Grindvell, the city where rain is constant and the sun rarely graces the sky, is a place of perpetual gloom. Water channels snake through the streets, tirelessly washing away filth, while murky puddles gather underfoot. The rain pounds relentlessly on the cobblestones, blending with the ceaseless coughs of passersby. Skinny and feeble, their faces are sunken from exhaustion, their ragged clothes damp and clinging. Overhead, the air hangs heavy with black smog, a choking miasma that seeps into every breath.


    Across the towering Brass Curtain, a wall six feet thick and nearly forty feet high, lies the stark contrast of the Velmorin district. Here, the streets shimmer as though lined with gold, and elegant canopies shield the roads from the rain. The atmosphere is bustling, filled with the laughter of fat merchants and the lilting voices of beautiful women. Money flows freely, and flirtations are as abundant as the schemes whispered in shadowed corners. Aristocrats and lawyers, counts and foreign dignitaries, all maneuver for power and wealth in a dance of calculated cunning.


    At the heart of Velmorin stands the Aurum Spire, the capitol building of Grindvell. It looms above the district, home to the city’s council and their families, a gleaming monument to their authority and privilege.


    Chapter One


    Rain poured in from the open window, the water soaking the floors, a cold air blowing in with the rain. Arthur, son of Councilor Theobald Thornbury, awoke from a chilling draft seeping under his door, and snaking up to join him in his Haven and Hush brand sheets, the most expensive ones money could buy. Arthur reluctantly threw the elegant sheets off, setting his feet   on the cold, golden floor. You’d think being this rich, Arthur’s father could afford to carpet their rooms, but carpet doesn’t last long in Grindvell, what with the rain and all. Arthuer stepped outside his room, letting out a shiver, finding the open window and closing the shutters, stopping the downpour.


    There was a mess now, water soaking the hallway, Arthuer turned to call for the servants but found the hallways empty. Normally there’s servants and guards patrolling the hallways day and night, but now they were empty. Artuhuer rounded the corner, and stopped dead.


    Lying in a pool of blood were the guards posted to his room, he knew them by name, he’d met their families before, knew their children. He quickly ran over to the closest one, Jason Knechtle, who had 3 children, and a late wife that Gloomrot had taken a year prior, started taking extra days to put food on their table. Arthuer had begged his father to increase the guards'' pay, and often visited the man''s children with toys; he knew how hard losing a mother could be. Arthuer gritted his teeth, feeling rage and confusion bubbling up within him.


    Someone had infiltrated the Spire, an assassin, a coup? If so, who was their target? Arthuer didn’t know, but he stood to his feet and unsheathed his sword. He looked around, searching for clues in the deathly silent hallway, and spotted something on the floor, there on the ground was a trail of inky black liquid snaking off down the hallway in drops.


    Arthuer touched the substance, it was viscous and warm, like blood. “What is this?” Arthuer thought to himself, he thought about tasting it, going as far as to stick out his tongue, but stopped himself. “What if it''s a poison idiot?” he thought to himself. If it was, he had never heard of it before, he and Aveline had been forced to take many classes on what to watch for when looking at poisons, the life of being the son of a dignitary. “Wait, AVELINE!”  Arthur thought, cursing himself for not thinking of her sooner. He felt his legs turn to run to her room, but stopped himself, fiancé or not. He had a duty, plus her room was in the opposite direction the "blood" was going. “I’ll check on her later,” he thought to himself, taking off down the hallway sword in hand, following the trail, when suddenly it branched off into a meeting room.


    Arthuer slowly touched the handle of the door, the handle was warm, as if something had been heating the other side. Pushing the door open, he saw bodies sprawled out over the floor, limbs missing and throats slit, as if a tornado of swords had passed through. The smell of blood was overpowering, and it painted the whole room, Arthuer knew what was making the handle warm now, for the backside of the door he had just come through was drenched in the warm blood. It looked like there had been a meeting in progress before, well before this massacre.


    Arthuer stepped into the room and found the black fluid was also sprayed around the room in haphazard spurts in the same pattern the red blood was, as if it had been bled out as well. Looking towards the podium stationed at the front of the room, Arthuer saw his father, head pulled back, a knife stuck into his throat. Arthuer’s knees felt weak, and bile rose up in his throat but he held himself up, and the bile in, refusing to fall. It only took a moment before his despair was turned into rage, as he saw a lone man dressed in a black flowing cloak, holding a blade at his side, it was smaller than the average sword, but not quite a dagger either.


