Gloom in Gold: The Awakening

Chapter One

Desolated.

There was no memory in her head. Nothing but tranquil angst and certain desolation. Her eyes failed to spot something familiar in her surroundings. She felt caged in by the enormous trees towering over her. The pitch black sky just turned back to the dazzling blue it held just a few minutes ago. The few scattered rays of sunlight that managed to get through the leaves of the crowns fell upon her bronze skin, but her eyes stared at heavens ahead.

Her attempts to stand, or even sit up, fell short as an indescribable amount of pain erupted in her torso. Bolting flames and knife stabbings raged through her flesh, scratching at her bones and tearing her muscle tissue. Her mouth was open, eyes distorted as the agony overthrew her, snatching away the little energy she had left. She tried to scream or even breathe, but her body was frozen still. She had no control, nothing to keep her conscious.

A mixture of confusion, fear, pain and a trace of anger left her eyes in small, black droplets, before her dark orbs lost focus. She fell back to the ground, remaining in the same position without any hint of waking up again.

---

Hostility and danger laid in the air. They felt something was off this day. Could it be a clan attack? Unrealistic, but possible. All of them woke up to a strange feeling that made their skin crawl with incredible tension. The sun was still up, light and bright. They had no chance to search the area immediately.

Therefore, all of them went to investigate several hours later. Everyone was strained. They had their guard up tight, ready to attack anyone that dared to harm them or their property. Any danger to their existence must be suffocated and eliminated immediately.

Erros prowled through the dense forest, careful to be as quiet as can be. His ice blue eyes were wide open, light blond hair combed over his head neatly. He has been tracing a certain scent he has discovered, expecting it to lead him to the enemy.

Contrary to what he anticipated he found something else entirely. One of his brows crooked in confusion, his eyes scanning the area for predators. Laying motionless in an elongated crater, in the depths of their lonely woods, he found a woman. Her back was slashed open, ripped cloth soaked in a dark substance that was mostly dried. He could not see her face, as it was hidden behind long, black hair.

He sniffed again, finding himself in deep confusion. This scent was not one of a regular human being, even though she appeared to be one. The only exception that signaled him she was something else, was her smell and the obscure color of her blood.

A sound behind him made him spin around and he sighed.

"Miles," rolling his eyes as he turned away again, "wouldn't you say something, please?"

"I was concentrating," the other man muttered, eyes on the frame in the dirt. "Didn't want to set up an enemy."

"Fine." The man looked at the body with a tense expression. "I get a strange feeling from that."

"The body?" The man known as Miles stepped closer. "What is it? That's just a human."

"No. Perhaps. I am not certain. She does appear to be a human woman, but I don't think she is."

Miles huffed slightly, stepping closer to investigate the body. "Smells intriguing."

Erros lowered himself, raising one of the arms. "There is a faint pulse."

"Do you want to get her back?"

"Yes. I would like to run some tests on her, she might be something special."