Azala Press

This is a sneak peek at the first part of Promised Shadows

Prologue: 17 Years Earlier

The bleak stone that built the outside of the shop, gave no indication of the colorful and whimsical worlds hosted within. The shelves inside were lined with books that named far away kingdoms, love stories, and any information one could dream. It was small compared to many shops, but extended with wisdom beyond the limits of any one person’s imagination.

“Can you pass me my tea?” the woman behind the counter asked an older gentleman nearby.

He obliged her request, with a smile on his face. The pair were brother and sister, and well known around the city. They had been running this bookstore for years together. Inspiring a passion for reading within the community. Unfortunately, there had been talks recently of closing down the store and moving. Dark times were approaching, and no one in the kingdom was safe. 

“We really need to decide soon about the shop,” the man pressed. 

“This is our home. Where would we even go?”

“Far away, where you will be safe.”

They had this same conversation almost daily. Darkness was crawling its way across the lands, bringing death and war wherever it went. The only hope for survival was light, and it had declared the Shadows its enemy. Wielders of darkness, the Shadows were soldiers of malice. They held no sympathy or mercy for the weak. Seeking to overthrow the royal family of light, and begin a reign of pure darkness. 

Not everyone with the ability to control darkness was a Shadow. Many lived peaceful, quiet lives. It was no longer safe anywhere for these individuals. The king had made a royal decree marking all who control darkness as enemies of the crown. Seeking to exterminate and burn the threat from the land. 

The royal guard and king himself were traveling to ensure every person like this was hunted and executed. 

“You worry too much about me. I promise I can take care of myself.” 

“I know, I just worry they will find you here,” the man said.

The siblings had never left the city before. This was where they grew up, and all they knew. If they were to flee, they wouldn’t even know where to go. 

A commotion outside caught their attention before they could even finish the debate. Although, if this was heading in the same direction it always was, they wouldn’t have come up with an agreement, anyway. Peering out the shop window, the man saw many of his neighbors running back to their homes or shops. The front door flew open, and he stepped away to see who it was. 

“Theo?” Theo was a friend who was visiting the city. He had distant family here and came often enough for them to consider him a close friend. 

“You two need to go now! You’ve been named!”

“What do you mean?”

“The king himself is here. Someone offered him the names of those with shadow abilities here. He knows! You have to go now!”

There was no time to think or consider the details. Theo was right. They had to leave before they were discovered. 

“I will lead you to the forest, there are others at the temple out there. They will lead you to safety,” Theo said. 

With a nod from his sister, they made their way out the back door. There was no time to grab any belongings. The king wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone he suspected of controlling darkness. 

“This way,” Theo whispered. They crouched, moving swiftly through alleys and behind houses. A few times they glimpsed guards marching through the streets. Screams filled the air as individuals were torn from their families and executed in the middle of the city. 

The forest was within sight now, and they would only have to make a brief run from the building they were behind to make it. The only issue was it was all open land now. 

“We have to go for it,” Theo confirmed. Without another word they ran. Running for their lives. For a chance at freedom. 

“HEY! STOP THEM!” Someone bellowed from the city. 

Theo was ahead of the two siblings. 

The man risked a glance at his sister, seeing she was struggling to keep up in her dress. They were older, and not in the same physical shape as Theo either. If they fell behind, they were doomed. 

“We can make it, sister. We have to!” 

Guards were right behind them, and gaining on them fast. Theo didn’t look back at them either, continuing forward. He had a family too somewhere. A father, with children counting on him at home. 

Lost in thought, the man snapped back to reality when he saw his sister trip beside him. Coming to a halt he made to help her up, but it was too late.

Guards grabbed her by either arm and dragged her backwards. The man shouted and pleaded, following them. They made no bother to restrain him. It wasn’t his power they feared. Theo had paused for a moment. 

“Go, protect your family,” was all he offered, and Theo left with a sad nod.

He rushed after his sister, trying to get the guards to release her. 

