I feel someone lightly shake my body back and forth. I open my eyes and look up only to see the worried expression of my mom. My dad is off to the side carrying what seems to be the unconscious Ellen.
My mom moves over to grab my shoulder, “Cayden are you hurt?”
“Yeah I’m fine mo-“ just as I reach over to calm down my mom I notice blood pooling beneath me. My eyes trace the path of the blood up my left arm. The blood is coming from a huge gash that’s underneath my shoulder where my bicep should be.
Part of the wound looks burnt as if it was cooked on an open fire. Red marks similar to tree branches surround the area around the wound. The wound has pieces of glass embedded into the flesh underneath my skin. The bloody sight causes my mom to gasp in horror while my dad’s face scrunches up into a grimace.
My mind takes a moment to recognize the injury before assaulting my senses with pain. The sensation strikes my nerves as if a hot knife was flaying the skin off my arm. I grit my teeth and try to focus on other thoughts so that I won’t fall unconscious again.
“Ho- Ho- Honey! You're hurt! We need to get you to a hospital!”
“I- It’s alright mom. I can handle the pain. Just give me a couple of seconds.”
I focus my will onto my arm. I feel every single muscle fiber near the wound start to tingle as if something was tapping each one.
My concentration stretches to its limits as I direct my blood vessels to pump blood away from the wound. The muscle fibers in my arm start to slowly push out the pieces of glass lodged in them.
My parents watch in shock as my wound slowly stops bleeding and after ten minutes turns into a large scab. I peel off the scab revealing the white skin underneath.
“Cayden. What was that just now?” My dad’s dazed expression is justified. I only recently learned of my power too.
When I was younger my friends used to dare each other on who could cross the street fastest. I nearly made it to the other end until a car unexpectedly crossed a red light.
I remember I landed pretty badly on my side and when I looked at my arm it was bent in an unnatural angle. From what my mom told me I was in the hospital for a week before the bones in my arm miraculously set themselves.
From there I realized how strange my body was. I was said to look far younger than those around me to the point where I was accidentally placed in the middle school section when I was a junior in high school. Simple injuries like scrapes or cuts would heal in a matter of seconds.
I even once placed my hand over an open flame to test my ability. Blisters started to form on my hand which popped soon after my hand was taken away from the heat. I washed my hand under cold water and watched as the dead skin came off revealing my healthy hand.
I usually never showed my ability to anyone, not even my family. At first I thought I was a freak who would be laughed at, but later on I realized my powers could help me use my body to protect the people around me from danger.
I figured someone would have found out that I had heightened healing in the future, but I didn’t expect to reveal it now and to my family no less.
My mom soon came out of her stupor and came to my side, “Cayden. Don’t shock your poor mom's heart like that. Now can you tell me and your father how you just did that?”
“Mom, don’t worry. I’ll explain everything when we arrive at the bunker. I promise.”
“Cayden Ferris Madley! Do you not trust your own parents?”
My dad pipes in the middle of my mom's tirade, “Dear, listen to Cayden. He already promised he’ll explain it to us at the bunker. I think Ellen’s gotten fatter since her time at the academy. Let’s head to the bunker before my back breaks okay?”
My mom reluctantly lets go of me at my dad’s request. I throw a grateful glance at my dad who gives a slight nod in response.
My dad brings us outside of the house. Cracks spread on the asphalt streets and large shards of glass litter the front of buildings. It’s as if a tornado rampaged through the neighborhood.
A siren continuously blares throughout the neighborhood. The robotic voice of a woman repeats the same instructions for citizens to head to bunkers.
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Intermittent explosions and howls are heard alongside the siren. Flashes of purple light shine from the direction of the center of the city.
A young man in pajamas wielding a bat approaches me. That’s my, in his words, best friend Connor. His parents died when he was young so he went to live with his rich uncle.
Unfortunately his uncle didn’t care for his new relative. His uncle gave him a separate living space far from his estate and a monthly allowance.
We met in third grade when he asked me if we could be partners during gym exercises. From there he went around calling me his best friend.
He always included me in his friend groups and invited me to parties, but I never could understand why he was so intent on me joining his ventures.
“Yo Cayden. What’s up with these alarms and stuff? There was also that big explosion north of here.”
“I think there's a possibility that it could be a Fabric Ripper. We haven’t had a rift open up for a while. Who knows where those monsters could have popped up from.”
AHUUUU
“Um Cayden? What was that?” Connor looked up into the sky to scan for the origin of the noise.
Right before I fell unconscious before I heard the same noise. It was like a mix between roars of a lion and a bear with the hissing of a snake.
This time it sounds louder as if whatever made the noise was right next to us. Just listening to it makes my skin tingle all over.
“I dunno what that was, but I think we should head to a bunker first.”
