My school project was due, another stupid assignment about the old world. The white haired librarian had suggested I try the back archives. I trudged up the metal stairs of the library, my boots clanging on every step. At the top was a small room with some historic wooden bookcases, very different to the iron ones that housed the main book selection. A rug covered the floor in the middle of the room and some large armchairs had been placed on it with small round tables next to them. Walking down the length of books a brown spine covered in golden calligraphy jumped out at me. Carefully taking it off the shelf I hefted it onto one of the small tables and sat down. The book was covered in a thin layer of dust which I blew into a cloud in the air. The pages were stained yellow by age. The contents page was a list of odd names: Alpaca, Ant, Armadillo, Bat, Bear, Capybara, Cat... I turned to the chapter in the book titled Cat. A drawing showed it to be a small furry thing with a tail and whiskers according to the annotations. I tried to imagine a time when these animals would be roaming around freely. Luckily this one seemed to be friendly as it was named pet, but I couldn't shake how weird that would be.

Ahead of me was the air temple so close yet so far. Finally after all my toils, all the paths tread and kingdoms crossed I had made it.

The final obstacle was a bridge barely held together with rope. I tried it tentatively and felt the wood buckle but hold. It didn’t seem promising but I had no other option and so I continued walking. Grabbing the cords I used them to support the majority of my weight and carefully tried out each wooden beam as I crossed. The track in front of me spiralled up into the mountain and below me, very far below me, was a river trailing into the ravine. I ignored my fear, and tried to think ahead to what I would say when I arrived. It had been years in the making and so I had to get it right.

Panting I made it to the other side and was about to celebrate when I remembered I still had the hill to climb.

Her hand shook as she reached up the grasp the doorknob. Slowly she turned the handle and pushed feeling resistance from the wooden door she had had no problem opening this morning. Her heartbeats increased as she moved inside, the light fading as she crossed the threshold. She brushed through a cobweb that was blocking the hallway tripped over a pile of dust, how had it gotten so bad so fast?

She managed to fumble her way to the bottom of the staircase where the beautiful orange rug she had helped her mother chose was in tatters. Breathing heavily she ascended avoiding the creaky step and onto the landing where the only light emanated from her mothers room where the door stood slightly ajar. The room was the last on the landing closest to the window looking out over the garden. It was a place she had avoided ever since her mother had passed but now she felt drawn to it.

She could feel her goosebumps rising and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Time seemed to have stopped as she inched along the floor. Her breath fogged the air in front of her. She could hear the sounds of laughter and memories flooded back of her mother singing her to sleep. Tears started leaking out of her eyes as finally she reached the door and entered...

Finally after two moons I saved enough money to go to lavender springs. You might think, ‘goodness you worked for two moons straight’ and I would say ‘yes, but I wanted to’ and it definitely paid off. I stepped onto the platform of the space port and caught the ship to Astarera. I had been on over planet flights but never off world before and the thought was very exciting. I couldn’t believe my dreams were coming true. Hard work really does pay off. I sat down in my seat and watched the burning lights through the window as the ship passed through the ozone and into the depths of space. The cosmos shot past with flashes of rainbow colour. The people sitting next me, as well travelled business types, were uninterested. We arrived on Astarera and I stepped off to an amethyst world. This was in the colour solar system and was the purple planet. It was my dream to visit all of them but for now one would do. Sitting on the emerald sofas and gazing at the landscape I was so glad I had made this decision.

Ripples emanated from where the divers were pulling out the black bag. I stared at in incredulously, it was obviously a body bag and a full one at that. As head detective inspector at the local police station the whole village would be looking to me to figure out what had happened. I looked away from the sight and stared out over the lake at the far away trees. I watched as some kids jumped off a jetty into the icy water and shivered knowing full well what had been in that water only seconds before. But they were too far away to have noticed the commotion. Why did this have to happen on my first day as an inspector? I couldn’t think about that now. I walked over as they unzipped the material to reveal the pale dead face of the missing person we had been looking for for days now. Her eyes were white as they stared unseeingly up into the sky. An image swam before my eyes of her mother, when I’d last seen her only 12 hours before she had clutched my hand and begged me to find her daughter and bring her home. I didn’t know if I’d be able to bear seeing her again as I’d have to convey the news that would destroy her. I took another look at the scene in front of me and then released the body to be taken back to the lab. There was no point cornering off the area as there would be no evidence at the bottom of the lake that the divers hadn’t already discovered so I just told the crew to do one final search and then pack up. I went back to the station and stared at my crime board, which was blank. There was no evidence, leads or suspects at the moment so the only thing I had left to do was inform the family. This was one of the times I hated being a detective.

I laid out the dishes ready to be taken into the dining hall. Neatly lined with a table number placed next to them. I double checked these as there was a hit tonight, table 18 was the target. I had picked the poison to last a few months so we could not be linked to the deaths. I only booked about 5 targets a year which both made it very hard to trace the deaths back to us. Or at least specifically me since I was the only one involved in the ‘murder’ venture should I say. And made it so I could charge for my services at an incredibly high rate. All the customer had to do was get the victim to come to the restaurant and then I would do the rest. Alice came up and took the plates innocently unaware that she was an accomplice to their death. I watched carefully to check everything was going according to plan, though it always did, and then carried on with my orders. Another happy customer.

