From The Ashes [#NaNoWriMo16]

Chapter One - Quinton Mattos

His footsteps were silent as he dashed down the alleyway beside one of the tallest buildings in Milos. The air was fresh and the sky looked just about ready to rain, as winter was just kicking in in Adrana. This meant one thing for Quinton Mattos; he could start stealing again.

Quin lived on the outskirts of Milos, the biggest city in Adrana; the hometown of the Keeri. He had been there by himself in a tall, abandoned apartment stack for just over five years, since his older brother abandoned him. But Kaylan Mattos never was good at communicating, so it didn't bother Quin as much as it should have when he left. But still, a note would have been nice. Or a warning. Since his brother went away, Quin had never been alone again. And he had a feeling he knew why.

Ever since he was born, Quin knew people were always watching him. Whether he was going home, wandering the city square or just heading out for a walk, there was always someone watching him. But it wasn't Quin they were really being cautious about. It was 'the other guy'. No matter how many times he attempted to convince them he wasn't a danger, no one seemed to want to go near him. But they were always watching.

He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, his black eyes flashing in the dull, fading sky. He was definitely being followed; he could feel the heavy footsteps moving silently behind him, sticking well to the shadows. But Quin had spent majority of his life escaping from sticky situations, and knew when he was in trouble. He also knew the man had to be a human; unlike the Keeri, the humans were outgoing and typically enjoyed finding trouble where it wasn't needed. The human race made good assassins and skilled thieves, however, which was why the person that was following Quin thought they had the upper hand on him. Boy, were they wrong.

Nonetheless, they continued to follow him, through the dark alleyways, over the stinking dumpsters and all the way to the abandoned outskirts of the city. Since the war three centuries ago, when the humans marched on the Keeri, the western edge of the city of Milos had been abandoned due to the destruction the armies from both Adrana and Rathnos had caused. Since Quin was born into a poor family (he assumed this much) he had grown up there, and continued to make a living on his own. Something he didn't understand was why no one had begun to repair these damages. It was a good part of the city, and there were a lot of things that could be done to improve it. There was room enough for tens of thousands of people, and if they spent a little money to fix the western part of Milos then they could make a whole lot more from the people that would start living there. But that was probably the issue; they had no money. Rathnos, the home of the humans, was overflowing with the amount of people that lived there, and they needed more money than Adrana did. Though, to be fair, every country needed more money than Adrana did. Vundor, home to the Dwarves, was only just becoming inhabitable again after the war, and they were still repairing their home after twenty years of being able to enter the country again. If anything, they needed all the money in Reichon to even make a dent in their repairs. Since the Yaasma bombed the Dwarves country in the war, the Dwarves almost became extinct, and could not enter their native land for the next three centuries without being irradiated. It was what ended the war, actually. For the past twenty years that Vundor had been fit to live in, they had not got much done at all. They were really struggling, but Adrana was no help. The Keeri were a selfish race, and Quin – being a Keeri himself – was more than willing to admit it.

As he neared his apartment amidst the ash and rubble from the nearby fallen ones, Quin lost track of the man following him, which would have made him relieved if it didn't first make him suspicious. Slowly and carefully, Quin slowed down as he came up to his building – the best looking building in the entire area – and slipped right through the broken doors. Usually, he would try and avoid letting his stalkers know where he lived, but he knew it was stupid. If they were following him for half as long as Quin realised, then they already knew where he lived and there would be no point in hiding obvious information like that from them. So instead, he followed his instincts and trudged his way down the broken entrance hall of his building, picking his feet up to avoid tripping over the rocks.