There was a small town where strange things started happening. People started disappearing, and no one knew where they went. The town was filled with fear and panic.



One night, a group of friends decided to investigate the disappearances. They heard rumors of an old abandoned house on the outskirts of town, so they decided to check it out.






As they entered the house, they saw that it was filled with cobwebs and dust. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind them, and they were plunged into darkness.



They heard strange noises and footsteps, but they couldn't see anything. The friends started to panic and realized they were not alone in the house.




They started to run, but no matter how fast they went, they couldn't escape. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and they could hear the sound of ragged breathing. Suddenly, they stumbled upon a room, and they saw a figure in the corner, shrouded in darkness. They were too scared to move, and the figure started to approach them.




Just then, the friends woke up, realizing it was all a nightmare. But from that day on, they never spoke of the house or the strange figure again. The town still remained shrouded in mystery, and no one ever discovered what truly happened to the missing people.

The end.







A.I is Advancing Rapidly.


The Name of the A.I is...

ChatGPT.

Chaii Ghost story.

Shalommy:
Chaii Ghost story.

Agreed, The A.I put a lot of Supense into the story.

..

I recommend you not to read the second story
by the A.I its quite depressing.




Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a wicked wizard named Zoltar. Zoltar was feared by all in the kingdom, for he was known to be cruel and cunning.



He lived in a dark castle on the outskirts of the kingdom, from where he would cast spells to terrorize the citizens.




The kingdom was ruled by a just and fair king, who was loved by his people. But despite all his efforts, he could not defeat Zoltar. Every time the king's army went to battle against the wizard, they would return defeated.



The king realized that he needed a new strategy, so he called upon the bravest knights in the land to form a secret mission to defeat Zoltar.



The mission was a success, and the knights managed to infiltrate Zoltar's castle and defeat him in a fierce battle. However, unknown to the king and his knights, Zoltar had a backup plan. Before his death, Zoltar had cast a spell that would transfer his soul into the body of the bravest knight.




And so, it came to be that the body of the bravest knight was possessed by Zoltar's soul, and he returned to the kingdom, pretending to be the hero who had defeated the wicked wizard.



Slowly but surely, Zoltar began to exert his control over the kingdom, until he became the de facto ruler, with the king and the people being nothing more than his puppets.



In the end, the villain had won, and the kingdom was plunged into darkness. The people lived in fear, and there was no one left to challenge Zoltar's rule.


The kingdom remained this way for many years, until a new hero emerged, but that is a story for another day.



The A.I ended the story on a cliff hangar.

Let me ask for a Part 2.

This A.I really loves suspense.




As Zoltar settled into his role as the ruler of the kingdom, he began to tighten his grip on the people.
He implemented harsh laws and punishments, and anyone who dared to speak out against him was dealt with swiftly and ruthlessly.




Zoltar's reign was characterized by fear and oppression, and the once-prosperous kingdom began to crumble. People were no longer free to live their lives as they pleased, and many were reduced to living in poverty.




Despite all this, there were still some who defied Zoltar and his minions. A group of rebels formed, determined to overthrow the tyrant and restore the kingdom to its former glory. They would meet in secret, planning their attacks and building their strength.



However, Zoltar was always one step ahead of the rebels. He had spies and informers everywhere, and the group was constantly being thwarted. Zoltar's rule seemed unshakable, and it appeared that there was no hope for the kingdom.




But little did Zoltar know, there was a prophecy that foretold of a hero who would come and defeat him. This hero was said to be born with a unique power that would allow them to overcome even the strongest of spells.


And so, the rebels continued to fight on, waiting for the day when the hero would arrive and save their kingdom.


N:B: Zoltar is a really dope villian.

I have ordered for heineken, abeg continue

Wiseandtrue:
But tell am say make e tell you romantic story e go dey give you excuses

The romantic stories usually end on a happy note,
but i don't love stories that have a happy ending,
I prefer it when the protagonists suffer.

This story has been moved.

Wiseandtrue:

I meant the chatgpt

Once upon a time, there was a powerful wizard named Malcom who was known throughout the land as a cruel and heartless villain. He terrorized villages and held entire kingdoms captive with his dark magic.




One day, while on one of his raids, Malcom stumbled upon a young woman named Lily, who lived in a small village. She was unlike anyone he had ever met, and he was immediately drawn to her kindness and bravery.



Despite her fear of him, Lily was not intimidated by his powers, and she stood up to him, defying his evil ways.





Malcom was taken aback by Lily's courage and began to see the world in a different light. He had never experienced love or kindness before, and it made him feel for the first time, something other than hatred and anger. He started to question his life as a villain and realized that he was capable of change.





Lily and Malcom formed an unlikely alliance, and as they spent more time together, Malcom's heart slowly began to heal. He realized that he could use his powers for good, and he set out on a journey to atone for his past actions.




