When Caelum opened his eyes, a sharp, blinding light pierced into them. He groaned and squinted, trying to block it out, but it was no use. The brightness felt like it was cutting into his skull.
But worse than the light was the cold.
It wasn't just cold on his skin — it was inside him. Inside his bones. So cold that his body started shaking all over, his teeth chattering hard, and for a second he was sure his blood would freeze in his veins.
He tried to move, but something was wrong. His arms couldn't stretch out. They were pressed close to his body, and there was iron around him — cold, hard iron.
As his vision slowly cleared, he saw it. A cage.
He was locked inside an iron cage. His breath turned into fog in the freezing air as he sat up. His body ached, but he looked around.
There were others.
About seven other kids. Some smaller than him, some bigger, all of them sleeping or unconscious. Boys and girls. None looked older than ten.
The cage rattled loudly with every bump, dragging across the snowy ground as a big man pulled it behind him. Chains were tied to the bars, and the man didn't seem tired at all, even with all their weight.
Caelum blinked slowly, trying to make sense of what was happening. His heart thudded loudly in his chest, and his body tensed up with fear.
And then… he saw it.
Far away, in the distance…
A gate.
No — not just a gate. A monstrous thing. A gate so tall that it seemed to reach the skies themselves. It stood alone, like a black wall between the world he knew and something else.
Something worse.
As soon as he saw it, Caelum's heart dropped into his stomach. His fingers dug into the bars of the cage. His breathing turned shallow.
No… no, no, no…
He knew where they were going.
Not long after, the other kids started to wake too. One by one, groaning, rubbing their eyes — and then screaming.
The moment they saw the black gate, all of them began to cry.
Some screamed their lungs out. Some just wept quietly. A few pounded against the cage, begging to go home, shouting for their mothers.
But they all knew the same thing.
They were being taken to the Timeless Zone.
The place where Blackwatchers were made. Not born — made.
Every year, men like the one dragging them would roam the lands, picking out kids. Kids who had "potential," they said. Potential to survive. That's all they cared about.
Because once you entered the Timeless Zone… the chance of surviving the training was only 40%.
Sixty out of every hundred kids never came back.
And everyone in the world knew that.
Caelum held the bars tight. His hands were going numb, but he didn't let go. He didn't cry or scream like the others. He just stared at the gate with wide eyes, and fear deeper than words.
He looked around again, hoping — just maybe — his uncle Caldris would be there. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe he was still asleep, or trapped in some kind of nightmare.
But no one was there.
Just the man pulling the cage. Silent. Strong. No expression.
The last thing Caelum remembered before everything went black was…
His father and mother's bodies.
His uncle's hand striking his face.
The storm exploding from inside him.
And now, he was here.
He shut his eyes tightly, hoping if he opened them again he would wake up in his bed.
But when he opened them, the gate was closer.
Much closer.
The giant black doors loomed over them now, as the wind howled. The sky was gray and heavy, snow falling slow and silent. The air was so cold it bit into their lungs.
The man dragging them stopped. He didn't speak. Didn't look at them.
Suddenly, a small part of the massive gate creaked open by itself, as if it had a mind of its own. Just enough space for the cage to fit through.
The cage rattled forward again, and then… they were inside.
And what they saw stunned them all.
The cries stopped.
The fear didn't go away, but it paused.
Because the world inside the Timeless Zone didn't look like anything they expected.
It was… beautiful.
Palaces. Dozens of them, maybe hundreds, built in strange shapes and glowing with soft lights. People walked in cloaks of many colors, their footsteps silent on the white ground. There were creatures — strange ones — but they didn't look dangerous. The snow fell gently, like feathers, and everything sparkled like glass.
For a second… they almost thought they had been taken to heaven.
Then —
CLANG!
The man dragging them dropped the chains.
He turned toward the cage, still without a word. And then, in one massive motion, he lifted the entire cage up — with all eight kids inside.
His strength didn't make sense. It was like lifting a feather.
And then he tilted the cage sideways.
CRASH!
All eight of them tumbled out onto the hard, frozen ground like sacks of grain. Arms, legs, heads, all crashing together. Some cried out in pain.
Caelum hit the ice hard. The cold burned against his skin. His lip was bleeding.
He rolled onto his side, gasping for breath.
And the man just stood there, looking down at them like they were nothing.
Like they weren't kids at all.