Chapter one

The midday sky was clear and the sun was hot, of course Laura could see little of this through the thick canopy of the Black forest. Laura had always wondered why it was called the Black forest, the trees were a vibrant green even in the depth of winter, the forest was bright and airy, giving off a feeling of peace unlike other forests that Laura had entered. Today was unusually hot and Laura’s clothes stuck to her in the heat. Sweat dripped into Laura’s hazel eyes making them sting as well as matting her long brown curls to her head. She had just turned sixteen, and was starting to feel proud of her appearance, at just over five foot tall with a slender body; her slightly square face had puffy checks that all the old ladies in the village had loved to squeeze when she was younger. She was fit and healthy and could run all-day; this was useful when working for her father within the forest; where some very dangerous creatures lived. While most of them left Laura alone some of them liked to chase her just for fun. But despite Laura’s life she was still worried; she had to find an apprenticeship. Her father wanted her to join him in the tanner trade, but Laura knew she could no longer help her she had trapped and killed her last animal. He didn’t understand why and Laura couldn’t explain it to him, but it was killing her and had been for the last six years.

Laura remembered the day that changed her life so well, it had been sunny like today but with a cold wind cutting through her clothes chilling her bronzed skin. Laura had woken up and ran into her parent’s bedroom to wake her mother. She had promised to take Laura into the forest that day to collect some herbs for her mother’s apothecary. Her mother was the best herbalist in the village often bringing in travellers from all over the Realm, Laura even remembered an Elf once coming to their shop. Laura jump onto the bed waking her father with a start. Her mother had just laid there, Laura thought that her mother was pretending to be asleep.

“Laura go and get washed please.” instructed her father as he sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes, all the while she jumped up and down on the bed enjoying the feeling of bouncing. “Laura. Please?” asked her father again. Laura ran out to the yard heading towards the well to draw some water. She stood at the well watching the clouds near the horizon; the sun was just peaking over the trees giving the clouds a pink blush with gold around the edges. Her mother had always told her, on days like this the gates of heaven were open and the dead were allowed into paradise. Laura watched the sun as she lifted the heavy bucket of water from the well. That was the moment when Laura’s world shattered and everything changed. Her father’s scream was sudden and piercing, she heard it coming from the house, it sounded as though all the happiness was being ripped from his body. Laura dropped the bucket and ran into the house looking for her parents, she had found them in their bedroom, her father was sitting with her mother’s head in his lap, and he was stroking her hair, tears running down his face falling onto her mother’s hair. Laura didn’t know how long she stood there; it was as if time had stopped and she was unable to move, their neighbours the Lessons; the village bakers came running in, they had heard her father’s cry. Mrs Lesson looked around the room and saw Laura standing there; she walked over and put her arms around Laura trying to comfort her.

“Come child.” she said leading Laura from the room.

Laura went through the rest of the day with a loud buzzing sound in her ears not knowing what to do or what was happening. Mrs Lesson took Laura home for the night. When she arose the next morning she went outside to watch the sun, it was much the same as he day before but colder, winter’s bite could be felt in the air despite the golden clouds still shinning in the sky. During the night a pyre had been built and her mother’s body had been laid upon it. Laura walked over and slowly took her mother’s hand wanting to say good-bye. As Laura did this her mother hand started to glow, a feeling of happiness seemed to infuse Laura. Her father came out and Laura snatched her hand back not wanting anyone to see the warm golden glow from their hands, as she let go of her mother’s hand the feeling of happiness disappeared and Laura’s grief returned, she walked over and stood beside her father. Throughout the morning everyone from the village came and paid their respects by standing in a circle around the pyre waiting for the appointed time. At noon the village bell started to ring, this was the time for Laura and her father to light the pyre with two flaming torches. For the rest of the day Laura and her father stood there watching the person they loved most leave them, Laura promised herself that she would not move until her father did. The rest of the village slowly moved away heading back to their homes and their lives leaving Laura and her father with nothing but their grief.

“Everything has changed now Laura, I don’t know how it will work, but we’ll get through it.” said her father

“I know daddy.” replied Laura as she squeezed her father’s hand. From that day on everything did change, as she got older she started to help her father more and more. One of the ways she did this was to tend to the traps in the forest. At first Laura didn’t mind and did the job with her natural good cheer, until the day that she found a small rabbit still alive, Laura didn’t know how but she could suddenly understand what the rabbit was saying, she could hear it’s struggling cries to be free, Laura’s heart broke, she couldn’t let the animal go, it was food and money for her and her father but to stand there and hear the creature’s cries was so painful. Laura did the only thing she could think of and walked away until she could no longer hear the rabbit and waited for it to die.

