Chapter 1
A bullet shot out of the gun with a tremendous force, causing a load crack to echo endlessly for miles around. A distinct ringing sounded in my head, like an alarm. I continued to run but I could see already it was to late; she was dead. In my delusion, I still had hope. Such an amazing woman couldn't be dead. Not now, not here. I reached the mangled body, cradled her head in my arms up and cried like the end of the world had come. My best friend, the only person I felt safe around, the only person who I could share my experiences with, was gone. Forever.
Looking over across the marshy landscape, the killer was already gone, its ghostly figure had faded back into the mist. A burst of rage filled me and suddenly, all I wanted was its destruction. I wanted it to burn and scream and die! A strange sensation filled me, and my head convulsed and throbbed. A piercing wail escaped my lips, more powerful than the bang of the gun. But then it stopped. Her memory was to powerful in my mind. She wouldn't have wanted this. She sought forgiveness, if I took any revenge then I knew her death would be in vain.
But now I had to think about my escape. Mourning would have to be saved for later. An active war zone was not a good place to be, but the ship was only about half a kilometer away I had to think fast, I was in middle of the fight with no – weapons and no armour. And another thing, she deserved a proper burial, how was I to get her body and me to the ship before we were discovered, then another thought popped into my head, I had no-idea how to fly the ship. If what she said was true, that ship was sentient, maybe it would take me home. Bigger on the inside, yes, I had seen it with my own eyes in fact, but I don't know if I believe everything she says about that thing. Although, after the things I'd seen, anything could be possible. It was a risk but there wasn't any other way…
I stumbled over to the body to pick it up. It was going to be a long walk, but there was no other option. The mud was wet and slippy under my Zelto Boots, I felt as if I would sink straight down any second, thankfully, the built-in stabilisers would cover for that. As I came closer to her, I noticed a very peculiar thing. A strange glow seemed to have enveloped her body, like an aura. I have no idea why, but at that moment I was filed with hope. I had no idea what was happening but somehow, I knew it would turn out well.
The strange glow, which, when I first saw it, was only present on her hands, but was now spreading across her entire body. It was also gradually increasing in brightness and was getting brighter and brighter until it seared my eyes with pain, and I had to look away. By this point it had covered her whole body, I could see no more of her body, just a bright light emanating from all around her. Suddenly, out of no-where, there was a loud explosion and energy seemed to burn out from all around her.A mass of fiery colour exploding from every inch of her body.
I was confused and terrified but at the same time, it gave me a sense of positivity. The intensity grew too much and I was thrown backwards. All of a sudden, the energy stopped. It dissipated into the air. I looked over at where her body had been and got the shock of my life.
Instead of her body, lying mangled on the ground, a young man was sitting there, with very disgruntled look on his face. He looked up and saw me sitting there in surprise and a large grin came over his face.
"Regeneration! It's a lottery isn't it. My hair though, Much, much, much to short, I mean it wasn't exactly long before but- oh… What's happened to my voice… It's gone all- low. Am I… Am I a man?"