BiggusDickus47

Yo it's me ya boi the author, I'm really sorry for a lot of days that this got delayed. our house is currently under renovation for a month now and everything was a mess and all our stuffs are outside and I was busy with work related to that.

October 25, 2025, 10:03- The mysterious island

Mem already came to Riley and the rest of the Recon team and cautiously landed near the last MRAP. They were taken aback by her sudden appearance but they immediately recognized her and lowered their weapons. Riley immediately switched to his thermal optics in order to avert his panic. Riley walked towards Mem and said.

“So I guess Wade got and granted my request. Okay, follow me, uh, what’s your name again?”

“I’m Mem, where is the big man?” She said as she looked around. Most of the recon team were tall and built like a tank and all of them were wearing almost the same uniform aside from the subtle distinction.

“What big man? The big man I know was Wade.” Riley replied. Mem got confused but she said that he wants to see the big man that had fainted the other day. Riley immediately knew what she meant and was red on his face, luckily he was wearing his helmet so no one saw his flustered face he tried to shush her but she kept going on and on. He was lucky the rest of the team were puzzled and never knew a thing.

“I do not know about what you said and I have absolutely no knowledge, but I did request Wade for you,” Riley replied. He lied to her about it but Mem detected his lies and attempted to say anything but before she can say a word, Riley cut her and said. “We don’t have time for talks okay, follow me and let’s get this over with.” Mem made a pouting noise but followed Riley regardless. Riley’s alpha team followed him while the bravo team was split among themselves as one group positioned along the beach looking under their scopes while the second group was monitoring the vicinity of the jungle. The MRAPs were lined up along with the gunners who were scanning the thickets waiting for the bravo team’s monitor guidance.

Riley walked back to the camp but no one was there, everyone seems to vacate the area even leaving behind some still warm broiled fish and unidentified fruits and tubers and still smoking fire pit. He checked the trapdoor where he saw the children before but it was empty. They looked around but not even a speck of a shadow was there. Even the heat signatures on the trees were gone. Mem took the opportunity to ask questions from them but they were busy and had ignored her.

“How did you kill the horrible that easily and what is those loud weapons that breathed fire, Mr. Wade only told me certain things and well it was my fault for not asking those since I was more fascinated by the books your world had. I can’t read your language but I liked the paintings you called pictures. It was almost real and life-like.” Riley had been bored while searching the area so he entertained Mem’s talk.

“Oh, pictures, no, no they were not painting they were mostly printed image or photographs that were taken by a device called camera which err… well light pass through the camera’s lens and…err It’s hard to explain but here look at this,” Riley said as he pulled his smartphone out of his pocket. “This is a smartphone, what this does is basically many things call and text, social media, play games, and many more, but most important for your case is the camera. This one here got the latest smartphone camera technology our world can offer.” Riley said as he flashed the phone. “Well, the problem is I’m on thermal and can’t navigate, oh wait I’ll turn around.” He said as he avoided to see Mem as much as he could.

Riley then turned around and immediately set his optics to normal vision. He looked for the camera which he found hidden on a sub icon among his dubious installed apps. He turned around and switch to thermals and quickly snapped a few photos of Mem. He then showed it to her and she was surprised to see herself on the screen so accurately. Riley could have liked to play around if only Mem was a human and not his greatest fear.  Mem sound excited and commented that she wanted a camera too but Riley wondered how she will use a smartphone when she’s a bug and doesn’t even have a hand.

He intentionally ignored her questions about their weapons and contemplated some things that’s when he realized Mem called it the Horrible, and she was implying like it was the hardest thing to kill meaning she knew about it.

“Mem, can I ask you something?” Riley said. “Hmm okay,” Mem replied.

“You said it was a horrible right? So you knew this existed here?” Riley asked her.

