The nearly derelict bus screeched to a halt, its brakes squelching loudly to make up for the silent electric engine.

Lani pressed her face against the glass and peered up to the top of the giant wall with attached gates that surrounded the city. Even though she had lived the past few years in the slums and in sight of the wall, its presence was usually ignored, or forgotten. Now, it loomed above like a titan holding back the dangers of the world outside. The wall was over thirty meters tall, five meters thick and made of hardened, reinforced concrete. The wall was a good three meters higher at the point connecting to the gate. On top of the wall, sentries paced back and forth, looking for any signs of danger to the city.

The gate wasn’t as thick as the wall, but it was equally tall. It was constructed in large plates all bolted and welded together. Instead of being made of reinforced concrete, the gate was a metal alloy created by the best minds to exist in the empire. As Lani stared, it began to swing outwards. With that much mass and associated machinery to allow it to open, she expected the herculean gate to screech in a horrendous cacophony, but it was strangely silent.

A bump to her left leg tore her attention away from the wall to the person sitting next to her. All she could see was a hunched over back covered in grey coveralls that matched her own and the back of a head with black short-cropped hair. The girl was mumbling unintelligibly and didn’t seem to care about encroaching into Lani’s space. Lani thought about saying something to her, or at least bumping her back, but it seemed useless and might result in increased attention, something Lani wanted to avoid at all cost. Even though her seatmate hadn’t said anything to her when sitting down, which was partly due to Lani not making eye contact, the girl seemed like she could be friendly enough. Of course, Lani didn’t really want to make any friends at the moment due to their destination and the unlikely event that any of them would survive.

The bus started to move again, and Lani turned and looked back out of the window, observing the world outside the protection of the walls. She rubbed her sweaty palms across her legs to dry them off. This was the first time she had been outside the wall. The world had become too dangerous in the forty plus years since the Monoliths had arrived. Only those who have braved entering the Monolith and survived its challenges have the ability to survive on the outside, and saying that they could survive out there was a stretch. Even after opening the Kami-do, surviving outside of the wall alone would be unlikely unless they had abilities closer to the soldier class, and no one had that upon awakening. Most people didn’t make it to soldier class until they had been to the Monolith four to five times, among other things.

Lani got a good look at all the dilapidated and destroyed buildings as the hulking vehicle slowly plodded along. She was halfway down the bus, but looking forward she could see the numerous potholes in the road. Looking down at the side gave her a good view too, especially as the bus carefully meandered around them to avoid it being damaged any further than it was. The bus swerved and shook as it dodged the holes it could, but ran over those it couldn’t. As bad as it was in the slums on the inside, outside the wall put it to shame. The bus she was in riding in was the first in a small convoy. If any monsters attacked and the Ascendants chosen to guard weren’t able to make it in time, they were the expendable ones. Behind her bus, four others followed. Unlike hers, those buses were filled with Ascendant candidates that had volunteered to complete the first level of the monolith’s trials and unlock the Kami-do.

The world outside barely even looked like it was once been lived in. Most of the landscape was just rubble; just numerous piles of broken concrete, occasionally interspersed with rebar that dotted the landscape. Rotted wood from what could have once been telephone or electricity poles laid on the side of the ruined road. Lani had read that in many places the remains of the myriad of creatures that constantly attacked the city could be seen. She had also read that further away one could glimpse the places where large battles occurred during the first years of the monolith’s arrival. Apparently, not only were the battles larger, but the monsters were larger too. The remains of those giant creatures were left untouched to commemorate the many people that died, and because no one was strong enough to move them at the time.

A flash of movement at the edge of a humongous pile of detritus made Lani’s heart jump and head swivel to where she thought she saw it. If there was a monster there, it would be too far away to make it to the buses without the Ascendants noticing it, but she still dreaded the thought of being in the situation where another’s life was in her hands and she couldn’t do anything. Lani stared at the spot but didn’t see anything else. It could have just been a trick of her mind with the increased stress of the situation. She craned her neck to the back of the convoy, but from her angle she couldn’t even see the Ascendant that was supposed to guard the right. Lani couldn’t even say anything to the bus driver since it was all automated.

“Ha!” Lani’s seatmate sat up quickly and yelled. Startled from the outburst and sudden movement, Lani yelled. Startled from Lani’s yell, her seatmate yelled too. “What’s wrong?” She quickly followed up.

Lani looked around. The whole bus was staring at the duo, just what Lani didn’t want. She slumped forward and put her dark, curly hair over her face to avoid any more eyes. “Nothing, you just startled me.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I just got excited. See-” The other girls held up her wrists. “Those were the most difficult locks I’ve ever picked.” She continued unabashedly. Without waiting for Lani to comment she continued. “I’m Imogen, by the way. I would have said hi when I sat down, but you didn’t look like you wanted to be bothered. Shit, you still don’t, but I had to share my triumph. You want me to take yours cuffs off too? I hate how they chafe my skin. It looks like they’re making your skin red too, but it is a little hard to see with your darker complexion. I should be able to do it quicker than mine, but it’s up to you.” Imogen raised her eyebrows to Lani as if she hadn’t just verbally vomited.

“No, thanks,” Lani mumbled. She turned to look out the window in hopes that it would end the situation, but she wasn’t so lucky.

“That’s alright. I mean, shit, I’m going to have to put them back on before we get out anyway. I don’t really want any of the Ascendants to say anything. But really, what are they going to do, send me to the Monolith? Phsst,” Imogen continued even though Lani was looking away. “Anyway, look at me being all rude, what’s your name?”

Imogen actually stopped talking, so Lani internally sighed knowing what she had to do. As much as she didn’t want to participate in the conversation and as much as she thought it a waste of time, she couldn’t ignore social niceties, especially when the person wasn’t being rude or mean. “Lani,” she responded quietly. The teachings of her parents may have forced her to answer, but she didn’t have to give more information than was necessary.

