Prologue 

     The red-robed priests chanted as Dainith Valien knelt before the center of the crimson runes which formed the blood ritual, his newborn son swaddled in his arms.

     “With this act, begins your ascension and our family’s rise to power,” he whispered to his son as he placed him on top of the red crystals. Dried blood covered the partially healed wound on the forehead of the as-of-yet unnamed baby who lay quietly atop the small pile of crystals within the center of the blood ritual.

     Two naked men were brought forward and restrained as their wrists were cut and their blood began flowing from their slit veins and through the air into the crystals which faintly glowed. The priests continued chanting as Dainith waved his arms in fluid motions, directing the last of the dying men’s blood into the crystals. 

     This ritual had taken years to prepare, and a great deal of suffering to begin, but it would all be worth it once his son received God’s gift. The ritual diagram began to glow the same red as the crystals and a bloody red haze formed around his son who lay at the diagram’s center. Strands of blood appeared from within the haze and flowed through the air and into his baby who began to cry as they ruptured his skin and entered him. It’s happening! thought Danith, It’s finally happening! 

     Then with a flash of crimson light, his son disappeared and the ritual’s glow began to dim. “What?!” cried Danith. “Where is he?! Where is my son?!”

Chapter 1

Blood Offering

—————————

     Audrey had insisted that there was no more romantic way to spend the afternoon of their first Valentine's Day together than at a clinic donating blood. While apprehensive of the idea, Kail had gone along, not wanting to appear as the type of person who was afraid of a little needle. Still, he found himself reconsidering his decision as he and Audrey sat side by side, IV’s snaking along their arms and into their veins. Was this truly the most romantic way to spend their afternoon? Hardly, but he couldn’t let Audrey know that. They’d only been together for four months now, and while he did enjoy her company and their shared interests in hiking and skating, she was prone to the occasional bizarre idea which he was always dragged along on; this being the latest of her seemingly unprompted notions. 

     “Isn’t selling blood a thing? Seems a shame to give it away for free,” he remarked in a joking tone which Audrey would know meant that he was only half serious. In truth, he wished they were being paid for their blood, even if he wouldn’t admit it to her.

     “It wouldn’t be a selfless act if we were being paid to do it,” she said, seemingly more for the nurse's benefit than for his. 

     He nodded slightly. “Still, this is quite a bit of blood we're giving up. How much more to go?”

     The attending nurse glanced toward him, her mouth opening in an answer that he never heard as the world around him turned red. He inhaled sharply, blood rushing into his nostrils and down his throat to his lungs. He was drowning in a heavy, sticky sea . . . A sea of blood.

    Suddenly the weight lifted and all the blood washed down around him as he found himself sitting upon a hard surface quite unlike a hospital bed. He coughed, spluttered, and sneezed, blood ejecting from his nose and mouth. A sense of disgust and nausea washed over him as he looked down and realized that he was covered in the stuff. His clothes and skin had been painted red and he could feel blood drops rolling down him as if he’d just left a red pool.  

     To his further surprise, lines of text appeared before his vision:

SUFFICIENT MANA CONCENTRATION DETECTED. ADAPTING! ADAPTATION COMPLETE! 

NAME: Kail, RACE: Human, LEVEL 1, EXPERIENCE: 0, HP 68/70, MP 80/80 

STATS: Strength 8, Constitution 7, Dexterity 9, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 8

     “Son?” asked an aged yet strong voice.

     The text faded away and Kail glanced up, a sense of shock impacting him as he found that he sat within a cavern rather than a hospital room. Red-robed figures stood around him carrying torches. One of the figures was clad in crimson robes, a lighter shade of red than the others. He had short gray hair which carried fading traces of red, crimson eyes, and a face mostly devoid of wrinkles. He was also staring at him as if he were a puppy the elderly man had lost.

     “What?” asked Kail, as he got to his feet. 

     The man looked him up and down, his smile growing. “You have my hair, my face. You’ve returned to us at last!” 

