Alaric slid to a halt as soon as he heard someone’s shout.

  “Dad! There are people!” A shout echoed again.

  He grasped his hammer tightly, and stood in front of Clara, stopping her with his other arm. His gaze darted around the street until he located the source of the shout.

  The narrow street was in chaos. The asphalt was broken and dented and covered in tyre marks and blood. Half a dozen barely recognisable bodies were scattered on the pavement. Two men stepped out from behind a crashed car. “Alaric?” The older one asked in disbelief. “Is that Clara behind you?” The relief in his voice was palpable. “Thank god!” He cried out as he limped towards them.

  “Carl?” Clara pushed his arm aside and walked forward. Her hands shook. “And Edward? You guys survived!” The happiness in her voice died down as she noticed Carl’s limp. “What happened?!”

  Alaric leaned against the corner they just turned around. His pounding heart refused to slow, his lungs burned, begging for more air. He closed his eyes for a moment as he listened to them. It took a few moments for his racing heart to calm, and the pain in his chest to subside.

  “Where’s Alina?”

  Clara’s question was met with silence. A single glance at the faces of Carl and his son was enough to answer his sister’s question. “I’m sorry,” he stepped away from the wall he was leaning against and gently squeezed Carl’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

  The older man shook his head. “Thanks,” his voice was but a whisper. He raised his gaze from the ground. “It’s good that you two are ok. We’re glad… but-“

  “We’re running out of time.” Alaric completed his words for him. “We think we know where this Hallowed Ground is. Come with us.”

  Edward’s eyes lit up somewhat through his grief. “You do?!” He looked at his father. “We should go. Please, dad. It’s not safe here anymore.”

  Uncle Carl nodded, albeit with a bitter expression. His lips formed a thin line as his gaze met Alaric’s. “Go then and take Edward with you. I’ll just… slow you down.” He pointed at his bloody leg. “One of the damn wolves got me just above the knee and…” His voice faded.

  “What? No!” Edward exclaimed over his father’s words. “We’re not leaving you here, right Clara?” His gaze darted between her and Alaric with a desperate plea. “We can take him with us, right?” He walked up to Alaric, placing his trembling hands on his shoulders. “Please! I just lost my mom. I can’t lose my dad too!” His voice was a sharp whisper, spoken through gritted teeth.

  “Clara?” He glanced at her sister. “Can you heal him, like you healed me?”

  His sister nodded. She crouched, hovering her palm above Carl’s knee. Her eyes closed, and she tightened her jaw as she focused.

  “We won’t leave him behind.” Alaric reassured Edward. “I’m sorry about Alina – about your mom. She didn’t deserve this.”

  Edward wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Thanks.” He whispered with a catch in his voice.

  Clara clicked her tongue. “I healed him a little bit but it’s not working anymore. I’m… I’m too tired I think.” She shook her hand as if that would fix it. “What do we do?”

  “Just leave me and-“

  “Shut up.” Alaric walked past Edward and stopped in front of Carl. “I’ll help you, we’ll get you to the Hallowed Ground.” He threw Carl’s arm over his shoulders. “Lean on me and walk as fast as you can.”

  47:21

  They should have left Fairford minutes ago. Setting a fast pace, Alaric headed north. Carl grunted and heaved with each step they took. Most of his weight was on Alaric’s shoulders, but clearly the wound still made it painful to move his leg. Clara and Edward followed them, trailing behind half a dozen steps at most. The countdown remained at the corner of his vision – a reminder of the destruction that had already happened, and that of which was yet to come.

  They didn’t come across anyone else – either no one was going the same way as them, or they had already escaped. Or they were dead. His heart felt heavy, his chest tight. The weight of the hammer gave him little confidence. He wasn’t sure if he could stand his ground against any more of those weird wolf-like creatures.

  They marched on after leaving Fairford. The rolling hills surrounding the market town were cut through by a river running southward. He spotted silhouettes far away, escaping. They were too far to recognise, too far to warn that they could be going the wrong way.

  We don’t have time to warn them.

  The sound of running water hung in the air as they followed the riverbed. The Hallowed Ground – or at least what they assumed was the Hallowed Ground – was on the river, so if they hurried and didn’t stray from following it, they should make it there.

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  He glanced at the countdown one more time.

  32:04

  “They crashed through the roof… Mom tried to run but…” Bits and pieces of Edward’s conversation with Clara reached his ears. He wanted to tell them to hurry – that they didn’t have time. They had wasted too much time just standing around and… chatting-

  He stopped himself. He couldn’t snap at them for being human. For being afraid and confused. God knew he was scared as hell too. He redirected his thoughts to the countdown, and the system. It was responsible for everything. The deaths, the confusion, the fear. His wounds and Alina’s death. And everyone else’s deaths.

  Minutes passed as he led them along the river, battling with his own emotions as the others’ chatter did little to distract him. He sped up his march onwards, and the others hurried to catch up, not once complaining. The countdown was ever-present – they all could roughly guess what was at stake.

