Chapter 1

DAY 1:

Gasping for air, Trint woke with a start and tried to sit bolt upright in bed. His attempt was stopped halfway as the pain in his body screamed at him. He fell back and instead turned his head to look wildly around the room, searching for... well, he wasn’t so sure. The details of his dream shattered like a glass bottle hitting the cement as his pain brought him fully awake. He felt feverish and sick. His head was pounding, and his ears were ringing. The bedsheets clung to his bare flesh, his skin was chilled, and it was all soaked sweat.

“Gah!” Trint screamed between clenched teeth. While his dreams were like a phantom pain of a lost limb his mind snapped back to the unforgettable truth. Only in sleep could he block out the memory of what happened a few weeks ago. The moment of impact still haunted him but not as much as the heartache. Was that what had woken him? It hadn’t felt like a nightmare.

“Must be the meds?” Very carefully he was able to get his feet to the side of the bed as he rolled over on his right side and cradled his left arm. It took him some time, but he was able to get up. He took a sharp breath as his rapid heart raced further at the sharp pangs. “I need to get some more pills for this pain. Hey, where’s my cast?”

He still felt like he’d fallen down a flight of stairs carrying a box of knives and bricks. It had taken the doctors hours just to remove the glass embedded in his face let alone rebuild bones shattered to shards in his left arm and shoulder. Even now the pain was a reminder that his life was over. What happened to my cast and sling? He was afraid something was impacting his memory.

The only thing that hurt worse than the pain was remembering the deaths. Before he could spiral down into that dark abyss of self-hatred and depression, another shot of adrenaline coursed through him. “Where…” he whispered. This wasn’t his bedroom. He didn’t recognize the strange room as any room in his home.

Do I seriously have some brain damage? he thought to himself, his mind began to race to grasp a logical conclusion. I can’t remember anything since I fell asleep in a wheelchair. Now I don’t know where I am.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Trint’s heart skipped a beat as a sudden pounding on a door sent an echo throughout the room. The sudden jerk as his body reacted to the noise wracked him with even more pain.

“Is anyone in there? Are you ok?” The voice outside the front door yelled. “There are a few of us going around the neighborhood and we just want to check on everyone.”

Trint was reluctant to open the door in his condition not even sure where he was, but they sounded like they weren’t going away. He went against his better judgment and cracked the door open.

“Hello, I’m Jeff. Have you left the house yet?”

“No, it is still dark out,” Trint slowly responded.

“You sound unsure,” Jeff pushed the door open wider. “Oh man, what did you run into? Guys look at this guy, his HP is stuck at 15% with a debuff of 2 months!” He had turned to his small group on the lawn. Trint looked past Jeff to see a rough-looking group, but they weren’t all even looking at him. They were vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

“Look, I’m having a bad day. Please let me go back to sleep,” Trint was feeling more tired, and the pain was the only thing keeping him awake he thought.

“Buddy, you clearly don’t understand. This is not your house, and you are not in Kansas anymore,” Jeff scolded.

“Seriously I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to leave,” Trint said as he began to close the door.

“Hold on there,” Jeff stuck his foot in the door and pushed it back open. Trint nearly fell over as he tried to keep his balance. “I don’t want to sound like a knight or a jerk, but I’d feel guilty if I left you like this. Do you have a weapon?”

Trint’s mind spun as the adrenaline kicked up another gear. He was not sure of the best answer.

“I’m going to assume you don’t,” Jeff said. “Here take this,” Jeff pulled a rusty knife from his boot and offered the handle to Trint. Sensing Trint’s complete confusion he bent down and set the knife on the ground to the side of the door. “If you need help just go to the end of the street and knock on the door to the red house. We’ve got a few people there to gather a group. But don’t think about leaving here without that knife or another weapon. Judging by your stats you won’t make it a day on your own, let alone till your debuff expires.” He frowned and reluctantly began to close the door.

Trint stepped forward and pushed it the rest of the way and threw the deadbolt closed. He spent the next fifteen minutes looking for some medicine but never figured out where it was or where he was. For now, he just decided to go back to sleep.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Not again!” Trint yelled. But the banging continued as Trint slowly and painfully made his way to the door.

“Help, somebody. Help! Let me in! They’re coming! Hurry! Please” There was now a cry for help accompanying the pounding.

“Who's there?” Trint called out, projecting through the wooden door, rather apprehensive about opening it again.

