The Chronicles of Max Flayman: Ethereal Reality

[battleman]

Prologue-

Max Flayman had his first outlandish adventure with the evolving aliens known now as the Xenites. This is an account taken through his eyes. If you have read Etheria: The Alternate Dimension, you will recognize creatures and plants from that article to this account.

Chapter 1- Welcome to Etheria

A bright light, then darkness. But a lurid glow then abound. I woke up in a strange place, as it seemed very strange. My first glimpse of my location had me dumbfounded. On my right, towering trees stood motionless against the alien sky with smaller plants nearby. On my left, was my Sun Scout-class starship, which is apparently in a wreck. I checked my Wrist Log and it was static. I asked myself, "Where am I? How will I get out of here?" I stumbled to the edge and I saw was nothing but a void and some rocks floating. I clambered backwards and went for my ship. All I recovered was my Plasma Rifle and a laser dagger. With my weapons in hand, I was ready to face anything(if there is) before it got me. It was this time I noticed I was wounded. I went to the edge again and I realized I was in a place made up of floating islands in the middle of nowhere. But for now I had to tend to my wounds. I approached a strange pool of cyan water inside a small cave. Without thinking I drank from the pool. The next thing I new I felt empowered. Apparently, my wounds healed when I drank from the water. But my discovery was short-lived when I heard something outside of the cave. I took my rifle in hand as I got ready to face the creature. I walked carefully out of the cave, and looked around in suspicion. I approached the nearby trees carefully, my eyes on the lookout. I heard a hiss from behind, and to my surprise it was a small, four-legged spider-like creature. I raised my rifle and walked backwards slowly. Then the creature took a step backwards and leaped! I dodged just in time to shoot it before it had another chance of attacking me. As it lay dead, I took a closer inspection. As I examined the dead corpse, the tall trees suddenly retracted downward. A massive shadow engulfed the whole island, and I was awestruck with a wide gape on my mouth as a gigantic cetacean creature flew over the island! The massive tail swept downwards and created a massive gale that easily blew me backwards. I was flabbergasted when a whole pod of the graceful giants was flying through the void past the floating islands! The whole scene was extravagant and alien all together, and a word I would like to put as "extravalien" if you will, was a term used for it. But I had to focus on getting out first.

Chapter 2-Flashback

I regained my memory by this time, but I still didn't figure out how I got here. I was part of Zulu Convoy, escorting some representatives from one of the planet of Lithios to Gunal to establish some peace treaties. Then a nearby star had gone supernova, and the convoy was bombarded by star matter. The cruiser with the representatives charged their hyperspace jump drivers while the fighters scrambled to protect the cruiser. As our fighters readied to make the hyperspace jump, the cruiser made the jump but the quantum displacement shockwave unfortunately knocked our fighters back before we made the jump. As I looked from the cockpit, the star has devolved into a black hole, and I was zooming straight towards it. At least I wasn't the only one looming to our deaths. I can only remember until my doomed starship was hit with a piece of flung star plasma, and at that moment I hit my head against the controls, knocking me unconscious. The next thing I knew was waking up in this strange place.

I hopped off the island onto one below as the gargantuan beasts flew by. I saw farther down a larger island, and I instinctively made for it. At least I had weapons.

Chapter 3- Alien Fury

I made it to the island, and this one was more detailing than the first one, and already there were undeniable signs of life. More plants populated this island, and I noticed a skeleton near a small hill. I went to examine it, but then I thought I saw something move at the corner of my eye. I turned around, holding my rifle. I stood near a thick, pale tree. At the base, I noticed some footprints. Then I heard a noise behind me. The tree had bent down and it's apex opened to reveal a maw with teeth and tentacles as it exhumed a nauseating breath. Firing my rifle, I ran backwards away from the hungry plant. Abruptly it closed it's mouth and stood upward again. It was a bit of a close call. I climbed the hill and there were creatures living in this place. To the left, a centopoid creature with a tank of blue liquid behind it was eating some plants, and on the farther right, there was a tunnel, and the other side was visible. At the other end of the tunnel was a pack of three-legged animals attacking a creature that made a distinctive "Wurrow" sound. A large predator with a long horn dominating it's front stalked the insectoid herbivore behind some rocks near the tunnel, squatting. Suddenly, the herbivore turned around and sprayed the blue liquid in a jet that reached the predator's hiding spot. The horned beast leaped out and roared. The herbivore sprayed again, hitting it's attacker. At that moment, ice appeared on the creature, freezing it to that spot. Then the centopoid ran out of sight. Now my caution was greater than ever because of the presence of vicious carnivores, defensive herbivores and killer plants, aided by the fact that I can fall of the islands' ledges to my death.

