Almost like he was falling, Elias, once again, woke up on a couch.

  Only this time it wasn't his. In fact, it was some rich guy's couch. The very same rich guy who broke down the door to his own home and was rushing over to Elias' position.

  Just as the man drew his shoulders back and clenched his fist, the reality of the situation rushed back to Elias. He quickly got up out of the way, grabbing his staff from on the table.

  The guy crashed onto the couch, struggling to get up from his expensive comfy cushions. Elias grabbed the things he stole from the table, dashing out to the garage where he saw Ezra and Hooligan.

  They were already situated in their seats with the engine on and garage door open. Elias whipped open the door as fast as he could, throwing himself into the car as the man came crashing through the hallway. Despite being loaded, he still couldn’t afford a car with nicer leather seats.

  “Guys, what the hell!” Elias yelled as Hooligan switched gears, speeding out into the nearly empty streets.

  “Well, we were already in the car, and Ezra forgot to call you. Then the guy came and it would be a hassle to get out and you know…”

  “It wasn't me; he was supposed to call you, and I was about to go until you came,” Ezra said, his voice hesitant.

  “Alright, dude, where are we going?” Elias asked, brushing off the whole ordeal. He figured it was too early and too late to complain anyways.

  “We're headed towards the gate and then to a town where I know a guy who can get us a mode of transportation.” Hooligan explained keeping it vague as always.

  Mode of transportation?

  “Hey Elias, how long have you been in this town? Where is your family?” Ezra asked from the passenger seat, turning around to stare at Elias.

  He had thought about his parents but not what they would think. His old life was at least safe and predictable. He didn't really like his parents, but they still raised him well and gave him everything he needed. Elias sacrificed his entire future for a goal he hadn't fully believed in. If Cain were still alive, he'd have to be strong. Stronger than anyone he'd met. Would they just go all this way just to die at his hands? Was it really worth it going all this way for somebody he knows nothing about or somebody already rotting?

  “I've lived here my whole life, and I left them.”

  "Are you sure you don't want to go back? We can drop you off. Why'd you leave?” Hooligan said, sounding more apologetic than he ever has.

  “I left because they were good for nothing, and there's so much more past this town.” Elias lied, hoping to finally feel at home.

  There was a collective “hmm,” one that showed they all weren't too certain about anything.

  The ride was silent as they drove closer and closer to the walls. The early morning sun spilled across the dark leather seats, and Elias hated that he couldn't just look at things normally.

  They drove past his school as the nerds went to school early to study harder than Elias did.

  School was never Elias' forte. He was probably the most average student academically; with his grades, he'd get into a basic college and into a regular job.

  If anything, he'd miss his parents more than he'd miss his friends. While they made him laugh, that was probably it. They were all the same type of people, just in different fonts and hairstyles.

  School really wasn't all that bad for Elias.

  They drove past Sofia's cafe, where he got the urge to check his phone for a response but decided it would be better for later. They even went past his home, where all his memories stem from.

  Elias was probably telling the truth to Sofia. The infrastructure began to fade, and the sounds died down.

  “Look alive, we're going near the gates!” Hooligan yelled, grinning ear to ear like he's been waiting to say that his whole life.

  “What's the plan? Don't let it be like last time.” Ezra reprimanded, turning his head to eye him down.

  “Don't worry, just trust me, man.”

  Elias could almost feel the sense of gloom that washed over Ezra.

  The car slowed as they got closer to the gates. The walls were easily over 10 meters, with guards in watchtowers stationed above. Guards lined the roads holding guns that yelled destruction. Each one could do more than Elias could ever do with a staff.

  He watched the faces of the men. They were unwavering and unmoving like the very walls they so closely guarded.

  The stories he heard about the beasts outside the walls were some of the worst. Apparently they would rip apart entire squads in seconds. Though the stories may not have been credible, given that the ones who told them never left Greyharbor.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Reason for departure?” The guards said, barely looking at Hooligan.

  “Uhh—”

  “For science! We're here to test the, uh, effects of magic on untouched land, not very interesting, I know.” Ezra butted in the second he heard hesitation in Hooligan's voice.

  “And the kid, what's he doing here?”

  “He's my intern. There's lots of interest in this if you look hard enough!” Hooligan said, ignoring the troubled faces Ezra was making.

  “Hmm. You all be safe out there.”

  As they sped off, the guard looked at Elias. As if he were the unfortunate one.

  Leaving his town felt like going to space. He'd spent his entire time dreaming about the stars. Chasing them. But as the rocket launched, the suspense was eating away at his stomach. The stars didn't move. Even as he drifted in space with his ship and crew, he hadn't gotten any closer to them. Not any closer to what he longed for.

  He turned around to stare back at the gates. His whole life was spent in a tiny bottle, and it was just now he opened the top.

  The wastelands were as desolate as the name. There was no greenery on or around trees, and the powder that was meant to be the ground couldn't even be considered sand.

  There was also a lack of animal life. In the city he'd see rats, but here there wasn't even a peep. The land was completely silent.

  Out of nowhere, Ezra managed to bring a guitar and fit it into his small seat. Without a care in the world, he strummed away the blues, giving color to the barren lands.

  Hooligan gave a small smirk, glancing quickly at Ezra, then looking back at the long stretch of road.

