Marius Reza quickly ripped a loaf of cinnamon bread in two. He placed one half back on the kitchen counter while shoving the other half into his mouth as he left the Reza Manor. The cook and her wraith gave him a disapproving glance before grabbing the other half of the bread and slicing it up as Reza quickly unlatched the kitchen's back door. He took one quick look outside to see if the coast was clear and slipped through before putting his grey uniform jacket on and quickly moving through the garden, finishing his stolen breakfast. Looks like I got out just in time.

He passed the few servants already up and working to get the gardens ready for the Anceslia. Having helped for the last few days, Reza had had little care to help this morning with the preparations and was attempting to sneak out into the city to train and have a little fun before his sisters he was found.

Reza had been given leave from the seventh legion for a week to return to the city for his family's Anceslia, a celebration of the Reza family's ancestors. This one was particularly significant because it would be the first since their mother's passing and his first as head of the household. His sisters had been working for weeks on the entire event, and over the last two days he had been back, they had made him do dozens of tasks around the house, mainly the heavy lifting with the other male servants. They knew well enough that if he could escape into Arkhen, he would not return before he was forced out of the city at dark and would most likely be useless the next day.

Marius passed the gardener, Damon, who was hunched over, cutting the cultivated bushes and vines that lined the main entertaining area of the garden. Damon's wraith was out, moving along with him, glowing light green as they moved with precision with their blades, working the garden's flora with their magic to perfect it before the party. They worked slowly, ensuring each bush was perfect before moving on to the next. Knowing Damon, he would be at it the next three days before he would be satisfied with how it looked.

The man and his wraith were beyond focused on their craft. He could talk about every decision that was made to keep this garden perfect. And Reza’s mother had given him free rein of the small estate to work his craft and the money to keep it that way. Marius continued to provide Damon with the funds, not only to remember his mother but also because of the fantastic work the gardener did. Damon had been very proud of the almost perfection of the estate's gardens, even in the coldest winter; his care made it known across the surrounding estates. More than a few neighbors had attempted to get Damon on their staff, but he was ever loyal to the Reza family and his garden.

Reza nodded to the man as he quickly moved through the back gate and onto the road towards the city. If he hustled, he could be there within the hour and might be able to make it through the city before the crowds made it almost impossible to move on the main city roads. Checking to ensure he had everything, his coin pouch held a respectful amount of gold ghouls and silver shades. His dagger and sword hung balanced on his hips.

Ready, Reza turned to walk down the road, but within seconds of leaving the estate, he was stopped by the familiar voice of his sister, Octavia. "Now, Marius, you didn't think you'd get away that easily."

He turned around, trying to keep his face neutral to not show the guilt flowing through him. "Tavia, I need a break. You've had me working since I returned from the Legion and made me work harder than the Legion makes its soldiers do on campaign. I'm going to take the morning to go train and have a proper lunch with friends."

Tavia stood at the gate in her work clothes, sweat already beaded across her forehead. Her black hair was pulled back out of her face.

She looked him up and down, and it seemed she was not going to relent. Reza prepared to summon his wraith to escape. He would take the break today and deal with her wrath later tonight.

But she surprised him, waving her hands towards him in defeat and turning to return to the estate. "You’ll owe me, brother. When you return, please stop by the Breanors first and get their response to the invitation. I need to know if Marsi's betrothed is coming."

Reza gaped at the closed gate. Tavia had just disappeared behind, surprised. Tavia was not known to back down on what she thought needed to be done. Marius groaned, knowing there would be a list of chores a mile long for him to complete when he returned. This break better be worth it.

Though he was the head of the household, with him in the Legion and barely able to return home, Tavia was indeed the de facto head of the estate and the family. Only a few years younger than himself at twenty-five, Tavia used this power to push the family's interest. She had already begun building quite the merchant portfolio for the estate. She was ruthless in her dealings and wouldn't let anyone push her around; he'd invested a lot of the family resources with her and felt very confident in her abilities to help the family and his own purse grow. Marius often trusted and looked to Tavia for direction on how best to steer the family, especially after their mother had died two years before.

Reza started to move down the road quickly and kept a wary eye when he looked back towards his estate. He had escaped Tavia but had to ensure his other sister and the youngest Reza, Cassia, wouldn't track him down and force him back home.