    Arthuer quickly raised his sword, he had been trained in sword play since he could walk, he was trained by Zephyr Vondane, the most renowned swordsman of all of Grindvell, this man had murdered nothing but a few guards and a bunch of politicians, Arthuer was certain he could beat him with ease.


    The figure raised its head to look at Arthuer, and Arthuers breath caught in his chest. He could barely call this thing a human, for once he saw its face he realized who he was really faced off against, was Umbra.


    Umbra—a name whispered in fear throughout Grindvell. A myth, a legend. Stories tell of his appearances during the darkest nights, where his presence was said to herald the downfall of kingdoms and the deaths of kings. In one tale, a prince’s betrayal summoned him; Umbra appeared in the palace’s great hall, a shadow given form, and by dawn, the royal bloodline was extinguished. Farmers spoke of blackened fields where he tread, and children grew up warned that calling his name might bring him to their door. Wherever blood flowed, the reaper was sure to follow. The reaper, the bogeyman who came for those destined to die, his arrival heralded by blood and shadow. His face was a metal skull, its surface marred with countless slashes and marks, battle scars from millennia of conflict. His eyes were nothing more than empty, pitiless black sockets that seemed to devour the light around them.


    Umbra’s left hand reached down to his belt, his right hand still dangling the blade at his side.


    The movement was almost casual, as if Arthuer’s presence was of little concern.


    Gritting his teeth, Arthuer charged, his sword slicing down in a wide arc. The blade connected, cutting deep into Umbra’s neck and carving through bone and flesh until it stopped just above the heart. Arthuer braced himself for a reaction, but Umbra didn’t flinch. He didn’t even stagger.


    With unnerving calm, Umbra reached up, his fingers wrapping around the blade with a deliberate slowness that sent a shiver down Arthuer’s spine. The steel groaned against the unyielding grip, and with a sickening squelch, Umbra pulled the sword free. Black liquid poured from the wound, cascading down his chest like a grotesque waterfall. The fluid hissed and bubbled as it hit the ground, almost alive in its movement. His head tilted slightly, as though considering the sword in his hand, before tossing it aside with a flick of his wrist, the clang echoing ominously in the room. It was not just detachment—it was a display of absolute dominance, an act that defied all natural law. Black liquid oozed from the wound, coating the blade. No—it wasn’t just coating it. The liquid was blood, pouring out from within Umbra, but it behaved unnaturally. As Arthuer watched in horror, black tendrils emerged from the wound, knitting the flesh back together with impossible speed.


    Arthuer stumbled back, his mind a whirlwind of terror and confusion. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to run, but his legs felt leaden, rooted to the blood-soaked floor. The impossibility of what he had just witnessed gnawed at the edges of his sanity. "What is this thing?" he thought, panic rising in his chest. His breath came in shallow gasps as his thoughts tumbled over each other: a desperate search for a strategy, a way to fight, a way to survive. The sheer weight of Umbra’s presence pressed down on him, a suffocating aura that made him feel like a child standing before an unstoppable storm. He wasn’t fast enough. Umbra’s right hand blurred, and Arthuer felt a sudden, fiery warmth erupt from his gut. His hands instinctively went to his stomach, finding it split open, his innards slipping between his fingers.


    He looked up, his vision fading, just in time to see Umbra’s left hand rising. A final warmth spread to his neck, and then there was nothing. Arthuer was dead before his body hit the blood-soaked floor.


    22 Years Prior


    Caius Calder was born to a prostitute woman in the Shikan district, two years later Caius’ mother had another baby, his younger half sister, Mina. His mother died 3 days after her birth when a man got violent with her, Caius never knew her name, just her surname.


    Caius and Mina were sent to Appleshade Orphanage immediately after her death, where they were raised.


    Caius’ body ached, he had been in the factory since dawn that day, and evening was settling into night, rain poured from the sky as always. He and the other boys from Appleshade had been at their work duties in the factories that they attended every day, save Sunday. The boys of Appleshade had made a game of who could make it back to the orphanage first, and everyday they would line up and race back to the large double doors that heralded the entrance of Appleshade. Many boys had stopped playing the game with Caius though, as he always found his way home first.


