The reflection in the broken glass stared back at her.
Golden, slitted eyes. Scales shimmered in the low light, spreading across her cheekbones and down her neck. Her hands—no, claws—flexed involuntarily, each finger tipped with curved, obsidian talons. Behind her, something flicked and twitched. A tail. Hers.
Jackie stumbled back from the window, heart thundering in her chest.
"What happened to me?"
She gasped, her voice strange—deeper, layered, like a second voice echoed faintly beneath her own. She raised her arms, now stronger, heavier, laced with armor-like plating beneath her hoodie—well, what was left of it. The fabric was torn and singed.
This wasn't cosplay. This wasn't a dream.
She spun around to get her bearings. The streets were cracked and overgrown. The store she was heading to had collapsed. A broken sign dangled from its frame, swaying in the cold wind. It was eerily quiet, except for—
Grrrrrooooaaaahhhh.
That sound again. Closer.
Jackie ducked behind a rusted car, peeking through the shattered windshield.
A figure lurched into view.
It moved like a person, but its skin was ash-gray, leathery, with sharp bone-like protrusions jutting from its back. Its mouth hung open, jaw unhinged far too wide. Its eyes were missing—just sunken sockets. It sniffed the air, slowly turning its head.
It's looking for me…
Jackie's heart pounded. She didn't want to fight. She didn't even know how. But then something in her chest shifted. A heat flickered in her gut, rising slowly, like something ancient waking up.
The creature snapped its head toward her.
Too late.
It lunged.
Jackie screamed, instinctively throwing her hands out in front of her—and the heat erupted.
A burst of searing flame exploded from her palms. The creature shrieked as fire engulfed it, stumbling back into the wreckage. It hit the ground twitching, then fell still.
Jackie stared at her hands, smoke curling from her fingertips. Her mouth hung open.
What… was that?
She should've felt terrified.
But she didn't.
She felt… alive.
Power buzzed beneath her skin, like a sleeping dragon just took its first breath inside her.
She took a shaky step forward. The air still shimmered with heat.
And then—
"You've awakened," a voice said.
She whirled around. A shadow stood in the alleyway, tall, cloaked in black. She couldn't see its face.
"Wh-who are you?" she demanded.
The voice was calm. Male. Deep. With a strange echo, like it came from a cavern.
"I've been waiting for you," it said. "The first of the Awakened always burns the brightest."
The figure stepped forward.
Jackie's claws tightened. Her tail curled.
This was just the beginning.