Chapter 1

        The smell of brine, and smoke was a constant staple of life in the lower city of Atalan. Being that it was on the inside of a natural cavern, and got very little light during the day, and virtually none at night, the streets were kept lit by hundreds of oil burning torches. This resulted in the entirety of the place being covered in a thin layer of black soot, no matter how fastidious a person tried to be. But, most of the people that lived in the lower city were the poor, and downtrodden, so the rest of the city ignored the horrible living conditions.

        The ramshackle wooden structures that dotted the slums were rebuilt not long ago, as many were burned during the riots of the Long Night. That did nothing to improve their condition though, just three years after being built, most looked dilapidated and depressing. The slums were less crowded for a short time after the Long Night, but despite harsh return laws, and the horrible tales that must have reached the homeland, people continued to poor in everyday. Some came for work, others for the adventure of something new, and many more for less savory reasons.

        More robust patrols and watchful guards in the upper city also drove many of the orphans of the city, who had no desire to live under the strict conformity of the House, to seek refuge here. It was a tough life, especially for children with no adults to protect them, but as is often the case, adversity bred brotherhood and many of the children began to group together. Now, while this may seem a good thing, one must remember that putting large groups of children together with no supervision is a sure recipe for mischief. The children of the slums gained a quick reputation for being devious cut-purses and all around miscreants. The Auxilli, and the House tried to keep them in check, but there were so many, and they never could keep them away for long.

        Gralin was just recently returned from one of his longer stints at the House of Concordant Cycles. His ward this time had been a particularly watchful Memnosian who hardly let the children under his care out of sight. But no one was perfect, and Gralin had managed to slip away in the dark of night, climbing out one of the orphanage’s windows, and had made his way back down into the lower city. He liked it here, away from priests who fussed over his hair, and made him clean behind his ears, and study boring texts about Overseers he didn’t want to learn about. Here in the lower city he had friends, a small group compared to some of the larger gangs of kids, but his friends were loyal.

        Gralin’s merry band was led by a Lakoi boy named Dueran. Dueran was older than Gralin, around twelve years of age, and therefore much bigger. Lakoi were thin by nature, but Atalan born were slighter still, and Dueran was sort of the exception. Beginning to come of age Dueran’s shoulders were broadening in the way that the girls his age began to realize they liked. Gralin didn’t much get why this was important, but Dueran assured him it was. His skin was the typical dark hue of the Lakoi, though he didn’t dye his hair the crazy colors that were traditional for his people. Dueran kept his it’s natural sleek black, and kept it short cropped. But he did this by choice, and not by any forced shavings by the House, no one had been able to catch Dueran in years. His face was handsome; he had a strong jaw line, and the typical broad flat nose of the Lakoi people, and his eyes were a deep emerald that shone with understanding and intelligence.

        Dueran had a sort of natural charisma that drew people to him, and he was fiercely loyal to those who found themselves under his wing. Though he never officially declared himself their leader, he was by default of age, and the fact that everyone liked him. The rest of the group was a ragtag band that didn’t much discriminate on anything. Gralin, Emillia, and Ruffles were Atalan born, though Emillia was an oddity for them, her hair was raven black, and her eyes were a vibrant hazel, not the typical pale blue of most Atalan born children. Gralin liked that about Emillia, though if you asked him then, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you why. Octo and Diane were Halmorian, and Rugor was Valkshir, and thus by nature the largest of the group despite being two years younger than Dueran.

        Gralin and Octo were close in age, and the two had become fast friends before Gralin’s first escape from the House’s orphanage two years ago, it was Octo that had introduced him to Dueran. Octo had told him once that his name was short for Octavian, but that name never stuck. Diane was a bit older, and mostly hung around Dueran, they called her mother behind her back, but not even Rugor would risk saying it to her face. Emillia and Ruffles were twins, but Ruffles didn’t have the same dark hair as his sister, and was the smallest of the bunch. His real name was Perses, but he had an odd habit of sleeping on crumpled up pieces of parchment that he hoarded jealously in an old worn out backpack that never left his touch, and made a loud ruffling noise whenever he moved about. The twins and Rugor had joined the group a little bit after Gralin, and Rugor protected those two with great ferocity.

