Breaking Eden

"How long have you watched over these walls Kiran?"

"I'd say I must be pushing thirty years now." Says the scarred, old rae.

"But why?" Lami asks, "Why here? For so long...are you being punished?"

"No Lami, I'm not being punished." Kiran thinks for a second, "I suppose...I suppose it's like a sense of duty, it's hard to explain...You'll know what I mean if you're unlucky enough to have to do your job."

Lami nods and the pair look solemnly over the parapet.

"What are they like?" Lami asks nervously.

"You don't want to know."

"I think I do, all I've ever seen is anatomical diagrams and heard outrageous stories but nobody seems to say anything about what it's actually like to fight them. I feel I deserve to know exactly what I'm up against."

"Just leave it be, serve your two years and be done with this place, return over the mountains and live the rest of your life how you see fit. Trust me, nothing can prepare you to face them."

Lami looks to argue but can see Kiran's frustrations begin to surface. Instead Lami gives Kiran a firm pat on the shoulder, picks up his rifle and walks off to patrol the rest of the wall. Kiran remains and continues to watch over the vast desert laid before him. The moon shines high and bright, casting a dull blue hue over the flat sands. A gentle breeze blows which sends ripples through the landscape.

Castle Eden, the bastion of Everett, sits atop the entrance to a vast network of caves and passages which wind through the Minari mountain range and out to the heartlands of the Rae Empire. Eden has stood at this complex and has maintained vigil over the Eastern Wastes for centuries. What was once a mongrel amalgamation of wooden palisades defended by local militia, Eden has grown into the stone titan it is now, walls one hundred meters high, war machines littering the towers and parapets, and a keep which houses the finest men and women of the Imperial Armed Forces. What separates Eden from other large fortresses in the world is that it has no front gate whatsoever. Long ago a wise leader made the decision that there was nothing beyond the Wastes worth the lives it would take to exploit, as such Eden became a seal, a barrier to protect the peoples of Everett from the menace that lurks beneath the sand. This decision has held true throughout all of Eden's history, the castle always fully manned, no expeditions beyond the wall lest it wish to meet a terrible end.

A hand lands on Kiran's shoulder. Another guard, freshly woken, yawns and stretches using Kiran to keep stable.

"C'mon old man, your shifts up, time for bed." The guard says.

"I'm alright Cal, you head back and I'll take your shift." Kiran says with a weak smile.

"We're not doing this again, you're going to go get some rest, you can't keep staring at sand all night."

"No really, I don't mind, please, just go ahead and enjoy your night." 

"I'd enjoy it if you'd let me do my job. If Captain Axen finds out you're taking any more shifts he'll be right down both our throats."

Kiran appears disheartened.

"Axen? Has he been saying something about me?"

Cal lets out a sigh.

"Captain Axen has talked to the rest of the company, he wants us to stop you from ruining yourself through this eternal vigil you've adopted."

Kiran says nothing, deep in thought, staring at the moon.

"He also wants you to start seeing the priest." Cal adds.

"That's not going to happen." Kiran snaps.