Prologue

A few weeks ago

— Dead, — whispered one of the men, but immediately added, grabbing the corpse by its slashed throat: — Quite a long.

Through the dark glasses that covered his blue eyes, the man intensely surveyed the corpse. His short, bright red hair hardly stirred in the wind, though it occasionally tugged at the white fabric of his clothing, adorned with not very appealing stains. The light-brown belt almost blended in with the tall, dark boots.

Looking at the lifeless body, there was no doubt that he was one of the scavengers.

Similarly dressed in white, with greenish skin and black hair, Quite young... Alongside, in the convoy, there were many others like him, by the shores of the Maars Sea, where they felt at home.

— And who's the killer? — asked the dark-haired man, leaning over the body and examining it again.

— Hell if I know, — he grunted irritably and added, looking away: — Maybe that woman, maybe someone else dared.

— And the shadows? — asked the frightened youngster.

— To hell with those shadows, — he replied impatiently, — we've got merchandise here worth a few hundred.

— Girl, hey, did you find anything else? — calmly asked the one standing by the cage.

— Something inside, oh my, how it's valued, — he calmly said, and continued: — What's minimal the bid on her?

— Fifty, no less, — replied the youngster, pointing to the girl in the cage, — and what do you think?

— Are you blind?! — surprised, commented the redhead, — A hundred, for sure. She's not just ordinary blood.

— How the hell is she alive? — asked one of those near the cage, — everyone knows...

— Private, I told you! — shouted the leader irritably, — You're only interested in money and nothing more.

After that, he just nodded towards the girl, dressed in the same white attire, who lay weakly in the iron cage in the car's cargo hold. She was short and slender, pale, and without freckles on her light skin. Her curly hair, resembling a rebellious cloud the color of a raven's wing, was tightly pulled into a bun under the hood. Occasionally, her emerald eyes opened, as if surveying everyone with her tired gaze.

No one even suspected who she really was or why she was still alive. Looking around, the commander made a quick hand gesture again, as if ordering the rest to quickly leave this cursed place. The border was unpredictable, and they all knew it. They were running out of time. He felt that something was approaching...

In legends, a completely different world is told. But among the living, there was no one who remembered it. At least, it was beautiful until the darkness broke free from its shackles. Long ago, the ancient gods locked away the greatest evil known to this day, Kres-trey, the black serpent, behind forty-nine locks. To maintain the order of the world, the gods left the Gadians. For forty-nine centuries, humanity lived in safety, developing and flourishing, but at one moment, the darkness broke free.

In the wastelands, there was no life, they said on the shores, but that was a lie. The wastelands were not only endless deserts but also the ruins of vast cities and castles, endless forests and jungles, rivers and lakes. But there, for hundreds of kilometers around, there were no people. Most of the nomads lived on the border, between the world of humans and the wasteland, making a living by marauding the remnants of the old world, often bringing strange artifacts to the cities that still remained after the great tumult.

Beyond the iron backbone that stretched along the ancient ruins, the sectarians lived. They said that once they were ordinary people but left the cursed lands for a better life. No one knew for sure where they came from: some said they were once nomads and ordinary people who, for some unknown reason, set out into the depths of the cursed lands, others said that these were the ones who survived after the fall of the old world.

They worshipped Crestreya, believing that by following it, they would reach the mythical lost lands, a place beyond the horizon where there was not even death. They also had their fears. Therefore, they were wary of the creatures that lived in the wastelands. Monsters are ready to kill anything in their path. This was understood by anyone, who dared to approach the ruins of the old world.

The vultures were now camped closer to the coast. The dim light from a small bonfire barely illuminated everything around. A few men sat around, and a small pot boiled some brown liquid with light-yellow pieces of something.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes opened.

One of the men looked at her and spoke.

— What's your name? — coldly asked one of the scavengers.

— Selin, — the girl replied calmly, coming to her senses.

— Nice name, — he replied calmly, then ordered: — Let her go, we're not savages.

— Yes, sir, — replied the dark-skinned man.

— Will you eat? — he asked calmly.

— Yes, — Selin replied calmly.

She quickly crawled out and approached the bonfire.

The leader gestured for her to sit next to him and handed her a small metal bowl.

The one standing near the cabin suddenly asked:

— Will she not run away? — asked the man with bright blue eyes.

— Where would she run? — replied the leader calmly, then added: — We're in the desert, fool.

— Then let her sit, — he whispered and he climbed into the driver's cabin.

— And how did such a beauty end up here? — the leader asked, somewhat surprised.

— Failed raid on the seven castles, — the girl replied calmly.

— The Black Forest is not the most dangerous part of the wasteland, — the man replied calmly and continued: — But how did you end up here? It's a hundred kilometers from here.

— The labyrinth, — Selin replied calmly and took a small sip.

— Then I'm not surprised, — he replied coldly, — it's indeed a dreadful place.

An uncomfortable silence ensued.

One of the men quickly approached them, pointing with his left hand somewhere in the distance.

Something was there.

Barely visible, maybe just a mist or something like a sandstorm.

As if woven from hatred...

— Pack up! — shouted the irritated scavenger.

— What's this? — the other man shouted in fear, — what the hell?

— Shut up! — the leader shouted again, — you want to die?

— Why is it so close to the living lands? — Selin asked, scared, — It shouldn't be so close!

— This crap has been happening all year! — he shouted in response.