     The man rushed forward, embracing Kail before he had time to attempt to process what was happening.

     “My son,” said the man whose head rested on his shoulder. 

     Kail’s arms remained at his sides uncertainly. “I . . . my parents put me up for adoption twenty years ago.”

     The man stepped back, his hands clasping Kail’s shoulders as he stared at him. “I cannot imagine what life you have lived, but you’re back now!” 

     “Back where?” asked Kail, glancing around at the ominous red-robed figures. 

     “Back with me. It has been so long, and I’m so sorry. The failing of the ritual was due to poor blood sacrifices, and it has taken me much time to collect the materials to recall you.” 

    “What?” asked Kail, stepping back from the man who, now that he looked closer, possessed a startlingly similar facial structure to his own. 

     “After your birth, I sought to empower you with the gift given to me from the angels, but the ritual was tarnished and you were teleported away. I've spent years and years creating this summoning ritual, and now you are back!”  

     Confused and muddled thoughts raced through Kail’s mind and he began to feel lightheaded as he processed the man’s words. “You’re my birth Father?” 

     The man nodded. “Yes. I am Dainith Valien, and you are my son and heir to my empire.” 

     “Empire?” asked Kail, uncertain as to why that was the word that he’d questioned rather than:  teleportation, ritual, or blood sacrifice.

     Dainith nodded, extending a bloody hand. “Come son, let us leave this place, your brothers and sister are eager to meet you.” 

     “I have brothers and a sister?” asked Kail as he somewhat apprehensively took the hand of the man who claimed to be his Father. 

     “Yes,” said Dainith as he led him through the parting robed men and down a tunnel, the stone walls were lined with torches. Pictures were carved into the smooth almond-colored walls, depicting strange creatures and events to which his eyes were drawn. Angels descended from above, circular gems in hand. Naked people awaited below, accepting the gems from the majestic angels. The engravings continued but he forced his eyes from them as he focused his attention on the insanity of his current situation.

     “Where are we?” 

     “In the holy cavern below the grave ridge. Tell me, son, where did the ritual take you and what sort of life have you lived?” 

     Kail stopped walking, his grasp on Dainith’s hand firm. Their eyes met as they halted and he spoke. “I have questions that you need to answer. Are you truly my Father? What did you mean when you said I was teleported here? Why did I see words and numbers floating before me when I arrived?” 

     “I’m sorry. I’m just so happy that you're finally back, but to answer your questions. Yes, I am your Father and you are my son. I know this must all seem strange to you, but as I told you, when you were a child a ritual was performed to empower you. It failed and you were teleported away from me and to where I do not know, but now I have summoned you back. I assume that you just viewed your status, gifted to you by God’s gift, which I bestowed upon you just before the ritual failed. Though I am curious as to why you have only just now seen it?”

     Kail inhaled deeply, the memories of various books and movies playing through his mind. It was as if he was Alice and had fallen down the rabbit hole and into . . . not Wonderland, Wonderland didn’t have this much blood.

     “So this is another world? A world with magic?”

     Dainith frowned. “I suppose it makes sense that you would have been ripped away from this world entirely. I sent so many search parties out looking for you, but to no avail . . . ” he trailed off momentarily before continuing, “As to magic. Is the world you’ve grown up in devoid of it?” 

     Kail nodded slowly, thinking back to the recent news reports of strange events transpiring in Indiana.“Yes.” He focused on Dainith’s facial features. This man is actually my Father.

     His Father’s eyebrows rose. “A world without mana, fascinating, but we will have more time to speak of your life in this other world, first we must take our leave from this place and introduce you to your siblings. 

    His Father led the way down the tunnel and he followed beside him as they rounded a slight bend and an opening became visible ahead. A gray and overcast sky, beneath which stretched slopes spotted with tombstones. They emerged from the tunnel and onto thick green grass, a picturesque landscape revealed before them. To the left of and below the slopes lay a town plucked straight from the medieval ages. Dirt paths stretched toward cottages and huts crafted from dull red stone, wooden planks, and thatching. Various other structures were partially visible, though too distant and obscured to fully analyze. 

