The scream came again.
Long.
Raw.
Filled with pain.
David stared through the shifting purple haze.
The battlefield was gone.
So were the armies, the ships, and the ancient city beneath an open sky.
The vision had changed again.
David and June now stood inside an enormous chamber of black stone.
Crimson light pulsed through narrow channels carved into the floor, spreading outward in branching patterns that reminded David of veins beneath skin.
Tall columns disappeared into darkness overhead.
Stone platforms lined both sides of the chamber.
Most were empty.
One was not.
A figure stood beside it.
Male.
Tall and slender, with pale skin and long silver-white hair falling across the shoulders of dark robes.
Crimson patterns covered the robes, beginning at the wrists and twisting upward along the arms.
The man held one hand above the platform.
Thin strands of red energy extended from his fingers.
They disappeared into the creature restrained beneath him.
It screamed again.
June flinched.
"Okay."
His eyes narrowed.
"I already don't like this."
David barely heard him.
His attention remained on the man.
There was something familiar about the crimson energy.
He had seen something like it earlier.
The monument.
The twelve Celestials.
One of the figures had been surrounded by thin branching lines.
Almost like veins.
"Blood," David whispered.
June glanced at him.
"You thinking the statue?"
David nodded.
"The one with the lines around it."
"Yeah."
The creature thrashed.
Both of them turned toward it.
David's expression hardened.
It was enormous.
Nearly seven feet tall even while restrained against the angled platform.
Its body was covered in dark gray skin with patches of coarse black fur around its shoulders, spine, and upper chest.
Its legs were powerful and bent strangely at the joints.
The arms were too long.
Much too long.
They ended in clawed hands that scraped uselessly against the stone.
Its face was unmistakably animal.
A flattened snout.
Large pointed ears.
A wide mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth.
Thin membranes stretched from its arms toward the sides of its torso.
June stared.
"What the hell is that?"
David shook his head.
"No idea."
"It looks like a bat."
David looked at him.
June pointed.
"A giant, horrifying, man-sized bat."
The creature opened its mouth and shrieked.
June grimaced.
"Definitely a bat."
The man beside the platform didn't react.
His expression remained calm.
Almost detached.
He moved two fingers.
The crimson strands tightened.
The creature convulsed.
David heard bones crack.
Not breaking.
Moving.
The creature's shoulders pulled inward.
Its arms shortened slightly.
The membranes connecting them to its torso began shrinking.
The creature screamed louder.
June's humor vanished.
"He's changing it."
David stared.
"Yeah."
The man's fingers moved again.
Crimson energy spread through the creature's chest.
Its rib cage shifted.
Its spine straightened.
The legs changed.
Slowly.
Painfully.
The animalistic proportions began moving toward something else.
Something more upright.
More balanced.
More humanoid.
Then the creature's body suddenly seized.
The crimson light flickered.
Its chest collapsed inward.
The creature went still.
David's jaw tightened.
June stared at it.
"Dead?"
David watched for movement.
There was none.
"Looks like it."
The man lowered his hand.
No anger.
No disappointment.
He simply looked at the body.
Studying it.
Then he turned away.
The vision shifted.
The chamber blurred.
David instinctively stepped backward.
"June."
"I'm seeing it."
Everything snapped back into focus.
Same chamber.
Same man.
Different creature.
David immediately understood.
Time had passed.
How much, he couldn't tell.
The new creature stood upright.
Barely.
It was restrained by the wrists and ankles, but its posture was much closer to human.
The bat-like traits remained.
Large ears.
Dark skin.
A flattened nose.
Clawed fingers.
Patches of black fur.
But the proportions had changed dramatically.
The arms were shorter.
The legs straighter.
The torso narrower.
There were no wing membranes.
June slowly walked around the platform.
The creature couldn't see him.
None of them could.
"This isn't the same one."
"No."
"He's trying again."
The man raised his hand.
Crimson threads entered the creature.
Its body jerked.
The process began again.
David watched carefully.
The man wasn't simply forcing random changes.
Every movement was deliberate.
The shape of the skull.
The length of the arms.
The position of the shoulders.
The structure of the hands.
Even the creature's posture.
June noticed too.
"He's working toward something."
David glanced at him.
"Yeah."
"He knows what he wants it to look like."
The crimson energy intensified.
The creature screamed.
Then—
Its body failed.
It collapsed against the restraints.
The vision shifted again.
Another jump.
Another time.
Another creature.
June stared at the new subject.
"Well..."
David understood the reaction.
This one was disturbingly close.
It stood over six feet tall.
Two arms.
Two legs.
Human proportions.
Its face was flatter than the others.
Its ears were smaller.
Its hands almost human.
But there were still things wrong.
The shoulders sat slightly too high.
The fingers were too long.