  “Do you guys normally travel around like this?” Elias asked, breaking the tension.

  “I do, at least,” Hooligan responded immediately, side-eyeing Ezra. “I don't know about Ezra; I just found him here.”

  “I don't travel much. I had a gig here, and I slowed down, which is why I came. Then this bastard came and tried to recruit me for his little team.” The tempo slowed, and a green, earthy scent filled the minivan.

  “This road sucks, Ezra; you drive.” Hooligan complained, honking the horn at nothing.

  The tempo sped up. “Just drive; you're a grown man.”

  The car dipped into another pothole. “Frick you, dude.”

  “It’s weird out here.” Elias commented, cutting the chaos.

  “Well, yeah, it's called the wastelands for a reason.” Hooligan said back, followed by a small chuckle.

  Ezra’s fingers slip on his guitar as he begins to snicker. Hooligan begins his chuckling again at the sharp sound. He shook his head back and forth at the sound of their giggling.

  A warmth flooded into Elias and out through his nostrils in the form of a laugh.

  They continued on for a moment that felt shorter than it was. “Hey, I never got your name?” Elias asks, his laughter dying down slowly.

  Elias moved to the middle to look at Hooligan before he answered. Instead of Hooligan's raspy voice, the sound of broken glass and then screeching metal filled its place, followed by cracking wood.

  The seat dropped, completely disappearing beneath him, and plunged him underwater. The darkness swallowed him.

  He attempted to cough the blood and powder out of his mouth, but no air came out.

  The blinding light forced his crusted eyelids shut. He tried to move up towards the cracks and booms behind him, ignoring the sharp poking pains inside him.

  Figures and lights sped past. The people seemed to target something out of reach of his mind and his comprehension. Shadows twisted and morphed ahead.

  One figure was struck with a spear of black. His limp body slid down it until it retracted to where it came from, and it fell to the ground. The other man paused his series of attacks briefly.

  Elias tried to breathe again.

  Nothing.

  Again he was plunged into darkness.

  This time he was lying on a hill facing whatever attacked them.

  The car was now laid upside down in flames, the holes filled with branches. Both the figures continued to send light and matter at the creature, who now flew above them.

  One was bashed in the side with a club larger than the car and is sent flying to the side. His body hit the hill headfirst and fell limp once again.

  Elias closed his eyes and grasped his fleeting breath. The more he tried, the deeper he plunged. Despite the sun, Elias was cold. Detached from the world and stripped of the functions of a human.

  “Grab Elias; we have to go!”

  “We can’t how—”

  “Just grab him and come to me, Ezra.”

  Elias felt his body being picked up not by human hands but by something different. A hard surface rises from beneath him and moves towards the sounds. Tendrils wrapping around his body. An excruciating pain was forming around his chest.

  Elias yells until sound comes out of his mouth

  “Grab onto my hands and his!” Elias assumes it’s Hooligan.

  Elias fell sideways and up at the same time. His screaming ceases. A rotten smell filled his nostrils and reached his dying mind. A pressure filled the air as the force within Elias pushed outwards. The flashes of light he saw from under his eyelids whizzed past. Sounds twisted like an out-of-tune string.

  The earthy scent he’d been smelling faded. It turned into something else. Bitter, metallic, spoiled.

  They arrived before everything else did.

  “Shaw, get him some help; he’s about to die!” Hooligan yelled at somebody.

  “Jesus what the hell did you do to my door and your—” The man exclaims, clearly startled

  “Please!”

  Elias drifts off again.

  He’s sitting up in a comfortable bed looking straight out the window. Outside is a town, not the Greyharbor he’s known all his life, but a town that actually looks quite similar.

  The chirping of the birds almost made him forget the predicament he was in. His chest began to ache terribly. Looking down, he saw a wound wrapped in blood-stained bandages. A pain worse than any elementary school band practice rang throughout his entire left side.

  To his right he saw Hooligan pacing around the spacious room. To his left he saw Ezra sitting, his head facing the ceiling.

  Ezra’s gaze tightened instantly, and he shot his glance at Hooligan. “What the fuck!”

  “Huh?” Hooligan snarled, looking to stare at Ezra. He said it with such an angry tone Elias’ heart dropped.

  “You died, Abel. You actually died.” Ezra's voice cracking the slightest bit

  “But I’m still here, am I not?”

  “People don’t do that!” Ezra said, raising his voice and standing up.

  “So.”

  “It’s black magic. You're immortal aren't you, you bas—”

  “Now hold on, we wouldn’t have been alive if it wasn’t for me; I brought you guys here!”

  “That too—nobody can travel like that!” Ezra snapped, stepping towards him.

  “We’re alive though.”

  “But at what cost! You’ll never die. Ever!”

  Words turned into yelling and yelling into shouting.

  “So! It doesn't matter!” Hooligan clenches his fists, also stepping towards Ezra.

  “This isn’t magic anymore, what don’t you understand, Abel! It’s a curse, you’ve heard the stories! Just look at yo—oh shit.”

  Hooligan collapsed to the ground as he lunged at Ezra, his fists above his head.

  Iridescent tendrils branched out and grew across his entire body. Ezra instantly fell to check on him.

  Abel? Cain kills Abel, right?