I woke up cold.
Not shivering cold. Raw. My skin burned against the stone beneath me, like I'd been lying on ice—or hellfire—and my fingers wouldn't move right. It was like gravity had doubled while I was out. My bones felt heavy. My lungs didn't want to fill.
And the sky...
The sky wasn't blue.
It was red.
Not in the way sunsets are red. This was red like meat, like a world that had been flayed open and left to pulse and bleed under the sun. Huge, jagged mountains sliced up into the sky like broken teeth, and there wasn't a single building or road in sight. Just ash-colored cliffs, wind, and the long shadow of something that shouldn't be flying.
My first breath tasted like copper and dirt.
I sat up.
Or tried to.
Every nerve screamed. My throat was dry, but I forced out a croak.
"Where the fuck... am I?"
There was no answer. Just the hollow silence of high altitude and the low thrum of... something. A symbol. It was etched into the back of my hand—like a scar that glowed with faint gold heat. It twitched under my skin like it had a pulse.
The sigil.
A bug-like symbol. Spindly. Segmented. Alien.
INSECT.
I didn't know what it meant, but deep in my gut, I knew it was mine.
It took hours get down from the mountain. My feet bled. My body ached. But the mountain eventually gave way to forest trails—well-worn paths marked with strange wooden totems. The trees were huge, red-barked things with vines that hissed like snakes when the wind touched them. But I kept moving.
Eventually, I saw smoke.
And past that—civilization.
Sort of.
It was a city.
Or maybe a fortress.
Built in layers along the base of the mountain, its stone walls were dark and jagged like the cliffs above it. Spires rose like teeth into the gray sky. Banners fluttered from metal poles—symbols I didn't recognize. Horned beasts. Wings. Eyes. Things that didn't look human.
And the streets...
God.
The streets were full of them.
People. Girls. Naked. Collared. Chained.
Dozens of them.
Some were crawling on all fours, dragging steel leashes attached to posts. Others were standing, swaying in place, their wrists cuffed behind their backs or lifted above their heads. Every single one of them wore a thick iron collar around their necks, engraved with glowing runes.
I couldn't look away.
Their bodies were filthy. Bruised. Used. Some were crying. Others... weren't. Some even smiled as passing soldiers slapped their asses or shoved fingers between their legs like they were nothing more than living toys.
And no one cared.
Civilians walked by like this was normal. Maids in skimpy leather uniforms tugged boys behind them on leashes, cocks hard, eyes vacant. Children pointed. Merchants laughed. A soldier was balls-deep inside one girl against a market stall while she moaned, drooling down her own breasts.
This was everyday life.
Public use.
Breeding cattle.
Lesser Blood.
That's what they were called. I could hear it in passing conversations, whispered, jeered, shouted.
"Slut's sigil flared again, get her on the post before she floods the road again—"
"Lesser Blood boy's rutting like a beast. Gods, I love when they cry."
"Shit, this one's fresh. Collar him before the nobles spot it—"
I backed away, heart pounding, but I already knew what was coming. This wasn't some hero fantasy. There was no grand welcome. No castle. No "chosen one" speech.
I hadn't been summoned by a king.
I'd been dragged into this world.
I kept my head down and moved through the alley, trying not to look. But it was everywhere.
One corner had a girl spitted on a wooden post, her limbs twitching while a crowd of armored men took turns between her legs and mouth. Another had a boy gagged and bound, writhing as a maid sat on his face while another rode his cock.
The moans and screams all blurred together into a nightmarish soundtrack.
I ducked behind a crumbling stone archway and tried to breathe.
"What the fuck is this place?"
No welcome. No team. No allies. No classmates.
Just me. The insect mark on my hand. And a collarless neck.
For now.
But I wasn't stupid.
They were going to find me eventually.