Determined, and with no other option. The two men journeyed through the desert, following the trail of dried blood the Jinn left behind. They kept walking and walking, hiking over sandy dunes and rocky mountains. Soldiering on even when they ran out of water and the back of their necks tanned to become leather under the scorching sun.

  Yet despite their uncomfortable march to their eventual dooms, they kept moving forward. No matter the hours or the terrain, they promised themselves a good death. Which to them was their mission, and as the sun set behind them, till the world was blanketed by the night sky. They kept their guard up, keeping low so as not to make their presence known to the monster.

  It didn’t take long for the two soldiers to find the Jinn. Perched on top of a rock, its clawed fingers tore flesh from bone from its latest kill. The monster slurped down bone marrow while blood and tender meat trickled down its cheeks. Remaining unaware of Ben and Curly’s presence.

  ‘Plan?’ Curly whispered.

  Benjamin gestured to the other end of the rocky hill. ‘I’ll go there to flank it. Fire on my signal. Keep up the pressure until we run out of ammo or it dies.’

  ‘And what is that signal?’

  In response, Ben tapped his rifle, telling Curly that he could only engage when he had fired the first shot. It was a simple strategy and most likely will end in failure. But it was something for them to follow through, and if they were lucky, they hoped they could wound the monster in the attack. Even if the injury inflicted upon it was temporary.

  As Ben discreetly went to his designated spot, Curly took the time to prepare his position. Putting grenades on his side for easy access, and arranged his magazines in his vest in a way to create a fast routine of dumping an entire magazine into the monster and reloading soon after. Though in reality, he knew it wouldn’t change anything. It was just done to provide some comfort in an unwinnable fight.

  But when he had done all of that, and knew that Ben hadn’t arrived at his spot yet. He thought of home. Curly wondered if his father would care if his only son died overseas. Though at the same time, Curly understood that his old man would perhaps rejoice in the fact that he died. They never had a good relationship to begin with, even less after Curly joined the army. But he couldn’t help but wonder and imagine what it would be like to have his father care.

  Meanwhile, as Ben snuck his way to his ambush spot, his thoughts were no different. His mind wandered about what his life would’ve been like out of the army and what job he would’ve taken. But that thought was quickly snuffed out. He didn’t want to think about potential careers. Instead, he wanted to think about what his life would’ve been like if he had actually dared to marry his girlfriend before he joined the army. Ben loved her, but he knew that life in the military would put too much strain on their relationship and reasoned it would be unfair for her to go through.

  So, he ended things. Allowing himself to do what he wanted and letting her go without being chained to him, to be free to do as she pleases, no matter how much it hurts. He wanted to think of her name, but it was best not to think of it. She deserved to be happy, not to weep for a man making a foolish and selfish decision. In the end, he was glad they weren’t together, knowing that he would die that day.

  When he got to his spot, he aimed his rifle. Keeping his sights on the creature. Controlling his breathing while his finger lightly pressed on the trigger. This is it. Ben thought to himself.

  Bang!

  The first bullet slammed into the Jinn’s chest. Causing black smoke and fragments of flesh to tear off from its body. Without pause, a hail of bullets rained down upon it from two sides. Knocked the beast down from its rocky stand, and with a furious growl, the Jinn picked up a nearby rock and chucked it at Curly. Stopping the barrage from his end.

  Seeing this, Ben went into a deep rage. Believing that his last comrade had fallen, he jumped out of his hiding spot, chucking his rifle down to reach for his flare and knife. If he had to die, he would rather die staring at the face of the monster. Even let out a war cry to make sure the monster saw him.

  Which it did, the Jinn salivated, excited to see the man who had been giving it problems for weeks. It leapt towards the lone soldier, eager to have a chance to kill him. Before it could swipe at Ben, he struck the flare, releasing a stream of blue smoke and fire that pushed the Jinn back while forcing the cloud of smoke to disappear to reveal its true form. A bipedal humanoid creature with large dark eyes, bat-like legs, and grey oily skin. Yet besides recoiling and retreating like it did the first time its cloak of smoke vanished, it held its ground. It wanted a fight, and it will have it with the stubborn soldier.

  Ben locked on, using the flare to keep some distance between him and the monster before closing the gap to slash it with his knife. The monster tried to find an opening to fight back, but the flare prevented it from getting too close. Instead, it decided to wait. Watching as the flare burned in Ben’s hand slowly died down. It grinned at Ben, mocking him as if he were a child playing monster slayer.