As time went on Laura discovered not only could she understand the animals but they could understand her, at first this made her very happy; she now had someone she could talk to and become friends with. But since that day Laura had waited until midday to tend the traps not wanting to hear the cries of the dying animals, she knew any animals that had been caught were normally dead by then, it felt like she was betraying her friends but she and her father needed the money to survive. But today she had left the house at dawn and would be arriving at the traps sooner than normal; she needed to return to the village as early as possible. Last night a ranger had come into town and taken room at the inn, Laura wanted to talk to him about an apprenticeship and if he would be interested in taking her on, she had been saving and could pay him but didn’t know how long he would be in the village for and she had to get back before midday. Laura was almost to the traps when she heard it, the sound of an animal crying the noise broke her heart all over again. Laura wanted to walk away but knowing if she did that she would miss the ranger, so she pushed past the foliage and started checking the traps; most were empty or contained dead animals apart from one that had trapped a fox cub, the snare was slowly choking the cub. Laura looked at the animal and decided that she would no longer kill animals, Laura ran to the cub trying to sooth it with her voice, it backed away pulling hard on the snare, choking itself more.

“Hold still will you.” snapped Laura, losing her temper with the cub; the cub stood rooted to the spot shaking with fear, Laura slowly removed the snare allowing the cub to breath. “Now go home and be more careful.” Laura demanded, running a hand over the fox checking for any other injuries. The cub slowly crept off keeping its body as low to the ground as possible. Laura collected the rest of the animals and headed back to the village, feeling better about herself.Laura was just leaving the forest when she saw there was something wrong, black smoke was rising from the village. Laura started sprinting, a sense of dread settling over her like a cold mist, as she drew closer to the village the worse the feeling became, its icy fingers clutching at her heart. It looked like only one house was burning; the fiery smell clogging her nose. Laura thought that it might be the baker’s house; maybe it was an accident one of their ovens catching fire. But that didn’t explain the feeling of dread settling over her, but she knew that it wasn‘t true and as she rounded the corner she stopped. Her home was in flames; her father was on the floor with two men kicking him. “Stop,” screeched Laura, dropping the string of animals that she had been carrying, “Leave him alone.” she screamed, as she ran at the men trying to get them away from her father. One of the men turned laughing at Laura he grab her and twisted one of her arms behind her back.

“Oh, what do we have here?” teased the man. Laura turned her face away; his breath had the rancid smell of decay, his stumpy teeth were black and yellow. Laura was trying not to be sick from the smell. He was the smaller of the two, but still almost six foot tall and very skinny with dirty blond hair. The other man had carried on kicking her father, his hair was black with a greasy shine, he was massive, clearly well over six foot tall and maybe just as wide. Laura’s father looked up, “Leave her alone” he shouted at the blond man as his hands start to move over Laura’s body. “Stu I think we’re found something a bit more fun than that old man,” sneered the blond attacker, ignoring Laura’s father, Stu looked up but carried on kicking. Until Stu’s foot connected to Laura’s father’s chin, there was a sickening snap and her father went limp.

“NOOOO,” squalled Laura, sounding like a caged animal whilst trying to break free from her captor’s grip. He spun her around and ripped at her top exposing her flesh. Laura let out another high-pitched scream. An eagle flying over head felt Laura’s scream as if it had been hit. When the second scream came the eagle was expecting it. The eagle saw that it came from a human girl being attacked; and reacted to this by folding back it wings and diving. The blond haired monster looked over to his friend.

“Stu come over here and hold this little wench, while I have a better look.” Stu lumbered over grabbing hold of Laura’s arms. The blond hair fiend started moving his hands over Laura’s shoulders and down her chest, his eyes glassed over and he was breathing hard. The eagle slammed into his face clawing and tearing, Stu dropped Laura to the ground and lunged after the eagle. Laura then heard a wet thud and saw an arrow sticking out from the back of Stu’s neck as he fell onto his friend. The eagle cried out and flew away, the blond man looked down at Stu and that was the last thing that he ever saw. Laura heard another wet thud and saw another arrow sticking out from his chest as he fell onto his dead friend. Laura looked over; as the leaves suddenly parted the ranger stepped out revealing his hiding place, his cloak blowing out behind him in the light breeze, the top half of his body was wrapped in brown leather while his breeches and boots were black. He moved with the grace of a hunting cat, every movement thought out, no energy wasted in his approach. He walked to Laura’s father, a sad look passed across his face as he closed her father’s eyes; slowly his gaze came to Laura, his green eyes piercing into Laura’s soul.

“Come with me child.” he said in a voice so soft, anyone nearby would have been unable to hear him. Laura looked at the hand that he offered. “This is no longer a place for you. Your father told me this morning that you wanted to become a ranger. Come now; let this village deal with its own. You are no longer one of them. You belong with me.” Laura took his hand and as he pulled her to her feet he covered her with his clock and the two of them headed into the forest, tears running down her face.