“Please, you have the wrong person. My sister has done nothing wrong.” Tears stung in his eyes, and through blurry vision he could see they were almost at the center of the city now. Small fires burned. Bodies left to become nothing but ash. 

“You can’t do this. She’s my sister. Please.” Complete devastation coated every word. 

The guards forced his sister to her knees as he watched. They were waiting for the command to execute her. He tried to rush to her side, but now more guards had arrived and held him back. Fighting against their grip, he yelled between sobs. 

A man, dressed in the most exquisite of armor, emerged from a nearby alley. Striding with powerful grace toward the commotion. His eyes burned with fury. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the guards holding the woman before him. 

“And what do we have here? A Shadow?” the king cooed. 

“I caught her fleeing,” one guard answered. 

“She isn’t a Shadow,” the man pleaded. 

“Ah, but then why was she fleeing if innocent?” the king declared, his mind made up. 

Without another word, flames sprang to life in the palms of his hands. He tilted his head, examining the woman forced to her knees in front of him. With a cruel and wicked grin, he unleashed his power. 

The woman no longer kneeling before him, only a raging fire. Towering above them all. The flames were merciless. 

The guards let go of the man, who was helpless to save his sister now. Every part of him gave up. Falling to the ground he didn’t even attempt to catch himself. Painful and grief filled sobs left his mouth. Screams of the worst type of loss would be heard across the kingdom on this day. 

With what little strength he had left, he lifted his head to see the fire before him. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. 

This wasn’t the story he had imagined would be told of the pair one day. This was a story of loss, excruciating pain, and grief. A story sadder than any tragedy found on the shelves of their shop.

Chapter 1

The streets were always empty this late at night. This particular one was in the lower sector of Veena, close to the docks, a section better left alone close to midnight. Even as the capital of the kingdom of Apricus, Veena still had sections of the city that were best avoided come dark. It is for this reason that Esmerae increased her pace as she made her way down the street, clinging to the shadows when she could. Once in front of the home that was her target address, she immediately moved to the alley beside it. She had scoped it out during the day. She didn’t know who lived in this home, only that this was the address of tonight’s job.

Esmerae found the second-floor window on the side adjacent to the alley she was now in. During the day, she gathered that this window led to a study. She called a bit of air to her and used this to help support her climb up the stone side to the window. Esmerae considered herself lucky. Air was a very useful elemental power to have when working as a thief. She could always stay light on her feet, was more apt for scaling walls, and could easily retrieve items with a quick gust of wind. Tonight’s job would be quick work. She just needed to enter the home undetected, and grab the item she came for. Then, she’d soon be on her way back to her apartment, far away from this street. 

In no time at all, Esmerae reached the second-floor window and quietly slid it open. How fortunate for her, it wasn’t locked. Often she found people forgot to lock windows that were not on the first floor. Sliding effortlessly into the room, she took in her surroundings and immediately spotted a large oak desk to her left. Beginning to look through the desk and, she was startled when she heard voices coming from another room. Accounting for whoever lived here to still be awake had not been a part of her plan, but she wasn’t worried, she would leave any second now. She just needed to find… “Yes,” she whispered to herself. 

There it was, lying right in the top drawer of the desk. Quickly, she shoved the item into her pants pocket and made for the window. This may be one of the easiest jobs she had ever done, she thought. Moving to head back out the window, she heard steps heading straight for the door of the study. She needed to hurry and leave now or risk being caught. This left no time to gracefully climb back down the wall as she did to get in. Instead, she jumped right out the window, using air to slow her landing. Hitting the ground, she turned back to the window, using her air to close it behind her.

That was almost a close call, but nothing she couldn’t handle compared to many of her past jobs. Heading back to her apartment in the middle of Veena, she needed to meet with Maxim Hardy, who was expecting her in the next thirty minutes.

Working for Maxim for the last six years wasn’t easy. Beginning after he recruited her to be one of his many thieves. He was one of the most notorious criminal masterminds in all of Veena, with many skilled criminals in his employ. Maxim approached her when she was only seventeen years old, barely scraping by on her own. She had been taking odds and ends jobs, as well as stealing to get by. At the time, she was staying where she could, crashing with a friend or working for a room at an inn, since she could not afford an apartment. 

