The slab read:The city of Justisar is Eternal.The Spirit of Justisar eats at the truth.Sparrow let out a shout of laughter. ‘So here is the proof. Listen well, all of you, Justisar is a city that has existed for centuries upon centuries, millennia upon millennia. It is a perennial city that never falls, and it persists by repeatedly shutting down the truth of its continuous existence. Read any history book that you can, and it will only date back a hundred years or so. The royals of Justisar know the danger of the truth of their eternity ever leaking out, so they destroy and erase all that knows the truth. I, myself, have had to claim an entirely new identity, and now I live a false life hidden far, far away from society, and yet they still try and hunt me down.‘A month ago, the city of Arindel saw its last breath, but what if I said that this was not the first time that the city of Arindel has fallen, and it will not be the last.’‘What?’ Locke shouted. ‘My city, Arindel, has exi

‘Where on earth is that Stocke lad?’ Stag kicked up his feet onto the table and looked over his cards. He peered over at Locke, who had quickly taken to the rules of the game and saw that uncertainty in his eyes. He does not have a good hand at all. He turned to Kets, who always wore her heart upon her sleeve. Nor her.Arla, Miles and Rickter were in a game of darts. Rickter had shown considerable growth with his aim, and Miles stressed his pride in Rickter’s developing skill to Stag just last night. As always, Trys was shovelling down bowls of rice.Wait a minute, something was wrong …‘Ahh!’ Stag let out a scream and jumped to hit feet, pointing at the headless figure of Trys. He dropped his cards, pocket aces, goddamn it, and ran to Trys. ‘Oi, girl! Where’s your head?’Trys’ laughter sounded out from the other side of the room. Her head was smiling from ear to ear on the couch, cackling to herself. Locke smirked and noticed that Kets was pale in shock.‘Come on Kets, you know that

Kets, eyes to the ground, the heavy weight of the hammer weighing her down, crashed headfirst into someone. She almost dropped the hammer, and as she regained her balance, she glanced behind her, gave a short wave and muttered an apology under her breath.She took another step forward, but that same person grabbed the cuff of her uniform to prevent her from taking another step.‘Sorry, girl, but a sorry is far, far from enough.’ It was a man’s voice, edged with the signs of grand nobility. He let go of her cuff, grabbed her shoulder, and spun her around to face him. His eyes were cold and cruel, and Kets bit at her tongue as he inspected every corner of her body. The man was unnaturally tall, almost twice as tall as Kets, with vibrant orange hair and a face contorted like a vicious tiger. His eyes lingered on the badge of the Amber Army.‘Amber Army, eh? A vicious smile crept over his mouth, demented, and far different from Cracker’s. ‘What’s a rat like you doing here? Has Stag made h

There was an air of silence that passed between them. Kets kept her lips shut and her eyes intent, staring at her legs. Every now and then, her legs would wobble, and she would give a brief smile, but it seemed as if there was a barrier that prevented her from gaining her full control back. Locke kept by her side as Stag paced the alleyway.‘Well, at least we won’t have to return to Justisar for a while. That’s a positive,’ Stag said.‘Did you sort out everything in the Royal Army Office?’ Kets asked.‘Sort of,’ Locke said. ‘They could not entirely verify my identity, because, well, I’m from city in the middle of nowhere, which is now destroyed. Stag made a good case to them, but I think they were quite reluctant to have me officially join.’‘That’s because you’re joining my squad,’ Stag said. ‘If you were to join anyone else’s team, everything would be over in an instant. Oh well, at least this is one less thing on my mind. I’m eager to get back to the Amber Hall as soon as possible,

Rag returned with his arms laden with plates of a delicious meal. He set them down on the table and smiled as Locke and the other’s eyes lit up at the sight of the meal. It was a mouth-watering mixture of medium-rare steak drizzled with tomatyne source, with a side of salad.‘Eat up, eh. And Stag, make sure you pay this time.’Stag broke out into laughter when Rag returned behind the counter. ‘Does he really think that I am going to pay?’ Quite elegantly, betraying Locke’s perception of him, Stag cut a slice of the steak and placed it in his mouth, wiping his lips with the serviette when he was done. ‘Carla, I think you have a confession to make, don’t you think?’Carla gave a stiff and curt nod, keeping her eyes down to her laps.‘Well, spit it out.’Carla refused to speak.‘I found you with a knife soaked in blood. Out with it, or you will regret it.’Still, she did not speak.‘And your family will regret it, too.’Carla’s eyes widened with shock. ‘F-fine. I did it. I cut their neck