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Mac sat on the rooftop; the evening light wrapped around him. He watched Lord Charmin’s guards leave the burning building, tonight everything would change. Mac was not scared of change but this would be the first time that he controlled the changes in his life, unlike when everything had been taken away from him. Mac had been four when it happened, he was the son to one of the most powerful lords in Samatol, some say that his father was adviser to the Lord Regent, not that Mac was sure of any of this, his world had been that of playing in their garden, hiding from his nurse and loving his mother and father. That all changed the night before the Yule festival, he had gone to bed earlier than normal, wanting to get up early to see what gifts his parents had brought him, he had hoped that it might have been a pony as his father had promised to teach him to ride, so Mac fell asleep dreaming of the pony that he so desired, when his nurse crept into his room.

“Sssh Mackenzie, come here… I need you to be very quiet dear.” Mac had never seen his nurse act like this and it worried him, but he knew that his father would want him to obey his nurse and he hoped his father would be there soon. As the nurse starting to dress Mac, she was also putting some of his clothes into a cloth bag. Once she had finished packing she passed it to Mac, “Can you carry that dear or is it too heavy?” Mac struggled to lift the bag; it contained more than the few clothes he had seen the nurse put in there.

“I can carry it.” whispered Mac. The nurse smiled sadly at Mac patting his cheek.

“Follow me dear and be very quite.” The nurse led him out of his room into the corridor. Mac parent’s bedroom was also on this corridor, at the top of the main stairwell. His nurse led him along toward their room. Mac heard some men laughing, mixed with some grunting that he couldn’t place, as they reach the top of the stairs and headed down Mac looked into the room, a lot of men were in there all wearing red tabards with a golden snake coiled in the centre.

“Come on lads there plenty for all, I still want a piece of this wench.” At the time Mac didn’t understand, but later in life he would come to know what these men were doing. The two of them reach the bottom of the stairs, their butler Mr Anderson; lay there with an arrow in his chest. This was when Mac started to cry he made no sound but could feel the warm tears running down his face, his breath catching in his chest. The nurse led him into the dining room, to the far corner and opened the window. Mac knew that this was the only window that didn’t squeak when opened.

“Quickly my dear we have very little time.” Mac jumped out and landed in the soft snow, his nurse followed, she took him by the hand and led him across the garden, heading towards the wood. “Mac if we get separated you must head to the woods and hide. You know, where your father showed you, I will come and get you. Promise me Mac do not come out for anyone but me, no matter what they say.” Mac looked at his nurse; his eyes once again began to fill with tears. “Promise me Mac.” His nurse always called him Mackenzie never Mac, not for as long as he could remember had she called him Mac. The nurse grabbed his arms, “Mac do you understand?” Mac nodded his head, and again the two of them headed towards the wood that was at the far end of their garden.

“STOP!” shouted someone behind them,

“Quick run. I will come for you.” the nurse whispered, pushing Mac toward the woods, she ran to her right leading away the men chasing after them. Mac ran as fast as he could, until he reached the den that his father had built for him, his father had told him that no one would ever be able to find him and said that he should tell no one where it was. Mac sat there for a long time, slowly his thumping heart returned to normal. Mac didn’t know how long he waited but he had begun to become hungry and so he looked into the bag that his nurse had given him, at the bottom of the bag was a loaf of bread and some apples, Mac ate all the apples even the cores. Mac’s den was quite warm and had been built to keep the warmth in and the cold out and now with a full stomach, Mac finally fell asleep.

Mac woke with a start, someone was called his name, and he listened trying to hear his nurse. But as his name was called again Mac realised that it wasn’t his nurse calling him. He thought that maybe it was one of the cooks, but Mac didn’t know them that well and he had promised his nurse to only show himself to her. The person came closer as Mac looked out of one of the peepholes that he and his father had built. It was one of the cooks but a man was walking with her, he was wearing the same tabard as the men that he had seen in his parent’s bedroom.

“Look I’m telling you he’s not out here.” insisted the woman to the man.

“You’d better hope he is, because you’re the one who is going to tell the captain if he isn’t, my life is worth too much and you will take the blame.”

“Who was it that got you lot in?” snapped the woman, “Also I wasn’t the one meant to be guarding the place was I.” The man turned and punched the cook square in the face, the cook fell to the floor spitting out blood raising a hand to her split lip.

“Watch your mouth wench, or you’ll end up like that high and mighty lady in there.” Thecook lowered her head. “Get up and call the boy, we have to be gone in a couple of hours.” Mac stayed hidden for the rest of the day, he listened as their calling became quieter as they moved away and then sat there; too scared to come out. Finally the sun descended and it turned cold; he put on the extra clothes that his nurse had given him. He could see a fire coming from his house but still he didn’t move, afraid that the men would still be there, throughout the night the sky was ablaze with fire.