    Caius had learned a long time ago that taking the streets of the Shikan district was by far the slowest way to travel, especially since they lived so close to The Iron Curtain. City Watch had set up more and more checkpoints recently, there to search factory workers and other Shikan residents for materials stolen from the factories. But Caius could evade these checkpoints via rooftop, which just so happened to be the fastest way to travel in Shikan. There were plenty of parapets and buttresses to travel across, if one was nimble enough.


    Which, according to everyone, Caius was. He could often be found shirking his duties and escaping at nighttime by hiding in the rafters or fleeing out windows, which was easy enough to do with his small frame.


    Caius slid down a support pillar of the bakery next door to Appleshade, prancing off to the front door, stopping when he spotted one of the boys leaning up against the front door casually.


    “Took you long enough Caius,” he called out,


    ”Shut up, how did you beat me?!”


    Caius called out, picking up the speed to meet up with the boy.


    “Damn you Ronan,” Caius called out again, “how did you beat me?”


    Ronan smiled, “you know, you''ve been asking me that a lot lately, and I''m still not telling you,” Ronan said with a gentle punch to Caius’ arm.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Ronan had arrived around the same time as Caius about ten years ago, he was probably the only person here Caius really called a friend, even though they had a two year age gap, Ronan being fourteen and Caius twelve.


    ”So, Caius, are you nervous about Mina turning ten soon?”


    “What? No way, she will be fine the girls don’t even leave Applegate for work,”


    Caius was lying, truly, he was terrified about what would happen between him and his sister. Almost every girl at Appleshade had this dead look in their eyes that gave Caius chills, like they just wanted to die, and strange bruises, often all over their bodies. It had been keeping him up at night, thinking about what might happen to Mina. Caius had just recently turned old enough to go to the factories to work, as was required of all Appleshade children to “earn their keep”. The boys started working the factories at twelve years old, as for the girls of Appleshade, none of the boys had any clue what they did. In fact communication was restricted between the two groups once they reached the working age, which was ten, and even if they did talk the girls kept their lips tight.


    ”Sure, sure, whatever,” Ronan chuckled, though Caius could hear the  concern in his voice. Ronan liked to think of himself as the whole orphanage''s big brother, or at least the big brother of any kids younger than him, it was the older kids, the fifteen and sixteen year old''s that caused the most issues for the younger kids. And Ronan was usually the one to handle these problems, he had a sense of justice strong enough for him and Caius, and the build to back it up. He was tall for his age, and had already started to pack on lean muscle; he might have weighed around one hundred forty pounds, Caius guessed, but neither of them had ever seen a scale big enough to measure a human before.


    The boys pushed open the large double doors and headed inside, Appleshade had towering ceilings and cold stone floors, and even colder staff, their favorite pastime was disciplining the boys, sometimes with no cause other than desire. Caius received constant beatings, only surpassed by Ronan who seemed to have his moral compass turned to overdrive every waking hour, often taking the beatings for the younger kids. Caius was glad for this, Ronan had taken the blame for Mina’s mishaps several times, and sometimes even for Caius.


    Caius couldn’t ever recall a time when Ronan had shown fear or pain, even when they were little, and those things were commonplace for the children then, Ronan never winced in pain or let fear show in his eyes, even for a second. Caius idolized him, but Caius was not like him, if it hadn’t been for Mina, Caius knew he surely would have given up many years ago, but his little sister needed him to be strong, to show her that they could get through this together. Just him and Mina and Ronan.


    “Ahhh I bet Val has missed me something dearly,” Ronan sighed, half to himself, half to Caius. “Just me Mina, Ronan, and Val now too I guess,” Caius thought.


    Val was Ronan’s girlfriend, she was fifteen, with long black hair and pretty pale skin that didn''t belong in the Shikan district, everyone always said her mother was a beautiful woman too.


    “Don’t bet on it, it''s probably more like ‘Oh wow, it sure is a bummer that Ronan comes back from the factories everyday! I wish there would just be an accident already!’” Caius said in a girly voice, mocking Val’s whiny cadence, taking off down the hall hoping to escape Ronan’s kick in the ass. He did not manage to escape the kick.


    “You know you''ve got an awful big mouth for your size Caius,” Ronan said, running to catch up with Caius, whose bottom was now sore as well as the rest of his body.


