It was a hot summer day in Heros. Anea was sitting on a brown rug in the market district selling her wares. Her wares were wooden toys and hookah apparel. She sat there smoking from a large waterpipe. Her neighbor noticed her and said: "Hail, sweetest flower of Heros. It is refreshing to see your face here at the market. May I keep you company." "You may." Anea giggled. There was suddenly a scream. "Wait here." Anea said and got up. She headed to a back alley where a crowd was. "Another victim of a shadow." She heard from one of the people. She moved to the front of the crowd. It was a disgusting sight. A corpse lie there, so brutally mutilated that no one could recognize the victim. Blood stained the walls. "Citizens please go back to your homes if you feel it is unsafe." A guard said from the back of the crowd. Slowly the crowd broke up and the guard saw the corpse. Her threw up at the sight of the scene. "What about you?" Another guard said. Anea turned to him: "I do not feel unsafe for I can protect myself. If one of these beasts come before me I will eliminate it." The guard felt Anea seemed suspicious and she didnt act like a fragile girl. "Please I need you to go home, it is dangerous." The guard said and grabbed her arm. Anea reacted to this and threw the guard over: "I do not need your security. I can watch out for myself and have the same goal as you. To find an end to these murders." She then went from a serious expression to a friendly giggle. She held out her hand to help him up. The guard noticed the large scythe on her back. "You have an unusual weapon." The guard said.
Down the alley a sudden slam was heard. The beast who obviously killed a civilian showed back up and had a guard pinned to the wall with its four mechanical claws. Suddenly a spike came out of the center of the hand and dug into the guard. Anea grabbed her scythe and went after the shadow. She sliced a wound in its metallic back and a blue fluid began to run out. "Anea. Anea. Why?" The beast said with a metallic male voice. "Why do you go against your own kind and take the side of the weak?" "You know it? What does he mean by the same kind? You dont even look like him." The guard asked. The shadow was suddenly gone. Anea turned to the guard: "Ok. Swear you keep it a secret. I am one of them and curse the day I was born a shadow. They kill the weak and those who show fear. I cant explain what we are but I am the only shadow you can trust. I am not like them. I protect the weak and wish to be normal. If you tell anyone I will kill you by law for betrayal. Now let me be." Anea went back to her stand. "Go home. It might be dangerous today." She said to her neighbor and smiled.

Max wiped his hand on a cloth absent mindedly, until he realized that his efforts were futile. The cloth was soaked in blue liquid that it wasn't able to soak up anymore. He flung it ontop of a pile of scrap metal. "How much longer do we have to be here? It's been 5 hours already." The blacksmith he was talking to turned to him, took off his gloves and asked "When did you ever get bored of something?" "When I stopped being a fighter to be a garbage collector." said Max, "Look, if there isn't anything left for me to do I'm going to go home and rest, alright?" "Fine, go. I don't need you here anymore anyway, got all the metal I need." Max needed no second bidding, as soon as the blacksmith was done he got out of his chair and headed straight for home.
He was not 10 minutes away from his house when he overheard some people talking in hushed voices;
"What did they find?"
"A body."
"Whose?"
"No one can tell, its too disfigured."
"But why is this happening during the day?"
"Where did this happen?"
The people turned to look at Max standing near them. "Near the market place." one responded. "Thank you, now you best get to your homes. If there are more attacks you'll want to be as protected as possible." Max ran off towards the market. "Damnit, is sleep so hard to come by these days?" he thought.

Soon evening came. Anea was on her way home from the market. A man was leaning against the wall. He began to speak: "What do we have here? Looks like a cute young woman." The mans bandit friends came out from their hiding places. "Leave me alone. I dont want any trouble." Anea said. She tried to walk away but one of the men grabbed her arm: "Come on lass. Lets have some fun." "Let go or you will regret it." Anea said. The man laughed and pulled Anea to him. Anea dropped her bag and grabbed his hand. She slowly tightened her grip. A strange mechanical sound came from her hand. Soon the man began to scream as Anea was pulverizing his bones. She then let go. The bandits hand was as flexible as rubber now. "Now leave." Anea said. The one bandit hid around the corner and said: "Kill her!" Anea sighed and said: "Ok. I warned you." She changed into her evolved shadow form. The bandits became scared. One tried to run away. "You saw me, so I cannot let you leave this alley alive." She said with a scary female demonic voice and grabbed the fleeing man with one of her claws. She splattered the man against the wall. She then finished off the rest. The man with the broken hand tried to run away. "Dont run away you coward. I cant let criminals live." Anea said and threw a rock hard enough against the mans head to kill him. She then turned back into her human form and sighed: "It isnt my fault. It isnt my fault. No. My dress got stained." Her house was at the other end of the alley anyway. In her house she changed to a fresh dress and did her hair. Anea then went back out to find a local bar.

