Light Unbroken (Ardor of Light Trilogy) Book 1

Light Unbroken

  Ardor of Light Trilogy

  (Book 1)

  By

  K. Lew

  Dedicated to my mother for believing in me

  And to my readers, never give up on your dreams and passions.

  Ardor of Light Trilogy

  Light Unbroken (Book 1)

  Light Unknown (Book 2)- Coming Soon

  Light Chosen (Book 3)- Coming Soon

  Copyright 2013 by K. Lew

  ****

  Prologue: The Price of A Dream

  Waves upon waves of seawater crashed relentlessly onto the white shores as the sea tide flooded the white beach. Without warning, the momentum shifted and the water receded back to sea, leaving behind black and white shells littered across the white beach. A rider and his gray stallion stood on the edge of the rocky cliffs, overlooking the white beach. The rider was in his late teens. A rush of sea breeze blew against his brown hair as his dark brown eyes scanned the crashing sea below. He prompted his gray stallion down the slope to the white beach. The rain splattered against his black rain cloak and his hood as the wind whipped across his partly exposed face. He looked up. The gray clouds were slowly migrating away from the tempestuous sea and towards him.

  As much as he tried not to dwell in the past, his thoughts drifted back to that fateful night three days ago. His mam’s warning repeated in his head. “Don’t you dare, Billus! You’re gambling your future on the roll of the dices.” He remembered answering back. “I will never know unless I try. Every year is the same, sow the rice and vegetables and take care of the chickens. I’m miserable here. I want to live in the city and become a lightkeeper.” He still remembered his mother’s last words as the guilt flowed into the hole where his heart used to be. “Where did I go wrong raising you? Go ahead then. Walk out those doors like your pa. The only thing you ever cared about was yourself. Not me, you never gave a damn about your poor mam who brought you into this world and raised you. I saw that selfishness of yours early on, but I overlooked it because you were my son. But now it is clear as day to me. Go on and have the life you always wanted.” That night he took one last look at the red brick farm, the only home he had ever known before leaving with his gray stallion. Clutched in his right fist was a crumpled letter addressed to his mother.

  His gray stallion trembled beneath him, breaking his train of thought. The boy rubbed his stallion’s mane and leaned forward. He whispered into his stallion’s right ear. “Buddy boy, we’re almost there. Don’t give up on me, not now when we are so close.”

  A few yards away in front of him, a schooner wagon traveled forward. The wagon was covered in a white canvas. The four hardwood wheels squeaked as they rolled onwards. He noticed that the larger back wheels were rolling slower than the smaller front wheels. A rush of wind blew past him, lifting the back flaps of the white canvas open, revealing a scared girl hugging her knees. Before he could take a closer look, the wind closed the flaps back in. The boy prompted his gray stallion to a full gallop. As he passed the driver seat, a heavy-set man with rugged beard tipped his straw hat towards the boy. He nodded back before turning forward. He flashed a smile at the shimmering white wall. He yanked the rein back to slow his gray stallion. The towering walls were even more magnificent to look upon. Rainbow of light reflecting off the cut diamonds encrusted in the white wall shot out towards him. As he approached the white gates, the white gates opened for him. He saw a guard in white chainmail standing inside the white gates. The rain began to subside to a gentle sprinkle.

  The boy reined in his tired stallion through the opened gates. The guard stepped forward. He was fitted in a white chainmail with a loose leather helmet. The guard had seen many boys come through the gates, excited at the prospect of joining the ranks of the elite lightkeeper only to have their hopes extinguished. The guard was a portly man with gray, cold eyes and a stubby beard growing on his chin. The guard was a few inches shorter than the boy.

  The guard looked down at the palm of his left hand. Billus saw the black scribbles on the palm of the guard’s hand. Then the guard looked up and asked. “Billus Welsh, is it?” Billus nodded. The guard replied. “Come on down off that horse. We have little time to waste.” As soon as he finished speaking, the gates began to close as the hinges rotated. Billus quickly turned around. “Wait. Hold the gates. There are still people out---”

  The guard interrupted. “The gates close on their own accord. Don’t worry about them. There’s a village not too far away that I’m sure is filled with warm beds and hot food. Come now. We are running behind schedule as it is.” The guard looked up at the darkened sky before speaking hurriedly. “And as I speak, a storm draws near.”

