《The Dragon Wakes》Chapter 1: Worldbreak
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He was scared. He’d never forget the sight of dozens of people running in terror, screaming for salvation to any god that would listen. Those people ran away, away from the bus that might carry them out of London and to anywhere else in England. But they also ran away from thirteen dread beasts with bodies vaguely resembling a wolf’s – if they were maybe twice their regular size and armored with scales that appeared thicker than the body armor soldiers wore.
Maybe Florian would have been smart to follow suit, but that bus had been so damn close. Only fifteen feet separated him from the nearest, the few passengers inside gesturing to him as if they were mad. Florian ran for it, praying that the beasts would ignore him for the ten seconds it would take for him to find safety. It wasn’t to be the case. Only a few people had chosen to take their chances as he had, and it was their reduced numbers that doomed them.
One by one, these beasts leapt to the people around him, their golden scales glinting despite the overcast sky above. Crimson flew into the air in streams, evaporating off the wolves from Hell as soon as it landed on them. These were no natural creatures, but Florian didn’t have the time to consider that fact any further. They were on him.
Every footfall took an eternity, but as the woman next to him – a young lady in her early twenties, like him – burst into a cloud of red, Florian saw his doom approach. Three wolves, their reptilian eyes unblinking, dropped what was left of the woman.
But voices shouted encouragement. The bus driver, an elderly man with more courage than Florian felt he might be able to muster in his circumstances, kept the bus doors open, waiting for his last passenger. Heart soaring despite himself, Florian leapt the final four feet. When he landed in the bus, he clutched the seat next to him with all his might. His heart pounded with adrenaline, and he heard someone screaming as the bus’s door closed.
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It wasn’t until they slammed shut and the pain hit him that he recognized the screams as his own. His left leg flared in pain, as if it had been broken and then run over by a pickup. Except… he didn’t have a left leg. Not anymore.
The bus sped off, driving through the pack of thirteen Hell-wolves. London around them lay devastated, overrun with the monsters. A nurse tended to him then, though Florian could hardly focus long enough to realize that she was there to help. She ripped open the bus’s first-aid kit, wrapping gauze around his stub until she ran out. Florian had lived through much, through the occasional beat-down and that one time he got shot, but never had he felt anything quite like this.
Sleep tugged at his eyelids, turning them to lead. The man tending to him shook him awake, concern and despair written in his eyes in equal measure. Florian recognized the need to stay awake; if he fell asleep, he might not wake up again. Instead, Florian did what he could to turn his attention to the city around him, though it painted a bleak picture. The few men and women that still ran through the streets had all accrued wounds of their own, and all were followed closely by all manner of wolves, lions, and tigers. There were no children.
“Airport,” he got through gritted teeth.
The nurse leaned closer, “what was that?”
“I need. To get. To the. Airport.”
The nurse relayed Florian’s request to the bus driver, who couldn’t spare a glance as he said, “I’m sorry, son, but we’re going straight to the RAF base. If we’re lucky, they’ll have a doctor there that can help you.”
Florian grimaced. He’d been not fifteen minutes away from London-Heathrow when the world had come crashing down. It had been the taxi cab driver’s, “What the fuck is that?” that first alerted him to the wolves. They seemingly appeared from underground, their golden bodies launching from the earth with such velocity that the nearest pedestrians stood no chance at all. There had been closer to forty of them, then, but with prey surrounding them on all sides, they quickly split up.
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The thirteen that remained quickly dispelled any notion of safety within the taxi. Ripping open the car in front of them with their claws, dragging their victim who hit them for everything he was worth out of the ruined shell, the wolves began to feast on the few people that remained behind. It was then that the taxi driver looked at Florian, the last part of his professionalism warring with his survival instincts, before he took off and ran. He didn’t make it very far.
Florian watched the failed attempt, resolving himself to wait for better timing before doing the same. Everyone else had apparently made the same decision, and when no one left their cars, the wolves resumed their grisly hunt. One by one, cars were cut to pieces, their occupants eaten alive. The world’s deadliest game of chicken had begun. Florian, for whatever it was worth, was the winner.
When the man ran, Florian slipped from the taxi, sprinting the opposite way and hoping to find something more substantial than a car. The buildings surrounding the street had all been broken into, the screams that had all but permeated London’s air the loudest from within their confines. If the buildings weren’t safe, Florian would have to leave London.
Much of the streets were clear of cars, save for those intersections were cars had stopped for red lights, much as Florian’s taxi had been. Florian could only guess the contents of the text message the driver at the light had probably been occupied with.
