Prologue,Part I: Finley Blackwood:Taking names

The crowd applauds as the figure strikes,their weight pressing down on their blade,and the weight of them and their blade forcing their enemy to fall to his knees.No one knows what the next blow might be.The crowd roars as they push their enemy to the dirty ground.Rhian is among the crowd,and watching.Working.His General told him he shall look at those illegal fights,and recruite someone.Among him are few humans,most are creatures.They seem to enjoy this useless cruelty."Finish him!Finish him!",the crowd cheers,and Rhian covers his ears."First time watching?",a female orc besides him asks.She has clearly no idea that Rhian is a Gifted,and can look straight through her glamour.Hiding from a soldier is hard,but hiding from a gifted soldier is harder."Yes.Quite entertaining",he answers and smiles,but it does not quite reach his eyes,but the orc does luckily not notice."I've been enjoying this longer than you are probably are alive",she smirks,and gives Rhian a look-over.He starts sweating under her calculating gaze."You're,let me guess...Twenty-six?" Rhian shakes his head,and really smiles this time,because he always tends to fool people.A special ability,perhaps."Twenty-two." The orc laughs,"I missed it!Ah,my old eyes fail me!" Rhian decides to focus on the mission."Who is this fighter?",he points at the figure,who tries to make the other drop his weapon,which would declare their victory."Ah,the wildcard...Only here for two months,and already taking over the area.No one knows them.Their master gave them the name 'Omega'." It sounds demonic,very interesting."Omega is the biggest threat in the eyes of Gen,that guy over there",she points at an angry man with orange skin and little horns on his head."He was the star!Until one day,Omega showed up." Rhian nods and focuses again on the fight.Omega swings their sword,the pure force knocking the weapon out of the others hand,falling to his feet,in the dirt,like his reputation."I declare Omega the winner!",an old man says out loud,and commands guards to get rid of the defeated fighter."Today,Omega's enemy may be spared,but tomorrow-"

"Stop this madness!",a deep voice interrupts,and he sees Gen rising from his seat."I challenge you,Undefeated,to a duel!",he yells."This shall be entertaining!",the old man applauds,"The defeated demon Gennady against the uncontrolled wildcard!So may it be!'

The crowd roars in excitement,and Rhian looks around.The people want a bloody battle,and he can't leave now.What kind of man who seems to be interested in beast fights would leave a battle like this without looking supersticious?The sun will set soon,the area is shining in a golden light.The armour and helmet of Omega sparkle in the light,and they speak up,their voice dripping with mocking and confidence."You wish to challenge me?!",they pause for the dramatic effect,then talk again,their voice muffled because of the helmet,making it unable to tell if a man or woman is behind the armour."Then so may it be!",they repeat their master's saying.They draw their sword,catching the fading sunlight.The crowd goes a wild as Gennady steps in the area,drawing his blade.He shifts in front of the crowd's very eyes,his eyes become yellow,the scelera getting as dark as the night itself,his horns get bigger,everything does.Everything about him looks even more demonic than it did before.Rhian has seen many creatures,but the appearance of Gennady is deeply disturbing.He has a grotesque mawl,full of sharp teeth,then he runs towards Omega.They step away,turning,and stabbing in the direction of Gennady's back.But Gen ducks,and the Undefeated misses.Their fighting style is different,as if a completely new person stands in the area.Are they a shapeshifter?Rhian can't look away,he is drawn in by those elegant movements,as if they are dancing.They block a strong blow of the demon,the sound of the connecting steel echoing in everyone's ears."You came,you took my name!",Gennady roars,and attacks again with brute force and aggression,but every blow gets ducked or blocked.Omega is fast,and does never reveal their next move.Truly a good fighter...Gen growls as their swords connect once again,and then,Omega twists their weapon,twisting his and his hand.He hisses in pain,but his grip remains.Rhian can almost feel the sweat running down their backs,and he can almost feel Omega smirk under that helmet.They take a dagger out of their boot,and aim right at Gennady's exposed rips.The dagger is long enough to cause permanent damage,long enough to kill.

Gen notices out of the corner of his eye,and grabs their wrist.Rhian can feel that the confidence Omega once had seems to fade.Gennady growls as the weight of Omega pushes against his blade,almost knocking him over.Then,they step back.Gen waves with his arms to regain balance.And when he does,he swings his sword,aiming for their head.They duck,and knock their sword against his.They fight longer,bitter and growling,the clinking of their swords echoing through the area,causing the crowd to roar.It is a dance,one that can end deadly.Gennady steps back,huffing."Your technique is...amusing,to say at least ",they mock him,and now Rhian recognises the accent.They are from around here,from London perhaps.Gen snarls,and runs towards Omega with inhuman speed,and they block the attack with all their power,twisting their weapon,turning around themselves,using the momentum to knock the sword out of his hand.It soars through the air,then gets stuck in the ground.Gennady has fallen over as Omega pushed against him,now laying on the ground as Omega points at his throat."You are no fighter anymore!Your time is over!Omega will win every fight,they always do!Yield!",the master means,and the crowd chants their name."Ome-ga!Ome-ga!Ome-ga!" Even Rhian catches himself chanting. "Finish him!",the master commands,but they lower their blade,and take out their dagger once again."What...?",Rhian asks,and with as blink of an eye,they hurl the dagger at their master,the blade shining one last time in the moonglow,then,the dagger pierces through his shoulder,and he curses,falling to his knees.He cries for help,but no one listens.They all focus on Omega who had lowered their blade.Gennady looks stricken,and they turn around to face the crowd.Then,they finally remove the helmet,revealing something no soul would have expected.Long,brown hair with a hint of ginger falls down their back,tied together.Some streaks haven fallen in their face...a female face.Crimson eyes focus on the crowd,teeth bared,revealing sharp and thin eyeteeth,the ones in her upper jaw longer than the ones in her lower jaw,but all of them shorter than a vampire's fangs.There are horns on her head as well,horns of a ram,but not very long.Her forearms are black,as if a shadow is looming over them.Long fingers,like claws,point at the crowd,"I will not kill,have you all been watching my battles?!I never did,I am no monster,not more than certain people",she spits the last word out,as if it is venom on her tongue.

"This empire was built on bloodied grounds,but the time came.The time for us to strike.Long enough they labered us as abominations,and feared us!We must built our own empire,we must gain allies,and those not worthy of our allegiance,may be crushed,to built an empire on a fallen one.An empire which fell because if their lies and their pure ignorance.We pledged loyalty to Duke Ayan,a two-faced liar.So,I pledge loyalty to myself.We all shall pledge loyalty to ourselves,until our empire rises,and then...We may strike!

"Who the hell is this?"Finley Blackwood...It's Finley Blackwood!",the master coughs,then collapses."Fin-ley,Fin-ley!",the crowd chants.Rhian looks at her.And he knows...He found a force to be reckoned with.