Upon reaching the market Max observed the people, there were hardly any left, mainly guards patrolling in groups of 3 or 4. The only civilians left were the ones packing up for the day. "What happened here?" Max asked the closest guard. "Shadow attack, don't know who the victim is. If you want to ask questions about the attack I suggest you ask him over there." The guard pointed to another guard gently touching his wounded side. Max walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder "You have some information to give me." "Yes, Max...uhh, shadow attack, 1 death and me, 1 wounded. It left as soon as it came." Max nodded, "Is that all you saw, were there any others?" "Yes, that's it. I don't know anything else."
"Alright." Said Max, "Let me take a look at the victim and the scene."
After inspecting the victim and the scene Max had only seen some blue fluid. "There's a piss-poor amount of stuff I can look at here soldier." "They're getting better at this Max, there is no doubt about that." replied a nearby guard.
"OK. If that's all you got for me then i'm heading to get a drink."
Max entered the closest bar, walked up to the bartender, "Just a pint of ale.Thanks" He grabbed the drink walked to a stool and sat down beside a girl who had flowers in her long black hair. When he turned to look at her he noticed her eyes. They were strange, not like anything he'd seen.

Anea was sipping from her cup of ale when she noticed the guy next to her staring at her eyes. "Uh oh did he notice my eyes werent brown or is he amused by my looks?" She thought. She turned to him. "Hi. Why are you staring at me? Do you find me attractive or is it something else? You know drinking much ale makes you see things more attractive than normal." She said and giggled.

It had been a long travel, but finally Kolnar had got to the city of Heros, "finally i may actually get a soft bed to sleep in" he said to himself as he approched the large open gates, as the young man made his way into the city he saw a small group of what looked like city guards, one of them turned to look at him then spoke out loud "you arent from around here are you?" he ask before continuing to speak "you may want to get inside, it will be dark very soon and you dont want to be out on the street when it gets dark". The guards voice was shakey, as if he was scared of something but that didnt matter to Kolnar, he was used to all sorts. Making his way slowly through the streets he looked around, the sky was getting darker and the city had an odd spookyness about it that Kolnar just couldn't put his finger on, after shrugging off the odd feeling he continued to make his way through the cobbled streets, searching for for an inn and also somewhere he could restock on supplies. Each step the young man took was almost totally silent, like he wasn't even there, but sure enough he was, his crimson samuri attire had a slight sparkle to it as the the dim light from the street lamps hit it, he then stopped at a corner before raising both hands up to his head where he would then tie back his shoulder length raven black hair with a crimson coloured band, only a few single strands were left loose which would then fall infront of the white metal mast that he wore, this mask had no special meaning apart from to hide who he was, it was his job that needed such a thing.

After Kolnar had tied his hair back he lowered his hands back down to his waist before hooking his thumbs into the belt that was used to hold his sword to his lower back, this sword had been with him for as long as he had begun training, it was a simple sword by design but with a special ability. Kolnar had named his short sword Banakari, as he knew that naming one's weapon would create a bond, and that is what he wanted, his blood red eyes slowly scanned the darkened street, he saw a few of the locals but they fled after seeing such a strange man in the street, Kolnar could sense an aura of fear in the city and he knew that there was something terribly wrong. The streets had become silent as it got dark, only faint vices from inside the homes of the locals could be heard then all of a sudden a loud voice was heard shouting "OI... You shouldn't be out after dark, don't you know its dangerous?......." the voice then trailed off as Kolnar turned he head slowly to see who it was, he blood red eyes glowing slightly as he noticed it was a city guard, "do not worry about me" Kolnar replied, "I am able to take care of myself" and with that said the young man turned away from the guard and continued he search for an Inn.

