"Get your hands off her!" Jolie Hades screamed. She lunged forward and grabbed the wrist of the man holding her daughter."Let go of me, you old hag," Edric snarled. He shoved Jolie backward, and she collapsed hard onto the wooden floor of the living room. "You owe me fifty silver coins. Since you cannot pay, the girl comes to work at my tavern until the debt is clear."Janie struggled against the grip of the two enforcers holding her arms. She kicked at their shins, but they only laughed and tightened their hold."I told you the harvest was ruined," Jolie cried. She pushed herself up onto her knees and reached out. "Give me one more week. I will find the money.""You have been saying that for three months," Edric said. He adjusted the collar of his silk coat and looked around the dilapidated room. "Look at this place. The walls are rotting and the roof leaks. You are out of time, Jolie. Take the girl away.""No!" Janie screamed. She twisted violently to the left, but the enforcers dr

Rylen gripped the leather hilt of his sword with both hands and planted his boots against the cobblestones. He strained backward with his entire body weight, gritting his teeth in a desperate bid to free his blade. The polished steel did not budge an inch from Jamie's two fingers. Panic flared in the captain's eyes as his pristine armor rattled from the exertion.Jamie uncurled his index finger and thumb.The sudden release of tension caught Rylen off guard. He pitched backward, arms flailing wildly as gravity took hold. He crashed onto his back with a loud clatter of silver armor against the stone pavement. A cloud of dust puffed into the air around his boots.The surrounding nobles and city watchmen went completely silent. They stared at the fallen captain and then looked at the young man in plain clothes standing calmly over him. No one dared to whisper a word or point a finger. They had all witnessed the impossible display of strength, yet they chose collective ignorance over risk

Oswin coughed violently, and a thick splash of dark blood hit the polished marble floor.The wet sound broke the silence of the inner temple. The mage clutched his chest and leaned his body weight against his wooden staff. His face turned a sickly shade of white. The crowd stared in genuine shock at the empty space where the massive beast used to be.Rylen stared at the marble floor for a fraction of a second before a loud, booming laugh erupted from his chest."Look at this pathetic display," Rylen shouted. He pointed a gloved finger at Jamie. "The peasant could not even scratch the illusion. He missed the target entirely.""The beast is gone," Jamie stated."Because Mage Oswin ran out of mana," Rylen countered loudly. He turned his back on Jamie and addressed the crowded balconies. "We all know the mage suffered lethal injuries in the last demon attack. My superior fire strike dealt massive damage to the construct earlier. The artifact required too much energy to heal the beast. Osw

Captain Rylen knelt on the scorched marble floor of the arena, staring at the empty space where his massive fire dragon had just stood. A thick cloud of white steam hissed and curled around his silver boots, the only remaining evidence that his magical construct had ever existed.All the color violently drained from Rylen’s face, leaving his skin as pale and bloodless as a fresh corpse. He looked down at his trembling, gauntlet-clad hands. His palms were numb. His magical core felt hollow, scraped clean by the backlash of his spell shattering. He could not breathe. He could not process the absolute, unquestionable destruction of his pride. The hundreds of nobles, priests, and merchants in the upper galleries were staring directly at him. Rylen could not stand the weight of his own humiliation. There is no way a commoner defeated himNo way, except… "Demonic power!" Rylen suddenly screamed, pointing his shaking finger at Jamie Hades."He is using demonic power!" Rylen shrieked, spi

Janie gripped the rough fabric of Jamie's linen tunic. Her knuckles turned pale as she pressed her small frame against his side. The towering marble walls and the aggressive men in polished steel stripped away the brief joy she felt back in their rotting house. She tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered for him to let it go. She pleaded with him to turn the carriage around so they could return to the familiar streets of the lower district.Fenn shrank back on his wooden driver bench. The carriage driver stared at his scuffed boots, wishing he had never offered them a free ride after the alleyway incident with Edric. Bringing obvious commoners to the gilded arches of Bishop's Gate felt like a fatal mistake. His hands trembled as he held the reins. He knew the city guards possessed the authority to seize his horse and destroy his livelihood for a simple perceived slight.The first guard noticed the driver cowering. He stepped closer to the carriage and rested his armored forearm o