He moved quickly towards the city, its bright walls gleaming in the morning sun as he crested the hill that hid the massive city from his family's estate. Though they could not be seen from this distance, each stone that made up the formable walls of Arkhen had dark runes carved into each in an unknown language. For centuries, many different people and groups attempted to find even a hint of what they were. Much research had been done to find answers and translate the runes. But no answers had ever been uncovered—one of many mysteries of this great city he called home.

The city was located on the banks of the Venerik River, with his family's small estate just north of the city. The river flowed through the city and into the harbor before finally reaching the narrow Miska Sea.

"I'll never get tired of this sight," Reza whispered to himself, walking towards the northern gate. And he hadn't yet; the mighty city was the greatest of its kind. The city's rune-covered grey walls gleamed in the day's early sunlight. No city within the Remnant Kingdom of the old empire held a torch to its brilliance. And even though its population was half of what the city could hold, it was still the most populated city within the former empire. Only Gettan, a city far to the southeast, was rumored to be more populated. Reza had never traveled so far south to confirm such claims; the closest he had come was when he visited Terrik, a city half the size of Arkhen and a week's ride south. It was the closest Remnant Kingdom to Arkhen, which had formed from the Old Empire when it fell.

Keeping a steady pace, it took Reza longer than he had hoped to get into the city through the northern gate as he was forced to move around a large caravan that had just arrived from some of the Northern kingdoms. Having finally made his way around the train, Reza did not waste any time, moving up to walk through the small gate used to allow individual people or small groups to enter the city. The larger one was still down, not allowing large crowds nor the caravan to enter.

The guard stopped Reza as he reached the front of the line, holding his spear in front of the small gate. "What's your business?"

Reza looked down and indicated his uniform jacket. I might be in traveling clothes, but how does the man not recognize a legion-issued jacket?

"I’m going to train at one of the barracks and have a meal with some friends. I'm just coming from the Reza estate an hour north of here," he said, trying to keep his annoyance at a minimum. He knew the man had a job, but it wasn't like he was a foreigner or, worse, a wraith pilgrim.

"Fair enough. Carry on; the gate closes at nightfall, so if you plan to leave, give yourself enough time, or you won't be allowed out." He moved the spear out of the doorway, and Reza went through.

Reza made his way slowly through the city. Unfortunately, because he had been waylaid on the road, there were thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of people on the streets already with thousands of wraiths floating with them. Each was different; their color, dress, and the items the wraiths carried made each a sight to see in the city. Multiple caught Reza's eye as he crossed into the city's center. A glowing red wraith dressed in only his loincloth moved with their pact holder, a young man who carried a stack of scrolls in his arms, rushing through the street. At the same time, another female wraith in a toga glided slowly next to a carriage carrying a young noblewoman through the crowds.

He held the urge to call forth Elana, his own wraith. However, it took power to summon them, and he had always been trained since he first gained the pact to never wastefully use his power in case something went awry. Too much of his soldier instincts kept him wary, even in the city. In fact, he thought it was probably more dangerous here, where he could become complacent. Arkhen, while reasonably safe, still had its places where you did not want to find yourself alone at night. Waiting, Reza watched the young noblewoman smile at him as she finally passed by in her carriage. Reza gave a quick smile back but kept moving. There's no time for that right now.

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He continued to cross one of the main bridges leading to the main island that formed the city center, trying to make his way to the best training grounds, about a twenty-minute walk from the forum. Reza kept moving; he knew the route he needed to take, allowing his mind to wander.

He thought about the noblewoman again. Did she know who he was? While he was not a noble of the ten families, he still held rank and was an Optio in the seventh legion. He might even be able to rise to Centurion soon if he could convince Tavia to spend some of the family's money. He would also likely need to use many of the family's favors they had with several different noble families when a spot opened. However, that could be years before an opening came; none of the ten centurions of the seventh were close to retirement and were unlikely to leave unless one died, but he could maybe transfer to another Legion.

It's not likely to have a war anytime soon. The Remnant Kingdoms of the Old Empire were satisfied with the land they controlled. We had bloodied their noses enough in recent years that they were content enough to allow the city to live on with its small territory left under its control. The Northern Kingdoms never bothered the city, while the Gettan Empire had been fighting wars on their Western border for the last three years and hadn't looked East in that time.

