Boots approached—two figures stepping out from the dark.

Varek: "Look at you... That's him, Inquisitor. We've got him."

The Inquisitor said nothing.

He stopped just above Raiga, face hidden behind a black steel mask.

Inquisitor: "Sedate him. Secure the asset. Now."

Varek knelt, needle already in hand

Raiga's eyes flickered—then everything went black.

--------------

His body felt heavy—like the air itself was thick with oil. Every breath dragged through his chest like rusted chains. He wasn't cold. He wasn't in pain. But something was wrong.

He blinked.

And the smoke filled his lungs.

Fire danced across rooftops. Screams echoed like ghosts in the distance. The ground was blackened, soaked in blood and ash.

He knew this place.

Raiga: "No..."

His voice came out rough, like it hadn't been used in years.

He looked down at his hands, bare, burned, trembling. His gloves were gone. His mask, his gear, gone. He was barefoot, shirtless, standing in the middle of a nightmare that had lived in his head for as long as he could remember.

Except this time... it felt real.

He took one shaky step forward. The ash crunched under his heel.

Raiga: "This isn't possible."

The wind blew smoke in waves. Charred buildings leaned inward, collapsing in slow motion. Burned bodies lay twisted in the dirt. He saw faces. People. Familiar shapes. He didn't know their names—but he felt them.

Something cracked above him. A wooden beam gave way and slammed into the ground just a few meters away. The force knocked him back into awareness. He staggered forward again, into the center of the chaos.

And then he saw him.

Standing beyond the fire. Still. Tall. Waiting.

His grandfather.

The old man didn't move, didn't speak. He just watched Raiga across the ruin. The flames curled around his feet but never touched him.

Raiga froze. His pulse spiked.

Raiga: "Hey..."

No answer.

Only fire between them. Only screams. Only smoke.

Raiga's throat closed.

Raiga: "Why is it always this place? Why do you keep bringing me back?"

His legs wanted to run. But they wouldn't move.

Raiga: "You told me to save someone. Every time. But I never understood."

The old man blinked. That was all.

Raiga took one step forward.

Raiga: "Say something. Please."

But still—nothing.

Just the two of them, standing still, locked in a silence louder than the fire.

And everything around them continued to burn.

The old man didn't move.

He just looked at Raiga, quietly, with a sorrow so deep it seemed to hang in the air heavier than the smoke.

His eyes weren't angry. They weren't afraid.

They were... sorry.

Raiga's voice cracked.

Raiga: "Talk to me... please, just a word."

Still nothing.

Raiga took a step forward, pushing against the wave of heat that rolled off the fires. His eyes didn't leave the old man.

Raiga: "Why do you always show me this? Why won't you talk to me?!"

The old man's mouth trembled, just barely. Then—finally—he spoke.

???: "You're stronger than this... I know you are. Don't let the pain take you. Not now..."

Raiga flinched.

The voice was familiar, but...

Different.

Something in it didn't match the face.

His eyes narrowed.

Raiga: "Grandfather...?"

The old man didn't answer. Just kept watching him with that unbearable sadness in his eyes.

Raiga's heart slammed in his chest.

Raiga: "No. No, something's wrong... Who are you?"

The figure said nothing.

Raiga: "WHO ARE YOU?!"

The air twisted. The fire bent backward for a moment, almost freezing in time.

And then the old man spoke again, softer than before.

???: "I'm sorry... I want to tell you. But I can't. Not yet."

Raiga's mouth opened—closed again.

Raiga: "What does that mean? Why not?!"

???: "Because you're not ready."

Raiga: "Is it you? The one I feel when it happens... When that thing inside me wakes up... Are you the one I see?!"

The voice didn't hesitate.

???: "Yes."

Raiga's fists clenched.

Raiga: "What is that power?! What am I?! Where the hell do I come from?!"

The figure watched him silently.

Then:

???: "You're not a mistake. You're not a weapon. You're... something more. So much more. You're hope. Maybe the last hope this world has."

There's a tremor in the figure's voice, but it refuses to break.

???:"I wish I could tell you how much you matter.
How much you've always mattered... But I can't."

A pause—long, aching.

???:"Just know this: You were never meant to be a monster.
You were meant to be the one who saves us."

Raiga's chest heaved.

Raiga: "What does that even mean?! Who are you?! Why are you hiding?!"

The figure turned slightly, firelight catching what looked, just for a moment, like a tear running down the old man's cheek.

???: "When the time comes, I'll tell you everything. But for now, you need to do one thing."

Raiga's hands trembled.

Raiga: "What?"

The fire crackled louder. A gust of wind nearly blew him off his feet.

???: "Survive. And find him. Athras."

Raiga blinked.

Raiga: "What...? Who the hell is Athras?!"

The voice didn't answer immediately.

???: "He's part of this story. As much as you are.And when your paths cross... you'll finally understand why."

Raiga shook his head, overwhelmed.

Raiga: "I don't understand any of this!"

???: "You will. Save him."

The fire roared louder now, rising up, wrapping around the village like a wall.

???: "This power will guide you. But you must learn to master it. It's the only way."

Everything started collapsing. The houses, the flames, even the sky—it all started folding inward, breaking apart like glass.

The figure stepped back into the fire.

Raiga: "WAIT! DON'T GO! Please—!"

The voice cracked—barely holding itself together now.

???: "I love you, Aaryan... And I'm so, so sorry."

And then everything broke.

Raiga screamed—

And woke up.

—

Raiga's eyes snapped open.

Breath heaving. Skin cold. Vision swimming.

The smoke was gone.

The fire was gone.

But the fear wasn't.

He tried to move, couldn't. His arms were pinned behind him, wrists bound in magnetic cuffs. His legs were strapped to the floor. Every nerve screamed, but none of it answered.

He was in a transport. A Dominion-grade carrier. Cramped metal walls. Cold light strips overhead. No windows.

Across from him, sitting lazily with a smirk carved into his face, was Colonel Varren.

Varren: "Well, well. The sleeping monster wakes."

A few Dominion soldiers chuckled from the back of the rig.

Raiga's breath came in fast, shallow bursts. Sweat ran down his face. His heart felt like it was trying to punch through his chest.

The dream... that voice... that name—

Raiga: "Where—what..."

Varren stood, slowly, stepping forward like he had all the time in the world.

Varren: "All that speed. All that power... Now, look at you, tied up like a mutt in the back of a cage."

Raiga strained against the restraints. Useless. His muscles were fire, but they wouldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

He was trapped.

Raiga: "Let me out..."

Varren: "Aww. Is the little ghost panicking?"

The other soldiers laughed.

Raiga clenched his jaw, pulse spiking, vision tunneling.

The panic boiled.

The rage followed.

Raiga: "I'm going to kill you..."

Varren laughed in his face, leaning in close.

Varren: "No, boy. You're not going to do a damn—"

BOOM!!!

The world exploded sideways.

A deafening blast tore through the vehicle. Metal screamed. Alarms blared. The entire transport lifted off the ground and flipped—once, twice—crashing hard onto its side.

Screams. Sparks. Blood.

Darkness.