Kody's neighborhood wasn't the richest, but it was certainly among the upper echelon. The cobblestone roads showed it. Infrastructure was limited in this time and age and a newly built city like Ronia was scarcely developed.
If not for Kody's father's luck, they would most likely be living in a bamboo hut with the majority populace. Cement was quite the luxury.
They had walked a few meters away from the house when one of the suited men fished out a small item, similar to a Rubik's cube from his pocket.
He pressed what looked like the power button at the top and the cube glowed with a blue light.
He then turned to the other suited man and asked, "What are the co-ordinates?"
He let out a frustrated sigh and a series of codes for a reply. Kody couldn't understand them.
The man nodded and tapped the cube a couple of times.
The cube then glowed intensely and shot out a beam of light that tore through space, creating a door-sized portal out of thin air.
Kody had never seen one before, but his rigorous studies made him know that it was a portal opener. And somewhere hidden behind his current sadness, the curious him that wanted to explore the world would have been stirred if this were any other circumstance.
At the same time, breathing became harder for him as tales of the horsemen, flooded his mind.
"You won't come back alive," they said, to the innocent child whom fate had doomed. And every single time, they never did.
And overnight, Kody had become that boy. And beyond that portal was his doom.
Tolkien went through first, then the man with the cube, and after that, the other suited man prompted Kody to go in. He quietly obeyed and walked into it.
His head spun for a moment as the new environment caused his eyes to shrink. Bile rose up his throat, but he suppressed the nausea.
By the time he adjusted his gaze, he found himself in a very different place.
In front of them was a large building with a signboard that read "Ronia Central Subway." The building was packed with people moving about with bags of luggage. Kody had been here before.
The portal behind them disappeared as the last man walked through. They all walked into the building and headed to the reception counter. Kody trailed behind.
There was a line of people, who gave way when they saw the council emblem.
At the counter was a corporately dressed lady.
When their group came up to her she asked, "Do you want to book a ride? A category of trains is currently available—"
But Tolkien cut her off and said, "Private."
A surprised expression formed on her face, but it disappeared in a second. "Okay, can I get the Train's number?"
She asked in a tone that sounded more reserved.
Tolkien gave her a series of numbers which she typed into the machine in front of her.
She looked at Tolkien after that, smiled, and said, "Your train is an hour away, you will be notified when it arrives. In the meantime, you will be led to our VIP waiting room."
He nodded, then an employee came and led them to the waiting area.
This wasn't Kody's first time being at a Subway. Subways were, perhaps, the only safe way to traverse between cities, so when they moved from their previous city they had taken one.
This however was the first time he had been in a waiting area like this.
The room was illuminated by the glowing ceiling, and it smelled of an incense that calmed one down. There was a bar, a restaurant, and a games section which the employee showed to them. He also gave them a set of keys in case they wanted to use the private rooms.
When he left, Tolkien looked at Kody and said, "Enjoy yourself, boy, this will be the last time you ever will," then threw a gold card at him.
The card hit Kody who was absent-minded. He picked it up and was surprised. It was a gold card—that was more money than he ever had. But…it seemed so meaningless now.
Tolkien didn't bother with Kody any longer. He turned to the two men and said, "There's another one."
They both looked at him with surprise and the one with short hair said, "Another marked. In a single day? That shouldn't be possible." The other man took out the compass-like machine and after staring for a while, said with surprise "He's right. There's another one."
"Our train's gonna be here soon, so we need to bring the person in," Tolkien said.
With a frustrated sigh, the short-haired man took out the cube and kick-started it. "Have you gotten the co-ordinates?" He asked.
After a moment of staring at his compass the other man gave him a series of numbers and a few clicks later a portal appeared.
Kody watched as the three of them went through it, disappearing completely.
Kody found himself alone in this luxury lounge with more money than he ever had. But the thought of home killed any happiness that he may have felt.
He just lay on the couch, reminiscing about home—sometimes laughing, sometimes crying—until Tolkien came back with his next victim.
An unknown amount of time later, Kody heard a swishing noise. When he sat up on the couch he saw the trio come through the portal. They had company: a girl, no older than seventeen. Her blue hair was messy and stained red by dry blood. She had the same glowing mark as he.
The girl was covered in blood, bruises, and dirt—there had clearly been a struggle.
How futile, Kody thought.
But deep down Kody felt respect for this girl for trying—he hadn't even been able to put up a fight.
She also had blue eyes, reminding Kody of his mother. She was led by the brown haired man, with her hands in cuffs.