Now she was making enough as one of Maxim’s thieves to live a quiet, normal life in an apartment near the city’s market. Of course, most people in Veena likely didn’t consider committing crimes daily to be normal. Yet, Esmerae didn’t have many other options. Her parents died when she was only six years old, and since then, she had grown up in one of the few group children’s homes for kids like her until she was old enough to learn to fend for herself. 

Walking at a quick pace, Esmerae arrived at her apartment. Hurrying inside, she jogged up the stairs to the second floor, where she unlocked her door. 

“Esmerae, I see you’ve returned, and in an impressively short amount of time. I would expect nothing less from one of my best thieves.” Maxim’s voice startled her. His tall figure leaned against a wall across from her. In the dimly lit apartment, she could just make out his dark features. 

She should’ve known he would already be waiting inside. No lock was going to keep Maxim out. 

“Stop calling me that. I really hate that name! I’ve told you a million times, it’s just Rae.”

Of course, she suspected he would never stop calling her it because he enjoyed getting under her skin. Few people had the ability to do so, and beyond that, fewer people knew her name was Esmerae. She had always just gone by Rae. 

“Come, bring me the item you retrieved so I can be on my way.”

Rae felt a slight gust of wind breeze by her, almost pulling her towards Maxim. Inside this shouldn’t be possible, as all the windows were shut, except that like her, Maxim’s power was also air. They say the goddesses themselves blessed their people long ago with elemental powers. Beyond the elemental powers, some are blessed with a second, rare power such as light, healing, or other unheard of abilities. There was only one family in Veena who had the power of light, and they lived in the Solis Palace in the uppermost portion of the city where all could see it. 

Those of the royal Goldwirth family were all gifted with control over light and had ruled for as long as anyone could remember, because this was seen as the highest blessing in power. 

Rae approached Maxim, pulling the object she retrieved from her pocket. 

“Why was I hired to steal a pocket watch? This seems like a useless piece of junk.” 

Maxim let out a slight laugh. “Our customer lost the watch by gambling it away and it was a gift from his wife. Apparently he was afraid of her wrath when she found out that he had gambled away a gift she had got him.” 

Rae couldn’t help but laugh at this. The things the wealthier were willing to spend money on in this city. The idea that someone was willing to spend such money to have a pocket watch stolen back in fear of their wife’s disappointment was outlandish. Maxim’s services were not cheap by any means. 

“Do you already have another job lined up for me, or will I have a small vacation this time?” Rae never went long without a job from Maxim. 

“Why don’t you come by the Den tomorrow? I believe I have another job coming up for you, and it sounds like it could be a big one with sizable pay.”

The Den was Maxim’s place, a bar from which he lived above, owned, and operated all his business from. It was the most efficient way to find customers, remain undetected, and have a base of operations. 

“Yeah, I can stop by tomorrow afternoon. If this is truly a big job, I better get a fair cut this time, no being cheap.” Maxim was always looking to make the most profit himself off of jobs. 

“Oh, come on, you know me. I would never try to pay you less than you deserve. You are my best employee.” He winked, giving Rae a mischievous smile. 

“I do know you, and that is why I know you most definitely would pay me less if it meant you profited. You are the best criminal around, after all.” Rae gave him a playful smile back. 

“How about I pay you double what you normally make, and then I’m allowed to call you Esmerae whenever I would like?” 

And with that, Rae ushered Maxim out the door.

“I will see you tomorrow, Maximum, and we shall discuss it all then.” She bit back at him. He scowled. 

“That isn’t even my name. You just made that up.” He called back to her as he finally exited and with that, she locked the door behind him. 

Thankful to be left alone for the night, Rae was ready to get into her cozy bed and settle into a deep sleep. She was exhausted. Wandering into her bedroom, she caught a look at herself in her mirror. Wow, she looked exhausted, and a bit of a mess after jumping out of a window earlier.

