PROLOGUE

Darkness. A cold, unforgiving embrace—like floating in nothingness.
My mind slowly awakens from its slumber.
How did I get here?
Where am I?
Why… am I here?

In the distance, an ominous male voice echoes.
“Is this the one?”

What the hell is going on?
What’s this?

“Yep, he’s just the one,” a girl’s voice answers cheerfully, deepening my confusion.

“Are you certain? This is the last chance you have—the last chance we all have—and I won’t lose my turn on the throne because of you.”

Throne? What?
My head throbs. I can’t open my eyes. My limbs feel… weightless.
And that smell—putrid, unbearable.

“Don’t worry!” the girl chirps. “This one will do. With him, the other will be able to finish his mission. Trust me.”

What?
What other one?
What mission?

I try to shout, but my mouth won’t move.

“So be it, then,” the first voice concedes after a pause.
“Seems we have no other option. But know this—
I will not pay the price for your incompetence.”

“Relax,” the girl responds. “Have some faith in them.”

“Hmph.” The man sighs. I start feeling a stare, as if it was piercing my soul.
“Good luck, human. You’ll need it.”

Light breaks through my eyelids, dragging my senses back.
Something is in my hands.
What’s this?

My eyes snap open.
I gasp, vision spinning.
A stiff metal chair digs into my back.
I breathe deeply, touching my forehead with my left hand. Shapes sharpen into people—men, women— There is a kid too.

All sitting in chairs along the walls.
All staring at the front.
Silent. Pale. Terrified.

Then I see it too.
It grins with a huge, crooked smile—too many sharp teeth—and says:

“Weeeel-come, my… deeear hu-MANS!”