"Fucking bastard." She cursed at Tolkien. Her words met deaf ears, but she continued hurling them. The brown haired man's forehead creased as he pulled out a taser from his back pocket. The girl went quiet in an instant and suddenly Kody was a bit thankful he didn't struggle.
Tolkien looked at Kody. "We're leaving soon." They turned and headed to the private room.
Poor thing.
Kody laid face down on the couch.
He noticed someone in the bar from the corner of his eye. He turned his head focusing his gaze on the Man taking casual sips of wine.
He was immediately mesmerized. Something about him was… beautiful. Perhaps, it was his glowing suit with golden marks running down it. Or maybe it was the black fog surrounding him. But any of that could be a trick of light.
He was already walking closer to the man without noticing it. By the time he got close enough, he noticed what had attracted him apart from the man's beautiful face and flowing white hair. It was his eyes: each of them had three pupils of different colors, arranged in a triangular format. They were constantly spinning creating a beautiful light show.
"You can see me?" the man asked.
"Yeah…" Kody was brought out of his reverie. He looked around and found that he had been walking towards the man.
"That's weird, you shouldn't be able to see me," the Man said.
Looking at the man once more, he had become completely normal. He still wore a white suit, but it didn't glow; there was no fog surrounding him. And his eyes were now blue. Still pretty, but paled in comparison to their former beauty.
Was I hallucinating?
"There's something strange about you." The man squinted his eyes.
Realizing that he was acting strange, Kody apologized, "Sorry, I didn't—"
"I guess I don't need to keep searching." The Man pointed at Kody and a beam of black fog shot out from his finger, hitting Kody squarely on his forehead, knocking him out.
"Guest 366." A voice echoed throughout the area.
Kody woke up and found himself lying on the couch. His body was soaked in his own sweat.
Was that a dream? Strange
"Your Train has arrived. Please head to the drop-down, you will find your train on track 18."
The trio exited the room with the girl. Her face was gloomy. They gave Kody a glance before heading to the door.
Kody got up and followed them, still shaken by his weird dream.
The drop-down wasn't far from their lounge, and they soon reached it. To Kody, it was just a large elevator. When they all got in, Tolkien tapped on the track 18 button and they began to descend.
Their descent was long. Kody used the time to arrange his thoughts.
The girl was staring at him.
But Kody didn't play eye tag with her. She smelled like trouble.
After a couple of minutes, they finally arrived and the door of the drop-down opened, revealing the subway with a train waiting.
Kody could swear he felt his brain itch more than once. Like something was tickling it. But he couldn't dwell on it.
They got into this gigantic train. It had the width of a house and was as high as a duplex.
Inside the train smelled of metal and coal. The air was hot and stifling, making it quite uncomfortable. In the cabin was a narrow pathway, with rows of doors on both ends, each having a signature number.
"Room 079, both of you. You're only to come out when called for," Tolkien said to them.
Kody was confused at first but soon realized what he meant when the blue-haired girl began walking to the room with the '079' plaque.
Kody followed her into it.
With the door shut behind him, he looked around. The room had a study, a sleeping area, and a door that should lead to a bathroom.
If not for the lack of windows and artificial lighting, Kody wouldn't believe he was underground. It wasn't the best place to stay, however.
The smell of coal was stronger here, choking in fact. And the temperature was sweat-inducing. He wanted to introduce himself, but a headache attacked him before he even settled down. His eyelid felt heavy and his bones slack. He didn't bother with the girl anymore and strode to the bed, falling atop it.
Before he dozed off he heard the girl mutter something about him being an idiot but he didn't bother with her. That was until a smack on the head brought him back to reality.
He was about to protest when he saw the girl holding two oxygen tanks. He wasn't an idiot, so he quickly realized that the air was poisonous.
With much effort, he took it from her and placed the mask on his face. A few minutes of breathing later, he was able to regain his strength. He wanted to take it off, so he could properly thank her but she stopped him.
Kody didn't argue, he just sat on the bed with the mask on.
Sometime later voice came from within the room.
"The filtration process is over. All candidates who are still conscious, should move to the next cabin."
The blue-haired girl had started moving. Kody didn't want to get left behind so he quickly followed her. When they got out of the room she removed the mask and dropped it beside their door.
"Thank you," Kody muttered.
She just nodded, not even glancing at him, and kept walking forward.
There were other people coming out of the rooms, and the passage was soon filled with people. All of whom had the same glowing red mark as Kody. They were moving upward. Nobody talked, they just walked.
Upfront, there was a door that should lead to the next cabin. Kody glanced behind and noticed multiple personnel in protective gear dragging out dead bodies from the room. Chills ran down his spine as the brutal reality hit. If not for dumb luck, in the form of a blue-haired girl, he would be one of the bodies being carried out.