Lily and Malcom formed an unlikely alliance, and as they spent more time together, Malcom's heart slowly began to heal. He realized that he could use his powers for good, and he set out on a journey to atone for his past actions.




With Lily's love and guidance, Malcom became a hero, and his name was once again spoken with reverence and admiration. He dedicated his life to helping others and spreading kindness wherever he went. The kingdom was forever changed by the transformation of this once fearsome villain into a loving hero, all thanks to the power of true love.



N:B - This reminds me of the story of Black Adam
and Isis, Black Adam had Moments of Peace until
his wife was killed and he went on a rampage
and brought on world war 3.
Also reminds me of the story of Shang-shi's father,
and Wilson Fisk, speaking of which...

..

..

..

..

..

CHAPTER 1
A SECRET INVESTIGATION

*Somewhere in the Sahara Desert*
Time: 3:00 PM

The Sun shone mercilessly on the hot desert sands, The temperature rose as high as 37 degree celcius, Proffessor Alex Walker stared at his watch, it was exactly 3:00pm, even though he was wearing a hat, he was sweating profusely, and his head slightly ached from the blazing Sun, standing besides him was his personal assistant.




His assistant, Rachael McTaggert, was an Intelligent, Sharpwitted and Efficient lady, she was barely 22Years old and was known for her ability to execute tasks efficiently.



She had long flowing blonde hair, dark brown eyes, prominent Cheek bones which she clearly inherited from her mother.


She wore a red jumpsuit and carried an average sized briefcase.





Proffessor Alex Walker, was wearing his beige coloured Trenchcoat, he was a man in his mid-forties, he wore a pair of eyeglasses, he did not wear glasses because he had any eyeproblems, he wore the glasses because they had special uses which came in handy.





About 50 metres away from him, were 10 men furiously digging away at the big hole the excavator made, they had been digging for 3 days without much rest or sleep, the Chief Contractor Ahmad Zahir, encouraged them to continue digging because they would be paid handsomely for their work.




Ahmad Walked up to Mr Alex, his skin had become tanned due to overexposure to the hot desert sun, he still has a headscarf tied to his head to shield it from the intense Heatwave.



He saw Mr Alex reading the Map, he wanted to interrupt, but he hesitated.


Mr Alex was aware of his prescence, after he finished reading his map, he raised his head, saw Ahmad Standing in front of him expectantly, then he asked,
"Well, How may i help you?"

Ahmad answered, "My Men are already tired, they have been digging since morning without food or water, they need a break."


Mr Alex answered, "Now is not the time to complain, you and your men are being paid a huge amount of Money, it is only expected that the work should be... grueling, to say the least."


"I know that you are paying us a huge amount of
Money for this work, but it won't do any of my workers much good if they should collapse before the work is completed."


Mr Alex tilted his neck a little, a little farther he could see some of the workers still digging, about half of them were sitting on the desert floor, probably burnt out due to a lack of food and water.


"That does not look good", he thought to himself.


"Your complaints have been well received, Mr Ahmad, I will give your men a 1 hour break, you can eat, drink, rest, do whatever you want within that time frame, but after one hour, work continues."


Mr Ahmad, brought out a gold coloured stopwatch and set the timer to one hour.


Mr Ahmad nodded in approval, he turned back and was about to leave, then he hesitated, faced Mr Alex, and asked him a question,

"This Artifact that we have been digging for 3 days, any ideas on what exactly we are looking for?"



The question made Mr Alex visibly uncomfortable,
For a few years now he and his coworkers had been Searching for an unknown artifact, they didn't specifically know what they were looking for, but they heard stories about a very rare and ancient source of energy, it was said that the artifact was a 1000 times more powerful than any nuclear reactor on earth, and also that an ancient civilization was once powered by the same artifact, it experienced a golden age of technological advancement, but internal corruption and infighting caused the great civilization to collapse, and the artifact was lost never to be seen again.
There were still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the artifact.

Mr Alex snapped out of his reverie and answered,
"Ah yes, the lost artifact, i haven't got much to say,
just that the Map says the Artifact is buried at the
exact location your men are digging, and i am
being paid by a very rich and powerful Man, just to retrieve whatever artifact is buried beneath these Sands."



Mr Ahmad looked crestfallen, not really the answer he was looking for.
He shrugged, then thought to himself
"They pay me to work, not ask questions."



He went to the back of the truck, carried some food Supplies and water, Rachael who had been quietly Listening and observing their conversation, also helped him to carry some supplies.

How can I get that chatgpt?

Jaganaut:
How can I get that chatgpt?

You can visit their website here at Chat GPT.

Sign in to the website, and you can start using its
Services.

While carrying the food supplies, which included OatBread,
Flavoured Pork and Lean Meat, Plates of Rice,
A few Almond nuts and some Fruit Juice and Finally
Bottled Water.




While carring her own bag of supplies, Rachael looked at Ahmid and said,
"This is quite the treat, isn't it?"

Ahmid nodded in agreement,
"Yes it is My dear, Yes it is."

