Kylock: "Come on. They don't have much time."
They entered. Immediately, the portal shut behind them. Unfortunately, that was the last thing they knew before they blacked out.
Just like its owner, it was a void of nothing but darkness, eerie enough to send sudden chills down their spines. They floated gently on a massive stone. There was nothing to stare at except the endless stretch of darkness.
Ryan (a bit irritated): "You call this home?"
Alvarox (in the same sly tone): "More like a hideout."
Ely: "It suits you. It perfectly you "
Alvarox (in a low tone that almost overshadowed his personality): "Actually, you're free to hate me. But trust me, everyone is just trying to find a way to survive what's coming."
Alicia (keenly): "What is coming?"
Alvarox: "You'll know soon, Warlock. You just have to be prepared. It's not weak, so consider this my own way of surviving."
Iriel: "By destroying a dimension?"
Alvarox: "Yes. This is the only way to save myself. I don't care what happens to the other dimensions. All that matters is that I'm alive, kid."
Iriel (irritated): "Don't call me that."
Alvarox: "How old are you? A hundred? If you'd been through what I've survived, you wouldn't try to talk me out of this. What's coming is dangerous, and neither you nor your mentors can stop it."
They wanted to speak, but he was quick enough to cut them off. They didn't understand what he meant by what's coming, but it would be too late before they did.
Alvarox: "Here we are."
In front of them stood a massive rectangular spaceship, glowing with an eerie green light as if it had found a new master. Even the Mart Force couldn't help but stare in amazement. That thing alone could cover half the dimension.
Ryan: "Fuck."
Alvarox: "Mart Force... behold my salvation weapon."
Alicia (aghast): "The Energy Cannon..."
Ely: you call this salvation
Alvarox: personal salvation
They were pulled inside.
It was no longer dark. The interior was bright, illuminated by an unnatural green glow. No being could have built something like this. It looked more like an alien laboratory than a machine.
Silently, they followed their cruel guide.
Alicia tried everything she could to contact Kylock and Hazel, but nothing worked. That was when she realized something was terribly wrong. She couldn't even communicate telepathically with the others. They had underestimated this devil. He had trapped them. They had walked straight into his snare.
Speaking of the devil...
Alvarox stopped before something resembling an altar covered in glowing green patterns.
"I have a little token for you, Mart Force. Surprise."
He pressed a button behind a massive screen.
Hazel, Kylock, and Meric appeared, tied to pole-like restraints and surrounded by yellow light.
That was when it truly dawned on them.
They were completely doomed.
He had fooled them , taken a step ahead of them,
if this is happening, everything they had planned Marthadon, Ryan's uncle,fuck
Alvarox: "You know, guys, I hate it when you try to come in through the back door. I gave you a choice, but you still chose this. Don't you understand? This is my domain. This place is part of me. No matter what tricks you try to pull, they won't work here. I thought you were brighter than this."
Ryan: "Shut up."
Alvarox: " I will be nice. You still have a choice now. Do it... or they die no matter what tricks you are trying to pull,you won't be as fast as it would be to press a button here and kill them and I'm sure that's the last thing you'd want, come on Mart in the end you would always have to choose So, let's begin, shall we?"
Nothing was interesting anymore,any wrong step, everything will be pulled down, Alvarox
Almost instantly, a greenish prison of light formed around them like a glass cell.
They didn't need Hazel to explain what was happening.
It had begun.
It seems as if the greenish light were sipping into their system, they felt it restraining their souls.
Suddenly, they fell into a trance.
The four of them found themselves standing in a dark void, just like the one outside the cannon.
They looked around.
Ely: "Now where are we?"
Voice: "How pathetic it is to call you the guardians of this dimension. You aren't worthy. Everything will crumble, everything will crumble on your watch"
The voice was taunting them. It sounded like a mixture of a masculine and feminine voice speaking as one.
Ryan: "Who are you?"
It laughed sarcastically
Voice: "Ryan Vins... the arrogant idiot who got everyone here in the first place."
Ryan: "Shut up."
Voice: "Deep down, you know your selfishness brought everyone here."
Iriel: "Who are you?"
The voice ignored her.
Voice: "Just like twenty years ago... you got everyone around you killed."
Somehow, it forced Ryan to relive the past—the explosion, the figure flying into the portal.
Somehow,Iriel's vision caught a glimpse of those memories as they flashed through his mind.
Ryan: "I said shut up!"
Shadowy ropes began coiling around their arms and legs, slowly covering their bodies.
Voice: "You don't deserve the badge you wear. The name you bear belongs to the strong—not weaklings like you."
The taunts were working.
Alicia: you only in our heads guys
Voice: really, and everything I say is true, Ryan knows better, to deny
They were furious.
They were trying to be selfless, but every word struck, bringing out old scars that hurt the soul.
Then another voice echoed through their minds.
Furstlings: "Listen, Warlocks. No one has the right to define your worth. Whether you are weak or strong depends on how you see yourselves, not how the universe sees you. Think of the lives you've saved... the people who believe in you... those waiting for your arrival. Give everything you've got—for them and for yourselves. You don't want to die, do you? you've got nothing to prove to no one, you've been selfless, strong, that why you were chosen for this"
Their voices became thousands of voices, completely drowning out the other one.
Kylock.
Hazel.
Ryan's uncle.
Thousands of lives depended on them.
It couldn't end like this.
Ryan still hadn't found who killed his parents.
They couldn't die.
Not now.
He couldn't lose to him. Never.
Outside, in Marthadon, the cannon began emerging from the dark hole of the pocket dimension. The inhabitants knew exactly what it was. The stories passed down by their predecessors had been enough. And now, it had returned.
They stared in awe at their doom.
Mothers clung tightly to their children, as though loosening their grip for even a second would cost them their lives.
Ironically, their only hope of survival was the very thing powering this weapon.
⚔️ AUTHOR'S NOTE ⚔️
And this is where the free online journey of Book 1 ends...
But the story doesn't end here.
The Energy Cannon has emerged.
Marthadon is facing destruction.
The Mart Force is trapped.
And their greatest battle has only just begun.
Want to discover what happens next?
🔥 Continue reading the complete Book 1 of THE MART FORCE on Amazon KDP.
Thank you for reading, supporting, voting, commenting, and following this journey. ❤️
The story continues...