The Vow Wraith

Orion slowly opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry. He could hardly discern any shapes or objects placed before him. After blinking a few times, his tears finally cleared up the view.

The first thing he noticed was how bad the room's lighting was. Light barely made its way inside; it all came from a small candle on the table in front of him.

However, from that alone, he could make out various things from the place he was in.

The room around him was relatively small. It was made of refined wood, with an empty bookshelf set at a corner. Orion could also distinguish a bed without sheets but nothing else.

Not even a window. It felt like a small prison cell.

He tried to move, but his body felt heavier than usual. He found the reason after looking down,

'Ah, great. Chained again.'

And not slightly chained or restrained.

This time, his entire body was wrapped with chains of different colors around his body. There were red, yellow, pink, green, and vibrant blue chains.

Even his legs were stuck to the chair's legs. But nevertheless, he gave a sigh of relief. This meant that he was currently inside the first Vow of Hunt.

Orion looked up.

There, he found another humanoid being sitting in a chair. 

It had a leg raised and his arm resting on the knee, giving a carefree attitude. Its entire body was of a vibrant blue color, but it wasn't solid, as one would say. 

Instead, it was as if a bunch of mist composed its body contained inside a recipient.

The most notable feature was its lack of facial features. No eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. Not even hair. It was like a mannequin.

Except this one could move. The humanoid was clearly moving its finger in the air. The moment it did, Orion sighed to calm his nerves,

'The Vow Wraith.'

Orion looked down at his chains again and instead focused on each individually. And shortly after, he found distinctive traits in each of them.

They had a strange symbol engraved on it.

Suits.

So, what exactly was happening? 

Well… The Wraith Realm was happening.

Decades ago, Earth was suddenly shaken by an unknown source of energy that scientists couldn't explain. What they knew was that it was getting dangerously close to us.

The moment they merged, a reality shift occurred.

In all parts of the world, strange passageways in the form of corridors, holes, or complete shifts happened — sometimes bringing entire buildings. 

This phenomenon was known as the Shifting, and so were these strange passage ways named. 

And from there, they appeared. Wraiths.

Deadly beings taken from the worst nightmares one could imagine invaded Earth and ruined havoc amongst it.

Modern firearms, artillery, and other military technologies could push them back to an extent. But they could only do so much against these otherworldly beings.

These Wraiths' power was measured depending on their number, ranging from 2 to 10, and then Jack, Queen, and King. And their Suit, which could be Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, or Clubs.

Just like cards.

Luckily, only "Twos" — the weakest — invaded Earth, and humanity had a grace period to find a way to battle them. Which was found shortly after the first human entered the Wraith Realm.

Essence Infusers.

By using pure Essence — Wraiths' blood — it could transport a human into what was known as the first Vow of Hunt. 

There, it would fight against the chains containing the power of the Wraith. If they could overpower it, they'd gain the Ability of the Wraith and tame it, becoming a Phantom.

Humans pushed back, and not only that, they started doing expeditions into the Wraith Realm to learn as much as they could about it.

And now, it was Orion's turn. But something made no sense.

'Why am I retained by every Suit? It's supposed to be only one… Fuck, what did that Infuser do to me!'

As Orion squirmed in his seat, the Wraith got up and slowly walked towards the boy. He had no memory of seeing such a human-like Wraith, which was as uncanny as it could get.

He knew Wraiths could resemble humans as an after-effect of colliding with Earth, but not this closely.

They were gruesome monsters. Beings with too many arms, eyes, and mouths. Sometimes made entirely of bleeding flesh and tissue. They rarely were so humanoid-like.

The Wraith stopped in front of Orion and grabbed him by the chin. At this point, the boy was already sweating.

The Vow of Hunt was supposed to start when one locked eyes with the Wraiths, or so he was taught.

Yes, he had received a basic education. He hadn't lived sixteen years without doing nothing and miraculously survived.

The orphanage could've worked on its hygiene a bit more, though.

Instead, this Wraith was casually analyzing each part of the boy. It was looking all over him as if making a decision.

