The early raven kills the mice, the early raven steals the prize

The city was quiet.

Quiet and peaceful.

A phenomenon that was quite rare in a place that was the liveliest at night.

Especially on the warmer evenings, when the streets were filled with shouts and laughter from partying students and overworked soldiers, who drowned themselves in alcohol just to get a break from their daily lives.

Now, the soft pitter-patter of rain hitting the pavement was the only sound that could be heard. No more than a drizzle remaining from the ferocious downpour that passed through Silfar earlier that day.

A lone guard patrolled the streets, watching how the rainwater dripped from the edges of the roofs and fences, the rain glittering like gold beneath the light of the street lamps.

Slowing his pace, he stopped in the middle of the street and raised his head towards the sky. His eyes closed, as he felt how the raindrops hit his face, having forgotten to take an umbrella with him.

He shuddered.

His uniform, which was only protected by a few armor pieces instead of the full armor, was soaked.

Sticking to him like a second skin.

Brushing a hand over his face, he wiped off the excess water and sighed.

Resuming his patrol at a slower pace.

Usually, the patrols were a little more interesting, as they spent the majority of their time making sure that there were no hooligans loitering around in the dark alleys or helping stray drunkards home that got lost on the way.

Of course, in this weather, no one would be outside.

It seemed that not even criminals would want to get sick in this rain, as he hadn't spotted a single living soul out there other than his colleagues and a few strays.

The guard was exhausted.

His back and muscles ached from the rigid pose that he had kept all day, while his limbs stiffened more and more, slowly growing numb from the cold.

Though, nothing could beat the fatigue and oncoming headache that he was sporting. The possibility of him getting sick being more and more likely.

A sudden pang of dizziness hit him. His vision growing fuzzy for a few seconds.

The world around him tilted. The puddle on the ground coming closer and closer as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

His body moved on autopilot.

Arms outstretched as he caught himself from falling face first into it.

The limbs shaking lightly as he shook his head. Blinking as his vision cleared again.

With shaky breaths, he managed to get up again. Eyes focusing on the road once more.

Maybe it would be a good idea to take a break, he mused and looked around.

Spotting a convenient lamppost, he approached it and sat down. Not minding the wet and cold stone beneath him, as he took out a pack of cigarettes. He was already miserable anyway, it couldn't get much worse.

Surprisingly, the pack was perfectly dry. Somehow having not gotten wet even though he was soaked from head to toe.

He huffed a little, the surprise on his face not lasting more than a few seconds.

Maybe he had gotten lucky for once.

Pulling one of them out, he placed it between his fingers and lit it up with a spark. Extinguishing his burning fingertips with a light handshake.

'Being an Akrealis (a phoenix) sure has its perks,'

he thought, taking a deep drag of the cigarette and feeling how the smoke invaded his lungs. Warming him up from the inside in the way tea never could.

The burning embers within the cigarette followed suit. Merging with his body as they traveled along his veins and towards his heart. The soft, orange glow under his skin being proof of its existence.

He enjoyed the feeling for a short while. Leaning against the cold iron behind his back as he exhaled, green eyes watching the smoke rise towards the sky and disappear into the darkness.

The tension from the rigid pose that he had kept all day finally faded away. The fatigue easing a little, as well as the ache in his muscles.

A few feathers popped up on his uncovered skin. The fiery red even more prominent under the warm light from above, as embers continuously faded in and out of existence. Just like the embers on burning wood.

The guard scoffed. His other hand brushed over the feathers, making them vanish without a trace.

Now was not the time to shift, or polymorph, or whatever they wanted to call it.

He could do that at home.

When this shit was over.

The only thing he had to do, was to never ever volunteer to cover Trevor's shift again.

That fool was this close to getting a beating from their Captain, due to how often he lazed around and didn't do his work.

And, call him petty, but he would enjoy the show very much. That guy had it coming for months now.

Checking his watch, he sighed again and heaved himself onto his feet.

It was nearly midnight. Only a couple of hours remaining until the next shift began.