        At the moment they were holed up in one of the newer buildings, one that hadn’t been purchased yet. It hadn’t come easy, and Gralin still had a rough bruise under his right eye from one of the kids that previously dwelled there. Normally Dueran and his small group would have been perfectly fine with sharing the house, but they had had trouble with this group before. A crew about the same size as Dueran’s but typically rougher around the edges, they had driven Dueran and his group out of their prime panhandling spot a few months back, and it felt good to repay the favor.

        “So, how’s the House?” Ruffles asked, looking at Gralin.

        “Hmmph. Same as always…I had just gotten some hair to.” Gralin grumbled a bit, and Ruffles let out a short laugh.

        “Were they nice? Me and Percy got Leeyan’s last time, they were nice.”

        “They were so nice, why’d you come back then?” Dueran asked, seeming a bit offended by it all.

        “They kept taking Percy’s papers, and he cried.”

        “I did NOT cry.” Ruffles shot a glare at his sister who began to giggle, the rest of the group laughed as well, except Dueran who only grinned slightly.

        “And no, no Leeyans, I had a grumpy old Memnosian, thought I’d never get out of there this time.” Gralin rubbed his chin, and flinched when he touched the bruise under his eye, “Though it looks like I did just in time.”

        “Yeah, couldn’t have done it without you distracting Bolo with your face Gralin.” Dueran laughed, and the others joined in, Gralin didn’t mind though, it was all in fun and he was just glad to be back.

        “Any news?” Gralin asked as he shifted his weight, getting into a more comfortable position.

        “I hear two of Barin’s crew went missing, that makes the total of…” Octo began, then paused in thought.

        “Six.” Dueran finished, his face taking on a dark look, “I wanted to talk to you guys about that. No going off alone at night, word is it’s not the House pickin’ all these kids up, and I don’t know who else it could be, can’t be good in any case.” The group went quiet for a bit, while they weren’t part of the same crew, all the children of the slums generally looked out for one another when they weren’t competing.

        “Didn’t see any of Barin’s at the House…” Gralin tapped his chin thoughtfully, “Maybe the Steel nabbed ‘em?” The Steel being their term for the Auxilli, who would on occasion would keep some of the more mischievous kids in lock-up for a few days.

        “Nah, Rugor talked to his kin in the Steel, said ain’t no kids been picked up during the last few weeks.”  Octo answered, which drew a grunt of agreement from the large Valkshir boy.

        “You know, I never asked. Why don’t you live with your kin Rugor? Least you have some.” Gralin asked looking over at him.

        “Cause.” Was all the answer Gralin got, though he noticed that Rugor’s gaze had shifted slightly over to Ruffles and Emillia.

        “Always so talkative.” Gralin shot a grin at Rugor.

        “Yep.” Rugor answered seriously, then broke and let out a laugh that in a few years would be a deep bellowing affair, but was now just a little screechy.

        “Nuff of this, I’m bored and we don’t have enough scratch for food tonight.” Dueran stated as he stood up, Diana quickly got up herself.

        “Yeah, a roof is good’nall but I’d like something to eat too.” Diana spoke, her soft but authoritative voice indicated it would be time to get moving soon.

        “I’m getting hungry myself.” Emillia spoke, Gralin suddenly finding himself wanting to impress jumped up from his spot.

        “Nukko still has our best handout…we could nick some food from Bailey’s cart.”

        “That’s your problem Gralin, no love of the unknown, nicking from Bailey ain’ nickin’, she let’s us have it and you know it.” Dueran had gained a dangerous glint in his eye, “Tonight we eatin’ well. Been watchin’ one of the Silver boys, and he’s a bit lackin in his watch of his lock box, I say we nab that.” The others let out a short gasp and looked at each other warily. The Silver Piece Mercantile was major business, and their mercenaries were known to get pretty rough with sticky fingers, no matter what their age.

        “You sure that’s a good idea Deur…” Diane asked, lending even more weight, since she rarely questioned anything Dueran said.

        Dueran just grinned and said, “Trust me.”