Kaelen's next moments felt like an endless fall through a lightless void. She could neither see nor breathe, as if something were dragging her through the darkness of space itself.
Then a faint shimmer bloomed against her chest. It brightened as she fell, resolving into the same golden necklace and small copper bell now clasped around her neck. Runes unfurled from the pendant, spiraling outward and then wrapping around her body. They etched past skin and bone, past her organs, cutting into the very core of her being—into her soul.
The branding burned everywhere at once. She tried to scream, but there was no air to carry the sound. Pain and suffocation blurred her thoughts to gray; her senses dulled, and consciousness thinned to a single, searing point—
—and broke.
She jolted upright with a ragged gasp, clutching her chest as her lungs remembered how to work. Every part of her body felt as if she had just jumped into a bath of boiling water, but slowly, the pain began to fade. Within a few minutes it went from excruciating burning pain to a needling ache. Now that the pain had subsided, she finally took a moment to glance around her surroundings. Kaelen had no idea where she was. To her surprise, she was no longer lying in the mud as she had expected. Instead, she was in some kind of underground bunker, hewn from the same wood as the dead trees above. She could tell she was underground, as dirt occasionally fell from the ceiling.
She lay on a bed—similar to the beds found in the homes she had explored days prior. Old. Only now, these looked somewhat clean and taken care of. A single wooden door was positioned to the left of the small room.
Kaelen shifted in her bed, attempting to get up, but she was stopped by a chain wrapped around her left leg, embedded directly into the ground. She tried to yank it free; the chain didn't move an inch. In fact, the more she struggled, the tighter it grew. Leaning closer, she saw that the chain possessed small runes etched into it, similar to the runes she saw erupting from her bell.
'Speaking of which…' Kaelen thought, pulling her sleeve up. Her usual pale skin and the many scars from her military training were now accompanied by black tattoos that covered a majority of her arm.
'What the…'
She lifted her other sleeve. They were there too. She checked her legs, her stomach, her feet—they were everywhere. The runes also looked almost exactly like the ones shackling her left leg. In fact, these were the same symbols she had seen on multiple occasions: on the bells in the bell tower, the manuscripts in the church, the runes that came out of her bell in the void—they were all the same language.
'I'm… really hoping that it isn't on my face,' she thought. She had never been one to worry about her looks, but having these runes scattered across her face did not sit right with her.
She sighed and lay back down. For now, she wasn't able to remove the chain, so there was no point in attempting an escape. As she settled, a small bell jingle rang out from her neck.
'Oh. That's right,' she thought, reaching under her shirt to reveal a golden necklace adorned with a copper bell. 'I'm… a Bellringer now. Though I have no idea what that even means, or what comes next. I know they're strong enough to kill and seal the Fallen on their own—as Cassius and Adele did—but that's about it.'
She tucked the bell back beneath her shirt, exhaling softly. 'That voice… it mentioned Cassius. Said it hopes I choose a different path.'
Kaelen frowned. While she and Cassius shared some similarities—both high-ranking officers, both once blinded by loyalty to their nations—she knew too little about him to draw real comparisons. Still, the thought lingered, heavy and unsettling.
There were too many things she didn't understand—the bells, the runes, the red mist, or why she'd been chosen at all. But her reflection was cut short as the doorknob to the wooden door began to turn.
As the door opened, the other side revealed a man on the shorter side, although most seemed short to Kaelen at this point. However, he was surely taller than Seren by the looks of it.
He possessed a darker skin tone along with long pointy ears, his hair was black and dreaded, reaching down to his shoulders. Currently, he wore similar clothes to Kaelen herself, likely scavenged from the same town Kaelen had been in before. He slowly closed the door behind him and walked toward the foot of Kaelen's bed, pulling a wooden chair from the corner of the room and taking a seat.
"Before we continue, just know I'm not very patient. You're going to give me some damn answers, hunter," he demanded in a cold, menacing tone.
"Nice to meet you too, I guess. What are you even talking about?" Kaelen mockingly remarked.
The man sighed and then clenched his hand down. In the next moments, Kaelen's left ankle began to seethe in pain as the chain wrapped around it tightened further. She clenched her teeth in pain.
"I told you, I am not patient. Your group has been hunting me and my group down for too damn long, and I'm sick of it. So cough it up—where is your hideout? Or I'll start with the left leg and work my way up to your neck."
Despite the pain, Kaelen's tone did not change. She asked a question of her own. "Was it you who found me?"
The man answered coldly, "Yes, it was. Lying in a ditch with that Saurathian girl you tried to kill."
Kaelen paused for a moment. "Tried to kill?"