Its skin carried uneven patches of gray pigmentation.
Its jaw extended just enough to make the face appear unnatural.
The creature breathed rapidly.
Its eyes moved constantly around the chamber.
June stepped closer.
"That's a hell of a difference."
David nodded.
The man approached the creature.
For the first time, David noticed other figures standing farther back in the chamber.
Assistants.
Servants.
Researchers.
He didn't know.
They carried objects covered in ancient writing.
One recorded something as the man examined the creature.
David looked upward.
"I AM."
The ancient presence answered immediately.
But not inside David's mind.
The voice rolled through the vision itself.
Deep.
Measured.
Ancient.
I AM:
I hear you.
June froze.
His head snapped toward David.
David looked at him.
June's eyes widened.
"That was him."
David nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
June looked around the chamber.
For the first time since David had told him about I AM, June wasn't hearing the ancient presence secondhand.
He could actually hear him.
June swallowed.
Then looked upward.
"I AM?"
I AM:
Yes, June Kade.
June went completely still.
His eyes widened a little farther.
"You know my name."
I AM:
I do.
June looked at David.
David gave a small shrug.
"Don't look at me."
June looked back toward the chamber.
"Where are you?"
I AM:
Where I have always been.
June frowned.
"That's incredibly unhelpful."
David almost smiled.
"Now you understand."
June pointed toward him.
"No wonder you get irritated."
David turned back toward the vision.
"We can talk about that later."
"Definitely."
The silver-haired man lifted one hand.
The third creature screamed.
Crimson energy moved through it.
Its shoulders changed.
Its jaw pulled inward.
Its fingers shortened.
For several seconds, the transformation appeared successful.
Then the creature began convulsing.
The man stopped.
Too late.
The creature collapsed.
Still alive.
Barely.
The man's expression changed.
Only slightly.
Frustration.
Then the vision flickered.
The chamber disappeared.
Darkness.
David felt June move beside him.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know."
Then—
The chamber returned.
David's eyes narrowed.
Something was different.
Very different.
Most of the platforms were gone.
The assistants were gone.
The failed creatures were gone.
Only the silver-haired man remained.
And someone stood beside him.
David stopped.
June did too.
Neither spoke.
The new figure had his back toward them.
Male.
Tall.
Perhaps six and a half feet.
Maybe slightly taller.
His proportions were completely human.
No elongated arms.
No strange legs.
No pointed ears that David could see.
No fur.
No wings.
No claws.
Nothing.
Pale skin covered the back of his neck and arms.
Black hair fell loosely across his head.
David stared.
June stepped closer.
"Wait."
David glanced toward him.
"What?"
June pointed toward the figure.
"We missed something."
David looked back.
June was right.
The previous creature hadn't been anywhere close to this.
It had still been obviously altered.
Obviously unnatural.
This one—
From behind, David wouldn't have known there was anything unusual about him at all.
June shook his head.
"That last one wasn't even close."
"No."
"So what happened between that and this?"
David focused on I AM.
"What did we miss?"
Silence.
June heard the silence now too.
"I AM?"
Nothing.
June looked toward David.
"He does this a lot?"
"Constantly."
"That's going to get old."
"It already has."
The black-haired figure stood silently beside the silver-haired man.
There were no restraints.
That bothered David.
Every other creature had been chained to a platform.
This one wasn't.
It simply stood there.
Calm.
Motionless.
Waiting.
June noticed.
"He's not restrained."
"I know."
"Think that's good?"
"No."
"Me neither."
The silver-haired man walked around the figure.
Examining him.
He touched one shoulder.
Then the side of his neck.
The figure didn't react.
David moved closer.
June followed.
They tried to circle around.
The vision shifted.
Suddenly they were back where they'd started.
June stopped.
"What?"
David frowned.
They moved right.
The chamber blurred.
Again they found themselves directly behind the figure.
June stared.
"Oh, come on."
David tried left.
Same result.
The vision wouldn't allow them to see the man's face.
June pointed accusingly at the black-haired figure.
"That's intentional."
David wasn't sure whether he meant the vision or whatever force controlled it.
Probably both.
The silver-haired man stepped away.
The black-haired figure moved.
David went still.
June did too.
Slowly—
The figure's head began to turn.
June leaned forward.
David's heartbeat quickened.
Finally.
The man's face was almost coming into view.
Then—
Purple mist drifted between them.
June's expression immediately fell.
"No."
The mist thickened.
"No, no, no—move."
June walked straight toward it.
"June."
"Not now."
He began waving both hands through the purple haze as if he could physically shove it out of the way.
David stared at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Moving it."
"That's not going to work."
"You don't know that."
June swept both arms through another curling strand.
The mist passed straight through his hands and immediately flowed back into place.