He needed to get moving.

A shame really, he would've liked a longer break.

With a flick of his wrist, the wet cigarette dropped to the ground. The guard felt better, now that his inner fire was nourished by what little heat he managed to salvage.

As Akrealis, they were not only birds of prey and the sun, but also birds of fire.

Due to that, the flame that they all carried within them was their most precious possession and key to rebirth and ascension as well as to good health.

As such, they needed to keep it from extinguishing, may it be due to stress, excessive temperature drops, or other factors, by absorbing fire and warmth.

Thus the habit of always carrying something flammable around.

For example, cigarettes or match sticks.

Because, if they were ever to lose the fire within, it would mean a fate worse than death. Causing them to fall into a coma-like state as long as the flame isn't lit, and forsaking them to mortality.

Preventing them from their final death and the ascension that comes after.

As he continued his patrol, a sense of unease washed over him. His skin tingling in an uncomfortable way.

As if someone's eyes were on him.

Watching.

Observing.

Waiting...

With one hand closing around the sword in his scabbard, his green eyes slowly swept across his surroundings. His steps were steady as ever, as he pretended not to notice.

There!

His head snapped to the side. Eyes staring at the rooftop where he saw someone standing just now.

The guard turned around.

His piercing gaze scrutinizing the street, side alleys, and rooftops. The beady eyes of crows staring back at him.

...had they always been there?

Quickly shaking his head, he forced himself to focus.

It didn't matter. They were city birds and those were everywhere no matter where you went. Though it was a little odd to see so many appear out of nowhere.

Deciding to ignore them, he stopped and waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Nothing.

He continued to walk.

His pace slowed as he passed another alley. This one filled with trash and other useless things.

A loud crash broke the tense silence.

Crows flying away in a cluster from the sudden sound.

Their loud caws sounding like thunder in his ears, as he had already grown accustomed to the quiet.

Their black feathers sailing through the air and disappearing in a flurry.

He turned around, sword drawn and ready to strike.

His muscles tensing once more.

A few boxes fell down. Some small but fast creature jumping out and running towards him at an alarming speed

Holding his breath, he readied himself, eyes locked onto the small being.

It scurried into the light.

Revealing a cat with wet fur and some missing patches that scrambled passed him while hissing loudly. Nearly biting him if he hadn't moved out of the way fast enough.

Blinking, he stared after the cat, that vanished in another alley. Cheeks flushing in embarrassment as he let out a breathless laugh, putting his sword back into its scabbard.

It seemed that his fatigue was getting to him.

I mean, look at him, already hallucinating about some criminal that was stalking him. Ha, how ridiculous.

He chuckled a little, brushing a hand through his damp hair.

The shadow on the rooftop chuckled too.

Watching how the silly guard resumed his patrol until he vanished around a corner. A crow landing on their shoulder, cawing softly as they rubbed its head.

Their patience had paid off quite well, as they jumped across the rooftops, moving so quickly as if they were teleporting around.

It was a shame though, that they didn't have the time to ask for a cigarette too. Maybe they could bring it up next time when the time permits.

A few rooftops further, Vira finally arrived in front of her home. Having hurried there all the way since she had gotten to Silfar with that portal station.

Her breath fogged up the air as she tried to calm her thundering heart.

Despite being fairly fit, considering the multitude of jobs and commissions that she took to not get bored, running across rooftops when the floor was wet and slippery wasn't exactly easy.

Thankfully her coat was waterproof, or it would've been as drenched as that poor guard that she had seen, from all the times that she had slipped in a puddle while landing.

Some may ask of course, why would she run across half of the city if it was so easy to slip off of a roof and die?

Well, first of all, she didn't want to get wet.

That meant she had to be fast, and more importantly not risk getting spotted by the Nightwatch.

Because that would not only make her wetter but she would also be forced to answer unnecessarily complicated questions as to why she would run around at this hour. And that wasn't something that she wanted to do right now. Or ever, in that matter.

Next to that, there was also that stupid text that she had gotten from her little brother.

