Promised shadows, p.1
Promised Shadows, page 1
Promised Shadows
THE FATE OF AZALA
BOOK ONE
MK AHEARN
MOLLY AHEARN
Contents
Promised Shadows
Dedication
Content Warning
17 years earlier
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Acknowledgements
Promised Shadows
Promised Shadows
MK Ahearn
Copyright © 2022 MK Ahearn
Covert art by Aethrastic Designs
Map by KC Hayes
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any means without permission
First Edition
ISBN: 9798987146101
Created with Vellum
Dedication
To my wonderful friends and family who believed in me, to bring this story to life.
Content Warning
This book includes scenes that depict violence, death, abuse, and sexually explicit content.
17 years earlier
The bleak stone that built the outside of the shop, gave no indication of the colorful and whimsical worlds hosted within. The shelves inside were lined with books that named far away kingdoms, love stories, and any information one could dream. It was small compared to many shops, but extended with wisdom beyond the limits of any one person’s imagination.
“Can you pass me my tea?” the woman behind the counter asked an older gentleman nearby.
He obliged her request, with a smile on his face. The pair were brother and sister, and well known around the city. They had been running this bookstore for years together. Inspiring a passion for reading within the community. Unfortunately, there had been talks recently of closing down the store and moving. Dark times were approaching, and no one in the kingdom was safe.
“We really need to decide soon about the shop,” the man pressed.
“This is our home. Where would we even go?”
“Far away, where you will be safe.”
They had this same conversation almost daily. Darkness was crawling its way across the lands, bringing death and war wherever it went. The only hope for survival was light, and it had declared the Shadows its enemy. Wielders of darkness, the Shadows were soldiers of malice. They held no sympathy or mercy for the weak. Seeking to overthrow the royal family of light, and begin a reign of pure darkness.
Not everyone with the ability to control darkness was a Shadow. Many lived peaceful, quiet lives. It was no longer safe anywhere for these individuals. The king had made a royal decree marking all who control darkness as enemies of the crown. Seeking to exterminate and burn the threat from the land.
The Royal Guard and king himself were traveling to ensure every person like this was hunted and executed.
“You worry too much about me. I promise I can take care of myself.”
“I know, I just worry they will find us here,” the man said.
The siblings had never left the city before. This was where they grew up, and all they knew. If they were to flee, they would not even know where to go.
A commotion outside caught their attention before they could even finish the debate. Although, if this was heading in the same direction it always was, they would not have come up with an agreement, anyway. Peering out the shop window, the man saw many of his neighbors running back to their homes or shops. The front door flew open, and he stepped away to see who it was.
“Theo?” Theo was a friend who was visiting the city. Theo had distant family here and came often enough for them to consider him a close friend.
“You two need to go now! You’ve been named!”
“What do you mean?”
“The king himself is here. Someone offered him the names of those with shadow abilities here. He knows! You have to go now!”
There was no time to think or consider the details. Theo was right. They had to leave before they were discovered.
“I will lead you to the forest, there are others at the temple out there. They will lead you to safety,” Theo said.
With a nod from his sister, they made their way out the back door. There was no time to grab any belongings. The king would not hesitate to kill anyone he suspected of controlling darkness.
“This way,” Theo whispered. They crouched, moving swiftly through alleys and behind houses. A few times they glimpsed guards marching through the streets. Screams filled the air as individuals were torn from their families and executed in the middle of the city.
The forest was within sight now, and they would only have to make a brief run from the building they were behind to make it. The only issue was it was all open land now.
“We have to go for it,” Theo confirmed. Without another word they ran. Running for their lives. For a chance at freedom.
“HEY! STOP THEM!” Someone bellowed from the city.
Theo was ahead of the two siblings.
The man risked a glance at his sister, seeing she was struggling to keep up in her dress. They were older, and not in the same physical shape as Theo either. If they fell behind, they were doomed.
“We can make it, sister. We have to!”
Guards were right behind them, and gaining on them fast. Theo did not look back at them either, continuing forward. He had a family too somewhere. A father, with children counting on him at home.
Lost in thought, the man snapped back to reality when he saw his sister trip beside him. Coming to a halt he made to help her up, but it was too late.