     “This is our greatest city, the city which you will someday rule over from our palace,” his Father pointed up and to the side and Kail turned his gaze away from the town and to a structure which loomed above and behind them. 

     A field of grass stretched above the tunnel they’d emerged from and a slope ran above and beside it. Perched atop the slope lay a short wall of dull red stone, and past the wall, twin rather short towers were visible , rising into the sky. Even from a distance, this structure seemed just as much a palace as the ramshackle town seemed a city. 

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

     The red-robed figures emerged from behind them, forming a perimeter around him and his Father as they followed a dirt path that curved up toward the so-called palace. 

     “What year is it here?” asked Kail.

     “Year?” 

     “Do you not record time?” 

     A puzzled expression crossed his Father’s face. “I count the winters.”

     Kail nodded slowly, a slight sense of dread tingling at him. “Just out of curiosity. Is there a way that you can send me back?” 

     Slight wrinkles appeared on his Father’s face as he frowned. “Why would you want to go back? You're here now, with your family.”  

     “I . . . This is just a lot to take in. I’ve just been ripped away from the life I’ve led ever since I can remember. I have a family of sorts there too.” 

     “Family is blood. That is a very important lesson which you must learn. We are Valiens and our blood is the purest of all. So it always has been and so it must always remain.”

     Alarm bells began ringing in the back of his mind, but he repressed them, keeping a calm expression on his face as they approached a wooden gate in the red wall. This situation he had been pulled into was very strange, terrifying, yet also fascinating. He had evidently traveled to another world, a world of possibilities. While he would prefer to have the ability to return to Audrey, he couldn’t allow the fear of being trapped here to overcome him. 

     The gate opened inwards and he and his Father walked through it and into a small courtyard. A three-story rectangular red structure lay before them, twin towers sprouting from it and rising perhaps another four stories. The “Palace” was roughly the size of two or three Starbucks’s, and its rectangular design was far from visually pleasing. Two smaller rectangular red structures lay to either side of them as they approached the palace, neither distinct enough to imply its purpose. The courtyard was vacant but for a few soldiers in stained red leather armor who stood about, talking. 

     The palace’s main door opened when they were halfway across the courtyard and a man and woman exited through it and approached. The man looked to be in his late teens, he had brownish red hair just like Kail’s, his nose was also reflectingly symmetrical, his eyebrows similarly thick, and his lips the same shade of red, though his eyes were crimson like his Father’s, rather than brown like Kail’s. He wore a red tunic and matching pants, and a red ring glinted from one finger.

     The girl beside him appeared to be slightly younger, perhaps fifteen or sixteen. Her facial features matched her brother’s, though her eyebrows were slightly thinner and her face slightly narrower. She wore a short red dress which hung straight and unadorned, she also wore blood-drop earrings that hung just before straight red hair which descended behind her shoulders.

     His Father spoke as the four of them reached each other. “Valwin, Vasangra. This is your brother.” 

     He smiled uncertainly, extending a hand. “I’m Kail, it’s nice to meet you both.”

     Valwin stepped forward and Kail lowered his hand as his slightly taller younger brother embraced him, clapping him on the back. “Kail, my brother, I’m so happy you’ve returned to us.”

     Valwin stepped back and Kail smiled a more genuine smile. “Thank you.”

     Vasangra embraced him next. “You resemble our mother,” she said, her words shocking him. Mother… He had never had a mother… nor a true Father either, just Bill.

     She stepped back and he spoke, “Where is our mother?” 

     Vasangra inhaled sharply. “She’s back the way you came. Buried before the holy cavern.”

     “She grew sick and passed on when we were just children,” said Valwin. 

     His heart dropped, and some air escaped his mouth. “Oh . . .  I’m sorry.”

     Vasangra smiled sadly. “I’m so sorry that you never met her, she loved you so much.” 

