Corvin woke up with his heart pounding and no memory of why.
At least the darkness around him was familiar. The ceiling of his shelter hung low, the wall at his back, the faint smell of cold cookfire ash drifting through the gaps in the structure. Mira was curled against his right side, her breathing shallow but steady. One hand gripped the hem of his sleeve like always, as if he would disappear if she wasn't watching.
He lay there for a moment, allowing his heartbeat to slow while watching his sister with a smile on his face.
His smile dimmed.
'Today.'
Corvin sighed. He'd planned this for weeks. Counted rations, mapped the most efficient routes, memorized the patrol schedules of the guards. He checked and rechecked over and over, until every detail of the plan was clean. As clean as anything could be in the outskirts.
Today he would contract the Nightmare Spell.
Using his free hand, he wiped the sweat from his eyes. Then, carefully extracting his arm from beneath her head, he reached over and replaced it with the pillow she always seemed to neglect. She stirred and murmured something but stayed asleep.
Mission successful.
He sat there and looked longer than needed, then reluctantly stood up. His boots slid on, and he slipped out the crack of the shelter that served as some kind of doorway.
***
The outskirts were dim even at midday. The two walls cast long shadows over the clustered buildings, and whatever sunlight did reach the ground was often filtered through gaps and openings rather than from the sky directly.
One wall was formidable and strong, the other patchwork and frail.
Corvin moved through the narrow paths between shelters with the quiet efficiency of someone who had been navigating them since before he could read. Not that learning had been an option — the outskirts didn't have schools.
'Our new spot is annoyingly hidden... but at least it should keep anyone from finding her while I'm gone.'
He had three stops to make before the part that mattered. Water first — the communal source near where the outer wall curved inwards, creating the closest thing the outskirts had to a public square. Then, a woman two rows over traded extra Slabs for labor. Next, there was a stash he'd hidden beneath a collapsed foundation three weeks ago; the supplies were too valuable to keep on him or move from shelter to shelter.
The water queue was short this early. There were a couple of faces he recognized but none who recognized him back. That was the point.
'I brought two containers. That should last her... ten days if she's careful, or twelve if she rations.'
He filled the containers swiftly and moved on.
The Slabs cost him a favor from a while back — a woman named Sera who operated out of a reinforced shack towards the edge of the square. She didn't ask questions, which was why she was useful. However, she did notice the extra quantity and her eyes lingered on the containers he had just filled.
"You going somewhere?"
Corvin smiled politely.
"Just restocking."
She didn't look very convinced but shrugged and handed the Slabs over anyway. If she did suspect anything, it wasn't her problem.
Luckily, the hidden stash was untouched. A heavy blanket, a set of clothes better than anything Mira currently had, and one extra Slab.
Strawberry flavored.
'The flavored ones are always such a pain to get...'
Corvin loaded his pack and checked the weight with a shrug of his shoulders. Heavy, but manageable. Now he just had to complete the last part, drop everything off for Mira, and get situated for what came next.
The last part...
'Plenty of time.'
He gripped the straps tighter and started walking.
***
Stood in front of him was a patchwork wall.
The wall wasn't built but accumulated. The oldest sections were stone — remnants of expansion that decided there was no reason to continue — and everything after was whatever came next. Timber. Scrap. It curved where it should've been straight, thickened where it should have been thin. Some parts were riddled with holes that allowed light to peer through; others were blocking out the sun as if scared to let the outside in.
For good reason. Beyond the wall were the unimaginable wilds of the Dream Realm. The New World.
Corvin recalled a rumor passed down in the outskirts, a morbid spark of hope.
'If I venture outside the wall, I will become infected...'
By the Nightmare Spell. No one knows why, but that's how it is.
'Is that how there are new Awakened?'
Shaking his head, he followed along the wall until a particular opening appeared. Hidden within a jagged curve, a part of the wall folded inwards. A crack in the wall appeared just wide enough for Corvin to slip through.
Corvin had learned of this opening about a week ago, after receiving a tip from some shady old man.
Stopping just shy of the crack, Corvin composed himself. He leaned over and let the pack fall off his shoulders, catching it and placing it out of sight. And with a sigh he slid his frail body through.
Corvin's eyes widened.
Not because of the Spell... he didn't feel anything yet... but because of the view.
The land was vast. Green meadows rolled until met with boundless forests. For the first time, Corvin had to block the sun out with his hand as it irritatingly shone into his eyes.
It was beautiful.
'But how far do I have to go, and for how long?'
Corvin began to walk forwards. His feet crushed the untouched grass beneath him, and his head was on a swivel to take everything in.
To his left was the closest forest. Its trees were a deep brown, the trunks large and roots undoubtedly larger. He could hear the leaves rustling in the wind. In front, the green meadows extended as far as he could see. Grass blades sparkled in the sunlight. To his right...
'Wait, what is that?'
It looked to be some kind of outpost. He could only see the silhouette, but it was possibly outside one of the main gates to the inner city.
Good thing nobody cares to guard the outskirts' walls.
However, he couldn't linger on the thought for long. He finally felt it, like stepping from shade into sun except the temperature didn't change and neither did the light. As if he had walked through some kind of threshold. From within.
Corruption, or rather, a seed of it.
The Nightmare Spell.