Silence dominating the stretches of a dark space,

And a sudden grunt interrupting that silence,

“Ugh ...” 

Holding his head before looking around as he gets up was a youth no younger than 14.

Only darkness greeted his gaze, yet somehow he didn't feel fear, it was familiar kind of darkness nothing beyond where he was, however, it weirded him out being able to see himself without the presence of any light.

 As he felt the split headache fading away questions started resurfacing. Ones like 'where am I' and 'What is this place why can't I see anything ?' but the oddest and the last of them was '....who am I'

Just as he tried to remember, so did memories begin flooding his head

'so my name is Miraak ---- '

'Miraak is ...all'

'What else? this pain.... there is something else'

My parents passed away in a car accident ... I was 8 when that happened. I had been taken by the CSS ( child support system ), as far as I have known I didn’t have any family members alive, my parents didn’t mention up any relatives either.

From then on they had arranged for some families to take care of me, it would have been nice being able to fit in but that working out was seldom and it never lasted. The longest family managed to keep me was three whole years. As I had to change from family to family, I had hope that the next family will be the one, I had to appeal for the affection and tolerance of its members, that's on its own has faded away and been replaced by indifference. I think the most important thing that I learned is how to adapt, to fit in a different environment, sometimes the situation was so miserable that I had to survive by doing the best I can by leaning into committing things I never thought a child at my age will ever think of. 

Learning how to read characters from my interaction with different kinds of people, that what helped me till now, but as I have done my best to adapt to others the original self that was me has been buried, I was too mature for my good. Ironically it was once, when I was 10, that I've realized where I'm standing and where I would be headed, what have been keeping me from losing my self entirely is the hope that when I’m 18 I can be free from all of this and begin my own life.

"But why I’m here? this is no dream for sure, the headache that I felt is the best evidence, unless ..."

'I'm dead ?' I shake my head in an attempt to dispel the thought, I didn't consider myself to be that weak-minded .... but this situation is really weird.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

As I try to remember my last memory a scene starts to play in my head, yeah I remember I was in an office and it wasn’t strange for me as I’m far too familiar with it. 

Yeah, it’s the CSS office of the old silver-haired woman '*****' who was responsible for us, boys and girls in my same shoes, together with her was a middle-aged couple, 

they are discussing the matters of my adoption.

Between the couple it was the woman who was speaking while the husband only kept to himself, his stillness as he craved to speak some time only to get cut off by his wife forced me to attach a word card under his name which would be my mental note of him,

'the henpecked kind ' 

The woman from her narrow long eyes was evil-looking enough yet her speech which gave greater hints about her real intentions were greater indications to how rotten both her and her husband have gotten, to waste a child's chance of getting a proper family, they didn't come to adopt a family member as all their attention was on the money that came with it. Insurance from their dead family members handled in such a way that it left the CSS a failing idea in the record of whoever came up with it. 

Anyways those who want to adopt children as the primary reason for coming here would choose a baby or someone very young, as for a 14 years old boy like me I always end up with her kind, who wants the money and doesn’t care who they adopt. 

To be fair I think the best family I ended up with was the last one as I've stayed with them the longest. I have even considered botching up my plans by biding my time 'til I'm old enough when it almost felt like 'the one' but it eventually didn't work out, my luck and I knew it both, the grandpa from the old couple fell victim to a deadly ailment on the final stages when their children arrived and knew of my existence I got driven out without accepting as much as letting me say farewell. This is why I’m here today.

Well, I didn’t feel comfortable with this new family but it’s not my decision as I have to go with what the CSS decides. 

Like any other adoption night, sleep wasn't something I particularly had a fancy for, my own reasons, but against my expectations, I dozed off and fell in deep like a log. That was the last thing I remembered, as I woke up I found myself here.

It took longer to describe this but only a few moments have passed since his awakening, those memories were vivid on his mind still, and as he wanted to look up and down for more he got jumped from the eeriest tone of voice Miraak has ever heard.

A voice that sounded like a cluster of myriad creatures. If you thought of it as a soothing woman's voice then it was, if you think that it's a young child's voice then you're not wrong, and if you heard a hoarse voice of an old man then you heard right, beast roars accompanied each of them. 

[Trial taker, your first ordeal will begin in few minutes as you have to follow on the steps of the ancients, you will be transferred to the verdant forest world, low-level adaption difficulty, find the optimum track and you would be surprised by the outcome. This trial is for the ones who had the qualifications of passing it, you need to survive for ****** before crossing the first world, if you succeed in surviving for the set period you will be transferred to the second world, failure means death, best of luck]

‘What!! Whaaaat!! Trial taker!? Surviving!? Verdant forest world!?!? Second world!? death !?!?! best of luck since when I got that!?!?! What the hell is this voice saying ' ********* was Miraak's thoughts as he tried to find the source of the voice but only to see pitch black darkness wherever he looked, then the screaming resumed

“Hey!!!!! Who are you !?!?! Why I’m here? And what do you mean by trial !? Hey !!! Hey you !!!! Answer me !!!!!!” 

But he gets no response from the voice before he sees the dark space around him blur as dizziness assault his head. Before he manages to steady himself he sees the surrounding changes.