  As the gates shut, Billus dismounted off his gray stallion and landed onto the smooth white pavement. “Is there a stable nearby? Buddy boy here is exhausted.” The guard eyed the gray stallion and whistled in amazement. He spoke. “Mighty fine horse you got there.” Billus replied proudly. “When I first rescued him he was a walking skeleton close to death. I took him in and nurtured him back to strength.”

  But the guard had already turned around. The guard blew a sharp whistle. Moments later, a crowd of young children came running out from broken-down shacks and many streets and alleyways. Billus was shocked at the poor state the children were in. Their faces were gaunt with hunger defining them. Their clothing were torn and in rags. The children swarmed around the guard, reaching out to the guard. But before the nearest child could touch him, the guard swung out a steel baton. The tip of the steel baton fired white electricity. The crowd of malnourished children drew back.

  The guard pointed at a boy in the front, jumping up and down while waving his hands around. The guard shooed away the rest of the children.

  As the children scattered away, Billus stared at the boy. The boy had ginger hair and freckles. The boy smiled warmly at him. The guard spoke to ginger-haired boy. “Take the horse to the stables and make sure the horse is watered and fed.” The boy nodded obediently and reached out for the rein. But Billus did not hand the rein to boy. Billus spoke. “Please take good care of him. He means the world to me.”

  The boy smiled and spoke. “Don’t you worry, your horse is in good hands.” Only then did, Billus release his rein. Billus watched the ginger-haired boy steer his gray stallion away. But his stubborn stallion did not budge, holding his ground and refusing to be led away from his owner. Billus walked over to his gray stallion and petted him affectionately. Billus spoke. “Buddy boy, it’s time for you to go. There’s food and water where you’re going.” His gray stallion snort loudly in protest, but hunger and exhaustion won out. Finally his gray stallion allowed the ginger-haired boy to lead him away. Billus watched until his gray stallion disappeared around the end of the street corner.

  The guard spoke. “That horse is more trouble than it’s worth.” Then without another word, the guard walked onwards. Billus jogged to catch up with the guard.

  Billus spoke. “My mam named me Billus after her pa. She did it to spite my pa. But my pa could care less. He left my mam and me when I was very young. I can barely remember his face. But I never forget his belt or his fists. But enough about myself, what do your friends call you?”

  The guard looked away before speaking. “They call me Four Fingers.” Four Fingers lifted his right hand. Where his thumb was supposed to be, only a shortened stump remained.  

  Billus looked at the stump in horror and quickly changed the topic. “How long have you been in the service?”

  Four Fingers stopped and turned around, snapping harshly. “Look, I’m not here to babysit youngsters. I’d rather be in a bar with a jug of me
ad in one hand and another around the waist of a doxy, so shut it and stop bombarding me with questions.”

  Four Fingers started walking again. They turned left to another street corner before colliding right into a busy crowd of people in a street full of fruit vendors. It was rush hour in the marketplace. There was noise everywhere from the chattering customers to the screaming vendors. Four Fingers spoke. “Stay close to me.” Then Four Fingers yelled out to the crowd. “Out of the way.” The crowd looked and saw the guard in the white chainmail. Gradually the crowd made a narrow path for the pair.

  “Fresh fruits. Get your fresh fruits here.” Billus passed an old man screaming behind a wooden wheel cart filled with assortments of fruits. The old man had mane of white hair growing from his sideburns all the way down to his chin. Billus frowned. I’m going to be late. But his stomach was grumbling loud enough that every once in awhile, Four Fingers turned around and glanced at him in annoyance. Billus strayed away, drifting toward the many fruit carts on either side of the street. Billus heard an agitated voice that sounded like Four Fingers, but the words were drowned by the noise of the crowd.

