Yrin Borne

The first thing Yrin noticed was the cold. Not the ordinary kind that crept beneath your clothes during winter, but something sharper. Damp. Unfamiliar. His fingers curled into the black sand beneath him. For several seconds, he didn’t move. The sound of waves reached his ears, accompanied by distant voices and the occasional shout. His head throbbed. His clothes were damp, his glasses lay a short distance away, and he had absolutely no recollection of how he’d gotten there. “Brilliant.” He pushed himself upright and retrieved his glasses. A beach stretched before him. Behind him stood a dense forest, its trees disappearing into a grey mist. The ocean surrounded the island, stretching endlessly towards a pale, overcast horizon. There were people everywhere. Teenagers. Boys and girls, all around his age. Some were standing, others sitting in the sand, looking equally confused. Yrin counted as many as he could. Too many. A low mechanical chime interrupted the murmuring. A large screen embedded in a nearby stone structure flickered to life. WELCOME, CONTESTANTS. The crowd fell silent. YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ABLAGO TRIALS. A pause. 135 CONTESTANTS. ONE JACKPOT WINNER. Yrin stared at the screen. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” YOUR OBJECTIVE IS SIMPLE: SURVIVE. The screen went black. For a moment, nobody spoke. Then the questions began. Where were they? Who had brought them there? How could they leave? Yrin adjusted his glasses and looked towards the distant island visible through the mist. A massive gothic structure stood above the treeline, its dark towers piercing the clouds. Even from this distance, he could make out the enormous windows and ivy crawling along its stone walls. A castle. Of course. Because apparently being kidnapped wasn’t enough. They had to make it theatrical. He brushed the sand from his blazer and stood. “Well,” he muttered, looking around at the other contestants, “this is going to be a lovely holiday.” He had no idea that somewhere among those 134 strangers was a girl who would become his greatest rival. Or that, eventually, she would become the person he would refuse to leave behind.