Year 1014-1020 - From Ashes to Steel
THE FIRST MONTH
Nida couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten three meals in one day.
Syizen was a magician.
Every morning, he'd disappear before dawn and return with food. Bread from the bakery. Fish from the docks. Vegetables from the market. Sometimes even meat.
"How do you do it?" Nida asked one morning, watching him unpack his haul.
Syizen grinned. "I'm small. Fast. And I know which merchants are easily distracted." He tossed her an apple. "Been doing this since my brother died. You get good at it when you have to."
"You could get caught."
"I won't." His confidence was absolute. "I'm too good."
And he was.
Nida watched him sometimes. The way he moved through crowds like a ghost. The way his fingers worked—quick, precise, gone before anyone noticed.
He was ten years old and already a master thief.
He's amazing.
Kaisen grew stronger with proper food and warmth. His cries became less desperate. More healthy.
Nida held him every night, whispering promises.
"I'll keep you safe. I'll make sure you have a better life than this. I swear."
Syizen would watch from across the room, something soft in his expression.
"You're good with him," he said one night.
"I don't know what I'm doing."
"Neither do any parents. But you're trying. That's what matters."
THE FIRST YEAR
Winter came hard and brutal.
But Syizen's hideout was warm. He'd stolen enough blankets and firewood to last months.
Nida started going out with him sometimes, learning his tricks.
"You're too tall," he said critically. "You stand out."
"I'm fourteen. I can't help being taller than you."
"Then use it. Act confident. Like you belong. People don't question someone who looks like they're supposed to be there."
She learned.
How to palm objects without looking. How to read a crowd. How to disappear into shadows.
She was good.
But Syizen was better.
One night, Nida asked, "Why are you so good at this?"
Syizen was quiet for a long moment.
"My brother taught me. Before the 6th Empire came." His voice was soft. "He said if anything ever happened to him, I needed to know how to survive. How to be invisible."
"He sounds smart."
"He was." Syizen smiled sadly. "He kept me alive for two years after our parents died. Then the soldiers came and..." He trailed off.
Nida reached over and squeezed his hand.
"I'm sorry."
"Me too."
They sat in silence, two orphans keeping each other's ghosts at bay.
THE SECOND YEAR
Nida started training herself.
She couldn't steal forever. Couldn't hide forever.
If she was going to destroy the 6th Empire, she needed to be strong.
She found a broken sword in a trash heap. Spent hours practicing swings against trees.
Syizen watched, confused. "What are you doing?"
"Getting stronger."
"Why?"
"Because one day, I'm going to make them pay."
Syizen's expression darkened. "Nida..."
"I haven't forgotten, Syizen. My family. Your family. Everyone they killed." Her grip on the sword tightened. "I'm going to burn them to the ground."
He wanted to tell her it was impossible. That she was just a kid. That revenge would destroy her.
But he'd learned not to argue when she got that look in her eyes.
So he just said, "Then let me help you train."
She looked at him, surprised.
"If you're going to fight, you need to know how to actually use that thing." He picked up a stick. "My brother taught me some basics. I'll show you."
And he did.
THE THIRD YEAR
Kaisen took his first steps.
Nida cried.
Not from sadness, but from overwhelming relief.
He's going to make it. He's going to survive.
Syizen celebrated by stealing an entire cake from a wealthy merchant's party.
They ate it together, laughing for the first time in what felt like forever.
"We're a weird family," Syizen said, frosting on his face.
"Yeah." Nida looked at him and Kaisen. "We really are."
But they were a family.
Broken. Stolen. Held together by trauma and determination.
But a family nonetheless.
THE FOURTH YEAR
Nida was eighteen now. Stronger. Harder. Her body had changed from desperate survival.
Lean muscle replaced starvation. Her eyes had lost their softness.
She looked like a soldier.
Syizen, at fourteen, had grown too. Still small, but wiry and quick. His hands were calloused from constant thievery.
"We can't do this forever," Nida said one night.
"Do what?"
"Hide. Steal. Survive day by day." She looked at him. "I want more than this."
"What do you want?"
"I want to join the 6th Empire's military."
Syizen's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"
"Think about it." Her voice was calm. Calculated. "If I join their military, I can learn everything. Their tactics. Their weapons. Their weaknesses." She clenched her fist. "And when I'm ready, I'll destroy them from the inside."
"That's insane."
"It's the only way."
"They'll recognize you! They'll—"
"Valka was a tiny village. Most of the soldiers who attacked it are probably dead or transferred by now." She met his gaze. "I can do this. But I need time. I need to train. I need to be ready."
Syizen stared at her.
This wasn't the broken fourteen-year-old girl he'd saved.
This was someone else.
Someone dangerous.
"How long?" he asked quietly.
"Two more years. Then we join."
"We?"
"You think I'm doing this without you?" Nida's expression softened slightly. "You're my family, Syizen. I'm not leaving you behind."
Something warm bloomed in his chest.
Family.
"Okay," he said. "Two more years. Then we do this together."
THE FIFTH YEAR
They trained.
Every day. Every night.
Nida pushed herself to exhaustion. Sword work. Hand-to-hand combat. Endurance runs.
Syizen joined her, despite being smaller and younger.
"I'm not letting you do this alone," he said when she tried to make him rest.
"You don't have to—"
"Yes, I do." His voice was firm. "You saved my life. You gave me a reason to keep going. I'm not abandoning you now."
Nida looked at him.
Fourteen years old. Stubborn. Loyal to a fault.
When did he become so important to me?
"Fine," she said. "But don't slow me down."
He grinned. "I won't."
THE SIXTH YEAR
Year 1020.
Nida was twenty. Syizen was sixteen. Kaisen was six.
They stood at the edge of the port town, looking toward the distant capital.
"Are you sure about this?" Syizen asked.
Nida nodded. "I've never been more sure of anything."
"What about Kaisen?"
Nida looked back at the hideout where Kaisen waited with a trusted friend—an old woman who owed Syizen a favor.
"He'll be safe. We'll send money. And when this is over..." She took a breath. "When this is over, we'll come back for him. Give him a real home."
"And if we die?"
"We won't."
"Nida—"
"We won't." She grabbed his shoulders. "Because we're survivors. Both of us. And we're going to make them pay for what they did."
Syizen stared at her.
Six years. Six years of surviving together. Training together. Becoming something more than just two orphans.
They were a team now.
Partners.
Maybe more than that.
But he pushed that thought away.
"Okay," he said. "Let's do this."
They walked toward the capital.
Toward the 6th Empire.
Toward revenge.
Together.
EPILOGUE TO THE CHAPTER
Behind them, the hideout held six years of memories.
Stolen food and laughter.
Training and tears.
A baby growing into a child.
Two broken people becoming whole again.
Ahead of them, the empire that had destroyed their lives waited.
They didn't know what would happen.
Didn't know if they'd succeed.
But they knew one thing.
They would never stop fighting.
Not until every empire burned.
Not until justice was served.
Not until the world was free.
END OF CHAPTER 5