  Billus stopped at the wooden wheel cart and white-haired man from earlier. Billus asked. “How fresh?”

  The old man spoke eagerly. “Every fruits you see in front of you were picked this morning by my own hands.” Billus browsed at the selection of the fruits on wooden cart. He rummaged through the different varieties of fruits. Billus picked a blue cone-shaped fruit up, but dropped it after blue slime oozed out of the blue fruit when he squeezed it. Next, Billus picked a black fruit up, about the size of his fingernail as he held it between his two fingers. Billus munched on the tiny fruit. Its flesh was soft and sweet. After swallowing it, gradually the world became brighter and clearer to him and his aching pains slowly disappeared. Billus pointed at the tiny black fruits. “How much for a pound of them?”

  The old man whispered. “Light Ends!” Billus looked back at the old man in confusion. The old man exclaimed. “Light Above! What an honor it is to see a lightkeeper standing in front of me. You are truly a blessing bestowed by the Chemlam, may his Light burn hereafter. Thank the Lights you are here to protect the city. Don’t you worry, my friend, the fruits are on the house, free of charge.”

  The old man weighed out a pound of the tiny black fruits and dropped them inside a plastic bag. Then Billus took the plastic bag and stored it inside his backpack. Billus bowed respectfully at the old man. The old man smiled.

  The old man’s smile quickly turned into a frown when a child dashed in suddenly and snatched a handful of fruits from his wooden wheel cart and sprinted full speed in the opposite direction where Billus came from. The old man yelled. “You little rascal, get back here!” Billus ran after the fleeing thief. Billus managed to catch sight of the thief in black rags among the crowd. Billus chased after the thief, knowing that he was weary from the journey getting here yet somehow he found the inner stamina to keep running. As he began to close the gap between him and the fleeing thief, a large man stepped back and collided into Billus. Billus fell back, landing on his back. He had the wind knocked from him. Billus breathed deeply until the feeling subsidized. An elderly woman stepped forward and asked him repeatedly if he was okay. Billus nodded several times. When the elderly woman saw he was okay, she disappeared into the crowd. When he pushed himself up, he looked and saw that the child thief and the large man he collided with was nowhere to be found.

  Billus returned to Four Fingers who was looking down at his watch, tapping his shoe impatiently. When Four Fingers looked up, he gave Billus the evil eye before walking away, cursing under his breath. After leaving the noisy chattering and the busy city market, Billus saw the Eve of Shadows, a towering, needle-like structure stretching high up in the sky. The tower was white as snow. Four Fingers spoke. “End of the tour.” Four Fingers began walking back in the direction of the busy city market.

  Billus yelled. “I hope we can still be friends.” Four Fingers stopped momentarily. He laughed before speaking. “Friends will be the least of your concern where you are going.” Without another word, he walked away in haste. Billus watched Four Fingers merge into the crowd until he lost sight of him.

  Billus turned back to the white door. He took a deep breath and pulled the door handle open. Inside the room was brightly lit. “You’re late.” Billus stepped in through the door. The room was an enormous dome. On the white walls, a line of portraits of the past Chemlams were staring down at him. Then he saw a woman sitting in an office chair behind a mahogany office table. She was tapping her fingers on a blackboard, lighting up the square area she tapped on. The lady had golden hair tied in a bun. She wore thick white-framed glasses. She continued tapping furiously on the blackboard. Then the tapping stopped. Without taking her eyes off the glowing screen of the blackboard, she spoke again. “You’re late. You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. It won’t happen again, do I make myself clear?”

  He spoke. “Yes ma’am.” The woman interrupted him. “Yes, Ms. Evette. From now on you will address me as Ms. Evette.”

  Billus spoke again as she stared at him as if she was waiting for an apology. “I’m really sorry about being late. It won’t happen again, Ms. Evette.” She retorted. “You damn right it won’t happen again. Now listen closely because I will only say this once. This here is an ID card that you will use to buy things with, a mean of communicating, a weapon for self-defense and to protect the citizens of this city, and a way to identify yourself. Keep it safe and with you wherever you go. Lose it and you might as well start packing your bags.” Then she tore her gaze away from glowing blackboard. She looked at him thoroughly and frowned.  

