"Lie down."
The Pale Fang's voice wasn't a suggestion. It was a command. Cold. Heavy. Carved from something older than language itself.
I hesitated. My chest tightened. My heart pounded so loud it drowned out every other sound.
Kael glanced at me, leaning against a rusted water tank, arms crossed. His jaw was tight. His crimson eyes, for once, held no jokes. No smirk. Just a silent warning.
This is real.
The Pale Fang's fingers drew symbols into the rooftop's dust, using a fingertip that leaked something... wrong. Not ink. Not blood. Something darker.
Symbols twisted as he carved them. My eyes blurred just looking at them — like my brain refused to process the shapes. They weren't meant for human minds.
When he finished, a perfect circle of black and crimson light pulsed beneath my feet. Veins of shadow snaked outward like spider cracks in glass.
"Lie. Down."
My legs shook as I lowered myself into the center of the circle.
The moment my back hit the cold concrete... the air changed.
Heavy.
It pressed against my lungs. My ribs. My skull.
The Pale Fang's hands rose. His lips moved — not in words I understood. Not any language I'd ever heard.
But the Veil did.
The shadows answered.
They bent toward him. They listened.
"...Akira Delacruz." His voice dropped, echoing from everywhere and nowhere. "Bearer of the Forsaken Core. Fledgling of broken bloodlines. You stand on the edge of the dark."
His glowing white eyes locked onto mine.
"...There is no salvation here. Only truth."
He snapped his fingers.
The world shattered.
---
My body was gone.
Or maybe... it was still here. Somewhere. But my senses... broke apart.
I was falling. Not down. Not up. Just... falling through nothing.
Colors bled where colors shouldn't exist. Reds that screamed. Blacks that whispered. White cracks like broken glass split through the void around me.
And then — it started.
The Veilbound Trial.
A voice. Not mine. Not the Pale Fang's. Not Kael's.
Something deeper. Older.
> "WHO... ARE... YOU?"
A figure stepped from the shadows ahead.
Me.
Or... almost me.
But wrong.
My skin — pale, veined black. Eyes fully crimson, glowing. My mouth split wider than it should — fangs where teeth should be. Claws where fingers should be.
It grinned. "You don't belong here."
SLASH.
It lunged — faster than thought.
Claws raked my shoulder — I stumbled back, gasping. Felt skin tear — but no blood spilled. Only shadow.
I swung back — fists, claws — I didn't know. Pure instinct.
CRACK.
My fist connected. Its head snapped back. Shadow bled from its mouth.
"You're... you're not me!" I roared.
The doppelgänger laughed. "Not yet."
It split.
One became two. Two became four.
All grinning. All circling.
> "YOU ARE WEAK."
"YOU ARE FRAIL."
"THE CORE WILL DEVOUR YOU."
"GIVE IN."
I lashed out. Claws ripping one — it dissolved into smoke.
Another tackled me from behind — teeth sank into my shoulder — I screamed, twisting, hurling it off.
Another pounced — I met it mid-air — SNAP — its neck broke, but three more replaced it.
Endless.
I fought.
I fought until my arms ached. Until my claws cracked. Until my voice was nothing but a raw, ragged scream.
> "FALL."
"FALL."
"FALL."
Then —
The ground itself opened.
A black sea. Viscous. Thick. Writhing with hands — hundreds, thousands — clawing, grabbing, dragging.
I slipped — hands grabbed my ankles — my wrists — pulling me under.
No...
No no no no—
> "FALL... AND BE FORGOTTEN."
I sank.
Darkness filled my mouth. My nose. My lungs.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.
This is it. This is where it ends...
...
But then —
A sound.
Distant.
Sharp.
Metal scraping metal.
A voice. Faint.
Kael's voice.
> "Don't... fold, kid..."
"You're not prey..."
My eyes snapped open beneath the sea.
Not prey.
I clenched my fists.
NOT PREY.
The hands pulled — but I pulled back.
My claws sank into the hands dragging me — tore them apart.
I kicked — surged upward — swam through shadow — the sea resisted — but my limbs burned — hotter — stronger — heavier.
The Core inside me wasn't a curse.
It wasn't a prison.
It was a weapon.
Mine.
I broke the surface — gasping — roaring — the black sea exploded around me in shards of glass and smoke.
The shadow-doubles rushed — but this time I didn't retreat.
I charged.
My claws — not curved. Not crude. Now forged. Metal edged. Veined in crimson light.
My mouth split — but not wild — controlled — fangs aligned, sharpened like daggers.
My spine cracked — a surge of pain — then release.
Shadowed wings — half-formed, ethereal — flared from my back. Not for flight. Not yet. Just for terror.
I met the first double — and ripped it apart.
The second — split in two.
The third — ran.
The fourth — begged.
I didn't care.
No mercy.
I turned — arms spread — and howled.
Not human. Not beast. Something between. Something worse.
The world trembled. The shadows recoiled.
> "VEIL CORE... STABILIZED."
> "HOST ACCEPTED."
> "FORM: HYBRID ASCENDANT."
> "STATUS: ROGUE. UNCLASSIFIED. UNBOUND."
A pulse of crimson light exploded outward — the sea shattered — the sky split — the nightmare broke.
And I fell.
This time... not into darkness.
Into my body.
---
GASP.
My eyes flew open — the rooftop. The symbols — burning — fading.
My back arched — breath heaving. My hands — claws still there — but not monstrous. Refined. Controlled.
Kael knelt beside me, jaw slack. "...Holy... sh*t..."
The Pale Fang stood. Arms crossed. Smile... wider than ever.
"...Well..." His voice was a purr. "...You didn't die. Impressive."
I pushed myself up. My body felt... different. Lighter. Stronger. Like my skin wasn't fully mine anymore — but something woven from shadow and steel.
The hunger?
Still there. But not wild. Not endless.
Mine.
The Pale Fang nodded, pleased. "Congratulations... fledgling no more." His grin sharpened.
"...Welcome to the dark."