“Yes, Ma and Pa always talk about them, they were dangerous and I was told to fly away if I saw one but they rarely come out during the daytime. When at night it eats anything that had mana especially our fire fruit. It was delicious and sweet and it had a hot burning aftertaste but the horribles always take them from us and it only grows on the island so they made a secret garden with a lot of fire fruit tree in which was on the highest part of the mountain where horribles could not reach also many of my people including Pa and uncle, guards the place. Ma and Pa had much knowledge about the horribles and they even told me about tales of my ancestors fighting those monsters.” Mem said.

“Hold on, mana? You mean magic?” Riley asked. He wasn’t really surprised, rather he was interested in it and if it’s a threat to them.

“Yes magic, Horribles is very attracted to anything that had enough mana especially the people who had the capacity to hold magic enough to conjure a spell,” Mem said.

“Okay, this seems interesting. By means of a spell. There should be magicians or wizards, right? If so what is the level of power a magician?” Riley asked.

“Well my Pa is one of the strongest including my uncle who can best even the magicians of other places, I have heard magic users are far too rare and prized by many kingdoms. They can cast elemental magic like firebolt, wind magic, and healing spells but honestly, I am afraid to admit that they can’t be compared against the weapons that burned the horrible also it makes an awful lot of time in casting one. Oh, I got an idea, if you want more questions you can go to my home.” Mem suggested.

“Weird, beetles can conjure fire spells and such, no biggie I won’t judge…oh, wait where exactly do you live anyway,” Riley replied asked.

“I am not sure if they will be happy to see you but I trust Mr. Wade. I live on another island it is small, it’s not far, in fact, you can walk towards it every mid-days because a sand road appears from the sea but it disappears whenever night falls but you can go to the secret garden way up that mountain. My people are alert because the fog wall is gone, soon humans will find us and hunt us all.” Mem said. She has a sad tone in her voice. “Nah, I’m sure Wade will not let those things happen, after all, he had taken a liking of you. Riley replied.

As they were talking, Riley was taking down notes using his helmet, complete with audio/video record. They continued to search but minutes of searching the camp but no one was ever been found. A member of the team found a series of footsteps leading to a large rock embedded under a massive tree where the roots had taken over the cracks. At a distance, it was hardly noticeable but upon closer look. A wooden trapdoor was snuggly fitted on the chipped rock under a large tree. It was made by some sort of red hardwood that had dead barnacles on it that was carefully crafted and was bolted together using rusted iron nails and sheets. Riley knocked several times but no one answered. He tried to pry open the door and the whole frame budged thanks to his suit’s strength. Upon lifting the door, he was met by two spears towards his head. He cocked back his head to evade and kept his distance. Two men emerged out carrying spears pointed at them, they were dressed with leather armor, shoulder pads, and bracers similar to the man earlier that had taken the kids. They were muscular and tan but one thing about them was that they looked weakened and sickly pale.

“Shit, these guys seem to be suffering from the oxygen saturation sickness that was told to us to be wary of,” Riley said on his radio. “If these guys are friendly, we might have to help them get treatments.”

The men watched Riley’s group under watchful eyes and gripped their weapons firmly. Later five men clad in medieval style iron armor came out holding shortswords and bucklers and stood beside the three men. They looked different in terms of physical, racial features, and how they dressed. A woman dressed in a metal chest plate and a skirt walked out as soon as the five men formed a line.

“Who are you? And what is your reason to come here?” The woman said as she eyed them from up to down with arched eyebrows as she grasped the handle of her sword.

“Psst, hey Mem? Psst… what are they saying?” Riley called out to Mem.

“She said who are we and they were speaking in Old Versuvia Emperial language the same as what my people spoke,” Mem replied.

It seems that Mem knew how to speak the language of the people there which would make it easier for the recon team to establish reliable communication with the locals. The woman and her men did not trust Riley and kept their weapons pointed at them. Mem attempted to explain their side in which she said that Riley and his men wanted to have a talk peacefully. Mem was told by Riley to leave out the fact that they crossed here from another world. The Woman was in her mid-20’s wearing a blue dress under a chest plate that was clearly not made for her. She had a silvery tiara adorned with small gems on her silver hair. It doesn’t take a genius to discern her as a princess or along the lines of people with power. Riley bowed and slung back his gun in hopes that they would be understood as non-threatening people. Mem did a wonderful job translating their words but then Riley wished he can understand their language to make things easier. The woman arched her eyebrows and looked at them with distrustful eyes but then she couldn’t do anything and listen to what the strange beings wanted to say.

