Agmak and his crew sat on the side walls overlooking the Ashfields. On a different day during the snowy tides, the outer wall’s walkway would have been filled with knights and guards who would face the Monsters of the tide. Agmak of Myrna imagined himself standing here on this very wall with his own guard, standing strong against the monsters from the deep, dark forests. ‘Yes, Myrna, that was a good House name,’ he thought.

  He was broken out of his Glorious imagination by a voice he did not like, a voice that belonged to an infuriating girl, if not crazy.

  “What do you want?” he asked his lips curling in a sneer.

  The white-haired short girl walked over to him and thrust her hand right in his chest—"That’s four large silver coins. Zek and Geneve don’t owe you anything anymore,” she asserted, looking him straight in the eye and daring him to say otherwise. A moment passed as the other Goliath teenagers looked on.

  Then, without a word forthcoming from their leader, the small girl met each of their eyes daring them to to say anything, to do anything and then turned and walked away, leaving them. It was rare to see a human blood act in such away to goliaths, but then again Clara was a mutt, she probably had some goliath blood in her.

  Agmak felt the small wrapped cloth, and looking down at the pouch thrust in his gut, he could see silver glistening out of it.

  “Agmak what are we going to do now that we have coin?” one of the Goliath teenagers in his gang asked as he peered over a shoulder.

  “We are going to get more.” He grinned mischievously. We will follow her and see where she got that much silver.”

  ‘after all if they were willing to give this much up, how much more could they possibly have.’

  —

  The next day, Marcus led the group over every ashy mound of earth beyond the fifth wall. He looked around in front of him and cast his spell with his eyes, causing them to have a slight glow. He did as he had done before. He observed faint tendrils of smoky colours floating up and into the sky. The problem was most of the Aether leaving the ground was much closer to the forest, past the scavenger’s boundary, where none of them were willing to go. That meant the sections in that parth were filled with unscavenged armour and weapons, and there was a reason for that.

  Afterall He had even heard of the stories of man-eating monsters in the forest, so he didn’t push the group towards the forest. He looked to the side, and a thin tendril of all colours of Aether left the ground.

  Like the one-eyed man leading the blind, the group followed him without arguing. Unlike the other filthyings and scavengers, Marcus served as the eyes for his group. So, it was in the next week that the group found something after looking around on the safe edge of the Ashfield.

  “Do you see anything?” Clara asked, her voice humming with excitement Marcus had never noticed before.

  Marcus nodded and decided to make a safer choice-- he made his way down the mound and squinted in a direction avoiding the forest and never heading towards it, moving parallel to the trees miles away in the distance.

  “What is it?” Gabe asked, looking down at the spot where Marcus had stopped. The thin boy focused his gaze in an attempt to see through the earth.

  “What is it?” he asked after his failed attempt.

  Is it here, Clara asked.

  “Yes, Marcus nodded.

  “Linus, Nel, Zek. Over here,” she pointed,” let’s start digging.” Clara was looking forward to what else she could find; after all, it would be the thing that would give her enough coin to take care of the group. It meant another day of surviving in Srok, getting stronger and healthier, and maybe, just maybe, she could get them that place she had always wanted in the Noble quarter with a roof over their heads.

  Getting down on their knees and using calloused fingers, the group dug a hole, all under Marcus’s instructions. With arcane sight, he could see the shift in floating Aether as the group dug, and whenever this happened, he was quick to point them towards the Aether. With the silver they had made, the group had eaten like royalty in the taverns of Srok, so when they dug, they did so on much fuller bellies that week and with a promise for more.

  Hours passed in a frenzy, and the hole was now deeper into the soil than even he thought it would be, extending over six feet down from the surface. Marcus knew this meant that whatever was giving off so many colours of aether was either well crafted or well stored. It was not until a rotting stench hit their noses that Marcus knew they were getting closer.

  “Zek we are close, that’s enough. Linus, Nel, it’s your turn,” Clara ordered.

  With much smaller hands, the boys easily dug out in the exact location. Being as hardy as any street rat, they were not bothered much by the smell of rotten flesh. Finally, the two boys stopped.