Slowly Mac woke forgetting where he was and what had happened; there was a smell of burnt timber, Mac eased himself out of his den, moving toward his house. As he reached it, he decided to look around to see if he could find his nurse. When he found her he wished he hadn’t, she laid face down and naked, with a dagger sticking out of her back. No tears came now as Mac had been crying too long to cry anymore. He felt dead inside. Now he looked at the remains of the house, the fire had burnt throughout the entire building, leaving nothing but a broken shell, Mac was too young to know how to deal with what was happening, he only knew that he was hungry and needed food, he decided to head for town as that was where his mother had always bought food. Over the next four years Mac survived on the streets, sometimes he wondered how he had managed. He had started off by begging as he saw others doing, stealing food that he need when he had to, just to survive. At the age of eight everything changed again. Mac had become a loner, never trusting or getting too close to anyone especially the other street children, always afraid that he would again lose the people he cared about, should he let himself do so. But he always watched the other children on the street; he saw how they cut the purse strings of folk passing by, giving them the money to buy what they needed. Mac watched them for a long time before he decided to try. His parents had always taught him that it was wrong to steal, but he had been living on the streets for so long now and he knew that life was not always as easy as what is right and wrong, Mac watched and waited until he saw his target. A big bear of a man, with a black shaggy beard and a purple cloak that protected him from the cold, Mac move toward him looking at the stalls but always keeping his eyes on the man. As the man neared, Mac moved away bumping into someone else, a woman who had her young daughter with her, the woman pushed Mac away with disgust. Mac fell into the big man, quickly cut the strings of his purse and moving away, it was so quick and easy, euphoria rushed through him. Mac would never go hungry again, with these happy thoughts and his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, he stopped and watched the big man walk away. The man stopped after about twenty paces, turned around, looked at Mac and their eyes locked. Mac ran, trying to get away as fast as he could, then everything went black. When he awoke he was sitting in a large chair with two men on either side, while they were not looking at him, Mac knew that if he moved to get up they would be able to stop him very easily. Opposite him sat the big man, Mac could see him better now, he had pale blue eyes, and a scar that ran around his right eye. Mac could hear a fire crackling in the background but dared not look around, the man’s gaze held him.

“What’s your name boy?” Mac had expected the man to growl out his words, but his voice was quiet yet commanded a response. Mac just sat there, unable to say anything. “Do not make me ask again boy, you will find that it is an experience that few survive and you would not like that.”

“Mac.” The man smiled and nodded

“And how long have you been picking pockets boy?”

“You were my first.” replied Mac, a shocked expression passed across the man’s face but it was covered up so quickly that Mac almost missed it.

“Your first. That was very well done. Do you know what your mistake was, you only made one.” Mac shook his head. “You stopped and watched, had you kept on walking I would never have been able to make you out in the crowd.” The man looked into Mac’s brown eyes, he was thinking. “How would you like a job Mac? But be warned if you say no, you will leave here and if I ever see you again you will not live to tell of it but, if you take the job and then run, you had better hope you can run far and fast.” The man looked around the room. “But if you say yes you will be given a room, food, a teacher and one gold crown a month.” Mac sat there thinking about the offer. He could say no and go back to stealing but Mac didn’t like that, he felt he was betraying his parents. Running away he couldn’t do, he had only ever known this city, so all that left was taking the job, but it sounded too good to be true. But Mac had nothing left to lose so nodded his head. “You must say yes, you must speak no more of this nodding or shaking of your head, I will not deal with an imbecile.”

“Yes sir.” answered Mac; the man smiled and called out.

“Serlene would you come out?” a woman appeared from behind the man, one minute she hadn’t been there and the next she was. Mac watched her closely. “This one is yours, train him well,” ordered the man. Serlene headed to the door, he was now able to see her properly. She had jet black hair tied into a ponytail, the rest of her was dressed in black, not shiny but a dull colour almost like that of a shadow, her cloak was dark brown that blended into the black, the only other thing that Mac could see was the broach that pined her cloak, it was small and oval with the picture of two dragons circling each other. “Go with her Mac, she will look after you.” said the man, Mac got up and followed Serlene, as he turned around he saw how big the room was, it must have been about twenty feet long with pictures and armour covering every wall. Serlene led Mac from the room, once he was outside Mac felt more at ease with the beautiful stranger.

“Who is he?” asked Mac, Serlene looked down at him.

“He is The Shadow.” she replied in a sad voice. Mac stopped still, he had heard the name whispered around the streets it seemed that he had been talking to one of the most powerful men in the Realm, he controlled all of the crime across the Realm, it was said that anyone who crossed The Shadow, never saw the light of the next day. Mac could remember all of the stories. He had sat outside the tavern listening to the men talk about him. Just as Mac started to move The Shadow walked out of the door behind him.

