18
LEVEL ONE: THE DRAGON STONES
REMAINING CONTESTANTS: 9,182,001
TIME UNTIL CULLING: 53 days
NAME: JACK REN
CURRENT RANK: 479,876
The moment the sun sets, Cole and I are in motion.
We creep forward, bent low, crouching as we advance upon the walls of the citadel. I’m not particularly pleased about the prospect of another mission solely in Cole’s company, but then, what is it people say about enemies?
Keep them close, they say.
There’s one thing that’s comforting me as we near the front gates of the citadel, and that’s the fact that, although the sun is now down and the world has plunged into darkness, no new lights have appeared up along the wall or in any of the towers. That doesn’t mean that we’re in the clear, but it’s a sign in the right direction at the very least.
A few hundred feet separate us from the front gate. We run the rest of the distance in only a few short minutes.
Another good sign: no one shoots us full of arrows, and no one shouts out in alarm. There are no ringing bells or sirens. As far as I can tell, we’re still entirely undetected.
Maybe tonight will actually be easy.
Maybe we’ll get lucky.
“Would you like to do the honors?” Cole whispers, fidgeting with that golden ring of his.
Without a word, I slam a fist into the citadel’s gates.
The gates explode open, swinging, and Cole and I look at each other.
I grimace. “Should we get the others?”
“Not yet. We’ll take a quick look inside.”
We advance, side by side, into the city. I take in a deep breath, searching for some scent that might reveal a clue regarding what we might find—a whiff of smoke, of cooking meat, of blood or decay—but there’s nothing but fresh, cold air.
We enter a wide, cobbled courtyard. Streets stretch out in all directions, buildings, mostly single storey, lining the roads. To my eyes, the citadel resembles more of a small, walled city than an actual fort, despite the place’s name. The houses all have a quaint, medieval sort of feel to them, and more importantly, everything is completely still and silent.
“Alright,” I say. “I’m signalling the others.”
Cole glares at me. “Maybe we shouldn’t.’
“There’s no one here, Cole.”
“Yeah,” he says. “Do I really have to spell this out for you?”
“Maybe you do.”
“Let me put this simply. It might be in our personal best interests to continue without the others for a little while. In case we find certain things.” He twists the ring around his finger. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“You want to personally hoard everything of worth. Yeah, Cole, I understand what you’re saying. Fuck the others, right?”
“Don’t act so righteous,” he laughs. “What about Sarah, eh? I’m sure she’d appreciate you being a little selfish.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Hey, here’s a thing,” I say, pointing at him. “Don’t say her fucking name. Never again. Don’t like the way it sounds coming from you.”
Cole’s eyes narrow. “Do we have a problem, Jack?”
“I don’t know—do we?”
Cole looks away. “You can go back if you want. Go tell them. I’m not going to tell you what to do, Jack. You’re your own man, I can see that.” He shrugs. “But me? I’m looking out for myself, first and foremost. Yeah, call me a selfish asshole. But the reality is, only one of us is getting out of here alive. And I got a lot to live for. I know you do, too.”
His words hang in the air between us. My hands curl into fists. I want to hit him with every fiber of my being. But the worst part is, what he just said, it resonates with me. Because he’s right. Only one of us is going to survive. I know for a fact that if it came down to me and one of the others, me against them for the chance to get out of here, I’d strike them down in a heartbeat. This is just a more indirect way of doing that very thing.
What would Sarah want me to do?
What would she think of me and what I’ve done so far?
In truth, I’m not sure I even want to know what the answers are. Some things are better off not known.
“Alright,” I say quietly, voice so low that it’s almost as though I’m ashamed to hear myself. “Alright. We’ll keep going. Just the two of us—for now.”
Cole nods in approval, and suddenly, I hate myself.
But no, I tell myself.
I should hate them instead. The Celestan Empire. They’re the ones turning me into a person I never wanted to be.
We move together down one of the narrow streets, moving quickly but cautiously. I keep my eyes on the many buildings to either side of us, watching the windows, the doorways, the alleys between them, constantly on the lookout for movement. There’s a chill creeping down my spine. A sense that we’re not alone—or that something is watching us. But then I almost laugh, because, yes, something is watching us.
It just so happens that that something is an empire of a trillion souls.
I hope they’re entertained. I hope they’re smiling.
They won’t be for long.
#
A little later, we reach another set of gates, these ones leading into the armored heart of the walled citadel, the bastion where, presumably, the citadel’s lord and his retinue would reside. And once again, the gates swing easily open, neither locked nor barred. Into another courtyard, just as empty as the last. There are no bodies, no signs that anyone at all has been through here before us. A few crows watch us from atop a tower, eyes glittering, cawing as though in laughter
We find ourselves standing in an immense, empty hall. The polished marble floor reflects the warm light from candles and torches positioned carefully all throughout the space. They’re all lit, which at first makes me think that the place is occupied, but then I remember that none of this is a natural setting. For all I know, the candles are electronic and set to always flicker dramatically.
Paintings adorn the walls, depicting various armored figures leading armies across fields and commanding battles from atop noble horses. A chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Spiral stairs twist upward to either side of us. Cole and I look at each other. We’re thinking the same thing, I suppose—that this is exactly the sort of place you’d expect to find something valuable. I can see the greed in his eyes. The eagerness. I have a feeling he can see the very same thing in mine, despite the shame that brings me.
“Split up?” Cole suggests.
“Yeah, because that’s always a smart thing to do.”
Cole sighs. “There’s clearly nobody here, Jack. What does it matter? We can’t be away from the others for too long—they’ll start to think something has happened to us, and they’ll either retreat or go in.”
“We stay together. Because we’re not fucking idiots, and we’re not going to get individually picked off by some lurking enemy. You hear me?”
“You’re paranoid,” but I can tell by his tone that, deep down, he agrees with me.
We ascend one set of spiral stairs and end up in some grand, richly furnished chamber. There’s a bed, an expensive carpet, a marble statue. The walls are gilded. The sheets and pillows are silken. It’s like the private quarters of a king. Open arches connect this chamber to the next, and then the one beyond that, a complex network of rooms.
I can’t help but stare at the bed. It looks so comfortable that I almost want to cry. A huge part of me just wants to throw the covers back and dive in. It’s the sort of bed that Sarah always wanted for us. She was—is—big into luxury, into grand decor and expensive things. Also, I’ve been sleeping rough for almost a full week now and my back and neck are begging for some comfort.
Still, I push past the bed. Hopefully, if the place truly is clear, we can move the group into the citadel and at least stay the night. If so, I call dibs on this one. In fact, the more I think about it, the more excited I become about the prospect of us making this citadel our home for the time being.
And then Cole calls out, “Jack!” and I can tell by his voice that we’re in trouble.
Hey guys! If you're enjoying the story, please leave a rating/review! It really helps a lot. My goal is to reach rising stars soon! So, help me make this thing as big as I can.
Support me on Current number of chapters ahead: 10
Want to read a long, dark progression fantasy series about a ruthless farmboy who decides he wants to rule the world - no matter the cost?
Check out , the first book in my Dark Ascension series. My plan is to create a massive, shared universe with lots of cool progression fantasy series that are interconnected.
