Silt, stone and scraps of wood littered the ground in loose piles. They congregated with the smashed remains of shanty construction forming banks of tatter. Hardy weeds and infant trees grew from the isles of scrap and clung to the silt-filled shells of broken homes.

The rains had not been kind.

Green growth and the moon’s light draped the hollow eyes of dead structures in something gentle. Wind whistled through crushed alleys.

There was beauty here.

Two was too busy running from the sharp light behind her to appreciate it. She scoured the channelized mess, of once-upon roads and would-be alleys, for somewhere to dart into. She glimpsed a thin channel of passibility and threw herself even further into her sprint.

Soon she was racing past broken spines of unidentifiable construction and darting over piles of mess that would snap her ankles with the slightest misstep. Her appreciation for the moonlight was rapidly growing.

Every metre risked broken bone and impalment. She was fortunate it was only a risk.

Paired cracks and thuds echoed shattering stones. Screams ended with one sound and birth with the next. Fear and panic surged behind her carried by intabgible currents. Animal terror drowned the night’s gentler sounds.

Two ran faster. Hard edges smashed into and were it not for her cloak she would be lined in cuts. Instead, they became the seeds of bruises. She embraced them as the price of her escape. They simply reminded her it could be worse.

But an observation slowed her. Mist was writhing along the floor. A carpet of thin vapour that matched her pace, and was steadily passing her. Coiling tendrils of grey thickening as it pulsed ahead in waves. She didn’t know why or how. But she knew it wasn’t good.

She pushed forward but a surge of bloodlust hit her like a blow. a dark shape stepped from the shadow of a hollowed building. A flash of light resolved into a sword. Held high and posed.

Her heart skipped and she dived forward, she felt the blade’s wake as it passed overhead. Then she was on the ground. New bruises called to her from where she landed on the rubble-strewn floor. She paid them no heed because the assailant was readying for another strike.

There was the briefest pause as the man’s eyes met hers. Doubt kissed her tongue, they hesitated. She did not.

Two brought both feet to her knees then kicked them in the crotch. A new scream joined the night and they crumpled.

Two rocked to her feet, a hand went to her the knife beneath her cloak. Would it be better to finish the job or flee? She couldn’t decide, her heaving breath tracing her heart gave little room to think.

The man was struggling to his feet.

Two took a shuddering breath and made her decision. She stepped forward, a cold blade on her neck held her still. “Sop girl before you make yourself more trouble than your worth.” A stern man instructed.

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Two did as commanded and froze, one hand at her side and the other on the knife. The blade’s wielder circled into view. Her eyes darted over the man before, scanning for any escape. It was only after several long seconds that she realized who he was.

“Anadrea.” She tested the overheard name.

“So you can listen.” He grumbled, his polite tone fought a losing battle with the sneer creeping onto his lips. Two was very aware his bloodlust was no less than the man struggling to his feet.

Thankfully obligation won out. He lowered his sword but replaced it with a glare just as sharp. “Despite my companion’s eagerness.” He flicked his glare over the swaying man. “Our lady wants you alive and whole. Stand to the side and both of those things can be true.”

Two did as commanded, moving slowly to avoid giving another man an excuse. She found her place deep within the recess they had ambushed her from. Deep shadows hid her from sight and hopefully the guard’s attention.

The world was still in her little nook. The screams petered out. The goons either died or fled. Two wanted to flee too, but she doubted her odds of escaping Leandra’s guards. Let alone the woman herself and the forces she’d called to do her building. The thought dragged her back to the man and the eye he’d become. She shuddered and decided never to be on that woman’s bad side. If she could summon an angel?

Mist rushed past, a silent yet ever-thickening current.

“What did Lady Leandra order you to do.” Two asked in a small voice. Neither her hesitance nor fear needed to be faked.

Anadrea shot her a derisive look. “Capture or kill you lot. Whichever is more convenient.”

Two’s thoughts turned to Daisy, and the potential consequences slid into place. A scent slid into her awareness. The flavour of blood and cold metal. It pierced through the haze of panicked essence in the air.

There was a pause in the percussion of violence.

Lux had borne his first introduction to the stone of Spes Nova with little complaint. As he did with the second and third and all that followed. He was fully prepared for it to continue but the snake woman, Daisy if he recalled correctly, had grown bored.

She threw him and he skipped and bounced across the floor, through a mound of silt and the person who’d chosen to hide behind it. A twist of his hip and a quick flutter of his wings brought him to a standing halt. The pair of cultivators watched him, tense and ready for violence.

Lux simply smiled and brushed bits of rubble and criminal from his now ruined suit. “That was rather impolite don’t you think.”He said brightly and shook the dust from his wings. He was once more pristine though he reckoned the dusted and torn mortal fabric changed his image.

“Aplogises Emissary.” The antlered one spoke. Their voice calm and flat. Their shoulders hunched their hand a vice around their cane. Though it would change nothing, he admired their composure. “I’m sure my associate was simply startled by the sudden change in scenery.” He was less appreciative when they presumed his stupify. “If any offence has been given the Eberwith would be more than willing to pay recompense.”

“Eberwith,” Lux tapped out the name with a hand on his hip. He raised his other into the air. “Would you have any relation to Aubert Eberwith? Uncle cousin something of that sort.” The sudden tightening of his lips him all he needed, Lux stopped tapping and his smile turned rueful. “Eberwith feuding with their peer. Breaking the peace of this old city. How very drool.” Neither snake nor stag moved a muscle but he felt their tension build.

Essence poured from them a thick churning soup. Their will buffeted his and despite the city’s appetite the weight grew. Second, by second unseen pressure mounted, Currents of energy would tighter, pulled faster. Thickening till could drown an unawakened mortal. Then simply wait. Deadra was curled as tightly as her serpentine prison would allow, hope fought with fear on her face. Her breath hitched and wheezed. Still, she looked at him.

Lux would never hear the end of it. Their first day in public and he’d managed to land them in a mortal spat. He could already imagine the lecture from Curio. Yet, his grin widened showing teeth as white as his pristine feathers. “How expected.”

A spot of light bloomed in his raised hand. “I’ll have to apologise to your clan.“ light exploded, and a dim star was born in his cradled hand. Dim was a relative term.

Day fell upon this place. There was an instant of sharp shadows. Were raw radiance rendered all into absolutes of back and white. It was an instant only he could appreciate. The mortal had long fled and the cultivars flinched and his from the light. Only his brother shared it with him.

Fog swarmed the heavens like closing fingers and blanketed the floor. Mist filled the space between. The vapour was painted white from his light and it was as if they were in a cloud. Dwindling patches of starlight peeking through the falling should be the only thing to tell otherwise.

The star in his grip softened and exploded into a spout of liquid luminescence. Light turned water flowed down into the shape of a long blade, and rocketed up leaving behind a hilt. A sword of hardening crystal and splattering residence was all the star left behind.

Lux noticed a lock of awe and hope in the eyes of the noble’s niece. Lux levelled his blade at the pair .”But there’s already someone I’ve agreed to help.“ It was strange to think that all this trouble was over one feathered lady.

“And for that, you have my thanks.” Leandra stepped from a burble of mist but the refined noble off before was gone. She glared murder at the snake and her wroth added to the press. Gifted blood and steel.

Lux liked the new look, it was far more honest. With a smile as bright as the noon sun Lux stepped forward and charged the stage. Burning light followed.