Jim. James. No he didn’t use that anymore. He was now Spear. The names from the before times were dead. Like so many other things that were now gone. Spear had lived in Washington his entire life but the geography of the region had been completely changed in the last few years. Honestly, if Spear was being realistic, he had no idea how long it had been. It was more than a few days but this could have been an eternity for all he knew.

Everything in the world simply stopped working. People were pretty sure it was an EMP. Probably meant the Russians were attacking or something. Well it wasn’t the Russians, it was something. Monsters started to appear. At first it was house cats the size of dogs. Eighty to one hundred pounds. Dogs the size of horses. It was madness. The animals killed many people.

Then people began to exhibit strange abilities. The world was madness. People could shoot fire from their hands. Call down lightning from a clear sky. Some people claimed the end of the world was at hand.

Everything Spear had held dear was already dead. Earthquakes had taken his wife. Their house had collapsed during an early morning tremblor. Something enormous had taken his kids the next night. He was trying to make his way to a cabin in the mountains but he didn’t know how dangerous it was going to be. One moment they were walking along a road and the next moment there was blood and screaming. And all he had left was his dog.

Jerry was a good boy. Spear thought he might even be the bestest boi he had ever known. Spear had begun thinking of Jerry as Fang. Fang had begun to grow bigger. His muscles bulged, his fur changed color. After a while it looked like Fang had a mane of flames. But not normal flames. The flames were dark and burned with cold. Fang became pure black.

Spear thought he would have probably died if it weren’t for Fang. Something strange had happened as well. Spear could feel Fang in his head now. He could always tell where fang was at and what he was thinking. It started off being a slight pulling in his head. Then it gradually became more insistent. At first he thought he was imagining things. Like knowing Fang was hungry. Dogs are always hungry so Spear didn’t think much of it. But it became clearer, better. Now Spear knew what Fang wanted and could direct Fang pretty well in battle.

Spear was startled from his reverie by the sound of wings in the sky. Spear took a battle stance and glanced upwards. A person shaped thing was flying through the air towards him. It kind of looked like a large insect but there were only two legs and two arms. As the person flew closer Spear realized it was a person wearing an insect carapace as armor.

Spear waited as the person flew down. There was a sudden flurry of wind and dust as the person flared out to land. Spear could see it was a woman. He nodded his head at her but didn’t move his spear from its ready position.

“This area is off limits to anyone who hasn’t sworn to the Great Tree.” The woman said in a flat voice.

“What if I don’t want to?” Asked Spear. He was wary. The Great Tree? What was that? He was getting more nervous about this mission every moment.

“No one is allowed in this area without swearing.” The woman said. She continued on. “There is a village for non-swearers and for people to learn about the tree.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew what looked like a coin. She flipped it to Spear. “This is a guiding token. It will show you the way to the village.”

“What happens if I don’t go?” Asked Spear.

“If you continue heading this direction, you will be attacked and killed. If you head away, nothing.” The woman told him in a flat voice.

Spear nodded his head. He looked at the coin and turned over in his hand. “How does it work?” Spear asked.

The woman nodded her head. “Squeeze it and think of it activating.” She replied.

Spear did as he was told. The coin disappeared and there appeared an overlay on Spear’s field of view. A sparkling golden line stretched off into the distance.

“Follow the light and it will take you to the village. If you don’t intend to visit, you need to leave.” The woman reminded Spear. In a burst of dust and wind the woman shot back into the air and disappeared.

Spear stared after her for a long moment. This wasn’t what he was expecting. He was told there was something happening in the region. He was sent to figure it out. He briefly wondered if this was enough information to satisfy his mission but he decided it probably wasn’t. With a heavy sigh, Spear began to lope along following the golden light. Fang ranged behind and in front, constantly on the lookout for danger.