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Chapter 57

My absolute terror drives up the dredges of all my remaining strength, and I suddenly find I can get to my feet and run.
In seconds I've reached the edge of the bowl, and dragged myself half up the slope, until my arms begin to shake and I simply can't go on any further, so I collapse on the spot and stare out in numb horror at the scene occurring right before my fading eyes.
The pandemonium unfolds, perfect chaos resonating through the stone beneath my hands. One of the things had leapt up and tried to attack the creature Sto-No, Coal- Was riding, for no reason I can see. They've fallen into a twisting, writhing, furry, and now, bloodstained mass on the ground, claws and horns digging at flesh. The commotion has woken the other Beasts, who are now all fighting and gnawing at each other aimlessly, the larger ones tearing through and trampling the smaller ones without a second glance, teeth and fangs scraping against each the other, sending chills up my spine... But there's no sign of Coal.
"COAL!!!" I try to scream, but it comes out as a choked cough, and I continue hacking and spluttering, until blood spatters the hand over my mouth. That's not good...
I try to call out again, but it's worse this time, the coughing shaking my entire form, burning like fire in my raw throat, tears moistening my eyes and leaving tracks through the grime on my cheeks it hurts my chest so much.
Instead of killing myself by calling out again, it takes all I've got to keep my eyes open, searching for Coal... That's all I need to know. I can't let myself die without knowing if he died in the chaos... No, I can do this. I can do this.
A particularly loud Beast bellows another ear-splitting, thunderous rumble, shaking the ground, but sound is fading. I watch the the screaming mass of bloody white feathers and wings, of claws and horns and teeth, and I know nobody could make it out of that alive... But still, I watch, not daring even to blink, knowing very well the instant I close my eyes I won't have the strength to reopen them.
Coal-Or is it Stone, really?- Isn't coming out of there. I know it deep down, but still, I force myself to watch, waiting, because I can't accept that. Coal(I've forgotten why I call him that... Isn't he Stone?)- He's the surviver. He's the one who lives after everyone else is dead and gone, survives on his natural predatory instinct alone. He's the only person I've ever encountered who takes the phrase- The hunted becomes the hunter- Quite literally. Honestly, I've always pitied the poor Beasts who've come in contact with him. No, Stone, he will live, he always done. After all, he's descended from the great First King, the First Ruler, the one who lead the other thirty six First Generations to shelter, to life. But not only that- He led them back to civilization.
I wasn't there before the apocalypse. I would have to be over 170 years old, for though this year is 163, it's told that the apocalypse lasted for almost a decade, over eight years.
I can only tell you what my mother told me. The story's been passed down for generations, so parts of it may, or may not be true.
I remember quite clearly asking my mother what caused the Old World to end. And I recall her answering, very, very seriously. "Sweety, they did exactly what they're going to do all over again. Human nature, I suppose." She shrugged, and had bent down to begin weaving a rope of vines, from where she had left again.
Even then, at my young age, I had been perfectly aware that this was a very vague statement, and had promptly interrogated her further.
"And what are they doing?"
She looked up from her rope, staring into my eyes, for a very long time, in fact, so long my child-sized attention span began to drift off to other thoughts, so when she finally spoke, I had all but forgotten what the question was.
"Trying to play with us."
If I had asked her at this age, I know she would have said something along the lines of totalitarianism, but I doubt that would stick with me as well. "Play with." So deceivingly innocent a statement, yet, somehow, so much more sinister.
But it's truthful. The City, the Order, the Rulers, they're all playing with us! Suddenly, I begin to wonder if me and Coal, if the threat of the rebels, presents even the slightest danger to them all!? The Rulers, we're they're toys! We've all been under the influence of the Order from the moment we entered the world, whether that was in the City or the Wold! But they've underestimated us, or me, at least.
I can be very unpredictable.