The Discipline The only reason I’m writing this is because the guard told me to. My name is Samuel Lewis and tomorrow is my birthday and the date of my execution for treason to a dying empire. The only reason I am still alive is because the Outlander helped me. The Outlander has told me of a way to escape but I’m not sure that it’s safe. Until tomorrow... My final day -Samuel Lewis, 19th of December 2034, The Holding Cells All right, so I’m still alive and that hole in the wall was actually there. I guess some rich idiots are going to miss a good ‘ole head chopping. Well I got out. That’s a start. -Samuel Lewis 21st of December 2034, The Tunnels All right so my first few days didn’t go very well, but hey. You have to learn somewhere. I was stuck in this forest and I couldn’t get out. I had looked for days and still found nothing. The forest seemed to have no end. When I got there, the clearing that was my home was devoid of any sound except the crunch of my bare feet against the small layer of ice. The only way I know what season it is by nature.... Spring I think it’s called. -Samuel Lewis 23rd of May 2035, The Forest I have been here for a year and a half and still can’t make a weapon. The Outlander has given me a gift that I still can’t use but it itches and glows every time danger is near. The Outlander came on the 25th of December and said “Merry Christmas” with a grin. Then the pain came. The mark had seared itself into my hand. I’m just thinking about it now because whenever the mark glows I get a very large surge of electrical power into my brain and my eyes see more and my senses expand to cover a distant memory that I’m trying to tap into. Until the next time. -Samuel Lewis 27th of March 2036, The Forest I have learned from the outsider skills that none have used in millennia. Bending time as I see fit has become very useful and I can travel short distances just by focusing on a point. I have learned to fight without weapons and only use the Outlander’s gift to survive. The Outlander has told me that I will be returning to deal with the world I left behind. He told me to do as I saw fit for this crumbling world. Let’s see how they like me now. -Samuel Lewis 29th of October 2040, The Forest Since returning to my world I have been called many things but I am known simply as Shade. I returned to my city to find it in ruins and guards patrolling the streets. Before I left his forest, the Outlander gave me a sword and a Mask. He told me to use them as the badge of my office. I was the Outlander’s agent in this world. I delivered justice and the occasional death in this ruined city. My sword was not yet stained with the blood of an innocent. One man to die at my hands was a guard beating a woman... I still see his face etched in my retinas as I easily snapped his neck. -Shade 29th of June 2043, The Spire’s Capital The Outlander gave me a map of the city and I finally learned the actual name of the city I was born in. Arkay was an island colonized by the Russian Empire before the nuclear war started when a hijacked US missile struck St. Petersburg wiping the city off the map. The Russians launched missile after missile destroying anything they could. The nuclear holocaust that followed destroyed the US economy. With the Russian government declaring marshal law the people of Arkay were the only ones left untouched. The island was stripped of its natural resources to create the city. The surrounding Islands had smaller cities and towns on them creating the Spire’s Empire. -Shade 17th of September 2043, The Spire’s Capital I sprung this kid out of a downtown holding cell where I was hiding. He thought I was a joke until I broke open his cell with my sword. He repaid me by helping me get out of the city where we walked for miles until we saw a pillar of smoke rising above a small caravan. We found a girl laying next to a man with a slit throat. Lying close to the two people I saw a headless woman’s body. The kid gagged and turned around. I heard him gag and retch. I sighed and turned. I walked back to the girl and picked her up. She flinched and shifted away from me. I sighed and walked off with the girl in my arms and the kid following me.-Shade, 14th of September 2046, Burned Caravan I have escaped the blades of the Crimson guard but I cannot say the same for my brothers in arms. I escaped with my two friends Splash and Silence. Splash is the strongest person I have ever met. Silence is named appropriately, she could enter a room and kill you before you even knew she was there. Splash was a talkative thirteen year old when he was taken into the Wing a couple of years ago. He quickly learned to silence his mouth. Silence is a beautiful pale ghost. She is a blond haired blue eyed killer. -Shade 17th of December 2049, Surrounding Forest of The Capital Earlier Splash heard a crunch and killed whatever it was. We had a nice deer roast for dinner and Splash did something useful. As I’m writing this I’m trying to not kill Splash. Splash was thrown against a tree after he was attacked by a rabid bear. Silence broke its neck but not before splash got slashed by the claws of the bear.-Shade 23rd of December 2049, Uncharted Forest Silence shaved Splash’s head today. I say he looks like a tan rock with his head shaved. Splash failed in thanking her and turned red like a tomato. The Crimson Guard found us again after Splash ran into a lone guard. The guard screamed once but the guard was killed by a panicked Splash. As always we found Splash sitting next to a member of the Crimson Guard with a broken neck. We’ll storm the encampment of the Crimson Guard tomorrow.-Shade 24th of December 2049, Outside Guard Outpost We stormed the encampment and found a pair of kids that were tied up in the tent of the officers tent. The two kids, both had gags and bruises around their arms and faces. They had round eyes and both looked scared. I grinned at them but their eyes just got wider. Then I saw the shadow looming over me. I turned quickly and took a sword to the chest... I fell down with the handle sunk halfway in my chest. I grabbed the handle and pulled with all my strength. I managed to not cry out in pain. I saw Silence run up and kill the man who stabbed me. I smiled at her and pulled with all my strength. The sword slid out of my chest and my grip tightened I felt the sword shatter in my grip. I felt more then saw a glow forming around the sword and myself. When the glow faded I pulled open my armor and saw a horizontal line of numbers running parallel to a jagged scar right next to my right lung. I stood up and smiled at the occupants of the tent. I reached over and pulled the gags from the two brothers. One of them watched me warily while the other simply stared at me. I glanced at the two and the one staring at me flinched and moved his head. The older one stared me down. I smiled and helped him up. He looked me up and down and smiled. I pulled out my sword and gave it to him. He grabbed the blade and didn’t flinch when I slid the blade across his fingertips. I turned and walked out of the tent with the kid with the sword following me.-Shade 25th of December, Guard Outpost