"...Keahh...Kahh...Kaeeelh..." The echoes of the ethereal whisper ripped him from his deep slumber, sunken bloodshot rock grey eyes snapped open as they had everyday for the last week.
Kael groaned. The dim light of sunstones blinded him. These stones were used as lighting for the dark mine shafts for they were vast, cheap and safe to use in closed environments. He closed his eyes to gather his thoughts.
As soon as He closed his eyes he felt the whisper return before it could start he opened them, sat up on his bunk and rubbed his pale face. Ruffling his dirty blonde hair, which had the same colour as the horrible imitation of light. He hadn't seen the sun in 12 years. Only those cursed pathetic excuses of a light source.
He looked around the familiar sight a large cave-like structure with hundreds of bunk beds the ever-dull grey walls only bathed by the fake light of the sunstones. And It reeked like u would imagine hundreds of mining slaves would smell with only one allowed bath every 30 Days. The rest of the time they had to clean themselves with a dreadful creation of some alchemist, called washpowder, which helped against parasites and other plaques. But not the smell.
12 years he called the mines his home, and a slave his destiny. He just turned 18, and on his sixth birthday, his family sold him into slavery because he awakened a weak ability.
A fate that 99% of those with weak powers awaited. Their society measured the worth of a person only in strength and usefulness to their war-mongering society.
He remembers the day as if it was yesterday when he awoke on his much anticipated sixth birthday. The most important day in the life of everyone in this world. The day u awakened ur blessing. Or curse for that matter.
The disgusted faces of his family are carved for eternity in his mind, at the same time his life, future and dreams were crushed.
He got the curse of the weakest of all powers. Telekinesis. His memory goes back to the moment his telekinesis levitated a cooking knife wobbly in the air.
Doesn't sound that bad does it? Except for the fact that that ability is extremely limited to only 10 Stones of weight (1 Stone equals 1 Kg) and only one item at the same time. With the speed of the hand of a withered old woman.
In a world where the average person can rip a Horse apart. And that at their lowest basic physical strength, u get from most abilities, not counting their specialities which come in all sorts of variety.
It was always his dream to awaken a good ability like his Father who had the strength of 10 Horses and could control his voice to the level where he could pop the Organs of those in his reach, and join the ranks of the Imperial Legion. His father worked himself up to a squad leader. And got to participate in many wars. For the Empire.
'There is no use yearning for a future that never even was possible.' He shook his head in disappointment.
'Better get going, I have to meet my quota for this week, I am falling behind. All because of this god-forsaken Crystal shard. What even was that? It knocked me straight out for a day. I barely even nicked myself. Since I discovered this weird obscured, dark almost ethereal shard, I have been hearing this damed whisper that, when I think about it, sounds exactly like the shard looked. Weird.' His mind raced.
Kael continued to wonder what happened to the shard as it was nowhere to be found and none of the other slaves saw it with him when they found him, unconscious in his tunnel.
He grabbed a pickaxe and a rucksack from the old slave in charge of the equipment storage. And headed to his designated tunnel to continue mining the precious Voidcrystals.
Which was the resource all slaves were charged mining. The backbone of their entire civilization. No Matter where you are from, or which species you are, Voidcoins are accepted in every decent civilisation.
Voidcoins are just Voidcrystal dust that is pressed into a handy flat round coin. Which retains the properties that make them so valuable.
The crystals are purple and see-through. They are used for many things. Not just the production of money. They can absorb and retain the energy of the abilities of the people. They make excellent weapons and armour equipment. Of course only when the right runes are applied. Which is a sought-after secondary occupation after Warrior in the Moravian Empire.
His rucksack was half-filled after about 4 hours of mining. Kael's stomach announced his needs. He gritted his teeth, he would only get his food ration if he finished his quota. He continued to swing his tool at the wall that was interwoven with purple veins.
With a rather enthusiastic swing, Kael embedded the pickaxe into the stone which appeared to be very brittle. The wall started to crumble and before he could register what was happening a part of the tunnel ceiling also broke loose. Promptly burying him under the stone and crystal rubble.
It was dark, and dusty with a shimmer of purple. Like he was trapped in one of the crystals. The dust started to settle in his eyes forcing him to close them. The next thing Kael noticed was that it was gradually becoming harder to breathe. The crushing weight of what used to be the ceiling was slowly suffocating him. With every breath, the stones would come closer taking his precious breathing volume with every exhale.
"...Kaeehl...Kael..." the whisper crept into his suffocating brain. But Kael couldn't care less at this moment. He was desperately trying to break free. He was just not strong enough. His arms pinned to the ground the rocks pushing him on his back like he was tucked in by the blanket of death.
His air situation became more dire by the second. He knew no one would arrive in time to save him. Why would they, slaves were expendable weren't they? Eight deaths a month is the normal statistic in their batch. His death was already on some monthly report cards for some assholes in accounting. Already buying the next Child forsaken by their family, forsaken by their society, forsaken by destiny.
His consciousness started to slip into bliss unconscious, the last thing that crossed his mind were those baleful Sunstones and their monotone, dim and infuriating fake impression of the sun.
'Oh gods evil or good, dark or light, elder or young, common or eldritch if you let me die seeing these fucking sunstones. I swear to my worthless slave soul. I will rip apart the Veil from below and make u suffer a destiny a billion times worse than what you bestowed upon me. I will tear you all apart, bit by bit.' Kael cursed in his heart.
His vision faded the hated stones gone from his mind.
It was pitch black none of his senses worked anymore Kael was just drifting into his unconsciousness. To his terror, he wasn't alone. There was something utterly terrifying in his subconscious.
In the darkness of his mind, beneath the weight of at least 400 stones, Kael felt the terrifying presence stir deep in his mind. It began as an ethereal hiss, a sound that seemed to stimulate his telekinetic powers. At first, he dismissed it as his body's last struggle before certain death, but as the moments wore on, the sound became more defined—like a whisper, distant yet clear.
"You are more than flesh... more than bone..."
The voice was soft, yet its weight pressed on his mind like the universe itself was resting on it. He snapped his inner senses around, but there was no one. Just darkness.
"There is power... within you. Listen."
Kael's mind trembled. It was as if the very fabric of his subconscious around him had shifted. His telekinesis flared, uncontrolled, sending the rocks, atop of him, meteoric through the tunnel. His heart raced. His lungs gasped for air.
"Embrace it..."
The whisper was sharper now, crawling beneath his skin, filling his thoughts with a terrible hunger. He swallowed hard, trying to shake it off, but the presence lingered.
A large trickle of blood ran down his left nostril. The moment he tasted the blood on his lips. A shattering Pain shot like lightning into the depths of his brain. Knocking him out, before he could even utter a scream.
'