“That’s a nice name,” Imogen chirped. “It sounds a little exotic. Is it short for anything?”

Once again, Lani internally sighed. Lani was, in fact, short for Nalani, but if she told Imogen that it would probably create another slew of questions. Thankfully, she didn’t have to answer. Catching the attention of both girls was the figure of a man hovering along the side of the bus.

Like all the Ascendants, he was dressed in dark clothing, adorned with various pieces of armor. Flowing behind him like a cape, was his issued cloak. The cloak was issued to all Ascendant once they passed the training course and were awarded the soldier rank. It was dark gray and appeared to be cotton, but similar to the city gates it was a wholly different material that was both durable and adaptive. On the back of his cloak, flapping in the breeze with his movement, was the city’s crest, a circle with a blackened triangle in the middle that represented the door of the monolith, above the crest were three red stars denoting his rank within the organization.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an elite this close before,” Imogen whispered. Lani didn’t say anything and a weight pressed down around her as the silence stretched. Apparently, Imogen didn’t feel the same oppression. “Their powers are so freakin’ cool,” she practically squealed. “I’m so going to be that powerful one day.”

“Only if you survive the Monolith,” Lina said soberly.

Imogen sat back into her seat heavily, but she didn’t stay that way for long and her bubbly personality overflowed again. “I overheard before we left that there were supposed to be three elites traveling with us. I think I saw a flash on the other side of the bus not too long ago. I wonder if we have a speedster? If I was that fast, I could get in and out of a house that I would never get caught. But, well shit, I guess I won’t being doing that anymore. Speaking of that stuff, what are you here for?” Lina thought for a moment about what she wanted to say, or how much she wanted to give up. She didn’t want to say anything. She thought about just asking politely if they could be silent. Imogen must not have sensed her hesitation though, and just began talking again. “It doesn’t matter, maybe after we get out of this.”

That was how the next few hours of slow bus travel went, a nearly unending stream of consciousness from Imogen with small breaks where Lani answered questions. Although, Lani didn’t begrudge the girl with her incessant talking, it was probably a nervous habit, and seeing as they were outside the protection of the city gates, away from the majority of Ascendants, and on their way to the Monolith, they had many reasons to be nervous.

Just as she thought about that, one of those reasons became apparent. The actual threat wasn’t visible to Lani or Imogen, nor anybody else in the bus. However, it was to the Ascendant that flew along the side of the convoy.

As Lani gazed absently outside the window, the Ascendant swiftly zipped off diagonally. His speed increased so fast it was difficult for Lani to follow. Without slowing down, or changing course the cloaked man crashed into a large concrete wall that was already considered rubble. The concrete shattered apart in a shower of dust and rock. As fast as the cloud of detritus spread from the impact, the Ascendant flew faster out from the other end of the cloud. In just a few seconds the powerful combatant was nearly too far for Lani to detect, but she could tell that he was about to smash into another wall.

Did he actually see something, or did he just get bored and decide to destroy something?

Right before he crashed through the other wall, he cut hard skyward, zooming up into the air. Lani lost sight of him as he went up, but a half-second later, he came crashing down in a blur of momentum. Dust and debris flew up in a dome from the impact of his strike. A large boom echoed through the convoy a moment later. Lani flinched as the sound hit. She struggled to stay in the moment, unwilling to be pulled into an unwanted memory.

Lani could hear murmurs from the other occupants of the bus. Some were wondering what the Ascendant had seen, others wanted to know what was going to happen next. Imogen softly exclaimed on the evident power available to an elite Ascendant of their city. Lani only gritted her teeth. Slowly, the dust settled and she could see the Ascendant flying back over a destroyed building that provided concealment to the scene. The Ascendant flew fast but was clearly unhurried, the threat neutralized.

“Damn, what do you think it was?” Imogen asked.

Lani considered the question. Seeing that whatever caused the actions of the Ascendant, it was behind the rubble, the answer could be anything. The pile of rubble was at least twenty feet high, which meant that a threat could be almost that large. However, the explosion, even though far away, didn’t show any signs of exploding fleshy bits. Of course, if there was a creature, it was entirely possible that it wasn’t made of flesh. If the creature escaped, the Ascendant would probably return more cautiously since one could never be sure a monster wouldn’t attack unless it was dead. That only left the possibility that there wasn’t even a monster there to begin with, and it was all a show. For some reason, Lani felt that this was the real reason.

But, who was the show for?

“Could have been anything,” Lani said. It was useless to endlessly ponder the question without enough information. Although, it didn’t stop Imogen.

The Ascendant fell back into the convoy and continued his duty of guard. Soon, the bus’s breaks squeaked loudly as the behemoth of a vehicle came to a full stop. A viscous silence settled over the bus. The silence of Imogen after nearly two hours of almost non-stop talking made the quiet that much thicker.

Thud! The sound of something hitting the bus’s roof caused everyone to startle. Before anyone could panic, the figure of a cloak-covered Ascendant fell from the top to land gracefully on the ground.

Had he been up there the entire time?

When the Ascendant turned, and scanned the area around the bus for possible threats, Lani could see that it wasn’t a man, but a woman. She chided herself in thinking that it was a man, even though it was impossible to tell from the angle she had been looking. The sound of iron clanging together followed by the click of a lock brought Lani’s attention back to Imogen. The fair-skinned girl had already locked the cuffs back into place and was smiling at Lani.

“I don’t want to let them know I can do that,” Imogen said with a wink. Lani didn’t bother to answer, she understood the sentiment. Sure, if they found out now, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Imogen probably thought it was worth the risk to be free of the shackles during the ride, but having a skill others didn’t know about could always come in handy, especially if she made it out of the monolith.