“Ah Mac, this is for you.” The Shadow tossed a coin to Mac who caught it with ease, as he opened his hand he saw a gold crown, this was more money than he had ever seen. Before Mac could say anything The Shadow had gone.

“Come on Mac.” Serlene said. Serlene took Mac to the kitchen and got him some food; it was the best food Mac could remember eating in the longest time. “This is one of The Shadow’s safe houses; he is only here when he is doing business in the City. You are my charge now, do not let me down, any trouble you get into will come back to me and I can be a hard mistress or a good friend it is up to you.”

The next day Mac’s training started. He was up at dawn for breakfast and helping the cooks if they needed it, then he was off to the training yard, where he would have to run an obstacle course as fast as he could, twice, then for the next four hours, he would have to hide in different places around the house, standing still, on one leg or another, so that the people walking by would not see him. The next four years would be the hardest of his life; this training was to be more arduous and challenging than anything he had ever experienced, just as he became good at one test, Serlene would change it, moving from the house to the streets to another house. Then lessons in diplomacy, language, numbers and writing. Sometime Serlene would spend all day watching him, at other times he wouldn’t see her for a week. One day when he was ten Mac was walking around the exercise yard on his day off and he thought about going into the town; but as he walked around thinking about what he was going to do, he came across the blacksmith. The blacksmith was beating at his anvil, the sound resonated around the yard, and Mac could feel the sound vibrating in his chest. He was repairing some of the training weapons, this was all Mac had ever seen him do. Mac stood there watching him. The Blacksmith was a tall man with his long black hair hanging limply around his face from the heat of the furnace, his muscles strained as he hit the hammer onto the blade of the sword. Mac stood there watching the blacksmith for a long time, just watching and listening, when the blacksmith turned to him.

“If you’re going to stand there you can make yourself useful, see that fan over there, keep pressing it down to keep the fire nice and hot.” Mac was so used to being given orders that he followed them without question, and from there on whenever Mac had a free day he would spend it helping the blacksmith. Over the years Mac started to work with the weapons and the blacksmith taught him how to care for them and create new weapons. The blacksmith didn’t always need his help and sometimes told him to go away, on these days Mac would walk around town or head down to the wharf, relishing the sea air blowing across his skin.

At the age of twelve, Mac started weapons training, all day everyday he would be trained in how to use different weapons. Swords, knives, staffs, throwing stars, a bow and arrows and spears, if it could kill, Mac was taught how to use it. After a little while Mac felt that he was losing some of his skill in the training yard and so in the evenings when he had a little time to himself he would go out to the yard and practice, moving as fast as he could around the different obstacles, Mac loved the feeling of moving as fast as he could. Mac received his money but never spent it. After years of living on the street and now he had food, shelter and a purpose he had little need for money so he put it away, never counting it but always keeping it. Serlene’s influence in Mac’s life had been very little to this point. Mac had a number of teachers over the years but Serlene had not worked with him as yet. She would watch from the corner and talk to his teacher at the end of day telling them where she thought that he could do better. At sixteen Serlene took over his teaching, from that time on he would always be at her side, apart from his free days which he still spent working with the blacksmith. Whenever she was sent on a mission for The Shadow Mac would follow, learning how Serlene worked, Mac learned more from Serlene at that time than from all of his other teachers over the previous eight years. He learnt how she moved and spoke to others, she commanded respect from everyone. She would sometimes send him on simple missions to hone his skills. One day when Mac was eighteen he started the day as normal, he rose, washed and dressed, and headed down to the training yard for his morning exercise, thinking about what he and Serlene were going to be doing that day. As he entered the yard, two other people were already there, they were a couple of years older than him; Mac had seen them around the food hall, irritating the serving girls, like most of the other boys. They were carrying swords and sparing with each other but they were not putting in any effort. As Mac came closer the two men turned to him.

“Hey Danny, look who we have here. It’s Serlene’s little sheep.” The lad rested his sword and retied his black hair into a ponytail. What the lad had said surprised Mac. Very few people would insult Serlene and to call Mac little was far from truth, for with all his training over the last ten years Mac had developed quite a muscular and powerful frame.

“What’s the matter boy, lost your mummy.” questioned Danny, chuckling as he rested on his sword, his blue eyes flashed with hatred. Mac knew now that there was going to be trouble, these two wanted a fight, and Mac was the only one around, his sword was hanging on the far wall, Mac could make out its slightly curved blade, he had built it himself, the blacksmith had claimed it sound enough for him to use and was a good weapon for his first attempt.

“Lads I don’t want any trouble I came here just to get some exercise.” said Mac.

