The Dreamstone glowed faintly in Alpha's palm, a shard of pale light caged within crystal. He turned it slowly, watching the soft gleam shift and ripple like moonlight on water. At first, it felt warm, almost comforting. But when he focused on it, tried to let that warmth seep deeper, the glow flared…and a sharp cold rushed through his veins.
Alpha clenched his jaw. The warmth wasn't free. It bled his strength as surely as chains once had. His muscles quivered as though he'd hauled stones for hours. The glow dulled again, retreating into stillness.
So this was power. A promise that demanded something in return.
The scar on his back itched, crawling faintly as if mocking him. He shoved the Dreamstone into the rough pouch at his side and tightened his grip on the rust-pitted sword. Hunger gnawed at him, but he pushed on, deeper into the ruin.
The Labyrinth shifted.
Walls groaned. Stones rearranged themselves with grinding echoes, like the world was breathing in his ear. What had been a collapsed hall a moment ago stretched into a narrow corridor of cracked arches. Shadows bled across the edges, and from those shadows came sound.
The rattle of bones.
Alpha's breath caught.
Three figures lurched from the darkness. Skeletons. One dragged a jagged axe, its skull canted sideways. Another carried nothing but its clawed hands, quick and sharp. The third staggered behind them with a rusted shield and a broken blade.
Alpha raised his sword. His arms were still trembling from the Dreamstone's drain.
The first skeleton lunged.
Alpha barely ducked the downward cleave of the axe, the stone floor cracking under its weight. He swung instinctively, blade scraping bone. A rib snapped, but the creature didn't even falter. Its empty sockets glared with blue fire as it yanked the axe free.
The second came fast. Its claws hissed through the air. Alpha staggered back, sparks flying as bone raked his sword's edge. Too fast—he almost tripped. A claw tore across his arm, shallow but burning. He hissed and twisted, slamming the skeleton with his shoulder.
The third stepped in, shield raised. Alpha's sword glanced off uselessly, the clang of metal on rust echoing through the ruins. The broken blade darted from behind the shield—he jerked back just in time, the tip grazing his chest.
Three enemies. One half-dead boy.
Alpha's breath came ragged, sweat already running into his eyes. He remembered chains, overseers, the crack of whips. The same helpless weight pressed down on him now.
But he refused to bow.
The axe came again. He raised his sword with both hands. The impact nearly shattered him, the force slamming through bone and marrow. He slid back on raw feet, skin tearing against the stone. His sword groaned under the weight but held.
The clawed one darted for his side. Alpha twisted, too slow—claws raked his ribs, pain exploding white-hot. He shouted, driving his elbow into its skull. Bone cracked, but the skeleton only reeled back with a hollow hiss.
The shield-bearer pressed in, sword stabbing forward. Alpha dropped low, the blade cutting his shoulder instead of his throat. He shoved upward with desperate strength, his sword sliding under the shield's rim and into brittle bone. The skeleton collapsed with a rattling scream.
One down.
The axe-bearer roared silently and swung again. Alpha staggered aside, too late—the axe slammed across his thigh, flesh splitting. He hit the floor, gasping.
The clawed skeleton leapt at him.
Instinct screamed. Not thought, not reason—just something deep, primal. He rolled before the claws struck, bones scraping against stone where his throat had been a heartbeat earlier. He came up on his knees, sword flashing.
The blade bit through the skeleton's arm at the joint. Bone clattered against the floor. It reeled, off balance. Alpha surged forward, driving the blade up under its jaw and snapping the skull from its spine. Blue fire guttered out.
Two down.
The axe-bearer towered above him, sockets burning brighter. It raised the weapon high, slow and deliberate. Alpha couldn't dodge this time. His thigh screamed with pain, his breath ragged.
The axe fell.
Alpha raised his sword with both hands, angled the edge. Metal and bone met. The axe split down the middle, shards exploding into dust. Alpha drove forward, shoving his blade through ribs, twisting until the skeleton's spine cracked.
The creature rattled and fell apart, bones clattering around him like hail.
Silence returned.
Alpha knelt, chest heaving, blood dripping onto stone. His body burned with cuts and bruises, but his hands…his hands did not tremble.
He stared at the remains, then at his own blade, streaked with dust and blood.
That hadn't been luck. He had 'known'. Known when to roll, when to duck, when to thrust. Not perfectly. Not cleanly. But enough.
His scar burned faintly, a crawling fire beneath his skin.
The Veyres window flickered faintly in his vision:
[ Dreamstone Acquired +1 ]
[ Veyres System: Incomplete… ]
Then it vanished.
Alpha sagged against the wall, sweat pooling beneath him. He forced his breathing steady. He wasn't strong yet. He wasn't free yet. But for the first time, he felt something stir in the emptiness.
Not freedom. Not fate.
Fight.