Chapter 1: Beginning
The sky above was streaked with violet and streaks of pink as the sun dipped below the horizon. A warm wind caressed my face, filled with the scent of earth and distant wood smoke. I sat with my back pressed against a tree, taking in the panoramic view below. The Omatikaya clan’s ancestral home sprawled against the mountainside, weaving like vines through the vibrantly colored trees. It was a breathtaking sight to behold.
The pulsating heart of the Omatikaya clan lay before me, illuminated by the otherworldly glow of the bioluminescent trees. The trunks towered overhead, branches intertwining like the roots of ancient history, their leaves offering a canopy of emerald green. I could hear the distant whoops and hollering of children, punctuated by the deep, rhythmic thump of the elders' drums.
As a genetically engineered human soldier, I had never felt so out of place.