Lioraen was walking through a dark alley, where many dangerous people sat along the sides, playing with knives and other sharp tools they used for stealing from kingdoms. She walked with grace—far from how one should act in such a place.
The place she grew up in was perilous, but not a single person dared harm her—not because of her parents' status, but because of who she was.
If one judged her by appearance alone, she seemed like a weak creature—easy to kill, easy to overpower. But in truth, no one had the ability to hurt her.
Her parents trained her from a young age, so she could fight without easily getting wounded. She was the leader of a group of thieves, targeting kingdoms—not politicians.
"Lioraen…" She quickly turned when someone called her name.
It was her friend. As always, Velkira Nocthollow approached with quiet menace. She wore a charcoal trench cloak stitched from shadow weave, its torn hem whispering of escapes no one survived. Beneath it, her sleeveless combat tunic clung tightly, bulging with poison vials and secrets best left buried. Knives lined her back in their usual rig—serrated, blackened, and etched with names that no longer breathe. Her boots made no sound, but the air around her thinned, as if it feared her presence. She didn't look at Lioraen—she calculated her.
"Kira…" Lioraen called out in her usual lively tone.
Her friend, the opposite of her in every way, came closer. Lioraen immediately clung to her friend's arm. If they hadn't grown up together and known each other deeply, Lioraen would surely have feared her.
Together, they walked toward the place where the meeting for their new mission would take place. When they arrived, nearly all the thieves who would join the mission were already there. Lioraen walked straight toward their group.
Three men were already seated: Kaelric Varn, Thorne Malvek, and Jex Hollowmere.
Kaelric Varn
Kaelric is the mind behind silence—cold, calculating, and surgical in his approach. He can dismantle a vault's defenses faster than most can draw breath, and he never leaves fingerprints—only confusion. His loyalty is measured in precision, not emotion, and he speaks only when silence needs to be broken.
Thorne Malvek
Thorne is brute force wrapped in street wisdom—the kind of thief who breaks bones and codes with equal ease. Fiercely protective of his crew, especially Lioraen, his fists speak louder than his words. Beneath the scars and growls is a strategist who knows when to strike and when to vanish.
Jex Hollowmere
Jex is the whisper in the dark, a master of illusion and misdirection. He steals secrets more often than coins, slipping through locked rooms and guarded minds with poetic ease. Charming, unpredictable, and dangerous, he's the kind of thief who leaves riddles behind instead of footprints.
Lioraen smiled as they sat down. Among the five of them, she was the only one who stood out. The others wore dark colors, while she wore an ocean-blue dress adorned with tiny flowers. She looked like someone lost in the city—her attire far removed from the life she lived.
At first, people were repulsed by how she dressed. But over time, they came to understand her. She once shared her story of how she became part of the Gravenvale Hollow, though she didn't believe it herself at first. But as she grew older, she came to understand the way the place lived, and her parents treated her so well that she forgot her earlier doubts about it.
She focused her attention on the speaker—the leader of the place, her father. To his right sat her mother, and to his left, her older sibling. Their expressions were serious. In the darkness of the room, she alone seemed to glow, as if sunlight had chosen her.
After the meeting and the assignment of roles, the groups dispersed to prepare for their missions. Lioraen's group returned to their hideout to get ready.
She once wore ocean-blue—a color that sang of innocence and open skies. But the Hollow taught her that beauty draws blades, and light must learn to walk in shadow. Now she cloaks herself in black—long sleeves, silent boots, gloves that hide more than scars. Her dagger sleeps in her heel, loyal and swift, while her veiled skin becomes armor against the world. She is no longer the girl of the Hollow; she is its reckoning, preparing to steal not just from the kingdom, but from the illusion that it was ever safe.
Once ready, they departed to begin the mission. They used black magic to travel toward the kingdom, where the first part of the mission would unfold. Since Lioraen couldn't control her black magic, she used her light magic to travel with them. As they moved through the sky like a small circle of energy, her companions vanished from view—while she shone like a falling star.