Chapter 2 - Ash and Storm

When Kofi opened his eyes, he was already falling.A scream tore through the dark, his own voice echoing back at him from the metal shell of the drop pod. The sky was a whirl of fractured colors, lightning coiling like serpents through purple clouds. He barely had time to brace before the world slammed upward and shattered everything.When the dust settled, the pod was half-buried in glassy black sand.The air was heavy — thick enough to choke on, metallic and alive. Each breath burned down his throat. He stumbled out, legs shaking, staring at the landscape spread beneath a broken red sky. Trees of bone and crystal swayed in a wind that smelled of ozone and rot. The ground shimmered and bent, as if the planet couldn't decide which way gravity was supposed to pull.His first thought wasn't fear — it was calculation.He scanned the wreckage, noting angles, impact velocity, and structural damage. Old habits. Engineering didn't stop just because you'd been kidnapped by aliens.Then he heard voices."Hey! Human!"Kofi turned toward the sound. A tall blue-skinned figure crouched behind a bent piece of hull, silver eyes reflecting the red sky. The alien had a scientist's face — calm, observant, even curious."I'm Luro," the being said, stepping closer. His voice was melodic but edged with exhaustion. Four translucent tendrils swayed gently from the back of his skull. "You're… alive. Remarkable."Kofi coughed. "Not for long if I stay out here. Where are we?""The Dominion calls it Trial One. Locals used to call it Sharr. The planet died a century ago, but the Dominion likes its ruins fresh.""Trial One," Kofi muttered. "Sounds like a bad video game."Luro's brow creased. "Video what?"Kofi waved it off. "Never mind. Long story."The ground trembled. A beam of crimson light speared the clouds, forming a massive holographic sigil — the emblem of the Xarith Dominion. It turned slowly, shedding light like falling dust."ATTENTION TRIAL SUBJECTS," a voice thundered, deep and cold as iron."TRIAL ONE: ADAPTATION.SURVIVE SEVEN CYCLES.COORDINATES FOR EXTRACTION WILL BE TRANSMITTED TO LIVING PARTICIPANTS.FAILURE TO ARRIVE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION."The light faded, leaving only the whisper of wind and the distant moan of shifting stone.Kofi muttered, "Guess that's our welcome speech."Luro glanced at him. "You're taking this rather calmly.""I don't panic," Kofi said, scanning the wreckage. "I troubleshoot."LuroHe'd met geniuses before — reckless inventors, war-minds bred to calculate in the middle of chaos — but none like this human.While others wept or screamed, Kofi scavenged. He tore apart his pod, rewiring panels, muttering to himself about field strength and polarity. His hands were quick and sure, even bleeding and bruised.Luro couldn't look away."So," he asked after a while, "you build things?"Kofi didn't glance up. "Electrical and mechanical systems. I design. Repair. Improve."A small smile flickered at the edge of his mouth. "Or break them, depending on the mood."Luro knelt beside him, curious. "Your mind is… structured differently. Most species panic when they fall from the sky.""Yeah," Kofi said dryly. "Most species didn't grow up fixing generators in 110-degree heat for minimum wage."The alien blinked. "I'll assume that's… impressive.""You'd be right."Luro found himself smiling, then quickly stopped. He shouldn't get attached. The Dominion didn't send survivors to the Trials. They sent fodder.By nightfall, other survivors had found them — strange beings from a dozen worlds.A stone giant whose breath steamed like fog.A small insectoid creature that prayed to itself.And a being made of soft light that called itself Father Serin.Serin's voice soothed the panic around them. "We are still alive. That means we still matter."Luro snorted under his breath. "You are always this optimistic, priest?"Serin smiled faintly. "Faith is stubborn, even in hell."Kofi didn't listen. He was busy wiring a cracked stabilizer core into a web of metallic vines. The air shimmered with each spark."What are you building?" Luro asked."A local gravity dampener," Kofi said. "The ground's shifting. If we stay here, we'll be ripped apart."Luro frowned. "You can read Dominion tech?""Electrons don't care who built the circuit."KofiAs night fell, the landscape lit up — glowing plants, bioluminescent rivers winding through black hills, storms rolling silently across the horizon. He felt small but alive.The air vibrated strangely. He could hear Luro and Serin whispering in a language he didn't recognize — yet somehow he understood."The human shouldn't even be breathing here," Luro said."His body's adapting too fast.""Then perhaps the Dominion changed him," Serin replied. "Maybe they gave him what they feared most."Kofi didn't let them know he understood. He didn't want to know what "changed" meant. But sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he saw faint trails of light beneath his skin — like veins of quicksilver pulsing with his heartbeat.Then the storm hit.A wall of wind and color tore through the jungle. Gravity twisted sideways. The survivors screamed as the ground turned fluid under their feet.From the storm came shapes — manta-like creatures, translucent and glowing. Their bodies hummed with sonic vibrations that split metal like paper.Luro shouted something about "Veil Swarm," but Kofi barely heard him. His mind was already calculating.He dove into the wreckage, rerouting power cells, snapping cables together with shaking hands. "Everyone down!"He jammed the stabilizer spike into the sand. Energy flared — a dome of magnetic force flickered into existence. The swarm hit it like a tidal wave of glass, screeching in unison.The barrier held. For a moment.Then it began to overload. Kofi screamed through his teeth, holding the field together with sheer will. Sparks tore across his arms, white light crawling beneath his skin.The creatures burst apart in blinding flashes. Then silence.When he looked up, the others were staring at him — not in gratitude, but in fear.LuroHe watched the human stand amidst the wreckage, veins glowing faintly silver, eyes unfocused.Kofi Daramola had become something the universe wasn't ready for.Later, when the storm had passed and the survivors slept, Luro opened his crystal log and whispered into it."Observation: Subject Kofi exhibits energy resonance patterns identical to Amissi relics. Reaction appears uncontrolled, possibly innate."He hesitated. The Amissi were myths — ancient beings said to have harnessed the Source