'Maybe not all Vows follow the same procedure? That's a possibility, but — come on — I must be too unlucky to have gotten the strange one.'

The Wraith moved its head up and down.

It was… laughing. Has it read his thoughts? 

Could a Wraith read a human's thoughts? Maybe because of the Essence inside Orion's body, the Wraith could read his mind.

But that doesn't mean anything. Why was the Wraith laughing?

"Interesting…"

…

Great.

Just great.

The Wraith could talk.

Orion's brain shut down just as he heard that familiar deep voice echoing inside his mind.

That made no sense whatsoever. And somehow, he mustered the courage to speak back,

"What are you?"

The Wraith let go of Orion's jaw.

"A Wraith."

"No shit. Why can you talk?"

The Wraith tilted his head,

"Am I not allowed to?"

Orion stumbled over his own words, not knowing what to say. This was the first time he heard a Wraith speak actual words. 

Like, speak English.

Had they learned? Are Wraiths learning the human's universal language? That was a big problem.

The Wraith laughed as it sat down,

"I need not a single of your primitive words to speak. Why would I use such an underdeveloped method of communication to convey meaning?"

Orion leaned forward, as much as the chains let them,

"But you are speaking English."

"I am not."

Orion didn't want to continue the argument, knowing it would lead nowhere. Instead, he used this time to specify his questions more clearly.

Taking a deep breath, he said,

"What exactly are you. And don't say a Wraith. I know you are that."

"I once was someone."

"Agh, it doesn't matter then."

Before Orion could speak again, the Wraith leaned forward as well — putting his elbows on the table — and said,

"It may not matter. What does matter is who you are. Why you have not died right away. How your body, mind, and soul are not collapsing from my Essence.

What matters is what you are."

Orion held his breath, unable to speak.

The longer the Wraith talked, the more foreign it felt the words he was saying. They were clearly English, even if the Wraith denied it, but each word became complicated to understand.

And the harder they were to comprehend, the more painful the headache grew.

Orion could only think of one thing,

'What is he?'

The Wraith leaned back in the chair, holding his chin with his fist. It seemed that now, it was seriously considering answering Orion's question.

But his dreams were shattered moments after,

"Let's begin."

And so, he snapped his fingers.

The entire room was destroyed piece by piece. Eventually, only Orion and the Wraiths remained. The Wraith snapped his fingers again.

The sound echoed down the starless void.

And both beings disappeared.

——

Orion wondered where he went, given the constant darkness he was currently in. He couldn't see, hear or feel. It was like being dead.

'Have I died?'

It felt like death.

'No, that can't be.'

It tasted like death.

'Nothing has happened.'

Every fiber of his incorporeal, inexistent being told him it was death.

'I'm not dead.'

And he was correct.

He wasn't dead.

In fact, he wasn't in the small wooden room anymore.

Orion opened his eyes in the middle of a massive circular throne room that seemed to extend itself infinitely. It was a change from the gothic buildings he was used to see.

Columns extended indefinitely, coated with the purest of gold and diamonds.

Strangely, there was no sky. No clouds.

It was a topless ceiling blocked by fog.

Four colossal thrones of four different colors surrounded a destroyed blue throne in the middle.

Orion was kneeling amid the splinters. His arms were restrained by somebody, but he felt as if he had no energy left in his body.

'Where… fuck, I feel so tired. Why am I so tired?'

He tried to lift his head,

'Everything hurts.'

Something pulled from his neck, forcing him to look up.

In front of Orion, four monochrome beings stood straight.

A red male wielded a sword. His left chest was cracked and showed a beating heart.

A yellow female wielded a bow. Her head was cracked and showed her brain.

A short pink female had her arms crossed. Her throat was cracked and showed her vocal cords and larynx.

A tall green male wielded a hammer. The middle of his chest was cracked, and strange green veils flew from his inside.

'Who are they?'

The red male grasped his sword fiercely, stepped forward, and slashed Orion right in his left chest.

When the blade hit, Orion heard a voice.

"Trial of Spades."