Guards grabbed her by either arm and dragged her backwards. The man shouted and pleaded, following them. They made no bother to restrain him. It was not his power they feared. Theo had paused for a moment.
“Go, protect your family,” was all he offered, and Theo left with a sad nod.
He rushed after his sister, trying to get the guards to release her.
“Please, you have the wrong person. My sister has done nothing wrong.” Tears stung in his eyes, and through blurry vision he could see they were almost at the center of the city now. Small fires burned. Bodies left to become nothing but ash.
“You can’t do this. She is my sister. Please.” Complete devastation coated every word.
The guards forced his sister to her knees as he watched. They were waiting for the command to execute her. He tried to rush to her side, but now more guards had arrived and held him back. Fighting against their grip, he yelled between sobs.
A man, dressed in the most exquisite of armor, emerged from a nearby alley. Striding with powerful grace toward the commotion. His eyes burned with fury. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the guards holding the woman before him.
“And what do we have here? A Shadow?” the king cooed.
“I caught her fleeing,” one guard answered.
“She is not a shadow,” the man pleaded.
“Ah, but then why was she fleeing if innocent?” the king declared, his mind made up.
Without another word, flames sprang to life in the palms of his hands. He tilted his head, examining the woman forced to her knees in front of him. With a cruel and wicked grin, he unleashed his power.
The woman no longer kneeling before him, only a raging fire. Towering above them all. The flames were merciless.
The guards let go of the man, who was helpless to save his sister now. Every part of him gave up. Falling to the ground he did not even attempt to catch himself. Painful and grief filled sobs left his mouth. Screams of the worst type of loss would be heard across the kingdom on this day.
With what little strength he had left, he lifted his head to see the fire before him.
“I am so sorry,” he whispered.
This was not the story he had imagined would be told of the pair one day. This was a story of loss, excruciating pain, and grief. A story sadder than any tragedy found on the shelves of their shop.
Chapter
One
The streets were always empty this late at night. This particular one was in the lower sector of Veena, close to the docks, a section better left alone close to midnight. Even as the capital of the kingdom of Apricus, Veena still had sections of the city that were best avoided come dark. It is for this reason that Esmerae increased her pace as she made her way down the street, clinging to the shadows when she could. Once in front of the home that was her target address, she immediately moved to the alley beside it. She had scoped it out during the day. She did not know who lived in this home, only that this was the address of tonight’s job.
Esmerae found the second-floor window on the side adjacent to the alley she was now in. During the day, she had gathered that this window led to the study where the item she aimed to collect was kept. She called a bit of air to her and used this to help support her climb up the stone side to the window. Esmerae considered herself lucky. Air was a very useful elemental power to have when working as a thief. She could always stay light on her feet, was more apt for scaling walls, and could easily retrieve items with a quick gust of wind. Tonight’s job would be quick work. She just needed to enter the home undetected, and grab the item she came for. Then, she would soon be on her way back to her apartment, far away from this street.
In no time at all, Esmerae reached the second-floor window and quietly slid it open. How fortunate for her, it was not locked. Often she found people forgot to lock windows that were not on the first floor. Sliding effortlessly into the room, she took in her surroundings and immediately spotted a large oak desk to her left. She moved to look through the desk and, as she did; she was startled when she heard voices coming from another room. Accounting for whoever lived here to still be awake had not been a part of her plan, but she was not worried, as she would leave any second now. She just needed to find… “Yes,” she whispered to herself.
There it was, lying right in the top drawer of the desk. Quickly, she shoved the item into her pants pocket and made for the window. This may be one of the easiest jobs she had ever done, she thought. As she moved to head back out the window, she heard steps heading straight for the door of the study. She needed to hurry and leave now or risk being caught. This left no time to gracefully climb back down the wall as she did to get in. Instead, she jumped right out the window, using air to slow her landing. Hitting the ground, she turned back to the window and used her air to close it behind her.
