CHAPTER 1 ‒ No Way Back

Suddenly, ragged breathing filled the air, followed by screams.

"Aarggh"

Figures in dark robes around us began to tremble. One by one, they let out strangled cries, their hands reaching for something unseen before they collapsed like puppets. Their bodies began to dissolve, merging with the pools of blood on the floor.

I didn’t understand what was happening, but I focused on getting to my feet. As my vision cleared, I saw many different people standing around me ‒ and just as many corpses surrounding us.

Despite the grotesque sight, everyone remained eerily silent. Eyes met, then wandered away. Everyone was searching for something ‒ yet no one knew what.

My... my head... My head started to throb as if it was about to explode.

“What… what is this?!”

A man beside me bolted upright, his breath catching in his throat. Then he looked at his hands ‒ blood-red.

"This isn't… this isn't mine…"

Somewhere behind us, confused voices started whispering.

"Shit… do you know me?"

The other hesitated. "I… I don’t know. Do you know me?"

Silence. Then their eyes widened, filled with fear.

"Ahhh!"

Panic erupted.

"Shit, what the hell is going on?!"

“I was about to say something, but… it’s just gone.”

"Why can't I remember... anything?"

As the realization sank in, fear spread like wildfire. People wanted to run ‒ but where to?

"I ask for silence!"

An old man with a thin beard stood on a raised platform that jutted into the room. He raised his hand.

"I understand that this must all be very confusing for you."

A bad joke. This had to be a bad joke. I was just… I was just about to… What was I about to do?

"My name is Kurul, and I am the advisor to the king of this land. You, the heroes, have been chosen to save this dying world."

A murmur and whispering spread through the crowd. Heroes? Chosen? What does that mean?

The murmur grew louder.

"Once again, I ask for silence!"

The soldiers beside him on the platform struck the ground with the ends of their spears, drawing the crowd’s attention.

"You must be wondering why there are dead men lying around you."

His voice was calm ‒ too calm.

"These one hundred brave mages sacrificed their lives in the face of this threat to make you the hundred heroes. Be grateful to them, for during the ritual, each of them transferred their magic into you  ‒ granting you power."

Another wave of whispers spread through the group. Nothing he said made sense.

"You're insane! Heroes? What’s next? A magic horse to take me to work?"

A tall, powerfully built man growled at the advisor. He had a short dark beard and a shaved head. Beneath his linen shirt, thick muscles tensed.

"And why the hell does my head feel like it's about to explode?"

He gripped his forehead, looking like he was about to collapse.

"I was just… I don’t know… I can’t remember."

His gaze drifted, trying to grasp something just out of reach. He’s the same as me. The same as all of us. His expression hardened ‒ from confusion to anger.

"This is all one big fucking joke!"

He turned to leave the glowing circle we were all standing on.

A bolt of energy struck him. He was flung back inside.

"Huh?! What the hell was that?!"

He scowled, stepping toward the edge again.

"I wouldn’t do that if I were you."

A figure emerged from the darkness at the edge of the room, stepping into the flickering light. An older woman in deep purple robes, a staff resting in her left hand.

"The barrier is there to keep you from running away too quickly."

Her voice was cold, devoid of amusement.

"Since you’ve already been caught once, the pain will double if you try again. And it will keep doubling… until you die."

She locked eyes with the burly man, unblinking, unsmiling. She meant every word.

Then, without another glance, she turned and nodded up at the advisor.

Kurul cleared his throat, tugging at his collar.

"As I said before," he continued, his voice sharp, his expression unreadable.

"You are the hundred heroes chosen to save this world. The magic given to you by the mages has only just awakened. It is weak. You will need to train ‒ push yourselves to the limit ‒ to awaken it fully, to strengthen it, to make it your own."

"And what if we don’t want to?"

Kurul’s expression darkened. He didn’t like being interrupted.

A woman stepped forward. Her skin was pale, yet covered in dark scars. Vivid red hair spilled over her shoulders.

"Do you really think we’re just going to be your pawns? What the hell have you done to us?"

She stared down at her hands ‒ calloused fingers, a faint scar along the inside of her wrist. Where did these come from?

"What the hell did you do to me?!"

She clenched her fists, dark veins surfaced beneath her skin. Her chest rose and fell in rapid bursts. She gasped, choking on her own rage. Then ‒ silence. Her fingers tensed. Her gaze locked onto the advisor.

"Forget it! I’m not staying here. I don’t know who I am ‒ but I know I won’t be treated like this!"

"She’s right!"

Suddenly, the crowd erupted.

"Come on!"

"Let us go!"

"Ahparogk!"

I barely understood anything through the overlapping voices ‒ they weren’t just shouting in unison, but in different languages.

I need to get out. Away. I can’t breathe. Blood. It’s everywhere.
Where is… where is the door?
Why are they screaming?
Why ‒ I just want to go home.
But… what did home look like?
I… I think I lived with someone.
No.
Wait.
I don’t know.
My eyes burned as unbidden tears rose. The stench of death filled my lungs, and I choked, fighting the nausea.

Kurul’s voice cut through the noise.

"Unfortunately," he said, his voice unyielding, "that is not possible."

"Don’t fuck with me!" the red-haired woman shouted back. "What gives you the right to keep us here?!"

Kurul’s expression darkened. "Your lives now belong to the kingdom."

He looked down at the corpses around us. 

"Because of you, one hundred of our most skilled mages are no longer... here. After such a grave act, you must offer compensation."

Suddenly, the room fell silent. Everyone listened intently."As you can see for yourselves, all our mages lie dead at your feet."

His face was cold, unreadable. He scanned the crowd and saw that we understood. 

There was no way back.

"Shit," a man from the other end of the hall shouted. I couldn’t see his face. "What the hell is wrong with you? You killed all of your mages? Have you lost your minds?!"

The soldiers standing beneath the platform took a step toward him, but Kurul lifted his hand, halting them.

"Who would think rationally when their world is on the brink of destruction? Who wouldn’t do everything in their power to prevent it?"

Kurul tugged at his collar, his eyes drifting to the bodies. 

"You think we had a choice? This world is dying. We had to choose you… even if it cost us everything!"

The room was drowned in silence. Everyone was trying to process what had just been said, but only a few truly could. One thing, however, was clear.

There was no turning back.

"But enough talk!" 

Kurul’s voice rang through the hall. 

"We have already prepared everything to begin your training. And even if you don’t want to, you have no choice."

At these words, the guards stepped forward, raising their spears toward us.

"This world has only one year before it completely collapses. And you… you were chosen because there is no one else. So fight! – or die. With it. With us."