Breathless, Kael abruptly opened his eyes. The cold light of a metallic ceiling dazzled him for a moment. He was lying on a bed with clean sheets in a room he didn't recognize. Everything around him seemed so... different. The walls were made of dark metal with bluish reflections, crossed by glowing lines that pulsed slowly, as if the room was breathing. He sat up with a start, scanning the place with growing terror. Where am I? What is...? He ran a hand over his face. His features were sharper. His arms... longer. More robust. This wasn't his body. Not the one he knew. He had grown.
Before he could form a coherent thought, the door hissed open hydraulically. A young woman entered. She wore a black uniform with a high collar, adorned with a sinister emblem: a skull pierced by a black crescent. A dark cloak fell from her shoulders down to her heels. Her green eyes were stern, but a spark of surprise lit up when she saw him awake.
- You're finally awake, "she said. Name, assignment, and reason for your presence before the outer barrier.
Kael opened his mouth, confused.
- Wait... what? Before which barrier? What... what is this place? Why am I here? And... what happened to my body?!
The young woman approached slowly, observing him like a living anomaly.
- It is the fifth day of the second month of the year 3058. You were unconscious in front of the north barrier of Nareth for hours. You were found alone... and without any identification.
Kael blinked several times. 3058? He felt the ground sway beneath him. His last memory was a trip with his family, the beach, Naelys... and then chaos. Then nothing. A void.
He turned his head toward the window behind her. Outside, immense black structures rose into the sky, surrounded by a bluish energy field that rippled like water. Silent flying vehicles moved through the air. It was no longer the world he knew.
- What are those giant buildings? he asked, panicked.
The door opened again, and a man entered. He had a strong build, a hard face marked by years. His uniform was different: on his chest shone an open blue eye, surrounded by spikes like shards of crystal. His aura inspired authority.
- Those are the Bastions. Erected after the invasion to contain the Vorms, he said dryly.
- What? Kael stammered.
- Are you joking? the man replied, frowning. You live here, and you don't even know what Vorms are? You must've been hit pretty hard to be this lost.
The young woman raised a hand to silence him.
- Let me explain. He's lost, this boy. Listen, the Vorms are creatures from strange portals. From another dimension, maybe. Monsters with nothing human about them. They feed on us. Literally. They have no mercy, no reason. The first time they appeared, it was as if hell opened beneath our feet.
Kael recoiled against the wall, his heart pounding wildly. Creatures that feed on humans? He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Everything he saw, everything he felt, seemed unreal... yet all around him screamed the truth. Something terrifying had happened to this world.
- And me? Why am I here? What happened to me all this time? he asked, voice breaking.
- That's what we're going to try to find out, "the man replied. But if you want to survive here, you'll have to truly wake up. The world you knew is gone. You're eight years late, kid.
Kael lowered his eyes to his hands. He recognized nothing anymore. Neither this body nor this world. Everything had changed.
Deep inside, a growing terror whispered that this was only the beginning.