His mind elsewhere, Reza had to abruptly stop before he crashed into a small crowd blocking his way into the forum. He looked up. Many of the people holding him were older; their clothes traveled worn, and a heavy layer of dust still covered their cloaks.

Wraith pilgrims. People who traveled to the city of wraiths for the possibility of dying within its walls. A strange quirk of the city, something within its runed walls stopped souls from leaving the world, allowing them to live on as wraiths and touch upon the natural world through a pact. In exchange for creating a deal with a wraith, the living person would gain some ability connected to their shade, be it more strength or something grander in scope.

Reza personally did not see the appeal of becoming a wraith, but many people, from the lowest farmer to the mightiest king, journeyed hundreds or even thousands of miles to die within these walls. Knowing what their life would be like after death within the city held great comfort for many, even if, in Reza's eyes, it felt more like a prison. Wraith Pilgrims still chose to die within the walls.

Reza skirted the crowd, passing through into the forum proper. Large stone buildings stood tall around the forum, much different from other neighborhoods within Arkhen, where wooden buildings and homes dominated the city. The forum was encased with these buildings with only a few streets that ran into the massive open area that took up most of the island. It had large polished marble slabs that formed the floor of the entire place; close to a hundred thousand people could comfortably fit in the area. Though crowds of that sort rarely gathered beyond essential holidays, it was a thing of the past before Reza's time in which past emperors and empresses would address the public, and such crowds would gather for them. The white palace lay quiet, and the throne within was empty. Only the Archons lived there now; the royal line had died out long ago, and no noble family had been strong enough to take their place. Likely, only the steward and her servants roamed its halls currently, with all of the Archons out in the field with their Legions.

Reza looked around at the thirteen black stone towers of the echoes; only nine still stood tall, encircling the forum and its buildings with four broken towers, only remnants of the past. Nine white beacons shown brightly at the top of the nine intact towers, though soon with the sun rising the light would dim considerably. Still, early in the morning, Reza was forced to hold his hand to shade his eyes from the light. He moved up closer to the palace, using the shade of the massive building to protect him from the brightness as he looked to skirt around the milling patrons to get through the forum. However, he stopped hearing his name called out behind him.

“Reza, is that you?” Cain, an old family friend and soldier in the Sixth Legion, walked through the crowd toward Reza. He was easy to pick out, for he was almost over a head taller than most people, including Marius.

"Reza, you bloody fool. How long have you been in the city?" They embraced, grabbing each other’s forearms before Cain brought him in for a massive hug.

"Not long. I only just got into the city. I came from the legion about two days ago. Unfortunately, Tavia and Cassia kept me working for the Anceslia. You? I thought you were with the sixth." I looked around to see if he was with anyone, but the massive man seemed to be alone. Moving closer to the palace, Reza and Cain sat down on the large marble steps leading up to it, allowing an excellent vantage point to look down into the forum.

Reza could see the people and their wraiths milling about at different vendors that used the forum as their place of business. People shouted their wares while shoppers made purchases. Guards walked through, making sure people followed the city's laws, and even a tiny play was happening for children at the bottom of the stairs. The guards at the palace's entrance did not seem to mind the people using the stairs as seats, though they kept wary eyes on the people below them.

"I am, just home on leave. How's Tavia doing? I haven't seen her in years; the legion has been a grind lately, even without fighting." He laughed, though a bit strained. Cain had a bit of a crush on Tavia for years, but she held no interest in him. He'd taken it pretty well, but Reza knew he hoped she'd change her mind.

"The boss, as always, you'd think she was the elder sibling. I guess she has to act that way with me gone. You'd think we'd get more leave. It was damn difficult to get this much off. It's the first time I've been back in two years. It gulls me that the legion has been a five-day march from the city for two years, but we could not return," Reza complained. All the thousands of soldiers of the legions felt a profound frustration with the situation in the army, and these small breaks had only recently been installed to keep the men happy. No more than fifty soldiers could be gone at any moment, and only two officers were allowed to leave at a time. It has been a year of him waiting for his time to come.

