TheDukeOfWolves
By what right do the talented answer the call to greatness?
Talent is latent; skill is practiced. Thus, we are born into our strength, and we need but find it. Many, however, find their strength in the many contracts offered by Astral and Hellish beings seeking to Sponsor a human. Just as humans need talent to ascend in society, so, too, do demons need the souls of the talented to become legitimized in Hell.
Alicia of Redwater, fearing the fall from grace into poverty, takes extreme measures to maintain her way of life, even dreaming of greater heights. To do it, she needs a soul -- a powerful soul, one she must mold and refine, herself.
Killian is a fencer residing in a small town, dueling with other local swordsmen in a labor to earn a sponsor which will take him beyond the reaches of his dull birthplace. Expecting money, fame, and glory, he trains and trains and trains, waiting for the day he can catch the world's attention and go national. Little did he know, however, his sponsorship came in the form of a temptress with dubious benevolence and a thousand secrets.