucial to tomorrows battle. He’s Officer Dain.”

I flip my very real identification card to him and he lets me through. I spin a weave and drop another mask, of all of my magical abilities, persaning is my favorite. I walk up to the Officer and tap him on the shoulder.

“Humor can’t help me now.”

Dain turns, madly red in the face. Exposure to too much drinking.

“Wall whore you?” He says slurred. Inwardly I sigh, I hate alcohol, it makes everything harder. Like all logical people, I punch him in the face, causing gasps from the others around him and him to slide off of his chair unconscious.

I dig my hands through his pockets and then I find it!

A small golden orb. With rings around it letting it spin freely.

I hear a groan from him and quickly scurry away. He gets up with a hand to his head.

I don’t know how he got up that fast nor do I want to. I sprint out the door and into the muddy street. But the Warkal doesn’t want to leave its master. It flies out of my hand and spins around me. Expanding the rings to trap me. It succeeds. I weave a mask to my face to protect against any remembrance spells.

“Good job my pet.” I hear a greasy voice say. Dain walks out with his buddies on either side. Surprisingly..er….bigger than I previously thought.

“Fate!” I swear as I try to get out of the infernal cage.

“That’s not going to work.” He clucks at me.

“I don’t know who you are and I don’t care to know. You should not have tried to steal from me. It follows its master. If you planned you would’ve known that. “

He continues to talk for a while but I don’t listen. A deep vibrant buzz is sounding in my ears. I listen to it trying to get the unseen message. I yell in frustration.

“Screw it!” I push on the golden cage, testing it.

A memory I though long lost comes back to me. “Remember, it all comes through Focus.” My mother, teaching me magic. So I focus.

I absorb it and send it out. All in a fiery explosion. I reach my arm through a crack in the rings and grip the outside of it. Forcing my own magic into it. The men go flying as I free myself. The Warkal is still flying. I snatch it out of the air and watch the men cower. “Ahhaha!” I laugh. “I gonna have to make this more painful.”

I trap them. In their own design. And I open my portal and leave the rainy dimension. In my hands the Warkal tries to fly. I tighten my grip but it’s too strong. I go flying mid transportation. Into the abyss. But the abyss is a lot more colorful than I thought.

A large…thing is floating it front of me. With the Warkal spinning around it.

“The Other. You will make do with great things.” And then I lose my sense of self. I feel like I’m fading. A different person drops in front of me now. I can hear myself saying things. But I can’t control myself. Inwardly I screaming.

How will I escape? I ask myself and inside a tiny voice responds

“You won’t.”

…………..— to be continued

That leads up to the events of the Contest. Which will be progressing in weeks to come. Thanks for reading!

-TheOtherAuthor.