And to be honest, when she first read it she had been confused.

If anyone else had read it, they would've thought that someone was trying to prank them.

Who in their right mind wouldn't, if a random person messaged them in the middle of the night, and said: "He had a nightmare" with zero context?

At least she wasn't the only victim, because from what she had gathered, he wrote the same short sentences to everyone. Never explaining anything and simply expecting them to understand on their own.

Insufferable brat.

Jumping from the roof, she landed in front of the house that she lived in, legs quivering a little from the recoil.

She observed it.

None of the lights were on except the one on the second floor.

Good.

That meant no one would bother her at this hour.

Ever since they had run away from home due to... let's call it family issues, they had lived here, a courtesy from her older brother who got a rather good salary from working in the city law enforcement.

Fishing the keys out of her pocket, she unlocked the door and slowly ascended the stairs.

Per law, everyone no matter age or class could enter the tryouts of the Cosurval academy and then learn armed combat, martial arts, and basic survival in the wild along with all sorts of other stuff.

After completing the training, they could choose if they would rather enlist in the military and become an official soldier, therefore gaining extra training at the Iltary academy (that everyone just called Military academy due to how similar the names were), work with the law enforcement as a guard/knight, or become something else entirely.

As a soldier, one would often go outside the city and have to guard representatives or solve other, more violent conflicts, while those in the law enforcement would simply deal with crimes and other things inside the city, acting as the cooler version of the police.

Other options were jobs like assassins, mercenaries, hunters, wildlife experts, and so on, you get the picture.

A very painful coughing fit ripped her out of her thoughts. Just as she started to climb those cursed stairs.

The adrenaline from the roof jumping having left her system, right when she needed it the most.

'Stupid stairs. Stupid bastard who invented stairs and stupid architect who thought that it was a good idea to put so many stairs in here instead of a levitation platform.'

Vira cursed violently.

It hadn't even been five steps and she was already coughing up a lung.

Pathetic.

But in the end, she was just glad that none of her neighbors had seen her like that.

That would forever ruin her reputation and hurt her pride. Not to mention that she didn't like interacting with them.

They were always so noisy and loud. All those constant questions like,

'How was your day?' , 'Are you and your family interested in having dinner together?', 'What are you doing out here at midnight?' 'Is that a severed arm under your coat?'

Ugh. It gave her a headache just thinking about them. Never minding their own damn business.

With a deep sigh, she continued walking, wincing every time she took a step.

But while she was busy cursing her brother (and everyone else) in her mind for making her run up the stairs after sprinting through half of the city, a small fact slipped her mind.

She could teleport.

Now, to not spoiler the grand origin story of her people, this will be kept short.

The word Virkasa, means "descendant of the light" because each Virkasa has a light in the form of a "core" in their heart. Said light comes in different colors and the only way to know what color their light has, is through their eye color.

There are ten colors in total, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, black, grey, and white.

Each of these colors has a unique power that cannot be learned by anyone else.

So who can guess what power black has?

Panting, she climbed up the last few steps, her legs quivering and aching like no tomorrow as she grasped the doorknob to prevent herself from falling.

At last, she had finally reached her apartment. Which was on the second floor. With only two staircases between it and the entrance.

"Oh geez, I'm never doing that again." She wheezed, supporting herself on her knees as she tried to breathe like a normal person. Leaning against the door for support.

Failing to notice the sound of keys on the other side of the door.

A quiet click could be heard.

The door swung open.

Yelping loudly she fell into her apartment, lying there, sprawled across the floor like a starfish as she stared at the ceiling.

Right above her stood her younger brother, who looked just as perplexed as her as he held the door open.

The keys still in his left hand.

He scowled.

The bewildered expression changing into one, that looked exactly how orange juice tasted after brushing your teeth, as he looked her up and down.

"He's in the kitchen. You deal with him, I'm going to bed."

Onyx growled and left. His pajamas dragging across the floor and black hair sticking up in all directions.

