SEVERAL YEARS AGO, TOMAS had joined his first black market. He'd lived in the slums of a poorer town and had developed a talent for pickpocketing the town before. That time, he'd catered more for the general people. After stealing from those who obviously had a chance in the world, he sold it--for a much better price--to people like him. Food rations, bottles of clean water, and clothing were easy for him to steal and helped the most. He had to run when the market was found. Before long, he made a city his new home. It would be far from the last.

   Batteries, wires, and such were popular there, for, as a city, they'd had electricity. People were able to fashion things like flashlights to help them do work at night without burning oil or fuel in a lantern. That was where he learned to keep his name, his identity, to himself.

   In the next town, the black market laughed at a kid who wanted to join. At thirteen years old, he was forced to begin growing up. Instead of showing his starry-eyed hope of becoming something better and rising above the situation he'd been shoved into, Tomas learned to mask his emotions and show a confident, decisive exterior. When he left because of the installation of electricity and cameras, which made his job so much harder, he left reborn as a new person: Daren.

   As different as the previous market had been to the one he'd started in, the newest one was where Tomas's hopes crashed and burned. While all of the previous ones had opportunities to give to people in need while helping himself, that one only catered to greedy pigs. There, people only wanted to buy things for a cheaper price to turn around and sell it overpriced or wanted things to harm people. While he lived there, Daren heard about a building city with a booming black market that somehow didn't have electricity. Seizing the chance of escaping that place, he'd left at once. It was the only home he'd left of his own accord.

   Vadera was unlike any other city he'd been to before. Its black market was a web of secrets and greed woven so well that Tomas had been unable to cut through it. To join, he had to stumble across someone he'd met in another town's market and pay them incentive to meet his first contact, who, coincidentally, was Li. From her, his list of contacts grew to a group of five people. Six now, with Pierce. Joining it wasn't what set it the most apart from the others, though. All of the black markets in Tomas's other homes had a place where they would gather to sell their wares, but Vadera's was different. The entire city was its gathering place, with the specifics being privy to only those meeting.

   Outside of its differences in its black market, Vadera was still a unique city; it was lit by candles in the night rather than lightbulbs, snow caked the ground during most of the year, there were very few gangs milling about, and, as Tomas noticed rather quickly, there was no orphanage.

   But the most unique part about Vadera?

   It was giving Tomas a chance at redemption.

   At long last, the days had reached and stretched and finally grabbed onto that of the Gathering. Having sold everything that remained of what he'd stolen, Tomas now felt free. He could clear his conscience, pray to the gods for forgiveness, and move on to a new life. The feeling of giddiness and happiness that filled him was intoxicating.

   In the morning, clouds had filled the sky and Tomas smelled and tasted the coming rain in the air. Hours later--it couldn't have been noon--the rain had started to sprinkle down. Coincidentally, it started the moment after he sold his last object: a pocket watch.

   Time passed and the clouds were getting darker and darker, as though the gods were helping him wash himself clean of Daren.

   Or maybe he was reading too much into it.