CHAPTER 1

Last Rites City

"How much for these?" Said the cloaked figure. Slamming down a bloodied sack onto the merchant’s counter. Her voice told the merchant she was not in a mood to barter or hear his smart-ass remarks today.

"You know the deal Ayreon, I got to inspect them!” snarled the merchant who was safe behind his iron barred counter. “You know... we don’t want no dodgy parts now do we eh?" replied the round bellied man.

Ayreon pulled part of her blood red scarf closer to her face as to cover her mouth and nose. It was not only a means to conceal herself but a way of blocking the smell. She did not know what smelled worse the heads and claws that were in the bag or that sad excuse of a man that sat hunched prying the sack open like there was treasure inside.

After a minute of Ayreon staring at the bald man’s sweaty and disgusting head that was littered with weird spots and boils, she lost her patience and grabbed the hilt of her blade and tapped the table loud enough to startle the daft man. "Well go on then exchange it already!" she demanded.

He simply tutted, "you know, a lass like you could be used elsewhere..." He looked her up and down and gave a small lick of the lips. Even though she was covered from head to toe by a cloak, hiding her slim figure. She felt his eyes upon her, and it made her sick. She covered herself even more if that was possible.

"I’d rather hunt these bastards down than stay in this hell hole of a city" she replied sharply, her eyes twinkled daring him to make a move so that her blade could taste the flesh of a human instead. Not that her blade would be pleased being wasted on a poor excuse of a human if that what this greasy sleezy man represented.

"Well good luck getting out of this city with that excuse you called a blade. You’re going to need to cut down bigger foes than these little twerps." he said while pushing over a small coin purse with Order approved coins.

Ayreon gritted her teeth under her scarf angry and embarrassed as there was some truth to what he said, but I am sure her jade eyes gave that away.

Ayreon quickly snapped up the purse and turned on her heel. The merchant looked on after her knowing he would see her again like he had plenty times before.

She made haste through the market square. She was busy thinking of the surface and what the sky now resembled. It was a smoky red and dark grey. There were no real major adjustments in day and night as the cycles looked the same. Just a looming darkness, that persisted, its heavy haze blocked the sun out.

Those that survived dare tangle with the surface or be foolish enough as it resembled an apocalyptic waste land. That was what New York City now resembled as no one has managed to exit its borders or returned speaking of areas beyond that may not be affected by the demons above.

Ayreon had never ventured to far out in the city. Only far enough to tackle the smaller and inferior demons. Equal in size to giant rats only with more teeth and less hair…It was not long discovered that bullets from guns didn’t really have an effect on the demons, when the event first happened military and citizens alike was shooting like mad, but the demons flesh would just heal and regenerate. Only blades and silver bolts or even rarer, a gun which had silver ammo could truly wound or destroy.

Most people could not even afford the bows and crossbows to fire the darn silver bolts. So, a silver blade was a common choice. Ayreons blade admittedly was stolen, it was not even finished. She remembered that day fondly, she had hidden half a day waiting for the opportunity to take it, it was at a moment when the apprentice of a smith got left in charge while his master was talking business around a corner. Ayreon grabbed the nearest blade she could get her hand on and discovered how nimble she really was. Darting and weaving around the city with the young apprentice chasing her waving his hammer about trying to stop her. He soon gave up when he realized Ayreon was too quick for him. Ayreon tested her agility more than once, taking what she could to survive.

Ayreon was starting to forget what the skies used to look like. She thought hard to herself trying to picture in her mind the blue sky which she saw for the last time 6 years ago. Today marked her 17th Birthday. And it reminded her that was the day she lost both of her parents, and how she vowed to find out what really happened and why on earth someone would let those demons in.

Eventually after navigating the so-called city called ‘Last Rites’, which was mankind’s last resort from the demons above. It was a large area under New York that was already in development for a future submerged city, but it was far from complete, so it resembled the surface just minus the demons.

When the demons entered our world, people soon found out about this hidden gem and it was soon flooded with what people were left, then it was soon cut off from the surface to stop any demons coming down.

She arrived at what she called her home; it was nothing much. Just a few dust sheets that she managed to find on the surface, strewn up like a web to make a tent, as it was too expensive to buy them down in LR city. Yes, it had a leaky old rusted pipe that dripped continuously, but that was a means of water which was presumed from the surface or Ayreon hoped. And sometimes it was relaxing listening to the dripping if you wanted to drown out the noises of below.

Only thing was you just had to boil it about 3 times and filter it with whatever you could find, Ayreon even used an old sock once but eventually upgraded it with the help of learning off others. But the best thing about her home was that it was hidden. Situated in a nook in one of the walls above the madness that went on below in the makeshift housing and trade area.

Ayreon stretched out yawning, she had always gotten up first to hunt and then to trade. Before it got busy with the more daring hunters who would test the tides of luck with bringing in a more potent demon. But they were few and far as most other desperate people never returned. Loved ones would walk around asking the people if they had seen their family members. Some of the better-known hunters were celebrities in Last Rites city, always showing off with their haul, and their fancy armor and weapons.

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Last Rites city is a hard-gruesome place, but it was somewhere humanity could call home.

