Legend Of Marauder : The Dawn of Supremes

GEM Island. An island which most theorists believe the world neglected to mention on its map, maybe because of its bizarre but obvious almost rectangular shape, or perhaps because of its disinclination to pose as a threat to any other country regardless of its abnormal size. Containing absurd weather conditions and having mixed races because of shipwrecks, which also seemed to be the only way of getting to the island, the population reached a quarter of a billion in the early 1900s but with its location unknown, it was ignored by the world.

GEM stands for: Gold, Emerald and Magical. Because of the abundance of these minerals on this island, other countries have tried colonizing it but have failed, reporting to their superiors empty-handed, their faces not beaming with triumphant grins of victory but looks of ghastly depression and unexpected disappointment. Some people used to think this island is found in the clouds or under the seas. GEM Island is found in neither of these but south of the African continent and Australia, in the Indian Ocean.

GEM is divided into five cities. The smallest of these is Selinafertiraii or simply, Selina. This city is situated to the southeast of the country and barricaded with a gigantic and long gate said to tower over the tallest of trees and stretches from the city's one end to the other. The gate is made of wood and heavy metal and it was given the name, "The Gate of Fate". It is said that no man had ever peeked through these gates and lived to tell the tale.

The next city is called Elisavertiraii, or Elisa. This city is situated to the northwest of the island. Elisa is a very quiet city with a small river to its east called the "Cratum River". This river is at the very edge of the city. Elisa is known for the efficiency of two of her modes of transport, rail and air.

The next of these five cities is Dasalartoyoseraii, or Dasa. This city is also peaceful-quiet and has a very good rail link with Elisa.

Flowing through Dasa is the "River of Mystery". The origin of its name is a mystery too just like its size because this river is as big as the city Dasa! The River of Mystery flows from Dasa into Seninacatii or Senina, which is the second biggest city of GEM. Senina has a town, three villages and a desert called the "Half-moon Mountains". This city has the best road transport relationship with the city of Bradwield which happens to be the capital city of GEM.

Bradwield City was founded by David Bradwield in the year 1892 who then became the mayor of this city. At that time he was forty years old. David Bradwield passed away quietly in his sleep thirty-four years later in the year 1926 at the age of seventy-four.

Bradwield City has the largest and best roads on the island and the most proper hospitals and clinics. Before his death, David Bradwield made sure he had kept his city in order. GEM has no president but a mayor and the rest of the cities have their own leaders. The four cities: Senina, Elisa, Dasa and Bradwield support each other even though divided. The fifth city, Selina, the city enclosed by the Gate of Fate, does not partake in any functions or public meetings but only because no one knows or had ever seen a person that lives there. Even the neighboring cities loathed peeking through the gates of Selina, but why? Well, remember what I said earlier about this island, about how people have tried conquering it but have failed? Well, this was and still is the dilemma. So many stories circulate around this island. Stories of legends, myths and creatures most people only dream of seeing.

Some people say David Bradwield had seen and even come in contact with these "creatures" which could have led him to ban magic, sorcery, witchcraft and to stop people who mingled magic with science called "magician scientists" in Bradwield City, regarding these crimes as being as serious as murder or rape. I will not debate with your own opinion on this topic but as a prophet of this city, fooled by my own visions, I will have to tell you the whole legend myself. A legend and vision which actually made me quit sharing my prophecies because people were starting to call me a fraud. The circumstances surrounding these prophecies are why and how I got the name "Bonita Gontus". I will not explain the meaning of this name but you will find out after you have read a few of the prophecies.

Many Bradwield citizens do not even believe that there are such things as magic or sorcery, only paying attention to them as one does to stories parents tell their children at night. Well, answer this; how is it then that hundreds and thousands of soldiers with powerful and deadly weapons of mass destruction fail to take over an island with only the police force for defense? Well, that's only because they did not rely on the police force alone.

This leads us to our story. But this is not just a story, but the whole and true story of a legend that was born and bound to the city of Bradwield.

Some people describe this story as a heart-aching tragedy, others describe it as the trials of a vengeful yet justifiable protector. This is the opposite of a fairytale. This is a legend of the boy who was both cursed and blessed with the names, "The Anonymous and The Marauder; Death's Assassin". A merciless protector beyond human comprehension. So, go ahead and find out for yourself if what I speak of is true, but even though regarded by some as a fraud, would you argue with the words of one of Bradwield's prophets?

You will find out for yourself that bravery, power, greed and evil know no boundaries.

It was the winter season in Bradwield City and all schools had been closed because of the snow storm. Most people were in their houses warming up to the warmth of their heaters or huddled by their fireplaces. In the small street of Brannon, a street situated to the north at the very edge of the city next to the railway, Howard Eriksson, a frail old man was busy shoveling snow off his doorstep. 'Darn snow,' he cursed it, 'Can't it take a break?' Howard was approaching his 70s and this kind of work was starting to get on his nerves.

The following couple of days brought more powerful snowstorms and with the snowstorms came rain and with the rain came powerful rainstorms, which was quite an unusual weather pattern but yet expected of GEM.

