Prologue: The Ancient Warriors’ Last Stand
Before humanity divided itself with borders and war, before history swallowed them whole, the Watchers walked openly among men. They were not gods, but they were seen as such—spectral beings who existed between moments, shifting through the fabric of time unseen by most.
But there was something older than the Watchers. Something beyond time, beyond form. A force that devoured light, that bent existence to its will. They called it the Dark One.
At the edge of a battlefield twisted beyond recognition, the last of humanity’s warriors made their stand. The sky churned with unnatural light, and shadows stretched in ways they should not. The Dark One’s presence was tearing reality apart.
Kaelen, one of the last Dawnbearers, tightened his grip on his blade. It had once cut through the void like fire through dry leaves. Now, its glow faltered.
Across the battlefield, Aevryn, his second-in-command, struggled to rise. Her armor, once imbued with the Watchers’ blessing, was cracked and dull.
“We can’t hold this ground,” she gasped. “We have to seal it. Now.”
Kaelen hesitated. The Dark One didn’t fight them—it unraveled them. Weapons meant nothing against something that twisted time itself.
A scream tore through the battlefield. Kaelen turned just in time to see another warrior collapse into nothingness, his body dissolving in the void’s grasp. They were out of time.
Summoning the last of their strength, the warriors enacted the binding ritual, pouring what remained of their souls into a final act of defiance. The Dark One thrashed, its form rippling against the seal.
Kaelen was the last to fall. As the ritual completed, he felt himself being pulled beyond—into something vast, something endless. The Dark One’s soundless scream fractured the air… and then there was silence.
The battle was over.
But so was the age of the Watchers.
The distortion left in the wake of the binding cloaked them from human sight. Humanity, blind once more, moved forward without them.
But they had not gone.
They watched.
Waiting for the day when the veil between their world and human perception would thin once again.
Act 1: Nathan’s Awakening
Nathan lay beneath the sterile lights of the Horizon Vision Lab, the scent of antiseptic thick in the air. Military personnel moved around him, their voices hushed, their touch clinical. He wasn’t a soldier anymore—he was an experiment.
They told him this was the next step in warfare. The implants would sharpen his vision beyond human limits, allowing him to track movement, read hidden patterns, project beams of light. Tactical advantages.
What they didn’t tell him—what they hadn’t said aloud—was that his vision would be more than an enhancement.
It would be a weapon.
Infrared to hunt in the dark. Ultraviolet to reveal what others could not see. Focused visible light capable of blinding, of burning. His sight had been engineered not just for perception, but for control.
Yet as he lay there, listening to the hum of machines, something twisted in his gut. Instinct. A warning.
The operation passed in a blur—cold metal, muffled voices, the dull pressure of something shifting behind his eyes.
Then it was done.
Nathan blinked. And the world was different.
Colors pulsed with unnatural clarity. Movement sharpened, detail emerging in layers beyond what he had ever perceived. The air itself seemed to hum.
And then—something moved.
A flicker at the edge of his vision. Fast, fluid. Gone before he could focus.
His breath caught.
He turned his head sharply.
Nothing.
His mind raced to dismiss it—his brain was still adjusting. But deep down, he knew.
He hadn’t imagined it.
Before he could speak, the door hissed open. Colonel Hayes entered, his presence sharp, assessing. He studied the monitors before turning to Nathan.
“Well? How do you feel, soldier?”
Nathan hesitated.
“I see things differently, sir,” he said carefully. “But it feels… strange.”
Hayes held his gaze, unreadable. Then, after a beat—
“You’re seeing differently because you are,” he said. “The enhanced vision isn’t just about battlefield awareness. It unlocks more than that—things most people can’t perceive.”
Nathan frowned. Things most people can’t perceive?
The lights overhead flickered. A chill passed through the room.
Nathan tensed.
The flickering shapes at the edge of his vision returned, slipping through the periphery like shadows that didn’t belong. Watching. Waiting.
“Anything else, soldier?” Hayes asked.
Nathan forced himself to look at the Colonel. To suppress the rising unease.
“…No, sir. Nothing else.”
Hayes nodded.
“Good. Field tests begin tomorrow.”
Nathan left the lab, his pulse unsteady.
The shapes followed him, shifting at the edge of his sight.
He wasn’t imagining them.
He wasn’t hallucinating.
And the question burned in his mind.
Should he be afraid?
Act 2: The War Beyond Perception
Days blurred together in grueling training sessions and sleepless nights, but Nathan’s mind was never at rest. His sight had expanded into something beyond human comprehension.
And now, he knew the truth.
The Dark One was growing stronger.
It was adapting, lurking at the edges of his perception.
And in turn, so was he.
The Watchers had begun appearing to him, showing him glimpses of the past, of the war fought in the shadow of history. They had wielded a force beyond mortal understanding—the light.
Nathan could feel it within himself now. The ultraviolet energy that pulsed through him was more than technology. It was something older. Something alive.
And it terrified him.
He trained harder than ever before, pushing his limits. But he wasn’t sure if he was mastering the light—
Or if it was mastering him.
Act 3: The Catalyst
Nathan was preparing to return to his quarters when Hayes intercepted him.
“We need to talk, soldier.”
Nathan followed him into a briefing room, the door clicking shut behind them.
Hayes exhaled, then said it plainly:
“The Dark One is real. And it’s getting closer.”
Nathan stiffened.
“We need to act—quickly,” Hayes continued.
Nathan’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean, ‘act quickly’?”
Hayes’ smile was predatory. “You’ve been chosen. We need you to unleash the full potential of your abilities. No hesitation.”
Realization hit like a strike to the gut.
They didn’t care about stopping the Dark One.
They cared about controlling it.
“You’re not going to use me as a weapon,” Nathan said.
Hayes’ expression barely shifted.
“You don’t have a choice.”
Nathan’s jaw clenched.
“Neither do you.”
He turned and walked out.
Something had shifted.
He was done being their pawn.
Act 4: The Final Confrontation
The Dark One had arrived.
Reality twisted around it, warping the air itself. Sirens blared. Soldiers fled.
Nathan stood alone at the heart of the storm.
The entity’s form pulsed, shifting between dimensions.
“You are too late,” it whispered. Its voice came from everywhere.
Nathan exhaled, letting the light pulse through him.
“Not this time.”
The ultraviolet force within him erupted, a beam of pure energy tearing through the battlefield. The Dark One recoiled, shrieking as the light bound it in an unbreakable cage.
It wasn’t destroyed.
But it was contained.
Nathan fell to his knees, exhausted.
The Watchers surrounded him.
“You have done it, Nathan. But in doing so, you have changed the course of humanity.”
His vision blurred.
He had given everything—his humanity, his soul, his future—for survival.
The light had been his weapon.
And now, it would be his legacy.
Epilogue: The Watchers’ Return
The Dark One was sealed.
But the balance had changed.
Nathan was gone.
Yet something remained.
The Watchers watched.
Waiting.
For the day when the veil between their world and human perception would thin once again.
This story previously appeared in Robin Kers Story Page.
Edited by Marie Ginga
A 75-year-old retiree, I spent my career crafting technical documents on labor relations and health and safety for a number of Canadian federal government departments and trade unions. Though I once dreamed of writing the great Canadian novel, I now embrace the art of flash fiction and short stories, enjoying this creative outlet in my later years on our hobby farm in southeastern Ontario.