She smiled, then said in a lowered voice,
"From what i've heard our Employer is a very wealthy
man, and he is paying a lot of money to make sure
this mission is successful, is this true or is it just
hearsay?."

"Oh no, you are quite correct, the payment is so huge
that, by the time i complete this job, i will be able to
retire and help my wife open a clothing boutique,
I will also be able to get my Children High Quality
Education"

"Awww.... that's so sweet of you."

She smiled and then whispered in a very low tone,

"You know, my parents never got along very much, they were always arguing and bickering in front of me and my Sister, the only reason they agreed to Stay together was to spare My Sister and I the hardship that comes from living in a broken home."


Ahmid shaked his head in pity,
"I'm sorry to hear that, i do hope your Family heals."

They took the food supplies to the workers, and began to distribute portions of food evenly, after an half hour of merry feasting and drinking, they spent the remaining 20 minutes relaxing.




Ahmid was, like all of his men, taking a short nap,
then all of a sudden,
"Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep..."
He jerked awake like a man who had cold water
poured all over his face.


He had an awkward frown plastered on his face,
he brought out the still beeping stopwatch and
switched off the alarm.


He went to the back of his car and took a big
megaphone, he knew nothing short of a
thunderous voice would wake up his men.


He walked towards his workers, who were still fast
asleep, probably from the stress of eating a very
heavy meal.



He took the megaphone, cleared his voice and spoke in the loudest volume possible,
"Get up and start digging you idle loafers!!!"
"They are paying us a fortune to dig out what's inside
that hole and i'd like to see some digging and shoveling being done."


The workers were already stirring from their sleep,
and they reluctantly took their shovels and returned
to the digging site.



"Now hop to it laggards, there is no room for slouches
on my team, you either complete your given task,
or you die trying."



As he was walking towards the digging site, one
of the walkers jokingly said,
"Aah, boss is so uptight, one of these days i will
strangle him in his sleep."


His colleague responded with a hearty laughter,
"Well, try not to kill him so soon alright.
Just complete your work here, get your fat paycheck,
and then you can decide if you still want to kill him
after... you get paid, not before."


"You're right, i hope we dig out something useful
this time, cause if we don't find anything today,
i'm calling it quits."



Ahmid spotted the two workers chatting and said,
"Hey, you two over there, they pay you to work and not to talk, i want to see less lip movement and more hand and shovel movement."

The two men looked at him, made a slight head bow, while simultaneously echoing the words,
"Yes Sir!"


Ahmid Zahir was a very Tough Boss to his workers, whenever they had a task to complete he was like a drill sergent, always motivating them when neccessary, even though it was unpleasant.




But, when the work was over he would become
more amiable towards his workers, even chatting
with them on occasion.

CHAPTER 2
ARMY OF DEATH


1 hour into the digging, the men hit a hard surface, they used their hand to push out the remaining rubble of sand, what they found was the surface of a square silver-coloured box with gold engravings.

One of the men called to Ahmid,
"Sir, we've found something".

Ahmid ran to the digging site, he crouched and looked intently at the box they had unearthed, then he said.
"Good, very good, take the ropes, tie up the box, i'll go bring the crane."

His workers did as they were told, Ahmid used
the crane's hook attached to the ropes to bring
out the box.


After they had brought out the box, the men cheered at their already completed task and the huge payment they would receive.


Ahmid's men carried the box to Mr Alex, it was slightly heavy, they guessed whatever was in the box was worth a lot of money.

Sir Alex was reading up on the artifact, when the menbegan to carry a silver-coloured box towards him, he saw them coming, and a mild smile painted his face.

They dropped the box on the table in front of him.

Sir Alex gazed at the box and said,
"I see you have found the box."

He touched the box and felt the deep engravings
written on it;
"The designs match with exactly what i have in my diagrams."


Ahmid, who was now drinking a bottle of water
to quench his dry throat, asked
"Are we free to rest Sir, since our task has been
completed?"

Sir Alex, who was now focusing on the golden
engravings trying to decipher them, didn't take his eyes off the box, he responded,
"Why yes of course, you and your men have completed your task, you can fully rest now, we leave tomorrow morning."


Without saying a word Ahmid nodded,
"You heard him men, it is time for us to rest and
be merry, for our work here is over."

Ahmid's men cheered loudly, each of the men went to his tent and got some well deserved rest.


Rachael also admired the engravings on the box,
but she noticed some minor detail,

"Sir, i think we are going to need to find a key to
open this box with."

Sir Alex, responded,
"Oh my Dear Rachael, i have also noticed a keyhole in front of the box, but there appears to be no key in sight."

Rachael looked worried,
"Sir, we've spent more than 3 days trying to unearththis artifact, all to discover that we don't even have a key to open the box?"

Sir Alex was interpreting the symbols engraved on
the box, he wrote down words on paper and then
looked surprised,
"Rachael, it seems this box cannot be opened with a physical key, the keyhole is merely symbolic."

