The moon shone, causing the cobbled streets of Ayire to glisten. The wet, uneven cobbles that lined the streets were winding and narrow. Either side held tall, crooked buildings made of stone with wooden supports and window shutters. Although it was nighttime, the place was alive with the bustle of a busy city. Ayire was located to the east and was a city under the SunSiro Guild’s banner. The city was enclosed by a stone wall that ran around its perimeter. The wall was higher than any of the buildings within the city and was constructed of large, smooth grey stones, perfectly cut into giant rectangles. There were no windows, no doors, and no weak points in the wall. The god Flarin Reighnor was the patron of the guild, one of the original Legacy guilds. Ayire had three internal walls separating the inner city from the outer city. Within the inner city could be found the Guild Hall.

  The home of the guild was, by all means, a representation of the guild’s grandeur. It stood impressively in the very center of the city, and its appearance could be described as castle meets church. Its outer walls were square and defensive, with no entrance visible to any non-magical eyes. Large spires rose into the sky, making the building even more impressive. Each spire was made entirely of stained glass. The glass spires, with their many colors, would wash the city with orange and red light during the day and illuminate it with faint moonlight during the night. The spires depicted various points of triumph throughout history for the guild and stood as awe-inspiring monuments to remind people of the guild’s glory.

  The patron god Flarin had long since reached godhood and departed for other worlds. In place of a patron god, the guild had various Cardmancers who had reached the pinnacle of mortal power and ascended into demigodhood. The demigods were seen as the highest level of authority within the guild, each blessed with a card directly from Flarin Reighnor herself. To achieve the first step on the path of divinity was seen as the apex of power, meaning these Cardmancers had gone beyond their mortal limits.

  An M.i message appeared:

  Do you wish to activate 'Ring of Mirages'? Activating this card will grant the user the ability to become intangible for a brief moment. This card requires a large amount of mana and has a cooldown of 20 seconds. Please be aware that you will take no physical damage while intangible. You will be able to pass through objects with a thickness of 20 meters. Duration: 10 seconds.

  Requirements: B rank, shadow affinity

  A shadowy figure gripped one of the glass spires, his cloak swirling around him, his hood covering his face. The shadow phased through the glass silently and landed softly in a dimly lit room. The room was circular, and the stained glass gave it a soft orange glow as the light of the moon shone through. On the far side of the room, opposite the shadow, was a large four-poster bed, and sleeping within it was a woman.

  The intruder took one step toward the bed but paused, something triggering his senses. He materialized a card and activated it just in time. A small dagger, glowing red, shot toward his head, but at the moment it should have made contact under his hood, it did not. The dagger passed right through the hood and hit the glass wall behind the figure. The magical glass repelled the dagger, which bounced off and, rather than clatter to the floor, flew back into the hand of the woman. At the same time, she jumped out of bed, landing in a fighting stance. As she landed, a card appeared in her free hand, and it was quickly activated. Red, crackling lightning surrounded her body and materialized into a full suit of light armor.

  The shadow did not move, instead remaining in the same place.

  "Who… What are you?" the woman demanded. Her armor was silver, but where the light hit it, it glowed slightly red, as though the metal had been heated in a fire.

  She used Unveil, but it did not work. She quickly switched out her dagger for a sword. Her card summoning was flawless, and the speed at which she returned the dagger to card form, stored it into her inventory, and summoned the sword was barely visible to the naked eye.

  "You have nothing to fear. I am not here to fight. I am here to ask you for a favor," the shadow replied, activating a card that distorted his voice. The woman sensed no magical effects in his voice, but she could not be sure. Due to the shadow’s ability to hide his level from her, there was a high probability that he was much stronger than she was. Not only had the shadow hidden his level from her, but he had also circumvented every security measure the SunSiro Guild Hall had in place. These two facts alone convinced her that fighting this shadow would lead to either her death or severe harm. It was the only reason she hadn’t struck the very moment her sword was in hand.

  "Shouldn’t you at least sweeten me up before asking for a favor? You know, a nice dinner, maybe some flowers? I don’t think I want to be doing favors for an unknown shadow who breaks into my heavily guarded sleeping chamber."

  Her grip tightened on the handle of her sword. The blade was in her right hand, pointing toward the floor, while her left hand remained free. She had already planned her next move, but hesitated as the shadow’s aura crashed into her own, pushing it back just enough to subdue it. She knew that if this turned into combat, she would be up against someone far stronger than herself.

  "Come now, Sinrah—is that any way to greet a stranger?" There was no hostility in the shadow’s voice, and she got the impression he was not threatening her. Something about the figure seemed familiar, but she couldn’t picture the face beneath the hood, and his voice gave nothing away.

  "I will take the fact that you have hidden your identity and that shadowy getup as it being pointless for me to ask any further questions about who you are," she conceded. "I will hear what you have to say, but be warned—there are more powerful Cardmancers in this guild hall than me right now, and I have no problem sounding the alarm should you try anything."

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She still held her sword tightly, her gaze locked firmly on the shadowy figure, unwavering

  "A generous decision, one made with the thought process of someone who has faced many tough battles. I am here because the Eristrad is going to mobilize in the near future. When the time comes that they do, they will recruit a discreet party to aid them in their endeavors. I would like you to join the party when the time comes." The shadow stood there, its face hidden, and in that moment, Sinrah noted multiple openings in its defenses. "I know that you do not trust me and that this request seems odd," he continued.