    Caius was small for his age, he knew that and so did everyone else. He was often bullied and targeted, and his small stature prevented him from doing much about it, but again that''s what Ronan’s moral compass was for.


    “Whatever, let''s go eat, Mina’s probably waiting on us, you know her,” Caius said, trying to hold his laughter in as Ronan made faces at a staff member behind their back.


    Caius and Ronan strolled down the main hall, stopping to give their time cards to the overseer waiting for the boy workers to return home, he was a tall man with a beak of a nose, and beady eyes that could count money faster than a Velmorin cash register, before heading for the Refectory.


    “On second thought, I better go see Val first,” Ronan whispered.


    Despite the strict rules prohibiting boys and girls from contacting after the girls turned ten, Ronan, and many others as well, would sneak into the girls wing in the east and see them during the day when they had little to do.


    “Yeah alright, don’t worry I''ll cover for you.”


    “Thanks man, I owe ya.”


    “Yes, you do,” Caius whispered to Ronan, he covered for Ronan nearly every day, but it was a part of their deal. Ronan was trying to get Val to spill on what their jobs were at night, however his attempts so far had been unsuccessful, all he had gotten her to say was that she hated it. “Some informant,” Caius thought to himself sarcastically.


    Ronan skipped off up the stairs towards the dorms while Caius continued straight down the hall, the Orphanage was split into four wings, the West Wing belonging to the boys, the South to the kids not old enough to work yet, essentially a nursery and elementary school, the East belonging to the girls, and the North being the staff quarters, and in the middle was the Refectory, a large dining hall where all the kids would eat. The boys eating time for dinner just so happened to overlap with the younger kids, so Caius would get to eat with Mina everyday after work. Caius was heading to the Refectory, down a hallway lined with classrooms and broom closets, when he felt several large hands grab him at the same time, pulling him into a dark classroom.


    “Sooooo, Caius, you didn’t think I’d forget about what you got your boyfriend to do to me did you?” said a raspy yet shrill voice, like someone trying to sound older than they really were. Caius instantly recognized Clarence Desmond, the biggest bully in Appleshade, seventeen years old and mean, he had Caius by the back of the neck with his left hand, and Caius’ right arm in his right. He made Ronan look average sized, and easily weight two hundred pounds, normally the children are kicked out once they reach sixteen, considered the legal age in the Skikan district, but Clarence was the owner''s kid, and so he and his gang of hooligans were frequently skipping work and lazing around eating food all day with no consequence, other that the consequence this lifestyle had on their stomachs.


    “Shit,” Caius thought to himself, these boys ran in packs and he already knew that if he turned around there would be at least five more boys waiting in the dark room. He had no clue what they were saying he had done, but he knew it didn’t matter, once these kind get an idea in their head they rarely use their brain again. Not to mention Ronan put the beatdown on these kids at least twice a week and Caius was his scrawnier best friend.


    “I have no clue what you mean Clarence,” Caius managed to spit from between Clarence’s fingers.


    “Sure you don’t kid, just go ahead and fess up to what you made you attack dog do,”


    Caius suddenly felt his arm twist in a bad way behind his back with a loud pop, and a sharp pain exploded up his entire arm from the elbow.


    ”Agh, so you’re too chicken shit to fight him yourself?” Caius said between gasps, he knew his mouth would only get him hurt more, but that''s all he really had on these boys.


    Clarence twisted his arm more and Caius yelped in pain, Clarence pushing him down to his knees.


    “Come on, I won’t hurt you anymore if you just admit what you made him do,” Clarence leaned in closer, “hell, I may even let you in on what your sister will start doing next month.”


    Caius knew there was a very good chance that Clarence actually knew, after all he WAS the Headmaster’s kid. “What should I do? Lie? I could make something up that I did.” Caius thought, but just as he was gonna try and bluff his way out,the door to the classroom opened.


    “You and your smart mouth Caius,” said a familiar voice. Caius’ legs regained strength, Ronan had come to save him! Using his entrance as a distraction Caius twisted his torso and threw his left elbow back, clocking Clarence in the temple, and using the opportunity to break out of Clarence''s grip, dashing from his knees towards Ronan.