Rachael looked puzzled,
"Sir, i don't understand."

Sir Alex took a deep breath of fresh air before beginning his explanation,
"Rachael, in ancient times Magicians would try to
bury or preserve powerful artifacts by storing it in
a magical box, and the box would have a keyhole
to deceive the ignorant into thinking they needed
a physical key to open the box, but such assumptions were false, for the only way to open the box was by saying the "secret word", such word may be a magical spell or in this case, the answer to a riddle."

Rachael now looking more confused than before,
asked,
"Sir, may i ask what riddle we will be solving?"

"Well, since you asked."

Sir Alex streched the paper he had written the translations on, and started reading,
"The only way to open this box, is to use the
Greatest Key one can ever posess,
Everyone has the key but not everyone can have access to the power this box contains.

Rachael listened carefully then said,
"So we have the key, but we do not know
how to use it to open the box, and the key happens to be the answer to the riddle."

Sir Alex Nodded,
"Spot on Rachael, the box is a lock, the riddle, the problem;
the key is actually a word, the answer, the solution..."

Rachael interrupted,
"Sorry to stop you in your tracks sir, but i think
what the question is asking is not an answer,
but the process that leads to the answer,
which is what we are doing right now,
the process is...

They both exclaimed simultaneously,
"LOGIC!!!"

They heard a small click, then they looked at the box, Sir Alex tried to open the box, and it yielded.

As he opened the box, he was preparing his mind
for what the powerful artifact would look like,
but he was surprised to find out that it looked like
a very large metal sphere, it was silver gray in
colour and was very dense and quite heavy.


Rachael shook her head,
"I don't know what i was expecting Sir, but this doesn't look like anything special."

Sir Alex laughed,
"My dear Rachael, do not be deceived by appearances, what you see in front of you has enough energy to power several continents, hell, it could even power the whole world if utilized properly."

Suddenly there was a gust of cold wind,
Sir Alex wore his Trenchcoat, which he had folded
on the table, he stared up an saw that it was already evening, very soon there would be a barrage of cold desert winds.

"All right Rachael, lets pack it up, it's been a really
good day today, we've got the artifact and by
tomorrow morning we will be delivering it to . . . "


Suddenly, Sir Alex and Rachael Heard Screams, they turned back and saw Ahmid and His Men running towards them while shouting "Run!!!".


The cause of the screaming and running would not remain a mystery much longer, for behind
Ahmid and His Men were thousands upon thousands of desert snakes, scorpions and spiders, and given that nearly every animal in the desert was deadly, it made absolute sense to flee from the army of death that was approaching them.

Sir Alex and Rachael could see the the swarm of
arachnids and reptiles approaching them, Sir Alex
quickly cleared up his table, he took the silver box and yelled at Rachael,
"To the car, now!!!"

They both started running towards their car,
it was a Bentley continental GT V8, Sir Alex had
a predilection towards luxorious cars, they stepped into the car,
Sir Alex took the driver's seat and Rachael sat beside him as he started the engine,
"Sir we had better hurry, the furies seem to be
gaining on us."

The engine started revving, and Sir Alex Responded
"Furies?, are you seriously making jokes now"

They were already driving away from the site at
top speed

Rachael looked backwards,
"Well what do you suppose we call that?"

Rachael pointed her finger at the black swarm that was steadily gaining on them.

Rachael then asked,
"Sir, do you have any ideas on how we could get rid of it?"

Sir Alex shook his head,
"No ideas dear, while you are at it, could you help
me decipher the remaining engravings on the box, something tells me our bad luck has something to do with opening that damn box."

Rachael reached out and carried the box that was
on the back seat, she also brought out her own
pencil and notebook.


She started translating.


Meanwhile Ahmid and his men were having a tough time outrunning the black swarm that was approaching them, one by one his men were overwhelmed and overpowered by the black
swarm, although they were different species of
animals that were usually natural enemies(vipers, scorpions and tarantulas), they moved together
as if being compelled by some external force,
one by one his men kept falling to the black swarm, at this point only he and 3 of his men were still standing,
Ahmed exclaimed,
"Everyone follow me into the truck."

His men did as they were instructed, together
the four men entered the front of the truck and
shut the doors, it was very tight and uncomfortable, but they would manage.

The four men were sweating profusely from the running, there was a mixture of fear and anxiety
in the air, each of the men wondered whether they were going to survive the night.
Then one of the men said,
"Boss, i think we should go back and help our
brothers, they are in real danger."


Ahmid arched his head downward and nodded in
pity, "Don't you get it Hassan?, anyone who is still outside while that deadly storm is raging, would probably be dead by now."


Hassan's eyes widened in terror as he came to the
realization that he would never see his comrades
again.

An eerie and uncomftable silence hung in the air,
the only noise that could be heard were the sounds of vipers, scorpions and tarantulas crawling on the desert sands, they all seemed to be chasing after Sir Alex.