Her curly, dark brown hair looked out of control and wind swept. Usually, on a good day, her curls were still hard to manage. Especially since she liked to keep her hair longer, so it fell nicely past her shoulders. She was told that during the day her dark brown eyes looked like they had specks of gold in them, but right now, they looked like an empty, dark hollow pit from pure exhaustion. Even her skin, which was typically a light tan, looked a shade paler. 

Rae had done a bit of training in the morning and then scoped out the job she just completed. After having to stay up so late, it was a wonder she was still awake at all. Grabbing the first nightgown she saw, she immediately put it on before throwing herself onto her bed. This was the best feeling after a long day, being able to just sink into her sheets and fall into a deep sleep.

* * *

She was running through the forest towards something, but she could not tell what that something was yet. She just knew she had to get there, and fast. It felt urgent. As she ran, she could feel the presence of darkness behind her. Like a fast approaching storm cloud, she knew she had to beat it or risk getting caught in whatever storm the darkness brought. Faster and faster, she kept running, feeling more urgent as she went. She came to a clearing that was a small field of flowers in the forest. She knew she was close and needed to keep moving. There wasn’t much time left. Yet, she still could not tell what she was running towards. Or even away from, for that matter. That anxious feeling that she needed to move hit her again, and she started across the clearing. Once she made it through this, she knew she would reach what she had been running toward. As she made it further into the clearing, her legs slowed, and she felt stuck. As if the earth was keeping her from reaching the other side of the field. It became harder and harder to move, and she was drained. Exhaustion threatened her vision, and soon darkness crept in from the corners of her eyes. As she gave one last effort to move through the field, the darkness finally took over, and she knew she had failed. 

Rae woke up startled and alert. Similar nightmares consumed her nights for the past few months now. Always the same forest, and always trying to reach something, but it was like her mind wasn’t yet ready for her to know what. She almost felt like the forest from her dream was a familiar place, like she had somehow once been there before. 

Pushing off the covers, she jumped out of bed to get ready for the day. Today was going to be a busy day. Rae had personal matters to deal with before visiting Maxim later. 

Hurrying to her wardrobe, she needed to find clothes. Many women of Veena choose to wear elegant skirts and dresses with corsets and blouses. Rae imagined these women were hoping to impress a man or woman who they then might one day call partner. Not that Rae didn’t think the skirts and dresses were beautiful. She owned many herself. Rather, she found pants were more practical, especially in her line of work. 

Picking out a pair of simple black pants and an even more plain blouse, she put them on with haste. Her favorite black boots were sitting by her bed and she laced them up, adding a small knife that would remain hidden in the side of her shoe. Unfortunately, with her line of work, there was always the threat that someone she stole from or wronged would come looking for trouble later down the line. Even with her control over air, she felt more confident carrying at least one knife on her at all times. One never knew who they would come across, and there were some who were so disciplined in their elemental power, they could often inhibit those with the same element from effectively using their power.

After a quick pause at the mirror to fix her hair, pulling half of it out of her face, Rae was ready to head out for the day. Passing by a few blocks, there was only a couple streets to go before she’d reach the city’s market. As a horse-drawn carriage approached, Rae effortlessly avoided it blending into the morning crowd of citizens. As a criminal, she was always working. 

Arriving at the market, she made her way straight to the baker’s booth, where she knew she would find an assortment of fresh pastries and pies. Already she could smell the delicious apple pie she craved.

“Good morning Benji!” Rae said to the man standing behind the booth, preparing slices of pies for hungry customers.

“If it isn’t my favorite customer, Rae!” 

Benji’s father owned a bakery closer to the palace and was often employed to bake fine pastries for the royal family. Since this frequently left him with his hands full, he had entrusted Benji with manning the booth at the market. Their family certainly didn’t need the money that selling at the market brought them, but Rae didn’t know anyone else who found such joy in baking and sharing their creations with others. She certainly would never complain, as these were her favorite treats. 

“I will take one slice of apple pie today, please.”

