Chapter 1: The Bond of Two

Midnight. A time reserved for those seeking not to be seen to wander the streets. No self-respecting citizen would be caught wandering the alleyways of Rada, the slums of Azurat city. And as such, the cloaked shadow that effortlessly rolled off the upper balcony of a two-story dwelling was not. In silence, the figure landed, a small cloud of dust billowing out quietly from the landing point. Two blue eyes peered back and forth down the empty alley. Nothing but eery shadows shrouding the dwellings peered back.

No torches were lit. She was not alone.

In careful silence, the figure bolted off down an alleyway as the shadows began to follow. Ahead, several turns down, there was the golden glow of a torch. They were behind her, then.

And the torch lights ahead winked out.

The figure stopped for a moment. The blue eyes closed within the cloak and for a moment time seemed to almost shatter. The figure’s eyes opened wide as she leapt forward, a hand reaching out of the shadows to her right, missing. The figure rolled, rising back up on her feet and wheeling around, brandishing a small dagger. A figure, not the one she expected, stepped from the shadow. It was a man, a short and charming looking fellow, but the crossbow in his hand told otherwise.

“Where is he?” The figure said, with a voice that sounded faintly of an empty chamber.

“Come now, doll, we don’t want to be causin a scene. Some other felon might come along and want a piece o’ the action.” The man leered as the shadows behind him began to swell.

“I don’t think you want to trifle with me, unless you already know who I am,” the figure said with an almost indifferent tone.

“And who might you be than, love?” The figure reached for a cigarette.

“You don’t know? Oh, then I’m deeply sorry,” the figure said racing back off down the alley.

The man looked up at his fleeing target and fired. The bolt, however, stopped only two inches in front of the man, hovering in air. He blinked. But there were only shadows there…….nothing but shadows…..that he couldn’t see through. A muffled yelp came from the darkness and the shadows continued after the figure, leaving behind absolutely nothing except a cigarette laying within a strange circle of black sand.

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