“It was supposed to be a normal day, man! What the fuck was that?!” a brown-haired man said, gulping down lungfuls of air as he leaned against the wall, tucked away in a nearby alleyway. His friend, a red-haired, portly fellow, kept a watchful eye on the deserted street, clutching at his mangled arm that was nearly severed at the elbow.
“Shut up Jaxx!” the red-haired man hissed, his nerves being frayed at the ends.
“But it got them, Lucas! It got all of them!” Jaxx said, doing his best to keep the hysteria that was slowly creeping into his psyche. “I knew I should have stayed home with Mom today… I just knew it…” he added, slumping down to his knees.
The red-haired man, Lucas, turned to give one glare at Jaxx, but that moment of not looking cost him as he turned in time to see the ghouls spilling out of the alleyway and onto the street. Their shrieking grated his ears as he flinched back into hiding. He looked at his arm, wincing at the numbness he felt spreading, and he knew it soon would reach his legs. “Jaxx,” he whispered. “You gotta run to the other safe house. I’ll hold them off,” he told the kid who could not have been more than 20-years old.
Jaxx looked at Lucas like he had grown two heads. “Fuck that! I’m not going to make it on my own! I barely know where it even is!” he hissed back.
Lucas let go of his mangled arm and grabbed Jaxx by his hair, yanking him up. “You will make it. Understand,” he growled. “Now go before they catch my scent,” he pushed Jaxx away, making the young man stumble over his feet.
Jaxx blinked at Lucas, who was paling by the minute, then he heard the shrieks coming closer and he shot up to his feet, taking off as fast as his feet could carry him. Even after four years with the System, he barely had any opportunities to level, so he already knew he stood no chance against whatever those things were. Lucas knew what they were but only didn’t bother to tell him what they were and only told him to run as they broke in through the warehouse roof. It was an immediate bloodbath as the things spilled from the top, killing and eating anyone that put up a fight.
The image of his mom crying when he didn’t return home that night spurned him forth as he cut through the alleyways, making his way towards the farthest end of the dock where another one of their warehouses for the Shattered Chain held the goods meant for the auctions. The short, cut-off scream of Lucas blared behind him as tears stung his eyes. He hopped over boxes, crates, and piles of garbage as he ran. He even hopped a few bodies of people that had been unlucky enough to be cornered and robbed of their belongings.
His side hurt and his lungs burned as he ran for his life, but he knew stopping meant death. It also meant leaving his mom all alone; something he promised her he would never do.
Before he knew it, his feet had carried him out of the alleyways and onto the wide-open road. People shouted at him as he ran by, and he couldn’t spare the time to warn them about what was coming, about what was behind him. It pained him to do so, but at this moment, he only cared about getting to safety. The first scream behind him told him they were at his heels as he weaved through a makeshift market with self-made stalls. The scream had caused most of them to turn and look at what was happening, but Jaxx just kept running, nearly running into a hand-drawn cart filled with vegetables.
He vaulted over it, never breaking his stride as the one scream had turned to many more. He spared a glance over his shoulder and yelped. Behind him, the creatures that were grey and lanky with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth and blazing green eyes pounced on whatever moved, tearing meaty chunks from their victims. Worse, the sun dipped behind the buildings, allowing the shadows to grow and race after him like they were part of the hunt too.
He veered off course, darting further towards the docks where the warehouse was supposed to be. Banners and tapestries rippled in the sea breeze, noting which warehouse belonged to whom. It was a system Jaxx thought was inefficient as it basically told all your enemies where your money was, but he came to find out that the gangs that portioned out Ebira had an unspoken truce when it came to the dock warehouses.
He ran along the strip, the screams still nipping behind him, growing louder with each passing moment. Finally, like a breath of fresh air, he saw the familiar red banner with a purple broken manacle curled around a white feather of the Shattered Chain. With renewed vigor, he pushed his body past its growing limits, slamming into the large barricaded door. He pounded frantically, screaming for someone to let him in. He dared to look back to see a wave of ?grey creatures leaping from the rooftops and onto the ground, some even tumbling and snapping back into shape as their bones reset
He focused, squinting his eyes as he had been told before an almost translucent blue screen popped in his vision.
His frantic pounding only intensified as he read the pop-up.
“Quit yer pounding! I’m coming, gods damn it!” a rough voice shouted behind the door.
Jaxx didn’t relent, turning his head back to the oncoming tide that grew smaller with each passing warehouse as they clawed their way inside them. “Fucking hurry up!” Jaxx frantically screamed.