“Thank God, please open up,” the unknown voice pleaded. “You need to let me in! I need your help!” Something about the insistence and need of the voice overcame his caution and he opened the door. In rushed a man in a black robe, slamming the door behind him. The man passed by him and into the room, Trint noticed in the morning light, he wore an immaculate deep blue three-piece suit underneath the open black robe. The blue of the suit was nearly black, and Trint caught a glimpse of a flower sticking out of a breast pocket. What a bizarre outfit. The dude looks like a wizard banker. He stopped himself after beginning to laugh.

As he stared after the strange man, Trint was again shocked to not recognize anything of this house. He stood by the front door that connected to an open living room of a modern suburban home; his bare feet tacky with sweat on the wood flooring. He looked down at his feet and was reminded quite unpleasantly that he wore only a pair of sweat-dampened boxer briefs. Adrenaline and pain functioning better than an energy drink as he bumped his left arm, Trint’s attention snapped back to his unwelcome guest.

“Thank you! Now, before you think to throw me out, I need to tell you we only have a few minutes before they are here. I don’t know how they knew to find you here but it's time to go. Don’t worry about getting dressed; I grabbed you some things. Oh, by the way, my name’s Jack,” he said in a rather hurried manner.

Trint gaped at the man. He did not feel like following a complete stranger out of God-knows where he was and away from some unknown people who were supposedly looking for him. He was a nobody. Who would want to find him? Maybe someone was trying to collect on his medical bills, but last he remembered he had only just gotten home from the hospital. What was going on?

“No time for that. Judging by your stats and debuffs I’m going to need to give you this. Your vitality won’t withstand the jaunt.” Having come to a decision Jack fluidly closed the short distance to Trint. Trint felt a prick in his shoulder and an immediate relief from the pain he had felt. “That will help with pain and let you rest a minute.”

He felt his whole body go rigid as the pain flashed away. Frozen in his position, he felt his entire body begin to tip over. Fortunately for his battered body, Jack caught him before he hit the ground. As the door opened of its own accord Trint was helplessly carried out the door. He remained awake for the journey but despite the rapid pace and jostling he felt no pain, just panic and a rising annoyance at being carried like a rigid princess by his kidnapper. Unfortunately, he saw nothing of the trip; Jack’s robe had covered his head by folding Trint’s head inside his robe. Numb to pain and blind he tried to think.

Sometime later, the robe fell away from Trint’s head and his body was carefully leaned against a tree. He found himself in a densely wooded area. It was difficult to tell from the natural lighting but, if he had to guess, about an hour had passed since he became a hostage, maybe more. Another prick on the shoulder and he had full control over his body again. But would that be enough to escape? He still didn’t recognize anything about where he was since he woke up!

“Are you feeling well enough now?” Not waiting for a response, he continued, “All right, we need to move on. There is much more you must learn, but for now, you need to adjust to the changes in your body and get to know how you will work together,” Jack said.

“Work together? You just kidnapped me!” Trint exclaimed.

“No, no... not me. Pneuma. Just a second, I have something for you. You will need this to survive but it’s up to you whether you accept or not.” He began rummaging around in the deep pockets of his robe. “But don’t take my word for it. Speak to her,” Jack said as he turned and casually walked away into the woods.

“Speak to…?” Trint’s words cut off as a blue light glowed in his left peripheral vision. He turned to see the light form into an apparition in front of him.

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No, it wasn’t a ghost. It was the image of his wife, his beloved Cara, displayed as a hologram. The image flickered for a moment before forming into a solid being and touching his cheek.

“Babe, listen carefully. I only have a moment. The kids and I are okay. I will doubt this is real, but I promise this is me and you can find us. We’ve been here in the Iterations since the crash, but you’ve only just arrived. For now, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?” Cara said, seemingly in a hurry.

“I will always trust you,” Trint assured her. He wrapped his arms around the form of his wife. Shock and joy filled him as his arms held whom he thought he’d never embrace again.

“I know you do,” She whispered into his ear, “Jack is going to offer you something. I need you to accept it. It will help you get to me. I can see your whole body is still broken from the accident. I don’t blame you, by the way. So don’t wallow in guilt. But you cannot survive what is to come without help from our new family. You don’t have time to mess around now, there will be lots of people looking for you. I promise to wait for you till you get here but you need to hurry, Kayden is not willing to wait. He thinks you deserted us and no matter what I tell him he won’t listen. You know he is strong-willed like me and sees this like a video game.” She smiled sadly. Yes, he knew his son was stubborn to a fault.