"Yes, tried. Luckily, she's still alive. I admit you must have been a tough opponent to give a Saurathian a beating like that, but that doesn't mean anything now. Now stop stalling for time and answer my question."
A moment of relief washed over Kaelen, although it was temporary. She would like to believe this stranger and assume Seren was truly alive, but she knew it wouldn't be true relief until she saw it for herself.
"Look," Kaelen began, "I'm going to be honest with you—I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what this hunter group is, nor am I part of them. I just got here a few days ago."
"Don't you bullshit me!" the man raised his voice, tightening the chain even more as Kaelen's skin began to draw blood. "Every human I've met in this forest has been with the Hunters. I don't believe you're any different—especially since I found you next to a nearly dead demi-human."
Kaelen struggled to keep her tone steady. Despite the strain, she realized something strange—the chain should have snapped her ankle by now, but somehow her leg was holding up under the pressure.
"Look, if that Saurathian is still alive" she rasped, "why don't you just ask her yourself if you don't believe me?"
The man glared coldly. "She hasn't been conscious since we brought you in. You've both been out for a week. But that's enough questions from you."
He raised his hand, and another black chain shimmered into existence above her, twisting through the air like a serpent before coiling around her neck.
'Now would be a great time to know how this bell works!' Kaelen thought, panic creeping in as the chain began to tighten.
"This is your last chance," he said darkly. "Tell me where your group is, or you die right here."
Kaelen's lungs burned as she gasped for air, her mind racing for a way out. 'Is this bastard insane!? You're supposed to keep a hostage alive when you're interrogating them! How the hell am I supposed to talk if I can't breathe!?'
Her thoughts spun until one idea hit her. With what strength she had left, she grabbed at her collar and tore open her buttoned shirt, revealing the faded white of a Lukros prison jumpsuit beneath.
The man froze, his eyes widening. "Wait… is that—"
The rest of his words were cut short as the door slammed open.
"Kaelen!" Seren shouted, bursting into the room. "We survived! I can't believe we actually killed that Fallen on our own! Are you—"
She stopped cold.
Kaelen was sitting on the bed, gasping for breath, the black chain tightening around her neck. The man stood at the foot of the bed, one hand raised like a puppeteer controlling her life.
Seren's eyes narrowed. Her claws ignited in a flare of golden light as she lunged forward. The speed was unreal—faster than anything Kaelen had ever seen, faster even than the emaciated Fallen they'd fought before. Seren blurred through the air, claws slicing straight toward the man's throat.
"Seren, no!" Kaelen shouted.
Her claws halted just before slicing into the man's throat, the razor edge of each one glinting inches from his neck.
"Release her. Now!" Seren's voice was low and cold, her eyes burning with lethal focus.
The man froze. After a tense pause, he lowered his hand. The black chain around Kaelen's neck loosened, fading into golden dust. The restraint on her ankle, though still present, slackened enough for her to move her leg slightly.
Kaelen gasped, clutching at her throat as air finally returned to her lungs. "It feels like everyone's trying to suffocate me today—first the void, now this guy," she rasped, coughing between breaths.
"Are you insane, girl!?" the man snapped, pointing at Kaelen. "This woman nearly killed you, and now you want me to spare her!?"
Seren's claws shimmered briefly before fading away. She took a step back, still glaring at him. "Last time I checked," she shot back, "your buddy down the hall said I've been unconscious for a week. So tell me—when exactly did I ever say she attacked me?"
"I just—" the man started, but another voice interrupted before he could finish.
"Okay, what the hell is going on in here?" a new voice barked from the doorway. "I was asleep five minutes ago, and now everyone's screaming like it's the apocalypse!"
Kaelen froze. She knew that voice.
The newcomer stepped into the light—a man dressed head to toe in black. A leather jacket over a dark shirt, worn jeans, and a hood pulled low. His face was completely hidden behind a featureless black wooden mask.
"I was interrogating the hostage, you lazy bastard," the first man growled.
"I told you we'd question her together once she woke up," the masked man shot back. "You always jump the gun and start choking people!"
"We've gotten nothing from anyone doing it your way," the other man spat. "You're too soft on these damn humans—same as always!"
"Can everyone just shut up!?" Seren roared, silencing them both. "I don't know what the hell you think happened, but she didn't attack me—and I sure as hell didn't attack her! We were running through the forest, got ambushed by a Fallen, killed it, and almost died doing it. That's it!"
The man with the chains clenched his jaw, muttering a curse as he turned away. The runic shackle on Kaelen's ankle dissolved into golden dust.
The masked man let out a weary sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "I see… I'm sorry about our friend Travis here. He's… not exactly comfortable around humans. Especially after what's happened lately."
