The Blood Crown

Part One

The bustling walkways of Azatan's capital were almost like 15th century London. They were crowded, loud, smelled awful, and carried all kinds of diseases. Big men with greasy man-buns leaned over counters yelling at passersby to buy their stuff. Beggars sat at almost every walkway, corner, and alleyway. Imperial guards seemed to be everywhere but never seemed to care about the people or what they were doing. As long as they didn't get in the way of their paycheck the guards couldn't care less if we were killing each other down here. And somehow I was able to walk through it all without getting kidnapped or killed.

How, you ask? I am currently one of the most powerful people in the underworld. The other people at the top of the food chain of power were the ones who got there by killing. I got there by being nice. The weirdest part about it is that I'm only fifteen years old. If you're there for everybody, people aren't afraid to trust you or use you as a crutch no matter how old you are. My best friend is a girl named Alena Thriven. She's been with me from the beginning.

When I was about four months old I was found on the doorstep of the Vanguard Orphanage. They took me in and cared for me until I was thirteen. Then I was released into the wild where I figured out what it meant to look out for yourself. Alena's story is similar except she remembers her parents. I think that's what makes it so hard - knowing that you had parents but they left you for some reason that you'll probably never know.

We stuck together after that and now I'm known as The Omega and she's known as The Advisor. She coordinates and keeps track of everything going on in the capital. Basically she's the behind the scenes producer of my organization. I'm the person that everybody talks to when they need something. I don't have a name for the organization but I might need to come up with one because of how big it's becoming.

There's only one thing that really bothers me about life in the capital and that is that it is so poorly maintained. I know I'm only fifteen and I should be worrying about boys and my social life but it breaks my heart to know that there are people out there who aren't getting help and some of them are dying as a consequence. To put it simply, life in the capital sucks but that doesn't, or shouldn't, affect my ability to help those in need. My name is Natalia, I'm fifteen years old, and this is the story of my life.

When I first left the orphanage my routine was pretty boring with the occasional interjection of someone needing my help. I woke up from wherever I was sleeping and met with some of the other kids who I worked with. We met in an alleyway that backed up right against the mountain. I was the last to arrive. Alena was leaning against one of the walls, fiddling with a scrap of metal. A kid named Joseph, who we called Stix, was hanging off a pipe that stretched across the alleyway, and Anwir was sitting on the ground reading a scroll. When I got there Anwir shoved the scroll into a bag and stood up. Alena's hood shifted slightly and Stix flipped over the pipe and landed in a perfect sitting position on top of it.

"So has anybody heard anything new?" I said, as I leaned against the wall opposite Alena.

"Some messenger guy came running into the city late last night," Stix wobbled on the pipe and then steadied himself, "He was yelling about black creatures and being the only one who survived. He demanded an audience with the Assembly and then was taken up there by some guards. About ten minutes later he died."

"Yeah, I heard the same thing. The council is being extremely tight-lipped about it," Anwir added.

"Despite that I was able to get a copy of the report," Stix grinned, and tossed a scroll to me.

"You realize that stealing from the Assembly can be punished by death?" I raised my eyebrows but I knew that he didn't really care. He just shrugged his shoulders and went back to flipping around on the bar.