The Wastes: Book 1, The Rising Storm

Sanctuary

 Shadows outlined the moonlight as the destroyed buildings pulled me away from the wall. The wall that had kept humanity safe is showing signs of disrepair, cracks easily one hand width stood pitch black against the silvery light of stone. It had kept the monsters away caused by man turning various animals into abominations of nature. At the thought of the karmatic justice my tail twiched as vulpine ears flicked reminding me that I too was considered an abomination myself.

Dust billowed up as I tripped on rubble for the umpteenth time I pulled a glove off. Squinting, blue blossomed all over the back of my hand branching out eventually my entire hand glowed to safely see. Rocks cast shadows in wake of the bio-luminescence another side effect of the mutation. Along the heightened sensitivity and reaction times this is one of the more universal signs of infection. My thoughts were cut short when the interior of an old church echoed the popping of joints. Tensing I gripped the handle of the collapsible stave causing the tips to burst outward with a soft whistle. A dark shape pulled from the shadows that filled the collapsed ruins.

"I've been waiting for you," a muffled voice whispered,"Did you get it?"

"Aye." I replied passing a small locket into the man's hands words accented with a slur, a byproduct of being bilingual ," Much more difficult to find in the dark but it tends to be." Light revealed his masked face as the locket opened showing two displays.

After the exchange of rings we parted ways him to the glowing street the light cast shadows off the cloak he wore tight around him. His home towered in the distance boasting high walls and more than capable cannons sweeping the nearby vicinity. More than one life had been claimed to the fiery blasts of the cannons. Tying the the punched metal currency to the leather strap wrapping the metal in cloth. Looking around to ease the unsteadiness of my nerves I slipped into the pitch of shadows. Pulling the metal cover off and dropping into the yet darker piping that had not seen use for a millennia. Several turns and long ruined corridors later a wall pulled away lighting the shadowed corridor in an eerie green.

Bands of light flashed past me as several sensors pulled information on my tags that hung around my neck. The frequency of light bands increased as I approached the end. Invisible waves pushed against the soles of my shoes gently until I came to a soft landing at the bottom. The door separated showing pillars of hardened stone reinforced in with metal. Striding past the guard I entered into the echoing dome of the buried city. In the ambient light that encompassed various pillars that housed closed businesses. A single business was open warm light pouring into the darkened expanse. I swept through the doorway to the half-asleep clerk.

"Lasha." At the mention of his name the burly man jolted awake pulling out a very dangerous sidearm as he took aim. Muscles bulged held back by the fabric that covered his torso. the gun looked puny in the meaty hands of the towering behemoth. Black fur was neatly shaven to arrows on the backs of his palms.

"Git yer mask off and I'll do business wit cha." Lasha accented with a flick of his pistol. His black cat ears was flattened against against his skull.

"Oops, forgot It was on. No wonder the night guards gave me a strange look." I retorted free of the piece of protection. "By the way how many people use your first name?"

"Itch been hard lately, mate. Wit all dem robberies takin' place. And to answer yer question, yer the only person aside from de higher ups." His rough brogue for the language made it difficult for most to understand. But it was the cause to some interesting encounters and various stories. He holstered the pistol to his waist allowing me to relax my honed muscles.

"Show, here to pick up yer package eh? When ye asked meh to stay at de shop i wasn't thinkin dis long."

I nodded,"To be honest I wasn't expecting it to take as long as it did." The mark was a former human that ran off. in the encounter the locket had slipped off and hid in the darkened ground of buildings past. the longest part was finding the only way that my client would pay me the sum of coinage. Lasha guffawed at my misfortune. While I counted the coins to pay for the gift Lasha slid it with a glower.

"Take it," he muttered in outlandish,"Lest your wee lass ill find out." I pushed the coinage back onto the lanyard begrudgingly vowing to pay the salesman back. Open debts are a nightmare for bounty hunters like me. Spend additional time paying them back is wasteful and unprofessional but he refused to take coin from me. Lasha stifled the lights plunging the shop in shadow while I slipped the hefty box into my satchel. We parted ways each heading home for a few hours of sleep.

The curved corridors grew various varieties of moss along the walls. Plants pushed up against the grates suspended above gurgling water unfit for use without further processing. Doorways broke the monotony of the corridor casting shadows from the pale blue light. Muscle memory directed me to the door as I pressed the uneven tube to a metal square. Metallic chinks pinged around the door giving way to my weight as the smell of burnt food wafted from the darkened room. Saving the investigation for later in the day I followed the left wall to a smaller chamber with a nest of blankets. No sooner did the satchel come off then I collapsed with exhaustion in the middle and was asleep.