He had likely fallen out of bed. Judging by his...attire and the fact that the vitiligo on his skin seemed paler, the patches coiling around his body like freshly fallen snow on dark wood.

Snorting softly, she smirked, her brain spitting out thousands of possible jokes to tell but sadly she had other things to do.

Though she really had to write some of them down. They were really good.

Heaving herself up from the floor, she got onto her feet and quickly brushed off the dust that had settled on her brand-new coat. Though, it wasn't much help considering how the dust only settled in more from the water that clung to it.

'Seems like our cleaning weekend is coming soon.'

Vira thought, eyeing the dirt and dust on the floor with disdain. It was messier than when she would come back from work sometimes soaked with blood and grime.

Closing the still open door, she removed her coat and boots, before making her way into the dark living room. Silently cursing when pain shot through her legs again.

Being in pain seemed to become a habit of hers.

Their apartment was rather small and didn't have a lot in terms of furniture, though it did consist of a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and three separate bedrooms.

Walking into the kitchen, her black eyes zeroed on her older brother who sat on a stool with a blanket wrapped around him and a cup of tea in his hands.

He looked like a corpse.

His sepia brown skin dulled in a sickly way, his black hair matted and unkempt, and not to mention his heavy eye bags that, even though less prominent, still clung to him like leeches.

But despite all that, he smiled softly and put his cup down with a quiet clang.

"Hey there Raven. How are you?"

Lutho asked, his voice low and tired.

The longer she stared at him, the more her worry boiled down into a mix of anger, exhaustion, and surprisingly relief.

"You are an idiot Ebony. I have told you countless times that you shouldn't overwork yourself and now look at you! All I could do is touch you and you'd fall over and die."

She exclaimed, her voice wavering as she tried to decide if she should help or punch him.

Throwing a deadpanned look at her, he raised an eyebrow. Clearly unimpressed by her outburst.

"Really? That's all you have to say? That I look like death?"

"Well, what else should I say? That I'm happy to get rid of you?"

Chuckling softly, he took another sip of his tea, the blanket slipping slightly from his shoulders and revealing familiar scars.

"Heh, at least that would sound more like you. You're creepy when you worry about me."

"Tch. It would be better if you would stop stalling and just tell me what the nightmare was about before I kick your ass to bed you cursed insomniac."

Raven huffed, plopping down on the seat next to him.

Noticing how her eyes seemed to follow his teacup, Ebony decided to be kind and silently offered her one too, which she then proceeded to down in one go like a shot of alcohol.

A terrifying thing to look at, as the tea was still burning hot.

It tasted like Chamomile and Lavender.

Both flowers that were often used in tea and medicine to aid in natural sleep.

Not surprising at all.

Since it was a tea that their mother often used to make for them, especially when they stayed up late to study in the library or had nightmares.

"Rude. Did your mother never teach you manners?"

Ebony asked, clicking his tongue as he took another sip of his tea. Watching her with distaste as if she had personally offended him with the way she drank hers.

"Oh for heaven's sake we have the same mother!"

She stressed, throwing articulate hand gestures around to make her point. Fed up with his nonsense as it was too late for that.

"Really? I thought you knew that you're the adopted one."

Raven could practically hear the smirk in his voice, which he definitely hid behind his teacup if that twinkle in his eyes was anything to go by.

Restraining her growing frustration, she took a deep breath, schooled her expression, and looked at him once more. This time with a face devoid of any emotion.

"First of all, if you don't stop talking shit, I will never tell you where I hid your limited edition book from Joly Kowcer "The way of the crows." Second, we're both blood-related and Onyx is the adopted one, and third, you still haven't told me about your nightmare so talk, or I'll change my mind and burn it."

Doing her best to not burst into evil laughter like those villains in books, she watched with growing satisfaction and a strange sense of pride, how a variety of emotions crossed his face, ranging from horror, shock, and anger to pure hatred.

Finally, his expression settled on defeat and he set his teacup down. Face and eyes as serious as they could ever get.

The silence stretched on.