  “It says here that your name is Billus Welsh. Well from now on, your new name is Oakpac. You will do good to remember your new name because if words should ever come back to me that you disobey, you will be expelled. Now take this pill before you go up to your new home.” Billus asked carefully. “What is this pill for? Ms. Evette replied forcefully. “No questions. That is another thing you have to remember, never question your superiors’ orders.” Billus knew there was no way around not taking the pill and placed the colorless pill in his mouth and swallowed. It had a chalky flavor. Billus almost threw it back up. Billus struggled to get the pill down his throat. After a few seconds, Billus managed to push it down his throat.  She spoke. “See it wasn’t that bad. Now these elevator doors will take you straight to top where you will spend the night. Rest well tonight because tomorrow will be a long day.”

  Before she turned her gaze back to the glowing blackboard, she spoke. “And for Light’s sake, don’t forget your flashlight.”

  Ten minutes later, Billus was settling into his new home. He stood on the top of an elevated platform without any sides or roof. Billus had the entire view of the city below him. Down below, Billus watched the street bustling with people. Billus looked over the white walls. The white wall surrounded him and the city. In the east over the white wall, Billus scanned the miles of olive and lime forest. Then out of the left corner of his eyes, he caught a storm of gigantic proportion approaching quickly towards the white wall, leaving behind a path of darkened clouds. The gray clouds ripped across the sky as the storm unleashed downpour of rain and strong winds down on the forest. In the center of the storm, a spinning vortex of wind was engulfing everything near its proximity. The destruction on the ground was even more apparent as the path cleared by the storm through the forest was littered with fallen trees and debris.

  Billus fumbled with the flashlight in his hand until finally, he switched the flashlight on. Billus pointed the bright, white light at the gigantic storm. Then several white lights in the smaller towers around him added to his own light directed towards the incoming storm. As the combined light concentrated onto the storm, Billus saw the storm was slowly weakening. Billus watched the weakened storm as the wind around him began to die down. But the weakened storm was still moving towards the city. Billus dropped the flashl
ight and ducked down, anticipated the wrath of the storm. As the weakened storm collided against the white walls, he closed his eyes. A few seconds later, a light spray of rain splashed into his face. Billus opened his eyes. The storm disappeared, leaving behind a light sprinkle at its wake. Billus saw that the triangular pavement floor he was standing on was shimmering with white light. Billus blinked his eyes, trying to adjust his eyes as he spied a twisting tunnel of white light streaking into the darken sky, creating a dome of white light surrounding the entire city. The source of the white light was coming from the middle of the city square. There he saw a large crowd of people gathered in the city square hawking at the dome of light around the entire city. He noticed a man breaking away from the crowd, stumbling away from the city square and disappearing into another street out of his view. What a suspicious fellow. But Billus lost interest and turned his attention back to the raging sea as the waves clashed against each other.

  The Eve of Shadows cast a looming shadow over many streets turning and twisting away from the city square. The man stumbled down a street lit up with bubbles of light floating above. The man made his way slowly past the many homes falling in ruin. The tattered clothing on his back was in such horrible condition, not even a bum would wear. His tattered shirt and pants were shredded and torn to bits. The color of his tattered clothing blended in with his tanned skin. He turned his head to the cheerful laughter of children playing.

  Two boys were playing in the puddle in front of a stone house. The younger boy was poking the older boy with a folded, black umbrella. The smaller, much younger boy looked up at the man and burst into tears. The man had black, ruffled hair with an untidy, black beard. He breathed abnormally as his black beetle eyes stared at the two boys wildly. The older boy, sensing now was the time to flee, snatched the black umbrella from his brother and threw it at the strange man. He grabbed his little brother’s small fingers before dashing far away from the strange man. Together they ran away as fast as their feet could take them.

