Dreaming, Magnus found himself wandering an endless sea of stars, floating weightlessly in the void. He was aware of himself and that he wasn’t awake, which was an oddity for him. Usually he only realised he’d been dreaming belatedly. He did not possess a corporeal form, unable to move no matter how hard he tried, the emptiness of the void unchanging around him.

  Curiously, his chest, which was not there, thrummed with an all-encompassing heat. Flowing out from his heart, the feeling suffused throughout every inch of Magnus’s form, making him feel ablaze. It was euphoric.

  Snapped out of his introspection, an impossibly loud gong rang across the endless dark, reverberating deep within his soul. Trying and failing to clutch at his chest, he glanced around as his surroundings changed.

  One moment, he had been motionless within the void of space, the grand tapestry of stars the only sight. In the next, an enormous structure of impossible proportions came into being around him, larger than anything he had seen before. It was large in the way that a celestial body was large, beyond the scope of human understanding, but somehow, he was able to see it all.

  The architecture was profoundly ancient, as if it emerged from a bygone era lost to time. Instead of steel and glass, an onyx stone made up the majority of the structure, a large circular wall rising up into the void all around him. Covered with a myriad of intricate carvings deep in the stone, the wall depicted twelve animals in the midst of ferocious battle, so vivid it looked alive. Branching off the wall were twelve bridges, each ending in a vast stone dais spaced evenly in a circle. Magnus stood atop one. Above and below, the vast darkness of the void stretched out into infinity.

  “Where the hell am I?”

  A shimmering disturbance that warped reality appeared in the structure's exact centre, floating above the empty space, in between the twelve monolithic dais’s. From that disturbance shone a brilliant light. A voice that rumbled so deeply it felt like creation itself shuddered, uttered a single word, capturing Magnus’s attention.

  “Welcome”

  If Magnus had been able to, he would have dropped to his knees in veneration, a sublime reverence washing over him. He couldn’t help but listen to the voice, desiring to absorb every word like a sponge, to bask in its presence for as long as possible. The voice spoke again, its words a thousand songs and ballads intertwined into one.

  “Chosen of the 78th Zodiac War, I Greet You.”

  “The Twelfth has been Chosen, the War shall begin in earnest.”

  Despite the overwhelming awe addling Magnus’s mind, he tried to reign it in and understand the content of the words. He was chosen to… fight in a war? That didn’t make sense. He was just, well, a nobody. Why would anyone even consider him for something like that. It all sounded fantastical, but the Voice spoke the truth. He knew as surely as he knew his own name. Magnus didn’t think he was dreaming anymore.

  “Each of you has gained the Favour of the Twelve, gifted their Power, and in exchange you shall fight in their Honour.”

  Magnus’s chest hummed in response, a great strength flowing within him, making itself known. At the same time, his senses changed in some fundamental way, becoming unfettered, and he realised he was not alone. Atop the other daises were eleven other individuals, just like him. While he could make out their presence, he could not see them.

  In their place instead, stood eleven towering animals woven from primordial nebulae, thousands of glittering stars came together to make up their features. Their presence a thousand-fold larger than their already immense forms, Magnus shivered as several turned their starry eyes towards him. A dreadful weight dragged at his being, straining under their perception.

  To his left a verdant green snake coiled around the stone pathway, tongue flickering out. To his right, a pristine white rabbit wiggled its ears, body shifting subtly as if it was ready to leap at a moment's notice. One after another, he looked around at each dais, amazed and terrified by what he saw. The majesty of the eleven beings was unmatched, presence bringing an otherworldly awe.

  “...wait.” His thoughts slowed, and he, ever so slowly, turned, gazing behind him. It only made sense that if he were Chosen as the voice put it, that there would be a being behind him as well. He couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement, wondering just what it could be. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw.

  Behind him lounged a regal creature he recognised in an instant. Taller than any of the other animals, a long tail lazily swayed behind it, acting almost like a metronome. So close to it, he could see the nebula that made up its form undulated slowly, swirling and shifting in a constant dance. Powerful limbs ending in sharpened claws, its main body long and narrow, leading to a vast head. It regarded its surroundings calmly, with an air of profound sageness, unmoving bar its tail. Still, of all the beings, it was by far the most imposing.

  “A dragon.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Magnus could scarcely believe it, but there it was plain as day. As if sensing his gaze, the being shifted slightly, tilting its head to the side and regarding him with a golden starry eye. His chest grew even hotter, as if his heart were beating a million times a second. It only lasted for a brief moment, the head returning to its previous position, but he knew it had seen him. Magnus felt as if he were no more than an ant, gazing up at a mountain.

  “… I’m the Chosen of the Dragon, then? What does that mean?”

