The man known as Mavik the Collector arrived in Lowend once a week.
He wore silks while others starved. Walked with six armed guards while children begged on their knees. He didn't shout, didn't threaten.
He just smiled.
And pointed.
And the guards would take what they wanted—coin, food, bodies.
No one had ever stopped him.
No one had ever dared.
Until now.
Ash stood on a rooftop overlooking the alley where Mavik's carriage would roll through. His hood was up, wind tugging at his cloak. Kael crouched beside him, fidgeting with a jagged knife.
Below, the others waited. Silent. Ready.
Ash's voice was calm. "You remember what I told you?"
Kael nodded. "Strike fast. Strike hard. Leave one alive."
Ash gave him a look.
Kael smirked. "But not the Collector."
"Exactly."
The carriage clattered into view—polished wood, engraved trim. The guards marched beside it, half-armored and arrogant. Mavik leaned out the window, sipping from a gilded flask.
As they passed the alley's entrance, Ash raised two fingers.
A rope was cut.
A barrel dropped from above and slammed into the front wheel, tipping the carriage just enough to jolt the guards. Before they could react—
Ash and Kael dropped from above like blades of shadow.
Ash's dagger slit the throat of the lead guard before his feet even touched the ground. Kael landed hard, drove his knife into a second's gut, and twisted. Screams echoed—but were quickly silenced as the rest of Ash's group poured from the shadows.
Ten seconds.
That's all it took.
Six trained killers. Dead in the dirt.
Mavik lay pinned against the broken carriage door, wheezing, blood on his lip.
"You… you're insane," he hissed. "Do you have any idea who I work for?"
Ash knelt beside him.
"I don't care."
"I'm part of Lord Velron's inner circle! If you kill me—"
Ash plunged his blade into the man's chest.
Not quickly.
Not kindly.
He let Mavik see it coming.
"You'll make a fine message," Ash said.
Later that night, the gates of the Velron Trade Hall were found scorched.
Nailed to the outer wall was Mavik's body—dangling upside-down, with a crude message carved into his skin.
"THE SHADOW REMEMBERS."
Panic swept the outer districts. Nobles tightened their patrols. Whispers began to circulate:
Who had done this?
What kind of monster dared kill a noble's man in public?
And what was the Shadow?
Ash watched from afar as the city twisted in confusion.
He turned to Kael.
"This is how it begins."
Kael nodded, eyes wide.
"Do we… keep going?"
Ash looked past him—past the slums, toward the golden towers beyond.
"We don't stop until they can't ignore us anymore."