Chapter One: The Scroll
The imperial capital was a hive of activity, its towering spires gleaming under the moonlight, while its alleyways pulsed with noise and shadow. Up high, there was opulence and grandeur; golden palaces and soaring towers. But down below… where the stones were worn, and the air smelled of garbage and rusted iron, there was another world: a world of the poor, the thieves, and the mercenaries.
Deep within that stone maze, Go, a boy no older than twelve, was running with every last ounce of his strength. His small footsteps hammered against the ground like war drums, his chest heaving with ragged, broken breaths. Behind him, sharp voices gave chase:
"Get him! Don't let him escape!"
"What did I even do?" Go muttered between gasping breaths. "All I did… was take a strange scroll from them… I didn't mean anything by it!"
His sweaty fist was clamped around the carefully rolled parchment. Though simple on the outside, it felt heavier than gold itself. At times, he could almost imagine it pulsing with a hidden warmth between his fingers.
He had spent years serving those men; stealing food for them, delivering messages, picking locks. He thought he was part of their gang. But tonight, he had discovered the truth: to them, he was just a street urchin, disposable. "Maybe it's not because of the scroll…but because of the one who gave it to me… that young man."
Go could only remember flashes: sharp eyes glinting in the market crowd, a strong hand extending the scroll to him, and then he was gone, as if he'd never existed.
Go swerved into a dark alley, its walls narrow and damp like a serpent. And there, at its dead end, stood a man with his back turned, a long sword resting on his shoulder, glinting under the moon.
"I'll ask him for help… maybe he'll save me from these mercenaries."
He approached with hesitant steps and cried out in a trembling voice:
"Please… help me! They're right behind me… they want to kill me!"
The man turned slowly. He wore a black robe that hid his features, the shadows of the night shrouding his face completely. His voice was deep, calm, as if he couldn't care less:
"And why do they want to kill you?"
Go swallowed hard, on the verge of tears.
"I don't know… I took a scroll from them… I offered to give it back but they wouldn't listen. They want nothing but my death."
The man stretched out his hand and said with a quiet finality:
"Show me the scroll."
Go hesitated, then handed over the trembling parchment. The man took it gently, holding it up slightly to his eyes. In that moment, as the moonlight caught the edge of his robe, Go caught a glimpse of his face… and the blood froze in his veins.
Those features… it was the same young man who had given him the scroll in the first place!
His body trembled, as if a snake had coiled around his neck. He tried to retreat, but the man's voice cut through the silence:
"So, that's how it is…"
Before Go could process what was happening, the mercenaries burst into the alley, the screech of their swords slicing through the dark. The man smiled coldly and drew his blade from its sheath.
He said without even looking at Go:
"Stand behind me. I'll kill them all."
Go scrambled back into the shadows, hiding behind a pile of rubble. His wide eyes watched the scene unfold. The man moved like a storm, his body a dance with the edge of his sword. In a flash, bodies were cleaved in two, heads flew, and blood splattered the alley walls. The mercenaries' screams evaporated into the air, until all that remained was the sound of steel being wiped clean.
The man lifted his head and said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself:
"And now… it's your turn, little urchin. I only needed this scroll. As for you… and these useless mercenaries, I have no need for you. Fortunately, I retrieved it before it could leak out… otherwise, it would truly be my end."
He turned around, but the spot was empty. Go was gone.
He growled in anger:
"Damn you, you little wretch! You think you can run after seeing this scroll? Merely laying eyes on it is an unforgivable crime!"
He rushed toward the end of the alley and saw the piles of garbage. With a cold sneer, he plunged his sword into one of the sacks. Blood gushed out, spreading across the ground. He smirked viciously and said:
"There… all the insects are finished."
He returned his sword to its sheath and left.
But up on the rooftop, Go was breathing heavily, his hand clamped over his mouth to stay silent. His eyes watched the man disappear into the darkness. He muttered in a shaky voice:
"Damn… he thought I was hiding in the trash. I almost died. Who is that man…?"
And one question kept gnawing at his heart: What in heaven's name did that scroll contain?