  “Guys. Guys, we found it,” Nel called out and, in the next moment, wrenched his nose up and gagged as Linus pulled a rotten corpse out of the dirt.

  “What is that,” Marcus asked, covering his nose and trying to keep the bile down in his stomach.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “It’s someone’s hand,” Linus said, lifting a man’s rotten corpse of an arm and looking unbothered.

  With their noses covered, the group approached the limb, and Marcus, through arcane sight, saw the aether floating off five rings and a shoulder piece of armour. In his eyes, each ring had a unique colour. And upon further inspection, he had come to tell that the colours of the rings were different: white, black, blue, yellow, and red.

  “It’s the rings... take them off,” Marcus pointed out, “Nel, take off the shoulder armour too. It's also enchanted.”

  Linus and Nel, still unbothered by the smell of rotting flesh, pulled off the five enchanted rings and the enchanted shoulder plate and threw the dead piece of a corpse back into the hole they had dug.

  “What are they,” Gabe asked.

  “Enchanted rings and enchanted armour,” Marcus said as the group gathered around, looking at the rings in Clara’s hands with excitement each nudging to get a better look at the treasures.

  And then it was as if the devil himself was smiling at there foolish hope, and as though their worst nightmares had been made manifest, they heard a voice they hated.

  “What do you have for us?" a deep voice said, and Clara’s heart skipped a beat. Clara knew who that voice belonged to, but she did not like what it meant.

  ___

  Agmak had never been one for subtlety. He had never been one for weakness. He only respected the strong-- and by that rule of life, if he saw something he wanted, he took it. Who could blame him? After all, in Srok, only the strong survived, and only those stronger than them thrived. Besides his strength, he was a self-proclaimed wise man leading his Tribe to thrive in this land, only picking out the strong, unlike Clara and the weak rabble she kept at her side. Strong she may have been, but she was not as smart as him. So Agmak thought of a plan and watched Clara and her merry band spend the coin they had somehow got their hands on. For a few days, he watched as they ate like royalty in Srok. He watched as they dug a hole in the Ashfields, and he waited, and to the Sun and river, his patience paid off.

  Clara had gotten her hands on the enchanted gear of a corpse. He saw it, and he couldn't believe it. He imagined himself walking back to the Rat’s guild in enchanted pieces of armour. Not even the Veystrix would threaten him.’ Ohh, they shall all bear witness to my glory,’ he thought. But first, he had to get his hand on the enchanted armour. It was his time. It was now or never.

  “What do you have for us?” Agmak asked as five of his goliaths came over to surround the group over the mounds.

  “What do you want?” Clara asked, and Agmak felt glee as he saw the look of fear in the small girl’s eyes for the first time.

  “We want what you have, we believe we deserve it because we are strong.”

  “We gave you all the coin you wanted.”

  “And now we want more.”

  “Listen, you’re getting nothing,” Marcus said, glaring at the boy.

  “You think you’re a tough, new boy, don’t you?” Agmak mocked with a chuckle before turning back to face the short girl.

  “Give us what you found and I promise we won’t bother you again.”

  “Don’t do it, Clara. His kind always comes back and look at him. Even after you gave him the silver coins, he stands before you asking for more,” Marcus warned, and everyone tensed.

  “And who are you?” one of the Goliath teenagers asked.

  Marcus looked at the large Goliath and ignored the fellow, focusing his gaze on Clara and Agmak.

  “No,” Clara said taking heed of the advise given, “we found it, it’s ours.”

  “Fool.” Agmak sneered, “We’ll teach you a lesson.”

  Sensing what was coming, Marcus moved fast before Agmak and his gang attacked. It was momentarily quiet as Agmak decided what to do, and his band started inching closer, with the only sound, the shifting earth across the ashy mounds that let wind glide and whistle in that briefest moment of silence.

  Marcus ordered Gabe and Ethne, along with the rings and armour, to hide in the hole they dug.

  “Grab her,” he pointed at Ethne. Get down in the hole,” Marcus ordered, pushing the rings and shoulder piece into the other boy's hand and pushing him back.