That was almost a close call, but nothing she could not handle compared to many of her past jobs she took on. Now she would head back to her apartment in the middle of Veena and meet with Maxim Hardy, who was expecting her in the next thirty minutes. Working for Maxim for the last six years was not easy. Beginning after he recruited her to be one of his many thieves. He was one of the most notorious criminal masterminds in all of Veena and had many skilled criminals in his employ. Maxim approached her when she was only seventeen years old, barely scraping by on her own. She had been taking odds and ends jobs, as well as stealing to get by. At the time, she was staying where she could, crashing with a friend or working for a room at an inn, since she could not afford an apartment. Now she was making enough as one of Maxim’s thieves to live a quiet, normal life in an apartment near the city’s market area. Of course, most people in Veena likely did not consider stealing and committing crimes daily to be normal. Yet, Esmerae did not have many other options. Her parents died when she was only six years old, and since then, she had grown up in one of the few group children’s homes for kids like her until she was old enough to learn to fend for herself.
After walking at a quick pace, Esmerae arrived at her apartment. Making her way inside, she hurried up the stairs to the second floor, where she unlocked her door and rushed in.
“Esmerae, I see you have returned, and in quite an impressively short amount of time. I would expect nothing less from one of my best thieves.” Maxim’s voice startled her.
She should have known he would already be waiting inside. As one of the most skilled criminals around, no lock was going to keep Maxim out.
“Stop calling me that. I really hate that name! I have told you a million times, it's just Rae.”
Of course, she already suspected he would never stop calling her that because he enjoyed getting under her skin. Few people had the ability to do so, and beyond that, few people knew her name was Esmerae. She had always just gone by Rae.
“Come, bring me the item you retrieved for me so I can be on my way.”
Rae felt a slight gust of wind breeze by her, almost pulling her towards Maxim. Inside this should not be possible, as all the windows were shut, except that like her, Maxim’s power was also air.
In Apricus, everyone is born with one of the four elemental powers: air, water, fire, or earth. They say the goddesses themselves blessed their people long ago with these powers. Some are born extremely powerful, and others are born with barely any power at all. Rae possessed decent control over air, but nothing that would garner unwanted attention. Beyond the elemental powers, some are blessed with a second, rare power. Those powers being ones such as control over healing, light, metal, or even shadows. There are likely even rare powers Rae had not yet heard of or encountered. Currently, there was only one family in Veena who had the power of light, and they lived in the Solis Palace in the uppermost portion of the city where all could see it.
Those of the royal Goldwirth family were all gifted with control over light and had ruled for as long as anyone could remember, because this was seen as the highest blessing in power. There were healers throughout the city and, in most cases, those with healing powers also had control over water. Many say it is because of all the elements, water has the most healing properties. It pairs the best with abilities to heal others, or it could just be sheer coincidence. Rae guessed it was more likely the first, as the goddesses did not seem to care for coincidence. Those with shadow powers were the most rare to encounter. Many hunted and executed years ago out of fear. Shadow powers are extremely powerful and dangerous. There was a time when Rae was younger that many with these powers sought to overthrow the royal family and rule in darkness.
Rae approached Maxim and pulled the object she retrieved from her pocket.
“Why was I hired to steal a pocket watch? This seems like a useless piece of junk, not some priceless item worth anything.”
Maxim let out a slight laugh. “Our customer lost the watch by gambling it away and it was a gift from his wife. Apparently he was afraid of her wrath when she found out that he had gambled away a gift she had got him.”
Rae could not help but laugh at this. The things the wealthier were willing to spend money on in this city. The idea that someone was willing to spend such money to have a pocket watch stolen back in fear of their wife’s disappointment and wrath was outlandish. Maxim’s services were not cheap by any means.
“Do you already have another job lined up for me, or will I have a small vacation this time?” Rae never went long without a job from Maxim.
“Why don’t you come by the Den tomorrow? I believe I have another job coming up for you, and it sounds like it could be a big one with sizable pay.”
The Den was Maxim’s place, a bar from which he lived above, owned, and operated all his business from. It was the most efficient way to find customers, remain undetected, and have a base of operations.
“Yeah, I can stop by tomorrow afternoon. If this is truly a big job, I better get a fair cut this time, no being cheap.” Maxim was always looking to make the most profit himself off of jobs.
“Oh, come on, you know me. I would never try to pay you less than you deserve. You are my best employee.” He winked and gave Rae a mischievous smile.
“I do know you, and that is why I know you most definitely would pay me less if it meant you profited. You are the best criminal around, after all.” Rae gave him a playful smile back.
“How about I pay you double what you normally make, and then I am allowed to call you Esmerae whenever I would like?”