“Okay, I need to go. Remember, you need to accept the gift and progress as fast as you can to get to us. Love you, Babe!” Cara said.

“Love you, too!” Trint suddenly fell through their tight embrace as Cara’s form and image dissolved.

“Ah, very touching,” Jack sighed, as he wiped a tear trailing down his cheek. “Well! Our time, too, is almost up. If you want to be strong enough to protect them in the future and be reunited for good, you need to advance and ascend the Iterations. The faster, the better, but you will need to endure. It will take time. Your family is being protected while you advance.” Jack snapped his fingers in front of Trint’s face, breaking his thousand-yard stare.

“Okay. Sink or swim, accept help, or die alone? Which will you choose?” Jack asked as if offering up ancient wisdom, hoping Trint would decipher the right path.

“Wh... what?” Trint was unable to keep up with this bombardment and the enigma of Jack’s offer and the serious way Jack’s eyes appraised him.

“I hope you are ready. I can’t actually force this on you, but I hope you don’t waste this offer and any more of my time,” he said, shooting the confused man a stern look before it changed to a calculated smile.

“This box contains the gift and is the reason I was sent to this little backwater training town. Apologies, I know you just arrived and are no doubt confused,” he said, still pulling a few things from the robe’s interior pockets. “The Iterations are your new home now. For you to make any progress you are going to need this advantage. The decision was made, you and your family will now be a part of a much larger and well-established dynasty. So, congratulations and welcome to the family.”

The oddly dressed man produced a medium-sized box from his robes and presented it to Trint.

“I have not heard of a gift this grand being passed to anyone, and with you receiving it at the start of your integration, you should know this has likely never happened before in all the Iterations,” Jack emphasized. “I can’t be tempted to break my contract, but I would like to have this one, myself. Don’t worry; I can’t and won’t dare take it. It must be given by the owner and received by the intended. You will learn about System rules soon enough.”

“What... what do you mean by system and integration and Iterations? You keep saying things I don’t understand. How can Cara be alive?” Trint asked. He had many questions, but these seemed the most pertinent to his current situation.

“All will be explained soon. Now open the box and read the instructions,” said Jack insistently.

Trint hesitantly eyed the box. If not for Cara’s appearance he never would have gone along with this. I guess I must ask myself if that was really her. I want to believe. Trint lifted the lid, and immediately a pressure released with a rush of air and shimmering blue metallic flakes radiating a soft glow. Still grasping the box black flames overflowed the box like they were liquid flames, overflowing and spilling to the ground. As they passed Trint’s hand, he dropped the box. Too late the flaming liquid clung to his hands like spreading napalm. Unlike fire, he was not burning but an icy chill stung where the black liquid clung and climbed up his arms. The box still open lay on the ground and yet more liquid fire flooded from the box and was immediately drawn to Trint’s feet. The air pressure continued to increase as a great whirling wind rapidly spun out of the box. The wind was laced with blue flakes, spinning up and around toward the sky and then looping down and around Trint. It formed a flaming vortex that pulled him to its center. He naturally tried to resist.

The vortex spun faster but Trint was now completely covered in the blue flames, stuck in the center of the swirl of power. Unable to hold his breath Trint gasped and the liquid flame entered his mouth and then his lungs. The liquid spread an inferno in his chest. The winds continued while the metal flakes abruptly stopped no longer influenced by wind, and it all looked like a magnetic field radiated around Trint. As this scene went from shock to shock for Trint, he realized he wasn’t in any pain but saw himself now suspended two feet off the ground. The pressure on his body increased rapidly as his body compressed like going too deep in the water his ears popped. He had been facing Jack, but his body slowly tilted with his face to the ground and the flow of the miniature tornado passed directly over his back and aligned with his heart. The pressure and blast of the wind had increased to point of eating away his skin. The flames continued to enter his every breath and with each, he gained a little more control over his body. Trint instinctively curled into a ball to protect himself.