  The man stared at the black umbrella for a moment before picking it off the ground. Losing sight of the fleeing kids in the mix of rain and wind, he popped the black umbrella open and held it above him, shielding him from the light rain. He held the black umbrella up and continued his way. A powerful gust of wind blew his way, blowing the black umbrella right out his hand. His eyes followed the black umbrella as it floated up the darkened sky. The black umbrella drifted higher until it was swallowed by the darkness of the clouds. He stared at the exact spot where his umbrella disappeared, his mind lost in a trance. Then a streak of lightning struck accompanied by the roar of thunder, breaking his trance. He hesitated before stumbling forward. He pushed his way past crowds of people with black umbrellas. There were many children on the street with their mouth opened wide, using their tongues to lick the drops of rainwater that fell upon their lips. His eyebrows arched downwards like a V as he strained his eyes to pierce through the blurriness caused by the sprinkle of rain. Is there a faint of light over there? I can’t tell the difference anymore…where are you Mildred…oh the terror! Then as if a switch inside him turned off, the fatigue coursing through his body that he held at bay came crashing down on him. He stopped and looked down at his heavy clothing that were dragged down by the rain.

  Suddenly a voice within him interrupted his endless train of silence. Light and darkness…it’s behind you…a beacon of light extinguished into darkness. His eyes searched through the approaching darkness until his eyes caught light coming out from the building door. His body was weary at the point of exhaustion and he fell to his knees. A moment later, his knees finally gave out and he could not go any further. But a burning desire within him energized his body and he mustered the last of his strength and began crawling forward until he reached the stony steps leading to open door. Oh the terror! Then his head felt dizzy. The last thing he saw before he fell into darkness was a black umbrella floating among the darkened sky.

  The stony steps lead to a tinted glass building where the unconscious man laid a few feet away on the wet pavement. A glass dome covered the tinted glass building. At the front of the tinted glass building were black words that read: “Aue Revre.” The red carpet inside the opened door was dry because there was an invisible barrier blocking the incoming raindrops. The raindrops evaporated into vapors of gas as soon as it landed on the invisible barrier.

  The inside of the auction theater was a far contrast to the gloomy weather outside. The atmosphere was cozy and comfortable. An enormous metallic candleholder was suspended in the middle of the ceiling bringing light to the spacious auction theater. It was floating gracefully beneath the ceiling. The floor was made of Rosa Verona marble infused with rubies and garnets. The rows of silky cushion chairs were filled with the city most affluent and powerful people. The men wore black suits with a capital letter R stitched on their suit pockets. The ladies wore white dresses that complemented well with their dates’ sharp black suits. Many ladies wore white dresses that resembled upside down umbrellas, while other white dresses dropped down to the ground like curtain strips with shiny gems embedded in the bottom hems. There were two white revolving doors at the right and left sides of the auction theater, where flocks of servers entered and carried out wine glasses on silver platters.

  In the third row, a lady server was carrying a tray of wine glasses in one careful hand, while still trying to move at a steady pace to meet the crowd’s demand for sparkling wine. She knew she was not very pretty. Some would say she was ugly. Her nose was too big for her small face and when she smiled back at the customers, most of the time she did not receive a tip, which meant another night of canned soup. But she was proud of her eyes. Even in the dim light, her hazelnut eyes shone brightly.

  Navigating through the third aisle, she stopped at an elderly woman who was seated between a frowning man on her right and a young girl on her left. After she handed a wine glass to the elderly woman, she tripped over the elderly woman’s leg and the silver platter tilted over, spilling all the wine onto the man’s lap.

  The man jumped up as the wine glasses shattered onto the floor. The man shouted loud enough that those sitting nearby glanced at the commotion. “Damn it all to Light!” Meanwhile the lady server’s cheeks were turning red-faced. She apologized repeatedly to the angry man. The angry man had a pointed nose and black trimmed eyebrows. His face was clean-shaven without a single hair. She kept her head bowed to floor. She averted her eyes to the bottom hems of the man’s black pants. Finally after a few seconds, the man took his black suit off and shooed her away. She bent down to pick the broken shards of glass with her hands. The angry man stared at the lady server, his chest going up and down, barely able to contain his anger.