Somewhere in the background, the clock chimed, announcing that it was now one o'clock in the morning.

And then, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his mouth and said,

"Fine. I'll talk."

Haaa...

Raven sighed in delight.

There was truly nothing better than being half asleep. Drifting in sweet sweet slumber while the time ticked by like syrup. So comfortable and warm.

Turning around to snuggle deeper into the covers, she was fully prepared to fall asleep again when loud beeping and a series of muffled curses snapped her out of her sleepy haze.

Groaning, Raven hid her face beneath her pillow, not ready to wake up just yet even when she noticed the sunlight peaking through her window and the distant noises from the city below.

It was way too early to stand up when she still had sleep to catch up on.

But for the love of their name-giver Nokrial, if Ebony did not manage to stop his cursed cymergin from screeching like a Tequa she was going to strangle him to death.

With her patience gradually vanishing, like ice under the summer sun, she waited for it to stop, when finally, after what felt like an eternity, that stupid thing went silent and she let out a relieved sigh.

Fluffing out her pillow, she dropped her head onto it and closed her eyes, slowly drifting off into the Dream realm.

Her door slammed open.

"WHAT!"

Raven screamed, her head snapping up and wild, almost burning eyes shooting death rays at the dumb, sleep-drunken face of her older brother.

Who stood in her doorway in full uniform, -the typical black and silver military uniform that showed the rank and district and was usually only worn on special or very serious occasions- looking as if he was about to go on a killing spree.

"Hey bird brain, I don't have much time but just so you know, the general summoned us for a meeting so I gotta go. Bye!"

And... he was gone.

Her brain sluggishly processed the information as she stared at the spot where he had been standing, absently noting the slam of the door and the rattling of keys as they locked it.

She sighed.

Standing up, more confused than irritated, she shuffled into the kitchen. Not batting an eye at the missing coffee pot.

It was gone more often than not, and all because someone had to scratch a summoning glyph into its surface that for some reason only worked when the pot was full.

Not even she knew how that was possible and she had been the best to graduate from the Solys academy that was specialized in symbolic magic.

To explain it simply, as simply as one could with how complex the whole thing was, there were three forms of symbolic magic. The sigils, glyphs, and runes.

Sigils were a one-time thing and the simplest form of them all. Once activated it would work only once and then be unusable forever.

On paper, it would burn, and on other surfaces, it would scar over.

Glyphs worked like switches and were a little more detailed than the first. They could be used multiple times but over time they could stop working and needed to be refreshed.

Runes on the other hand were the most powerful of them all. They could last for years or even centuries if maintained correctly and were very detailed and complex.

One little mistake in drawing them and the whole spell would be messed up and most likely end up in an explosion.

Raven had witnessed some of those firsthand and it had not been fun.

Usually, everyone that graduated from Solys, would receive various rows of runes as tattoos on their bodies.

The location where they would put them was up to them, though most preferred their arms.

As symbolic magic could be combined endlessly, the graduates would choose a specific direction that usually supported either their power or their ambitions in life.

And she, as a proud graduate with the highest scores, had chosen to remain free with all of the combinations and simply gotten them all. Meaning that her arms and most of her upper back were covered with runic circles and symbols. Most of them very thin and filigree lines.

So yeah, all she could do was guess and her most popular theory was the one where the glyph was influenced by the time when it had been scratched onto the surface, aka when the pot was full.

A few moments of peace and quiet passed with her and her new cup of tea that she had made while thinking, before it was ruined by her younger brother who stumbled into the kitchen with a grim expression. Most likely also being a victim of Ebony's alarm.

"Na? Slept well?"

She teased, hiding her smirk behind her cup, as he threw a petty glare at her.

"As if," He grumbled, his voice still coarse from sleep, "I just wonder how the neighbors haven't complained yet about Ebony's ear-killing alarm."

Clicking his tongue, he also poured himself a cup and began to make breakfast. Expertly moving in the kitchen like he lived there, cracking eggs and cutting vegetables more smoothly than his sword skills could ever be.