All the promises of returning, all the hope his family held would die right there. His breathing grew unstable as these thoughts ran through his mind until a gold-haired boy, no more than thirteen, nudged him.
"Keep moving," he said.
Coming back to his senses Kody glanced around for the blue-haired girl and ran up to her when he found her.
It didn't take long before they went through the door and found themselves in a vast hall.
Kody looked around, The glowing chandeliers were hanging from the high roofs serving as lighting, and the air here was fresh and cool, foreign to the previous cabin.
The floorboards were made of wood—a smooth and cool type. On the far end was a podium and Tolkien stood on it with his hands behind his back.
After a while no one came through the door anymore, and everyone was gathered around the podium.
"Now that the weeds have been cleared," Tolkien started. "We can have a proper conversation."
"Currently there are—" "You bastard, why did you kill my brother?"
A voice interrupted Tolkien's speech causing him to furrow his brows. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. It came from a boy with short black hair and eyes. He wore a flowing rope and his face was covered in tears.
Everyone watched as the boy ran towards the podium. He put his arm into his robe and brought out a dagger.
"Why, why?" He kept on screaming as he ran. However, he didn't reach Tolkien. The gold-haired boy who had nudged Kody appeared on his side and gave him a blow to the neck. He was knocked out in an instant.
Tolkien flashed the boy an approving smile and continued his speech.
"As I was saying, 250 of you were chosen today. After the filtration process, 146 of you still remain, and that number is set to steadily decrease."
He paused, allowing everyone to digest the information. Murmurs filled the area.
Tolkien continued, "You will be put through different tests to determine if you qualify to become a horseman.
The next test will take place in an hour. Before that time you can do anything you want.
"Good luck,"
He finished his speech, but he didn't leave yet. A creepy smile formed on his face, a smile that Kody knew.
Then he said something that sent chills down everyone's spine, especially Kody's.
"Just a friendly reminder. A lot of you are going to die."
He left the podium and disappeared through a door near it after that.
Tolkien's words played multiple times in Kody's mind, he knew he would end up dead if he made a single mistake.
But he didn't want to die, so he made a note to do everything possible to survive.
The blue-haired girl was a few meters away from him. He walked up to her.
"Hey—" He realized he didn't know her name and was caught in a bind.
"Ariella," she said noticing his struggle. She still had her typical frown on her face.
"Yeah Ariella, why don't we team up?"
"Team up?" She asked. "Oh please, you're just trying to use me to survive. Me helping you back there was a one-time thing, don't expect me to save your sorry ass next time."
Kody didn't know what to say after that, his mouth just hung open with his words stuck.
He looked around and everyone was forming teams. Ariella had her back to him as he taught of what to say. It was then he saw the blood lines on her neck extending into her back. An idea formed in his mind.
"You've got blood lines," he whispered.
"So?" She asked, clearly frustrated.
"That means you've had severe pain between 1 and 3am. If you help me, however, I'll help you get rid of them."
"As if." She sneered at him.
"I know acupuncture."
This time she stared at him and they held eye contact for a while.
She then moved closer and whispered into his ear, "I'll gouge out your eyes if you're lying."
Goosebumps ran down his skin as he gulped and nodded.
Kody looked around for a while, but no one was approaching them even though everyone seemed to be teaming up. But he knew that was to be expected, considering how crazy and scary Ariella looked. He didn't make things better, no one would want to team up with someone who looked weak and sickly like him.
The gold-haired boy was compiling a team of his own, and he had gotten fourteen people to join in less than ten minutes.
Kody could only watch in envy.
Kody also tried getting other people to join them, but no one seemed to like teaming up with "Dead Weight," as they called him.
In the next thirty minutes, he got turned down at least six times and eventually gave up. Ariella seemed to be watching and analysing everyone. But her gaze mostly stayed on the gold-haired kid.
A few minutes to the test, a boy came up to him. Kody immediately recognized him as the one who tried to attack Tolkien.
"Can I join your team?" His voice was detached and a bit cracked.
If Kody had more options he would have immediately declined him, but seeing as nobody wanted to join them he had to oblige.
He looked at Ariella first, but she was silent, scanning through the crowd.
"Yeah, you can," he answered.
Ariella turned to both of them, her eyes stayed for a second. But she didn't object to it and turned back to the crowd.
"So, what's your name?"
"D'vonte."
"Oh, cool name. I'm Kody and she's Ariella,
"Do you have any—" "Waiting period is over, the first test will begin now."
A formal voice cut him off as the start of the trail that would determine his life and death was announced.