Screams still echoed between the shattered buildings. The ground quaked with every step of the creatures, and the blood-red sky weighed heavy on the souls below. Tailer, covered in blood and dust, looked up. His eyes met those of a young orphan—shaking, clutching a broken stick, but still standing.
— "You're not alone, kid... We're sending them back where they came from," Tailer whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder.
An explosion hurled debris nearby. A new monster—taller, faster—leapt from a crater. Its arms were like blades, and its jaw vibrated with an inhuman growl.
Tailer grabbed a piece of metal, still hot from the flames, and charged without thinking. His body moved before his mind could catch up. He struck with fury, with faith. Every blow carried the weight of those he had lost.
The orphans, rising one by one, began to fight too. The rebels shouted his name. Amidst the chaos, Tailer became a symbol—not a hero, but a flame rekindling the embers of hope.
Just as they seemed to gain ground, a howl deeper than anything they'd heard tore through the atmosphere. A monstrous titan, unseen until now, slowly emerged from the earth, cracking the ground beneath it.
Tailer stepped back, gasping.
— "It's not... over," he murmured, his hands now trembling not from fear, but exhaustion.
A figure approached from the shadows, hooded, marked with a symbol none could recognize.
— "If you want to save them... you'll have to change," it said in a calm, steady voice.
Tailer turned. It wasn't a monster. It wasn't a man. It was something else entirely.
A strange silence fell. As if the world itself was holding its breath. Then... a roar. A cry so deep it rattled bones and made dust tremble from the broken walls.
The titanic creature, risen from the heart of the earth, slowly stood tall. Its massive limbs crushed the ruins with each step. Its chest seemed to breathe pure rage. Its head, crowned with dark spikes, slowly turned toward the rebels and the orphans.
— "Everyone, take cover!" Tailer shouted.
But it was too late. A gigantic arm slammed down, crushing an entire section of the building to their left. The shockwave flung several children against the walls. Tailer, fire burning in his eyes, stood back up, teeth clenched.
— "Not today..."
He ran—toward the horror, toward the monster with eyes of flame. He jumped onto a wall, bounced off it, climbed along a fallen beam. With a desperate leap, he drove his improvised weapon into the beast's shoulder.
A bestial scream. The creature tried to crush him, but Tailer slid along its arm, barely dodging.
— "Fall back! Protect the children!" he yelled to the rebels.
The red moon glowed brighter, as if it was feeding the beast. Each blow more powerful than the last. But in Tailer's eyes, a flame had reignited. The flame of righteous fury. The fire of a man who refuses to fall before saving his people.
And in the shadows, the mysterious stranger with the strange symbol watched silently.
Something was coming.
Something... far greater.
The monster roared with fury, destroying everything in its path. Debris flew through the air, screams echoed, and the ground itself seemed to shake under the weight of the battle. Tailer, breathing heavily and bleeding from his forehead, stood his ground. But his eyes… his eyes burned with a new intensity.
He was cornered, trapped between the ruins and the approaching beast.
— "Is this how it ends?" he thought, clutching his broken weapon.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down. The monster's roar faded into a distant echo. Around him, all color drained away. A strange, profound silence fell. Then a voice, faint but clear, echoed in his mind:
— "This power has slept within you since the beginning… Awaken it. Accept who you are."
A red, intense light burst from his chest. Tailer fell to his knees, gasping. His veins felt like they were burning. Flashbacks hit him— a symbol marked on his skin at birth, nightmares of another world, fragments of words spoken by a divine voice.
Then, everything exploded.
A shockwave blasted away the rubble around him. His body lit up with a crimson aura, crackling with raw energy. His eyes turned as red as the moon above. His strength had awakened—his true power. A raw, ancient force connected to something far greater than himself.
For the first time, the monster stepped back. As if it could feel the transformation. As if it finally feared Tailer.
— "You want war?" Tailer whispered, his voice deeper and layered with echoes.
He leapt forward.
Faster. Stronger. He struck the creature in the chest, making it stagger. Each blow now came with a burst of red lightning, like a controlled storm. The rebels, the orphans… all stood watching, stunned.
Tailer was no longer just a man.
He had become the scourge of darkness.
And in the shadows, a mysterious figure smiled.
— "The first has awakened."