-Two months earlier-
The sun was setting over New Dale, casting menacing shadows over the city as the night watchers left their day-time resting places to perch on top of the buildings and guard the city. The activities of the day began to cease, with most people returning to the relative safety of their houses or lodgings as quickly as possible, whilst trying their best to avoid the darkened alleyways which were permanently in the shadows because of the height of the surrounding buildings which towered up, some levels hanging over the streets and alleys below.
As the sun sank into the horizon, on the outskirts of the city an old, crumbling, abandoned mansion stood dilapidated, with a small percentage of the roof caved in, and the rest not far behind it. The original creamy colour of the mansion was either faded, caked in dirt or had disappeared completely, revealing the old bricks that built up this once magnificent building. Around the building were small shards of glass from the smashed windows and wooden panels from when the windows had been boarded up for public safety, and for the safety of the house. Those that had cared about the safety of the house and others had long since passed and been forgotten, meaning the house had been left to rot. Stood outside of the fallen front doors of the mansion were a group of several youths, attempting to decide on the best way to enter, as the small balcony above the front door looked unstable and as though it could cave in at any minute. The group of seven gazed at the house, having never been before, trying to find the quickest and easiest way to enter.
The smallest member of the group looked meticulously over the house with dark green eyes. She spotted a small gap in one of the ground floor windows, where the glass was missing right beside the floor. The gap was perhaps large enough for a couple of them to get through, but the larger boys in the group would have difficulty to avoid getting cut by the sharp, pointed edges of the remaining glass.
“Over there,” she said, nodding to where the gap was. “Some of us will be able to get through there.”
“Good spot, Herane,” one of the boys said, stepping over rotting wooden boards to go to the gap in the window. The boy’s clumpy, leather boots made a loud clatter as he trod on crumpled leaves that had fallen from the great oak tree that stood beside the mansion.
Herane and the others followed him, making more noise. They weren’t worried about the noise. No one was around to hear it. No one visited this historic spot any more. No one even remembered it. The boy who led the way crouched down beside the window, his orange hair glowing in the little sunlight that remained. He looked at the glass carefully, examining it before pulling down the bronzed goggles that were perched on top of his head and flipping one of the extra lenses that were attached in front of his right eye. After examining it for a couple extra moments, he pulled back, removing his goggles.
“There are no toxins,” he said. “We’re good to go.”
“Will we even fit through that?” The largest member of the group enquired.
“You’re going to have to. It’s getting dark and we don’t have the time to find another way in. At least look on the bright side: if you go in head first your head will stay dry if it rains,” the first boy said, smirking.
Before the other boy could get out any response, the first boy had already started to climb in through the gap. He made it inside effortlessly and motioned for the others to join him. The three girls made it inside quickly without any issues and began to look around the room they were in while the other three boys climbed in. The second boy that spoke was the penultimate person to climb in, and he did so with a small amount of difficulty. Whilst he was half way into the building, his black trench coat got caught on the glass points, immobilising him. After discovering he could move no further, he called out to the last boy.
“Ulzack!” He called. “What the bloody hell’s happened?”
Ulzack glanced at the other boy before looking back at his surroundings, making sure they hadn’t been followed. “Your jacket is caught on the glass.”
He bent down and quickly unhooked his friend’s jacket from the glass, allowing him to enter the building.
“Cheers mate,” his friend said as Ulzack began to climb in through the window.
Ulzack didn’t get stuck, but small shards of glass dug into his hand, causing small ruptures on his skin. Once inside, he picked up the nearest wooden board to him and placed it in front of the gap.
“Are your hands okay?” One of the girls asked, seeing the small dabs of blood on his hands.
“Yeah. It’s nothing new,” he replied.
“Are you sure?” She asked, moving a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, as she so often did.
“Yes, Lilra, I am sure.”
“Okay,” she replied, dropping the subject.
Around them, the others were taking in the details of the room. It was clear that this had once been the main living area by the large amount of space and the furniture that had been left to rot. A once luxurious sofa was stood lonely in the centre of the room, facing the burnt out fireplace. Old portraits of families were still placed on the walls. Pieces of the roof were collapsed on the floor in small sections, and floor boards were sticking up at peculiar angles. Areas of the walls were missing, allowing a view into the other rooms of the mansion.
“Are we going to sleep in this room?” Herane asked, wrinkling her nose up at the faint smell of mould and decay.
“There’s no point exploring the rest of the house in the dark. This will do and in the morning we can see if there’s somewhere better to sleep,” the first boy said.
From his shoulder he removed a bag that he had kept with him and emptied it out onto the floor. Packets of food poured out and the others gathered around him. Each member of the group picked up their desired food and found a place to sit and eat. It had been a couple of days since they’d eaten a proper meal, and it would be a couple more still until they could. Once they had all eaten, they packed the food away and each lit a small oil lamp so they could be seen by the others.
In the dim light, they sat in a circle and talked. Not about anything specific. They just talked. These seven young people had known each other years. They had grown up together. Some had even grown up in the same house as some of the others as they were siblings. They all had the same experiences, the same backgrounds. But each member of their group was different, especially when it came to looks. They stood out more than most dared. Most people tried their hardest to blend in to the crowd, to not get noticed. Not these youths. Their hair colours were all different, being bright, unnatural colours, with Ulzack and Lilra being the exception for unnatural colours; there was no mistaking them for any other person that could be passed on the streets on New Dale, or anywhere else in the country for that matter.
However, they did dress in a similar manner to everyone else. The boys wore dark brown trousers with white shirts and waist coats, usually covered by a trench coat. And the girls would be dressed either in a dress, depending on where they were, or in their usual attire which had similarities with the boys’ clothing. They would wear dark trousers and white shirts, but instead of waistcoats, they generally wore corsets and bodices.
One thing a member of the public wouldn’t notice when passing these youths was the weapons that had on them. They were clever and kept them disguised or just hidden on their person. They weren’t assassins, far from it, and neither were they criminals, although that would depend on your viewpoint. They were simply children that knew the risks of living in New Dale. What they didn’t know, however, was that they were soon going to be involved in the biggest civil war that New Dale would ever encounter, and they were going to be at the centre of it all.
