From the death of Shenric, all the way back to the beginning, the purpose that the Shadow Clans set upon themselves was to tear down the hierarchy of power that the Lords had built up over millennia.
The great thinkers of the Clans argued that only a world without control, or interference truly had the right to justify its own existence. The basic argument was this: a Realm could be either a natural one, organised by communities or a patterned one where all villages, Clans, Realms where organised according to someone's vision. History showed that any attempt to build a Realm based on a pattern, even if intended to be a utopia, eventually lead to the terror of the Lords. This why they fought not against the Lords, but against the patterns of societies themselves..
Non patterned can only be natural or non-existent. It is not natural when looking at capitalism. Therefore can only be non-existent i.e. an anarchist one.
Yet it was a strange joke to consider that, after all those years of battle and debate, the very end that the Shadow Clans sought could be found if you stepped down into the chaos of the wilderness.
It was by fortune alone that Ashar had survived his first days in the Highland forests without any allies as support. Because even here, in the madness of the forests, there was a way of life, that emerged as an order but without rules. Something older, more primitive, dictated here who lived and who died. He had been captured by the Granite Compact, but a bird that flew over them could see that they were only one of hundreds of such groups scattered through these woods.
"Whatcha got? Anything for us, mate?"
"Whole place has been picked clean, I guess. If we're wanting some valuables, we're gonna need to head into toward the city borders."
"Ha, that's funny. You know that's not an option."
The two men were hunters from the Compact, but who had joined and abandoned several others, just like the rest. Like all veterans in these parts, their method was simple and condensed: they had to stay away the crowded outskirts with its hundred-man factions, then venture deep into the places where no one else met, and only then could they settle only the odds favoured survival.
"I way I see, we took a real gamble coming this far."
"Cause there's poison mushrooms here?"
"Because there's a secret road nearby, you idiot. You know that anyone could be using it, even a Third Tier at times."
"You want to check, cause I don't want to?"
"Nah, nah, I want to leave. This entire place has been a waste."
"This Compact's struggling, but I reckon we'll find something. There's always a bit of bother, before the time is right, and we are able to settle."
The older hunter stopped a story revealed itself in his mind.
"Years ago, we had a place so perfect, that you could picture it in a dream. We had everything we need in crops, in meat, and even some jewellery. It group was tight, and we were all willing to help each other and die for each other. One day, there was even a girl who joined the group, who I thought I could truly learn to be myself around."
"And how did that story end?"
"What always happens in these little woods. Some greedy idiot figured some stuff he wasn't meant to know, he summoned a Second Tier creature to steal more than he could control. It wiped us all out to the last, including him."
Silence fell down into the space between them.
"It's a world of tears and rain," the younger man said. "Walk through it and you'll find darkness or chaos. I don't believe there is a middle ground."
"And what are you going to do then? Destroy all it around us?" the other scoffed. "What kind of warped fool is mad enough to try?"
By midday, their luck had turned, as they finally encountered a pack of wild boars.
The first hunter drew their attention with a controlled Axiom burst which flashed red in all directions. The boars charged up and exploded towards him. At the last moment, he slipped aside with Water and Air, leaving an afterimage that took up their vision.
And this was their chance, because through the afterimage, the second hunter loosed an Axiom arrow.
A boar dropped instantly.
"Did I get one?"
"Yes, keep going!"
The fight ended quickly. Experience prevailed.
"Good lad."
"This shit still scares me," the younger said. "Every time."
"Fear is adrenaline," came the reply. "It feeds the spirit."
With enhanced strength, they carried the carcasses deep into the forest. As they crossed the tree line, both men froze.
"What is that?"
"…You feel it too?"
Panic flashed between them.
"Drop everything. Now."
They vanished into the undergrowth, suppressing their energy. Shadows swept past.
"…Faceless Soldiers."
"So they're really here."
"They must be sealing the forest."
"But why?" the younger whispered. "We're nobodies."
"Not us," the older said grimly. "Someone in the Compact."
Neither hunter returned to camp that night.
Back at camp, the fire burned low.
Issen, Rovik, and Maereth ate in silence, watching Ashar from afar as he spoke with one-eyed Kareth.
"What's so special about him?" Issen muttered. "Why's he treated like royalty?"
"We should've killed him," Rovik growled, binding his wounds. "He's a liability."
"If he truly has the Eye of Sophia," Maereth said, "it could change everything."
"What Vaelor says and what Kareth says aren't the same," Rovik replied.
"Kareth's the boss."
Rovik snorted. "Yeah. Sure."
He changed the subject.
"Shadow Clan?"
"Eastern side's gone. Some survivors in the west."
"I thought they sent a Leader."
"He couldn't catch them."
"Hard to believe."
"If Leaders were perfect, they'd have captured the Hawk of Shadows by now."
"Doesn't concern us," Issen yawned. "We're nobodies."
Rovik glanced at Ashar.
"And him?"
"Just crazy."
"He's not even listening."
Maereth squinted. "He's visualizing."
Kareth finished speaking and walked away. Vaelor intercepted him.
"Any progress?"
"Time," Kareth said. "He needs time."
"We don't have it."
"He said the Eye activates when he forgets himself. When his spirit dissolves."
Vaelor sighed.
"We came here to survive," he snapped. "Not to gamble on myths."
"This is beyond survival."
"People are leaving," Vaelor hissed. "I trusted you to decide what to do with him."
"Are you angry at them," Kareth asked quietly, "or at the life you chose?"
Vaelor stiffened.
"Was it not you," Kareth continued, "who once tried to become a Faceless Soldier and was rejected?"
Vaelor's energy flared, then receded.
"…I'm sorry," he said. "I trust you."
He walked into the forest.
Laughter drifted through the trees.
He found a young couple.
"At a time like this?" Vaelor said coldly. "Let me guess. Talking about love? How you can run away together?"
"Please—" the boy stammered.
"Stance."
"What?"
"Take your stance."
The girl screamed for him to run.
He didn't.
Vaelor struck him down.
Again.
And again.
The girl summoned a ranged Axiom blade—
"Copy."
It vanished.
"That attack of yours," said Vaelor "Is mine now."
Vaelor threw her blade and drove it through her heart.
The boy screamed and tried to slam a Flame attack onto the ground to kill both of them.
"Copy."
His attack failed.
"That ability is mine now." said Vaelor. "Have a taste of it."
Vaelor killed him with his own Flame attack without hesitation.
Around half an later, Rovik found Vaelor who was still staring at the two bodies, gazing at what he had done.
"They were trying to escape?"
"Yes."
"Then it couldn't be helped."
They stood in silence.
"It's a cruel world," Vaelor said. "Made only for cruel people."
"Kareth wants Ashar handed to the Shadow Clan."
"What's the payment?"
"Not money. Something greater, he said."
Vaelor laughed.
"Can I tell you something, Rovik?"
He continued to laugh until it died down into a bitter smile.
"I hate the Shadow Clan." he said. "I hate Kareth. I hate the Granite Compact. And most of all, I hate this dirty, dirty place."
"The Shadow Clan, your father went over to them when you were young, didn't he?"
Vaelor turned away.
In the years since he had been rejected by the Faceless Ones, he had found love and acceptance in the Granite Compact, after all the things that he did for them. He truly was loved here. But somewhere in his heart he felt that it was not enough. In the years of rain, and struggle, and mud, and blood, Vaelor hated himself, and he could not live without having others feel this pain.
"Gather everyone," he said.
"Are we doing it?"
"Yes. In two nights, we take over."