Free Rescue Island by Stone Marshall Page A

toward me. I deflect, but one hits me. My armor holds.
    Returning up the shaft is impossible, arrows are whizzing at me from that direction. The opposite direction is full of lava! I feel like Han and Luke in the Death Star as they try to save Leia. What did they do? Right, they jumped into a garbage chute. I break away the wall next to me. It opens into a dark cavern. I jump in!
    Thud.
    I land a few blocks down. "Khan," I yell, "Come here!" I plant a torch on the wall. I'm in a long, narrow tunnel. Khan jumps down.
    The skeletons reach the opening. Arrows fly again. "Run!" I yell.
    We reach the end of the tunnel. I hope this works twice! I must move forward. I swing my pickaxe. Seems like I've found solid stone. It's slow going.
    Arrows! The skeletons have jumped down, into the tunnel! I turn around and return fire. One down, two, but the mob is getting closer. How many are there? Three down. I hear something, like a popping sound. Is that behind me? I turn and mine away. I hope this opens up right now!
    Whiz! Another arrow hits the block in front of me. Thud! Whiz! I'm hit in the back. My armor takes most of the damage.
    Chink! The block in front of me breaks, light comes streaming in. I see a large cavern with a lava-fall, flowing from above, falling into a puddle below. It is twenty or thirty blocks away, and there are enough blocks around it to give me safe passage.
    Only one block prevents me from entering the bright room. Chink, gone. My skin tingles. Why now? I jump down several blocks to the safety of the large, bright room. I turn around, looking for an exit. There are dozens of tunnels leading into this space. Each one has pixelators standing guard.
    WHAT! I am in serious trouble. Khan runs toward the falling lava. She is finally being proactive. One of the pixel busting creatures sees me and alerts the others. They are not far away. They start toward me. One exits its tunnel, then another, then another. Each tunnel must have hundreds of creepy creatures. The room is starting to fill up with rolling anger. I take a few out with arrows, but what's the point? There is no way I can stop all these advancing monsters.
    I am doomed, lava on one end, killers on the other. How do I want to die? Blown to pixelated bits or burn in lava. I back away from the creatures, toward Khan. I move past her to one end of the lava-fall, following a precarious narrow path of stone leading through flowing lava. I stand on one side of the lava-fall. The heat is intense. I see red. The room is a sea of advancing creatures. A few get too close to the lava and burn.
    Behind me I hear a metallic wailing sound. What is that?
    I look to the edge of the lava-fall. There is a tight passage that leads behind the falling molten lava. The passage is craftily hidden. The metallic wailing sound is coming from there. What could be back there? Is this a trap?
    Angry pixelators are closing in on me. I'm going to die if I stay, I might as well try it.  
    Sssss! the closest one is going to blow!
    I take the passage, passing inches from the falling lava, it's so hot, I nearly combust. I enter a small room behind the lava. It's glowing! And there, at the end of this small space is a beautiful sight! A portal!
    Boom! On the other side of the lava, a pixelator blows up, spewing boiling lava everywhere. Luckily I dodge the flying fire. The explosion opens up a huge pathway. The mass of rolling anger encroaches upon me. There is no exit, other than the portal. Should I take it? I don't know!
    What is on the other side? Will this portal transport me home? Or will this take me to another realm? The thought of the unknown is disturbing! Will I lose contact with Zana?
    Ssssss!
    I step into the portal.
    BOOOM!

BOOKS BY STONE MARSHALL

FLYNN'S LOG

    In the near future, video games begin to change and evolve. Virtual intelligence takes over the digital world and creates a digital crisis, bringing the real world to a halt. The only person who can save the world is