Rise From The Wraith

THE WEAKEST

Morning came slowly over the military outpost, but Kael barely noticed it. He had been sitting on the edge of the bed in the infirmary for almost an hour, staring blankly at the bandage wrapped around his right leg while the sound of footsteps and soldier’s voices drifted faintly through the corridor outside. The pain was still there whenever he tried to move his leg, but strangely, the wound was nowhere near as severe as it should have been after what had happened the night before.

Kael slowly pulled back part of the bandage and examined the wound beneath it. The deep claw marks were still clearly visible, but the bleeding had stopped and the skin around the wound appeared to be closing. He frowned, trying to understand what he was seeing. According to the medic who had treated him, a wound like this should have taken weeks to heal, yet only a few hours had passed and it already looked far better than it should have.

The door suddenly opened.

Kael quickly lowered the bandage again and turned toward the door. A young woman wearing a military medical uniform stepped inside, carrying a tray filled with several medical supplies. Her brown hair was tied back, with a few loose strands falling around her forehead. She placed the tray on the table before looking at Kael with an expression that seemed to be somewhere between concern and mild annoyance.

“You're awake.”

Kael nodded. “I've been awake for a while.”

The woman glanced at Kael's leg. “You should still be resting.”

“I was just sitting,” Kael replied.

“You tried to stand earlier.”

Kael fell silent.

The woman gave him a faint smile. “My name is Lyra.”

“Kael.”

“I know."

Kael looked at her for a moment. His cheeks turned slightly red when he noticed the sharp bridge of her nose.

“You're the only survivor from your squad,” Lyra continued.

The small smile on Lyra's face disappeared.

Kael lowered his gaze. The only survivor. He had heard those words several times since morning, but every time he heard them, the weight in his chest seemed to grow heavier. No one knew what had really happened inside that building. No one had seen Daren fall, no one had heard their screams, and no one had witnessed the way the Wraith had slaughtered the people who had entered the building with him.

“What about the woman we were looking for?” Kael finally asked.

Lyra was silent for a moment before answering, “She hasn't been found.”

Kael closed his eyes and let out a slow breath.

“We sent another team to search the building after you were evacuated,” Lyra continued. “There was no sign of her. Her body wasn't found either.”

Kael said nothing. Inside his head, the woman's voice echoed once again.

“Help...”

“I heard her,” Kael said quietly.

Lyra looked at him. “The woman?”

Kael nodded. “Before the Wraith attacked. She was calling for help.”

Lyra picked up one of the medical instruments from the tray and examined it as she spoke. “There are several strange things in the report about what happened last night.”

“What?”

“The bodies of your squad members were found in different parts of the building. The squad leader was in the northern corridor, Daren was in the main room, and the other three were scattered throughout the area.”

Kael stared at her.

“While you were found almost twenty meters away from them.”

“I don't remember how I got there,” Kael said, holding his forehead, which was still wrapped in a white bandage.

“That's what confuses us.”

Before Kael could ask anything else, the infirmary door opened again. Two soldiers entered carrying a metal stretcher and briefly glanced in his direction before speaking in low voices.

“That's him.”

“He's the only one who survived?”

“Yeah.”

The other soldier shook his head slightly. “Lucky bastard.”

Kael pretended not to hear them. He was already used to being seen that way.

Ever since joining the military, Kael had never been the kind of soldier anyone was proud of. He was slow during physical training, inconsistent with firearms, and almost always lost during close-combat exercises. Some instructors had even told him that he thought too much whenever he was placed in a dangerous situation, while on the battlefield, even a few seconds of hesitation could determine whether someone lived or died.

By late morning, Kael was ordered to report to the training field and give a direct account of what had happened to one of the officers. Even though his leg was injured, he felt uncomfortable lying in bed while the entire outpost was busy talking about what had happened the night before.

As he passed the training field, several soldiers stopped what they were doing and looked at him. None of them said anything, but Kael could already guess what was going through their minds.

That's him.

The survivor.

Why him?

Kael continued walking until a voice came from behind him.

“Kael…”

He stopped and turned toward the voice.

A tall soldier named Rovan walked toward him while carrying a wooden sword. He was one of the soldiers who had mocked Kael several times during training.

“I heard your entire squad was wiped out.”

Kael said nothing. He simply lowered his head.

“Four men died, and you're still alive.”

Rovan stopped in front of him with a crooked smile. “Impressive.”

“I'm in a hurry,” Kael said.

Kael tried to walk past him, but Rovan blocked his path.

“I'm just curious,” he said. “What exactly were you doing while they were all being killed?”

Kael looked at Rovan's face with irritation.

“Nothing.”

The answer made Rovan laugh.

“Of course. You never do anything anyway.”

Several soldiers nearby laughed along with him.

Kael took a deep breath and decided to walk away. He knew that answering their insults would not change anything. But only a few steps after he turned away, Rovan suddenly swung his wooden sword toward Kael's shoulder.

Kael's body moved before his mind could understand what was happening. He shifted to the side, causing the wooden sword to cut through empty air.

Rovan stopped.

So did Kael.

For several seconds, Kael simply stared at his own hand. That feeling. He had felt it before.

Inside the building the previous night, when the Wraith's claw had moved toward his face, his body had also reacted before his mind could recognize the danger.

“You dodged?” Rovan asked.

Kael slowly shook his head. “I don't know.”

Rovan frowned and swung his sword again.

This time, Kael did not move quickly enough.

Thud!

The wooden sword struck his shoulder and sent him stumbling backward. The soldiers around them laughed again.

Rovan lowered his weapon with a satisfied smile.

“Now that's the Kael I know.”

Kael did not respond. He simply stood there, staring at the ground. Maybe the movement before had really been nothing more than a coincidence. Maybe his body had simply reacted instinctively because of fear. There was nothing strange about it.

Because Kael was not a strong soldier. He was not fast, he was not talented, and he was certainly not someone special. At least, that was what he had always believed.

Yet deep inside his body, something he did not understand had already begun to change.

And Kael did not yet know that the Wraith he had encountered the night before was not the only thing he should be afraid of.