As Dark as the Forest

Chapter 1

Ori

Ori's mother always told her that there were two kinds of people in the world – those who flourished in sunshine, and those who thrived in the shadows.

On the night of a full moon Ori made her way down the flagstone street, keeping to those very shadows. Nocturnal – darkness personified, and dressed in ebony from head to toe. Her thin frame was nothing more than an aqueous blot of ink. It was her own personal challenge – to sneak through the night time streets without using her magical ability to shift. Long ago she had learned how to become one with the shadows cast by the moon and stars. Full moon nights such as this one were always more of a challenge – there were fewer dark spots to hide in. In the Kingdom of Terrendia, most said the Mother Goddess watched over them, but for members of the Shadow Guild, the moon-mother boded ill luck. With darkness so difficult to come by on a late summer night when the moon was at its fullest, there were more witnesses. But also more people to steal from. Ori smirked as she felt the weight of her cloth bag against her hip, and the city-scents of sweat and dust filled her nose.

The shadow-girl slipped from one back alley to another, moving away from the main road for the most part as she found her way back home, the low rushing sound of the Aragain River that passed through the city becoming more and more distant. Her pack was filled with glitzy things. Bits and pieces that she'd stolen around town that night. Things to make art with. With the end of summer approaching, the people of the Terrendian Capital would soon be out and about with greater frequency – and the challenge of eluding capture on her nightly expeditions would become more difficult, but more thrilling at the same time.

Practicing her ability to elude without magic was integral to survival. Magic wasn't limitless - especially so far away from the Quercian Well, and it wasn't without risk. Growing up as part of the Shadow Guild, she had learned many things that did not require her Skill of shifting.

Even when she clothed herself to be as dark as shadows, she still needed to make her feet silent as a mouse. A veil of shadows wasn't necessary for pick pocketing, but hushed footsteps were.

In the moments where the shadows gave way to moonlight, it revealed a slight girl of average height. Her dark brown hair was neither wavy nor curly, and the hand that opened the building's back door was pale from days spent inside asleep, and sunless nights spent out on the streets of the Capital.

Although she entered through the back way, Ori was inundated with the smell of ale and sweat from the tavern that made up the building's ground floor. The rear door led to a back hall which housed the kitchens. The Nest, as the guild headquarters was called, doubled as an ale and pleasure house owned by none other than the Guild Master himself, Remondo Fervusi - Remo. Though, it did not so much double as one as it was disguised as one. The expansive town house had been repurposed to suit the needs of the Guild and to keep up the legal, if somewhat detestable, front that running an illegal and undetected Shadow Guild required.

Ori headed to the kitchen first, lured by the more appealing scents of fresh baked bread and simmering beef stew. Stealing from Cook had once been a trial back in Orianne's days of training. Now, the grumpy old woman gave Ori midnight snacks freely.

Cook smiled at Ori, revealing a mouth of erratically missing teeth, and handed her a bundled cloth of food. Sometimes it was easier to obtain things with genuity than deception. Even if it was not nearly as fun. Not that Cook was particularly fun to steal from. Many a novice had gone without meals during that trial.

Ori began to make her way upstairs to the rooms she shared with her mother, weaving her way past the rented rooms where the courtesans brought their clientele. It was ironic, Ori thought, that to the outside world sex-work was something to be frowned upon, yet a majority of the pleasure house's clients were from that same world.