Every story has a start, every world is born of an idea, a simple thought that transcends logic or human comprehension. Everything that exists has an opposite, a nemesis, an antithesis. For light to be able to exist, there must be darkness, so it is to water and fire.

In what it’s considered as the mortal plane, where humans live in majority, forming great civilizations that started hundreds of years in the past, some even almost being a thousand years old, fallen and risen back in different parts of the history that transpires in said plane, in lands where tragedies and conflicts abound, away from the eyes of the royalty, there begins this story.

A young woman in the city of Wunor, the capital city of Takia, one of the central and more prosper human kingdoms, of dark and long hair tied up, untied could reach below the shoulders, tall compared to the normal feminine height, hiding a body shaped with a strong physical training behind black tinted clothes, everything in her seemed to be perfectly put to allow for better movement, there she waited the signal from a man at his side.

The light of the moon was the only one illuminating the two of them, he was covered from toes to head with dark clothes almost as identical as those worn by the woman that he was leading, only some strands of brown hair were barely visible, his face look severe and cold, with a penetrating gaze. They were standing on a roof somewhat steep and difficult to travel by someone lacked in real training, from there you could see almost all the rest of the city, or at least it gave that feeling.

A tall building could only indicate one thing in that city, it was the home of a member of the nobility who ruled over all the lands of Takya. Although the current monarch was not particularly cruel, he was not free of sins as expected of someone in such a high position, yet he was highly respected along with his nobility by the common people.

The woman moved through that roof with surprising ease, following his partner who at the moment was acting only as a guide, going to the other end of that roof with the intention of entering the mansion through a window that leaded to a room that according to the information they had gathered before, it was supposed to be empty.

Their objective was simple, they had to go inside and kill the head of the family who was suspected of colluding with rebel groups against the monarchy, such an act was clearly unacceptable and the penalty was death, but there wasn’t enough evidence to condemn such an important nobleman family, and that is why they were there, doing the dirty work for the good of the kingdom.

The young woman carried the name of Allyson, lacking family and therefore also a surname, and who accompanied him was known among the bloody crows as Sauvre, one of the best and most lethal of all the assassins who composed that organization. The man signaled to his companion the right moment to travel safely through that place, paying great attention to any sound that could be heard from the surroundings.

But after all, in those hours of the night few were those who dared to leave their home knowing of the increasing crime in the capital, even being in one of the districts of the nobility only a few guards crossed the streets and for those trained in the art of stealth, it only required a good movement, balance of the body and control of the field of vision of others to go unnoticed.

It was clear that the clothes helped in that task and the low light of the moon only made it easier for them to enter. The man hanged with strength to the edge of the roof, his gaze was nailed on that window while the air seemed to change its course, to be molded according to his desires, pushing and opening with incredible precision and smoothness the window they were supposed to cross to then swing and jump inside, all in just a short time, less than even a minute, a guard in the streets didn’t even finish turning around and both were already inside.

The information was true, it was a room in disuse, full of dust and some old furniture, it was clear that there was nothing of real value there, yet stealing was never their initial goal. Sauvre turns around watching Allyson as he quickly brings his hand to his own mouth, resting a single finger in front of his lips in a clear sign of silence. The woman responded with an expression almost of anger at the irony of that gesture, while the man only smiled under the mask that covered his face, a gesture that could only be noted by the movement of his eyes.

Allyson wasn’t a great assassin, in fact that mission would be the first in which she would actually execute someone because until then she had always been more of an explorer or simply a spy, gathering information either for targets to assassinate or incriminate as it became necessary, as it was seen as a benefit to the kingdom. However, there were two main reasons why she was quite good at her job. The main one is that she knew how to write, a rarity since the majority of the common people were illiterate lacking this capacity, that came in handy for the necessary reports with detailed information about everything she could hear or see. But there was a second reason why she was so good at what she did, the young member of the bloody crows was mute.

Having been born incapable of speaking, she lived a difficult life due to that birth defect that no doctor could ever explain and no healer was able to cure, nevertheless that's what made her so good for the kind of work in which she ended up involving so many months ago.

“Doesn’t seem to be anyone nearby.” Sauvre said, his face returned to that severe and penetrating look, his tone of voice was quite low and soft to avoid being discovered. Although for time it was, most probably everyone in there were asleep, but no good assassin will ever trust just in their luck to move on. Allyson raised her hand in a clear sign stop to his partner, closing her eyes to concentrate on her ears, trying to listen to everything that could be heard in that place.

She could feel a voice in the distance, maybe a couple of rooms away.

“This can not go on like this, we must act ... besides its already time for the lineage of fire to end.” It was the voice of a man in a slightly muted tone to avoid awakening the servants and other members of the family. It was clear from his tone and the words used that he did not intend any good, for the lineage of fire could only refer to the royal family that had ruled Takya for more than six generations.

“It's sad, but it's the only way to eliminate the crows.” Did she just hear correctly? No one should know of the existence of the bloody crows, only the highest nobility and royalty. And why did they talk about getting rid of it? At that moment the woman felt confused, frowning and reopening her eyes to look with a gesture of strangeness towards Sauvre, who simply made a slight movement with his hand, a personal sign between the two to ask what was happening.

