The stench of burning flesh reached Kayden before the screams.
In the Ash Market, the crowd parted as if the ground itself had spat fire. Bodies pressed against stall fronts and ducked behind crates, but no one ran. They'd seen this before.
A man writhed on the cobblestones, jerking like invisible hands were tearing him apart from the inside. His merchant's coat smoldered at the edges. The vegetables he'd been selling lay scattered, already forgotten, already starting to be buried by the ashes that hung perpetually in the sky.
His veins glowed blue and orange beneath pale skin, pulsing upward like infected lightning. The light crawled up his neck, spreading across his face. The brown color of his eyes began to darken unnaturally, a black color consuming his iris until it was black as tar.
"HE OVERLOADED!" someone shouted from the crowd.
A woman clutched her child closer, pressing the boy's face against her shoulder. Others leaned forward despite themselves; death was the only free entertainment in the market.
Kayden started looking around, wanting to find somewhere to hide. He knew what came next: the guards. Around him, the market sprawled in its usual chaos; stacked boxes, dark corridors, fabric tents forming an open-air maze where everyone was exposed to the ashes.
He pressed his back against a pile of fish boxes. For the first time, Kayden was grateful for the smell of raw fish masking his scent. His hood pulled low over his blue hair, already faded by the constant fall of ashes.
The merchant's spine arched impossibly, vertebrae popping like breaking kindling. For a heartbeat, silence pressed down on the market. Even the ash seemed to pause in its endless fall.
Then came the smell. Acid and rot, like meat left too long in summer heat.
Kayden spotted guards arriving along the main street, pushing people out of the way like cattle. Their shiny blue uniforms and silver details gleamed strangely amid so much leather and threadbare cloth. Metal rods already in their hands. No urgency. No hesitation. Just the practiced motions of people who'd done this dozens of times. The crowd shifted, giving them room but not looking away.
The lead guard jammed the rod into the corpse's chest. Flesh hissed and bubbled. Something gray-black streamed from the man's mouth, solid smoke unraveling into the thick air.
"Fragment recovered," the guard announced, dropping the broken fragment into a containment vial.
The death didn't matter. The resource did.
Kayden's throat tightened. That merchant had been selling turnips an hour ago, haggling over copper coins. Now he was meat and smoke, reduced to whatever fragment had killed him. In this gutter of a city, Contract Fragments were everything, catalysts left behind from old pacts with Djinn. Humans could tap into them without making a contract, but the cost was always the same.
Still, for gutter rats like Kayden, it was the only way to fight back against the Djinn and the monsters that prowled their expanding domain.
The crowd began to disperse like roaches when someone struck a light. The show was over. Vendors resumed calling out prices for moldy bread and mystery meat, their voices hoarse from breathing ashes for years. Beggars with festering stumps where hands used to be returned to their pleading, and life continued its stubborn crawl forward through the pools of contaminated water that collected between the broken cobblestones. Only a dark stain marked where the merchant had died, one more among dozens that painted the market square like a butcher's floor.
Kayden swallowed hard, the merchant's blackened eyes flashing in his memory.
But the boy had seen enough. His stomach churned, not from the death, but from how normal it felt. How easily he'd watched a man die and felt nothing but worry for his own skin.
He pushed through the dispersing crowd, heading for the only place that felt like a sanctuary in this hellscape town.
***
The Drunken Crow sat wedged between two collapsed buildings like a rotten tooth. Kayden slipped through the warped door, breathing in the familiar scent of stale alcohol and damp wood. Rodolph looked up from behind the bar, raising an eyebrow at Kayden's expression.
"Rough day in paradise?" the big man rumbled.
The man's size made the large beer mugs look like fragile glasses, with a thick beard with white streaks at the rim and chin-length hair slicked back.
"Fragment overload in the market. Turnip seller."
Rodolph nodded grimly. No words needed. They'd both seen it too many times.
"Get some rest, kid. We've got work tonight."
He climbed the old wooden stairs at the back of the bar, each step making a creaking noise more annoying than the last. At the end, a small hallway with two doors, he opened one of them and entered his room.
It was a… Minimalist room; a small closet, the open doors betraying his lack of clothing options, a simple bed with a small table beside it.
He took off his shoes and began to empty his pockets, finally finding a red fragment, pulsing.
His heart raced as he looked at the fragment. Immediately remembered the merchant's black eyes.
'It's either this or remain trash forever...'