It was then that he had come across the bus, along with the crowd of people that had managed to evade the first few wolves.
Florian watched as the nurse fussed about him, screaming at the bus driver to hurry. The driver screamed back that it wasn’t possible, indicating at his fully extended foot. Florian withdrew into himself, knowing nothing but pain until someone picked him up by his shoulders. Focusing, Florian breathed a sigh of relief. Content with the sight of a man in military uniform and a red cross on his arms, Florian closed his eyes, giving into the oblivion that had called for him for so long.
And that, that had been only the first day.
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Damsel of Distress
Victoria Bright is a Wife. No, she isn't married. "Wife" is the Class the system gave her. She has to fight Demons to get stronger? Then she will become the strongest Wife of all! She can only learn Fashion and Household Skills? No one said you can't fight in High-heels! The gods made her best friend a Hero? First, she has to beat some sense into him for betraying his own beliefs. Accompany her as she survives in a dangerous world, a world that has secrets even the gods don't know about. __________________________________________ Warning!!The second half of "The Wave 07: The System" and the first half of "The Wave 08: Heroes and Knights" contain a lot of exposition that most other stories would consider "secrets of the world" that those stories would uncover over the course of a long time. There are two reasons this is revealed so early and directly. One: Not revealing that information quickly and not asking questions about it would be completely OoC for the characters involved in that scene. Two: It's information you, the reader, need to know before the main story can really get started. Namely, the "secrets not even the gods know about".
8 331The Blight
Ten years ago, the Blight appeared. A beautiful forest, where the leaves and animals glowed brilliantly at night. It became a wonder of the entire world, and people began venturing from across the continent to visit it. No one took it any more seriously than that, not in the beginning. Then the disappearances started. At first, it was just farm animals and pets. Then, hunters and travelers close to dusk. By the time children started disappearing from villages, it was too late to do anything. The Blight was spreading, from tree to tree like a sickness, crawling out in all directions. The animals and beasts inside it changed as well. They grew larger, stronger, and more ferocious than anything seen before. Simple farm animals became horrific monsters, distorted to disgusting proportions and violently spreading chaos out from the forest. When the first reports came in of infected animals dragging people alive off into the forest... then the real panic began. Towns fell to the Blight, then cities. Armies were sent to push it back, and were overrun. Heroes and legends ventured out, to no avail. Soon, it was public knowledge to all: Those who entered the forest, never returned. ...So what happens when a young boy comes out of the forest, carrying nothing but a dagger and remembering nothing but his own name?
8 98Prince Of the Abyss
Jackel found a site on the web that refers to themselves as the Order of Luminous Knights. The recruitment message read: Do you believe in the Father sun, the Mother moon and children of the stars. All things that shine and illuminate the abyss of the vast space. Are you brave enough to unveil the mundane, die for the truth and return to light? We are knights that carry the lantern, and magicians that weaves reality. If you stumbled upon this message, you have but two choices. pass it off as folly, or join the holy. After deciding to show up to the meetup, what does the future hold for Jackel? I do not own cover photo.
8 188G.R.U.U.U.L
NOTE: after numerous tries, I could simply not think of a good way to keep this story going. I apologize to my readers. If anybody is willing to try and write on this story, PM me. Guard and Restraint of the Unknown, Unkillable, and Unsafe Lifeforms. The organization predates time immemorial, and has protected unaware humanity from horrors that cannot be spoken of. Everything in humanity's arsenal is used to keep these anomalies at bay. Everything ranging from ghastly eidolons, space warping household items, elements that don't follow the laws of physics and world ending threats are housed in numerous facilities, but are mostly sealed off within the headquarters. Who is the person that keeps these supernatural threats on a tight leash? Welcome to the Entries of Overseer S.
8 214Star Eater
When a man finds himself in the presence of absolute power, what will he do? Dying has already happened, but he wasn't given permission and the creature responsible finds his tragedy amusing. Forcing him to continue his life in a new world, he is given an unknown task that must be completed if he ever wishes to rest.
8 370Bestfriend as a Mate
Yoshi Shiro's bestfriend was his dog, though it seemed more like a huge wolf than dog. They did and went everything together. Sometimes the dog went missing but it always came back home. Once Yoshi was 16, the dog completely vanished never coming back. Once he's 18, a man enters his life unexpectedly with the same striking dark brown eyes as the dog. Yoshi trys to stay away from him but with a unnoticed mate bond and meddling outsidersWill Yoshi find his bestfriend again and maybe a bit more?
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