He stepped forward, stopping beside Kaelen's bed, and extended a gloved hand. "Nice to meet you. My name is—"
"Seth," Kaelen interrupted quietly, her eyes fixed on the mask.
The man froze. For a moment, he didn't move, didn't breathe. That voice—he hadn't heard it in years, but it was burned into his memory. He had spoken to it through a concrete wall every single day for three years.
"…Kay?" he said, disbelief softening his tone. "Is that really you?"
Travis looked between them in confusion. "Wait—you know this woman?"
"Yes," Seth replied, his voice low but steady. "She was in the cell next to mine when we were imprisoned. She's my closest friend—hell, almost a sister to me." His tone darkened, each word cutting sharper than the last. "Which pisses me off even more, considering that just a few moments ago, you were choking the life out of her."
The air in the room went still. Seth's voice wasn't raised, yet it carried a bone-deep chill that made Travis instinctively step back.
Travis's jaw tightened. For a second, he looked like he wanted to argue—but one look at Seth's posture, the calm fury radiating from him, made him think better of it. He gritted his teeth, turned sharply, and stormed out of the room without another word.
"I'm sorry—did I miss something while I was unconscious?" Seren asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"That's right," Kaelen said, leaning back slightly. "I don't think I ever told you the full story." She exhaled. "To put it short—I was a general in the Lukros army until I found out they were a bunch of cruel bastards. I turned traitor, helped some demi-humans escape across the border, got imprisoned for three years, and was then publicly executed in front of thousands of people. Seth was my wall buddy—the only person I talked to during that entire time."
Seren blinked. "Okay… that was a lot. But I won't ask questions," she said, raising her hands slightly. "More importantly, I'm just glad you survived, Kaelen."
Kaelen gave a half-smile. "Yeah, well… technically, I didn't. I died from the aftershock of the stunt I pulled."
"Wait, you too!?" Seren shouted. "Apparently, I died from blood loss as well!"
"Hold on, wait—" Seth interrupted, raising both hands. "What do you mean you both died? Clearly not, otherwise you wouldn't be standing here talking to me. I mean, technically, we've all died, but you two make it sound like you died twice."
"…We did," Kaelen and Seren said in perfect unison.
Seth stared at them for a moment, completely lost. "…I'm so confused."
"I'll explain," Kaelen said, gesturing toward him. "I'm assuming you already know what a Bellringer is—since your friend Travis clearly is one."
Seth nodded, then lifted the left side of his jacket, revealing a copper bell fastened to the inner lining. "I'm aware," he said evenly. "Continue."
Kaelen nodded back, unsurprised. Of all the people she had known in her life, no one seemed more fitting to bear a bell than Seth. Kaelen was curious—desperately so—about how Seth had become a Bellringer, but she decided to set that question aside for later. There were more pressing things to explain first.
"As Seren said," Kaelen began, "we were ambushed by a Fallen and managed to kill it. But Seren took a serious hit protecting me, and I… well, I suffered major brain damage using a technique as a last-ditch effort."
"Technique?" Seth asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Yeah," Kaelen said with a nod. "You're both aware of Vile-63 by now, I'm sure."
Seth gave a small nod of acknowledgment, but Seren tilted her head in confusion.
"It's a genetic enhancement created by humanity," Kaelen explained, glancing toward her. "Some of us who underwent it can use a state called Overdrive—it pushes our body and mind to their absolute limit. But the cost is… steep. Prolonged or excessive use causes severe neurological damage. In my case…" She exhaled sharply. "It killed me."
Seth's masked face shifted subtly, but he said nothing.
Kaelen continued. "After I died, I heard a voice. It told me that our world—Earth—is heading for an apocalypse, and that the Deadzone exists to forge warriors who'll stand against it. Then it offered me a second chance… my bell… and told me to become a Bellringer."
She ran a hand through her hair, remembering the pain. "After that, I fell through this… void. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. Then these runes started burning into my skin—no, deeper than that—into my soul. It felt like being branded alive."
She gave a dry, exhausted laugh. "Next thing I knew, I woke up here."
Seren nodded. "I heard the same voice—and went through that void too," she said, rolling up her sleeve to reveal markings nearly identical to Kaelen's. Luckily, none reached her face—something that made Kaelen silently exhale in relief.
The room fell quiet for a moment, the weight of what they'd said hanging heavy in the air. Seth just stood there, staring at the two of them, completely dumbfounded.
"Now that I think about it," Seren continued, glancing between them, "your friend Travis didn't have any of these tattoos. Why does that bastard get to keep his skin clean while we look like walking manuscripts?"
Seth rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncertain how to explain. "That's… because that's not how we became Bellringers. Not even close."