“Are you sure about this princess? They don’t seem to carry any weapons other than that odd canes but they also have large packs? Where did they come from anyway? I suggest that we be wary, it might be a ploy to let our guard down and kill you, perhaps they were sent by your uncle.” A guard said. He seems to be a close aide given that he wore more elegant clothes that were ragged by time, stood beside the woman, and was observant compared to the others.

“I want to hear what these strangers had to say besides, I am curious about the loud noise that happened a while ago right after that flesh monster chased one of our men and killed Urfa, they might have answers and besides, look at that bug with them. That certainly was not a mindless beast compared to the creatures here, doesn’t she fit in the description of the descendants of the rumored legend of the ancient Osrog royal family?”

The woman and her aide talked in hushed voices. After a few seconds, they led Riley to their camp and were offered to sit beside the campfire. Mem used herself as a channel for communication “You know Mem, it’s a great thing you can’t read direct thoughts. Many would kill to use you as a living lie detector and that is how real-world works so you have to be wary of the people you talk to.” Riley said in English. Mem was disturbed by what he said but she understands it since it was the same words her parents told her since she could be easily misunderstood as a mind reader even though she isn’t.

They had started their talk and the woman had asked him a fuckton of questions. Riley and the woman were asked to touch Mem for a few seconds to allow their thoughts to communicate, Riley was reluctant but he had kept his cool. The princess asked questions towards them and Riley answered it all with partial truth since it could not be used to extract thoughts so no one except Mem knew when he was lying. She asked where they came from, what he was, what his name was, and what he was doing on the island. He told her that they came from a faraway land called The United States of America and had come to the island to explore and investigate the island. Riley’s helmet opened by itself and revealed his face, the woman and her men were surprised but didn’t ask more of it. He closed back his helmet and then asked for her name which she had given, her name was Eicel  Ashleaf, princess of the kingdom of Devara, first in line to the throne after his father King Arceves. Riley immediately did something courteous but Eicel laughed at him.

“Goodness, don’t do that, formality is dead in this forsaken accursed island everyone on this island had lost hope and did not care anymore and thrown away our status, we only wanted to live and survive.”

 Eicel seems to buy what he sold and was interested in knowing more about them which favored Riley’s task.

“So you are explorers’ mister Riley? I have heard the loud noise and one of my scouts confirmed that one of the flesh monsters is dead, do you have anything to do with it?. Care to explain?” The woman said.

‘Uh, well you can say that we just tried to eliminate it since it poses a great risk towards us and our task, also we are not exactly explorers but you got the idea, we had to defend ourselves and see if we are capable of  defeating such creature.” Riley replied. He wanted to be as dodgy as possible as not to reveal everything to them. The least they wanted was a bunch of culture-shocked people who would be incapable of being fully cooperative.

“How many men did you lost fighting it?” Eicel said. “Well, no one…” Riley replied. The looks on the woman’s face were akin to a surprised toddler. She had regained her composure in front of Riley and continued their talk.

“So, mind if I ask you some questions? we found a man being eaten by the flesh monster a while ago, do you know who he was?”

“Yes, it was one of my servants named Urfa. He and his brother Thul had foraged for food when they saw the monster, Thul said that they had found a cavern but curiosity got into them and investigated and that’s where they found hundreds of it sleeping. His brother accidentally woke one and it chased at them leading to Urfa’s demise. His brother Thul was terrified to see his brother’s brutal death that it drove him to despair. He was now inside our hidden safe haven being nursed as he got some serious wounds. It was just a borrow, nothing special but we made it a haven that had to safeguard us for many days from the horror of the night and which the doors you had broken. It looks like you had quite the strength to break our famous Boga wood.” She said.