After much walking, Kolnar found himself in what looked to be the market district, there were alot of guards about and it looked as though there had been some trouble as there was blood on the ground, Kolnar stopped beside a guard who looked to be wounded then spoke, his rough accent seemingly echoed through the street "what happened here?" he ask the guard, who in all honesty wasn't paying attention. "huh wha.. what the...." the guard stuttered and stumbled with his words, and what little he did say was full of fear.
"I asked what had happened here" Kolnar replied
The wounded guard looked up at him, unsure at what he was looking at "We....we were attacked"

"I had gathered that part my friend" the young man sighed, "but by what?"

"it was a shadow..... an evil creature that attacks the weak" the guard coughed up some blood as he finished speaking

Kolnar then patted him softly on the shoulder as he turned away "thank you for the information my friend, you should got get seen to" and with that said the young male had left the scene and made his way into what looked like a tavern, hoping he could get a drink and something to eat.

Pressing his hand against the large wooden door, Kolnar opened it and stepped inside, the smell of ale was almost overpowering to his as he was not one for partaking in the 'joys' of alcohol, keeping his eyes forward he made his way around the locals and headed for the bar, trying not to make eye contact with anyone as he knew that his odd appearance would have them talking, he could already hear their voices and feel their eyes watching. Upon reaching the bar Kolnar unclipped the belt that held his sword and then placed the weapon on top of the bar, before turning to the barkeep "a glass of clean water and a plate of food please", his tone was polite as was his manner.

Max was a little flustered by the question.
"No. I don't, well its not that. You are attractive and all. But I may be a bit too old for you. Your eyes are just different."
Max, feeling embarrassed took a large swing of his ale. "As for the ale, it'll take more than a cup to affect me."
He looked at her eyes once more, his gaze dropped to the weapon near her, it looked formidable, he was intrigued. He then tried to see if he can find any connection.
"My name is Max Defreys. I work for the general protection of the city, I would like to ask you a question. Is anything you know about the shadows?"

Roy had been standing towards the edge of the market district watching and listening to what had been happening. He had gathered that someone had been attacked and mauled beyond recognition and a few warriors had came and gone asking questions about what had happened. Roy gritted his teeth at the thought of those beasts running around and doing as they pleased. He gripped his blade tightly and walked into the alleyway hoping to find some clues that would lead him to a shadow to kill. As he looked around the area it was earily qiuet considering someone had died here not to long ago. He walked deeper into the alley and noticed a path that led behind a tavern and decided to take a look. Roy noticed some blue liqiud on the ground and knelt down to take a better look. "So it went this way." "Yes it went this way." A voice sounded out from above.

Roy looked up to see the beast diving down upon him, its mechanical appendages swinging wildly at him. Roy swung his blade's jagged edge into a nearbye building pulling himself out of the way the swing the scythe edge upward striking one of the shadows arms. "Today you die shadow!" Roy yelled out as he began his battle.

"Well my name is Anea Kaloun. My uh... the shadows seem to only attack the weak. I have fought some before. They bleed a blue liquid and seem to have human forms." She said. "I dont know any though." Anea then let out a nervous laugh. If people knew she was a shadow, they would try to kill her regardless of how her personality is. She suddenly heard a loud bang outside and rushed out grabbing her scythe. Outside she saw a man fighting with a shadow. The shadow noticed her and cried for help: "Anea help me! Please. Dont just stand there!" "Do I know you, shadow?" Anea replied. The shadow couldnt believe what he was hearing. "Anea. Whats wrong? Turning against your own kind? Kisur was right. You have betrayed us." He said. Anea then said: "I do not feel empathy for you. You only attack the weak. You shouldnt attack helpless people. No one would be after you if you killed criminals. But you are criminals and I despise criminals." She picked up a rock and threw it at the shadow. It almost hit him but instead in hit the wall and created a crater. "What are you doing!?!" The shadow said. "You almost killed me! You may have the strength to destroy a couple of us but you cant compete against all of us!" "I will protect the weak and the poor, you lowlife." Anea said.

