Pain.
A searing, unrelenting pain pulsed through Kaelen Vorthron's skull, as if molten steel had been poured into his brain. His breath came in ragged gasps, his body pinned beneath an invisible weight. He tried to move, but his limbs refused to obey, locked in a state of paralysis.
Where… am I?
Flashes of memory surged through his mind a city skyline bathed in neon, the scent of rain-soaked asphalt, the weight of exhaustion pressing down after another grueling shift at work. He had been on his way home. Then… nothing.
Now, he was here.
A metallic taste coated his tongue. His senses sharpened, and he became aware of the cold, rough texture beneath him stone. His fingers twitched, brushing against something wet. Blood. His blood.
With a groan, he forced his eyes open.
A crimson sky loomed above. Not the familiar pale blue of Earth, but a deep, unnatural red, its glow seeping into the landscape like a bleeding wound. Wisps of dark clouds coiled around a massive moon, its eerie luminance casting twisted shadows across his surroundings.
Kaelen pushed himself upright, his head pounding in protest. The room around him was dimly lit, the flickering glow of a lantern revealing cracked stone walls and intricate carvings lining the ceiling. It looked ancient like a forgotten relic from a civilization lost to time.
Then he noticed the bodies.
Two men lay sprawled near the door, their expressions frozen in terror. Their throats were slit cleanly, their lifeblood staining the stone floor. A dagger glistened beside one of them, its hilt engraved with unfamiliar symbols.
What the hell is this place?
Kaelen staggered to his feet, his movements sluggish, his breath unsteady. His body felt… different. Stronger, yet alien. It was as if his muscles had been reforged, his senses heightened beyond human limitations.
A sudden rush of memories flooded his mind. Foreign yet intimate.
Name: Kaelen Vorthron.
Age: 30.
Born in the Cursed Realm, heir to the Vorthron bloodline.
Betrayed. Hunted. Left for dead.
No. That wasn't him. He had been Kaelen Wright a man from Earth. And yet, the memories, the emotions, the rage they felt real.
His gaze dropped to his hands. A faint, crimson glow pulsed beneath his skin, like embers stirring to life. Power, raw and untamed, thrummed through his veins.
Then, a voice cold and mechanical whispered in his mind.
[System Interface Activated.]
[Crimson Power Detected: Dormant State.]
[Warning: Unstable Synchronization. Adjusting…]
A system? Like in those fantasy stories? Kaelen barely had time to process before agony exploded in his chest. He clutched his ribs, gasping as his vision blurred. Symbols burned into his mind, knowledge unraveling in chaotic fragments.
Blood. Magic. Betrayal. Power.
It was too much. His knees buckled, and he collapsed against the stone wall, struggling to breathe.
Footsteps echoed from the corridor beyond. A shadow stretched across the threshold. Someone was coming.
Kaelen clenched his fists, the crimson glow intensifying around his fingertips. His instincts screamed at him to run, to hide. But another part of him the part that now remembered urged him to fight.
And for the first time, he listened.