"Somebody help me!" a woman cried.

"Keep running son! Don't look back," a man cried.

"Fuck. Just how bad is our luck to run into a nest of them," a man cursed as a small group of refugees scattered as black wolves with four eyes and two tails chased after them.

If you fell, you died. If you cried for help, no one would aid you. That is the life of those who had to survive outside the cities. Some were born Exiles, the people of the wilderness. Others, had blood that was susceptible to the virus and not allowed into the city.

Two boys and a girl huddled together as they watched the distant refugees scatter. One boy had sky blue eyes and jet black hair that fell to his shoulders. Another boy had blonde hair and the same sky blue eyes. They were cousins and had been on the run since the first memory they still had of their parents. The girl was blonde and had green eyes. She was the younger twin of the blonde boy.

"It's happening again," Catherine whimpered, closing her eyes and covering her ears fifteen people walked onto the roof.

"What's wrong, Catherine?" a man asked. "Edward? Vincent?"

"It's another group of refugees headed to Black Gate City. Must be their first time in city ruins. They traveled, at night, on the streets," Edward answered as he comforted his twin.

"We can use this chance to cross their territory and enter the city," a woman said, holding her son in her arms.

"Quickly, let's move," another agreed and they all left to gather their things.

"Vincent? We need to go. Cat is already scared. I need you to help me protect her," Edward frowned, as his cousin did not move.

"I know, Eddy," Vincent said, holding a small dragon's tooth on his neck. It was a tooth that was left behind on the wall after it killed his parents. When Edward's parents found Vincent, all they saw were broken walls, pools of blood, and a little boy holding his mother's head with a tooth stuck on the side of the temple.

A single, small dragon killed his own mother. What it was before mutation, Vincent just said, "It was my pet Thorny Devil. It was just a desert lizard. Just a lizard...."

Vincent never spoke what happened before the incident. The lizard had to have been infected somehow. Whatever the truth was, only Vincent knew about it. He always had three things he kept secret, even to his cousins. The truth of the incident, the filled magical gourd in his black satchel, and who his birth father was. He merely said he was in Black Gate City and nothing more.

Edward could only guess that Vincent hated him as Vincent was born from a mistake and his mother was forced to raise him alone. He also avoided all talk about his father even before Edward lost his parents before finding the group they currently traveled with.

The three orphans followed the group as they left down an eight story building. They had to be careful as they took the stairs. It was in ruins and a single jump could collapse it and you would fall all the way to the bottom.

"Everyone got their magic bags?" a man asked. Items also mutated. No one knew how or why a non-living item could mutate, but they did and many had their uses. Vincent adjusted his black satchel as Catherine and Edward nodded as they retrieved their backpacks. Bags and other items were easy to find in the wilderness.

While dangerous beyond compare, the wilderness was a treasure trove of magical items. The Exiles would always say it was the influence of the infected as most treasures were found in or near monster nests.

Of the three cousins, Edward had the most magical items. He always carried his black and gold metal spear, the weapon able to freeze whatever it stabbed. Vincent had a silver sword with a blue-black cross guard. He had found it while finding his new pet that caused the disaster. He called it Silver Thorn as the blade was silver and gave off a silver aura when he wielded it. While his two cousins also found several other items, the only one he had were the gourd and a white silver ring he always wore. It's effects, he didn't know.

Edward and Catherine were born in a long family line of Exiles. Through his mother, Vincent was the same as she was the sister of Edward's dad. For people who lived in the city, the Exiles owning an abundance of treasure was the only real thing they envied. Exiles would always seal magical items with a drop of blood or any thief could take and use it.

Exiles were different than people born in the city. Every human was born with a crystal core that gave them gifts after the virus broke out. However, only Exiles could do things no one else could. They couldn't awaken the power of their crystal cores without help from the city, but only Exiles could seal magical items before an awakening. They also had a sacred rule they never told outsiders: their ability to hide any magical items they bonded and they could never be detected by any means. Even if someone asked to inspect their magical bags, they would only see what the Exile wanted them to. Thus, anyone would only think the ring Vincent wore was ordinary and find no gourd in his satchel.