     Kail felt tears forming in his eyes, a slight sense of astonishment impacting him. This was all happening so fast. Why was he so sad? An hour ago he hadn’t had any family except Audrey, and he hadn’t been crying after a mother he’d already presumed to be dead.

     “Is Corvis not back yet?” asked his Father.

     Valwin shook his head and his Father’s tone grew annoyed. “Damn, his letter said he’d arrive yesterday.”

     “Shall we go inside?” promoted Vasangra. “The feast is nearly ready.”

     Kail followed his newfound family through the doorway, past a sitting room, and into a hall within which lay an empty long table. His Father sat at the head of the table, gesturing for Kail to take the seat to his right, Valwin sat beside him and Vasangra across from them. 

     “So you govern this, ah, palace, and the town below?” he asked.

     His Father smiled. “Yes, our family rules over all the lands from the waterfalls to the outskirts of the swamps. Our Valien Empire, the empire which you shall one day inherit.”

     Kail’s eyes flitted around the empty hall, remembering the dismal town and lack of people in the courtyard of the so-called palace. “The ritual that teleported me away as a baby, what was its intended purpose?”

     “To empower you. I had just bestowed God’s gift upon you and the ritual was meant to utilize it to enhance you, alas, it failed.” 

     “What is God’s gift?”

     His Father pointed at his forehead. “A magnificent gem delivered to me by an angel. God’s gift allows those who possess it to gain and wield powerful magics. Hence the status which you viewed upon your arrival.” 

     “And you all have this gift?” asked Kail as he glanced around at his family.

     Valwin shook his head. “None of us do. The angel only visited Father once, and he saw fit to bestow its gift upon you.” 

     Kail’s gaze returned to his Father. “Why give it to me instead of to yourself?” 

     “Because you are my legacy, and the legacy of this family and our empire.”

     A horrific thought flitted by the outskirts of his mind. He had no family back on earth, just Audrey, he had no great number of friends there either. Few people would miss him if he remained here with his true family.

     “How do I utilize this gift?” he asked.

     “You should be able to open your status at will,” said his Father. “God’s gift allows you to view the power you’ve attained and it allows more to flow into you whenever you kill entities and claim their power for your own.”  

     The instant the thought of opening his status crossed his mind, it appeared before him: 

NAME: Kail Valien, RACE: Human, LEVEL 1, EXPERIENCE: 0, HP 69/70, MP 80/80. STATS: Strength 8, Constitution 7, Dexterity 9, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 8.  

     It was as if he’d fallen into some kind of bizarre video game . . . “I can see my statistics, strength, constitution, dexterity, intelligence, and wisdom. I also have health points and mana points.” 

     “And your level?” asked his Father.

     “I’m level one.”

     “If the ritual had been successful it would have boosted your level significantly,” said his Father, as two rather pudgy men entered the hall. One carried a platter upon which stood cups and a pitcher of water. The other carried two trays of steaming food.

     Kail picked up the glass of water placed before him, he was rather thirsty. Those doctors had taken quite a bit of his blood after all. He took a sip, finding to his relief that the water actually tasted good, pure rather than tainted. 

     The servants took their leave, though more footsteps reached Kail’s ears, and he replaced his glass, looking up as three men entered the hall. All three wore stained red leather armor and swords hung at their sides. The man in front looked older, perhaps in his late forties, and had short graying hair, while the two who flanked him were younger with long black hair. 

     The older man’s eyes were crimson, and his facial features familiar. Arriving before the table, the three knelt as his Father spoke. “My son, you’ve arrived late.” 

     A sense of confusion came over Kail. Was he not his Father’s eldest son? This man was clearly older than him. 

    “Forgive me Father,” said the gray-haired man. “Though while my return was delayed, I come with glad tidings, I have won several more great victories and repelled the Hijabwas from our land.” 

     “That is glad news,” said his Father. “Rise Corvis, and meet your elder brother, Kail.”