***
Kayden woke slowly. He checked his watch. Had it really been four hours? He felt barely any different.
Kayden brushed off his clothes, grabbed his gear, and did a once-over in the mirror. He certainly looked the part of a tough, even if some of his gear looked a little worn. As he left the Drunken Crow, he didn't see Rodolph. Typical. He was probably with Clara. His uncle always said nothing settled nerves like a little romp before a job.
Ashen Falls drown in an eerie silence. The streets. Empty. A brothel glowing in the distance, its purple light cutting through the ash-laden dark.
Kayden approached the narrow alley next to the brothel. Music blasted into the night, and as Kayden got closer, he heard… feminine noises. Uncomfortable with eavesdropping, he hurried through the alley and into an opening between buildings. An open-air room, almost, surrounded on two sides walls of various other establishments.
The far wall to the back was a small, sandy hill. Together, they formed a semicircle with a table in the middle. Behind the table stood a short man, dressed as white as moonlight.
That had to be Owl. His white, metallic mask reflected the faint light.
"Well, well…" he sneered. "Someone's early. Miracle."
Kayden crossed his arms, saying nothing. Normally, he'd toss a jab back, but not with this man. Energy was better saved.
He quickly leaned against the wall, close to the only escape route and entrance, the narrow corridor.
Two figures approached from the corridor, passing Kayden on their way to Owl. The first, with subtle, almost imperceptible steps. She was tall, red hair tied in a circular bun. She wore a fox mask with white ornaments and had a well-kept, clean, black outfit on. The other practically blocked what little light made it back here. He had on the same black outfit, though it was worn. Like Kayden's leathers. His mask, a bear, was in keeping with his size. Two different shapes, same sense of menace.
As they approached Owl's table, Kayden forced himself to look away, jaw clenched with impatience and growing dread.
'Where the hell is that drunk bastard?!' Kayden thought.
Minutes pass, and the masked figures barely pay any attention to Kayden. Like he's an afterthought.
Finally, Rodolph arrives in the clearing, leaving the corridor. The three of them don't even glance his way. "What a welcome!" he says, "I'm flattered."
Owl spat. "Pouring drinks for ghosts at your shitty bar, is that why you're late?"
Rodolph just grinned, raising his hands. "Hey, even the dead deserve a cold one."
Before it escalated, Fox cleared her throat. Her voice, a velvet whisper, equal parts temptation and threat.
"Focus."
The alley went silent. Owl spat on the ground again…
"In a few hours…" she said, "there will be a convergence."
Kayden's stomach dropped. Rodolph stopped smiling.
"A… convergence?" Kayden said.
Fox nodded, her mask gleaming in the dark.
"This entire region will be consumed by the Djinn Domain. And we believe there's something important here." She points to a desert area, going northward from the city.
Kayden swallowed hard. He knew the stories. Lands erased in minutes. Cities folded like paper. People crushed like ants. A Djinn Domain overlapping the human one.
Rodolph rested his hand on Kayden's shoulder, tense as a stone.
"Don't be so shocked. See the opportunity. Every convergence leaves scars… and exposes secrets." Fox continued.
Rodolph let out a nervous laugh. "Secrets, huh? Bet you already know which one."
Owl spat again. "Of course. A crypt."
The word hit like a blacksmith's hammer. Kayden choked on his own spittle. He quickly looked at Rodolph, his gaze confirming the information passed.
Crypts weren't common knowledge, just whispers in the underworld. Ancient tombs where powerful artifacts were buried alongside even more powerful Djinns.
"And what difference does it make if one's here?" Kayden's brow furrowed. "We're not Oathbounders. How the hell are we supposed to take down a Crypt Djinn? You're insane."
"Coward." The Bear's voice rumbled, each word like distant thunder.
Kayden's hand moved instinctively toward his dagger, but survival instinct overrode pride. The masked giant towered over even Rodolph, and picking a fight here would accomplish nothing except proving he was stupid as well as weak. Heat flashed through his chest, but he forced his hand away from the blade.
'Fuck!'
Fox drifted closer, steps silent as dust. Before Kayden noticed, she was a breath away, her gloved finger lifting his chin.
"You don't like your life the way it is, do you, boy?"
Kayden recoiled, hand gripping his blade
"Does anybody?" muttered Kayden.
'I didn't even sense her move…'
Rodolph coughed to break the tension. "Old coffers, monsters, crypts… these stories always end the same. Nobody comes back."
