As a loose shingle clattered its way down from Lleu's last step an odd sound drifted upwards from one of the alleyways below.

Something about the sound seemed ominous and stopped Lleu in his tracks as he listened. For a moment there was nothing but then the sound came again allowing him to pinpoint its source. It seemed to be coming from a small crevice in a dark corner of the alley he had just passed over. Feeling curious and noting how surprisingly nobody seemed to be around both below and on the roofs Lleu slipped down the side of the building and carefully landed on the ground with a neat roll.

Immediately all the noises typical of the street were deafened as the cramped walls deafened outside sound. Again the strange sound came, now recognizable as an odd cross between a wheeze and a bubbling groan. Lleu stepped forward to take a look and instead of the clatter of boots on stone his steps made a splashing sound. A quick glance down revealed various puddles of dark liquid.

The source of this liquid became clear as Lleu entered the crevice and was met with the sight of a man lying crumpled in the farthest corner. A giant wound dominated the side of his neck and the area where his jaw had once been, the occasional gurgling rasp coming forth as he struggled for air. The liquid Lleu had stepped in, obviously blood, flowed in a waning trickle to join the speckling of pools already on the ground.

‘So much blood!’

As a native of the lower district, Lleu was no stranger to the sight of a heavily injured man bleeding to death in the street but even so, the brutality of the wound disturbed him far more than the usual sight of stabs and slashes ever had. Another feeling of shock shot through him as his eyes finally adjusted to the dim light and enabled him to recognize the man’s clothes.

A luxurious purple robe with a fine silver lining covered the man covered the man with a richness that spoke of the middle or possibly even the upper district of the city. Although such a high-class citizen bleeding to death in a lower district alleyway was something Lleu had never expected to find this was not what drew his attention. Boldly centered on the chest of the robe there was a sigil taking the form of an eye surrounded by several concentric circles. This was the symbol of seers, one of the highest ranking and most mysterious societies in the entire city!

Also, of all the societies the seers were by far the most politically powerful, it was said that every decision made by the various leaders or councils of the districts had a seer meddling in the background. Furthermore if one were to take rumor as factual then the seers could even see the future or possibly even change fate!

Although Lleu highly doubted the validity of those rumors he felt it was clear that this situation was far beyond him and not something he had any business being involved in. As he was about to turn and leave while making sure nobody had seen him a cough sounded from the unfortunate man seer’s as his arm twitched, jolting slightly toward Lleu. Lleu caught the dying man’s gaze and immediately the man's eyes quickly began jumping between Lleu and his own right hand. Hesitantly, Lleu moved forward and reached towards the man’s hand all the while cursing his own curiosity. The man’s fingers opened from the fist they had been curled up in and a small golden disk fell out along with a bound roll of paper.

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Noting the relentless flickering of the seer's eyes Lleu felt the intent of the gesture was clear, he wanted him to pick up the items. Reaching out Lleu grabbed both pieces and instantly was blinded by a piercing golden light.

Scrabbling up from the ground where he had fallen in surprise Lleu blinked his protesting eyes as he looked back towards the seer, faintly glowing disk in hand. Where his expression had initially been one of grimness and pain a triumphant smirk now covered the ruined face. Again the seers eyes twitched, this time directing Lleu to a small pouch which had fallen to the ground a pace further toward the mouth of the crevice.

“What do I do with these?” asked Lleu as he snatched up the pouch and prepared to flee, distant shouts had already become audible, it seemed the light had attracted the attention of others.

“Run…” the faint whisper left the lips of the dying man and then the building beside them seemed to vanish in a ball of fire.

The explosion made no sound at all other than the whistling of air as it sped towards the sudden inferno but instead produced a heat that consumed everything and left no traces behind.

Items and pouch in hand Lleu took off running faster than he had ever run before. He was back up on the roof in a breath and seemingly flew across the rooftops as the shouts seemed to climb up with him.

With only an increase of heat as a warning, Lleu threw himself down barely evading a blast of black flame as it passed a hair above him. As the rooftops were far too open a place to be Lleu threw himself over the edge to where he thought some canvas covered stalls would probably be. Thankfully they were there and briefly after rolling down the slanted covering Lleu dropped into the street. Since the street was so packed with people Lleu took advantage of his small stature and immediately vanished into the crowd.

A few minutes later he was sitting underneath an abandoned stall as the searching footsteps of his unknown pursuers clattered by, angry shouts of those they had shoved away in their pursuit ringing after them.

A burning smell woke him up from his focus and Lleu looked down in shock as the paper the seer had given him smoldered away. It seemed as though the intense heat of the fire his pursuers had thrown had come even closer than he had thought. Although the fire was quickly extinguished with a few pats the damage done was already too severe, whatever the paper had once said was now impossible to read.

Dropping the ruined remains he opened the pouch the seer had wanted him to have. Inside was nothing other than a small wooden token engraved with the image of a flaming torch. He had thought that nothing could shock him more than what had just happened but Lleu discovered that thought to be wrong as he recognized the symbol and what it represented.

This token was something Lleu had never thought to have, a pass to be tested in the choosing!

Leaving the now empty pouch behind and tucking the golden disk deep into a cloak pocket Vax waited a little longer and then carefully went out of his hiding spot. Thankfully the street seemed perfectly normal, the shoppers going on as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened.

Determined to head towards the plaza as quickly as he could Lleu was scaling a wall within moments and then was once again speeding across the rooftops of the city, heading towards the chance of a lifetime.