  The two could not fight, and the Goliath teenagers were larger than them. This meant the only safe place for them would be out of the way. Even then, had anyone asked Clara if they would have won a month ago, she would have said no, but now they had Marcus. She hoped that his second innate magic would be just as useful.

  Marcus knew a fair few things in this life, one of which was that the Goliath were giant people-- worse, they were unmatched in strength and bloodline magic. So, facing a Goliath was a toll order for many a man, but Marcus and Clara were lucky to be facing a group of young, underfed Goliath teenagers with little to no knowledge of real magic.

  Surrounded, Clara barred Agmak’s path. Marcus faced a Goliath twice his size, the half-Goliath siblings taking on an opponent each. Linus and Nel, as was readily becoming apparent, faced the second-largest Goliath with loyal and tireless bravery.

  “Get me that iron,” Agmak roared and made to charge at Clara. Linus and Nel jumped at their opponent like piranhas on torn flesh. Zek and Geneva each wrestled with the other Goliaths.

  The Goliath facing Marcus rushed him, and on instinct, he raised his hand in a boxer’s form above his head. The Goliath did not care. He pushed Marcus to the ground, causing his body to shake and stagger. Marcus threw a wild hand out, hoping to catch something, only for it to miss and catch air. One moment, he was on his feet—the next, he was on the ground, the Goliath on his chest-beating his face in.

  Agmak was not a fool, so he was calm as he faced the girl, Clara. He did not dare to get any closer than a meter towards her and her hands that glowed like hot embers in the forge. He kept his distance from her and her attention, forcing her to stand and listen to the fight going on around her. If Clara turned to help, then he would attack. If she didn’t, then he would eventually win. It was just a matter of time.

  It was a good strategy well known among the orphan gangs of filthyings and every other member of the Rat’s guild-- the strongest person in the band was always to be kept occupied so that the rest would fight it out, then the leader who had stronger followers at the end of the day would always win. It was inevitable. But surprisingly, the girl did not turn. She faced him. Agmak smirked. If this continued and she did not help her friends, then surely this fight was all but won-- he wanted to laugh at the fool of a girl leaving her friends to be kicked around.

  “You know-” Agmak started but was cut off as he watched as one of his Goliath friends was thrown a meter above the ground and into a mound, where he fell unmoving. He looked at Clara, and she smiled at him.

  “That’s innate magic. One of them has innate magic,” Agmak yelled and turned to see Clara, the scar giver, who, at his moment of surprise, was running towards him.

  It was all pain as Marcus tried to block. Then, a familiar buzz, and the Goliath, who was beating on him, flew back after a wild punch reeved in shadow aether connected and sending him into a mound.

  Everyone.

  Everyone stopped and stared in shock.

  Marcus rose up to his feet. He looked around for his opponent, but the large boy was sprawled out on the mound in front of him.

  “He has innate magic,” a voice warned.

  Seeing that the Goliaths were still distracted in their fights, Marcus took the chance and surprised them, not letting them comprehend Agmak’s words of warning. He moved fast, reaching the Goliath who's back faced him and punched out, causing a burst of shadow at the point of contact with the large boy’s side and ribs.

  The large boy let out a gasp, broken bones sending him stumbling back and away from Geneve.

  “Everyone, run.” Agmak cried and yelled, clutching at his burnt face.

  The Goliath teenagers grabbed their fallen comrade, dragging him as they ran through the Ashfields.

  Seeing the other group fleeing, Gabe and the other teenagers were stunned. They thought they were the ones who would be fleeing in this battle, weak and small as they were. Gabe, for one, felt a sense of pride in family and strength for the first time in fifteen years. He extracted himself from the hole and watched the Goliath bullies flee, and for once, he allowed himself to dream.

  Standing between Gabe and the fleeing band, Marcus raised his hand and roared, “For House Mooorkaaan!!!!”

  “For house Mooorkaaan!!!!,” Gabe yelled as well in reply at the backs of the fleeing boys.

  "For House Morkan," Clara said softly as well radiating with pride and hope as she took heavy breaths as well.