"Move."
He swatted at it again.
"June."
"We've watched three nightmare bats turn into progressively uglier people, and now that we finally get to see what he was trying to make, the haunted fog decides it needs privacy?"
Despite himself, David almost laughed.
"I don't think waving at it is helping."
"I'm open to suggestions."
June swept both hands through it again.
"Shoo."
David stared at him.
"Did you just tell it to shoo?"
"I'm trying everything."
June waved harder.
"Shoo!"
The mist thickened.
"Oh, come on!"
Behind it—
The figure continued turning.
June's hands stopped.
His humor vanished.
"David."
"I see it."
A face almost appeared through the haze.
Almost.
David stepped forward.
The purple mist thickened again.
"No."
He moved closer.
June came beside him.
The silhouette completed its turn.
But they couldn't see its face.
Only darkness behind purple haze.
June leaned sideways.
"Come on..."
For one brief instant—
Two points of crimson light appeared.
David froze.
June's breath caught.
Eyes.
Glowing red eyes stared directly through the mist.
Not toward the silver-haired man.
Not across the chamber.
At them.
David stopped breathing.
June slowly lowered his hands.
"...Okay."
The red eyes vanished.
The vision went black.
David spun.
"June?"
"I'm here."
Complete darkness surrounded them.
Then the chamber returned.
The black-haired figure was gone.
So were the platforms.
Only the silver-haired man remained.
June looked around.
"Where did he go?"
David didn't know.
June looked upward.
"I AM."
Silence.
"What was that?"
Nothing.
June's frustration returned.
"Come on. You showed us everything else."
I AM remained silent.
June pointed toward the empty space where the black-haired man had stood.
"What did he make?"
The ancient presence finally answered.
I AM:
You have seen enough.
June stared upward.
"That's not an answer."
I AM:
It was not intended to be.
June looked at David.
David shrugged.
"I warned you."
June shook his head.
"This is going to drive me insane."
The vision changed.
The chamber dissolved around them.
Another place emerged.
A vast room.
Not a laboratory.
Something ceremonial.
Tall crimson columns surrounded a circular platform.
At its center stood a woman.
David frowned.
Long pale hair fell down her back.
Dark robes covered her body.
Crimson markings twisted along the fabric.
Blood-red energy moved around her hands.
June stepped closer.
"Who's she?"
David stared.
Something about her felt familiar.
Not her face.
Her presence.
The way the crimson energy moved.
June looked around.
"Where'd the other guy go?"
David's eyes narrowed.
The woman lifted one hand.
Crimson threads extended from her fingers.
Exactly the same way.
David's stomach tightened.
"No way."
June looked at him.
"What?"
David stared at the woman.
"I AM."
The ancient voice answered.
I AM:
You have already seen him.
June's expression changed.
"Him?"
David understood at the same moment.
The vision flickered.
For an instant—
The silver-haired man stood where the woman stood.
Then the woman.
The man.
The woman.
Back and forth.
June stared.
"That's..."
David finished quietly.
"The same person."
The two images overlapped.
The male form and the woman's form occupied the same space.
Crimson energy wrapped around both.
Then the male image disappeared.
Only the woman remained.
June looked upward.
"He did that to himself?"
I AM:
Yes.
David stared at the woman.
The experimentation suddenly carried another meaning.
He hadn't only been learning how to alter creatures.
He had learned how to reshape living bodies.
Eventually—
His own.
June watched the woman.
"Why?"
I AM did not answer.
June waited.
Nothing.
"Of course."
David studied her.
"Who was he?"
This time I AM answered.
I AM:
Hem'el.
The name echoed through the chamber.
June repeated it.
"Hem'el."
I AM:
Celestial of the Dominion of Blood.
David's expression changed.
One of the twelve.
The monument.
The branching veins.
The stolen Relics.
The exile.
Everything connected.
June looked toward the woman.
"Then what's her name?"
Silence.
The crimson light surrounding her intensified.
The vision changed around them.
The woman stood upon a massive balcony.
Below her stretched an ancient city.
Not the one David and June had discovered.
Another.
Larger.
Darker.
Crimson banners hung from towering structures.
Thousands of figures filled the streets below.
David couldn't see them clearly.
The vision wouldn't allow it.
Purple haze obscured the crowds.
June looked over the edge.
"Who are they?"
No answer.
The woman raised one hand.
The entire city became silent.
David felt the power rolling from her.
Blood Dominion.
But stronger than anything he'd seen Hem'el use in the laboratory.
Far stronger.
The vision flickered again.
Another world.
Another city.
The woman walked through a vast hall.
Figures bowed as she passed.
Again—
Their faces remained hidden.
David looked toward I AM.
"Why can't we see them?"
Silence.
June noticed too.
"You're hiding them."