  When the flare eventually snuffed out, which didn’t take long. The monster waited for an opening to punch Ben square in the chest, breaking a rib in the process. A sharp pain ran through his body, and the lone soldier rolled around in pain while gasping for air. Before he could get up to face the creature, the Jinn stabbed through Ben’s right shoulder to pin him down. Letting him suffer for a few seconds longer just so it could enjoy watching as every ounce of hope left in Ben’s eyes would fade before he could die. If only that were the case.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  That should be it for Benjamin Earl. In nearly every cycle, every reset of the universe. He either died that day or the day of the ambush. This time, the universe allowed him to live for a bit longer. On the 15th of November, 2016. Killed in action against a monster he thought was a super soldier. Becoming the creature’s next meal, who in turn would be slain the next month when the Order eventually sent a qualified hunter to take on the ancient horror. His death, like many others caused by the monster, would be seen as a standard tragedy. However, his death would, and should, lead to a better future for humanity. Yet, at that time, during that singular moment in history. Something horrible happened. A world-shaping event that changed everything for the worse. The Cascade.

  The world shook as if it were about to crack open like an egg. Confused, the Jinn’s head darted around to determine if it needed to flee for safety or stay. Without warning, the shaking stopped. Then, the world became silent. Not a silence that is the absence of foreground noise, but the absence of everything. Just pure eerie silence. This even caused the monster to pause. Pulling its clawed hands out of Ben’s shoulder to figure out what was going on. Afterwards, the dark night sky became as bright as day for only a few seconds, which was followed by a wave of teal light that washed over the world.

  As the teal light swept above Ben. The world around him became a dark space of empty void. He looked over his shoulder where the Jinn had stabbed him, but the wound instantly healed. His broken rib even reattached and healed on its own. In fact, Ben noticed his entire body felt new. Like he had just been reborn.

  ‘Hello!’ Ben called out, but nothing answered. Making him question whether he had died or gone insane when walking through the desert alongside Curly. Yet he wasn’t sure, for there was nothing he could use to orient himself with his new sense of reality. With not much to do, he stood up, confused as to how he could stand on nothing.

  Then, the dark void warped in front of him with a shimmer of silver light pouring out like a candle struggling to burn during a harsh blizzard. Ben approached the light, walking around the tear in reality, trying to figure out what it meant. He reached out to touch it with an unnatural sense of reason behind it. He didn’t need to touch the light, but he felt he had to. Like something behind it wished for him to come close and desired him to feel real power.

  As his skin touched the silver light, he was pushed back as raging flame poured out from the tear in reality. Forcing Ben to collapse back onto his back with his hand shielding his eyes while the flame of silver took shape. Forming a four-pointed star inside a shattered circle.

  ‘Enough!’ Ben shouted, reaching his hand out like he wanted to push the flame away from him. Only to find himself back in the real world, on the ground in front of the Jinn. However, to his shock and horror, silver energy radiated from his hand and fired out a beam of energy at the Jinn. With a thunderous crackle, the beam tore the Jinn in half and obliterated the rocky hill behind it. Spewing stone and earth into the air all over him.

  Shocked, Ben lay on the ground, his right arm outstretched and frozen in place as he tried to understand what he had just pulled off. Shaking his head, Ben tried to get off the ground. Yet the moment his hand pushed off the stone ground, it shattered without resistance. After pushing himself off, he accidentally launched himself into the air. But besides falling back down, he floated in the air five feet off the ground.

  ‘Ben?’ A voice called out.

  Looking to his left, Ben smiled as he noticed Curly was still alive and well. But upon close examination, he noticed his comrade’s hands were shooting out sparks of electricity.

  Both men stared at each other, unsure how to perceive what they were witnessing or what to say to one another. The only thing certain was that the monster was dead, and they were alive. Ben believed he had died and must be in some sort of heaven or dream world. But as a spark of lightning shot off of Ben and struck him on the cheek, forcing him back to the ground with a loud thud. He realised that he was indeed awake and alive.

  ‘Shit!’ Curly swore, rushing over to Ben while tucking both of his hands under his armpits to not accidentally hurt him. ‘Are you okay?’

  It should’ve hurt, yet Ben felt nothing. He rubbed his face, unsure if he was meant to feel something or if that spark that smacked him was even meant to be painful.

  ‘I’m fine.’ Ben explained. ‘I am just… confused.’

  Curly couldn’t disagree or even have a response to it. Instead, he looked up at the night sky. Staring up to try to figure out what had happened, to piece together what sort of phenomena had taken over the earth.

  ‘Ben, what do we do?’

  ‘We… we’re going home.’ Ben murmured. ‘We’re both going home.’