Whatever had kept the pain at bay had vanished alongside Myra.

  Sleep eluded Aiden as the pain wrestled him awake every time his eyelids dared to close. He was unsure if that was a blessing or a curse. The hurt fueled Dyad Vessel, constantly supplying its torturous reserves, but the lack of sleep took its toll.

  Aiden slept on his side, his back sensitive to even the slightest touch. It surprised him what an exhausted mind could overpower. Torn flesh. Broken bones. Loneliness.

  Someone visited him in the night, and they took the pain when they left. Thank the Maker. Aiden remembered seeing shoulder-length red hair shining like embers in a fire, but that might have been a trick of his tired mind.

  When the darkness came again, he welcomed it.

  ***

  Aiden woke up, confused.

  The ceiling differed from before—white instead of pale gray. The bed was no longer warm and comfortable, but a frigid, metallic frame, binding his arms, legs, torso, and neck, and. He he could not move. His restraints trapped him.

  “What the abyss?!” Aiden shouted as he realized his clothes were also gone.

  Panic carved a bottomless pit into his empty stomach as his mind imagined the worst possible things that could happen. Fuck this! Aiden mustered all the strength in his body to break free, ignoring the blood that gushed from the reopened wounds, but failed to break free.

  “Shhh, it’s alright,” Myra whispered above. “We’re just about to get you all disguised for the… hm, you know, infiltration stuff. Make you a Sovran, remember?”

  Four people murmured to the side, all wearing white robes with masks that covered their faces. Aiden felt the displeasure in their frowns, but that was the least of his concerns.

  “Alright… yeah.” He shivered. “Who’re those guys?”

  “Don’t worry about them; they are just here to help me,” she said while putting on gloves. “A Reverence’s reserve is… well, not great. So, I’m gonna need some help to make sure you don’t end up dying.”

  It was the second time she mentioned the dire consequences of failure. Maker’s mercy, what did I get myself into? Aiden wanted to run, but it was too late for that.

  “They’re bound by vows to forget all about this… procedure. Once their jobs are done, we’ll never see them again.” Myra hesitated, her hand hovering above Aiden’s chest. “Helvs told me about your ability. Can you… not do that to me?”

  After a brief hesitation, Aiden nodded. Hurting the person who held the key to his chains was not wise.

  Myra shoved a large piece of leather in his mouth. “Bite on this.”

  Aiden’s questions were silenced into muffled whimpers that escaped his torn lips. Never in his life had he prayed so hard for salvation, or admonished himself for the consequences of his reckless decisions. But it was pastime for regrets.

  “Alright, guys!” Myra clapped to gather the attention of the masked Sovrans. “Open up your reserves and submit your will to mine.”

  “All of us?” One of them scoffed as if hearing a joke. “I thought we were taking turns. Surely you don’t think you can handle the will of four Reverences.”

  “Look, guys, if you don’t wanna comply, ?break the contract,” Myra said, and the chuckles turned to silence. “That’s what I thought! Now shut up and do what I say.”

  Red light illuminated the white walls of the room. It ignited from the mist pouring out of the four masked people in the corner. Myra muttered something under her breath, a deep frown taking hold of her features, and took a deep breath.

  All the mist entered her body.

  Her eyes gained a deep crimson color resembling a ruby, unlike the usual soft caramel. Even her hair brightened to a brilliant shade of red. Strands of lightning bearing the same color crackled on her skin, traveling erratic paths from her body to the ground in a sizzling stream of pure Sovran magic.

  “Ah!” she sighed with a trembling smile. “Time to start.” She pressed her hand above Aiden’s heart. “This will hurt. A lot. I wish I could put you to sleep, save both of us some trouble, but I gotta monitor you during the procedure.”

  Myra winced at the horrified expression taking over Aiden’s features.

  Molten metal poured from her hand. It entered Aiden’s flesh, burning, ripping it apart, remaking it. Brown eyes bulged out of their sockets as the pain overwhelmed him in a second, even though Dyad Vessel worked ceaselessly to lessen it.