“I see, so he was one of you. I’m sorry for his death and about the door. Anyway, what brings you here on this island? There’s full of danger everywhere you go inside the dense jungle. Did you choose this place to hide? Or your ship spanked?” Riley said.

“Well, we never planned to go on the island of Horga. Do you even understand? This place was unholy! Cursed and rotten avoided by all ships if not for that wretched storm, we wouldn’t be here waiting to die.” She said with disdain.

“I’m sorry, yeah I understand living is harsh here especially with those monsters,” Riley said.

“No, you don’t understand. This place is cursed. Are you even sure about what your task was? There’s no one who doesn’t know the cursed island of Horga that everyone cowers in fear as the cursed name was uttered.”

Riley felt the tension and anxiety in Eicel’s voice as she speaks. She had explained that for a hundred years the island was filled with terrors of cursed beings and the island was home to sunken ships and sailors unfortunate enough to get caught by the rough seas and washed towards the sharp rocks that surrounded the island. An eternal fog that surrounds the island covered it had made a name for itself by confusing the sailors into crashing their vessels on the rocks. One thing they noticed was that many moons ago the island had lost its fog revealing the island in all of its glory. They came in here a few moons ago because they were pursued by hired assassins employed by her uncle who killed their parent and set a civil war in their country. He wants to kill them because his uncle wanted to sell their kingdom into the Gurath Empire in hopes to gain the favor of the Dark Emperor, but his loyal guardsmen had caught wind of it, decided that they had to leave and sail to the kingdom Imersia, their only ally that was left ], in the continent of Mawera where they could ask for help to return their kingdom to the rightful ruler but a stroke of bad luck ended their journey, a storm had washed them off course and upon finding the island they thought it was safe due to the fact that it doesn’t look like the cursed island. When they draw near, large rocks had broken their ships and the tide washed them to the shore where forty-seven people had been stranded. No one died but as days passed, death was smiling at them. Disease and monster had claimed many. leaving thirty-two people waiting in line for their death. The first few days they were attacked by white people and then the flesh monsters who were after their flesh. They realized they were not on any island tame enough but rather in the cursed island. They built sheds and slept on the trees. Days passed and they found a hollowed place under a large tree so they decided to make it big enough to store food and house all of them. they had lived and slept there to avoid death at night, the camp outside was when they had things to do in the daytime since it is safe.

Riley looked at her company and had seen the terror in their eyes. They were telling the truth and it was not bringing any good feeling to Riley. Riley asked to take a few minutes to give the overview of their conversation to the rest of his colleagues. They were not expecting the development and were told to pack things up in an hour. Meanwhile, Riley and Eicel continued their talk.

“So I heard you gave my siblings a tasty kind of food. I wonder how you found them in the trapdoor. When words came out that one of my servants had been injured I had to do what needs to be done and my siblings are left in the care of themselves. As soon as they got a whiff of danger, everyone scrammed into the hiding place. They were smart to hide under the emergency hiding place.”

“Well, you got smart siblings. They looked like good kids taking care of each other.” Riley replied. “Before we go, I want to tell you that you and your people are sick. You probably survived long by living underground most of the time but I am telling the truth, the very air you breathe was poisoning you. We’ll come back tomorrow.

A few minutes passed and Riley instructed everyone that they would have to leave early for the time being and said that they had to return to base due to the higher-up's demand to reassess their approach. Riley told them that they will bring back supplies for them but the princess was dubious about it. Mem was told to return to their base but she had refused and said that she wanted to come home and she’ll meet up with them at the portal so she bade goodbye and flew away.

The armed knights and the princess watched them walked away and noticed their vehicles. They were dumbfounded when it moved on its own. They saw more men coming out of nowhere wearing grass all over them and were climbing up the strange wagons. Riley and the Beta team leader was talking about their abrupt orders to pull out when suddenly the skies grew dark. They instinctively looked up and saw a solar eclipse. They both looked at each other. One thing in their mind was that whenever there’s darkness on the island, trouble will follow. A faint howling and devilish laugh can be heard in the distance as it grew darker. "Oh boy, this can't be good."