  The Voice had said something about it being the 78th Zodiac War. Glancing at the other daises, he realised that they were each a representation of the Zodiac. Or perhaps, the Zodiac was a representation of them, for he couldn’t imagine a reality where these otherworldly beings were something born of humanity. He tried to remember anything he could about the Zodiac, but a lifetime of scrounging to survive had left major gaps in his cultural and historical education. Vaguely he remembered something about the Zodiac, but it eluded him for the time being. Everything was feeling realer now, his mind sobering as he thought about what exactly he was now involved in.

  “Hear this, Chosen of the Zodiac. Leave this realm, and the 78th Zodiac War shall commence, until there remains only One.”

  “Battle with wit, strength, and cunning. Use your Gifted power. Use anything and everything you desire. There are no rules to adhere to, for this is War.”

  “To the Chosen who gains a final Victory, a single Wish awaits you.”

  “Chosen of the Zodiac, let your Battles be Glorious.”

  The swirling disturbance in the centre of the structure vanished, and Magnus felt as if he were fading away. Unphased, he looked out at the eleven other towering animals, trying to imagine their Chosen. If there was a wish on the line, what would they use it on?

  “A better question is what would I use it on…”

  Glancing back at the Dragon Zodiac behind him, he wondered why just why he of all people had been chosen. As everything faded from view and his vision went black, he found he had no idea at all.

  ---

  Back in the alley, Magnus’s eyes shot open, his body lying in a heap on the floor. The vision was fresh on his mind, the weight of what he saw weighing on him in a supernatural way. Every word the Voice had uttered felt as if it had been seared into his mind, impossible to forget. Pushing himself up, a sharp pain erupted in the front of his head, far worse than the beating the two oafs had given him. All at once, he became aware of something far off in the distance, so far he couldn’t even imagine the distance. Clutching his skull, Magnus stumbled forward.

  “AHHHHH!”

  Slamming his head into the wall, he realised that the things he could sense were the other Chosen. Letting out a low groan, he wanted to make it go away. Magically, the pain lessened considerably, fading into the recesses of his mind until it was barely noticeable. Blearily, Magnus rubbed his face, head still pulsating from his newly acquired sense. Focusing on it for a moment brought it right back to the forefront, though the pain was lessened than the first time.

  “What the hell happened to me,” Magnus muttered, painfully aware that whatever had happened was far from ordinary.

  Opening his eyes, he froze, staring at the wall in shock. The dull grey concrete used throughout the slums that was prized for its sturdiness, lay in ruins. Where his head had hit was now a cavernous hole, cracks spider webbing across the entire facade. Magnus rubbed his forehead, but curiously there was no mark or tenderness to speak of. Flexing his hands, he could feel himself hum with power. He felt he could have torn the building down with ease.

  “Is this what the Voice was talking about… the Power of a Dragon?”

  Magnus wondered just how powerful he’d become, and how that compared to the other Chosen. Picking up a large piece of debris, he squeezed the chunk to dust with little effort. Caked in grey dust, he stared at his hands in disbelief. It felt easy, too easy. He hadn’t even exerted himself at all.

  “Just how strong am I now?”

  Shaking his head, Magnus stretched out and dusted himself off. Strangely, he should have been skeptical of what the Voice has said, Twelve Chosen and fighting in a Zodiac War, for a Wish no less, but he knew it was all true without question. There was no doubt in his mind about whether or not all that had been a dream, especially with proof right in front of him. But still he was at a loss, everything so far from normalcy.

  “What am I gonna do?”

  Magnus ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair, straightening any errant strands. Wandering through the ruined wall, he retraced his steps through the labyrinth of alleys slowly, lost in thought. Every so often he’d focus on his new sense, the distance between him and the other Chosen incomprehensibly far. At least he knew there wasn’t another on the station he’d called home all his life, though that wasn’t a surprise. With less than a million residents, it was a rounding error when compared to the rest of humanity.

  “I’ll work it out later,” he sighed, cracking his knuckles as he came to a decision. The Zodiac War was a far away concern, something the future held. For whatever reason, Dragon had chosen Magnus, bestowing him with its power. He didn’t know if there was some sort of code it wanted him to adhere to, things it would disapprove of, but a mere glance at it had shaken him to his core. So, Magnus reasoned, it would surely know what he would do if given such power.

  Suppressed most of his life, Magnus payed the price for a crime he didn’t commit. Beaten and humiliated, used as a warning for others, he’d fought back in the small ways he could. Sabotaging the gang, helping out others when no one else would, willing to take the fall because he knew he wouldn’t be killed. It wasn’t like he liked his life. He hated it, and he hated the Goldlight Gang. Most of all he hated those bastards who’d brought him into the universe. But he’d never been able to fight back properly, in a way that mattered.

  Clenching a fist, Magnus felt the power he now wielded. Now, he could do something. He didn’t know how he’d fare against enhanced fighters, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. After all, he deserved some revenge.