Benji knew her order and was already handing her the slice as she ordered. When they were little, she had a giant crush on him. They often played together in the market, and he was her oldest friend. More recently, Benji had grown into a handsome young man, with skin a lovely shade of brown. His eyes were dark with a hue of amber to them, which was more noticeable in the sun. Rae gave up her hopeless crush leading anywhere, when she was old enough to realize that Benji deserved better than a common thief as a partner. As he handed her the slice of pie, she handed him the coins for payment.

“Thank you, Benji. I’ll see you again soon. Make sure to save a slice of apple pie for me!”

She gave him a warm smile and left so she could go devour her slice. 

“Anything for my favorite customer!” Benji yelled after her, and she swore she caught a quick wink with that. 

Making her way through the market, Rae said quick greetings to the vendors she knew, and made purchases from those with the items she required. She passed by many intriguing vendors, some claiming they offered delicacies from far-off cities and others promising services such as elemental power lessons. Many of these were a scam. Those with great enough power to properly teach control worked at the palace. 

After a few hours of wandering, Rae found herself on the other side of the market, and began walking to her next stop. A few minutes later, she came to a halt, making her way up the steps of her friend’s home. With a quick knock, she let herself in. She was an expected guest.

“Erza, it’s me! Where are you?” 

“Up here! Come upstairs.” Erza called from somewhere far off in the home. 

Rae made her way through the house and towards the stairs. The house was decorated with beautiful artwork, sculptures, and lavish furniture. Erza’s parents were wealthier citizens of the city, and they had made sure that her house had everything she wanted. Although with her job, it was likely that Erza barely used her parents’ money. She was a spy, under Maxim’s employ. If there was any gossip, secrets, or forgotten knowledge, then it was likely Erza knew it. Secrets and knowledge came at a steep price, and they paid Erza generously.

Rae found Erza in her upstairs study looking over a pile of paperwork. 

“Are you studying another target for an upcoming job?”

She always collected information on those she needed to extract secrets from, and learned the best way to target them before beginning a job. If there was a weakness to exploit, she would find it. 

“Yes, and luckily, it seems this will be an easy target. My charm, and one of my best outfits should do the trick. Maybe I will even wear a flower in my hair for good measure.” 

With a flick of her hand, a vine grew up the side of the desk she was at, a flower blooming from it. Erza often said she felt more confident when she wore a flower. Like she was displaying one of her strongest aspects in her outfit. It was no wonder that she could catch the attention of anyone. She was beautiful, by every definition. With striking black hair that was straight and cut to her shoulders. Her chestnut eyes caught everyone’s attention, and she had light brown skin. 

“What’s up Rae? I feel like I never get to see you anymore, and as your best friend, I have to say that just will not do.” Rae laughed. 

“Well, it is hard to hang out when Maxim has us constantly running all types of jobs for him, at all hours. I wanted to come by and get your advice on something. I’m still having that same nightmare almost every night, and it isn’t getting any better. I know that if anyone has any secret knowledge of a remedy to nightmares, or knows someone to talk to, it would be you.”

“I wish I could help, Rae, but unfortunately I do not know much about dreams at all.” 

It had been a long shot, but Rae had figured it was worth asking her friend. A bit of disappointment bit at her. The nightmare was becoming a thorn in her side that she wanted rid of immediately. 

“Well, that’s alright. I realized it wasn’t likely. Will you be heading to the Den tonight? I have to meet with Maxim to discuss some upcoming massive job he has coming in.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there too. I believe my current target and job are actually linked to that big, mysterious job. Maxim has information he needs gathered before proceeding.”

“I’ll save a seat for you at the bar then and let you get back to work now. See you tonight!” Erza dove right back into her studying. No one could deny that the girl was dedicated to the work she did. 

“See ya,” she murmured, mainly absorbed in the papers in front of her. 

Seeing the setting sun outside, Rae determined it was time to head to the Den to find out what exactly this big job Maxim had was. It was looking like it would be a serious challenge if he had roped in Erza as well.

Read the rest of Promised Shadows here!

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