    By the time Caius reached where Ronan had been, he was already busy, spinning and kicking and punching, a little whirlwind of knees and fists. Caius knew better than to try and help him, but when he saw Clarence trying to skirt around the conflict to sneak behind Ronan he rushed over and delivered a swift kick into Clarence’s knee causing the boy to lose his step and fall. Caius quickly backed away, his kicks were his strongest attacks, but with his dominant hand hurt and Clarence having a clean ninety pounds on him his chances of winning this weren’t looking good.


    “Why you little,” Clarence said, standing to his feet, a very angry look on his face. Caius tried to scamper on out the exit, but Clarence beat him there.


    ”Well, Ronan may beat us this time, but I can still pummel you into the ground,” Clarence said as if very happy with this silver lining. He moved in on Caius, swinging wild punches. They were easy to dodge at first, Caius ducking and slipping between overhands and hooks, but eventually Clarence would land one hit, and with his size that’s all it would take to stun Caius.


    Almost as soon as Caius thought this, Clarence landed a gut wrenching hook on Caius’ liver, allowing him to land the next three consecutive punches on his face as well. That was it, Caius was down for the count, his legs gave out and he fell but as he hit the ground, nose bleeding and cheekbones hurting, he saw Ronan come up from behind and put Clarence down in two punches and a swift kick in the nuts.


    ”You could have done that a little earlier man,” Caius groaned.


    ”I had the other five to deal with, you lost the one on one,” Ronan chuckled, helping Caius to his feet. Caius looked around,sure enough Ronan had beat up the other five boys with minor damage to himself, at most a fractured nose and a black eye, Ronan was very good at not getting hit back, and moved almost as fast as Caius could. Almost.


    ”Man they fucked you up, Mina is going to rip us a new one.”


    “We will deal with that later, why’d you come back, I mean thanks and all but you said you had almost got Val to spill!” Caius said, shuffling towards the door, Ronan quickly behind him.


    “Well, apparently she doesn’t want to see me right now, Ingrid stopped me at the door and told me to give her space, so I came back to get some food, and lo and behold, I came back to find you gone. Cenric tells me he saw you get pulled into there by Clarence, and here we are.” Ronan said while the boys started off down the hallway.


    “Well, what did you do? How’d you piss Val off?” Caius asked.


    “Not a clue, I swear you have to be a mind reader to understand women, she''s been acting weird the last couple days,” Ronan chuckled, “women right? Do you ever understand Mina?”


    “Mina tends to make her line of thinking pretty clear unfortunately,” Caius responded, Ronan laughed aloud this time, “ain''t that the truth.”


    As they shuffled out into the hall they met the kids coming out of the dining hall, among them was Mina. She looked carefree, the face you’d expect on a nearly ten year old girl, until she saw Caius that was, near instantly her face grew concerned and her brow furrowed.


    Mina quickly rushed over to the boys, punching Caius in his gut.


    “What happened?” she yelled, meanwhile, Caius doubled over in pain. Mina was only nine years old, but she was almost as mean as Clarence when she wanted to be, Caius often saw her spanking all the other young kids, and as she told him many of them considered her to be a very scary girl.


    “OW, pleeease do not hit me there, my liver is already dying as it is,” Caius begged her, Mina had a tendency to hit first, and ask questions later.


    “I’ll hit you again if you don’t tell me what you did,” she said in Caius’ direction, “and you,” she pointed at Ronan, “you better start talking as well.”


    For being nine years old Mina was very mature, and often doled out punishment on her older brother and Ronan for the misbehavior, she really was quite a scary nine year old.


    “Hey, Clarence started it this time I swear,” Ronan quickly stammered out, backing up several steps as Mina took advantage of Caius being doubled over to smack him upside the head.


    “When has that excuse ever worked before on me? Better yet, when has it ever worked on Clarence’s dad when his son tells him you beat him up again?”


    “We can use our staple move, deny deny deny,” Caius quipped, quickly moving back to avoid the swat coming his way.


    “UGH you boys and fighting, I had to break up four fights with the younger kids this morning.” Mina sighed, “Well, you guys better get up to the dorms and clean yourselves up, you know that staple move of yours won''t work if you''re all beat up.”


    “On it Mina!” Ronan said with a smile, happy to escape a beating, “Come on Caius, you''re way more messed up than me.” Holding on to each other''s shoulders, the boys made their way upstairs, Mina kicking Ronan in the shin as he passed by.