The Talest

I woke up to the sound of gunfire. A bullet whizzed past my face as I opened my eyes. My brain immediately thought to search for an escape route. I grabbed my two pistols out of my pillowcase and got up. My dog came up to me and barked.

“Shut up, Shadow!” I yelled. Shadow turned just as the figure of my sister came into view.

“Trey, we have to go! It’s the Talest! They’ve found us!” she yelled. “I’ve alerted the rest of the team!”

I bolted out of the room and down the hall. The bullets continued to rain all around. Someone ran past me. I almost shot the person if I hadn’t realized it was my team member, Amelia.

“Amelia!” I called. “Go get Antwan and Nick!”

“We’re here!” Antwans’ voice said behind me.

“Good. Everybody to the catacombs!”

We bolted down to the first floor of the building and a loud crash and the shattering of glass signaled the windows being broken through.

“Run faster!” I yelled. “Tichina! Grab your gun.”

“Already on it.” Tichina said. She turned and pulled out a gun that looked like a portable handheld tank. She fired back at the front of the building and the ceiling started to collapse. I pushed back a dresser and under it was a hole.

“Go!”

We all jumped into the hole one by one. I looked back at the building collapsing. I picked up Shadow.

“Come on then.”

I jumped into the murky darkness. The drop seemed like it was forever. I landed hard on my knee. Dirt and dust poured down the hole as the collapsed building covered the hole.

“Owww!” I yelped as I rolled out the way.

“You ready to keep moving or what?” Amelia sneered, standing over me and giving me a kick. “You’re so useless.”

She was going to get hers one of these days. If I didn’t do it, the Talest would.

Talest is a gift that is given to a select few at birth. Many believed that the people who develop a Talest are chosen even before birth. They receive a powerful gift that is used for whatever they wish. Talest had become so great a gift, and so unpredictable, that many went insane with power. People began killing many of them off or putting them in bondage.

The Talested soon began a rebellion. They banded together and formed a group called Talest. Their numbers spread incredibly fast and soon they took over the world and put the un-Talested in slavery. They even gave a name to them. The Mongrels. All members of my team were the Talested that wanted peace. Amelia, Talested with intellect, Nick and Antwan, twins both Talested with killing, and my sister, Tichina, Talested with strength.

“Shut up, Talest.” I scowled. Amelia turned, hurt from my comment.

“Trey man, not cool.” Antwan said. “You know that’s offensive.”

“I couldn’t help it.” I said. “It slipped out.” I turned to Amelia and got up. “Sorry Amelia.”

“Let’s go!” my sister yelled. She grabbed me by the arm and slung me like a ragdoll down the catacomb hall.

After a brief moment, the others started walking.

“Where does this lead?” Nick asked.

“The far end of the catacomb leads to Canada. We’re going toward what was the United States.” I said.

“But now it’s just Talest there! The Talest were the ones who made sure of that!” Amelia exclaimed.

“We have no choice.” I said. “Would you rather go to the Monstrel slums?”

Amelia became quiet and looked away.

After about an hour of walking, we reached a turning point in the wall of the catacombs.

“We should be below the city of New Delphi.” I said. “Let’s go up here.”

We walked up the rotting wooden staircase up to the top. I pulled away some of the moss and roots that covered the trapdoor. Then I pushed it up and it opened with a pop. Light flooded the dim catacombs, temporarily blinding us. Then after a moment of intense eye pain, we crawled out the hole and looked around. When everybody was out, I covered the trapdoor back up.

“New Delphi.” I heard Tichina say.

I turned and looked at the massive towers and structures in the city. It was amazing. At the far end of the city was a monstrous statue. Even from the outside of the city, you could see the details in the statue. The statue was of the monster that started the growing power of the Talest. The Great Talest, as he is called.

“You see it too.” Tichina said. She stood next to me. Her eyes began to water.

“Don’t think about it, Tichina.” I said.

“Don’t tell me not to think about it!” she yelled. “We can never go back to being truthful to ourselves! Face facts, we’ll be hated forever.”

“Let’s head into the city.” I said. “Maybe we can help the people there.”

“Trey, you are the only Monstrel here.” my sister said. “You’re in no position for a fight.”

Yes.

I was a Monstrel. I had no Talest at all. I tensed when she called me that.

“I ’m sorry.” Tichina said. “It’s just that I’m tired of this rebellion.”

“It’ll be alright.” I said.

“Trey!” Amelia called. “Are you two coming or what?”

We ran over to meet the rest of the group.

“You all have your weapons?”

Everyone pulled out a weapon. Antwan and Nick both had samurai swords and pistols. Amelia had a bow and a quiver of arrows. Tichina had a gun which she made herself called a Gryphon. It had the body of an AK-47 with a rocket launcher and a scope.

“We’re ready.” I said, pulling my pistols. “Who’s up for a little recon?”

We started walking up to the city and we could see the city gate. A giant metal fortress would be a better name. It was almost three hundred feet tall, making it almost impossible to scale. It had to be at least ten layers of tungsten steel alloy and a diamond frame, so we couldn’t blow a hole in it.

“What do we do now?” Nick asked. “New Delphi is probably the most dangerous place to break into.”

“I say we go back.” Amelia said. “This is too overpowering for us.”

“We continue.” I said. Everyone looked at me and I began to wonder about my choice.