before the Dominion erased them from history. To even study their name was treason.And yet the human's presence made his skin crawl with recognition.He whispered to himself, Could he be one of them?No. Impossible. The Amissi were dust and legend.But still…He remembered the way Kofi's body shimmered when he fought the storm, the same pale light that Amissi texts described — "the glow of those who heard the Source whisper back.""Impossible," Luro muttered. "And yet…"Serin appeared behind him, quiet as the night. "You see it too."Luro jumped. "Don't sneak up on me, priest.""You think he's one of your ghosts," Serin said softly. "Be careful what you awaken, scientist. The Dominion burns what it doesn't understand."Luro said nothing. But his eyes never left the sleeping human.Interlude: The Overseers' ChamberHigh above the storm-scarred planet, in a suspended hall of glass and metal, the Overseers gathered.The chamber was vast — circular, cold, and alive with humming machinery. Silver light dripped from the ceiling like molten stars, casting long shadows across the seats of the Xarith elite.In the center of the room, a projection shimmered — scenes from below: Kofi and the other prisoners staggering through acid rain, lightning bursting from the cracked sky, the monstrous forms stalking them through glowing jungles. Every motion was magnified and broadcast through the Dominion's inner networks.They weren't watching soldiers. They were watching entertainment."Remarkable…" purred one Overseer, her face hidden behind a translucent mask that pulsed with data. "The soft-blooded creature endures longer than the Sarnak war-beast. How is that possible?""Impossible," spat another, his talons tapping the table. "No human should last a day in the Trials. End it now before this becomes an infection. The nobles crave balance — not miracles."Across the table, a third Overseer leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with amusement."Let him live," he hissed. "The crowds will love it. A fragile species defying death — a perfect spectacle. Besides, if he dies later, it will be glorious."Others murmured in agreement, feeding on the tension like predators scenting blood.Then a younger Overseer spoke, his tone eager, almost childlike:"Perhaps we should harvest more of his kind. If one human can survive, imagine a hundred. We could—""Enough," interrupted the highest-ranking and oldest Overseer.He stood from his throne, tall and thin as a blade, wrapped in black armor that shimmered with ancient runes. His voice silenced the room."No expeditions to that planet. No contact with his species. This… anomaly will remain isolated.""Why?" asked one, daring to lift her head. "Surely—"He turned slowly toward her, and the chamber dimmed."Because I said so," he said quietly.But behind the mask of authority, his thoughts twisted. They cannot know the truth. Not about that world. Not about what sleeps beneath it.Nira stood off to the side, silent as the room buzzed with restrained argument.She hid her hands behind her back, concealing a small tremor. She had watched the human through the feeds — how he moved, how he adapted, how he refused to die. There was something fierce about him, something… alive in a way the Dominion had long forgotten.When the meeting adjourned, and the others slithered or drifted out, Nira remained by the window, watching the holographic replay of Kofi helping a wounded alien to his feet.Her mandibles shifted in what might have been a smile."Survive, human," she whispered. "Prove them wrong."Behind her, the High Overseer lingered in the dark.His gaze flicked to the hologram one last time before fading into the shadows."I will speak with the Ruler," he murmured. "If the legends are true… then we have found something far more dangerous than entertainment. Kofi — The Dream That night, he dreamed. He was standing in a void — endless, weightless, silent. Above him hung a sun of pure white fire, pulsing like a heartbeat. Each pulse whispered words he couldn't understand but somehow felt meant for him. He reached out, and the light reached back — tendrils of silver energy wrapping around his arm, seeping into his veins. The world shattered into images — worlds burning, armies kneeling before shadows, a dark hand gripping stars. And a voice — distant, echoing — whispering in a tongue that wasn't language but feeling. Remember what you are. He woke with a gasp, heart pounding, skin slick with sweat. The glow beneath his skin flared once, then dimmed. He stared at his hands. "What the hell are you?"Luro By the third cycle, half their group was gone. Gravity storms swallowed some. Others were shredded by crystalline beasts that stalked the dunes. Every time death came close, the human adapted faster — his reflexes sharper, his eyes brighter. He should have been broken by now, but instead, he looked watched him from afar, torn between fascination and fear. Part of him wanted to study Kofi, to understand the miracle of his existence. Another part whispered that if the Dominion found out, they'd dissect them both. "You're quiet," Serin said beside him as they buried another corpse. "I'm thinking. "About what? "About whether salvation and extinction look the same from far away. "Erin chuckled sadly. "You scientists always mistake faith for madness. Sometimes they're the same thing. "Kofi By the seventh cycle, only six of them remained. They trudged through a canyon of floating stones, gravity pulling in all directions. Kofi's homemade stabilizer sputtered and sparked as it tried to map a path. One of the survivors — a scaly creature named Torvek — snapped. "We'll never make it! The beacon's a trap! "Then stay here," Kofi growled.Torvek swung a clawed hand at him. Kofi dodged, faster than he should've been able to move. Electricity arced from his fingertips, crackling through the air. Torvek froze mid-step, eyes wide — and then fell, smoking. Everyone stared. Kofi swallowed hard. "I didn't— I didn't mean to—"No one spoke. They just followed him, silently, like he was something dangerous that might save them or kill them by accident. When they finally reached the extraction beacon — a spire of light humming with alien runes — Kofi dropped to his knees, shaking. His veins glowed bright silver now, visible even through the grime. Luro stared in awe and dread. It's him, he thought. It has to be. The Amissi, the legend, is thought to be only a myth. He opened his mouth to speak, to tell Kofi the truth — and then the ground split open. A white beam engulfed them all. And the world vanished.