Emptying the mug, she set it down and shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't know either. Maybe our ancestors have finally decided to take pity on us."

Onyx chuckled at that, a bittersweet smile stealing itself onto his lips.

"I would hope so. They certainly took their time."

Sensing how the mood grew somber, she leaned back and closed her eyes. Knowing that attempting at small talk wouldn't do anything.

Speaking of her younger brother, it was kinda weird that despite being the laziest one, Onyx was the best cook.

He could've become a very good chef if they hadn't had to run away from their home and change their names so they wouldn't be recognized. As they were practically runaway royalty.

To elaborate on that one, per Virkasan culture, it was tradition that the children of the root families were named after colors.

Of course, that had to be the color of their inner light, which in Raven's case was black.

As aforementioned, there were ten colors that all had different powers.

Now, all those colors had their own root family, which were called that way, because they were the keepers of all knowledge and techniques that were ever recorded throughout history.

Anyone with the right color, could go to their respective root family and learn how to master their power to whatever extent they wanted.

And as fate had decided, she had been born into one, the Nokrial clan, masters of the black astrum and thus teleportation.

A plate filled with buttered and toasted bread, eggs, and tomatoes entered her vision.

Onyx sat down and started to eat his own portion, not caring for her surprised expression as she stared at the well-made food.

Feeling her eye twitch, she saved the remarks for later and dug in, practically devouring the food in front of her like a starving animal.

Not noticing the pleased glint in Onyx's black eyes as he too started eating.

Before Raven even knew it her plate was empty and her hunger was stilled. Her stomach pleasantly full.

"Thanks Onyx, it was amazing as always," she said with a smile. Eyes closing in bliss.

No matter how sharp her tongue was, she was an absolute sucker for good and tasty food. Though that was also a good way to bribe her into doing things that she didn't want to do.

Onyx's face softened a little at the sincerity in her voice as he stood up and grabbed the empty plates. Quickly washing them before putting them up to dry.

It didn't seem as if she would be able to coax him into talking anytime soon. But that was alright, they all needed time to heal old wounds no matter how deep and painful.

Once he felt better, he would be able to speak again and she could try and see how long she could hold a conversation without cursing.

After that was done, Raven patted his shoulder and went to get dressed for the day.

There were a couple of things that she had to do after all.

Looking back at him, she felt a twinge of sadness coursing through her, as she remembered how he had been before he turned into that silent, almost emotionless shell of his.

Such a sweet and carefree child.

How his eyes had twinkled like the stars when he first saw his new home and how he and his twin had run around and explored everything.

Or how much joy he had expressed when his first dish turned out good. Even though it was barely edible because he put too much salt in it.

She sighed, snapping out of those bittersweet memories.

There was no use to expect a miracle to happen.

What's done is done.

And they were slowly healing anyway, so there was no need to ruin the process before it even started to work.

Rubbing her forehead to battle the oncoming headache, she exited her room and started preparing everything that she needed for today's commission before it was time for her shift at the Café.

At least that would help her get her mind off of things.

After a lot of rummaging in her storage chest, she finally gathered all the things that she needed, quickly double-checking if there was anything amiss, and went to the front door, spotting her brother in full armor who stood next to it, the keys in his hand.

He was on his way to the Military headquarters to finish his internship with his instructor, as he was now in his final stages of training at the Cosurval academy that specialized in combat and survival.

A small smile stole itself onto her face.

"Don't get yourself into too much trouble snowflake,"

She said in a gentle manner. For once showing her vulnerable side to the world.

All she got in return was a small, pained smile that bloomed on his face at the old nickname.

She exhaled softly and ruffled his styled and gelled hair. Watching how he yelped and batted her hand away, pouting like a little baby all the way to the portal station.

Raven chuckled lightly.

Her chest warmed at the image.

Though somewhere, in the back of her mind a feeling of foreboding took root.

Sending uncomfortable tingles across her skin.

Something would happen today.

Something big.

And her feeling was never wrong.