CHAPTER 1

I sit right in front of my sister's dressing table barely accepting her braiding my hair back from my face. Her fingers are slender, gentle and glimmery, as any other crystallite does. My view gazes upon her freshly made manicure, with her nails sharp like a blade and blood-like. I have never cared about my nails being done! All I cared about was them not be long enough to hold dust under. I wince. Her golden eyes meet mine in the luminous mirror on the table.

"I still don't understand how can't you go looking good to the hall," she says.

Her name is Lynne, and she's my almost twin sister.

Why almost? Simply: because she's a crystal bearer and I am an elemnit.

"With all this fancy make-up on your face, you can't go with your hair like that!" "Why not? We, The Shatterers, may, as well frighten the crystallites with our presence," I answered her carelessly. "You might scare us away with your face paint, yes, but not with your whole appearance! You might be responsible for crystallites shattering, but you're not the Death itself! Please, keep that in mind, for my sake!"

And that's where she's wrong.

Entering The Order of The Shatterers, I have become the embodiment of death. The Crystallites are just like the diamonds, immortals, instead, they don't have control over the elements of nature. They are more impure and less influential. Therefore, they have to live as an average non-crystallite, between 70 to 80, with exceptions, of course.

That's the law of the normality: who was once born, has to die in the end. Even some diamonds faced shattering.

Lynne always cared for me, even though she was the firstborn, even though she was a gem-human being. She wiped my teardrops anytime I fell or felt lonely and reminded me she'll never leave me alone. She gave me her notes from school and even helped me to pass some of my exams.

I sigh.

However, she's never had much patience with me. She always was by my side, even though at the time I, myself, though, she betrayed me and turned into my number one enemy.

"If I were you, I would be honored to know that I hold in my hands such a great power."

Yeah, sure, as you say it, but I still don't believe it.

I still try to understand how can she be so confident even if she's a hybrid, with more prominent crystallites features such as a gem. She's just like me. An orphan brought up by my mother's half because she was shattered when I was four and no one could take care of two little brats.

"Why can't you be as confident as me for once in your life!" She bursts, letting the comb slip out of her hands. "Oh!" She cried, then got on her knees to get back the comb. After she got up, she went on: "You are still my twin. Why can't you be like me?"

No, dumbass, because everyone is themselves. And, oh, Great Creator, here we go again.

"Because if I were you, I wouldn't be me," I shouted a little to her. "Everyone is their best version," I tried to calm a bit down, smiling nervously at her in the mirror, trying to sweeten her.

I didn't want to start a fight with her, even though she is so capricious, but I didn't continue, only because we just found out she was pregnant and Adrianna wouldn't agree if we argued again.

Soon after adopting me and Lynne, Korag got married to Adrianna, one of the Royal Court's Lawyers. It has always been clear that Adrianna puts up with me and Lynne only for Korag's sake. She seems to think of us as her husband's favored soldiers: poorly trained and likely to turn on our headmaster at any moment.

On the other hand, Korag thinks of us as his biological daughters, which I can tell makes Adrianna nervous, even though I would never do anything to hurt them both.

After Korag took us from our mother, who hid in a small village from the land, he brought us to his estates, where the King of Allessan d'Rio keeps his stronghold he raised us — me and Lynne — out of an obligation of honor or, perhaps, a bit of love. Even though Lynne and I are the evidence of Mom's betrayal, by the customs of crystallites, we're his soulmate's kids, so we're his problem now.

As the King's general, Korag was away often, fighting for the crown. We were well cared for nonetheless. We slept on plush beds with baldaquin, with mattresses stuffed with feathers or water. Korag tried to instruct us in the art of fighting with the dagger or with our fists, but only to me, the lessons applied. In the end, it was me the one known as the Knife Girl.