"All the men, make sure you only shoot your guns if we are surrounded. Fighting with blades gives us a higher chance to survival as it makes less noise," the man warned and they ran through the alleys. Cloths were tied on the bottom of their shoes, silencing their steps.

"They spotted us!" a man cried as three wolves appeared behind them as one bit off the arm of one of the refugees.

"Help me!" the man cried before a second wolf tore into his chest.

"Nailed bats," the man cried and the men surged to the rear.

"Quickly, go over the fence," a woman cried and they all helped the six children before going over it themselves.

"You get those kids to the city," the leader said, as the two women nodded as the other quickly dragged her son to the black, walled city.

"Vincent!" Edward cried as wolf appeared and tackled him, a claw scratching the left side of his face before the ear.

"Keep going!" VIncent shouted as he stabbed the bottom of the wolf's neck with the dragon tooth and stuck his fist inside it. The wolf chocked on its own blood and Vincent pushed the heavy carcass off, knowing full well he was lucky he was not a teen or his head would have been bit instead of being tackled. He quickly blocked the wound with a piece of his shirt and stored it in his satchel with a flash of black light. He quickly made it to the others as he tried to ignore the pain on his face.

"There it is," a boy cried, as they panted through the streets as wolves watched from the roof. "Search lights are on at the gate. We're saved!"

"Nobody move!" a black armored guard shouted as he fired his machine guns at the chasing wolves. Three wolves died before they retreated. Edward looked back and saw the mother and her son crying as four other children were behind him and Catherine. Fenrir had a cloth pressed against the left side of his face as it bled.

"Please let us into the city," the woman cried.

"Not until you are tested for the virus," the guard said. "Men, take some samples of their blood and get it tested. You refugees stay at the side."

Guards took out syringes and took the blood from the arms of the others. One slowly got the blood bleeding from Vincent's face as Vincent had been cut by one.

"Okay, only these three boys and the girl, are immune. The boy with the wound and the two blonde kids even have synergy with the virus, their blood co-existing with it. The son of that woman is just immune," a guard said.

"No! I can't leave my boy!" the mother cried as the others were scared off by shooting the ground by their feet.

"Either you come in or you both go! Your son's only immune anyway," the guard snarled. "You want to let your son live as a human or die like dog?!"

"Son....my Little Kevin, go with these people. Mommy has to go now," the woman cried as she hugged her son and ran off with the other woman and children.

"Mommy, no! Mommy! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" Kevin cried as a guard grabbed him.

"Listen to your mommy, son. She left for you," the guard said.

"No! You're a bad man! Let me go!" the boy shouted until he was hit in the back of the head. "Get this brat to the orphanage and take those three to the testing center."

"Come this way, kids. You're safe now. Not everyday do we get Exiles from the north sector. It's the most monster-infested ruins near the city," a female guard with long red hair smiled. "What are your names?"

"Catherine. That's my elder twin, Edward. My cousin's name is Vincent," the girl sniffed as she hugged her arms. "Why were the others scared away?"

"They weren't immune or compatible with the virus. If they got scratched or infected, they would mutate into one of those monsters," the guard sighed as she pat the girl on the head. "You three are even compatible! You have the option to work hard in any field within our city. You don't have to fight for your life anymore."

"That hurts," Vincent snapped as he grit his teeth while the guard sprayed antibiotics on his wound.

"Medicine?" Edward gasped, only seeing them in books he had read.

"Of course. You will live in the city now. City states are some of the only places with lost technology still around," she smiled as she led the dirty, bloodied orphans to the testing center. "Pity about the wound. It might scar but its small and horizontal before the ear. It won't look too bad as it is not across your face. As for you twins, you made it okay. All your questions will be answered at the testing center. You all look about ten. At age fifteen is when you have to choose an occupation to grow up to follow. Until then, you will learn about life in Black gate City, the history of humanity, and the various options you will have in the future. Welcome, Little Exiles, to Black Gate City."