My family and I started our trek towards a bunker with Connor. The bunkers of the city are usually located at the boundaries of the sectors. It shouldn’t be too far from us as my dad has a government job which allows him to live near the upper sector of the city.
While moving with my family I begin to theorize what could’ve occurred to cause the damage to the city. Fabric Rippers don't usually appear near here because too many fortress cities are congregated in this area. They usually appear in the south where it is sparsely populated by humans.
As I'm lost in my thoughts I feel a tap on my right shoulder. I look over to see Connor pointing up at the air with wide eyes. I lift my head up to find a behemoth of a beast floating right above the city.
The size of the thing astounds me as the tallest Ripper I’ve ever seen was only 15 meters tall while this one is at least 200 meters tall. It’s scaled figure reminds me of a dragon, but the horn and hooves confuse me on what creature it could be.
While observing the Ripper I see many small dots flying around it. Every now and then the Ripper attacks one of the dots with lightning from its horn or by charging at them with its body.
“Woah, those are World Rangers Cayden! They’re the ones we see on tv who have super cool powers like flight and magic!” Connor goes into his own world as he spouts praises to the figures up above.
Connor’s admiration isn’t misplaced as world rangers are known as the heroes of humanity.
World Rangers are those who have taken gene enhancements or contracted with Rippers to gain strength past the limits of humanity. People born with Origins like my sister also enter the ranks of World Rangers.
They use their abilities to combat the ongoing threat of Rippers. A World Ranger usually appears when a Fabric Ripper enters our world through a dimensional rift and tries to attack a human settlement.
Me and Connor both dream of becoming World Rangers, but the success rate of becoming one is highly dependent on one's talent.
There is a way around that as some organizations help their new recruits by giving them resources to turn into a world ranger.
Watching the figures in the air do battle with the Ripper opens my eyes to how insignificant I really am compared to the real powers of the world.
I ponder my own weakness and inability to help when my family and the people around me are truly put in danger.
If I don’t get strong enough then monsters like that could easily kill me and the people I care for.
I suddenly laugh, breaking Connor’s rant about which world ranger he’s most likely to meet. I’ve found enlightenment through the self-analysis of my psyche.
I’ll make sure to get strong enough so I will never have to worry about my safety and I can focus on protecting others.
I will never fear death. Better yet, I'll make death terrified of me so that it will flee in fear whenever he sees my shadow.
My body will be the wall protecting the citizens who reside behind me.
I will gladly exchange my life for another's no matter how unpleasant they are as everyone deserves their lives.
I vow to always aid those who are vulnerable around me and to never let the weak be pushed around near me.
————————————————————
Two silhouettes stand atop large building observing the battle between the Ripper and Rangers.
The brawny figure holds a two-handed war axe while the shorter figure wields a longbow the size of their body and more.
“Hey Ariel, I betcha I can take that Kirin down before your arrows can reach it.”
“Are you serious Sieg? My arrows are clearly faster than those useless limbs of yours. Don’t tell me you’ll throw your axe because I bet it won’t have enough power to even leave a mark on the Kirin’s scales.
“Hah! You think I can’t hurt it? Watch this,” Veins pop on the man's forehead as his arms expand. He lifts his axe high above him and then hurls it through the air.
The Kirin senses great danger from the small object flying towards it and fires bolts of lightning to stop its path. The axe barrels past the resistance of the Kirin and slices off two of its legs.
AHUUUU
The Kirin howls in pain from the loss of its limbs. The noise is loud enough to be heard miles below in the city. A spark of red lightning discharges from the Kirin’s horn and floats above it. The spark starts to encase the Kirin until only a ball of crimson light is floating in its place.
Suddenly the ball expands quickly taking up the airspace. An unlucky world ranger is caught in the expansion and is swiftly disintegrated. The lightning reaches all the way to the buildings below it.
The man named Sieg grimly looks at the events unfolding. His knuckles gripping the axe turn white as chalk.
“Ariel! No time to mess around. Use it!”
The area around Ariel begins to lower in temperature until even the vapor in the air is frozen. She slowly begins to chant.
I have traversed the sweltering deserts of the East.
Bathed in the scalding pits of the deep.
And took on demonic fires unfathomable to mortals.
Yet my body shall never feel warmth.
I pray to thee Ullr.
Let my soul’s frost envelop all.
Snow Piercer.
An arrow made of pure ice forms in her hand. She notches the arrow into the bow and aims it at the center of the ball of lightning. She closes her eyes and fires the arrow.
The arrow splits apart the air around it as it reaches the edge of the sphere in less than the second. It enters the sphere without any resistance.
The ball of lightning stops expanding causing the sky to fall into silence.
The ball opens revealing the Kirin encased in ice. A small hole is left in the middle of its chest. The Kirin’s corpse shatters into fragments of ice. The fragments rain down on the city below.