Release Date: 10/12/14 - pre-order via the Kickstarter project: http://kck.st/1m2Rqip
1 The Crag
I can hear water dripping, which tells me that the rains have set in. They may not end for a few days. I push myself upright, out from under the tattered blanket I use to fight off the cold of the Crag. The branches that I've tied together into a makeshift bed creak beneath my weight. Off in the distance I can hear the howling of the wind, blowing across the face of the cave that is both my home, and my prison.
Sleeping next to me are my brothers, Jet and Flot. They aren't really my brothers, but I call them that because I look after them as if they were. I watch their blankets move as they breathe. It amazes me how young they look when they are asleep, but how old they seem when they are awake. Flot still sucks his thumb while he is asleep, which is something the new ones stop doing when they are smaller.
I fold up my blanket and set it down on the bed. It takes me a moment to change into my clothes. I try my best to be quiet, so that I don't wake up the twins. I grab a glowing stick to carry with me, since parts of the Crag can be very dark. After passing by some of the smaller rooms inside the Crag, I reach the Great Fire.
Moss is there, one of the gray ones, making sure that the Great Fire never goes out. He takes turns with a few of the other gray ones, watching it, keeping it alive. We are taught that if the Great Fire dies, so do we. No way to cook food, or to heat water, or to protect ourselves from the black flyers that live above us in the Crag.
Moss nods his head. His long, stringy gray hair falls off his shoulders. I put the tip of my glowing stick into the Great Fire, stealing some of its life. It never seems to mind that I take from it, but give nothing back in return. Maybe the Great Fire is just happy to have people watch over it, so it doesn't mind sharing. I smile at Moss, thanking him for the light and warmth then make my way to the entrance of the Crag.
It takes a few moments of creeping past those who are still asleep to get to the mouth of the cave. I look up and see an endless cloud-filled sky. That's how most of my days are; full of darkness and rain. Thankfully, the ground outside the Crag is more interesting to look at. Rocks covered in shades of green. Fields of grass and clover. It would be beautiful, if it weren't so dangerous.
The sound of footsteps echoes behind me. I can tell by the shuffling of his feet that it's Flot. I turn to look at him. The dim light of the hallway's glowing sticks makes him seem smaller than he really is. His sun-colored face and dark brown hair make it difficult to see him in the shadows.
"Over here," I say.
"Sam, what are you doing?" asks Flot.
"I'm just watching the rain. It's going to make the hunt more difficult today."
"You've hunted in the rain before, and you've always come back with something," says Flot.
"That's true, but do you see those dark gray clouds there?"
"Yes."
"Well those are the type of clouds that bring sky fire."
"I don't like sky fire," says Flot.
"I don't either. But without it, we wouldn't have the Great Fire."
"Is that where it came from? The gray ones said that it was a gift from the Sky Gods."
"It was, but that's how they gave it to us."
"Oh," says Flot. "So when are we going to hunt?"
"After breakfast, just like always," I say.
