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**Chapter Four: Back in the Outlands
Long ago, when the beasts first arrived, they devastated the human race, reducing their population and causing the eradication of many countries. After a few years, humans managed to push the beasts back and create cities, using a new material to construct domes that proved difficult for creatures to breach easily. However, as humans began to fall asleep and disappear, the beasts seized the opportunity to launch attacks on numerous cities. Among the few cities that remained standing, albeit barely, was Arax City. The wealthy and influential had relocated to the center, while the less fortunate were left to fend for themselves. Fortunately, the city's protective dome remained mostly intact, allowing only rat-like creatures to infiltrate through underground burrows.
Occasionally, a more formidable beast, the stone worm, would breach the city's already broken defenses, leaving death in its wake. At this moment, one such creature was silently advancing through the soil, mere meters away from the city.
Nicholas, though initially angered, had managed to regain his composure, until Don's final words echoed in his mind: "I killed Danny and Cassie." The anger Nicholas had suppressed surged anew. Danny and Cassie had been his only companions after his altercation with Don, offering him solace until their untimely deaths, where Nicholas had met Michael, the one who had discovered their bodies. As Nicholas reminisced, memories of their initial struggles flooded his thoughts.
Thirteen years prior, Nicholas and Don, aged four and three respectively, were left orphaned when their parents vanished. With nowhere to turn, they were relegated to the desolate outlands, a forsaken area where survival was a daily struggle. On the day they were exiled from the inner city, two mysterious men bestowed upon Nicholas two small black boxes, instructing him not to open them until they reached the ages of 15 and 14 respectively.
Thrown into the midst of chaos at a tender age, Nicholas and Don fought for survival against both beasts and fellow humans. Despite the hardships, their bond endured, with Nicholas often consoling his younger brother through tears and exhaustion.
Years passed, and now at ages 15 and 14, Don once again implored Nicholas to open the boxes. Despite numerous failed attempts, the box yielded to Don's touch, revealing its contents: a black ring resting on a red velvet pillow. As Don moved to put on the ring, Nicholas cautioned against it.
"Don't, Don. You don't know what that ring is," Nicholas warned.
"Come on, Nicholas. It's probably just some trinket. It's not like it'll transform me into a bio warrior," Don retorted dismissively as he slipped the ring onto his finger.
Before Don could finish his sentence, his body began to convulse subtly.
"Are you okay, Don?" Nicholas inquired, concern etched on his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Better than ever," Don replied with an unsettling smile, prompting Nicholas to recoil in horror
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**In real time:**
Just beyond the protective dome of the outlands, a massive six-foot-long stone worm emerged, its thick stone armor rendering it nearly indestructible. Devoid of visible eyes, the creature seemed to be drawn towards an abandoned warehouse, driven by a mysterious directive to unleash destruction upon it and its inhabitants.
Inside the warehouse, roughly forty people went about their tasks—some loading boxes onto a rusted hover truck, others sharpening makeshift weapons fashioned from scrap metal. In a secluded room within the warehouse, Don smirked malevolently at his reflection in a mirror. An eerie figure stared back at him from the mirror's depths.
"Prepare for the sacrifice," the mirrored figure instructed.
"Of course, I'm ready to utilize them all. Otherwise, I wouldn't have nurtured them in the first place," Don replied.
Before their conversation could progress further, a deafening explosion reverberated through the warehouse.
Without hesitation, the stone worm burst forth from beneath the ground, its monstrous form wreaking havoc and devouring anything in its path. Chaos ensued as the inhabitants scrambled to defend themselves, but many fell prey to the creature's relentless onslaught.
Emerging from the wreckage, Don surveyed the devastation, his expression grim. With more than half of his followers lost to the stone worm's rampage, he donned the black ring, unleashing tendrils of lightning that struck down those who remained. Advancing towards the stone worm, Don's resolve hardened.
"You dared to kill my sacrifices? Well, now I can finally test my power," Don declared, his voice laced with determination.
Unwilling to retreat, the stone worm met Don's challenge head-on.
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