Luckily Ayreon survived for the last 6 years with an older lady until she got taken away by the ‘Order’ for housing in secrecy children and not handing them over to them for proper exportation or in other words, slavery of some sorts, whether it was to build the increasing size of the Order’s HQ, mining or join the ranks of the Order’s military. Ayreon caught on fast and kept silent and hid from the Order. The “Order was like the military might down in Last Rites. They made sure they kept an eye on us all, they reminded us that supplies are scarce, that’s why we few who don’t have valuable skills have to hunt or get lucky and hired by someone daring enough to take you on, it was the only way of living and it somehow worked. And once you were of age 16 you were forced to either do hard labor which is no different to a slave or fend for yourself which more than likely resulted badly. Sometimes if you were lucky the merchants or craftsman would take you in but that was far and few between.

Ayreon rested her back against the cold hard wall, spinning the hilt of her blade over and over with her hand, she stared at the blade that was now showing signs of stress ready to break to give way to its own end at any time, the blade had done her well so far, it had served its purpose bringing her parts to exchange for money and buy food, if it was what you could call food.

She wondered how long it would be before she would have to attempt to take another blade, but she had been keeping an eye on the blacksmiths, they had fortified their shop, and protected their wares, to make sure thieving did not happen again and as time went by it got tighter like a well knit sweater.

The apprentice was always on edge from that day on she took the blade, Ayreon unfortunately made the apprentice’s master so angry that he got a beating. As much as Ayreon wanted to apologize, she knew one day she would and repay him with a coin or two or some demon parts, maybe a big one with rare parts would do, but it might be a while as Ayreon was still working her way up to them and at this rate it looks like it may take years.

At first it was hard trying to get to the surface as it was heavily monitored, and the Order had guards posted nearby demanding a part of the hunters catch if they were so lucky to return. Kind of like a new age tax of some sort. But Ayreon soon figured out how to bypass them with a neat little passage that eventually joined onto the main one out up onto the surface. She had to make a map at first, the passage was filled with tight sections that would have her slowing shuffling across a ledge with only enough space for a small framed person, or a ledge that fell off into the dark unknown, but with time and many journeys she ingrained it in her mind. A virtual map that she only knew.

As Ayreon sat leaning against the wall she leant over to one side, her black hair dangled down next to her smooth petite face, she fumbled under some loose concrete pieces and pulled out a thin long wooden box no bigger than a knife block. The box was highly detailed, flowers blossomed from the corners and a brass clasp held it shut tight. The wood was worn and weathered and almost black in color.

Ayreon opened it up taking her scarf off and neatly folding it, she placed it neatly in the purple velvet lined box. The scarf was not only functional, but it was sentimental, it was a gift from the lady who took care of her. She said it was once meant for her daughter, but she unfortunately died on the surface. She had got bitten from a demon, they say a bite off certain demons will kill, it is like a rapid infection that is like that of a snake or spider except there is no cure. Her name was Mrs. Petran and Ayreon held her close in her heart, she always got told that she reminded Mrs. Petran of her daughter, young beautiful and courageous. They would stay awake for hours talking while the other children she fostered slept. She taught Ayreon how to survive with what they had, she herself Mrs. Petran had to learn fast in Romania before she decided to immigrate to America and give her daughter a better life and the hopes of putting her through college.

After placing it away with her blade, she walked over and grabbed the metal pan that collected the dripping water from the pipe, she skimmed the surface of the water removing the heavier metal particles and then put it through the makeshift filter she had made, she was always making sure her supply of water was constant.

She had acquired a ferrocerium rod which she managed to steal from a stall down below, it was nearly on its last legs, just like her blade. She gave it a strike with the metal that accompanied the rod on a metal cord and started a fire with bits of wood which Ayreon stashed away behind the wall.

“What am I going to do” she said to herself stoking the small fire which sat inside a metal can with holes pierced through it. She had seen other people down below do it to contain fires, in-fact she learnt a lot by study others, that is how she learned to use her blade by watching other hunter’s train. Flames licking the air providing little to no smoke which was how she kept so hidden. She placed a pan of water on top of the can watching it slowly start to produce bubbles from the heat, she tried her best to forget todays terrible haul.

She was opting to start stealing again, but she did not want to risk it, now guards were patrolling more often. She had heard rumors of thieves getting pitted against hunters, and those who were deemed worse by the crowd were put against demons themselves in ‘the pit’ which was over the other side of L R city. Ayreon had visited the pit once to learn how to take on the rat like demons. It was before they started a gambling sport out of it. It used to be a holding pen for demons. But the Order made use of it saying it brought joy to the people. Ayreon did not deny it gave people something to do, seeing as power was a limited thing. It was always shut down once a day as maintenance had to be made. It was not enough to power TV’s or any other sort of electronics, it was just enough to power the lights and some more important resources. Power was a luxury, they say the blast from the NHC caused an EMP, so the Order was established and provided enough power for those who live in LR City. It was one of the Orders laws, you are not allowed power unless it was approved by the Order. Strict punishment was in place for those who would try to tap into it.

Ayreon pulled the pan off and poured the water through one more filter again, it still was not pure and clear as she would like, but it was now drinkable. She took a big swig of it and tilted her head back in appreciation of it. She grabbed what was left of some stale looking bread and took a bite, it was so hard she spat it out. “Gah! Suppose at some point I will have to head down after a quick nap, see what I can get for these” she said to herself pulling an Order coin out of the purse.

Ayreon pulled her hood back letting her hair breathe after being held down by the hood, she untied her black hooded cloak and hung it off a line which she had set up just behind the fire, to dry any damp which was gathered from travelling in the wet rubble wastes on the way to the surface.

“I am sure fear, is something that can be smelt and tasted by demons”

Excerpt from Ayreon’s Journal

By D.M.Woods