Fox smiled under the mask. "Almost always. This one is empty. No Djinn. Maybe no guardians at all."
Kayden clenched his fist. Too perfect. Too clean. Treasure never fell from the sky.
"Empty crypt? How would you even know? And if it's true, why bring more people?"
Bear answered, flat as stone. "Because no crypt opens with less than five."
Kayden met Rodolph's eyes. No words needed. They both knew. This alliance was already a death sentence.
His heart hammered. 'So we're allies… until the crypt opens.'
Rodolph sighed, offering a hand. "See you at the site then."
The three masked figures vanished, leaving the ashes in their wake.
Kayden exhaled shakily. "Thought I was gonna explode."
"Problem?" Rodolph asked, amused.
"I hate how cocky they are." Kayden kicked a rock into the brothel wall. "They piss me off."
Rodolph ruffled his hair. "Relax. What matters isn't the alliance… but why they chose us. Understand that, and you survive."
Kayden frowned. "Obvious. They just need numbers. Once it's open, it's a race for the contract."
Rodolph shook his head. "Half right. The alliance will end. But it won't be a race."
Rodolph tied up his long hair and started moving back down the corridor. Kayden followed in his footsteps.
The streets of Ashen Falls were deserted at night, the chaos in the city center remembered only by the countless footprints scattered across the ground. Kayden stared at the dark sky as he considered what Rodolph was talking about. The small flakes of ash that fell endlessly helped him think.
And then, as if a bolt of lightning struck his mind, he pieced together the words of Rodolph's sentence.
"They picked us because… they don't see us as a threat."
Rodolph didn't look at him. "Exactly."
Kayden's fists trembled. "Bastards!"
Before he could curse further, a crushing weight pressed on his chest, Rodolph's hand went to his heart, too.
"It's starting…" he said, quickening his pace.
The ground shuddered. Houses folded like wet paper. Trees split through stone. Shadows stretched into a sky split violet and black.
Ashen Falls was being devoured.
Kayden swallowed hard. 'The convergence… It's happening.'
Every step now, against the clock itself. The sky seemed heavier, ash fell in thick flakes, and each step sounded like a padded stride. Desperate screams echoed along the streets of what used to be Ashen Falls.
The air itself felt wrong, too thick, tasting of copper and ozone. Kayden's lungs burned with each breath. Forest scents bled through the metallic stench of the city. His left hand felt scalding while his right went numb with cold.
His senses were betraying him. He heard rushing water where there were only stones. Smelled grass in this empty desert. The harder he tried to focus, the more his vision swam.
Then suddenly, all of Kayden's senses vanished.
No sight. No smell. No sound. No touch.
Only emptiness.
And then, in the very instant his heart began sinking into despair, everything returned.
The convergence was complete.
What had once been a desert of ash was now covered in dry, gray grass. Dead trees with black trunks stretched toward the violet sky. The air carried a bone-deep chill that made Kayden's teeth chatter.
On the horizon of Kayden's vision, emerging from the trees like a Machiavellian tower, an ancient cathedral, its stained glass windows reflecting the night light, creating a hauntingly magnificent image.
Kayden stared at Rodolph, who maintained his composure despite everything; his massive sword tied in his back brought security. Around them, the sound of snapping branches and footsteps too heavy to be human echoed through the transformed landscape.
***
The three masked figures stood motionless at the entrance of the cathedral, silhouettes against the monolithic doors. For the first time since meeting them, they seemed hesitant.
"Second thoughts?" Rodolf called out as they approached.
Fox turned, her voice carrying clearly in the dead air. "Even empty crypts have their defenses. We're ensuring the entrance is stable."
Kayden craned his neck back. Up close, the cathedral was overwhelming, easily the tallest structure he had ever seen. How high was it? Three hundred meters? No… it had to be over five hundred. Shattered columns jutted upward like claws raking at the heavens. The building itself was built of dark stone, its walls dominated by towering stained-glass windows larger than houses. The images within, worn down by time, were barely recognizable: stars and swords, bound together by no meaning he could grasp. The whole structure was sharp, aggressive, like a spear aimed at the sky.
"What the hell…" Kayden muttered, breathless.
That thing radiated evil. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but something else pulled him forward, a hunger that wasn't entirely his own.
Rodolph clapped him on the back. "Charming place, isn't it?"
