YM778.TV Chapter 44: Burning village
Captain Ryker was explaining the rules as he stood above them, standing on a floating platform. He\'s in his early thirties and had the sharp narrowed look of all Tower Guards. "I\'ll advise you not to commit any crimes except hunting monsters in there.
"Remember, we are Awakeners and tend to hold grudges for a very long time."
\'Is he trying to warn us not to fight each other because we might meet later outside?\' Jael thought, thinking that, \'what if the Awakeners kill each other? Who will revenge then....\'
Ryker raised his hand. "No one can bring a personal spatial ring; we will supply you with our own." The reason for this is because so no one will bring anything too dangerous into the zone and they\'ll be able to know the worth of the resources brought back. "Now then..."
"Finally it\'s over," Litha muttered. They\'ve been standing there with others for close to an hour, listening to the Captain.
And now that it\'s finally done, they were directed to where the inspection was to go on, and it was quickly done, and all their weapons and tools were quickly transferred to their temporarily new rings.
The Gold team wore black with Thayer\'s emblem on the chest– a gold coin with his smiling face on it. Then it was back to standing with the others.
Ryker looked at them and nodded in satisfaction. "I should give you a last warning. There are different types of zones. I\'m not talking about the ranks now. I\'m talking about the rules, especially zones with this level of power. They tend to get...personal before you can claim them."
Jael narrowed his eyes. Is there something they know and they\'re not telling them?
"Well then. Best of luck." Then he disappeared into the zone.
The front of the Black castle swirled gently with darkness, no light passed through. This is a High zone; things are done differently, just that it made Jael shiver looking at it as it reminded him of dungeons.
The remaining Tower Guards started to direct people into the zone one by one.
"Why did the captain also enter?" Tim asked aloud.
"Probably to make sure we start at the same time." Litha guessed.
"Seems reasonable." Cele nodded.
It got to their turn and they were directed to the zone entrance. Temur entered first, followed quickly by Dile and then Cele and Tim.
"See you on the other side," Jael said to Litha and stepped through. It felt as if he was brushing through something that was there and not there at the same time, and he shuddered as darkness swallowed him.
Whatever he expected to see on the other side, it wasn\'t what Jael was looking at.
"This is strange," Litha said from behind him as she also stepped out of the dark door.
Instead of stepping into a room they all found themselves in what appeared to be a crumbled village with shattered houses. There was even a sky and sun shining hotly on some of the still-smoking houses.
The air smelled of burnt wood and ash while the scent of smoke lay heavy in the air.
Awakeners who were new to this started to murmur among themselves, while those who had seen things like this in a zone before looked calm and relaxed.
Temur turned and counted team \'Gold\', and when he saw them complete, he beckoned them closer. "Remember what we planned. Right now we have to watch and learn."
Ryker was still floating above, his eyes sweeping the zone. From his place on the platform, what he saw was a rolls of broken roofs as far as his eyes could see. "I\'ll be going now. Note that the Tower Guards have eyes among you, and if any rules are broken, then we shall know, and you will be found."
Quickly, as if not to be held back, he drove out immediately after the last person came in. Jael looked at the darkness around the door, \'I half expect the door to be locked shut\'
Temur took the lead, and they followed him; the first thing they did was look through the houses, but there was nothing of interest there. "I don\'t get it. I thought we would be transported into a forest or a place filled with monsters. What is this place?"
Jael looked at the others. Most of the teams are looking around but one team stayed at the same position they were when they first came in– The Walkers. From the way they dressed and their flat expression, Jael knew they were veterans and used to this.
He studied the general atmosphere and he noted two things. Some are looking around and even begin to hasten away as if they want to be the first to hunt monsters. The other kind of Awakeners waited as if they expected something to happen.
\'So the newbies like us are looking around since we don\'t know what is going on while others who are used to this are waiting\' Jael knew the ones he wanted to emulate.
"Temur!" He called from where the big guy was checking through a chest in a single-room house with the roof removed.
Jael jerked his thumb outside and explained to him.
"Now that you say it...." Litha narrowed her eyes.
"We should follow their lead," Cele said.
Temur shrugged. "I think that\'s the best solution. At the very least we should know why they are waiting. This zone is different from others we have been to."
"Completely different," Tim muttered.
So they went back outside and waited. About half of the Awakeners had already wandered away while the rest stood there without speaking. It didn\'t take long for tension to start rising, Jael felt it like a faint heat along his body.
Jael thought maybe he had miscalculated and there was no reason to stay behind when the sky split open with the sound of paper tearing.
Something zipped down from the rend in the sky.