Rachael had translated half a page of the engravings she was studying.
Sir Alex had previously taught her how to translate ancient symbols to modern text.

Sir Alex walker glances at her writings and asked
"So Rachael, what have you got?"

She read her translations out loud,
"Here it says, whosoever opens this box, will be
haunted to the ends of the earth and die a
gruesome death, unless the secret symbol is
discovered."


She paused a bit, letting her words sink in.

Sir Alex looked at her and said,
"Well, go on."


"That's it Sir."


Sir Alex furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue,
he was tired of the cryptic messages,
"The secret symbol?, I will have to read up on that"



Just then, the car stopped.
Sir Alex tried to start the car, but it didn't start.

"I guess this is the end of the road."

Rachael looked frightened,
"No sir, this can't be the end of the road, we're trapped in the middle of nowhere, behind us is a swarm of deadly creatures trying to kill us, it can't end like this,
i'm not going to die, not today."

Sir Alex was thinking of how they were both going
to escape their current situation

"Ring, Ring, Ring..."

Someone was calling Sir Alex,
He brought out his phone, he looked at the screen and saw who was calling, it read "Taskmaster."

He answered the call,
"Good evening, Alex Walker, have you retrieved the artifact?"

"Yes i have."

"Good, then meet me at the roundezvous point;
10pm, tomorrow morning."

Sir Alex Nodded.

"What's that sound Alex?"

"Oh you mean that rattling, nothing, just car trouble."

"Hmmmn, you had better fix it, my client doesn't
take too kindly to excuses."

"I will."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

Sir Alex cut the call.
"That's my agent, Mr Henry DuBois, he wants the
package delivered tomorrow morning, as per our
agreement."

Rachael folded her arms and scoffed,
"We wont be delivering anything if we don't get out of here alive."

The car had stopped, its headlights illuminated
the darkness ahead of them, they didn't know
where they were or how they would leave their
current location since their car stopped working.

Then, as if on cue, they could hear the strange sounds from behind them, they looked back to see the deadly swarm had caught up with them, but instead of overwhelming them, the swarm moved past them, then something strange happened, the swarm just dissolved, it dissolved into black sand.
Out of the black sand a glowing rock, the size
of a golfball stood suspended in the air.

Rachael exhaled,
"Thank goodness, for a moment there i thought
we were gonna die."

Sir Alex Responded,
"Its not over yet, look!"

He pointed to the mass of black sand ahead of them,as if on cue, the sand began to reform and reshape itself around the glowing rock, this time not a swarm of spiders, snakes and scorpions, but a humanoid figure."

The figure was one of a dark skinned large humanoid creature, it was 8 feet tall, it's body had different symbols and markings all over, it had a golden loincloth decorated with ancient symbols.

It pointed at the car in front of it and spoke with a loud booming voice,
"I am jazer-el-gosa, i am the sacred guardian of the godsphere,
you have opened the mysterybox and unearthed the godsphere, return what you have stolen or you will suffer a fate worse than death."


Sir Alex Told Rachael the plan, then he stepped out of his car, he stood in front of the giant, then he said,

"I'm sorry i woke you up from your peaceful slumber, but i'm afraid i can't give you the godsphere."

The giant looked annoyed then it said,
"It will be a pleasure killing you."

Then suddenly its two hands were shaped into 2
giant swords,
Then it aim the swords towards Sir Alex and
the swords jut out like a projectile and started
racing at great speeds towards Sir Alex, but he
doged it at the last second, then 5 more sword
like projectiles were aimed at him, he swiftly dodged each projectile as it sped towards him,
he nearly dodged all of them, but the last one hit him at his lower left abdomen, he started bleeding.

The giant laughed at him and said,
"It seems you have run out of luck, but i have
have to admit you have considerable skill,
no one has been able to dodge my projectiles
so quickly."

Sir Alex touched his abdomen with his hands,
he was bleeding seriously, if he did not get medical attention soon, he was going to die."


The giant approach Sir Alex, its hands still in
sword form, he said,
"Don't worry, i will make your death a swift and
painless one."
Just as it was about to land the killing blow,
Rachael yelled,
"Hey, you ugly monster. . ."
The monster looked up.

She was holding the silver box that contained the
godsphere, she lifted it above her head and waved it around,
"This is what you want isn't it, then come get it,
you brainless dolt."

The monster quickly forgot about Sir Alex and Started chasing Rachael trying to retrieve the box.


There was a large distance between Rachael and the Monster, the monster was rapidly catching up.

Just then, she went to the car and brought out
a transparent jar, on the jar was a magic symbol
written with human blood, it meant "room".

The g had caught up with her,
"Return the godsphere and i will grant you a swify
death, refuse and you will beg for your own death."

Rachael did not say anything,
she opened the jar and then said,
"vacuum."

The giant looked confused for a second, it knew
she had whispered a spell but nothing happened,
it was diappointed,
"Amateur."

