Chapter 1

“A time of change is approaching.…

The Destructive Strength of a New Beginning.

That which does not destroy the Warrior makes him stronger against new storms.

- The Prophet of Truth

Despairing screams reverberated all around. The pain imprinted in that insistent and repetitive sound was absolutely horrifying. Something deep inside told him that he needed to keep ignoring it. He couldn’t recall exactly why, just that it was important that he kept away, floating in that undefined state of half-consciousness, where time and space mixed and faded away. And yet that voice kept shouting, constantly trying to throw him back into the real world, like a cursed floater insisting on pulling him towards the surface, away from the black deep sea that embraced him in blessed silence and forgetfulness.

Something violently shook his lifeless body and instinctively his mind turned away, in search of the darkness, holding on to it with all his strength. He strictly commanded his brain to fall asleep, to refuse to register what was being done to that body that also belonged to him. But the voice kept screaming, that anguishing sound echoing inside and outside of him, and the violent jolts that kept shaking his dark world finally delivered him back into the cruel light.

As soon as he opened his eyes chaos flooded his brain. The pain was unbearable, agonizing, making him gasp for air so he could scream. In panic he recognized the voice he’d been persistently hearing hour after hour as his own, and the world around him went dangerously out of focus and was tainted in bright red.

More than the cuts and wounds openly bleeding all over his body, the white soft light showering him was the biggest torture, burning him as if it were acid.

“Ah! Finally!” he heard a female voice and his crazed mind turned towards the one who’d talked. He recognized her immediately, although he no longer could remember from where, or why. Pure rage filled him in a wave that made his chest burn, granting new meaning to his screams, and with a surprisingly agile jump, he blindly flung his body towards her.

The clanking sound of chains and the pull that stopped him from reaching her left him aimlessly punching and kicking the air. Right then he only wished he could take another step, which would allow him to beat the woman tranquilly observing him in to a bloody pulp.

She smiled, lazily leaning on the wooden stick she’d used to hit him.

“Thank God this room is soundproof,” she declared, looking around appreciatively. “No one would ever be able to do any work with an animal like you screaming day and night,” she added with clear despise, and at a gesture of her hand, five men entered through the only existing door, holding him against the wall.

Making use of the fury burning inside him he tried to fight that human prison but his own body betrayed him, failing when strength was most needed. The peak of adrenaline brought upon by her presence had already started to fade away, reducing him to the weakness imposed by pain and light.

Once she no longer perceived him as a threat, the woman took a step forward with a victorious smile, feeding the deep hatred inside him. However there was nothing he could do, not against her, nor against the five men holding him by his neck, arms and legs.

”Anyway, I'm glad you're feeling so spirited.” Her words dripped with irony as she took a syringe from the front pocket of her lab coat. The liquid inside it was light-green and crystal-like, and his body contracted with an anticipating spasm. “We have a new formula to test. It’s good that you’re in such a good shape. It wouldn’t do, if you were to die before we could observe all the possible effects,” she added, uncapping the needle, and one of the men made him stretch his arm, offering her his vein.

In despair he tried once more to get free, but the hands holding him were hard and strong. As soon as he felt the needle prick his skin a blazing heat ran through his entire body, stealing his breath away.

He hit the ground the moment they released him, instinctively gasping for air in order to remain alive. For an instant he thought his heart had stopped beating, and his hope that he’d finally be free from that hell made him wish that the sudden silence in his chest would last long enough to completely erase the life insistently burning inside of him. And yet, just like before, it wasn’t to be. And a new heartbeat brought him back to a world of despair and madness, where living flames coursed through his veins, consuming him inside.

Pictures of bloody seas filled his brain. Kill them all, that’s what he was going to do! And that someone may have mercy on those Humans and kill him first.

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