"So, they know you." Max said, standing beside Anea, growing stronger by the minute. "I had a feeling you weren't an ordinary person."
The shadow saw the three of them and slowly backed away.
"We can't let it live you know. We can't let it return to its own kind and tell them about us." whispered Max to the other two.

"I will get it." Anea said and jumped at it with her scythe. She slashed it up badly. It let a scream out and its life was failing. The shadow turned back to a human male. "Anea why?" The shadow coughed. Anea then picked him up by his head. "You are a criminal." She said and crushed his head with her bare hands. A metal scrap scratched her arm. Out of the small wound came blue fluid. "Oh great. You probably saw it. I am a shadow but I am not like them. I am strong and have a good heart. I protect the weak from my kind and curse the day I was born as a shadow. I wish I was a normal human." Anea said.

Orin who had been lurking in the shadows of the alleyway steps toward the people in front of him. He pulls the small ritual dagger from his belt and cuts his left hand. He waits for the blood to pool in his hand, then he mutters something in a guttural language and tosses it at the remains of the shadow. When his blood hits the remains it begins to sizzle as it eats way at the body. He turns to the young woman that claims to be a shadow as well and says, "Thank you for killing it for me. My client will be most pleased hear that the shadows are fighting amongst themselves." To the others he says, "greetings my name is Orin Verner. Who are you?"

"My name? I am Anea Kaloun. I kill only kill the shadows who prey on the weak. There are only few shadows like me who protect the weak. It is best that not everyone knows what I really am because it might happen that citizens of the city will stereotype all shadows of being evil bloodthirsty beings. I wish I wasnt a shadow though and have lived as a normal human but recently I had to fight against my own kind." Anea said to Orin.

"My name is Max Defreys." Max held out his hand "I've lived here all my life, been protecting these people from various menaces...such as these shadows. I work for the city, i've been taksed to find out the source of these shadows and stop them from murdering people."

"Nice to meet the both of you," he says as he shakes Max's hand. "Seeing as we are being honest with each other I am a warlock currently employed by the high priest. He wants me to deal with the shadow threat to the city." He looks at Anea, "If what you say is true then you due not fall into the conditions of my arrangement with His Holyness (bitter emphasis) and therefore have nothing to worry about from me. And frankly i don't care if you are human, shadow, or a giant scorpion as long as you don't interfere with my work." As he moves toward the end of the alley he mutters, "soon the whole city will know the truth about my kind." He laughs bitterly

Kolnar would raise his eyes to the door as he hears two people rush outside, but then lowers them back down as the barkeep places a plate of food and a mug of water down in front of him, the young male would nod to the barkeep before dropping two gold coins into his hand "thank you" he said, his voice almost silent, he would then raise his right hand to his face and with it he removed his mask then placed it upon the bar next to his plate. His face was hansom, or at least it would be if it weren't for the large scar that went down the left side of his face, starting just above his left eyebrow it cut down over his left eye then half way down his left cheek and was about 4mm thick, the scar tissue was pale against his normally tanned skin. Kolnar kept his left side away from prying eyes as he slowly ate his food, it wasn't the best he had ever had but he was glad to get something in his belly, while eating his food the young man thought about what he was doing here, remembering what the fortune teller had told him over a year ago.
He was told to find Heros, where the shadows come alive with the sound of grinding metal, when he was first told this he was unsure what it ment and now that he was in Heros he still had no clue but from what the guard said the evil creaturs attacking the locals were called shadows..
"could this be what he ment?" he asked himself, pondering what he was to do. After about five minutes he finished his meal and then quickly drank the water before picking up his mask once again with his right hand and placing it back onto his face, covering the scar that he tries so hard to hide, upon doing this he turned to look at the door, only then did he wonder what all the fuss was outside.

After a few seconds of thought Kolnar stood up from his seat at the bar and before he did anything else he placed the sword belt back around his waist, he always liked to have Banakari with him, he learnt the hard way about being unprepared, that was how he got the scar on his face. After securing the belt and making sure the sword was in the position where it should be Kolnar slowly made his way to the door then left the tavern, as he exited the establishment he saw the two that had rushed out, they were talking to a third person. The young man couldn't hear what they were saying so he decided to go and ask if they knew what was going on.