[armoredman]

Interesting, I liked the visual of the jumping whales.
_________________
WLF.

[battleman]

the whales are flying

[battleman]

Chapter 4-Lair of the Brood Keeper

On the left side, I saw an island with some edible plants. I carefully hopped from one floating rock to the other to reach it. When I made it, I took hold of a green, round fruit that had looked tasty. As I prepared to eat it, I heard footsteps coming out of the cavern behind me. I was shocked when I saw a towering spider-like creature walking out of the cavern. Although it was slightly featureless, it had a long tube dangling below it, and it was reminiscent of the spider creature I killed earlier. The tube began to swell, and it expelled something in pale goo. What came out of the goo were more of the spider creatures. I had a realization that the monster was a sort of reproductive stage that breeds the pests. The beast then charged for me as the smaller ones leaped in the same direction. I fired my Plasma Rifle at the beast, but it seemed unaffected. The thing chased me around the cave entrance, then stopped to breed more spiders. I made a run for the cave, with the big one sprinting behind. I neared the exit, which forked to two tunnels, one led out into the open, the other further down. I ran quickly for the open exit, but a mouth on stalks came looming out. It was followed by a stalked eye, which glared at me. The spider mother was right behind me, and as it was about to hit me I quickly jumped for the cave wall. The giant spider beast leaped out into the open, distracting the other creature. As the two disappeared from my sight, I walked down the other tunnel. I began to notice that there were some plants growing on the cavern walls and emitting a bluish glow. I made it out of the tunnel, and it revealed a large cavern, flooded with green water coming from a waterfall. There were some open cracks in the ceiling, revealing the lurid sky. In another area of the ceiling, strange creatures with legs on their backs hung motionless. I noticed some small islands poking out of the waterlogged area, and some crest-shaped creatures dipping their tentacled mouths into the green water. Moments later, the creatures had some round spore-like plants in their mouths and ate them. I saw another tunnel on the other side and I crawled in. I came out the other side into another part of the island, with a small grotto on the left near the edge, and an arch-shaped walkway led to a cave entrance up on a rock at the far right. Below that rock something came out: it was the spider mother! The monster charged for me again as I ran up the walkway to the elevated cave entrance. As the beast approached the walkway, there were some weird bushes that shot out suckers on the spider mother's leg. It was my chance to escape as the monster was distracted. I entered the cave and I found myself in the outside. Another of the flying whales loomed overhead, and I saw some green blisters on it's belly that seemed to move. The blisters then dropped off the whale and rained down on the island. To my surprise the blisters were actually giant, man-sized ticks with hard shells on their backs and large, scythe-like claws. There were several of the creatures and they all scurried to attack. Suddenly, the spider mother came out of the cave, diverting the attention of the ticks. I noticed a few more islands beyond this one, and I made for it as the creatures were distracted.

[battleman]