One night as he looked outside his window, Howard realized that the storm was growing stronger and stronger by the minute. 'Well, at least this is better than snow,' he murmured to himself as if there were someone else with him. Howard had been living alone for twenty-eight years. His wife, Patricia, fell seriously ill and died at the age of 29. Howard at that time was 38. A retired boxer for 37 years, his house was separated from all the other houses. The houses in Bradwield were grouped together except for this house in which Howard lived. His house had a small yard and porch and it was definitely humble enough for a man of his status. He had no garden or even a small rose bush to cheer up his home. It was only covered by dull grass. Instead of being a wealthy retired boxer, he had squandered most of his money soon after Patricia's death. Most people thought him to be a madman because of choosing to live in such an isolated residence because there had been many weird things that had been happening, things which people say were associated with witchcraft.

But on this stormy night it rained so heavily that he could not fall asleep. He stayed up by his window sitting in his rocking chair, his frail old hands clasped around a coffee mug. He had some kind of feeling that something was happening in this storm. And honest to his intuition, something was happening.

A pregnant young woman was running in the storm seeking shelter.

'Please! Help me!' she screamed in despair but people would turn a deaf ear to her cries. Some people could not hear her because of the noise of the storm while others would just shout back, 'We're trying to sleep here! Shut up!'

'Please!' She would insist, 'My water broke!'

Fortunately and by chance, the old man, Howard heard her and opened his door calling out to her. 'Over here, hurry! I can't keep the door open for long!

She heard him and hurried over and as soon as she got in, he slammed the door shut and locked it. The woman collapsed onto the carpet, her back against the foot of Howard's rocking chair, gasping for breath. 'Please,' she began, 'I need your help, I'm about to have a baby, my water broke.'

Howard's shriveled eyelids widened in surprise and also in regret. 'Well congratulations for you then but you cannot have it here.'

'You have to help me. I've come a long way. My husband burned down the house but I managed to escape.'

'He...?' Howard was beyond confounded. 'And you just watched him? And besides that, haven't you ever heard of a hospital?'

'I ran all the way from the border of Dasa. I didn't have time to think and he was hot on my trail...But please...' she panted even harder, 'I'll tell you everything as soon as I have my baby.'

Howard was perplexed. 'But I've never helped to deliver a baby before,' he objected, still confused by all this. He had had no children with Patricia and the request this woman was asking was an impossible task for him. The woman on the floor, his whole house, everything had become a queasy blur to him.

'Just get a big towel and some warm water, please,' she instructed him. Howard, as old as he was, jogged upstairs to his bathroom and grabbed his towel then rushed back downstairs, his hands holding a large plastic basin and he returned to the woman, kneeling in front of her. Despair was written all over her face.

'Push, Push!' He kept encouraging her but had little idea of what he was doing.

Hours later the baby was born. A beautiful boy with strings of black hair on his head and his body looked like it was shriveled, like when one keeps their fingers and toes submerged in a hot tub for too long, as his mother held him firmly but weakly in her grasp. Both the mother and Howard were exhausted.

Howard watched her, his knees still rooted to the floor, his hands on his thighs. He had clearly never been exposed to such an exhausting exercise before. 'So...' he cleared his throat, '...what are you going to call it...I mean, him?' He asked her quietly, his question though was almost drowned by the baby's deafening cries. The woman looked very weak and did not look like she had any energy left in her, but drawing the last of her breath she broadened her smile and whispered six of her last words:

"His name is Brendan", and, "Thank you", and then she breathed her last, her baby still in her arms.

Howard stared at the woman as if for the first time. She was probably in her early 30s. Her whole body was covered in mud and she looked like a badly fed person. She had long beautiful blonde hair and her dress was visibly a frock. Her feet were bare and looked like they had endured an arduous journey but she looked peaceful as she held her baby in her now lifeless hands. Howard sighed heavily in pity. He slowly stood up and he took the crying baby from the hands of its dead mother.

Brendan suddenly stopped crying. 'Its okay,' he comforted him, 'Daddy's got you, there's nothing to worry about.'

Brendan made an innocent sound as if in answer to these words. Howard took him upstairs and using heaps of his jerseys and the basin he had used to wash him, he made a bed for him and no sooner had he laid him down had he fallen asleep. Howard stretched and yawned and before heading downstairs, he looked at baby Brendan one more time. He was quiet, as if dead. Although the mother had not explained the whole story, just by looking at him, Howard felt that there was more to the story than the father trying to burn down the house.

'No,' he said. 'There's much more to this story than meets the eye.' With these words he headed downstairs.

Many years passed by and Brendan was growing into a bright young boy always eager to help Howard around the house. With the little money he seemed to have, Howard sent him to Bradwield Junior School. Brendan always brought good marks at the end of every term to show his adoptive father, Howard. The relationship between the two grew so strong and Howard saw Brendan as his own son and when they spoke to each other it was as if they were two of the best of friends.

Brendan finished his education at Bradwield Junior and he went to Bradwield High School which was a walking distance from his home. This was where he met Simon Drewmorphin who became his first and best friend.

