Chapter 1: The Last Hope

The city was silent. Not the peaceful kind of quiet, but the kind that dripped with the weight of abandonment. It felt like everything around me had been swallowed whole, the buildings reduced to husks of their former selves. Nature was reclaiming what humanity had once built, vines creeping through cracked windows, rust eating away at what was left of the metal frames.

I'd seen cities like this before, all over the country. Once bustling hubs of life, now nothing more than gravestones for a forgotten era. The monsters had taken everything. The world I once knew, the one with people, with safety, with some sense of normalcy, was gone. In its place, only this—empty streets and the constant low hum of fear in the back of my mind.

I tightened my grip on the crude spear I'd fashioned out of a broken pipe and a shard of glass. It wasn't much, but it was something. I didn't have the luxury of choosing weapons anymore. You used whatever you could find, because if you didn't, you didn't survive.

The wind shifted, bringing the acrid scent of decay with it. The air was thick with dust, the remnants of the destruction that had taken place here weeks ago. I was a scavenger now. A hunter in the ruins of my own world. My sole purpose? To survive another day.

My stomach growled, but I ignored it. Hunger had become a familiar companion, one I had learned to live with. It had become a background noise, something I didn't even notice anymore unless it was unbearable. Today was different, though. I needed food. The last can of beans had been eaten last night, and that was after I'd scraped together every last scrap of anything edible.

The city was mostly empty now, the survivors holed up in hidden enclaves or long gone, either consumed by the monsters or lost in the chaos. There were still some of us left, though. Small bands of humans who made do with whatever scraps we could scrounge. We weren't a threat to the Kragathians, not in our current state. But we were an annoyance, a few human gnats buzzing in the corner of their vision. We weren't their focus, not yet.

I was getting close to the old market district. If I was lucky, there might still be something of value there. The abandoned shops held promises of food, medicine, and maybe even weapons. But there were risks. The Kragathians liked to make their nests in places like this—dark, hidden spots where they could store their spoils. And it wasn't just Kragathians I had to worry about. The other survivors weren't exactly friendly, either.

I stepped carefully, keeping my footsteps soft on the cracked pavement. My heart pounded in my chest. It wasn't fear, not exactly. It was instinct. The primal awareness that I was a predator, hunting for whatever scraps I could find. But there was also the creeping dread, the thing that never left, no matter how many times I'd gone through this.

I turned a corner and froze.

The stench hit me first—a sickening combination of rotting meat and the strange, sharp scent that always accompanied the Kragathians. My hand went to the hilt of my spear, gripping it tightly. I didn't know if it would help me, but I wasn't about to go down without a fight.

And then I saw it.

It was massive, hulking in the shadows of an old convenience store. Its skin was a sickly green-gray, scales rippling as it moved. Its eyes glowed with an eerie, yellow light, catching the faint remnants of the sunlight filtering through the wreckage of the city. Its body was a twisted amalgamation of muscle and bone, the limbs far too long for what any human would consider proportionate. A Kragathian.

I'd heard the stories, of course. Everyone had. The Kragathians weren't just mindless beasts, they were hunters—strategists. Monsters that could tear apart an armored vehicle with their bare hands. Intelligent, vicious, relentless. But seeing one up close, in person? It was something else entirely. They weren't just creatures; they were nightmares given form.

I should have turned and run. Every part of my survival instinct screamed at me to retreat. But something inside me held firm. I couldn't explain it. Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the sheer absurdity of it. But I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot, staring at the beast.

It was sniffing the air, its sharp, reptilian nostrils flaring. The sound of its breathing was like thunder, deep and rumbling, vibrating the ground beneath me. And then it turned its head, its eyes locking onto mine. I felt my breath catch in my throat.

I didn't think. I couldn't. I dropped into a crouch and bolted, running as fast as I could toward an alleyway. My heart thudded in my chest, my pulse racing with the sudden surge of panic. I heard it behind me—the scrape of claws against concrete, the pounding of massive feet as it gave chase.

I wasn't going to outrun it. I knew that. But I had to try. I darted down side streets, weaving through the broken landscape, doing my best to lose it in the maze of abandoned buildings. Every instinct told me to keep running, keep moving. But the sound of its pursuit was getting closer, closer with every breath.

A sudden noise ahead stopped me dead in my tracks.

I wasn't alone.

I turned, eyes wide, my breath catching in my throat. There was another Kragathian—this one even bigger, with dark, leathery wings folded against its back. It let out a screech, a bone-chilling sound that echoed through the empty streets. And then I realized the truth.

I was surrounded.

The first Kragathian caught up to me, its claws scraping the ground as it lunged, jaws snapping. My heart stopped as the air between us seemed to freeze. I swung my spear, hoping to block the attack, but it was too fast. The creature's claws raked across my side, tearing through my clothes and into my flesh. The pain was immediate, blinding. I gasped, stumbling backward, my legs giving way beneath me.

I fell to the ground, my spear skittering away from my grasp.

And then I heard something I didn't expect.

A low growl.

I looked up, my vision blurry from pain. Furyclaw.

The Kragathian that had bonded with me—the one I had met all those weeks ago. Furyclaw's massive form was already charging toward the creature that had me cornered. With a speed and agility that defied its size, Furyclaw slammed into the first Kragathian, knocking it aside with a roar that shook the air. The second Kragathian screeched, its wings flapping as it took to the air, circling above us.

Furyclaw didn't hesitate. With a terrifying screech, it lunged again, this time catching the second Kragathian by the throat, tearing into its flesh with unrestrained fury.

I scrambled to my feet, clutching my side where blood seeped through my torn shirt. My hands were shaking, my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't understand what was happening. How could Furyclaw have found me, let alone come to my aid like this?

But I couldn't afford to think about that now. The two Kragathians were locked in a brutal fight, Furyclaw's claws slicing through the air, leaving bloody trails behind. It was fighting for me, for something neither of us truly understood. All I knew was that I had to move—had to get out of here, or I wouldn't survive this.

I limped toward the alleyway, where the shadows were darker, where I could hide. I didn't look back.

But I didn't need to. I could hear Furyclaw's battle cry echoing in the distance, the sound of the two monsters fighting for dominance. And somewhere deep inside me, I knew that this was just the beginning.

The world was broken. The monsters were here. And I was somehow caught in the middle.