Prologue - The boy with fleet feet
The sound of someone running can be heard; it sounds distant and echoes through the ruins of what many used to call home. Cadavers line the sides of a road, illuminated by moonlight. Some of the corpses are bones, and others rot, but none are fresh.
Yet the footsteps grow closer still, each one resounding with desperation. A boy emerges from the wreckage, running and looking behind him briefly.
The sound of scraping can be heard in the distance; the boy looks in the direction of the noise and spots a creature wrapped in barbed wire that is dragging on the floor. Quickly he scales a low wall and glances over his shoulder before dropping down. When he lands, he decides to stay hidden behind the wall, as multiple heavy steps follow rapidly, almost like a horse galloping; the steps stop suddenly; something is sniffing on the other side.
His eyes flick briefly as he spots something, markings etched into the side of a building. The markings look like scribbles, but the boy seems to understand. He looks at some ruins; vines cover the ruins. The boy approaches the wall and pushes the vines aside, discovering a hidden passage.
He hides waiting for danger to pass. A being walking on four legs begins to walk by. Its front appendages resemble knuckles more than feet. It stops and sniffs the air. The creature's head lowers, coming into view; the skin on its face looks loose, it has nostrils but no nose, and no features except for a long slit that’s probably its mouth.
The boy backs away from the entrance of the passage, realizing that there’s more to it. He continues, finding himself at a crossroads. To the right he hears and sees nothing, but to the left there’s the sound of howling wind. The boy goes down the left path thinking there’s an exit due to the sound. On the floor lies a rock with markings on it. He did not see the markings and ignorantly continued.
The boy found himself in a new place. A huge wall stands in front of him, and a realization hits him. He recognizes this place, and he knows he’s made a mistake. Before he could turn to leave, a shining light blinds him as he can hear voices yelling in the distance. As the boy's eyes are recovering, he hears something behind him, but before he can turn, there’s a thump and everything goes dark.
Light returned slowly. He could hear voices around him. And his vision finally returned. The boy found himself strapped to a chair. The boy's hearing sharpened, and the only sound he could hear was the humming of a lamp. He sat there confused as to what happened, but the boy knew what this meant, where he was, and who captured him. The boy found himself in the city of Monirva.
The door handle rattled. A man in a uniform entered the room and sat across from the boy. He lays a piece of paper out on the table and asks, "What is your name?” The boy hesitates for a moment. “Chime.” The man writes on the paper. “Do you have a last name?” He asks. Chime shook his head. "Oh, I see you're one of those," the man said.
“Are you a runner?” Chime nods. "Ok, moving on then… Can you tell me about how you acquired the artifact?” Chime hesitates for a moment. "It was given to me by a friend.” The man squinted at Chime. “I highly doubt that. You're only hurting yourself by not being honest, but I’m not going to pry.”
“Alright, just one more question before I can make my decision. Did you witness the dark sun?” Chime's eyes widen a little. With little hesitation he nods. The man takes the paper and stands to leave, but before he does, “I wish you luck, if you are a kid that is."
A few hours pass with nothing but the humming of the lamp; after that long, the sound has become unbearable. The door handle rattles again; this time a woman walks through, she wears the same uniform as the last person with the only difference being her bright red cloak “hey… uh chime was it? My name is Rosetta, and I’m your assigned handler!” She says. Chime looks at her confused with the only thing he can utter being “huh?”
“What do you mean by handler?” “Well due to the risk of you being a forsaken in disguise. you have been placed under the watch of the red herrings. The most expendable soldiers Monirva has available. And I have been personally assigned to you.” “So does that mean you’ll be following me everywhere?” “ only on assignments. The rest of the time you’ll be at camp.” “Camp?”
Rosetta stands and walks over to chime. She unties his restraints. “Follow me, it's best if I just show you.” Chime follows. Thirty minutes pass before they arrive at a small encampment outside of the walls of Monirva. “I thought we would be staying in the city,” says Chime. “That’s a risk Monirva is not willing to take. So you’ll be staying here.”
She opens the door. An imposing figure sits on the side of a bed facing chime, a man that is practically ninety percent muscle looks up at chime. “Who’s this?” He says in a gruff voice. “This is your new partner!; his name is Chime.” The man smirks.