Bradwield High School was a simple structured fortress. There was only one gigantic and long building which was where all students learned. The building was divided by a corridor into fourteen rooms. From the entrance were the boys' and girls' toilets. These were the only two rooms to the right of the building after the door. To the left, after the door, were the classrooms from grade eight to grade twelve. Only the grade twelves had two classrooms.

Facing the last grade twelve classrooms were all the students' lockers, one for each student. Made of metal and opening like wardrobe doors, these stretched from this point all across the walls of the hall to the entrance. The students kept their stationery and other school belongings in these lockers. Each locker had top and bottom sections and security codes.

Each classroom could accommodate up to sixty students. After the classrooms were the staffroom then two of the teachers' toilets. These were the last rooms on the left of the building in the direction of the door.

Facing the Grade nine classrooms was the Function Hall. This was where all school functions were held. Beside the entrance to the Function Hall was the school library. After the library, a few yards away, was the school cafeteria where the students had their recess. The cafeteria was connected to the kitchen. All the walls in the building were painted red, even the ceiling and roof. The school building was surrounded by at least one-and-a-half kilometers of the school grounds and this was where all sports activities were held.

Bordering the school grounds was the fence which had barbed wire. The gate entrance to the school was rusty but looked strong, tall, heavy, big and majestic. Just like the school building, it too was painted red which happened to be Brendan's worst color. Well, actually, Bradwield High's main color was red and this annoyed Brendan even more.

The boys wore white shirts and black trousers to match. They also wore red jerseys and blazers and black formal (business) shoes of any choice. Sneakers were not allowed. This also applied to the girls. The girls wore white blouses, red blazers and jerseys, red dresses, "Not an inch above your knees," Principal Johnston always reminded them. "I don't want you turning my school into a brothel," he would say.

Black blazers, jerseys and ties were only worn by the prefects of the school. Their uniforms were different from the rest of the students by only these three forms of clothing.

Brendan and Simon would hang around together at recess and chat. They had their own special table in the cafeteria which was at the very center. All Grades dined together in the cafeteria and each time at recess there was jostling and bustling to and fro but everyone in the school knew that the table at the very center of the cafeteria had "owners".

Simon's appearance was like the opposite of Brendan's. Simon had scruffy brown hair and curious-nervous looking eyes with the same color. His jaws were sharp and his voice was like that of a person always in trouble.

Brendan, on the other hand, had a perfectly carved face, ocean blue eyes and smart, short black hair. His eyes almost never exposed any excitement and he rarely spoke to anyone else besides his best friend, Simon.

'Well, look at that! If it isn't "Orphan boy" and "My mama's on weed". ' This was Samantha Patricks being her usual and annoying self. 'You two make the most perfect and award winning couple.' Samantha was known by everyone as the richest girl in the school but her self-importance deprived her of any friendship whatsoever. She was tall and had long silky black hair. Her face was always beaming with pride and face makeup. Although he always denied it, Brendan knew that she was beautiful, but her arrogance seemed to somehow tarnish that beauty.

She was just as tall as Brendan and her green, furious looking eyes were enough to scare a vicious dog. By "Orphan boy" she was obviously referring to Brendan who had no birth parent and by the name "My mama's on weed" she referred to Simon, whose mother was allegedly on dangerous and addictive drugs.

'You creeps are the lowest life forms on earth, you know that?' She spat at them as she walked by, waving her hair for everyone to see as if she was a famous model. Apart from being just arrogant and rich, Samantha was also the Head Prefect of the girls in the school and this meant that both Brendan and Simon had to avoid trouble or suffer the consequences.

'Spoiled brat!' Simon shouted back at her but Brendan told him not to bother himself with someone like her.

She would sometimes ask Brendan silly questions like, "Did they feed you on goats' milk?" or "I heard you were born in a hatchery, is that true?" Brendan never answered any of her questions because he knew if he did, then she would only bother him even more.

Brendan had been tortured by Samantha since junior school in the first grade which made his problems older than Simon's who only arrived in Bradwield City in the eighth grade, but still, Simon seemed more annoyed than him.

But Samantha was not the only pest on Brendan's back. The Math subject was another demon he had to deal with. Being a sixteen year old teenager, Brendan was facing a lot of problems with his math. Angus Stu, the school bully, was another monster besides Samantha that he had to avoid each and every day.

'Let's all take out our Math textbooks and open on page two-hundred-and forty-two.'

Brendan was daydreaming.

'Brendan! Brendan! Brendan!' Mrs. Cooke shouted. She was in her forties. She was always dressed in black suits and high heels and she always had a plaited hairstyle. Her nose was long and sharp and she would occasionally look at it as if she inquired something unexpected from it like a pimple. Her body was almost fat which showed that she was probably trying a weight loss diet but getting overwhelmed by the temptation of fatty goodies each time she tried.

'Could you at least pretend you're paying attention?' She looked at him painfully with her dark-blue eyes.

Brendan was still trying to snatch himself from his dreams as the class roared in laughter.