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She denied without further ado, from what she was hearing it was clear that one of those two men should be her target, who was suspected of betraying the crown, it was the only explanation, but she feared that perhaps they already knew of their imminent arrival if they already knew too of their secret existence and sought to eliminate them. Two simple and quick movements with the hand towards the exit door of the room were marked, then his fist was closed leaving only two fingers as the last sign.

The man nodded fully understanding those signs, they had been partners for a year, and he had become accustomed to the pleasant silence of his mute companion, they formed an excellent team after all those months and countless missions of espionage and assassination through the kingdom and even outside it, their coordination was impeccable and both knew the weaknesses and strengths of each one.

However, hidden behind that mask, Sauvre maintained an almost sad expression, because he had received personal orders from the leader of the Bloody Crows, orders that part of him would have never wanted to hear, because he knew he could not ignore them knowing the high price to pay for disobeying his boss. Gossips and legends said that death wasn’t to be feared among the crows, betrayal in the other hand, was rumored to be punished with years of torture by the hand of the best torturer in the kingdom, maybe even the whole world.

“Let's move. Now.” he said in a low tone, quickly opening the door with incredible subtlety and speed, as if he knew perfectly what kind of noises it was capable of making with only a small inspection of his gaze. Facing both was now a long corridor decorated with ornaments and pictures worthy of a home of someone extremely wealthy, a large quantity of doors that led to different rooms, the size of that mansion was undoubtedly incredible, surely one of the most important families or maybe even the most, only surpassed by the royal family.

The woman patted his partner’s shoulder, pointing instantly to the left side with her free hand, while then she brought her other hand from Sauvre's shoulder to his dagger sheathed in her leg, slowly sliding it from its sheath, preparing for the worst. The professional assassin nodded in complete silence, passed the first door on the left, making his way to the second.

“They have gone out of control ... that someone outside the nobility tried to use the monarch as a puppet while killing anyone who acts against him, is inconceivable, it can’t go on, that damn crow has to die.” Strong words that left in evidence the clear intention of murder towards the leader of the organization to which both belonged, however Allyson was surprised to hear those words, something didn’t make sense.

But at that precise moment Sauvre snap his fingers gently, forcing his partner to concentrate, his hand was already on the doorknob, on the verge of opening it, it was her turn to act, this was her mission. His other hand left two fingers open, the signal was clear, it was obvious, both had to die.

Reacting instantly by pure reflex, the door began to open, and she was already beginning to move with great speed towards it, moving her hands over her dagger and taking it from the edge. As soon as she could cross, that simple knife flew with incredible speed, almost inhuman, burying itself in the forehead of one of the targets.

However, in that place there were now two corpses, the two targets had been neutralized in a single movement with two exactly identical daggers buried in the forehead of each individual with brutal precision, the expression in those recently murdered was frozen in complete surprise, defending themselves was simply impossible.

Her heart was beating fast, it was the first time she had ended a life, two even, but the movement came out so natural and so fast that she did not even have the time to think, that was the training she had gone through, To the point that her movements were burned into her body, it was not even necessary for her to even think... that she would be acting as she should.

“Hum ... good kill.” the man said calmly and coldly, now also entering the room, closing it quickly behind him. Allyson was still frozen there, not quite reacting to what she had done, not only done, but also heard. What was really happening? They were the good guys ... Isn’t it?

As the protocol indicated she instinctively moved towards the bodies, resting two fingers on the neck of each to take their pulse ... They were dead, there was no doubt that those direct blows to the skull had pierced through and damaged part of the brain causing a quick death. Mission completed, everything was over, it was time to get out of there before they ended up calling the attention of those who were still asleep …

“You heard them ... Isn’t it? I know you did Lys, I know you too well, you got better ears than any of the crows ... unfortunately he gave me a different order today, my mission wasn’t to just guide you here. It was to kill you if you heard more than you needed to.” The slip of a dagger could be heard coming out of its sheath, that metallic sound, shivers down her spine, she turned with an expression of real horror.

It couldn’t be true, she had found a place, a home, however twisted it was it couldn't compare to all those years living on the streets. She learned to control her body and even more than that, it felt good to do that job and it was good for the kingdom, it was supposed to be. Her legs trembled at the mere thought of having to face his partner, she didn’t want to, it was the last thing she would have wished for.

She backed away only a few steps, colliding instantly with the corpses and staggering to the edge of falling. That was her end, it should be, if Sauvre was her enemy there was no way to not die in that situation, she was never able to beat him in any kind of competition, he practically taught her everything she had learned. She knew perfectly well what he was capable of. His face paled almost instantly as a choked and silent crying began, tears fall down from his eyes at that last moment.

The assassin moved with a speed simply impossible to match for her, her dagger was already in the air when the last words of Sauvre were heard.

“I wish I could shed tears for you, Lys.”

Suddenly a woman woke up in a barn at the powerful sound of a lightning, lying on a simple pile of straw, her black hair now with gray and white tones mixed in, it makes her seemed older than she was and her eyes bore the mark of someone with a lot of trouble sleeping, although her face still appeared to be of someone young who perhaps barely passed twenty winters. His body that was once trained to be the perfect assassin by a secret organization of the kingdom of Takya now lay there almost devoid of muscle, lost by the hunger suffered from a life devoid of luxuries.

Only a nightmare, a heavy memory that had returned to Allyson, depriving her of the dream like an eternal curse that condemned her to never be able to rest...