Chapter 1: Chapter One: Endless Steppe
Cassius opened his eyes to a vast expanse of vibrant blue sky, swirls of wispy clouds streaked across to the horizon. He wasn't in his bed. That was bad news. He was having his awakening. Cassius's heart began to race as he shot into a sitting position, glancing around for any danger. He'd been taught about this in school for years. In the middle of the night, less than one percent of the human population was pulled from their bodies and placed into a Trial. A trial to become a warrior. Time would move differently for Cassius here. His days would be seconds back home, one night to go from a normal fifteen year old to a bastion to defend Earth from demons, monsters, and dark forces that had been popping up the last fifty years. To delve into their lairs that were built in destroyed cities, in the wilds, and across the world.
Excitement and fear made Cassius's heart race. Standing up from the soft grass and wiped it off his bareback. He'd been sleeping in nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants, leaving his bony chest and ribs showing. A warm breeze blew across his skin and Cassius frowned. Should have worn something more to bed… Looking around the lanky young man took in his surroundings. Grassy fields spread out around him, there wasn't much to see. It reminded him of pictures he'd seen of the Mongolian steppes. Bright green grass that led up to low hills as far as he could see. No smoke, no birds, just wind and grass making a disconcerting rustling.
"Okay… I've heard that the Trial would point me in the direction of my goal. I'm not seeing any road signs. Mudahar said that this was like a videogame, a quest window appeared for him…"
Cassius waved his hand, nothing.
"Uh Map screen!"
Nothing. Cassius ran a hand through his light brown hair, slightly gripping at the roots in frustration. "Okay. Guess I'll just walk."
Cassius glanced at the sun, he frowned and realized that it was sitting directly above him. So he'd woken up at exactly noon? No, time would probably work differently here, he needed to be more aware. Walking in the direction he'd sat up towards, keeping his eyes peeled for anything different on the horizon. A town, tents, water, anything. Even in the Trial he would need to eat, sleep, drink, and use the restroom. So he would need to find shelter eventually, however there was nothing at all that he could see. Surely whatever magic that had created the Trials wouldn't just dump him this deep into a crappy situation. Though the farther he walked, a chilly feeling ran up his bare spine. There was still nothing in sight. He'd been walking for about thirty minutes now, or what felt like that long.
"What the hell?" Cassius grumbled, stopping as he got to the top of a rolling hill. As far as he could see it was nothing but more grassy fields. Great, his Trial was walking? At this point, fighting off a monster or two would have been something to break the boredom of walking through endless fields. Cassius scratched the back of his neck while turning and taking in his barren surroundings again, okay he needed to keep moving. If he stayed in one place Cassius would never find anything to give him a hint about his goal. He looked up at the sun and realized that it was in the same spot. It hadn't budged… meaning that he didn't know how much time had passed. If it didn't move, he wouldn't know how many days he'd spent here until he woke up… If he died here though… no he couldn't think about that. It made him panic for a second.
Cassius began to run, he'd never been athletic, to be fair he'd never tried. A decision he was regretting now. Usually the Trials made you stronger if you survived them, however it built off your original strengths. What was Cassius strong in? He was an avid mathematician… He aced all his math classes, but that wasn't going to help him here. He was pretty fast, though he didn't have the endurance to keep his speed up. So in very short bursts he was fast. In gym classes he was picked middle of the pack for short dashes in team rallies. Volleyball he was great at short blitz attacks, he could jump and spike the ball pretty well.
Right now he was kicking himself for not taking his physical health more seriously. This wouldn't help him right now. Stay focused. Cassius kept up his scanning of the horizon, his eyesight was very good so he had that going for him. It felt like hours had gone by when the horizon changed finally, Cassius didn't was apprehensive. A small dot had appeared on the horizon. Cassius stopped, he needed to be careful of this world, of his trial. He needed to be cautious. At the same time he'd seen nothing at all for hours, and it was starting to get to him.
As Cassius turned and started walking towards the dot he began to get a little more nervous about just walking towards the unknown. From the stories, shows, and comics that'd been made of the Awakened a few of them had help, most only had enemies. Cassius froze and decided to approach this a little more carefully. He glanced around, he saw no rocks, no trees, or shadows to hide in, of course he was still on an empty steppe landscape with a beating sun. It was like a desert with grassy dunes. Cassius got onto the ground and flattened himself out, placing his ear to the ground. He'd done this many times when he'd been walking on the railroad tracks back home with his dad. Safety had always been one of his fathers strongest areas, and what he'd taught Cassius.