  Sitting next to the angry man was a considerably tall man. The tall man wore a silver mask that covered his face. The mask had two small holes where his dark piercing eyes stared back. There was a small molded nose with two smaller holes for his nostrils and a molded mouth that curved upwards at opposite ends into a frozen smile. He wore a black suit with a strap across his chest with a black umbrella sheath hanging by his side.

  The angry man bellowed at the tall man beside him. “Helios, you bumbling fool. What were you when this idiot spilled the drinks on my suit? I’m surrounded by clowns incapable of doing even the simplest of tasks.” Helios stood up, towering well over his master. Helios was over seven feet tall blessed by the Light Gods. The lady server continued picking the shards of glass lying on the carpet floor. Helios took his master’s ruined suit from his master. The angry man and his white buttoned up shirt looked down at the lady server. His eye moved from her face to down to her bleeding fingers where his eyes lingered for a few seconds.

  The man spoke in a low voice. “You know this suit you just ruined is worth more than you earn in five years. Before the night is over, I will be leaving behind a complaint to make sure you reimburse me in full for my suit you ruined and the wine you wasted, you mark my words.”


  At the start of the commotion only a few people were staring, but now the entire section was watching the situation unfolding. A man nearby in the same row, a few seats away, stood up. “Could you do this outside? The performance is about to start. If you have problem, could you be considerate of those around you and deal with it somewhere else?”

  The angry man exclaimed. “How rude and thoughtless of me. I haven’t introduced myself. Do you know who I am? My name is Gydos deRua and my lineage were all Chemlords, as am I.” Helios stepped toward the man in a menacing manner. The man glanced at Helios with fear. The man spoke bravely at first. “I don’t take kindly to threat, subtle or not.” As Helios inched in closer, the man spoke in a hushed tone. “But there’s no trouble here.” The man sat back down. He watched helplessly as Gydos turned his attention back at the lady server. Gydos moved towards the lady server, grabbing her bleeding hand and crushed her left hand in his fist with a malicious smile on his face. Helios placed his right hand on his master’s right shoulder. Gydos’s face showed complete shock and surprise, releasing his tight grip on the lady server’s closed fist. Gydos sat back down and pulled out a white handkerchief, wiping his hands clean. Helios helped the lady server up and examined her hands. With perfect precision, Helios picked off the broken shards lodged in her fingers. Gydos looked in disbelief, his mouth opened widely. “Helios you lumbering fool, what are you doing? Give me her hand this instant.” Helios grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards his master. Gydos grabbed her wrist and pressed her wrist down onto his watch. His watch was made of bronze metal, except for the center. At the center of the watch, there was a glass screen radiating out rainbow lights. After a few seconds, a beep went off and Gydos let go of her hand. The lady server pounced at her silver platter on the floor, gathering them with her other hand. Moments later, Helios sat back down next to his master who had focusing his attention on the front stage.

  The lady server walked back to the opening with the silver platter under her arm. After a safe distance away, she turned around to stick her tongue out at Gydos’s back. A little too late, she saw the tall man with the silver mask, staring back at her that left a chill running down her spine. She turned around and hastened her pace to the revolving door that lead into the kitchen.

  A red carpet paved from the main entrance to the Rosa Verona marble steps leading to the cherry marbled platform in middle of the auditorium. In the center stage of the black marbled platform, there was a brown podium. A short, diminutive man appeared out of the red velvet curtains. The short, diminutive man wore a black mad hatter to match his black suit. In hurried steps, the short, diminutive man stopped behind the brown podium stand. His eyes were large and light brown, scanning the crowd in front of him with a contagious smile, twirling his index finger around the end of long, curved mustache. He cleared his throat. “Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first annual Aue Revre Auction. My name is Lombras and I will be your host as you bid on your heart’s desires. First most I would like to thank the sponsors for making this possible.” Lombras smiled at the individual stage boxes above the audience on the floor. “A big thank you to everyone else for coming tonight. Now without further ado, I present Lila the exotic belly dancer from the high mountains of Talan.”