The unlocking of a deadbolt, followed by the sliding of a plank, gave way to an opening as the man behind the door opened it. “What?!” he asked before he took in the look of a disheveled Jaxx, then peered over his shoulder to see monsters in the distance. Before he could say anything, Jaxx pushed him aside and shut the door behind him, deadbolting it and lodging the plank on the door.
“What's going on?!” the man demanded, trying to wrap his mind around what he saw.
Jaxx tried to catch his breath. “Fuck if I know! Those things just appeared out of nowhere!” he said? between breaths. “We need weapons! Fire! Get everyone here!”
“B-but there are only five of us here!” the man replied, shaking and stepping away from the door like it would explode inwards at any minute. “The rest of ‘em went out on patrol.”
Jaxx ran his hand through his hair as he paced back and forth. “Is there a back door? A boat? Anything we can use to get away?” He asked, coming to a stop, and again his mother came to the forefront of his mind, and he had to shake his head to push away the dark thought that she might have succumbed to the ghouls. No, he kept himself hopeful by telling himself she could get away. After all, they had lived closer to the gates that led inland.
“We got a small dinghy! Come on!” the man said before running deeper into the organized warehouse that held a variety of goods. “Round up! He shouted, his voice echoing all throughout the warehouse, which was illuminated with bobbing spheres of light at even intervals. The wooden floor creaked under them as they ran, Jaxx keeping close with the man as they took twists and turns before coming to an intersection at the back of the warehouse.
Four other people were already there. Two Elven men, each with blonde hair tied in an intricate braid. Jaxx noted they might have been siblings from the way they shared similar features with the usual trademark look of High Elves. The other two, a Dwarven woman that had a 5’o’clock shadow that matched her black hair and bronzed skin; and a towering Orc woman that bristled with muscle.
“What’s going on, Durham? And who is he?” one of the Elven brothers asked before flicking his eyes to see Jaxx continuously looking everywhere but at them.
Durham chewed on his bottom lip before answering. “We gotta get out of here. Get the boat and get ready to paddle out to sea.”
“Not before-” the Orc woman started.
“We don’t have fucking time! They will be here any minute!” Jaxx said, pushing past them to unlock another door that led out to an indoor docking area. His eyes quickly scanned for the boat that gently bobbed up and down with the sea. His eyes followed the trail of rope that tied it and was about to move before he felt a forceful grip on his shoulder that roughly jerked him to turn around.
The Orc woman stood before him, her face scrunched up into a scowl, showing the little pronounced tusks she had. “I don’t know who you think you-” she began but stopped when she heard the first howling shriek.
“Hurry! Help with the rope!” Jaxx said, pulling himself away from her grip.
Durham was the first to brush past the Orc woman, who only needed the second howling shriek to spur her into action. The two Elven brothers, along with the Dwarven woman, followed close behind. Jaxx was the first one to hop into the boat after it was free, quickly grabbing an oar that was tied to the side.
The first ghoul broke through further from within the warehouse, and all eyes quickly turned to see it.
“By the Mountain Father…” the Dwarven woman said in shock.
The ghoul screeched once, alerting more of its kind to its success, and soon, more dropped inside the warehouse, each of them sniffing their air until all their heads turned to the slack-jawed, staring group.
“GET IN THE BOAT!!!!” Jaxx screamed once the ghouls started running on all fours, eating the distance faster than he thought possible.
The others jumped in, nearly falling on top of each other as Durham and Jaxx pushed off the dock with all their strength. Not a second sooner, they set into rhythm, paddling away into the open ocean, escaping the jaws of death. They all watched as a wave of ghouls all scrambled and paced along the dock, screeching their displeasure at an escaped meal.
None of them had any words as they all stared helplessly, and when the dock was in full view, they saw that a few of the warehouses had been engulfed in flames that were soon to become beacons in the night sky as the sun finally set.
“How did this happen…” Durham muttered as he stared in disbelief.
Jaxx stood, tears running down his cheeks as he looked at the only home he had ever known be torn apart by monsters. The anguish soon turned to anger as he balled his fists and gritted his teeth. The flickering distant flames glazing off his face as he saw silhouettes of ghouls crawl around the rooftops and prowl the streets, adding a cacophony of shrieks and howls to the chaos. Only the hope of his mother being alive and escaping kept him from sinking into an ?all-consuming depression. Everything he had ever known would be at the mercy of those monsters.
Aldrin's Tier 4 Class Specializations