It was faint, but he could feel it, like a thundering wave through the dirt that warned of danger. The pounding of hooves. After several minutes he confirmed that the vibrations were getting heavier. Okay, so they had already spotted him, he had to assume the worst. Cassius gritted his teeth and frantically searched for anything to use as a weapon. There were no stones he could throw, no branches to grab. Nothing. What the hell was this? Looking up, the sun hadn't moved an inch. No way to avoid them till night, cause night time didn't seem to be coming. Crap.
Cassius racked his brain. What did he have? He had his sweatpants and underwear, that was it. Not even a shirt. Why had he decided to sleep mostly in the nude? What the hell was he going to do with sweatpants? Cassius ground his teeth, this was shit. He'd heard that some people started with weapons. Swords, bows, some even had magic! What did he have? Nothing! Not even a tree to hide behind. Cassius's panic was causing his heart to beat wildly in his chest. Cassius tried to slow his beating heart by taking stock of his surroundings and coming up with a plan. The tallest hill around him would be his best bet. It was high ground. Even if it was just slightly higher ground. He spotted a knoll higher than the rest and a little steeper, some part of a plan was forming in his head. He looked at the dot, now more of a line, and judged the distance. Several miles at least, plenty of time to reach the knoll, no chance to run however. They would ride him down sooner rather than later. Horsemen moving at a gallop as they were would reach him in no time.
Cassius imagined power flowing to his hands from the center of his chest. Nothing. Worth a try. Cassius ran as fast as he could to the knoll and began to do everything he could to turn any odds in his favor. When he reached the knoll Cassius stripped his sweatpants off, looking at them. The fabric was thick and warm, as well as being surprisingly tough. He'd had them for years and the only issue he'd had with them were a few stains he couldn't get out. Other than that they were made of sturdy, thick material. Cassius went around the back of the knoll from the approaching horses, he could hear the hooves now, it was distant but the vibrations grew closer as well. He didn't have much time. The teen began to dig into the dirt. Covering his skin as best he could, it must have rained recently in this timeless hellscape because the dirt was wet enough to stick to his skin and break up his silhouette just a bit.
Cassius had learned some things from his dad. Like not skylining yourself in a combat situation. Hopefully he was wrong that it was just a herd of horses, maybe he could try and ride one! But something in his gut was telling him that the universe wasn't going to be that kind to him. Thinking hard, Cassius pulled the drawstring from his sweats and tucked it into the waistband of his underwear. Then held his pants twisted into a thick rope between his hands. This wasn't going to work… unless he could get one separated, on his own. Cassius wasn't that strong, he knew that. However, if he could catch someone unaware, choke them out, or maybe get a weapon in his hands… surprise could work. Surprise could be on his side, and things could go wrong for everyone.
…
"Oh, this is going to be a riot. Val'! Come look at this!"
A tall woman in glimmering armor strode towards a man in a black toga who was looking into a scrying dish. On the water was the image of a frail, dirty boy in nothing but his undergarments holding a pair of pants in his hands, on a slightly raised knoll as steppe riders rode confidently towards him.
Val' raised a blond eyebrow, "you gave him nothing?"
The man shrugged, "they all can't be winners, I just rolled the dice and he got… nothing."
Val' frowned deeply, her heart bleeding for the young man. It was… valiant. She didn't know what his plan was, but it was going to be a valiant one. If not short.
…
Cassius cursed his luck. As the riders got closer he could see men in furs, wielding bows that curved back on themselves. Of course, it had to be Mongols… or an appropriation of mongols that the Trial came up with. There had to be thirty of them. Cassius tried to bury himself deeper into the ground, as he somehow understood their leader.
"You saw one?"
"Yes, through the glass I could see him. Wearing nothing, an easy kill and meal."
Cassius's stomach sank. Meal?!
"Teams of two, spread. He can't have gone far." The man said as his soldiers split off and began to search for him.
Cassius realized that these men bore an uncanny resemblance to photos of mongolian horse archers. Their eyes are harsh beneath fuzzy rimmed caps. The bows they held knocked with what looked like barbed arrows set Cassius stomach churning with doubt about his ability to survive the next five minutes, let alone a whole trial. If he died he would be eaten. If he killed one, the others would kill him. This situation was almost impossible, Cassius would have to play this smart.
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