"It's as it always is. I don't mind; the city has too many people and wraiths. I like the Legion Fortress; it’s quieter out there. I only returned because my younger brother is making his wraith pact. Mother asked me to come to support him." Both Reza and Cain looked across the forum to a very different building opposite the palace. It was a ruin of a place that contrasted starkly with the gleaming white palace. The black stone walls were cracked, and spider webs covered most of the windows, while the walls barely held a half-collapsed ceiling in place. Everyone kept away from the building, making it easy, even from this distance, to see a ghostly wraith sitting at the entrance to the building. The same wraith was ever-present for the pacts, and anyone wanting to attempt to make a pact had to be first judged by the wraith before they were allowed passage into the ruined structure.

Reza memories of his time going into the building came back to him. His father had brought him on his sixteenth birthday, with Tavia and Cassia joining to see his first attempt. Reza had cautiously moved slowly to the wraith; every step was grueling as he wanted to turn back and run from the haunting spirit. Yet he forced himself to take another step closer to the white shade, the fear unable to stop him from his desire to make a pact. The wraith was more frightening close-up, with a broken crown lying on its head and clothes tattered beyond any recognition of what they could have been. The shade's face was extensively scarred, with fierce eyes boring into Reza as the wraith looked cruelly at him from his throne. Reza had frozen when the eyes focused on his, not knowing what he must do next.

"Move closer, Marius," His father had called out.

Reza, gritting his teeth, moved towards the wraith standing within a foot of the throne he sat upon. The ghost sat unmoving, examining him until one hand waved him forward, allowing Reza to enter the building. The seconds it took to make his decision felt more like an hour, the wraith's eyes never leaving his.

"When does he make his way?" Reza asked, the memories of facing the wraith still played in his head. He could still feel the fear he had when he looked at that scarred face. He shuddered slightly. No one to this day has any idea why the wraith performed his job or why people failed to gain entrance from him. But Damn, that ghost still gives me the chills to this day.

He'd never tried to make another pact, so he was lucky that he had not made another journey to him.

"An hour or so. I tried to advise him, but you know the stories people tell of that wraith." Cain laughed as he stared towards the broken king. "I wonder how long it will take him to build enough courage to make his attempt.”

Reza nodded. There were dozens of stories of kids and adults alike being eaten by the wraith, their souls ripped from their bodies—old tales to make sure people were prepared to make their pact and not just do it lightly. Even so, the fear was ever-present when you thought of him. He held such a strong aura around him, leaving quite an impression in your memories.

"Say nothing more; I know what he must be feeling. I wonder what wraith will offer him a pact?" Reza asked. It was always the first question on anyone's mind when someone made a new pact. What wraith would come, and what powers would they grant?

"Nothing better than our own, I hope. I couldn't live it down if he gained a powerful pact with his first wraith." Cain laughed, putting up a quick prayer to the echoes. He touched a pendant hanging from his neck before making a quick symbol in the air with his fingers.

Reza laughed. He had been more than lucky when Elana had chosen him. She’d kept me alive in more fights and battles than could be counted. He never thought of releasing his pact for a different one. Many would if they did not get the desired wraith power, but it was risky. It was not guaranteed that a second wraith would offer a pact. There were many stories of people who failed to secure a new pact, with just as many stories where the individual gained a much more powerful pact. No one could ever explain why someone succeeded or failed.

"Well, hopefully, your brother's pact goes well, and he doesn't get an artist or cook. We can always use a few more soldiers with us." Reza said, standing up on the stairs and adjusting his weapons.

"Of course, we should get a drink or something before we both leave. I have another two days of leave. You?" He asked, holding his hand up. Reza grabbed it and helped him to his feet.

"Another four. Then I'll head back. Of course, I'll stop by your family's estate tomorrow, and we can have a drink. I can see your brother's wraith and see if we must be jealous." Reza said before leaving Cain on the stairs and returning to the crowd. He had only a few hours to get a bit of training in and enjoy his time in the city before Tavia expected him home.

However, Reza didn't make it very far before the people around him started to panic and yell, many pointing to the sky. Looking up, Reza saw a shadow cross over the forum from the west, cloaking it completely in darkness for a moment before the light returned. Unable to figure out what was happening with the crowd in an uproar around him, Reza was ready to summon his wraith.

"Look at the tower," Someone yelled just behind him. Everyone turned to the tower many in the crowd were now pointing towards.

One of the nine black towers of the echoes circling the forum had gone dark. Everyone knew what that meant. One of the Archons was dead.