“Oh did you hear that Peter, little baby doesn’t want any trouble. So this is what Serlene has taught you, how to cower and beg.” Mac’s eyes flashed with anger, he took a step toward Danny, but turned suddenly landing a punch to Peter’s stomach, Danny lunged for Mac, Mac twisted away allowing Danny to pass him, Mac jumped over the balancing beam in front of him and grabbed his sword, by now Peter had regained his breath and both men were coming toward him waving their swords. “I don’t want to have to hurt you two; you can only get hurt if you carry on pushing me.” warned Mac. Peter’s answer was to lunge, trying to drive his sword into Mac’s stomach, Mac knocked the sword away, sparks flew as the swords met, Mac brought his elbow up driving it into Peter’s face, there was a loud crack and Peter fell to the floor. Danny meanwhile had been moving around trying to get behind Mac, Mac was very lucky to see the sword at the last moment, Danny swung the sword trying to take Mac’s head off. Mac ducked and sprinted up a climbing wall onto the high balance beam. He turned as he got into the middle, Mac was at home in high places and the beam was his friend, he knew this and as Danny approached, he could see that Danny wasn’t happy being up here. Danny start to slash at Mac trying to put him off balance, but Mac just return his strike, not attacking but defending, Mac was hoping to wear Danny down and that he would just quit, but Peter had started to get up stumbling toward them and Mac knew that he needed to finish this quickly, as he turned and ran along the beam Danny was right behind him, when Mac reached the end of the beam he jumped turning in midair and landed behind Danny, where he hit him on the back of the head with the flat of his sword. Danny fell to the ground and didn’t move, Mac was worried that he had

killed him but didn’t have time to check as Peter was closing in from behind walking slowly across the beam. As Peter swung Mac stepped into the strike and brought his sword up locking them together. “If you stop now I will let you live, if you carry on I cannot guarantee that.” Mac cautioned, Peter pulled away and swung his sword low hoping to take Mac’s knees out. Mac jump back giving himself some space to move, again Peter lunged toward Mac. Mac turned and grabbed Peter’s hand and arm. He then brought his knee up and arms down; there was a loud snap as Peter’s wrist broke, his sword fell from his hand as Peter fell from the beam and crumbled to the ground.

The Shadow and Serlene stood watching Mac as he defended himself.

“He’s ready.” boasted Serlene as the two of them moved away from the window.

“Are you sure, he didn’t kill them?” asked The Shadow.

“Of course not, he knows that they are your men, and probably just out for a bit of fun. If he had killed them then he would have had to explain it to you, and I would have had to get involved.” From then on Mac started to be given jobs of his own, go and see some Duke or scare someone who owed money. Sometimes he would work with Serlene but mostly he was on his own. About a year later things changed again, Mac and Serlene were sent to talk to a Duke who owed a lot of money to The Shadow and wasn’t willing to pay up. What the two of them hadn’t expected was for the Duke to set a trap, after they had escaped and were heading back, the duke’s guards were chasing but Mac and Serlene weren’t worried, no-one could catch them across the roof, when Serlene’s foot fell through a roof breaking her leg and trapping it. She told Mac to go and bring back help, but before he left she gave him two things. One was her cloak clasp with the two dragons circling each other. The other was a piece of advice; “Mac, live your life for yourself and no one else. Do not allow others to rule you.” Mac thought about this as he travelled to The Shadow’s safe house as fast as he could. Mac raised everyone he could, to go back and help Serlene but they were too late, she was dead, the guards that were left didn’t live for long, and soon after the Duke was a guest of The Shadow, his screams were heard for weeks, they were a sound that soothed Mac to sleep every night as he mourned the passing of his teacher and good friend.

For the next two years Mac continued working for The Shadow until one day he saw some guards wearing red tabards with a coiled golden snake that he had seen the night of his parents murder, Mac followed these guards across roof tops hoping that they would lead him to the man that had destroyed his childhood and caused him so much pain. The guards were gossiping about things that mattered little to Mac until they came to a tavern in the better part of town.

“Ok lads, we’ve finished for the night,” said the head guard. “I’m going in to see Charmin and let him know what happened tonight, you lot be back here in the morning we leave at first light.” The guards drifted away, each going their own way. The head guard entered the tavern. The head guard was another that Mac wanted, it had taken Mac a while to remember him, and it wasn’t until he heard him talking that he remembered, he was the one that had hit the cook in front of him, the one that had boasted about raping his mother. Mac climbed onto the roof of the tavern to find a way in, it was a good tavern, and no entry could be made through the roof, which only left the windows. Mac entered quietly, the darkened room had a small cot in it, a baby was asleep, and Mac could hear two guards outside. So Mac made a small sound in the room allowing the guards to hear it. As the door opened, they both walked in, Mac smiled, they had made a grave mistake; one should always stay outside or go and find reinforcement. As the second one passed, Mac lunged with his dagger piercing the guards throat, slicing his voice box, it happened so fast that the first guard heard none of this until the other’s body hit the floor, as he turned Mac threw a pink powder into the guards face, Serlene had taught him the art of poisons and while he didn’t generally use then he always kept a handful available for when the need arose, this particulate poison was quite difficult to create and the guard fell to the floor soundlessly, his hands covering his face, the poison clogging his throat so that no sound could be made, blocking his airways so that he slowly suffocated. Mac stepped out onto the landing. To his left there were stairs leading to the bar, one guard stood with his back to Mac, to the right there was a large set of double doors that must lead to Lord Charmin’s chambers. Mac quietly stepped behind the guard drawing his dagger across his neck. The guard made a gurgling sound as bubbles of blood formed at his throat. Now that the way was clear, Mac headed to the double doors; from behind them he could hear cries of pain. Mac opened the doors and stepped in the Lord was standing over the bed in his underwear holding a long wooden cane, while a young woman lay tied on the bed, naked.

