I walked to the sound of wind, rattling the tents, the sun barely touching the quarry walls. My body felt… different. Heavier, sharper, faster. Every joint, every muscle, seemed alive in a way that made ordinary movement feel slow and clumsy. My chest thumped not just from fear or exertion, but from something inside me, something new, alien, and urgent.
The first sign came when I touched my arm. Faintly glowing veins pulsed beneath the skin, streaks of light, crawling toward my chest. A panel appeared in my mind, floating above everything else.
[ Welcome Host ]
[ Name: Terry Holt ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Exp: 0 / 25 ]
[ Health: 100 / 100 ]
[ Heart Rate: 49 BPM ]
I staggered back. The metal from the dig was gone. Completely absorbed. The artifact hadn't just attached itself; it had merged with me.
The glow faded, sinking beneath my skin. My breathing slowed, but the silence that followed wasn't peaceful. It was listening. Like the air itself was waiting to see what I'd do next.
Then came the pulse, deep, rhythmic, not quite mine. It rolled through my chest and spine like an echo of a heartbeat that didn't belong to me.
I stumbled to my feet. My hands trembled, my senses sharpened. Every sound in the quarry rang too clear; the scrape of metal, the muffled thud of boots somewhere outside, the faint flutter of insects in the dark. My body knew things before I did. I could smell fear. I could hear heartbeats.
And beneath all that, a whisper. Low, crawling beneath thought.
Feed. Grow. Become.
My stomach twisted. I pressed my palms to my temples, but the voice didn't stop. It wasn't a voice, really more like instinct given form. An ancient hunger wrapped in thought.
"…Terry?" Mason's voice cracked through the haze. He was standing just outside the tent flap. "You okay, man? You were out cold for almost an hour."
I turned, blinking. The morning light hit my eyes like knives. "I… yeah. I think so."
He hesitated. "What happened? That thing…"
"It's gone," I said quickly. "Just forget it."
But I could still feel it moving under my skin, along my ribs, down into my spine. Like roots digging deeper. My pulse was steady, but every beat carried something other.
Mason frowned. "You don't look so good."
"I don't feel so good," I muttered.
Then the scent hit me.
Blood. Old, faint but real. My head snapped toward the sound of guards arguing near the far pit, though they were nearly a hundred yards away. I shouldn't have been able to smell that.
My throat tightened.
Feed. Grow. Become.
I swallowed hard. "We should… get back to work," I managed.
But the world felt different. Every breath filled me with static. My skin itched like it didn't fit. Beneath it, something pressed, muscle and bone shifting just slightly wrong. Not enough to see, but enough to feel.
By the time the sun dipped below the rim of the quarry, my hands were shaking. The voice… no, the presence had grown clearer, more insistent. It didn't speak in words now. It showed me flashes.
Teeth.
Claws.
A forest under a red moon.
Something vast and ancient, moving through the dark, breathing in the scent of blood and thunder.
I doubled over, gasping.
"Hey!" Mason dropped beside me. "You're burning up…"
I grabbed his wrist before I could think. Too fast. Too strong. His eyes went wide.
"Terry… you're hurting me."
I released him instantly, stumbling back, horrified. "I didn't… I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
My nails were longer. Not by much, but enough to catch the fading light, sharp at the ends. My pulse thundered, and with it came a rush of heat through my veins.
The hunt begins.