Thinking better at what means Korag to me, I still remember all the nights I drifted off to sleep to his soft and sleepy voice reading from a book of local fairy tales. His voice when reading was so unique that, sometimes, when I try to cheer myself up, I still hear it in my head, telling me wonderful and crazy stories with the Red Emperor and the Dark Servant. Only this makes me not losing my hope that in the end, everything is going to be alright.

Just like in fairy tales.

But it is not. And then I collapse again in a dark and colorless sea full of sadness. Life is not only in pink but also in black and white, just like my face paint that resembles a skull, because any shatterer looks like that.

Like a walking dead.

My sister finishes braiding my hair into an elaborate style that makes me look as though I was a queen. For a second, I couldn't recognize myself, looking at that pale-skinned girl with her dark brown hair tied into an elegant loop of hair. Then, she guided me to choose one of her dresses. Since everyone in our family found out about her pregnancy, she acts all cute and things with us, especially me.

What are you hiding from me, Lynne? Who are you pregnant with and why should I be intrigued by it?

Or perhaps she does this knowing how much I hate wearing skirts and dresses. Doing this, I would stumble and not be able to do my business.

Oh, you little bastard sister!

As if reading my mind, she continued, in a little cry: "But I've seen so many ladies Shatterers in robes and fancy dresses"

Yes, of course, they can fight dressed like that, but everyone has their fighting style!

I didn't say anything, but I just gave her an angry look as I got up from her small white chair with sparkly lathered pillows.

Maybe she has to be the princess, not me.

"Nice hair," she tried to cheer me up, seeing my very serious face as usual.

"Nice outfit," I tried to compliment her, trying to go as polite. However, I didn't like her dress. The color doesn't suit her. She's dressed in marble white, just like a bride. Her hair is loose long curls, in the color of the stars, that fly behind her.

Our house is whitewashed plaster and massive. The glass panes in the windows are so clear, making the light flow into a big bright curtain. As I go down the marbled spiral stairs, I felt something. I felt as if something is going to change as if something very important is going to happen. A breath later, I tried to deny it, because the only thing that was going to happen soon was coming to the dinner of the guy who got my sister pregnant.

As I stepped through the main door of our villa, I tried to untangle my hair. I just didn't like the feeling of tightness in my head. But it was all in vain. My sister tight up against her hair so well…!

***

The Head of the Shatterers was waiting for me in the hall, flanked by his right hand. He is wearing a yellowish-white long robe that makes him look like a representative, but this posture, made me feel like I came from the poorest village. In the end, I was a non-crystallite, a "village girl", as my former schoolmates, that were all crystal bearers, called me. Outside, past the open double doors, many people are wearing all sorts of bright, colorful, and modern or elegant clothes, even the non-crystallite ones, and there I was, in my dark green blouse, with dark blue floral pattern, with my black tight jeans and my muddy, dark-colored leather long boots.

"You both look well," I said all of a sudden, instead of apologizing for coming late as always. The head Shatterer gaze goes to me. "We have very important news for you. "

"Oh, my," I thought aloud. All of a sudden, the guilt took control of me as if it was a very huge wave going to collapse after me, a poor and ordinary surfer who wanted to conquer it. "I swear I did not do anything wrong, my master!" I started crying.

Disappointment passed over my face, but The Head Shatterer's right hand didn't seem upset. He headed towards me, whispering to my ear. "Try to calm down, Light Flame. Even we do not know if it is good or bad news. Thus, you have to be prepared to fight this."

As if this cheered me up! Don't you know if it's good or bad?! What on Alphamundus?!

Each shatterer was given a new name after entering The Order. Mine was Light Flame. To this day, I still don't understand its meaning, for Great Creator's sake!

The Head Shatterer looked me over carefully, as though he expected to react over his right hand's words.

"Be careful tonight," he says. "Promise me you will think carefully before you answer. And most important: if he asks you to do something for him, accept it, on any condition."

"Of course, my master," I kneeled before him and his right hand.

With that little speech complete, he walks out toward me and leads me to one of the doors in that long corridor from the entrance, before that "he" was waiting for me.