“Who the hell do you think you are? Walking in here?” shouted the Lord angrily, slightly lowering the cane,

“I am Revenge. I am Justice.” growled Mac

“Really my boy, aren’t you a bit young for justice?” laughed the Lord, bringing the cane down sharply onto the girl’s backside. The girl cried out in pain again.

“You have killed your last family; your guards will no longer rape and kill for you.” Mac’s anger was barely controlled in his voice

“Oh and who is going to stop me? You, ha, I have killed bigger and better than you boy. But before we get to that, tell me for who is this revenge that you seek?”

“For the McDougles,”

“The McDougles, the McDougles, oh yes, god that was years ago, one of the first families to cross me with their high and mighty ways, but then who are you, my guards told me that none survived.”

“I was their son. I heard their cries. I am the last of the McDougles.” At this Mac drew his sword from his back, the blade made no sound as it left its scabbard.

“Ah now my boy, why do you want to go and do something like that,” Lord Charmin walked to the mantelpiece drawing his sword. Always facing Mac, “Now is the only time you have to leave boy, it was a long time ago and I have no argument with you.”

“No but you did with Lord Bidden, or was there another reason why your guards have just returned from the remains of his estate.” Mac tested the Lord with a few quick strikes of his sword.

“Well he was being a pain; I couldn’t allow that to carry on.” This time the Lord attacked first, Mac backed up to the door, returning all of his strokes. The woman on the bed let out a scream each time the swords struck together. The two of them were starting to really attack each other, the Lord had intended only to beat the boy and send him packing. Yes he knew that the boy must have killed some of his guards but if they had let him get this far then they deserved to die, but now he found he was defending his life, the boy was better than he thought he could be. Mac on the other hand had started easy on the Lord, testing him, seeing if he was any danger. Mac’s confidences grew as he discovered that the Lord was no match for him, as his sword sliced Lord Charmin’s arm, the Lord stumbled back. For the first time Lord Charmin thought that he might not survive this night. Mac didn’t allow the Lord much time to recover, he pressed on, driving the Lord further into the room, the fight was now becoming desperate, and the Lord was doing everything that he could to stay alive. Mac now stopped toying with him, his only desire was to see him dead, every move that the Lord tried, Mac returned with ease, he was only waiting for his opening, and there it came. The Lord made a lunge for Mac’s neck hoping to finish this fight but Mac ducked, lifted his sword and plunged it into Lord Charmin’s chest. Lord Charmin staggered back dragging the sword from his body, as he hit the wall his legs gave way and he crumpled to the floor, dead. The woman on the bed was crying into the pillow, seeing the Lord killed and being unable to move, she was now waiting for her own death when a guard walked in. It was the guard from Mac’s past. The guard took everything in; his Lord was dead, the naked woman on the bed and Mac standing in the corner.

“You know boy that was a mistake, and one that you’re not going to live to tell of.” The guard drew his sword and advanced on Mac. Mac advanced giving himself some room, Mac had got his revenge now he just wanted this finished, so not even allowing the guard time to move in for the attack Mac jumped forward, bringing his sword down from over his head, the guard raised his sword to block the attack, but the guard didn’t see the dagger in Mac’s other hand, Mac plunged it into the guards stomach. “Welcome to hell.” sighed Mac as he twisted the dagger and withdraw it. Mac looked around the room; the woman was still crying and at his feet were the bodies of two men that Mac hated. Now he would have to leave. The Shadow would not be happy, and the town of Samatol was no longer safe for him, so Mac left the tavern and headed out of Samatol, he didn’t know where he was going.