"Excuse me.." he said as he neared the small group, "i was wondering if you could tell me what is going on and what exactly is attacking the locals"

He stopped a few feet away from them, awaiting an answer and unsure what kind of reception an outsider like himself will get..

Roy lowered his blade at the surprise entrance of all the individuals. He had not expected so many people to come running. He stared long and hard however at Anea who had just announced her being a shadow that fought for justice. In Roy's eyes though there was no such thing as a shadow that fought for justice. "I have nothing to say to a piece of trash shadow. If not for your killing the other shadow I would have killed you already. As for the rest of you it's nice to meet you all I am Roy Eustace." Roy took a slight bow as he introduced himself.

Max clearly noted Roy's hostility towards Anea and didn't want to get in the way at the moment. While the others were introducing themselves to each other Max took Kolnar aside.
"Its clear you're new here mate. Well there are a few things you should know. Don't misunderstand me, you look formidable enough with all your gear, but I will never know your true power by just looking at you. So, here's the details. This place used to be like any other, a normal city with the usual amount of crime and all that. But recently some unexpected turn of events have happened and the death toll has been rising. From the evidence we've gathered we know what the creatures look like, they are strange beings that are made of metal, the move fast and are strong. I'm currently working with the city's security to try and find out where they are coming from and how to completely destroy these...things. they call themselves shadows."
Max paused for a while.
"Bah, where are my manners?! My name is Max Defreys. Its good to meet you."

After being taken aside by one of the males in the group, Kolnar listened to what he had to say.
"hmmm... that is very interesting" the young man paused for a second before continuing, "it seems as if i have come to the correct place, i was sent to search for something that matched the description you have just gave me". Kolnar then lowered his head slightly in a bow to the man who had just introduced himself as Max, "I am Kolnar Huojin, it is a pleasure to meet you Max".
He then raised his head back up before looking to the others who were still talking, "it seems as if the female is trustworthy, i sense no ill intention within her", Kolnar then looked back to Max before speaking once again, his tone of voice was soft yet deep "is there any idea why these things are attacking? it seems kind of odd don't you think?...." his question sort of trailed off slightly as he turned his head to the left after hearing what could only be described as a grinding of metal, his right hand made its way to his lower back before resting upon the hilt of Banakari.

"Dude. What is your problem? I am against other shadows for a reason and wish I was a normal human. I am probably the only good shadow there is!" Anea said to Roy. "You dont seem like an understanding fellow. Maybe later on you will know that I am a good hearted person." She then turned to Max: "Come on. Lets go back inside. I will buy you a drink."

"I am perfectly understanding. If you had known what I've been through then you would understand my hatred of shadows." Roy turned and walked towards Kolnar and Max trying to stay his blade and attack the shadow that claimed to be 'good'. "Kolnar if it pleases you shall we accompany each other to deal with the shadows?"

Roy then turned to look upwards and glared. He had noticed Kolnar reaching for his blade as Roy talked to him. He heard the faint sound of metal if only barely but it was there. "Who's there?!"

keeping his eyes in the direction of where the sound had came from Kolnar had heard someone speak to him, asking him a question he then slowly turned his head to look at the male known as Roy, "thank you for the offer, but i prefer to work alone and honestly, i am not here to rid this city of its problem", a soft chuckle escaped past his laps as he continued to speak, "I am here to find answers to something that has bothered me for a long time, but once again thank you for the offer". Kolnar the moved his hand from the swords hilt and hooked his thumb into his belt again so he was now resuming a casual stance as he spoke with the others, "what I would like to know is, what it is that these 'shadows' want, there must be reasons why they are attacking"

Max turned to Anea: "One second," he lowered his voice to a whisper "I think we may need these two if we are to get to the bottom of what's going on here. Besides, what do we have to loose?"
He then turned back to the other two. "Kolnar, I don't have the answer to your question, but fortunately that is the answer I wish to find as well. I know you would rather work on your own here, but I think that our expertise could be of use to each other. You could search for clues on your own but you don't know this city like me and Anea here, and if you're looking for answers from the people you'll find that they're not as comfortable with strangers as one might think."