  "Odd is the understatement of the century. The Eristrad seeks out those who pose a threat to the world. I took an oath to serve my guild and the Lord Patron Flarin. The Eristrad protects the very guild that I swore my life to. If you are against them, then you stand against all of the Cardmancer guilds, and that is a battle you can never win." She now wished that she had sounded the alarm. Maybe she would have been killed by the shadow, but she would have done her duty in aiding his capture.

  "I am not against anyone, and I do not wish to battle. My days of fighting are just a memory. There are things that you are yet to understand and things that are yet to happen that will reshape the world. The hands of the clock are moving, and soon both hands will meet. When they do, I will call on my memories of battle one last time, and my past will collide with my present. You are young and full of potential. I know that when the time comes, you will find your way to the side of virtue."

  The shadow materialized a card into his hand, and before Sinrah could react, mainly due to a sudden increase in his suppressing aura, the card floated toward her.

  She stood unable to move. Fear gripped her as she watched the card slowly approach. She felt a cold sweat drip down the back of her neck. The sheer pressure of the shadow in front of her was astronomical; she had only felt power like this a handful of times when she had, by chance, crossed paths with a demigod of the guild. It was terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. If she was going to die, then at least it would be at the hands of such great power. She focused her mind, wanting to feel the aura to the fullest. She welcomed it to crash down on her without resisting.

  She reached out, and what greeted her was not anger or violence but a feeling of overwhelming grief and sorrow. She felt it within the aura—it was almost tangible. Heartbreak, pain, turmoil, and suffering all circled and intertwined. Tears began to gently roll down her cheeks.

  What is this feeling? I have not cried since I was a child. This feeling is overwhelming. Why do I feel this way? She thought.

  The card stopped in the air in front of her, its blue glow illuminating her armor. She was no longer fearful or expecting death. Instead, she felt ashamed. How could she question the intentions of a being who carried such pain within them? She could not explain how or why, but she knew—deep down, she knew—that the shadow before her was someone who had faced evils she could not fathom. Her intuition was never wrong, and right now, it was telling her to trust him.

  The card slowly turned around, and she gazed at its face for what seemed like a lifetime.

  "H...H..How," she whispered, tears still glistening in the card’s blue glow.

  "This is my offering in return for the favor I am asking from you," spoke the shadow.

  The face of the card depicted a blood-red fire pendant, which shimmered with red light. An M.i box appeared, showing the name of the card:

  Blood of Fire Pendant

  Further down the card, another M.i box floated, displaying its effects. The aura suppression lifted, and Sinrah gently took the card in her left hand, holding it up with a look of shock and awe.

  "Did you know her? My mother?" she whispered. Her voice had changed; it was soft and lacked the stern sharpness of a warrior that had been present when the shadow first conversed with her.

  "Yes, I knew her. I would like to have a long conversation about her and tell you some stories of the time I spent with her. But now is not the time, as I have many things that I must set into motion before the night ends. I am glad that I got to see you. You look just like her—I think it’s your hair; it’s the same. Or maybe it’s the fire in your eyes. It has been so long since I looked upon her that I cannot fully appreciate the similarities."

  The shadow’s voice also now sounded different. It was wistful, almost as if he had half-stepped into a dream.

  "She was, is, a hero. I hope we can meet again. I want to hear those stories more than anything. Your favor—I will carry it out. But what do you want me to do after I join the Eristrad’s party?" She now felt herself regaining her senses, and her tears had dried.

  "My favor is that you join the party. What comes next will be up to you. I know that you will make the right choices when the time comes, and I know that you carry the same fire of justice within you that she did. I am simply showing you the direction of where the curtain is. What you choose to do once you get to it is entirely your choice. I will give you one piece of advice—consider it a parting gift, as I do owe a lot to your mother."

  The shadow seemed to grow darker as the moon became obscured by clouds. The stained-glass walls offered no additional glow to the room.

  "Control born out of fear is the greatest of evils. Those who seek to protect their own may find that they commit the greatest of sins in the belief that the greater good outweighs the freedom of those whom they fear. Trust only your judgement."

  As soon as the words were finished, the shadow disappeared through the glass wall. The room seemed to grow a little lighter with his departure.

  Sinrah collapsed onto her bed, her armor and sword returning to card form. She slipped them into her inventory before her back met the soft throws and pillows. She still had the Blood of Fire Pendant in her hand.

  She lay there gazing at it. For years, she had seen it around her mother’s neck in paintings. She remembered staring at the glass statue of her mother in one of the guild’s rooms and noticing it. She had always wondered what had happened to it after her mother died. It was something that was supposed to pass to her, but it was never recovered. The party that her mother had adventured with was presumed to have died during the same battle; therefore, she had always believed it was lost.

  The stranger had appeared, not threatened her, not harmed her, and left her with what was now the most treasured card she would ever own. All he asked in return was that, when the Eristrad put together their next party, she would join it. He hadn’t asked her to do anything other than join. She was still free to make her own decisions and walk her own path.

  She poured her mana into the card, and the pendant appeared in her hand, its slender silver chain draped down her wrist. She lay there clutching it until she once again drifted into sleep.