Then it ran towards her trying to get the final blow, it was going to cut her in half with its sharp swordlike hands, but then a little tug, the giant felt something pulling it, it tried to resist to turn back, but it was futile, the force kept on pulling stronger and stronger, the giant came to the realization that the spell had
worked and it was being pulled into the jar.


All the black sand particles that made up the giant
were pulled into the small jar, all except the rock
like heart that caused the giant to assemble.

Rachael closed the jar.

The rock was still suspended in the air and it was glowing, Rachael quickly grabbed it, but it burnt
her fingers, so she dropped it.


She looked far ahead in the distance, Sir Alex was
lying unconscious in his own pool of blood,
he was going to die if he did not get medical attention.

She looked at the car, there was no fuel in it and
they were in the desert at night in the middle of
nowhere.

Just then, the jar exploded and all the black sand particles contained within it began to reassemble.

Rachael was surprised that the monster was able to break her spell, she saw the black sand particles begin to form around the glowing rock,
but before the monster could reassemble completely,
she ran swifly and grabbed the glowing rock,
it was very hot and burned her fingers, but this time she did not drop it.


To her surprise the sand still reformed, the gaint
was now standing sword in both hands, it looked
very angry,
"Indeed, you must be foolish to think such a simple spell could trap me?
Throughout my existence i have fought and prevailed against far superior opponents."

It walked towards Rachael.

"I will make sure your death is painful and agonizing,
i will cut you limb from limb and feed your entrails to the vultures."

It raised its sword shaped hand to strike,

Rachael was still holding the glowing rock in her hands, she was trying to crush it, but it seemed
unbreakable.


Rachael knew it was over, a sense of dread and
apprehension came over her as the monster raised its sword shaped hand intending to strike.

She closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable,
she didn't scream or panic, at that moment a
mysterious calm and clearheadedness possessed
her, she waited and then. . .

Nothing.

Rachael kept her eyes closed for fifteen seconds,
glowing rock in hand, expecting oblivion, but yet
nothing happened.

She opened her left eye slightly and looked at the giant,
it had its sword just inches from her head and was frozen, almost like it had tried to kill Rachael and
some mysterious force had stopped it.


Rachael moved away from the sword, stood up and asked the Monster,
"Whats happening?"

The monster resumed normal movement and replied,
"It seems i am unable to kill you."

Rachael looked puzzled,
"And, why is that?"

The giant did not reply.
But it stared at the glowing rock that she was holding at her right hand.

Rachael held the rock up and held it to eye level,
"Let me guess, it has something to do with this?"

The giant nodded.

Rachael Smiled.
"So you can't hurt me as long as i am holding this glowing rock."

"Careful now, that rock that you hold in your hand
is actually my heart, if anything happened to it
i would cease to be, i am also obligated to obey
anyone who is able to get ahold of my heart,
although i would advise you not to get your hopes up, i can be quite stubborn at times."


Rachael had been holding the rock and she noticed its temperature always varied, from hot to cold to lukewarm, now she realized the rock was getting hotter by the second.


The giant looked at her and smiled,
"I suggest you drop my heart, if not you might get badly burnt."

Rachael realized the giant could control the temperature of the rock she was holding, and it was making it hot for various reasons, to get her to drop the rock, so that it would be free of her control and kill her.


She gritted her teeth and strengthened her resolve, if she dropped the rock now, the giant would kill her for sure, if she held onto it for much longer she risked getting second degree burns and acute nerve damage,
it was either she lost her hand or she lost her life,
she chose the former.


The giant looked at her in awe,
"You aren't a normal human are you?"
Rachael didn't reply.
"Your pain tolerance is extraordinary for a human,
you have earned my respect."

Rachael, obviously in pain, shouted at the giant,
"Shut up muttonhead, do not speak until you are
spoken to."

Rachael was trying to think through the pain,
she wanted to trap the giant in another magical jar.

She brought out the Magical jar and opened it with her unburnt hand, she didn't say the magic word yet.


So she spoke to the giant calmly,
"Now, look at this jar."
She said pointing at the transparent jar she was holding,

"When i say the keyword and you get trapped in the jar, you remain trapped, under no circumstance should you leave that jar unless you are summoned, understood?"


The giant folded its arms and scoffed arrogantly,
"I the great jazer-el-goza will take no orders from
a human."

Suddenly, the glowing rock started to get even hotter, the pain shot through her entire body, it wasn't just her hand that was suffering 2nd degree burns, the burns continued to spread to her arm, if she continued holding the rock then the burns would spread to her entire body and she would probably die.


For the next 35 seconds, Rachael and the Giant
were at a standoff, neither backing off for the
other, then Rachael said the magic word.

"Vacuum!"

As soon as she said it a vortex like force sucked
the giant into the jar.

Rachael immediately dropped the rock and closed the Jar, she was exhausted and all she wanted was a good night's rest.