I walked up through the medieval streets ignoring the stares of the villagers who lived and worked there, only intent on reaching my goal. Ahead the thick stone walls of the castle grew taller and taller as I neared looking impenetrable. I finally stepped onto the stone bridge high above a raging ravine that acted as a moat, and crossed it to the portcullis which was broken. It’s jagged metal crosses dented and a massive hole had been ripped through the centre. ‘Maybe not impenetrable then.’ I thought to myself. My job would be easier than expected. I had been hired by the knights of Ebony to assassinate the lord of Saldorn. I slipped through the hole in the portcullis placing my hand on the hilt of my sword so I could draw it out at a moments notice. If you’re always looking for a trap then one cannot occur. That was my mantra and it had not failed me yet. This however didn’t seem to be an issue, as as I walked through the castle corridors they were deserted by both living and mechanical. ‘This was too easy.’ I thought to myself. I had memorised the floor plan for the castle so I had no problem navigating the empty halls to get to the throne room. In fact I had actually memorised multiple contingencies plans and ways to avoid the guards but these were unneeded, and I entered the throne room with my sword still in its scabbard. The bright red carpet was scattered with stains. Although they blended in I had seen enough blood to recognise what they were made from. However there were no bodies of those the blood had come from, except one. I looked up at the stone seat centred on a raised platform overlooking the room. Upon it was sat a man in full armour leaning on a sword dripping with fresh blood. I stopped not daring to move. He looked up at me “Your time is up. Better run!”

The war was raging around me as I held my sword in both hands, I had been placed at the back of the garrison so I might have to wait a bit until I can get into the fight. Up at the front of the army I could see my brother Hector shouting commands to the rest of the Trojans. I couldn’t really hear him from back here, but other heralds regaled his orders so I didn’t need to. Suddenly the men in front of me were charging forward and I hurried along behind them trying to keep ahold of my sword. As we spread out I caught the sight of Greek armour glinting ahead of me and being cut down. We had the advantage now that Achilles was no longer in the picture and we cut through their ranks like butter. I still hadn’t fought anyone and my heart was pumping with blood lust, so I pushed forward towards the front ranks. I reached the battle where swords clashed and bodies dropped around me. Looking up I tried to find a Greek to attack and that was when I saw him, Menelaus, my sworn enemy. He was killing Trojan after Trojan coming straight towards me. I stripped my sword tighter my blood boiling, I could take him. Then he looked at me, blood shining on his sword. I can’t take him I backed away letting the other warriors make a barrier between us. Though I didn’t know how long that would last so I turned tail and fled.

I looked up as someone roared my name almost falling over in my fear it would be Menelaus. ‘PARIS’ it was Hector and he looked livid. ‘You sex-craved seducer you should never have been born, then you would not have made us the laughing stock of the Greeks. The Trojans are too soft you should have been stoned to death long ago.’ I hung my head in shame at his words and nodded my head ‘you are right of course Hector you always are.’ I couldn’t bear to have disappointed my brother so much and cast my mind on how to fix my cowardice. ‘Let me and Menelaus meet in the centre of the two sides and fight where the winner can take back all the property.’ Hectors face lit up and the prospect and he immediately swooped to the front of the ranks to inform the Greeks.

And that is how I found myself in a circle of friends and foes about to battle Menelaus to the death. I hurdled my spear at him but it simply hit Menelaus shield and did no damage, I cursed to myself and watched as Menelaus did the same move and I swerved out the way avoiding death by inches. By the time I caught my breath I realised Menelaus was right beside me and swung his sword which thank the gods broke on my helmet. But that was short lived as I then found myself being dragged by my helmet strap back towards the Greek side. I struggled as the pressure on my neck was choking me. I was doomed I knew it I accepted fate, then I felt my strap break and I gasped for air struggling to my feet where I found myself back in my room with my beautiful wife.

The water cascaded over the rocky crags, falling gracefully into the pool which I had decided to rest at for the night. I still had a few days travelling left but my horse needed a break. Here was a change in scenery from the harsh bare moors and deserts where he wouldn’t be scrabbling for grass or searching for water. I had meant to carry on a few more hours before making camp but this glade had been too enticing and I knew my horse needed a treat. I made the camp in the trees just in case of thieves but this glade didn’t seem as though it was a common path so I didn’t expect any company.

I made a fire and cooked some meat I had whilst my horse ate the grass. During my meal I watched the waterfall, mesmerised as the water fell in a constant stream. As the day drew to a close and the moon peaked over the horizon I fell into a deep sleep ready for the long journey tomorrow.

The controller buzzed, clicked and flashed as it guided it’s character through the game. Max had become one of the best at the game by now, racking up kills and winning almost every game she played. Lately she’d been on her longest winning streak and if she won this game, would have won 100 games in a row. The last person was an easy kill due to her talent and the usual winner screen she had become so accustomed to appeared. Except it wasn’t the usual winner screen. In the centre was the text “Ultimate Champion: do you accept your prize?” And below that a red button saying ‘No’ and a green button saying ‘Yes’. Max didn’t even hesitate and clicked the green button. For a second nothing happened, then Max blinked and opened her eyes to a war scene. She didn’t even need to look twice to know that she was in her game, and exactly where she was. She was in the lobby she slowly turned and sure enough exactly where it normally was was the countdown. That was when she started panicking. She looked down at herself and saw she was now dressed in the armour and clothing of the game and was surrounded by all the characters she knew so well. They were now all out to kill her. She looked around for an exit or a ‘No’ button and finding none tried pinching herself as hard as she could, in case she’d managed to fall asleep, or fainted in excitement. That didn’t work. She calmed her breathing, she was going to beat this game as she’d done hundreds of times before. Her win streak would continue to 101, ‘If you don’t die!’ a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered, but she pushed it away. ‘Five, four, three, two, one.’