Sss...hhhh...
The sound of something breaking echoed across the dry land as Young Aether and Lily, both wearing cloaks to conceal their identities, walked along the unpaved road.
Young Aether's boot splashed into a small puddle as he glanced toward the settlement.
This wasn't one of the high-tech cities he had seen in Terra... This was a place that looked like the world from a forgotten era, only far worse.
The road was cracked and uneven, with stagnant water gathered inside its deeper fractures, while dust drifted through the dry air.
There were people walking around the settlement, but something about them felt wrong. Their movements were slow and lifeless, their faces hollow, and their eyes had lost almost all their colour. Their bodies were covered in torn, faded clothes that hung loosely from their thin frames.
