Aiden woke with a slow breath.
The forest around him was still. Early light filtered through the canopy, painting broken lines across the earth. The leaves above shifted gently in the breeze. For a moment, it was easy to pretend nothing had changed.
But he remembered the dream. The second core memory.
He sat up, brushing pine needles from his side. The place he had chosen to rest was hidden between two stone outcrops, surrounded by thick underbrush. A good place to disappear. He had come here alone after the training session, needing quiet.
His eyes narrowed.
Now was as good a time as any.
"Open"
The familiar flicker passed across his vision.
A blue pane of light bloomed into view.
Soul Gallery: Active
Available Souls: 2
Selection:
Name: Harven
Status: Preserved
He remembered Harven. The man he killed at the camp when he first entered the forest.
Aiden tapped the entry.
The window pulsed.
Interact?
Warning: Prolonged use may cause instability.
Proceed?
"Yes."
The world shifted instantly.
It wasn't like falling asleep. It wasn't like waking up. It was something in between.
The wind vanished. The sounds of birds cut out. Light fractured into shards of deep blue and black. And when he blinked-
The forest was burning.
But it wasn't fire.
Every tree was coated in black flames, moving upward without heat. Shadows burned in place of light. The ground smoldered with lines of ash, but nothing truly crumbled. Nothing broke.
Aiden stood in the same place. But the world wasn't his anymore.
A dream. Again. But not like the others.
This wasn't a memory.
He turned slowly, the sound of his own breath oddly distant. The trees groaned in the windless dark, their branches twisted. The color had been drained from everything but the flames.
Aiden took a cautious step forward.
"Harven," he called. "I want to talk."
There was no answer yet.
But something was listening.
And it was getting closer.
Without warning, something lunged from the darkness.
A ghost-like figure, blurred and fast, tore through the trees. It moved with impossible speed, its outline flickering in and out of form. It slammed into Aiden with a shriek, claws raking for his throat.
He barely ducked, rolling aside. The ground cracked beneath where he'd stood. Shadowed claws left gashes in the dirt.
"Harven! Stop!" Aiden shouted, stumbling back.
The figure came again. A flash of hollow eyes, a maw of darkness. Another strike, faster this time.
Aiden twisted, nearly caught. The weight of the soul slammed into his side, but he kept his footing.
"I have a deal!" he shouted.
The attacks slowed, but didn't stop.
Again. Aiden ducked under a swing, then backed off with his hands up.
"I have a deal! You hear me? I didn't come to destroy you for good."
The soul halted.
Harven's form hovered in the black air. Still burning. Still shaking.
But he didn't move.
His face was barely human. More ash and shadow than flesh. But the eyes held something. Recognition.
Aiden took a breath. "What is this place? Where am I?"
The soul spoke, voice low and ragged. "Tartarus."
The word echoed too long.
Aiden's breath caught. He'd seen that word before, etched into the blue text days ago when he acquired the Soul Contractor ability.
Tartarus.
He hadn't known what it meant, in the context of this world.
Aiden didn't let the silence linger.
"I want to make a deal with you," he said.
Harven didn't answer. His shadowed form remained motionless, the flames along his body flickering more violently.
"I've seen what souls can do. I've used one already. Not like this, but... Po gave me his strength once. It saved my life."
The air seemed to tighten. Harven's body tensed, like a bowstring pulled too far.
"I don't know how this works," Aiden admitted. "Not fully. But I know souls can be used, channeled. Weapons, shields, something else. And I need yours."
The moment the words left his mouth, Harven screamed.
A wail like burning steel and crushed stone tore through the blackened forest. Then he launched forward again, twice as fast.
Aiden barely moved before the soul's claws speared through his stomach.
There was no blood. No pain.
But it felt wrong. Like if his force where quitting him.
He stumbled back, breath shallow. The world spun sideways. He didn't know what passing out meant in this place.
"Wait," he gasped. "I can offer more. Anything from the living world. Whatever you want."
Harven paused, claws still halfway through him, body shuddering.
Aiden kept going, forcing the words out.
"I know it's selfish. I know asking you to help me, after what I did to you... it's pathetic. It's egotistical. We were enemies. But you know better than most what war really looks like. What it takes to survive on the field."
The flames dimmed slightly.
"There's no clean way to win. No moral coin to flip. I'm offering you a chance to choose. Tell me what you want, and I'll do it. If I can, I'll make it happen."
His voice cracked.
"That's the only thing I have left to trade."
The black flames didn't vanish.
But they stopped moving.
Harven stood frozen, the claws still hovering at Aiden's chest.
Then he spoke.
"I want to see my captain once more."
The voice was quieter now. Still rough, but no longer filled with hate.
Aiden looked up, meeting the burning remnants of the man's eyes.
"Your captain?"
Harven didn't answer right away. His form flickered again, less violently. The fire along his arms eased into a slow ripple.
Aiden kept still, afraid to break the moment.
"He led us," Harven said. "Held the line when the others fell back. Never gave up. Not once."
His voice warped slightly with static.
"He believed in people like me. Even when I stopped."
Aiden nodded slowly. "Then I'll find him. If he's still alive... we'll see him together"
The flames around Harven began to fade, the shadows pulling inward like smoke drawn into the earth.
His form shrank, folding in on itself.
"One time," Harven said. "One conversation. That's the deal."
"Deal," Aiden whispered.
The burning trees flickered.
The air cracked.
And the dream shattered around him.
But before it could end fully, the space paused, like time holding its breath.
A sharp blue light shimmered between them.
A new window opened.
Binding Contract Initiation
By borrowing the power of the God of Contract, a soul shall be bound to the bearer until the agreed terms are fulfilled.
Do both parties accept?
Aiden reached out first. "I accept."
Harven's form, now steadier, burned brighter for a moment.
Then the window blinked.
Contract confirmed.
The flames collapsed inward, and everything turned white.
Then Aiden woke up.
Pain hit him instantly.
Not the searing kind. Not the kind that made you scream. This pain was deeper, quieter. Like something wrong was being carved into him.
He gasped, curling slightly where he lay. His hands went to his stomach.
There was no wound.
But something was forming there.
Black lines, thin and branching, burned themselves onto his skin. They spread outward like cracks in glass, etching a symbol with slow precision. A skull cracked through the crown. The jaw misshapen. Fangs broken.
A wolf's skull.
The mark pulsed once. Aiden bit down hard to keep from yelling.
It took minutes to fully form. All the while, he stayed crouched, breathing hard, sweat lining his face.
When it was done, the pain stopped.
But the mark remained.
It was the same type of Mark he had Already on his back, something living.
From his understandings it was this world form of using magic everyone has one, but he just received a second.
It that the way he acquired Harven power?
With Po's Soul he directed had a control over it shape but, this was something else.