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"They say people are born to be military leaders, but warriors are forged by pain, trial, or circumstance. As a teenage girl, I wanted to be a healer, not a killer."

--Captain Alaria von Tollen, Fireborn Division

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I always knew when my mind slipped out of time, but that never made the ordeal any easier. A part of me wanted to punch anyone who envied my clairvoyance. They all praised my so-called gift, but it weighed upon me like a curse. I could fall to my death and never realize it.

Those people never felt my terror during the visions either, that dread crawling under my skin like a hundred scarab beetles. Their hearts never thudded against their ribs like a prisoner throwing himself at the metal bars, desperate to break free.

Like my heart right now.

Not again.

Ice slithered down my spine as my body stiffened against the vertical metal slab holding me upright. Rearing my head, I grimaced at the crick in my neck, every stab of pain as sharp as reality.

"Liselle, you're in control." My voice echoed in the empty stone chamber. "This isn't real."

With a desperate yank, I tugged at the iron chains. I didn't even know what crime I'd committed.

"Release."

A faint yellow glow emanated from my palms. But the handcuffs refused to shift no matter how much I struggled.

"What do you want?" I yelled into the empty room.

The only answer came from machines whirring to life with a cacophony of mechanical sound. Various switches cast an array of colored lights on the granite walls of what seemed like an underground lab.

A hiss came from metal spigots on the ceiling, and my eyes widened in terror. "No, please," I whispered as I tugged in vain against the restraints.

The rank smell of disinfectant clashed with the stale air in the dank dungeon. When the fumes burned in my lungs, I began to gag.

To my utter relief, the hissing stopped. The air cleared, and I could breathe again.

I was still alive.

Stay calm. The rational part of my psyche echoed in the caverns of my mind. Just observe.

"Avian sight," I muttered with a flick of my wrist.

A part of my psyche broke away from my body and floated to the ceiling, watching the scene below me from a bird's eye view. The light-blue astral tether tugged at my spirit, forcing me not to stray any further from my physical form.

Thank the gods! The spell finally worked!

My stomach churned when I gazed down at my physical shell. The woman's bruised body was covered in grit and ash, welts dotting her pale flesh as though an acid was burning through it.

Her captors had shaven her locks. Not a single strand was left on her head, which glowed like a white skull under the unnatural fluorescent light. But that wasn't what struck horror into my heart.

Despite her disfigurement, I recognized her. How could I not?

It was a future version of me.

Only this Liselle looked like a ghost or an evil wraith, not a Risan healer.

The woman's hazel eyes flashed with a fiery hatred I'd never known. Thanks to the tether, every wave of her anger crested and crashed upon my soul like an ocean of fire.

I will kill them all, she hissed in my mind. The Gatál will pay for what they've done.

Her thoughts. My thoughts.

The woman's unspoken words tasted like bitter ashes in my mouth.

"Shield," I whispered under my breath.

A gray energy field thrummed in front of my hovering spirit, protecting my psyche from her vile emotions. The woman didn't seem to detect my presence at all, never once looking up at me. Her emotions slowly ebbed away, and rational thought returned to me once more.

It had taken me years to master my fear during my visions. As a young child, I'd cower in a corner, crying and praying to the gods for the nightmare to end. Now I had the strength to confront my visions and use my unique sight to my advantage.

I gazed around the room, observing my surroundings with cool detachment. The machines came from a land with knowledge far beyond our ken, perhaps from another plane of existence or a different world.

How can machines operate under their own power?

A metallic screech resounded in the chamber and made my skin crawl. The lab door creaked open. A tall, slender man entered the facility. His silver horns protruded from his forehead like antlers and glistened in the harsh, cold light. Dressed in a blue lab coat, the Wizard prepped his instruments and elixirs in silence.

Having never seen a demon before, I stared shamelessly at his horns and matte black skin. Surely a demon couldn't be a Wizard, could he?

He gave a frustrated sigh and broke the silence first. "Liselle, please. I beg you to reconsider."

How can that woman be me?

"I won't discuss this with you any further," she hissed in reply.

The demon grimaced as though her words had caused him physical pain. A sickening darkness crept upon my soul when I realized the truth.

This isn't a treatment for an illness. It isn't even a form of torture.

It's an experiment. A voluntary one.

The Wizard inserted a syringe into a glass vial and drew a portion of red elixir. He injected the substance into a different glass jar filled with a saline solution. The serum swirled and danced through the salty liquid until the contents resembled diluted blood.

The technician squeezed his eyes shut. "Please change your mind, Liselle," he whispered under his breath in Risan dialect.

The woman squared her shoulders and jutted her chin. "Don't try to use your magic to dissuade me. It won't work."

He walked over to the woman chained to the metal slab, hung the glass jar from a metal hanger, and wrapped a rubber device around her bicep.

"Liselle Alta, are you prepared to join the ranks of the Fireborn?" he asked in a strained voice that feigned dispassion.

"Yes," she replied in a harsh monotone. "I am."

"You will have never known pain like this before." The Wizard probed the crook of her arm for a suitable vein. His voice faltered slightly, and he cleared his throat. "Even stalwart barbarians writhe in agony."

"I'm not afraid."

"Once we begin, there's no turning back. Consider your actions carefully."

"Just do it," the woman said through clenched teeth.

"As you wish."

He jabbed her vein with a needle, and she didn't even flinch. Squeezing his eyes shut, he released the valve, and the stream of red liquid traveled through a flexible tube until it entered the woman's body.

My body. I still couldn't believe it.

A sudden surge of stabbing pain rushed through me as though I was being skinned alive. The sensation intensified until it felt like I'd been impaled with a spear of burning flame.

I shouldn't be feeling this! It's a vision!

Don't panic! You're in control!

My breathing became erratic, and I began to hyperventilate. Wide-eyed, I gaped at the woman. She pressed herself against the metal slab, writhing in agony as she struggled against the restraints.

A ragged groan came from her throat, animalistic and monstrous.

The Wizard cupped her cheek. "It'll all be over soon. Be strong, my love."

The agony pierced me like a sword, far past my threshold of pain. Tension built within my chest until it could no longer withstand the pressure.

My soul exploded into a thousand fragments of black ether.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote, comment, share, or add the story to your libraries and reading lists. ♥