  The room grew dark, the pull of unconsciousness dragging his eyelids closed. It was a relief from the pain, something too tempting to deny. The torture diminished to a whisper. Aiden embraced the darkness, the escape.

  A cold hand squeezed his heart once. Twice. Thrice.

  “Hmrgh!” He gasped through the leather in his mouth.

  Cold sweat sizzled on top of his burning hot skin. Just one minute. He begged for rest but realized Myra would not grant it—this pain was something he needed to endure. There was no running away from it.

  Fire burned his muscles, boiling out the impurities within his flesh, cleansing his body from the inside out. Invisible hammers broke his bones while the heat mended them together.

  Aiden screamed until he lost his voice.

  “I think you broke the ratling.” One of the masked men said.

  The leather in Aiden’s mouth came loose, as did the restraints. But instead of returning the stolen freedom, they granted nothing more than a chance for rest.

  ***

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead!” Myra chirped.

  The voice made Aiden wince. The cold metal pressing against his back told him where he was. Something on his face made Myra’s smile falter—probably the undisguised terror. The four people stood silent at the corner as if to keep distance from the red-haired madwoman. Aiden did not blame them, he wished to do the same.

  “Ah.” She hummed to herself. “Not feeling up to it?”

  “Who likes to get… tortured?” Aiden let out the bitterness and fear he felt.

  Without a word, Myra started to untie his body from the table. She stood to the side, arms crossed, and motioned him to stand up. Aiden did as he was told, while a part of him wondered if he could just run away.

  My family needs me. His shoulders were suddenly heavy. Just… a little longer.

  Aiden followed the red-haired Sovran to the long mirror next to the door. His body felt wrong, though he failed to understand why. Aiden looked down at Myra.

  Wait, how come… abyss take me, I can see the top of her head!

  He faced the mirror, gazed at the skinny, naked Sovran who looked back at him. His body was thin and gangly, all skin and bones. His hair was brown and his eyes followed suit. That was secondary to the scar that traced a cruel red line from his right shoulder to the left side of his belly.

  Is that… me?

  “What did you…” Aiden did not know what to ask. Perhaps he should thank her, but showing gratitude to a Sovran was beyond him.

  “Nothing special, really.” Myra flashed a proud smile as she examined his body. “Removed the gunk from inside you, extended your bones, nourished your muscles with hexion. Nothing all that difficult… though you almost died a couple of times.”

  Aiden chose to ignore the last part. “Hexion? I’m a Sovran now?”

  “Nope.” Myra burst into laughter. “You’re just the tallest miner ever.”

  She pushed Aiden with a soft touch—nothing but a playful tap. It felt as if somebody had pushed him with their full strength.

  “No strength to back that height, see? You can’t run any faster than a miner… well, you’ll probably be slower now.” She frowned. “If you want to stop now, that’s all well and good with me. But you’ll get a broken bone every time a Sovran looks at you.”

  Aiden swallowed his fears, refusing to let them control him. He needed to get stronger to rescue his family, and the new looks alone were not enough to bridge the gap between a miner and a Sovran.

  “Do it.” Aiden walked back to the table, devoid of hesitation. Fear might still flood him, but he refused to let that control his future.

  Aiden lost track of the times he lost consciousness. Muffled voices were the anchors that guided him back when darkness beckoned.

  “Abyss!” Myra snarled. “I shouldn’t have done this. Someone get Corvanis here. Now!”

  Corvanis? Aiden muttered, confused.

  He remembered seeing a vial of silver liquid and a large syringe with a bright needle. The pain was so intense that his mind played tricks on him. He saw Overseer Corvanis assisting Myra in dealing his punishment.

  “Maker’s mercy, Myra!” Even the voice was familiar. “Why is the child bleeding from… everywhere?”

  “Mistakes happen, alright?” She retorted with a tinge of panic. “Now, shut up and help me.”

