The chamber pulsed like a living organism.
Kael stood at the threshold, his breath shallow, his skin damp with sweat that felt borrowed—like even his body didn't belong to him anymore. The being suspended in the fluid ahead, tangled in cables and arterial roots, was immense. Human in shape. But barely.
Eyes sealed. Body unborn. But awake.
It beat.
Ka-thump.
Ka-thump.
And with every pulse, Kael's heart echoed in sync—like it was no longer his own.
Beside him, Elira stepped back. "Kael. We shouldn't be here."
He barely heard her.
Because the voice had returned.
"Child of Ash, Child of Blood... kneel."
Kael's knees buckled. Not out of obedience.
Out of pressure.
He fell forward, bracing on all fours. Something within his chest strained—like a second heart trying to emerge.
From the fluid, the being opened its eyes.
Not pupils.
Not irises.
Just silver light.
And Kael screamed.
---
The First Memory
He was falling—no, descending.
A tower. Red skies. Oceans turned to bone.
Below, civilizations built on top of corpses, rising and falling in endless cycles.
He saw himself—not as he was, but as he could become.
Horns.
Wings.
Eyes like those of the thing in the fluid.
Cities crumbled beneath his feet. Armies fled before his shadow.
He wasn't just a man.
He was the Devourer.
---
Reality snapped back.
Kael was soaked in sweat, trembling violently. Elira held him up, her eyes wild with fear.
"You were… glowing. You stopped breathing for almost a minute."
Kael looked down.
His hands were cracked—veins glowing faintly beneath the skin, like lightning caged in glass.
"I saw it," he whispered. "I saw what I become."
Behind them, the translucent creature from before spoke again.
"The Heart chose you. It remembers your blood. The first Devourer was born from a pact made beneath this city, long before the walls were built."
Kael turned slowly. "Then what is it? That thing in the fluid?"
"It was once a man. A king. A god. Now it is hunger. Rage. Memory. It was sealed before it could awaken completely… but you are the key."
"No." Kael shook his head. "I won't become that."
The creature cocked its head. "You already are."
---
A New Threat
Suddenly, warning sirens rang out above.
A voice echoed through the chamber—mechanical, sharp.
> "Unauthorized lifeforms detected below Level 5. Seal all exits. Deploy extraction team. Use lethal force."
Elira swore. "They found us!"
Kael grabbed her arm. "We move—now."
But as they turned toward the exit tunnel, a burst of violet energy struck the wall near them, sending dust and smoke into the air.
Purge Enforcers.
Tall, faceless figures in black armor, weapons drawn, eyes glowing.
The lead enforcer stepped forward. "Target acquired: Subject Kael Ithren. Class: Anomaly Tier 3."
Kael stepped in front of Elira. "Run."
She didn't.
Not this time.
---
The Change
Kael raised his sword.
The lead enforcer fired.
Time slowed.
Kael felt it.
Not fear.
Not pain.
Power.
It rose from the pit of his spine, wrapped around his ribs, filled his lungs with molten air. His eyes flared—silver streaking through his vision.
When the energy bolt struck him—
It shattered.
The enforcers hesitated.
Kael didn't.
He moved like something ancient. Something reborn. In a single blink, he was in front of the lead soldier—and his sword cleaved through armor like paper.
Blood sprayed across the stone floor.
Kael turned to the others.
And he smiled.
---
Three enforcers backed away, realizing too late what they were dealing with.
Kael's skin cracked with light, his voice layered with something inhuman.
"I'm done running."
More troops were coming. Dozens.
But Kael didn't retreat.
He stepped forward, into the light of the kill squad, his body already transforming, his voice no longer fully his.
And from deep within the chamber, the Heart pulsed once more.
Ka-thump.
Ka-thump.
Kael's war had begun.
---