Primal Saga Volume 1: The Queen of Silence

Interlude

Deathly cold.

A swirling vortex of bone-chilling wind passed over Donavan's head. Regardless, Don continued to trudge through the freshly fallen grey snow. He stumbled from time to time, but it did bother him much. Most people probably would have turned back by now, but a drive of excitement kept him pushing forward.

The wind picked up again, bringing with it a flurry of snowflakes that fluttered intermittently through the dim rays of flickering street lights. The more he trudged along, the more it became more apparent he was entering the ruins of the old city. The snow was becoming deeper, some of the drifts were higher than Don's head. Around him, darkness swept in as he left the comfort of the street lights, plunging him ever further into what was long abandoned.

Once home to millions of people, Bancroft is now a frozen carcass slowly being consumed by the tendrils of the icy wastes that surround it. What remains is a small pocket of civilization still thriving in the center of the city. The town had a simple government with a single governor, a rudimentary court system, and a handful of representatives. The town's survival hinged on its residence cooperating, but that did not prevent wickedness from creeping its way in from time to time. Life's unfairness can manifest itself in different ways amongst people. It is for this reason Donnie finds himself exploring this wasteland of metal and ice. He needed to gather material to barter with, this was for certain, however, there was another reason for this journey and that reason is what kept him moving.

Snow whipped against Donnie's dirty parka.

"Night vision."

Donnie's view underneath his goggles was dyed in a green tint. Data gathered from his wrist terminal was displayed on Donnie's heads-up display. This included the temperature which read -38 Celsius. On Earth these days this would be considered a warm spout. Donnie knew this was his only chance to go scrap hunting. In a few hours, the conditions will get much worse and the temperatures will plummet.

As Donnie moved further away from the city center, he came to an area that was surrounded by abandon storefronts, most of which were so covered in snow that the only thing visible was the top letters of their display signs.

"Bring up the virtual map."

The small map in the corner of Donnie's heads-up display exploded into a semi-green 3D environment around him overlaying the snowy ruins of the city. Donnie was now standing at the edge of a large dancing water fountain. The spirals of water were crystallized in place from the fountain's last show. The area surrounding Donnie was a large courtyard which was ringed by large highrises covered with crumbling billboards and cracked neon signs. Within the courtyard were statues, trees, and kiosks all of which were encrusted with ice. About twenty yards in front of Donnie was a virtual marker that looked like a decorative sword from some fantasy game. The marker was spinning slowly in front of one of the highrise buildings. Donnie hopped down from the fountain and began to head in the direction of the marker. Once he was close enough, he closed the virtual map causing the marker to dissolve into a mist of pixels.

In front of Donnie was a half-buried storefront sign that read "Game Brigade: Here to provide your gaming and electronic needs." The store's front door was submerged in thick snow. Donnie let out a sigh, fogging up his goggles as he looked around the outside of the building for a way in. There were no visible second-story windows much to Donnie's disappointment, but there were some windows on the third story that probably could be reached by a skilled climber. Donnie's face shifted to one of disgust when he noticed this. Dismissing free climbing as an option Donnie began to walk into the adjacent alleyway to find an alternate way in.

When Donnie rounded the corner, he saw a buried truck that blocked most of the alleyway. When he climbed on top of the truck, he saw that the drifts were high enough to climb them up and onto the fire escape. Awkwardly, Donnie waded through the deep snow, claw his way up the drift, and up onto the fire escape.