hake_1523

Prologue
In a dark dungeon hallway, two men were carrying torches at the front of the group. One was a German man, and the other was an Australian guy with a Japanese girl on his back. She was covered in wounds and looked to be in her teens. Others in the group were dragging lifeless corpses behind them: a Swedish girl was dragging a Florida man whose stomach had been torn open; a New York businesswoman was holding the head of an older Japanese woman in her left hand while dragging the body with the other; a Mexican man was dragging two corpses, one a Japanese girl and the other an Irish girl. At the far back was a Japanese boy, looking behind them and holding a torch and a short sword.

The Mexican man spoke to the Swedish girl in a quiet voice, “Hey, his innards are coming out. Be more careful, or we can’t bring him back.” She stopped, picked up his innards, and stuffed them back into the wound. She looked broken; her face was wet with tears as she tried to hold back her emotions. If she let out even one loud noise, it could attract the other gargoyles, and they would be dead since their healer was injured and was unconscious. But even then, could they escape without their guide, who had betrayed them?

Their guide, a resident of this world, had betrayed them because he, like many others, believed that they were going to cause the next great catastrophe if they were not killed in time. Attacks and attempts on their lives had been increasing as they got closer to the half-year deadline. They were all tired. They did not know why they were here or why they had to prevent this catastrophe to return home. Even this was not a guarantee; it was just what the clergyman had told them. The people here didn’t even have a god, and they weren’t the ones who brought them here, so there was no one to direct their hatred at. All they could do now was move forward and hope to live another day.

Table of Catastrophe's Chosen

Table of contents

Volume 1