Chapter 5-Roost of the Mantalyx

It was a close call getting away from the things, and yet I can never feel safe for the danger was everywhere. As I hopped toward the next island, something swept past in a quick motion. I saw a winged creature with long neck, a beak with teeth and fire coming out of it's behind. It was a creature that gave questioning to animal flight, for it propelled through the skies using jet propulsion, and it didn't flap it's wings because it used them like airplane wings. It headed for the large island I was going to, and disappeared behind a hill. As I approached the island, I heard ear-splitting shrieks. When I arrived, I was greeted by a creature with an armored head, a long tail and two hooves. It charged for me at the instant I stepped foot on the island. I took fire but the thick head protected it from my retaliation. I had no choice but to run. The angry creature swerved abruptly to avoid running off the edge of the island. I passed a cave and hit a rock. I was about to be rammed by the creature when something shot out of the cave and grabbed it, then retracted back inside the cave. I walked around the rock only to climb up the hill, revealing nests of the flying creatures. While it was a brief moment that the creatures demonstrated social behavior, they all took off quickly, apparently frightened by something. A massive shadow enveloped the island. I thought it was another of the flying whales when it was actually a gargantuan floating creature, easily larger than the whales. It was tall, very tall. It had large sacs running down it, and I noticed smaller creatures floating and clustering near it. These things had the vague shape of a balloon, and had tentacles underneath. But it wasn't the towering floater that frightened them. By now, a yellow "flood" poured out of a nearby cave. It approached a small, worm-like creature eating some carrion and the yellow touched it. The creature fell dead as the rest of the yellow covered it. Moments later, the worm thing was nothing but bones. I realized that the yellow flood was actually alive. I saw a hole leading into the island. Without hesitating I jumped in, hoping to escape the terrible yellow tide. I landed in a pool of green water. There was a loud humming, and the yellow tide poured in from the hole. I found a tunnel and quickly crawled through. The other end lead out of the island. As the flying creatures swooped left and right around me, I heard the yellow tide behind me. Below I saw a rock that I could land on, but it was floating around aimlessly. I had to time my jump fast for the tide was close by. It slowly passed, and I jumped for it. I landed safely, and I looked around. I saw a large island looming above me, and I quickly headed for it. By now, I made it past the spider mother's island and a roost of flying creatures. I hoped the next one was clear of dangers, but it was just a feeling.

Chapter 6- Another Human

The whole place is filled with danger at every turn, and yet no safety or clue of escape, let alone knowledge of how I got here. I entered the island through a tunnel. The other end was a cavern with a pool of the cyan water. As I looked around, I saw a marking on the wall: a letter Z and a letter F. This haunted me, for this was the insignia of my late brother, Zak Flayman. My brother was a dedicated member of the Task Force, and that motivated me to join too. But I joined after his death, the cause of which was a black hole. This left me dumbfounded. If he did survive the black hole, he ended up here like me. I would make a suggestion that how I got here was through a black hole, like my brother. If he is still here, and hasn't found a way out, I would've been stuck here forever. But maybe he's dead, he could have been killed by the creatures or just slipped off an island, but he's smart. I immediately searched for more clues of his presence. Another tunnel led to the island proper, and I took it, hoping to find more evidence. As I reached the top, another whale flew by, it's gigantic eye glaring at me. I shrugged it off and headed for a cave, my plasma rifle running low on ammo. I saw another insignia, and headed downward. I don't know if he will be there, or a clue that he was there. Would he still remember me? It was a dead end, but his stuff was here, which means that he's still out there. I saw a notebook, and I looked through the pages. It was intriguing, for he was studying the native creatures. There were drawings of creatures I haven't encountered yet, like a creature that spits out it's food's poisonous seed case for defense, or a herbivore that makes a siren-like noise. If I was to be prepared, I had to read this. Luckily my brother wrote some notes of the behavior of each creature. I had to remember these, for this is the only way I will survive out there. In one page my brother noted a strange altar like island, which he says is a teleporter that can get me out of here. Unfortunately, the portal opens at random times, making it unpredictable. It was a long shot, but it was the only plausible way out. I had to get there.

[battleman]

