Issuu

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This novel is entirely a work of ﬁction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Nico Axon asserts the moral right to be identiﬁed as the author of this work.

First edition

“You- you’re,” A raspy wheeze squeezed out of them, “You’re like the General.”

The Ryuukana’s ragged breathing slowed to a stop.

The General rested their hand on their chest.

Footsteps approached the general, its pattern uneven. A soft scraping followed on the damp stones. The bloodied edge of the general’s sword stopped just short of the other’s throat.

The general turned to see his lieutenant, the shorter male holding the blade with a sharp claw.

“Wow, Kai, I never knew you cared.”

A wry smile spread across the lieutenant’s face. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness cast by the smoke.

The general looked away, “I am not in the mood right now, even for you.” blood.

“This is war.”

“They may not be hominem, but these are people, Vincent.” He looked back to the silver haired male, “They don’t deserve this.”

“But they have hopes, dreams, lives. Families.”

“Kairo,” Vincent rested his hand on his shoulder, “You, of all people, know we don’t have the luxury of morals.”

Kairo’s eyes turned to the bloodshed around him, “Morals?”

Vincent’s grip on the general’s shoulder tightened.

“This isn’t about morals.” Kairo grabbed Vincent’s wrist, “This is about the limits we can allow our king to command us to.”

are orders.” Vincent’s tail lashed behind him, “We don’t have the right to question them!”

Rage burned through Kairo’s veins.

“Look around you, Vincent!” He

about the war! This isn’t about protecting

our kingdom, or our p V betwe

“This is a slaughter! And do the so

The shorter male lo his te

“Where do Kairo turn shook.

“ think they will s

“This is the into his e will stop there?”

Genera “ Kairo Ryuukanan s

“It doesn’t matter at the end of the d curled earlier, orders are orders. anything if it’s King Archon giving them.”

He lean over to him.

pair. Kairo to The sharp catching the genera his kn cigarette.

“ The male let out a soft hum.

“Don’t day?”

“Nope~” Kairo sigh lieutenant. his back.

a whimper.

A soft chuckle came from the General, “Alright, I suppose one book isn’t going to irreparably change the fate of the kingdom and its people.”

He looked down at Lux, “But no more late night trips to the Royal Library, fair?”

Lux nodded, a smile spreading across his face. Relief hopped up. His tail wagged above his head, a happy trill sounding in the air.

“One book, huh.” The white and black haired young adult sat on a rock.

The wyvern’s head lifted from the grass next to him, a deep rumble emanating from his throat. The dark furred wolf pup Soul Born on its back yipped. Its small halo brightened as it shook out its fur.

“Reminiscing, Eclipse, nothing bad.” He rested his palm on his snout.

The puppy yipped again.

Lux shook his head, “You guy’s need for attention makes me wonder if I didn’t get enough as a kid.”

He held his hand out to the pup and pulled them into his the air, rolling onto its back.

The Soldier

A gentle breeze drew soft clouds across the sky. Villagers gathered in mass, slowly meandering through the market. The calling of merchants and vendors warm summer’s air.

atmosphere. Soft white clouds meandered through the blue.

The Soldier stood at a stall, holding a small apple to the light. She turned it, watching its red skin turn.

She placed the apple back in the stack.

“Jane, you’ve been judging those apples for the last ten minutes.”

She looked back to her girlfriend. Her hands were perched on her corset, a woven basket hanging from her elbow. A thin blanket covered the fruit beneath it.

“Not every apple is going to ‘look right’. You can’t keep doing this,” She reached passed Jane, grabbing the apple she had just returned to the pile. “You’re the one who’s constantly complaining about how little free time we have.”

She handed the merchant a pair of dull copper coins. Grabbing the soldier’s partially extended arm, she turned away from the stall. The soldier followed.

Jane watched as her girlfriend sorted through the stacks of cloth, pausing red. She lifted one, watching the light through one, before folding it and putting it back.

“Hush.”

The soldier leaned back against the stone wall, crossing her arms. A soft smile spread across her face. She pulled the apple from the cloth covered basket,

Shadowicke was a land of blood and ruin, ravaged by a war that spanned centuries. Kairo Al Assad fights to end the war as the general of the hominem armies.

Soul Born are creatures that take shape from an individual’s soul. Children find themselves in the care of the Guardians of the Sacred Grounds after the appearance of their first Soul Born.

A young Vulpinari, Kit, finds herself in a strange home after her time at the Sacred Grounds.

The Crown Prince of Shadowicke finds an odd book, written by someone called The Storyteller. Hidden within its pages are secrets and truths that change Lux Tenebris’s understanding of his world.

After the end of the war, a series of three Trials are held at to usher in the start of each year. The soldier, Jane Ward, presides over the first of the Trials, bearing the scars of the failed Challengers.

Avis was orphaned by the war, left at an orphanage the night after the last Ryuukana fell. They help the aging caretakers despite of the children’s dislike for them.

An anthology of six tales about the upcoming book Shadowicke: The Trials of Masks, as the first is a three part series.