It was night in the great kingdom of Iquen. The bustling of the street markets, people conversing and attempting to sell food, clothes, and other miscellaneous items, now silenced by the eerie call of the night sky. Even the deadly gangs of Iquen were quiet that night, as if something, unknown to every living being, was meant to happen. Garon Theissen, was the only living creature observing the quiet of Iquen at this time of night, a tall, collected man, with brown hair the length of his shoulders, though he usually kept his wild hair up for an attack, and wearing a cloak, dark blue like the color of the night sky. The cloak had the Stormshades clan insignia on it. He looked to be keeping himself hidden in the darkness, as if he too, were awaiting something that was meant to happen. He lifts his hand slowly and examines his palm. "A rune", he thought, "how peculiar."
The rune had an ominous glow to it, and it was as if Garon could hear it calling out to him, as he felt the forceful pull of something malevolent inching towards him. The rune, shining bright as a star, whispered to him and only him, "They come." He, however, had no idea what that meant so he decided to ignore the faint whispering of the rune. Garon pulls his hood up and begins to walk towards the Stormshade headquarters, quietly nested underneath Iquen. The night was entirely still, until Garon felt something lurking behind him, it was as if he gained a sixth sense. He carefully rests his hand on the hilt of his sword, snaps backward and shouts, "Who's there? I know you're following me. Now, show yourself, or be killed by the hand of the Stormshades." Garon drew his sword, a broadsword with a ruby placed between the hilt and the blade of the weapon, it glowed in the pale moonlight.
"Kill." It hissed from the shadows. This menacing and evil aura gravitated towards Garon and gradually became more and more unbearable. He froze with fear, as he had never felt something like this before. This unbearable presence was making Garon of the Stormshades, a child raised to become a mercenary, a cold, hard killer, feel true terror for the first time in his life. The shadowy figures creeped out of the darkness towards him, hissing and attempting to claw at him, as if they were desperately trying to gain something from this man. The creatures were tall and broad, their dark red eyes piercing the soul of their prey, horns like a devil, but taller than average. Their claws, reaching towards the ground, constantly scraping the cobble roads and creating sparks, almost as if they were made to kill. Their tongues wriggled out of their mouth, like a snake peaking out of a hole, stalking its prey. "Kill...you...!", one of them hissed suddenly, as if they had no sentience whatsoever. Their only purpose was to hunt and slay their prey.
Garon, paralyzed with fear, was attempting to make his legs move in order to escape his evil assailants. He sheaths his sword, sweat beading over his entire body. He shivers with fear and finally wills his body to move. One of the creatures, the larger one, seeming to be of higher rank and more intelligent than its subordinate, begins to hiss and speak, the voice being inhuman, "Give us the rune, boy, or die." Garon did not understand what they were talking about, but there was a miniscule idea of how to escape his assailants. The rune began to react to his thoughts, which was unknown to him beforehand, and whispered to him, "Alley. Disappear." He followed the rune's vague instructions and put his hood on his head.
Suddenly, he began to become transparent. "What the hell?" He whispered and ran into the alleyway, his steps disappearing with his body. Garon was confused as well as amazed with his newfound powers. He turned his head around the corner and saw the two creatures discussing something that seemed important to them both.
"We have lost sight of the boy." It hisses. It turns to the other one and demands a response, the taller shadow scratching the smaller one's face, slightly injuring its eye.
"It was not my fault, commander. The boy touched the rune, what if it was lethal to us?" The creature lowers its head as a gesture of embarrassment for disappointing its commander.
The high-ranking creature then hisses, "You imbecile! It's not lethal to us. We need the rune to unlock the ultimate power." It the begins to gesture towards the edge of the market, on the way to the castle, and restates, angrier than ever, "Find the boy. I don't give a damn about his life, I want the rune. Sever his hand if you have to." The commander then spits an order out to the other creature in its own mysterious, incomprehensible language. The commander, sensing something is amiss, inches towards the alley, claws extended. It begins to sniff the alley, unaware of Garon's invisible body. It decides to move away and report back to its own master, unknown to everyone. The goal of the Stormshades is to be able to hunt for treasures untold and uncontrollable by the public, though the king sees them as malicious, they ultimately believe that their goal is absolute. However, their true motive is unknow, even to Garon, who blindly follows orders without question. He removes his hood and stares at his dirty palm, which the rune enveloped. He sighs with bitter relief and thinks to himself, "We are totally fucked."