Dawn crawled over Azurethra, dragging behind it a sky of steel and waves restless as a drunkard in withdrawal. The air smelled of salt, rust, and unwashed sweat.
Keid pulled on the reins. Hooves clattered on slick cobblestones, splashing through puddles black with filth.
Behind him, a merchant too fat to walk and too stingy to pay without whining jiggled his coin purse like a man about to lose a limb.
"This is robbery!"
"No, it's the rate."
"Yesterday, it was three silver pieces!"
Keid raised an eyebrow and looked toward the horizon.
"Well, you should have traveled yesterday."
The merchant opened his mouth, shut it, then ground his teeth like he was about to lay a golden egg. Finally, he exhaled a long, defeated sigh and tossed the coins over.
"This world's gone to the dogs."
Keid smiled, rolling the coins between his fingers.
"That's true. But some dogs have sharper teeth than others."
He clicked his tongue, turned the carriage, and vanished into the morning mist before the urge to slit the merchant's throat got the better of him.
He rolled on for another hundred yards before stopping by a stone fountain. A group of street kids squabbled over a stale piece of bread while passersby pretended not to see.
Keid whistled.
A scrawny boy, no older than twelve, darted over.
"Need a ride, boss?"
Keid flipped a copper coin in his hand.
"Fat bastard behind me. Follow him, find out where he sleeps, and get me someone who knows how to open doors without keys."
The kid snatched the coin and vanished into the crowd.
Keid smirked. That merchant didn't know it yet, but his vault would be a little lighter by morning.
He stretched, sighed, and was about to climb back onto his seat when he saw the shadow in the sky.
A crow. No—a falcon.
It spiraled down gracefully, landing on the edge of his carriage. Its golden eyes fixed on him with unsettling stillness.
Keid frowned. Not an ordinary falcon.
A leather capsule was tied to its leg.
"I'm getting way too important for my own good."
He untied the capsule, unrolled the small slip of parchment inside. The handwriting was fine, quick, familiar.
"We need you. Come to the Arches. —A."
Keid tapped the paper with his finger, thinking. Then he folded it and tucked it into his belt.
The falcon tilted its head, waiting, as if expecting a response.
"Sorry, friend. I don't talk to pigeons."
The bird let out a sharp cry, then took off with a powerful beat of its wings.
Keid took one last look at the market. He had other things to do. Other business to take care of.
But ignoring this invitation would have far worse consequences than robbing a merchant.
So, he turned his carriage and headed for the Arches.
The Arches marked the entrance to an old district, once wealthy, now forgotten. The kind of place where people buried secrets under cracked stone and broken promises.
Two figures stood in the shadows.
Keid sighed.
Cassim and Annah.
His former brother and his almost-sister.
Cassim was a solid man, in his prime. Not a mountain of muscle, not a warrior carved from marble. Just broad-shouldered, weathered, the kind of man whose hands had known hard work and hard fights. His long brown hair hung over his face, his beard scruffy, adding another layer of exhaustion to his features.
Annah, though—she had changed. A beautiful woman, but not the kind that wanted to be noticed. Her spy's outfit was cut for silence, made for slipping away as easily as striking from the dark. A dagger on each hip, a sharp gaze beneath her hood.
Keid crossed his arms.
"This isn't some moral intervention, is it?"
Annah smirked. Cassim, as usual, did not.
"You're still as arrogant as ever, Keid."
"And you're still a pain in the ass, Cassim. Just like old times."
A long silence. No dramatic tension, no tearful reunions. Just three people with nothing left to say except what was necessary.
Annah broke it.
"We need you."
Keid sighed.
"I'm flattered, really. But I have a life now. A good life. A horse, a carriage, and rich fools who pay me to drive them around. What else could I possibly want?"
Cassim stepped forward.
"It's not a fucking invitation."
The atmosphere tightened like a drawn bowstring.
Keid didn't move.
He wasn't the strongest. But he knew a trap when he saw one.
His hand slid toward the hilt of his sword. Not a threat. Not yet. Just a precaution.