The familiar joke helped. Kayden shook off the trance. "Yeah, knocked down like our bar."
Fox drew a thin sword, its mirror-bright blade reflecting the cathedral's sickly glow. She pointed it at the entrance like a compass needle.
"This is just the shell," she announced. "The crypt lies beneath."
Bear stepped forward and placed both massive hands against the twenty-meters doors. They groaned open, revealing a crimson carpet that led into shadows.
"Stay sharp," Rodolf murmured to Kayden as they followed the masked figures inside.
"No one beats me in reflexes, old man."
The doors slammed shut behind them with a sound like a tomb sealing.
They stood at the entrance of a great hall, the worn red carpet stretching forward like a tongue into the cathedral's throat. Black basalt columns lined both sides, pressing down with claustrophobic weight despite the soaring space above. Rows of cathedral chairs spread out between the columns like ribs, carved from some fancy wood Kayden had never seen before.
No one spoke. Only the wind tested the torches mounted on the pillars.
They walked down the central aisle in silence until they reached the far end, where an enormous altar stood before a statue of something that had once been human. Its right arm was missing.
"Alright. Where's the entrance to the crypt? Let's get this over with." Kayden said, sick of hearing nothing but his heartbeat.
"Crypts are never easy to enter," Fox replied. "In a normal one, we'd already be dead."
'Great. Very encouraging,' Kayden thought.
"As for the entrance… there's always a price." Owl slowly turned, hand drifting to the blade at his waist.
Kayden narrowed his eyes. That didn't sound like an explanation. It sounded like a sentence.
In a sudden flash, steel gleamed in the dim light, slashing straight for Kayden's arm.
For a moment, everything vanished again: sound, air, even weight. Only reflex remained. Rodolph's words ingrained in his bones
Kayden twisted aside, the blade tearing his cloak instead of his flesh. His hand moved before thought, and the curved dagger was suddenly in his grip.
A red arc.
A scream tore through the hall.
Owl dropped to his knees, staring in disbelief at the bleeding stump where his arm had been.
Kayden froze. His heart hammered against his ribs, breath trapped in his throat.
He looked down at his hand, still clutching the bloodied dagger.
"I… I, "
Despite being a boy raised amid violence, Kayden had never injured a human so seriously.
Rodolph broke the silence with a rough laugh. He picked up the severed arm from the floor and placed it on the altar.
The stone shuddered, then slid aside, revealing a spiraling staircase.
Kayden swallowed hard, unable to speak.
The stench that rose up from the staircase wasn't just mold or old stone. It was alive. Hot. Putrid, like rancid breath trapped for centuries.
"Perfect," Rodolph muttered. "If it had been a rope climb, we would have to carry this crippled dwarf."
Owl continued to agonize on the ground, Fox and Bear quickly fixed what was left of Owl's arm. Rodolph led Kayden ahead of him, toward the stairs.
"Good job Kay. Don't feel bad about what you did, you just defended yourself."
Despite being visibly shocked, he cleared his throat and regained his composure. "Feel bad for this asshole? I just feel bad that it wasn't both arms."
Rodolph lets out a dry laugh. "That's my boy!"
At the end of the stairs, a door made of polished gray stone blocked any entrance.
Strange symbols on the door prevented Kayden from looking at it for too long, and looking back, the three reached the bottom of the stairs, Owl staggering to get down.
Fox pressed her gloved palm against the center of the door. The five-pointed star etched there glowed, and the stone yielded with a guttural groan.
The hall beyond was vast, held up by twisted columns like bones. Black torches lit themselves, coughing up pale blue fire. Runes slithered across the floor like glowing worms.
Kayden shivered. "Cozy place…" he muttered.
They advanced in silence until they reached a fork: two corridors, one left, one right. Both black as bottomless pits.
Fox stopped and glanced back.
"This is where we split."
Kayden frowned. "Split? You've gotta be kidding, "
Bear was already pushing against one of the columns.
The floor runes shifted, red lines burning across the stone.
A translucent barrier shot up between Kayden, Rodolph, and the other three.
It happened so fast that Kayden only reacted once he was already trapped on the wrong side.
"Hey! What the, ?!" He slammed his fist against the barrier. It didn't budge, only returned a cold vibration up his arm.
Owl, pale and weak with his stump bound in a crude tourniquet, laughed bitterly.
"I hope you rot in hell, you scumbag."
And in the darkness beyond… something woke.