Chapter One: The Beach of Forgotten Souls

The first sensation was the sand. Rough, coarse, it clung to her skin like a second layer, biting into her arms and legs with every movement. Alina's throat tightened as she gasped for breath, the air thick and foul, carrying a sharp stench of rot, decay, and death. It filled her nostrils and coated the back of her throat, making her choke. She coughed violently, only to find the taste of the air lingering in her mouth, rancid, nauseating.

Where am I?

She struggled to open her eyes, blinking against the harsh light above. The sky was a sickly gray, clouded with a haze that seemed to stretch endlessly, no clear horizon in sight. The sun, if it even existed, was hidden behind a thick, oppressive fog that made the world look muted, lifeless. Nothing felt right. Nothing made sense.

Alina's mind was heavy, her thoughts fogged with the remnants of a memory she couldn't place. Her last clear recollection—her father, shouting, his voice filled with panic. Her brother's terrified face as bandits attacked. The clatter of swords, the crackle of fire. She had been running to help them. But now…

She was here. Wherever here was.

Panic clawed at her chest as she tried to sit up, the weight of the sand and the strange dizziness pulling her back down. Her body was slow to respond. Her muscles felt weak, lethargic, like they didn't quite belong to her. She forced herself to stand, pushing against the ground with unsteady arms, only to stumble as her legs buckled beneath her.

She fell, groaning in frustration, the coarse sand scraping against her skin.

What happened? Why couldn't she remember how she'd ended up here?

She closed her eyes and took a deep, ragged breath, trying to calm herself. When she opened them again, the bleak landscape before her remained unchanged. The beach stretched endlessly, a desolate wasteland of cracked shells and the carcasses of strange creatures. She could see skeletal remains half-buried in the sand, picked clean by the scavengers of this forsaken place. Her skin crawled as the pungent odor of death clung to the air.

Slowly, Alina turned her gaze toward the distant horizon. There, at the far end of the beach, she saw a structure rising out of the sand. A building, or perhaps a camp, far away but clearly visible. She squinted, feeling a sudden surge of desperation. Maybe there would be someone there. She had to get to safety.

Without thinking, she started walking toward it, her steps unsteady but driven by the flicker of hope that somewhere, someone would have answers.

But as she moved closer, the air grew even more oppressive. Her chest tightened with every step. And that was when she saw them.

Figures, moving. Skeletal figures, barely human, dragging themselves along the beach. At first, it was just one. A hunched shape, with hollow eyesockets and ribs exposed, scraping through the sand. Then more. A dozen. Two dozen.

They didn't seem to notice her presence, though their movements were jagged, unnatural. As Alina approached, they shuffled past her, indifferent to her existence. But their bones… They were unsettling. These were no mere dead. No, these were animated. Their eyes, though empty, were alive, and they moved with purpose.

One of them, a taller figure, raised a decaying arm to lift a heavy shield. The shield's edges were frayed, worn from years of neglect, but it still served as a piece of armor for the walking corpse. Another carried a long, rusted sword, dragging it through the sand. As Alina watched, her stomach churned. The creatures weren't mindless. They were soldiers. Guardians.

Fear coursed through her veins, but she didn't stop. She had to keep moving.

With each step closer to the camp, the skeletons began to change. The further she went, the more complete they became. The pieces of their armor became whole, not shattered and decayed. Some of them wore old, but still functional, weapons, and their movements grew more fluid, more coordinated. They weren't just animated corpses—they were warriors. They were a force.

Alina's breath hitched in her throat. What kind of place was this? Why were these skeletons still walking around?

And then, just as she reached the edge of the camp, a figure emerged from the shadows of the largest building.

A woman.

At first, Alina thought she was just another of the undead. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and her long hair, dark as night, cascaded down her back. She wore tattered robes that fluttered in the wind, but there was a strange, eerie life to her movements. Her eyes were fixed on Alina, cold but with a strange intensity that made Alina's skin crawl.

Alina opened her mouth, ready to demand answers, but before she could speak, the woman smiled.

"Ah, you've arrived," the woman said in a soft, melodic voice, as though she'd been waiting for Alina all along.

Alina froze. "What—who are you?" she managed to choke out, still processing the sight of the strange woman standing before her. "Where am I? What is this place?"

The woman's lips curled into a thin, knowing smile. "This is my home. A place for those who have no place left in the world. And now… it is yours too."

Alina's stomach dropped. "No, no. This isn't where I'm supposed to be. I need to go back. My family—my father and brother, they were under attack. I have to—"

But the woman raised a hand, cutting her off. Her eyes glinted with something like amusement. "Your family is lost to you now. You are here. And here you will remain."

Alina's heart pounded. "I won't stay here!" she cried, her voice trembling. "I need to find them! I need to go back to them!"

The woman regarded her for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, with a slight tilt of her head, she stepped forward, a slow and deliberate movement. "You speak. You should not be able to speak." Her voice held an edge of surprise. "Yet here you are, speaking clearly. Curious."

Alina swallowed, still struggling to understand what was happening. "Of course I can speak! What do you mean, 'shouldn't be able to'?"

The woman chuckled darkly, the sound chilling. "The dead do not speak, child. But you... You are different, aren't you?"

Alina took a step back, fear gnawing at her stomach. "What do you want from me?"

The woman smiled again, this time a little wider, but with no warmth. "I want you to prove your worth. Before you can serve me, before I decide what you will become, you must first show that you understand. You must prove your mind is still capable of more than just wandering."

Alina blinked, confusion flooding her thoughts. "Prove… my mind?"

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes. I will test you. If you pass, I will take you as my apprentice. If you fail…" She trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air like a dark cloud.

Alina's heart raced. "Test me? What do you mean?"

The woman gestured toward one of the skeletons, which had approached them silently, its empty eyes watching with unnatural focus. "This one, for example, once served a master of war. Its mind was sharp, its tactics brilliant. But now it is nothing but bone and dust, devoid of thought. I want to see if your mind can survive in this place. I want to see if you can still think."

Alina's pulse quickened. She wasn't sure what the woman meant, but she had no choice but to comply. "I'll do whatever you want. Just… just let me go back to my family."

The woman's gaze softened ever so slightly. "You will never return to them. Not in the way you imagine."

Alina swallowed hard but nodded, her fear and desperation fighting to stay hidden beneath the surface.

The woman turned away, motioning for Alina to follow her into the building. "We will begin your training. You may yet become useful. But know this—you will never leave. Not unless I say so."