It rained, it had been raining for days now. The streets soaked in water, the buildings dulled by its touch.
A young man ran through the rain, he seemed to be limping while he did it. Clutching his left abdomen tightly, the shadow of his steps marked by red liquid.
He ran and ran, he didn't shout or seek help. Barely anyone was around the streets, apart from the men hot on his tails.
' I'm going to fucking die!! ' he screamed inwardly, taking a sharp turn into an alleyway.
His steps slowed as his breadth soon left him, reaching for the wall with a hand, he slowly fell upon it.
Releasing a dry cough that saw his mouth stained with deep dark blood, his hands raised slowly to touch the cups of his lips.
Swiping over it, he brought it to his eyes and then let out a chuckle.
" Looks like they got me good " he muttered as he began losing sight.
Just then, the hurried steps of two men soon came to a slow steady stop. Just until it reached so close to him that what few lights emitted from the street lights were partially blocked out.
" I should have....bloody...killed ya " The young man said with anger, struggling to form sentences amidst his low breadth.
" Street Vermin, you're lucky we can't capture you alive " One of the men said as he looked down on the young man.
The man coughed loudly, strands of dark liquid falling from his mouth. His pushed himself backwards to rest upon the wall, taking in a deep breath.
" Bloody hell....I earn...5...figs. I have..a...Bloody...home " The young man replied with a struggling breadth, breaks of coughs interrupting him mid sentence.
" Why did you do it Raer?, why throw it all away for someone you barely truly know? " The man asked, his voice full of sadness. He looked down upon the young man and lowered himself to stare closer.
He could see it, the boy wouldn't make it. He was going to die very soon.
"....Duty.." Raer replied calmly, a self mocking smile grew unto his face.
" For...duty " he repeated again, raising his head up in a vain struggle to take in much needed air. Each breath was only pain.
"....damn it all " The man said before pulling out a handgun and shooting Raer in his head. The last few thoughts he had as it ended was how tiring it all was.
Then there was blackness, deep blackness spanning infinity. All he could see was a blackness, the absence of light.
But then, with little time left to himself. He felt a pull, a very hard pull upon his body. Then he was falling, he couldn't scream...couldn't actually do anything.
He fell until he stopped and then there was light, he glanced around his surroundings a but confused at the sudden development.
" Am I not dead ?" He said aloud, it was a rhetorically question but it got an answer.
" You are not "
The voice seemed to have a mind of its own, separate from its owner. It was like thunder and the smooth touch of rain all in one.
Raer looked up at where the voice came from, it was a towering monstrosity. Suddenly, he got the feeling of extreme irritation and found himself reaching at the sight.
" Foul mortal, control yourself!" Another voice boomed from the side and suddenly he felt nothing. It was like his mind, his body did not belong to him.
He struggled moving his eyes towards the things that spoke, it looked hideous beyond reason. A towering monster standing upon two bipedal hooved legs, it stood similar to a werewolf but far more different
It had no furs, it skin looked more like the outlines of an armour. It's head pointed outwards, baring huge sharpened teeth.
It had six limbs, it's first two closet to its shoulders were balded with no fingers. A single sharp curved blade on each of them, it second pair wielder reddened swords size of a human leg.
Its third paid wielded a range weapon of some kind though it looked more organic than metal. It stared down upon Raer, slowly opening its mouths to reveal a long tipped tongue that slithered in curiosity.
" Enough " That tall thing from earlier said, the monster snapped like a soldier and stopped looking at him.
Now that Raer looked closer, there seemed to be a thron by which the huge monstrosity sat upon. There was another of that soldier one by its side...and another by it....and another.
Raer quickly looked all around him and saw rows upon rows of them, each looking identical though some wielded a different variety of weapons.
From a random guess, he'd say there were more than a hundred of them here. A sudden deep fear began to crawl upon him, his skin shivered and glistened.
" We do not have time, so I will keep this brief. I have released you from your bonds, some of you may have noticed you can move. " The being spoke, drawing the attention of all but the soldiers.
Raer quickly realised that he wasn't the only human here, there were dozens of them all gathered here.
" I am Queen Hithdra of the Renoring Hive and I have taken it upon myself to give you all a second chance at your pitiful existences. " It continued.
" You have two options, you either take he orbs that are making their way to you....or you die. " It announced to them
Like previously said, small orbs slowly floated to the front on everyone human standing here. They were deep black and seemed more like mini black holes threatening to swallow you within touch.
" Excuse me!, but what do these do ?" A voice suddenly said, it belonged to one of the humans.
" These are what you may refer to as Plarbs or simply life orbs. They will allow you to be reborn as one of us into a brand new world, one where conquest and wars await " It said to us all, quickly getting the attention of many here.
" And the price? " Another voice asked.
" You will not be humans " It said but before any one else could speak, Raer felt his body freeze up and his mind invaded by thoughts not his own.
The Draeyadds were a species of self evolving biology created with the sole purpose of war. They followed a strict hierarchy, one even their biological making was made to follow.
Little choice was given to those on the receiving end, they were once feared throughout the entire world.
But after the fall of the great Hive mind and the defeat of the hellfort armies, they were pushed back from their rightful place but that was centuries ago.
The Yadd queens, what few were left collectively decided that to sacrifice themselves to summon champions from another world who will fight and led their race to victory.
Which brings the attention to the 500 hundred humans chosen by them, most of which had already been sent on their way leaving just them.
" You will be reborn as one of our basic form but feat not, we grow and evolve quickly. Now choose and be on your way " It said.
While there were still a thousand questions left to ask especially surrounding that little explanation, they all knew that trying to ask it would their choice chosen for them.
So they each grab the orbs and soon faded to dust, most determined to find the full explanation for themselves except for 5 people...including Raer.
" Why have you not chosen yet? " The being asked confused.
" Because your base form are females " Someone snapped at it, faster than any of them to react.
Raer looked back at him with looks that screamed murder, why he had his own problems. That fool clearly didn't know how to break it down in a smart way.
" Not females, gender is simply a concept " The being replied.
" They lay eggs " The boy refuted, it was a thought each of them here had. They were afterall males and the concept of simply laying eggs was just too...odd.
"....there's more of you than the last batch, 2 more actually " The being suddenly said and what seemed like a cackle erupted within the ranks of the soldiers all around them.
Raer looked confused on this development and simply took a good look at those who stayed back, just noticing now that there was an oddity between them.
" What?" She suddenly said, staring back at him.
" Nothing " he replied before facing forward, wondering to himself why there were so many males here.
Based upon the snap shots he saw within his mind during the explanation, the queens who controlled most of the Draeyadds also produced them.
It was a female dominated species yet females and male were summoned as their champions, was it random or what?
" That is something you will all have to get used to, trust me. It isn't such a bad feeling " The Yadd queens replied to the boy's earlier reply