She rubbed her right hand, it was very sore and painful.

She looked far into the distance where Sir Alex was lying unconscious, to her surprise she saw 3 vultures surrounding him, they were already perched on his body and were trying to make a meal out of him.

CHAPTER 4
A FRIEND IN NEED


Rachael ran towards Sir Alex's body, she tried to scare the vultures away, but they became aggressive and started attacking her.

Already exhausted and frustrated by the day's events, Rachael screamed at the vultures,
"GO AWAY!!!"

Her voice was so loud that it caused a temporary retreat from the vultures.

But they still circled high in the sky, watching and
tracking her.


She looked at Sir Alex, his face looked pale,
he had already lost a lot of blood.

Rachael checked his pulse to see if he was alive,
his pulse was still active.

Rachael breathe a huge sigh of relief,
she looked at Sir Alex's unconscious body and said,
"You know, when you wake up, you and i both have a lot to discuss."


She tried to lift his body up but she found that to be impossible, especially with the injury on her right arm.

So, using her left arm she managed to drag Sir Alex to the car, she adjusted him properly and made sure he was sitting in the car's backseat.

A trail of blood coloured the desert sands.

She took up her phone and called Ahmid.

She hoped he was alive, because if he wasn't
Sir Alex and Her would probably die alone in the
middle of the desert.

Ahmid and his men were still wide awake at night,
the Stress and Anxiety incurred from the day's
events would not let them rest.

One of his Men Asked,
"Sir, can we go outside and check if the coast is clear?"
Ahmid looked at Omar with fearful eyes and replied,
"No, we aren't checking anything tonight, only when the sun rises can we properly inspect."

They sat in silence for another 7 minutes,

"Ring Ring Ring. . ."

Ahmid ignored the call,

"Ring Ring Ring. . ."

Ahmid was exasperated, the last thing he wanted to do was to receive a phonecall.

He looked at the screen, it was Alex Walker's assistant calling, he hesitated, unsure of whether to pick the call and then he shrugged and answered the call.

"Hello, is this Sir Ahmid?"

"Yes Rachael its me, by the way, how did you and
your boss manage to survive that onslaught?"

Rachael sighed,
"Its a long story."

Ahmid found the answer a bit suspicious,
"Okay, how may i help you."

"I will like you to come pick us up, there is no fuel in our car, so we can't go anywhere, Sir Alex is badly injured and is definitely going to die if he doesn't get medical attention."

Ahmid listened to her quietly, then he paused for
a very long time,

Rachael was surprised at not receiving an answer,
"Sir Ahmid, Sir Ahmid, are you still there?"

Ahmid took a very deep breath, then he replied,
"I'm sorry, but i can't help you."

"WHAT!!!"

"What do you mean you can't help us."

Ahmid closed his eyes,
"Look, i still have vivid memories of how my men were killed by that deadly swarm and i feel guilt, guilt for taking my men on a suicide mission all because i yielded to the temptation of money, guilt for the fact that those men won't go home to embrace their lovely wives and children."

"Whatever the case may be, their blood is on my
hands."


Rachael was fighting to hold back her tears,
"Sir Ahmid, i'm so sorry about your loss, but
please you have to help us, i don't know how much longer i can survive here, there's not much food and water, and there are all sorts of dangerous animals trying to kill us."

"Again, i apologize, but i can't help you, not tonight, but i promise to meet you tommorrow morning."

Rachael was beginning to get desperate,
"But Sir, you can't leave us like this, Sir Alex will
die if we don't help him."

"Good night my dear."

Ahmid promptly cut the call.

"Aaaarrrgh!!!"
Rachael smashed her phone on a nearby rock.

By the time she realised what she had done it was
too late, her phone's screen was blank and she
couldn't use it anymore.

Rachael Cried.

She went into the car, she could not remember
the last time she ate or drink, she was also beginning to feel sleepy.

She started thinking.

She decided to search the car for anything that could be of help; food, water or hopefully medical supplies like medicine for Sir Alex.


She went to the back of the car and opened the booth.


What she found was not very encouraging.

The Silverbox containing the godsphere, A bag containing a new pair of clothes,
she saw Sir Alex's briefcase and her eyes widened.


"Now that's Interesting."

By its side she saw a gallon of water.

"Yes!!!"


She took the container, poured some water on her hands and washed her face with it.

"I never thought i would be happy to see you again" she said to the gallon of water.

Then she drank, and drank to her heart's content.

She made sure not to finish the water though,
She saved some for later use.

She carried Alex's Briefcase with her, it was quite heavy.

It was a brown-coloured Alpine Swiss Briefcase

She knew he always kept important stuff inside it.

She sat at the driver's seat and proceeded to
unlock the briefcase.
"Now, lets see what you have in store for us."

She tried to open the briefcase but it would not open.

Sir Alex had told her never to open the briefcase,
he always told her there were things in his briefcase she was never meant to see.

