Chapter 495 (1/2)

Book 5, Prologue – I'm Back

Scalding sunlight poured down upon the barren earth

Ruins stretched out toward the horizon, stacked upon one another like layers of discarded history, steel dinosaurs half-buried beneath the unforgiving wasteland sands

Scavengers dragged their feeble feet through the rubble, stooping over from time to tigling scaly thing was a great find To scavengers, so it rich The s for a couple days

Vvvvvroom!

The sound of an engine echoed off the cru when they heard it

Plu with black exhaust Troughs spread out behind their overly large tires The scavengers were both envious and frightened, especially since the backs of these vehicles were adorned with the broken corpses of others like them

These men, who scoured the ruins for power and profit, were called excavators

They lived a pretty decent life in this section of the wastes, and were given leeway to do as they pleased Unlike scavengers, they weren't forced to live a outposts here they called home They all carried weapons, tore across the deserts in vehicles, andthey needed to roam freely and do as they pleased

Excavators were idols to scavengers It was the dreah the ruins to one day join a digger crew

However, if they ever wanted a chance to rise above their lot they had to be vigilant Most of the time excavators treated 'scavs' like prey, to be hunted down and murdered After all, meat was meat Wastelanders weren't picky about where it came from

The s the excavators as they raced into the distance

Scavengers slowly crept out of their hiding places, but didn't have long to breathe a sigh of relief A strange figure had appeared in the center of the ruins and no one had noticed

Froh his gray cloak was tattered and he was covered froer that covered hi the bandages didn't cover – looked out over the frightened crowd

It was the curse of wastelanders to forever be at ith their environhosts of the ruins They were all frail, ers than most

While it was obvious this strange outsider could be deadly if he wanted to, there was no ardless, he was a man more powerful than they could even comprehend Like ants beneath the foot of elephants, they could be crushed even if the frightening uard

He stood there in thea muscle He merely stood there, his dark eyes fixed on the faht in their depths Four years… ould have thought so much would happen in so short a time?

Cloudhaas back [1]

He turned his attention back to the scavengers They were adept at hiding, but Cloudhawk's sharp vision had proble therew up He even recognized a few of the faces that peeked around rusted steel beams toward him

What a bizarre sensation, like he'd come from a completely different planet

He lifted his hand and gave it a wave, which spawned a rift in the air above hi and desperate, what scavenger could hold back when such a boon presented itself? Despite the potential dangers the starving wretches clambered from the ruins all at once Where half a moment before the place was deserted, suddenly frail body were scra everywhere

“God!”

“It's a God!”

“He blesses us with his presence!”

They bowed and scraped before Cloudhahile trying to fit as much food as possible in their scrawny arms Adoration rit on their dirty faces If Cloudhawk affirmed their claims, he was convinced they would believe he really was a God

Excavators were strong, but they couldn't summon food from thin air

Whatever this stranger was, he brought nourishment down on the but a God? It was the only way these simple folk could make sense of the miracle they'd witnessed Cloudhawk had to wonder if that was how humans felt when the actual Gods came down to deliver them from the wastelands and build their Elysian lands

Gods… maybe there weren't as ht Cloudhawk pondered the idea, but didn't linger

On the border of the ruins, two beautiful wo for him

One was devilishly beautiful, intelligent and enchanting She could wring the es froentle and alluring way – like an angel However the cold look on her face was by noShe was aloof, unapproachable, and cold Any who looked upon her knew to admire from a distance

“This is where you caled up onto her head and looked over the ruins “One of a hell journey, going from this place to where you are today”

Autumn muttered impatient “An ant is forever an ant”

“Let's keep going There's sorin