Out of a mix of pity and good will. The king provided me with a living quarters within the citadels walls.
3 years passed, the life Terra Pines gave me was as peaceful as any in this apocalyptic hellscape that remained of the world.
Yet despite it all my fear and unease never went away. Every night would be filled with nightmares of the creature staring into the steel walls.
The way madness flickered behind it's eyes as it destroyed the only place I ever called home. That was the easier dreams to handle though.
The nightmares where I had to relive the moment that the last two people I held dear were squeezed of their life in front of my eyes.
The cruel repetition of it all was the thing that left me scarred and broken beyond repair.
It worked as a double edged sword though, those same scars being a massive igniter for the desire of strength.
Turning me into a living fire with one singular desire. I wanted to become a gate keeper.
I spent three years training my mind and body. The injections were free to the public but was restricted to people at the age of 17 or older.
Most of those that applied were either from the slums hoping to better their life and escape the outer settlement.
Or they were a scion of a gatekeeper family. The serum only had a 20% survival rate, but showed a more considerate working rate in those who's bloodline had inherited the gift already.
Today marks the day of my new life, the beginning of my revenge against the beasts of the umbral realm.
A heavy set man sat behind a metal desk, a screen with numbers and information casting a faint glow on his round face.
"Callum Corseid, you're up!" The man shouted through the small bland office space.
Most people approached shaking a nervous at the odds. However I had steeled myself long ago.
If this is how I die then this world wins, and I'm not going to let it.
"Take the hall to examination room 6." The man pointed, his face making it's way back down to the screen with a mundane indifference.
The dimly lit corridor held 8 exam rooms. In former years when the odds of survival weren't set in stone.
Every single room would be in use at full capacity, however now thy usually only had 10 new recruits a year.
Of the 10, 2 or 3 would become the world's new line of defense. I opened the door, examining my surroundings.
The room was empty, a one way mirror on the wall facing a lonely metal chair with a horror filmesque head apparatus sitting above it.
"Take a seat Callum." A soft voice came over the intercom system. I stepped through the light towards the seat. Feeling eyes on me from the other side of the glass.
Once seated the room filled with a mechanical whir. Metal clasps rotated around the arms and legs of the chair, securing my body in place.
"Don't worry, the secures are just to keep you from falling out of the chair as the injection takes place." I nodded indifferently.
"The injection will be placed in the base of your spine. You will feel an intense pain and pass out, marking the trial of the serum."
The serum connects you to the umbral realm, the powers granted are claimed by overcoming a trial.
Some claimed of having to fight and outwit gnarly abominations while others crossed a desert or climbed a mountain.
All trials seemed to be different but one thing remained the same.
The harder the trial, the more brilliant the abilities and rewards. I wasn't to worried either way. Hatred and pain lit a fire so intense within my bones that I felt I could survive anything and that was what I intended to do.
The helmet started to descent, resting on my head and tightening. Pulling my scalp in as an anchor to hold me in place.
"The injection will now start, any final words?"
What sounded like they were sentencing me to death, was actually a final respect.
Words recorded for whatever loved ones remained of the many lives that the trials had taken.
"Let's get this over with."
"Alright then the injection will now begin."
The needle pin pointed itself on my skin before embedding itself deep into the back of my neck.
Burning pain spread across my body, igniting every nerve under a scrutiny of fire.
Every muscle tensed and screamed in agony as the sensation overwhelmed me, causing my mind to blank.
Putting me into the jagged teeth of the trial.
My eyes opened but what sat in front of me was unlike anything I've ever seen.
An indefinite abyss took place of the sky. Pitch black and limitless, yet despite its immaculate size. The feeling it was entirely devoid of life was gnawing away in my mind.
My eyes started to take in this alien world as I lifted myself off the ground.
My mind struggling to take in how truly strange it was.
The horizon was bare and lifeless, the only thing present was black tree like tendrils sticking out from the ground.
If you could even call it ground at least.
I looked below my feet, supporting my weight was a pane of luminescent glass. Then my eyes focused beyond the glass.
My blood ran cold and fear froze even my heart for a moment. Beneath my feet was an abyss of water.
Deep within that water, a shadow was cast.
The shadow ran for miles in either direction, the black tendrils seemingly stemming from its core.
It laid still so my mind began to write it off but the chill in my bones wouldn't let me. Something in my heart had been screaming that what lay dormant beneath my feet.
Was an ancient horror, which waking would be paramount to the signing of my final moments.
Fear kept me frozen in place, worried that the weight of my footstep would crack the glass. Or even worse, awaken the slumbering catastrophe.
I knew just standing in place would accomplish nothing so I forced a step. Eerily placing my foot forward and shifting my weight to it.
Nothing happened.
So I repeated the process, walking around like a baby giraffe trying to find it's legs underneath it.
After getting comfortable with the idea that walking wont wake the abomination beneath me. I began to observe and take in the surroundings.
However every direction remained the same scene. No life, no movement. Just the never ending woods of the tendrils.
With that I made the decision to pick one direction and stick to it, with the hopes that maybe something will change eventually.
The first hour went by slow, fear incapacitating me whenever my mind stray to far from my goal. However as time drew on, my mind numbed to the feeling of it.
I continued on aimlessly, hours stacking on to the journey and the part that worried me the most. Despite having travelled miles by this point. The shadow didn't grow or shrink.
After what felt like an entire days worth of travel, I came across a clearing. My father's words echoed in my mind.
"A clearing means death when you are the prey." But what was there to turn me into prey here?
In the entire travel, not a single breath of life was present. So with that I made the decision to step out into the clearing.
My mind had already circled all possibilities to what the goal of my trial might be. Even with those thoughts no possible outcome had come to mind.
As I made my way toward the center of the clearing, my heart sank.
A light shone into the air, casting me into a spotlight.
In a panic of the sudden change, my eyes darted up. That was when I realized how grave the omen this light casted was.
The sky above my head was still clear, which left only one direction for this vertical wall of light to be cast from.
Beneath my feet, was an eye. So immense that even the grand marketplace of the citadel could be fit within it with ease.
The eye had one sharp slit for a pupil, like that of a serpent. To make matters worse, that slit was directed straight at me.
The next thing I knew, all the tendrils branches started to come together and point directly to the sky. Then the tendrils withdrew, into the abyss of water below the glass.
Water began to displace through the holes the tendrils had previously pierced through.
Before the water had completely began to submerge the glass, the horror made a move. With it brought a loud cracking sound as the force of the water caused the glass to begin to break apart.
The eye began to dart into the distance with a speed that should not be possible for a beast of such monstrous size.
The momentum created waves that shook the entire world beneath my feet.
The glass shattered and broke into millions of large shards of glass. I took refuge on the ice berg of glass as I watched in horror.
The ancient evil had awoken and with it came absolute death.
To make it all worse, the beast seemed to be turning it's head in the distance. The spot lights turning back to search for the prey it left in it's wake.
Standing on the large shard of glass with no chance of survival. I watched as it made it's turn and prepared to claim it's miniscule snack.