And as a safety measure, he always used a combination lock that needed 3 set of random numbers to open.

Rachael always stylishly looked at the numbers
whenever he was opening his briefcase.

She could remember the numbers she saw this
morning,
"It was 5, 9 ....., what's the last number again?"

She couldn't remember what the last number was,
so she had to start from the beginning.

591 - "No"
592 - "Not a chance"
593 - "Try Again"
594 - "Acess Denied"
595 - "Still Nothing"
596 - "Getting Frustrated"
597 - "YES!!!"

The briefcase opened with a satisfying click and Rachael breathe a sigh of relief.

Inside the briefcase were all manner of papers and documents; research papers, journals, maps, notepads amongst others, but what really caught her attention was a blue diamond ring, it was very beautiful to behold.

Rachael thought,
"I probably shouldn't take it."

Just then the ring started to glow softly, she felt a
strong desire to wear the ring, like it was calling
to her,
"You know what, there is no harm in trying it on, i
bet it looks good on me."

She wore the ring on her left middle finger, since her right hand was still badly burnt.

Rachael smiled,
"Aaawn, would you look at that, it fits nicely."

Rachael admired the ring and how it decorated her hand.

Just then, she heard whispers, it was the sound of a thousand voices all speaking at once,
"Set us free!!!"

Rachael was startled, she looked around her to see if there was anyone around, but the desert was as lonely and quiet as a graveyard.

Then another whisper, this time even louder,
"Set us free!!!"

Suddenly she felt a cold chill spread through her
body, despite that she began to sweat, the ring on
her finger pulsated with a soft glowing light.

The voices became louder and more frequent,
"Set us Free!!!"

It didn't take Racheal much thinking to discover that the ring was the source of her problems.

She tried to remove the ring, but it remained stuck on her finger, the voices kept getting louder,
"SET US FREE!!!"

It wasn't just the voices, it was the feelings that were swirling inside of her: Anger, Hatred, Guilt, Sorrow and Pain, lots and lots of Pain.

Rachael was being overwhelmed by all these emotions, if she didn't remove the ring soon, she
would end up going insane.

The voices and the emotions served to create a net that threatened to drag her soul to the depths of despair.

Rachael managed to strengthen her resolve, with her last ounce of willpower, she managed to remove the ring, even though it caused her excrutiating pain.

She looked at the finger she had worn the ring, it
was now bruised, leaving a red mark on her finger.

She took the ring and put it in the briefcase.

"So, that..."

Rachael said, pointing at the blue ring.

"That is why he doesn't want me snooping around
his briefcase."

illicit:

I know this request is coming very late but,
what does that facial expression mean.

Till today i haven't been able to figure it out.

CHAPTER 5
SALVATION

Rachael continued searching the briefcase,

"That is the most terrifying experience i have ever
had."

Rachael regained her composure,

"Now i have to find something that is really useful."

She saw a book titled "The Spellbook of Mages and the Arcane Symbols."
She shook her head.
"Nah."

Just then, something caught her attentiom,

It was a small vial with the label "Healing Potion."

That seemed to pique her curiosity.

"Healing potion, eh?"

She took the vial, examined it properly, and read it aloud,
"Magic potion to heal all kinds of Injuries, sickness, disease, Poisons and Venoms.
Apply just one or two drops.
Potion can be administered orally, directly at the
surface of an injury or bite, or even injected if need be."

Rachael was exhilirated,
"Thank goodness, finally something to give me a
little hope."

But a voice in her head said,
"What if it is just one of those fake potions being
pandered out by conmen."

Rachael shrugged,
"Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

"If there is even a 1 percent chance that i can save
Sir Alex using this Healing Potion, then i'm taking it."


Then she went to the backseat where Sir Alex was
lying, she saw the gaping hole the projectile made in his lower left abdomen, it was a horrible sight with his shirt covered in blood.


She opened his shirt, she brought out the vial and
smelt it, it smelt terrible, more like a poison, than a healing potion.

But she did not have a choice, so she poured two drops
of the black liquid on the wound.

It had an immediate effect, it sizzled upon coming in contact with the wound.

But apart from that, nothing happened.

Rachael was disappointed
"There goes our last hope."

Rachael knew there was nothing else she could do.

She looked at her watch, it was already 1:00 am in
the morning.

She was very tired and her eyelids felt heavy.

"I have done everything i can to salvage the situation, i don't believe in predestination but, if this is where i am meant to die, then i want to do it while in my sleep not at the hands of a demon
or a wild animal.

And with that she put all the contents back into the briefcase, locked the booth, closed all the car doors, and lay on the front seats curled up like a baby.

She wished all this was just a bad dream and when she woke up it would all be over, hopefully.

Ayo13945:


I know this request is coming very late but,
what does that facial expression mean.

Till today i haven't been able to figure it out.

Same here

illicit:


Same here

This was the answer i got?

https://www.nairaland.com/7646677/dear-nairalanders-what-does-emoji#122403552