Blood everywhere.
I coughed hard. Hot liquid filled my mouth. My body hurt so bad I could not breathe right. The war screams still rang in my ears... swords clashing, fire roaring, mages shouting spells that lit the sky red and black.
I fell face down in the mud. My small tricks... useless. Always useless. The others laughed at me before they left me here to die. "Adina the trickster," they called me. "Can't even make a spark worth seeing." Now they were gone. Dead or running. I did not know.
My chest burned. I tried to push myself up. My arms shook. Failed. The ground smelled like iron and smoke. My vision blurred... dark at the edges.
Then... something inside me snapped.
A sharp pain shot through my whole body. Like someone reached inside and grabbed my heart. I screamed... but no sound came out. My back arched. My fingers clawed the dirt.
Red words appeared in front of my eyes. Floating. Glowing. Like blood written in the air.
**Chaos Witch System Activated**
**Host: Adina**
**Life Force: 8/100 – Critical**
**Soul Points: 0**
**Condition: Dying**
**Solution: Harvest or Perish**
What... what was this?
The words burned into my brain. I felt them. They spoke inside my head. Cold. Hungry.
I tried to blink them away. They stayed.
Another wave of pain. Worse. My body jerked like a broken doll. I saw my own blood pooling under me... spreading fast. Too fast.
Then the red words changed.
**First Harvest Available**
**Target: Nearby Soul (Dying Mage – 50 meters)**
**Estimated Yield: 45 Soul Points**
**Warning: Harvest requires physical contact**
**Do you accept? Y/N**
I did not understand. I did not want to understand. But my body was shutting down. My fingers felt cold. My toes were gone. The world started to go black.
I forced my head up. Through the smoke... I saw him. One of the enemy mages. He lay on his back not far away. Chest torn open. Legs gone. Still breathing. Barely.
His eyes met mine. Wide. Scared.
I dragged myself. Every inch hurt. Mud and blood stuck to my clothes. My nails broke on rocks. I kept going.
Closer... closer...
I reached him. My hand shook as I touched his chest. Warm. Wet. His blood coated my fingers.
The system voice came again. Soft. Almost sweet.
**Harvest initiated**
**Soul extraction in progress**
Something ripped out of him.
A glowing white thread. Bright. Screaming. It came from his chest... pulled straight into my palm. He gasped once. Eyes rolled back. Body went still.
The thread burned as it entered me. Hot. Bright. Then cold. So cold.
I felt it... his memories. His fear. His last thought. "Mother... sorry..."
It flooded me. Filled me. The pain in my chest eased. My breathing came easier.
The red words appeared again.
**Soul Harvest Complete**
**Soul Points Gained: 52**
**Life Force Restored: 45/100**
**Corruption +3%**
**Welcome, Adina. You are now the Chaos Witch.**
I fell back into the mud. Chest rising and falling. Alive. Somehow alive.
But something inside me changed. Something dark. Something hungry.
The war sounds faded far away. The sky above turned strange... brighter. Different stars. Different moon.
I closed my eyes. Just for a second.
When I opened them again... everything was wrong.
The battlefield was gone.
No more bodies.
No more blood.
Instead... tall black towers touched the sky. Lights blinked red and blue. Strange machines flew overhead. People walked fast in shiny clothes... none of them looking at me.
I lay on cold stone in an alley. Alone.
The system pinged once more.
Temporal Displacement Confirmed
**Era: Future Cycle 7
**Objective: Survive
Hunger Level: Rising
I stared at the words.
Then I stared at my hands.
They trembled.
But they were clean now.
No blood.
Only the memory of it.
And deep inside... that new hunger whispered.
More.
I need more.
I pushed myself up.
The night swallowed me whole.