Cutting through the winds and flames and rising out of the blackness of the box was a white stone. Even with eyes shut tight, Trint had a sense of wonder and fear, and he could track the movement of this powerful item as it moved to center over his chest. He wasn’t going to open his eyes, but his body began to unfold like he was being stretched out. His arms and legs were now reaching at angles forming an x. Finally, his eyes were forced open. With his mind’s eye, he had seen eyes staring at him but with open eyes, he just saw a stone. The stone was a completely white, smoothed-out river stone the size of a tiny fist. The stone rose was a foot below Trint’s heart. The winds began to flow through the rock and the presence and power it contained seemed to grow. The pressure it gave off was like a magnet that Trint felt his entire being was drawn to. Strange symbols he couldn’t make out glowed dark blue across the surface of the white stone. Trint wanted nothing greater than to grab the rock, he knew he needed it, but he also feared what this all meant. After a moment all rest of the liquid flame finished entering Trint’s mouth.

“Womp womp. Womp womp” The beating of a heart became everything. The stone rose toward Trint, hovering a couple of inches in front of his chest. Expectant.

Trint instinctively knew he had to make a final choice. As he considered how he knew he had a choice, a message appeared on an ancient-looking parchment hovering in front of his face:

Trinten,

I would have liked to bring you this myself if it were possible. Unfortunately, our introduction will have to wait. I know you have many questions. However, I hope that you will accept this gift. I have chosen to adopt you as my heir. Your new lineage, if you accept, will grant you many things.

Accepting will unlock this gift, but I will not force you. The gift is intended for my sole heir. I have no living descendants and I leave this choice up to you.

Accept, and I promise great things for you. I offer you the power to rise, a home to fight for, and a family to fight alongside.

I hope to see you ascend to join us.

“That’s it?” Trint mumbled to himself. “No signature, no more to go on? What?"

The message disappeared and his entire vision was filled with a holographic message. A timer started beeping as the remaining seconds counted down.

System Error: You have 30 seconds to accept ‘Unknown’ contract from ‘Unknown’ before System voids contract.

System Error: 29

System Error: 28

System Error: 27

…

With each warning came an ever-increasing wave of anxiety, crashing into the core of his being. His mind raced with the possibilities that awaited him, the unknowns of accepting the gift and the fear of missing out.

It is supposed to be a gift. Maybe this is just a nondisclosure agreement. After all, Cara did say to accept this, he tried to find a reason to justify and make sense of the impossibilities he had seen since waking. His mind raced but he settled his mind on the image of his wife.

System Error: 15

With the countdown halfway to being over, he smiled, closed his eyes, and confirmed his decision. As soon as he mentally chose, a new System message appeared:

System Message: ‘Unknown’ Gift accepted, System acknowledges and will honor. Please finalize.

Forgetting the System messages, Trint’s right hand involuntarily moved out over the old paper message. He felt a sharp pain in his palm and his chest.

A few drops of his blood fell from his hand to the page and his chest to the rock. Symbols and runes flashed on both the paper and the stone. The runes lifted and spread out over Trint’s body. They slowly sank first resting on his skin, then like acid sinking through the layers of skin, and then deeper. The pain was intense causing him to hiss but was brief as if the nerves were quickly shut off.

The paper and stone were now free of runes or text. Without warning, the paper burnt to nothing, not even ash remained. Trint had no idea what the symbols now embedded in body meant or did, but once they had finished sinking to what he imagined were the insides of his bones all that remained was the smell of burnt flesh and blood and a tingle across his entire body.

The white stone became blindingly bright, whitewashing the forested area and leaving nothing else to be seen as the stone moved the final two inches to Trint’s chest.

As one, the wind vortex and magnetic field of suspended metal flakes around him started to compress down into him. They were passing flesh and building into mass around his heart. The pieces of metal hurt as they sliced from all angles, the fire in his interior passed now painfully burning around his heart and the wind funneled down through his back. It felt like a drill was going through his skin, muscles, and spine. Then all that pain was forgotten as the white stone glowed molten and rose the remaining distance to his chest and melted through the layers of his body and destroyed his physical heart. For a moment Trint knew he was dead. No heart, no life, it was over. But maybe for the best. He’d lost his family, and this was a mercy.

It had been agonizing, but a part of his brain observed this whole event with a sort of detached calm and complete awareness, not distracted by the torturous pain. Moments later, the stone hit his physically beating heart and for a moment he thought he saw a pair of eyes flash across his mind’s eye. Then Trint knew nothing but blackness and an unseen beastly voice, deep and predatory said “Hello.”