Dry wind brushed through the desolate landscape of the broken city. Tall buildings that were once magnificent, now reduced to piles of rubble, skeletons and covered in overgrown plants.
Corven was thirsty - well of course he was. Clean drinking water was scarce in the settlements. He sighed and looked at the sky, willing for the heavy grey clouds to release water.
Corven looked away. The colour of the clouds reminded him of 'her'. Guilt still gnawed away at him, all these years later. He slapped himself, such thoughts were useless and would not change anything.
Right now he was supposed to go home. He didn't really want to though. His family's worn-down house was musty, dark and oppressive. Out here on the Boundary he could breathe slightly less toxic air and could be who he wanted to be. There were no responsibilities for him here.
Nonetheless, he still had to go home. Sighing, Corven got up and brushed sand off his pants and looked past the building to where his settlement was. It was maybe four kilometers, so maybe an hour if he was quick.
Ever since the fall of humanity, the land had descended into chaos. Monsters lurking in dark places grew more bold and multiplied in numbers. Civilization fell and the settlements were created. There were about fifty thousand people living in Corven's settlement. A few years ago when Corven was smaller he had thought that it was a massive number. Not anymore, if what the internet said was correct then there used to be over ten billion humans on Earth a few centuries ago.
Not anymore. All because of one thing. The Burden Scale.
Nobody knew what or where the Burden Scale came from. People theorized it was a device left by the old civilization that malfunctioned, or some sort of sorcery woven by a god. Corven was more inclined to believe the former. After all, if a god created such a thing, what hope did he have in life?
He himself didn't know much about this Burden Scale, only that people were seemingly chosen at random. The chosen simply disappeared off the face of the planet and rarely came back. Those who did return all possessed a curse called a 'Burden' that restricted and flawed them. These people were called 'Bearers'. Bearers who came to terms with their Burden and manage to carry it could challenge a Trial to try become a Carrier; someone who can carry their Burden and learn to wield power.
The Scale was seen as both a blessing and a curse to humanity, killing those it chose but also rewarding survivors.
Corven resolutely started walking towards his settlement, making sure to keep to known paths and avoiding monsters. Even the weakest beasts were able to kill regulars like him. He continued walking among the broken buildings slowly picking up pace. The sun was setting.
'Shit, I shouldn't have stayed out for so long,' Corven thought. He inwardly cursed – the Boundary truly became a nightmare when the sun disappeared. Monsters thrived in the darkness and preyed on humans, attracted by their Burdens and life-essence. He had never been out this late before; for good reason.
'I need to hurry,'.
Corven sped up his pace, inadvertently looking behind him as he did. His breathing sped up and Corven could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Unfortunately, food was also a scarce resource in the settlements, so Corven's body was not particularly strong.
Out of the corner of his eye he could have sworn he saw a shadow flicker. 'No, no, no!'.
Like humans, monsters followed a
classification system in terms of power and ability. The lowest on the list was Scavenger, which was still monstrous to a regular human like Corven, who had absolutely no hope of beating one.
His breaths were coming in quick huffs now and he could feel his legs starting to burn. When Corven looked back at the dune he had been sitting on, he was disheartened to see that he had only travelled about five hundred meters.
There. Again. Out of the corner of his eye, Corven saw a more substantial shape moving in the shadows of a building behind him. His heart pounding, he pushed his legs even harder, his worn shoes slapping the sandy concrete beneath his feet. Corven was not ready to become monster food yet, he had only just had his sixteenth birthday a few weeks ago. 'Too bad your sister will never turn sixteen,' his inner voice snarled at him. Corven's steps faltered, and he tripped over, landing harshly on the ground. He grazed his knees and hands, but he didn't care.
"Shut up!" he shouted angrily. A single tear made its way down his cheek, but he brushed it away. He picked himself up and kept running.
'That's right, keep running! Maybe it will bring your sister back!'
It was laughing.
"No, it wasn't my fault! It wasn't!" Corven yelled as he ran. He kept running. Behind him, a large shape was detaching itself from the building. He looked back and a bolt of fear ran through him. A grotesque hound was trailing behind him, seemingly blind but sniffing the ground. A Scavenger Grade monster.
Corven was still at least three kilometers from the safety of the settlement. He was not going to make it. His breath was coming in sharp, rapid gasps now, and every fiber in his legs was on fire. Corven's feet felt like two heavy bricks. But he had to keep pushing forward. He had no choice.
The beast lifted its nose from the ground and stared at Corven with milky eyes. Time seemed to slow down as Corven turned around – and stared straight into the hound's blind gaze. A moment later the monster let out a chilling howl and Corven watched in horror as the shadows near it rippled and seethed. He didn't stop to look, Corven just ran; it seemed that was all he was good at.
He shivered as he heard more beastly sounds not that far behind him. Corven spared another glance and immediately regretted it. The hounds were maybe a hundred meters or so behind.
He didn't realize it but there were tears streaming down his cheeks. Exhausted, he still pushed his weak body more.
His legs failed him first. With a small cry, Corven tripped over and fell pathetically onto the ground. He cursed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Why? WHY?
Corven watched in slow motion as the monsters closed in on him. These few seconds seemed to last an eternity. He couldn't clearly see the hounds, the air seemed to shimmer around them, making their features slightly blurry. All he knew was that he was dead. Nothing and no-one to save him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
The hounds were fifty meters away. Forty. Thirty. Before they closed in on twenty meters, Corven snapped out of his dazed state. He scrambled to his aching feet and ran as hard as his body could allow. Pain rippled through his knee joint, and he bit his lip.
A moment later it was all over. Or so Corven thought.
'So this is what it's like to die – honestly not as bad as I thought.'
Corven had been trying to run, when the fabric of the world seemed to bend and shift. As the hound's jaws closed around his neck, darkness seemed to envelope him – caressing every part of his body. Corven tried opening his eyes but all he saw was darkness. Wait. There. A faint light was shining in the darkness. Puzzled, Corven stared at it. Then he realized. It was a…star?
Corven blinked, then he could feel his body. He was lying on something. He clenched his hand and felt grains of…sand?
Corven lifted his head, and a horrified expression took over his face. Black dunes of sand stretched out in every direction as far as the eye could see. Corpses littered the sand.
A few moments later, a soft, taunting voice whispered in his ear.
[Welcome Challengers, your Trial awaits.]
[Reach the Cursed Spire with your burden of guilt to pass the Trial.]