After making sure that Brenda was asleep, Garrett Wilson went back to his study. The screen of his laptop shone brightly in the dimly lit room. He tilted the screen upwards and it showed a page with the heading Chapter 23. Under it was a blank space. He still needed to do some world-walking.
Garrett got his coat and scarf from the drawer under his desk. Based on the previous chapters of his book, it would be winter in Sodora. He picked up a small notebook from his desk, three pens, and a piece of paper, and placed it in the inside pockets of his coat. Garrett sat down in front of his laptop and took a deep breath. When he felt ready, he closed his eyes. He focused on where the final battle of his story would take place: the snow-capped mountains, the wide field, the barren trees around it. He stayed silent for several seconds, then he felt something cold in his nose. Garrett opened his eyes and saw the snowy battlefield. He was sitting in a flat boulder, half-buried on the ground. Garrett smiled, excited to be back again. But there were deadlines and a book to be finished. So his research began. He stood up and walked to the center of the field. When he reached it, he took out his notebook and wrote a few notes about how the Blood Phantoms may use the mountain ranges to ambush the Order of Montaco. That would show how Tain Wercus, his protagonist, will fare in the face of adversity.
Garrett heard something swooshed past his face. He looked behind him and saw an arrow buried iqn the ground.
“Take one step and it will be the last you’ll make,” a voice called out from a distance.
Garrett stopped. Inch by inch, he returned the notebook and pen back in his pocket.
“Turn around,” the same voice said, now closer.
Garrett did what he was told and saw a dark and faceless figure. It was wearing a crimson cloak that seemed to be connected to its body. The edges of its cloak were pointed and idly moving as if it has a life of its own. Garrett suppressed a smile.
In front of him was one of his most beloved creations, the Blood Phantom.
The Phantom studied him, its head tilted to the side. “You’re not from here,” it said. The pointy edges of its cloak shook violently and in a blink of an eye, several more Phantoms appeared around Garrett.
Garrett looked around him, his eyes moving quickly from Phantom to Phantom.
“Are you the Silent Hand?” The Phantom asked, pointing its crossbow at him.
“What?” Garrett asked, taking a step forward. He didn’t know what happened after that when he felt pain in the back of his head and landed face first on the ground.
The biting cold woke Garrett up. A wind blew and he shook. He saw that he was inside a stone prison, with rusting iron barring its entrance. His cloak and scarf was taken from him so he was left with a cotton t-shirt and his beard to keep him warm.
“You’re awake.”
Garrett looked at the gate and saw Eisen Fimser, his antagonist and the leader of the Blood Phantoms.
Eisen unlocked the gates of his cell. “Stand up,” he commanded. Eisen opened the gate and walked away from it. Garrett stood up and followed Eisen, looking around every few steps. He reached outside without an arrow threatening to kill him. They walked through a stone staircase into the center of the Blood Phantom’s realm.
Eisen gestured for him to stand in the center of the room. Several Phantoms stood around them, watching Garrett’s every move. When Garret reached the center, Eisen started pacing. “I’ve been looking forever for you,” he said.
“For me?” Garrett asked.
“I pursued those legends, those stories about you,” Eisen said. “The Being responsible for all that is happening here in Sodora.” He walked closer to Garrett and said, “And here you are, the Silent Hand.”
The moment Eisen finished speaking, a liquid ooze came out from where Garrett was standing and latched on to his feet.
“What the?” Garrett tried to moved his feet but it was held by the ooze, now hard-rock solid.
Eisen threw his head and laughed. “You’re not as invincible as they told you would be,” he said. “You can do anything that you want from where you came from. But you have no power here.”
Beads of sweat started to form in Garrett’s forehead. In his previous world-walking, he has never met his characters face-to-face. He knew that it would be trouble for both sides. What he didn’t know was that they were also aware of his presence.
“What do you want?!” Garret said.
“Finally,” Eisen said. “I’m a man with simple pleasures. I want freedom.”
“You have freedom!”
“Not from you!” Eisen shouted, his cloak convulsing with his anger. “I know I’m powerful enough to destroy Tain and the Order of Montaco. But what have you done? You made a fool out of me. You made them slip from my fingers every time.” Eisen threw his head and let out a deep breath. “I won’t be a pawn in your game anymore.”
Garrett looked at Eisen, in the face of the beautiful disaster he created. “You know I can’t give you that.”
“You still think you have the power here?” Eisen raised his hand and his cloak crawled to Garrett. When he closed his fist, the edges of his cloak pierced through Garrett’s shoulders. Garrett screamed.
Eisen twisted the edges of his cloak, inducing whimpers from Garrett. Garrett screamed again when Eisen pulled out his cloak.
“So, what shall it be?” Eisen asked. “Give up your power, Silent Hand.”
Garrett panted, thankful the ooze Eisen summoned was keeping him upright. He closed his eyes, feeling panic rise in his chest. This was real and he was going to die if he would not do something. But what can he do? His paper and pen were in his coat that may already be in the possession of one of the Phantoms. If he could just do something to change his situation.
Garrett snapped his head, his eyes moving as thoughts raced in his mind.
Sodora and everything in it was his creation. From the desk in his study, he has the power to do anything. Even inside the world, that fact did not change. He was still the creator of the world. But now, he must also be a part of it.
He must become the Silent Hand.
Garrett closed his eyes and focused on his wounds. He imagined the wounds closing up and being healed. Eisen noticed his silence and took a step toward him.
“What are you doing?” Eisen asked, his brows creased.
Several breaths after, Garrett did not feel the pain anymore. “Forgive me, Eisen,” Garrett said, looking straight at the eyes of his antagonist. “This day is not yours to take.” He raised his hand in front of him and a bright light bloomed from it. It devoured his body until every bit of him was shining brightly.
“No!” Eisen shouted. “Get him!”
Garrett saw several Blood Phantoms charging towards him. He ignored them and closed his eyes.
He kept his eyes shut for a full minute. Then, he opened his right eye and was relieved to see his laptop. Garrett examined his shoulders and saw that they were without wounds. However, his coat and the writing tools in it did not come with him. Garrett was hoping that he would return in the same state he had left. But it really didn’t matter.
Garrett was glad he was alive.
He spent some time in the bathroom to wash his face. The final chapters of his book would be exciting and his firsthand experience of the dangers in Sodora would ensure that he would hit the story home. He wrote until the wee hours of the morning and at sunrise, he was writing the last paragraph of his book.
Garrett stood up, stretching his arms. He tilted the screen of his laptop upwards and scrolled back a few pages. He read the text on the page several times and smiled.
“I cannot give you the freedom that you wanted, Eisen,” he said. “But I’m giving this victory to you.”
He left his laptop in the page where it read: Tain Wercus’s body laid on the ground before Eisen Fimser. Garrett knew that somewhere in Sodora, the Blood Phantom leader was savoring the victory and thinking about how foolish the Silent Hand had become.
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