  The red velvety curtains receded away as the lights dimmed from above. A circle of light shined down on the center stage. A young woman gracefully stepped forward onto the center stage. The audience gave a resounding applause. Lila wore a white linen bra and full-length skirt with a diamond-encrusted belt draped across her curvy waist. Then the beats of drums began in the background. Lila began to move her hips to the rhythm of the drums. Lila moved gracefully around the stage as if she was floating in the air. Her long white hair swirled as she moved her hips and toned torso to the beats of the drums. A moment later, the audience gasped fearfully. A white tiger jumped over her landing on the center stage. The fearsome tiger was large and covered in white fur with black stripes. The tiger opened its mouth and snarled at the audience, revealing a set of ivory razor-sharp teeth. The hair on the tiger’s back raised back. Faster than a blink of an eye, Lila leaped forward over the white tiger. A man in the front row abruptly stood up and clapped loudly. The man was seated in the middle of the front row. The tiger snarled viciously at the man. The man backed away before pointing at her. He spoke. “I will be waiting for you outside after this circus is over, my pretty trophy.”

  A few spectators in the crowd gasped in shock, astonished at the large man’s display of audacity. While the other half of the crowds were froze in their seats, too fearful to react.

  Lombras who was signaling for the drums to stop, interrupted. “Security, please escort this man for his rude interruption to the exit.” Before the security could take a step, there was a yell from outside the main door. “Help! Someone please help!” The large man stepped back and ran towards the door. The crowd looked back towards the cries for help. The large man walked through the doors, out of the safety of the invisible barrier that kept the rain out. A mixture of wind and rain whipped straight across his face. In the blurring distance, a small figure squatted down next to a bearded man lying unconscious on the wet pavement. The large man picked the small figure up effortlessly. It was a boy. He was crying and clearly scared. The large man grabbed the boy by the cuff of his collars and shook him. “What happened boy? Answer me boy.”

  The boy sobbing, muttered, “I...I found him lying there…is he dead?”

  He dropped the boy down gently down on the wet pavement. As the large man reached to examine the unconscious man, Lombras called out from within, “Wait. Don’t touch him. What if he has some sort of sickness? A Chemlord should check him out first.”

  “No need to…he’s going to die…look at his arm.” Lombras peeked from outside, couldn’t see a thing. Too far away, he pulled his pants up and hopped his way to the unconscious man. Lombras lifted his hand carefully. On his forearm was a large gash, but strangely there was no blood. The gash was about a foot wide long running down the back of his hand from his wrist to his elbow. The color of the gash was a mixture of green and blue.

  Lombras gasped. It was the same gash he had on his both of his wrists. The attack took place years ago when he was only a boy. He remembered walking down the street from school. The night had fallen and the street was dimly lit by a few, flickering light bubbles floating above. In the shadows of corner store, a gray-blackish tendril grabbed and reeled him in. But the light from the flashlight saved him from an uncertain fate of death. But he did not escape unscathed. The tentacles of darkness left scars on both of his wrists and loss of feelings in his fingers that haunted him to this day. Lombras resurfaced from his thoughts as he heard the large man cursing at him and the rain. Lombras yelled back in agitation. “Bring that man inside. Quickly now! Your life depends on it.” Then under his breath, Lombras whispered. “Everyone’s life depends on it.” The large man smirked. “I don’t take orders from you, little man.” Lombras glared at him and spoke. “Then you don’t mind standing out here in the cold rain.” The large man glared back before putting the unconscious man over his back and walked back inside the auction theater. The little boy followed the large man back inside. Lombras turned around to his assistant. “Well? What are you standing about? Go get the Chemlord this instant!” His assistant, Lila nodded and ran back inside. Lombras looked up at the darkened sky. The rain sprinkling down on the pavement beside him was washing away his fragile hope for peace.  

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