Chapter 7-Battling the Beast

I hopped to and fro again, reaching for the next large island. It was times like these I would like to be bland, like Zak. I made it to the island. Noticing the litter of dead creatures, there must be a deadly creature living on this island. There was a tunnel on my right, and a strange, two-legged herbivore came out. According to Zak's journal, this creature spits poisonous plants for defense. I had several last rounds in my plasma rifle, and I was stuck in decision. Luckily, something came into view from the cavern roof. It was a large, tiger-like predator, with a frill dominating the head, a set of bone-crushing teeth and was powerfully built. The herbivore turned to face the aggresor, and the predator expanded it's frill in retaliation. I noticed some sharp barbs at the ends of the frill bones. As the herbivore spat against the creature, but it dodge and counterattacked by firing the stinger barbs at it's prey at a rapid rate, with new barbs quickly replacing the previous ones. The herbivore fell dead. The predator leapt down and took a massive swipe at it's prey's neck, slashing the throat off, and then took large bites. It then turned to face me! These were times that I would say, "Oh crud!". The creature showed it's frill, and I can clearly see the barbs. I dodged just in time to avoid the barbs. I ran into a small forest, with the predator chasing behind me. As I leaped, sprinted and ducked through the brush, the creature was just tearing down the plants and was quickly catching up to me. I ducked under a rock and the monster was just clawing for me, growling in rage. I made it through the forest and jumped into a nearby river of green water. The creature halted it's pursuit of me, and I turned around and was horrified that I was headed straight for a waterfall! I frantically swam backwards, but it was fruitless. A cave with a lake was at the foot of the churning waterfall. I closed my eyes and waited for it. I fell straight down into the lake. I forced myself up to breathe. By now, I noticed something was in the lake. I saw a large black shadow against the green water that was swimming my way! I quickly swam to shore as the creature was getting closer and closer. As I crawled up the shore, something bit my leg! The beast shot out it's powerful jaws and was pulling me back into the water. I pulled out my laser dagger and sliced the trunk of the extended mouth in half, spilling blue blood. I ran to a small tunnel and took a small rest before going out again. As I ran outside, a portion of the cave wall broke and the monster came rushing for me. It managed to slash my left arm. It was painful, and it drove the beast into a feeding frenzy. I managed to fire my last rounds at it until the gun was empty, buying me some time in search of the pools of cyan water. It became a race against time. I crawled into a small tunnel lit by glowing vines, and the predator attempted to claw me out, but I was too far away already. The other end exited, to my relief, at a pool of the cyan water. I could still hear the creature roaring furiously. I had to get off the island. Another island led to the outside void, and some small rocks. I hopped to it, but the monster wasn't finished. It leaped after me, jumping on rock after rock. It made a desperate last attempt to attack, but it resulted with both of us knocked off the floating rock and falling into the endless void below. As we were falling, some rocks hit my head and I fell unconscious while falling to certain doom.

[battleman]

Chapter 8-At the Edge of the Void

I woke up on an island, more specifically on a sort of platform. I got off it, and suddenly it shooted upwards. I was on one of those retracting trees. I surveyed the surroundings, and everything seemed clear. The monstrous predator that chased me was nowhere to be found. I was wondering why I'm still alive, maybe the floating rocks delayed my fall. That would explain my slight concussion and dizziness. I heard something behind some patches of fruit plants, and since im out of ammo, my laser dagger was my only defense. I slowly took a peek behind the plants, and I saw this cute-looking, tentacled creature that seemed to be surprised at my presence. It crawled to my feet, and was very eager to meet me. It had a behavior similar to a dog, as evidenced by its panting and barking. I gave it some fruit, and it sniffed and ate it. It leapt up to my head and licked me in the face: I made a friend in this strange place. It seemed to decide to accompany me in my quest for the portal, and I was okay with that. We moved to a large hill, and saw more of the tall trees, with some small creatures with corkscrew-like appendages on their faces and quick moving creatures dragging wedges behind them that are making ruts behind them. On their right was a cave, and we headed there. As we entered the cave, my friend started acting strangely, barking and sniffing the air. As it did so, it was emitting foul smells that almost made me puke. Then, creatures with legs on their backs fell from the ceiling and surrounded us. My foul-smelling friend was getting really riled up. My friend emitted more foul smells, sickening even the predators. We both ran out of the cave and turned around a corner, then my friend was getting crazy again. I turned around just in time to avoid being hit by a plant covered spines, barbs and thorns. We backed away, then the creatures from the cave chased to a wall. I thought we were dead when the creatures fled in terror. I looked up and saw the predator, still alive, roaring in primal fury. We ran again as my friend was emitting its horrendous scent. The beast chased us around the island when we fell down a hole. The creature jumped over us. A tunnel lead away from the cave. As we peeked out the exit, I saw, about 7 meters ahead of us, was the portal! We headed for it. As I stepped in front of it, it glowed and the portal opened. I heard the monster roaring. I said goodbye to my friend and leapt through.

[battleman]

Epilogue-

I fell unconscious during the interdimensional journey. When I woke up, not only I was in my cruiser dormitory, my friend followed me through the portal! I guess he was going to be my pet and companion now. Someone went into my room. It was an officer. Apparently, I was found on the crystal-rich world of Opalusa by a scouting force. My friend was guarding my unconcious body. When they found out he was with me they brought him along. They brought us back to my cruiser dorm. Several hours later, after my checkup, meal and bath, I reported my adventure through the dimension. Although some were skeptical about this, my only proof was my friend, who, luckily can back me up. After scientists found out that my friend wasn't from any planet in the galaxy, they had to believe me. Currently, scientists are working to find new ways to Etheria. But I'm still worried about my brother, is he still alive, stuck in that desolate outland, or is he really gone?