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Eleanor sat in her room rubbing her arms where her father had grabbed her, he had caught her doing magic again. Eleanor was fifteen with long wavy blonde hair, and pale blue eyes, she still had the look of a child but wouldn’t for much longer; people could see the image of the woman she would be. Eleanor thought that this was the only reason her father tolerated her, hoping to marry her off to some rich noble and increase his standing in the community. Eleanor lived with her mother and father, but her mother was a meek thing, having been beaten for as long as Eleanor could remember. Her father had left Eleanor alone for a long time but more often now his anger was directed at her, normally for her performing some form of magic. Magic was forbidden for women and they were not allowed to practice. Never mind that Eleanor came from a long line of sorceress’s, and had better control and understanding of magical forms than all her male relatives, she was not allowed to use her magic. But sometimes it was so hard not to; magic seemed to know what was needed before she did. Today had been one of those days, her mother had just finished baking cakes, they smelt wonderful on the light spring breeze, Eleanor had thought of how much she would like one of those cakes when it had risen in the air and shot across the room to her hand. That was when her father had walked in, seeing it all. He had dragged her by her hair into his study, where he grabbed her arms and shouted at her, when he thought that she wasn’t listening he had slapped her hard around the face, knocking her to the ground. Eleanor ran into her room crying. She looked in the long mirror that dominated one of the walls in her tiny bedroom, a red handprint could clearly been seen on her face, how she hated this place and want to leave. Eleanor’s eyes drifted over a small carved wooden box that had been a gift to her from her dead grandmother, she had died three years ago, she had been a sorceress, one of the last. She always had time for Eleanor no matter what, when she had died it had broken Eleanor’s heart, Eleanor thought sometimes that the only reason her father had never hit her before was because he was scared of her grandmother, only once had Eleanor ever seen her grandmother angry, that had scared her. Eleanor opened the box and pulled out the little note that was inside.

 

Dear Eleanor.

I am sorry that I have to leave you. I am unable to help you anymore, but remember this. You are of my blood and great things are in store for you. I leave you one gift, my ring, when you are ready to start your life put this on, and it will help you.

Always with you my darling Eleanor

Grandma

 

Eleanor had never put on the ring, afraid of what would happen. But now Eleanor looked at the ring; it was a small signet ring that would fit her little finger, engraved on the ring were two dragons circling each other. Eleanor again read the letter, when you are ready. Was she? She wondered. Eleanor sat there for a while longer, looking at herself in the mirror, the hand print on her face was slowly fading, but the marks on her arms looked as angry as ever. Did she want to start her life or have her father beat her again, should she put the ring on. Eleanor found herself slowly rolling the ring through her fingers, thinking of all the time she had been beaten by her father or that she had watched her mother be beaten and never fought back, she put the ring on her finger, the mirror in front of Eleanor flashed as if struck by lightning, then she could see a swirling blue tunnel, her grandmother stood in the middle of the tunnel.

“Eleanor my darling, you have decided to start your life. I am glad, but I must tell you this. Your life does not belong in Cocrell, go out into the world, and find your destiny.” The image slowly faded leaving Eleanor stunned. What was she going to do, did she really see her grandmother, she sat on her bed thinking, after a long time Eleanor had decided, she was leaving. Eleanor moved around her room grabbing all the things that she thought she would need, finally when she stood in front of the mirror one last time, the mirror in front of her flashed a couple of times and the blue tunnel returned, drawing her eyes in to it. “So my darling you are ready?” Eleanor stared at her grandmother again, she was smiling.

“Grandma?” she smiled.

“That’s right my dear. Now we don’t have much time, this portal won’t stay open for long. When you leave town head west to the Black Forest, your father will think that you will head for Samatol, and we can’t have him catching you. Not now that you have shown that you are ready to find your path. Trust the ring it will help you. Practice your magic but don’t rely on it all the time, once you’re in the Black forest there is a small cave about two days travelling into the forest, head for there, there you will decide what you want to do with your life. Good luck my darling, I will be watching over you.” The mirror flashed a couple more times, and Eleanor was once again looking at herself in the reflection. As night descended Eleanor sat in her room, waiting for all in the house to go to sleep, only when she finally heard her father close his study door and walk down the corridor to his bedroom, she start to become nervous, she waited another hour before she dared to move. At this time of night in the village of Cocrell most people would be asleep, apart from the odd wizard practicing spells and potions. Cocrell was one of the last wizarding villages in the Realm, spell casters from all over came here to rest and relax. Eleanor moved through the house heading to the kitchen, grabbing as much food and water as she could carry, she didn’t know how long it was going to be before she would be able to find supplies again, as Eleanor was leaving she saw her father’s purse sitting on the living room table. Normally he would have put it in his study, but he had been drinking tonight and had forgotten, Eleanor thought about taking the whole purse, but while her father wasn’t much of a wizard, he could still do a simple tracer spell, so Eleanor emptied out the purse into her own and left the empty bag lying on the table. She silently closed the front door, headed south to Raenor and then east towards the Black forest, the moon was bright with the stars filling the sky, Eleanor felt freer and happier than she could remember being for the longest time.