Cassim saw it and stopped.
"You really want to do this?"
Keid tilted his head, smirking.
"You started it."
Annah's gaze flicked between them. Cassim clenched his jaw but took a small step back. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Listen, this is serious. Someone's looking for you."
Keid raised an eyebrow.
"Plenty of people are looking for me. I have what they call a natural charm."
"This one's different."
Keid squinted.
"Alright, then. What's his problem?"
Cassim glanced at Annah. She gave him a slight nod.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a medallion. A dull, timeworn disk of metal, engraved with symbols that had no place in this world anymore.
Keid was about to crack a joke.
Then he touched it.
A wave of cold shot up his arm, biting deep, curling into his bones. The air around him felt heavy, compressed.
His heart skipped a beat.
The kind of feeling that told a smart man he had just stepped into something far bigger than himself.
Keid took a step back, fingers tense.
"What the hell is this?"
***
The medallion seemed to swallow the light. Not like tarnished gold or dull metal. Like a hole in the world.
Keid dropped it immediately.
He expected it to hit the ground with a heavy thud. But it didn't. It made no sound at all.
His heartbeat was still too fast. He felt it in his throat, in his temples. Shit.
He didn't like this kind of thing. The unexplained, the unnatural, the things that bent the rules of reality. Blades, deals, and quiet killings—that was his world. This? This was something else.
He looked up at Cassim.
"This a joke?"
"I wish."
Cassim picked up the medallion, spinning it between his fingers like it was nothing.
"It belongs to you."
"Not that I recall."
"Maybe because you never bothered to find out."
Keid scoffed, crossing his arms.
"How about you cut the bullshit and get to the point?"
Cassim and Annah exchanged a look. Something was off.
Keid sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Alright. Let's pretend you're right. Let's pretend this little piece of scrap metal has something to do with me." He nodded toward the medallion. "What difference does it make?"
Cassim ran a hand through his hair, like the words weighed on him. Then he spoke.
"A man came looking for you three days ago."
Keid smirked, humorless. "I always attract the best company."
Cassim didn't react.
"He knew things about you. Things you never told anyone."
Keid's instincts tensed. That familiar pressure in his chest, the one that came with danger.
"Describe him."
"Tall. Pale. Black hair, tied back. He wore armor, but not from around here. Something… old. He gave us this," Cassim held up the medallion, "and said you'd know what it meant."
Keid stared at the object.
He wanted to say no, to dismiss it as nonsense, a vagabond trying to stir up trouble with his name.
But that would be a lie.
Because deep down, he knew this wasn't just any medallion.
Because the moment he touched it, he had heard something. Not a sound, not a voice—just an impression, a cold, visceral certainty.
This medallion was a key.
And it opened something he had no interest in seeing.
"I don't know him."
Cassim raised an eyebrow.
"You sure?"
"If I say so."
Silence. Cassim studied him. Keid met his gaze. He wasn't a bad liar. Not with words, at least.
But Cassim had known him too long.
He exhaled sharply.
"Damn it, Keid. If you know something, now's the time to talk."
Keid clicked his tongue.
"I don't talk for free."
Cassim glanced at Annah. She gave him a barely perceptible nod.
Keid knew what that meant. They weren't going to let this go.
And the worst part? A piece of him wanted to know more.
The medallion. The armored man. That feeling in his gut, like a door being forced open.
He hated it.
But ignorance was worse.
He let out a long breath.
"Fine. I'll keep it."
Cassim looked relieved. Annah too.
Keid yanked the medallion from Cassim's hand and shoved it into his pocket.
"But let me be clear—if this is a trap, I'll sell both of you to the street dogs. And if this is another one of your scams, I'll bury you alive. Got it?"
Annah laughed. "Still as charming as ever, Keid."
"I try."
Cassim shook his head. "Get ready. That man will come back."
Keid shot him a look.
"Then I hope he knows how to negotiate."
Then he turned and vanished into the night, the medallion burning in his pocket like a promise already broken.