     Corvis stood, as did the two behind him. Kail’s eyes met Corvis’s, “You’re my younger brother?” 

     Corvis nodded slightly, a smile wrinkling his face. “It is an honor to meet you, brother. I see your years away have treated you kindly.”

     Does time pass differently here? wondered Kail. Nonetheless, he returned the smile. “It’s good to meet you. What are Hijabwas?” 

     Corvis spoke as he took the seat to his Father’s left and Vasangra’s right. His men took seats further down the table as the servants returned with more food and drink. “Hijabwas are a plague upon our empire. They are masked miscreants who dwell in the swamplands and surge forth to spread plague across our lands and our people.”   

     His Father swallowed a mouthful of bread before adding to the conversation. “Corvis is in charge of our army and has been the only member of our family to successfully win a series of great victories against the Hijabwas.” 

     Corvis nodded, the ends of his lips curving up in a slight smile. “I do what I can.” He glanced at Kail. “I would be honored if you would accompany me when I return to the front lines. That way you will gain a sense of the land we rule and of its people, and those who would threaten us.” 

     “Alright,” said Kail, feeling like he had when Audrey had suggested they donate blood. 

     His Father fixed Corvis with a look. “Are you certain that the front lines are a safe environment for my newly returned son?” 

     Corvis chuckled. “I wouldn’t suggest such a notion unless I believed it to be wise. The Hijabwas have been driven back, there is no safer time for Kail to experience our land than now.” 

     His Father nodded slowly. “Alright then, but you will linger here for a few days before departing. My son has been away for far too long and I am not yet willing to part with him so hastily.” 

    “Of course,” Corvis glanced at Kail. “I was planning to linger here for at least two or three days anyway.” 

     After dinner, Kail and his newfound family made their way out to the courtyard. The sun had set, yet the temperature was still pleasant and hundreds of glimmering stars partially illuminated the dark sky. They sat on wooden chairs around a desolate fire pit as they spoke. 

     “So, what was your life like on the other world?” asked Vasangra. 

     Kail summarized the past twenty years of his life as best he could; though he intentionally left out some details, details he’d prefer to forget himself. He told them of the orphanage he’d grown up in, of his childhood friends and young life in Townsville, Tennessee. He told them about school, his graduation, his many jobs, and the places he’d traveled to. He told them how he’d met Audrey while camping in Virginia. He spoke and spoke, reliving the most positive aspects of his life until he arrived at the hospital to donate his blood. 

     His family listened avidly, fascination clear on their faces. When he was finished there was a moment of silence. Then Vasangra spoke. “I’m so sorry that you grew up without us.”

     “Let’s not linger on the past,” said his Father as he lifted a cup of the wine brought out to them by the pudgy servants. “Kail is with us now, and that is what matters. Together we will strengthen our empire and lead it to a glorious future,” he raised his glass. “To the Valien Empire!” 

    “To the Valien Empire,” they repeated as they raised their glasses which clinked together merrily.

     Later, they retired back into the palace and his Father showed him to his room. A wooden door opened outward to reveal a small alcove featuring a cot, desk, and a surprisingly elegant wardrobe. However, the highlight of the room was its window. Kail hadn’t yet seen any glass windows since his arrival, though he supposed that since they had glass cups it stood to reason that glass windows would also be an available commodity. 

     “I had this room designed while your mother was pregnant with you,” said his Father wistfully. “It has the third-best view within the entire palace.” 

    “Thank you,” said Kail, a sudden flood of emotions bubbling up within him. He looked up at his Father. “Thank you for bringing me home, Dad.” 

     His Father smiled, a tear forming in his left eye. “You’re welcome, son.” They embraced, and then his Father stepped back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

     “Goodnight,” said Kail, before stepping into his room and closing the door behind him. 

     He undressed, leaving his blood-stained clothes in a pile before climbing into bed. He felt exhausted, yet a sense of exhilaration was also present. So much had happened in just one day. He had a family, a true family, a family that cared about him.