Chapter One – 001

He awoke on the seashore.

He didnt even need to open his eyes, simply the loud surf and delicate crunch of the sand beneath his head was sufficient. He groaned as he introduced his arms to his face, feeling the all too acquainted surge of strain behind his eyes, the dry swollen feeling in his mouth and throat, and the barest hints of heaving nausea.

He should have had fun final night time. He did not even keep in mind making it to the seashore. Simply the yacht, and the…his ideas flinched away from that, his mind nonetheless too tender.

A small peek of his eyelids and he determined blindness was preferable to the insufferable mild. He reached out his arms, slowly and with excruciating effort flipped himself onto his stomach. Sand mushed into his face, and he smelled one thing bizarre.

French fries?

No matter it was, it made that pool of nausea flip right into a tidal wave. He poured out all of his unhealthy selections in two or three heaves, then curled up right into a ball and laid there.

Let the seashore patrol discover me, he pleaded. Let me be their downside.

However nobody got here to escort him off the seashore. No outraged mom shrieked about degenerates in broad daylight. He wasn’t even bothered by any vagrants, seeking to bum a smoke.

Regardless of his ache, he was curious. He slowly opened his eyes, able to endure the blinding solar to be able to get his bearings.

This is not Fort Lauderdale.

The sky was pale, a hazy white that appeared to curve throughout him. Small waves of darkish inexperienced water lapped close to his toes, crests murmuring incessantly. He stood on a small spit of grey sand, barely greater than three toes broad, that prolonged into the horizon. The sky was lighter there, as if one thing was leaching the colour out of every little thing. It was early morning, the solar barely above the horizon, and the moons hadn’t but set.

Wait.

Shit.

He rubbed his palms in opposition to his eyes and peered once more on the sky. His eyes informed him the identical factor once more. There have been 4…no, 5 moons within the sky.

“What the fuck?” He half-laughed, trying round himself for somebody to elucidate the joke. There was nobody.

Then it hit him.

The yacht. The combat. His sister.

*THOOM!*

An explosion behind him threw coarse gray sand over his again and pelted his uncovered calf, however he did not flip round. He wasn’t positive he’d have the ability to deal with seeing what was behind him. He simply stored operating, helplessly counting the seconds till he was eaten.

Ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Sixty seconds, and immediately the sounds ceased. It was one other half minute earlier than he collapsed on the pale sand of a a lot bigger seashore, the tree line darkish and inexperienced forward of him. He was exhausted, mentally and bodily. He lastly managed to show his head, and noticed that the sandy spit was torn to shreds. No matter had chased him had ripped it aside because it thrashed towards him. Uninteresting horror twinged in his chest, barely registering in his exhaustion. If that factor had caught him….

One thing glimmered at the hours of darkness inexperienced waters, just a few hundred toes out. A thick, lashing tentacle swept into the air earlier than diving deep into the now nonetheless waters. A pointy trilling noise sounded in his ears, and he twitched in shock. Then a sequence of vivid blue containers appeared earlier than him.

System Initializing…

Stand By…

Goal Analyzed.

Identify: The Dread

Kind: Blood Beast

Stage: ???

HP: ???

MP: ???

Lore: The Dread is all consuming, all highly effective, and unstoppable.

“Huh,” he breathed.

He handed out.