Cold mist drifted across the abandoned transit terminal.
Under the dim glow of broken ceiling panels, Kael, a nineteen year old young man, moved slowly along the cracked tiles while supporting himself with a metal crutch.
The air tasted metallic. He wrinkled his nose but did not slow down.
The vast hall around him had once been a crowded departure station, filled with travelers and noise. Now it was only pillars, shattered glass, and the distant echoes of creatures that had claimed the world long ago. The abominations had reduced cities to carcasses and turned survivors into prey.
Despite standing in the open, Kael's face remained steady.
Clink.Clink.Clink.
Each step rang across the empty chamber. After a minute he stopped near a row of overturned ticket counters and glanced behind him.
Nothing followed.
He exhaled quietly."Looks like I slipped away."
From his coat he pulled a thumb sized crystal vial.
He raised it to eye level. A thick crimson liquid swirled inside as if alive, pressing toward the glass nearest his face. His calm expression twisted with disgust.
The fluid leaned closer.
Kael turned his head sharply. His hand shot to his collar where swollen scarlet veins pulsed beneath his skin.
"Damn it..."
He hurled the vial onto the floor.
It shattered.
The liquid spread across the tiles like petals unfolding. A low vibration filled the terminal, humming through the metal framework of the building.
"AAAH!"
Kael dropped to his knees. Memories surged into him, the operating table, restraints, screams, and the faces he swore he would never forget.
His eyes reddened. The veins across his neck expanded violently.
Through clenched teeth he rasped,"Wait for me... I will take every last one of your heads."
Soft white symbols appeared in the air before him.
A gentle feminine voice followed.
[Warrior Kael. You have been deemed worthy.]
His lips stretched into a fractured smile as the space ahead tore open. From within seeped a deep red light like the inside of a beating heart.
"So that is it... The curse becomes the door."
His crutch slipped from his grasp as he dragged himself forward, hope flickering in his shaking eyes.
At the edge of the opening, his silhouette became clear. His worn clothes and gaunt frame did not match the composure in his gaze.
[Warrior Kael. Do you wish to enter the Trial of Blood?]
[Yes | No]
The hesitation lasted only a breath.
"Yes."
[Warrior Kael. You are being transferred to the Trial of Blood.]
Laughter burst from him, sharp and unstable, his fingers digging into the cold tile despite the agony tearing through his body.
The symbols shifted again.
[The Final Will grants you a gloriou-
A new voice cut across the hall.
"You finally start acting like a proper lab rat, Subject 105."
Kael's smile faded as he turned toward the darkness behind him.
A slow clap echoed through the terminal.
From between the leaning pillars stepped a tall man in a long gray coat. The fabric was spotless despite the dust covering everything else. A narrow visor covered his eyes, glowing faint blue in the gloom.
Several mechanical lenses hovered behind him like silent insects.
"So you really did find it," the man said calmly. "Our lost specimen has always been troublesome."
Kael's fingers tightened against the floor."You should have stayed dead."
"I tried," the man replied. "You were very difficult to dispose of."
The red light from the opening pulsed stronger beside Kael, staining the hall in a heartbeat rhythm.
[Transfer in progress]
The man tilted his head, studying the symbols."The Trial of Blood. How fitting. Even broken, your compatibility remains abnormal."
He raised his hand. One of the floating lenses rotated and a thin beam of pale light formed at its center.
"You belong in the facility, Subject 105. Not in some relic left by a dead civilization."
Kael dragged himself forward another inch. The glow licked across his skin and the veins along his neck throbbed violently.
"You took my body," Kael muttered. "You took years of my life."
The beam fired.
It struck the ground beside him and shattered the tile into molten fragments. Heat washed across his face.
"Correction," the man said. "We improved it. Your survival rate exceeded expectations. You should be grateful."
Kael laughed weakly."Grateful?"
He reached into the red light. The skin of his arm began to smoke, but he did not pull back.
"You carved monsters into people," he whispered. "So I will become something worse."
The man's tone sharpened."Stop him."
Two more lenses aligned. Energy gathered.
[Transfer at 82%]
The hum intensified. The air thickened, pulling dust and debris toward the opening.
The second beam shot forward.
This time it hit Kael's back.
His body arched as burning pain tore through him, yet his hand pushed deeper into the glow. The crimson light crawled up his arm like liquid fire, merging into his veins.
His vision darkened at the edges.
[Transfer at 94%]
The man stepped closer, coat fluttering in the rising current."You will die before completion. Your nervous system cannot handle the conversion."
Kael forced his head up. Blood ran from his mouth, but his eyes shone clearer than before.
"Good," he said hoarsely. "Then I will haunt you."
The light exploded outward.
For a brief instant the hall vanished into white.
[Transfer complete]
Silence fell.
The beam passed through empty air.
The man lowered his hand slowly as the red opening collapsed into a single point and disappeared.
Only the broken floor remained.
One of the hovering lenses flickered.
"No biological signal detected," it reported.
The man stared at the spot where Kael had been. After a moment, his lips curved slightly.
"Run if you wish," he murmured. "The world is small for something born from our hands."
Far away, beyond the ruined sky, something ancient had awakened.