  Something pierced Aiden’s stomach, burrowing its way to his heart. In one moment, his sense of self was intact—he was Aiden Greystone. In the next, he was something else. He smelled the blood in the air, felt it. Craved to devour it.

  Memories pulled him to a place of hunger.

  ***

  The moon shone red in the night sky.A hole in its center pierced the moon's celestial body, revealing bright stars in the distance. It was a proud, defiled reminder of its old glory.

  The Hemomorph wandered the world, dreaming about its next meal alone. Ah, what it would feel like to drench myself in the warm life of those who crossed me. Humans. But the actions of its brethren and the Sha’Vitri had all but extinguished the last remnants of the people that once called this place home.

  The foolish ones who dared to open the rifts were long gone, while the remaining ones had been wised by the death of their ancestors. Hard to find. Decades had passed since he last saw a human, but he did not stop hoping.

  A wave of hexion passed through the Hemomorph, a Presence. Who dares? As long as it did not belong to a Sha’Vitri, the creature did not need to fear it. This was his territory. He would find the insolent cur and make them pay for their intrusion.

  “Ah, it’s good that you were so close.” A voice spoke from behind the Hemomorph, sending shivers straight down its spine. “Saves me the trouble. Now, friend, kindly hand me your core.”

  The Hemomorph spun, weaving hexion into crimson armor around its body, condensing it into a thin blade at the tip of its tail. Its presence unfolded into the world, but it might not have bothered.

  A raven-haired man had sprouted out of nowhere, his eyes black as the Obelisk. The Hemomorph might once have cheered for his luck, but age had made him no longer a fool. For a human to face him meant one thing.

  He’s no prey.

  The man vanished. Archon! In its last moments, the Hemomorph wondered what one of them was doing outside the Haven. Before death, it cursed its core with the full force of its will.

  ***

  Aiden let out a gasp.

  What kind of dream was that?

  Its details, the sheer lucidity, made it seem like a memory. But that can’t be right. There had been no ceiling above his head, only something called the sky. Instead of the Torch, a broken sphere called the moon hung above the living like a broken remnant. There were so many questions, but no one to answer them.

  No one except Helvan.

  Aiden stared at the ceiling. Dull gray, musty stone. The usual. The room was devoid of windows and doors, but it was still bright. Shadowless bright. It was small compared to his previous bedroom, but the bed was just as comfortable, if smaller.

  Wait, wait, wait. No doors? How am I getting out? How did I get here?

  Deep claw marks, as if tore the walls a rabid animal had vented all its pent-up hatred on the unfeeling stone. Aiden started to sweat. He looked from side to side but found no trace of danger. He was alone in the plain stone confines.

  “Myra?” Aiden hesitated. “Helvan!”

  No one replied. No one came. There was only silence.

  Dyad Vessel revolved in his mind like a sphere, its capacity filled to the brim—a testament to what Aiden had gone through.After everything they did, he deserved at least someone to answer his questions. The lack of respect was infuriating, but it was nothing a miner was not used to.

  “Helvan!” Aiden punched the wall, and the stone caved under his fist.

  Abyss take me! He looked at his hand, unscathed, no pain. He punched the wall again. The stone crumbled under the strength of the blow. What kind of power is this?

  “Good to see you made it back.” Helvan appeared out of nowhere, striking a dreaded resemblance to the memory Aiden had just lived through.

  “Is this how you treat a partner?” Aiden snapped at the elderly man. “I never left! You’re the one that left me here.”

  “You… really don’t remember?” Helvan sighed, ruminating on his next words. “You’ve been here for a month, Aiden.”

  The ground might as well have fallen from under Aiden’s feet. The words left Helvan’s lips, but their meaning took a few moments to sink in. Looking around the room, he once again saw the claw marks, and the realization made him shiver.

  I did that. The… Hemomorph did that. He had no proof, yet he knew the creature was one with him now.

  “Come, there’s a lot of things you need to know. Even more than you must learn.” Helvan winced, looking around the room as if searching for where Aiden was. “But that can wait. Unlike you, I can’t see in the dark.”