I AM did not respond.
June looked around.
"Or something is."
That possibility bothered David.
The vision shifted.
The woman stood alone now.
No city.
No followers.
Only darkness.
Crimson energy moved around her.
David stepped forward.
"Hem'el."
The woman slowly turned.
Her face came into view.
Pale.
Beautiful.
Cold.
Crimson eyes watched the darkness.
June studied her.
"That's really him."
David nodded.
The transformation was complete.
There was nothing left of the silver-haired man except the power.
June looked upward.
"You said his name was Hem'el."
I AM:
Yes.
"What's her name?"
The ancient presence remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
I AM:
Hem'el was the name he carried before he remade himself.
The woman's crimson eyes lifted.
I AM:
Before the Dominion of Blood consumed what remained of his former purpose.
David listened.
June didn't interrupt.
The crimson energy around the woman grew brighter.
I AM:
Your age remembers her by another name.
David felt something tighten inside his chest.
The woman's image sharpened.
June stared.
I AM:
Veyra Bloodryn.
David went completely still.
June's expression changed.
He knew the name.
Everyone did.
I AM:
Demon Lord of Blood Dominion.
Silence.
David stared at the woman.
Veyra Bloodryn.
The name seemed impossible beside everything they had just witnessed.
A Demon Lord.
A Celestial.
The same being.
June slowly shook his head.
"Veyra Bloodryn..."
I AM:
Yes.
June looked at David.
"She was a Celestial."
David nodded.
"Looks like it."
"No."
June pointed toward Veyra.
"Not looks like it. She was."
David didn't argue.
June turned toward I AM.
"Do the Celestials know?"
Silence.
June waited.
Nothing.
He sighed.
"Fine."
David wasn't thinking about the Celestials.
He was thinking about the laboratory.
The creatures.
The black-haired man.
Those red eyes.
"What was Hem'el trying to create?"
I AM remained silent.
David stepped forward.
"What was the black-haired man?"
Nothing.
June looked upward.
"You said we'd seen enough."
Still no answer.
June's expression hardened.
"Enough of what?"
The purple mist returned.
Slowly at first.
Thin strands crawled along the floor around Veyra.
David noticed immediately.
"June."
"I see it."
The mist rose.
Veyra remained motionless inside it.
June looked toward I AM.
"Is this you?"
No response.
The mist thickened.
David extended his Claw Gauntlets.
June activated the blade extension on his Kinetic Baton.
Blue energy hissed to life.
Purple vapor surrounded Veyra.
Her image began fading.
June stepped forward.
"No."
David caught his arm.
"Don't."
"We're losing the vision."
"Maybe that's a good thing."
"Not before we get answers."
The purple haze swallowed Veyra.
Her crimson eyes disappeared last.
Then—
The vision shattered.
David staggered.
The ceremonial chamber vanished.
Purple darkness surrounded them.
June nearly fell.
David caught his shoulder.
"Stay with me."
"I'm here."
The mist wrapped around their legs.
David tried to step backward.
His foot wouldn't move.
System:
WARNING
External Influence Increasing
David pulled harder.
Nothing.
June swung the baton.
The blue blade passed harmlessly through the mist.
"Still doesn't work!"
The vapor climbed.
Knees.
Waist.
David's breathing became difficult.
System:
WARNING
Cognitive Integrity Compromised
June grabbed David's arm.
David grabbed him back.
The mist tightened.
June's voice came through the growing darkness.
"I AM!"
No answer.
June shouted again.
"I AM!"
The purple haze reached their chests.
David felt pressure building inside his skull.
His vision blurred.
"I AM!"
Nothing.
June's grip tightened.
"David!"
"I'm here!"
The mist reached his neck.
System:
WARNING
External Influence Critical
David couldn't feel his legs anymore.
June stumbled.
David caught him before he fell completely.
Both dropped to one knee.
Purple filled David's vision.
June struggled beside him.
"Any brilliant ideas?"
David fought to remain conscious.
"Working on it."
"You might want to work faster."
David almost laughed.
Almost.
Then June's hand slipped.
David grabbed his wrist.
"June!"
"I'm here."
His voice sounded weaker.
David pulled him closer.
"Don't let go."
June locked his hand around David's forearm.
"Wasn't planning to."
The mist swallowed them completely.
No city.
No vision.
No Veyra.
Nothing.
Only purple darkness.
David's System flickered.
System:
WARNING
Cognitive Failure Imminent
The words blurred.
David tried to focus.
Couldn't.
"I AM..."
No answer.
His eyes began to close.
Beside him, June's grip weakened.
David tightened his own.
Then—
Something changed.
Deep within the purple darkness, a presence stirred.
Ancient.
Immense.
And suddenly—
The mist stopped moving.