  Every minute felt like many, their pace seemed slow, and the ticking countdown felt too fast.

  07:32

  A rather large rock formation jutting out of the ground entered their vision as they walked around a hill. A couple of small, young trees grew behind the rock. Next to it were the remains of the church that once served both Fairford and Bibury.

  One of its walls had collapsed somewhat, while the others had small gaps in them. About three quarters of its roof remained somewhat intact, but the bell tower had long since collapsed. He led them to the church, and only stopped when they arrived by its entrance.

  “Is this it?” Edward’s voice barely reached him over the sound of his racing heart.

  It has to be.

  The young man’s innocent question made all the doubts he had been suppressing surface. Had he made a mistake? Was he wrong? Was this not the ‘hallowed ground’? Had he led his sister to her death? Questions surfaced one after the other, his chest tightened, his breathing turned shallow and sharp.

  OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED

  REWARDS GRANTED:

  REJUVENATION

  Thank god… He let out a breath of relief. He hadn’t guessed wrongly. He hadn’t killed them.

  He helped Carl sit down on the grass, then pushed the system window aside. As soon as his fingers touched the box floating in the air, his skin tingled. The hairs on his arms rose. A sudden cold flashed across his body, almost as if he had been dumped into an ice bath.

  “Cold!” Clara cried out, while Carl drew a sharp breath, and Edward grunted unhappily.

  The dull pain on his back and shoulders had vanished. His chest didn’t hurt anymore, the scratches and bruises on his arms were gone. His skin felt clean, and he felt refreshed, almost as if he had woken up from a good night’s sleep.

  “Oh!” Carl breathed out as he rubbed the makeshift bandages on his leg. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He hesitated for a moment before slowly unwrapping them. The torn, bloody hole in his jeans showed no wound – just clean, normal skin. Not even a scar remained. “I’ll be damned – it healed me.” He glanced at Clara. “Unless you did something?”

  She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t me.”

  Their reward was rejuvenation. Healing and rest. Alaric gritted his teeth. This wasn’t over – there was certainly more to come. If this system decided to give them a reward like this, it could only mean they weren’t going to have the time to rest in the near future.

  “We’ve got shy of five minutes left before the countdown ends.” Clara shot him a glance. “Do we just… wait?”

  Alaric shrugged. “I suppose. Sit and rest. Don’t step outside the Hallowed Ground. I’ll take a look around.”

  He approached the rocks jutting out of the ground. It was a large, dark grey rock reaching a little over three meters high. Casting a wide shadow on the grassland, it towered above pretty much everything else there – even the small trees. It was the best vantage point around here.

  Despite its height, it proved to be quite easy to climb – it was wide and covered in steps and handholds. He grunted as he pulled himself to the flat top of the large rock, somewhat surprised at his own ability to pull himself up so easily.

  He could see much of the surrounding area from here – and the few dozen people travelling… somewhere. Not here. To the wrong place. “Over here!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, waving his arms wildly in hopes they would notice him standing atop the large boulder.

  A few of the silhouettes stopped, some pointed at him. One of them turned around and shouted to the group that was farther away. “Hurry!” he shouted, glancing at the countdown floating just at the corner of his vision.

  02:18

  Several groups of people started running towards him. All of them who’d heard his voice, or the voice of those who echoed his words.

  “What’s going on?” Clara’s voice sounded from below. She was standing at the foot of the large boulder.

  “People.” He didn’t take his eyes off them. “I think they’ll make it.”

  They ran, sprinting downhill, then climbing uphill again as fast as they could. The closer they got, the better he could see them. There were a few elderly – an old woman, who was helped by two young girls, probably the same age as Clara. Two older men also ran, just a few steps behind them. Most of them were young adults – well above the age of university, at the peak of their physical condition. He spotted only a single small child, carried by a young woman who was limping badly.

  01:42

  A girl and a man were the first to arrive, immediately followed by a dozen or so young adults. The elderly woman and the two girls nearly fell over as they arrived at the foot of the boulder and collapsed in exhaustion before the system granted them rejuvenation. They were nearly a minute slower than the others. The two elderly men made it in the final few seconds, only because one of them took the child, and the other offered his strength to the limping woman.

  00:04

  He spotted more people running. A couple, and a few young men rushed downhill.

  00:03

  A veil of grey fog descended around him. He blinked once, realising the fog condensed around the edge of the Hallowed Ground.

  00:02

  His heart raced as he watched the group rush over.

  00:01

  He knew before that final second ran out – they weren’t fast enough. The veil of fog thickened as the number turned to zero, and the countdown ended. It veiled the world from his gaze.

  “Ava?!” He heard Clara’s voice below.

  “We made it, grandma!” A girl’s crying voice echoed in the silence. Sighs of relief, the muttering of people, and a child’s cry filled the air.

  WARNING – AETHERFALL HAS BEGUN