I knew Eishen before I knew myself. I'm the only child of one of the rare Shadehand supporting families - mere humans who knew of the mages and helped them survive in the city of Leylen. Our mothers were friends, so naturally, the children they gave birth to on the same day would be friends as well.

To me, Eishen never was privileged. They never were a man, a woman, a noble, a blonde, or any other label people could try to put on them. He was like my brother, and that was all that mattered. 

Until smoke started rising from too-tall chimneys. Until they turnd on the f*cking lights.

The night it happened, the we were walking back from an evening of drinks with our friends. Eishen had an arm around my shoulders, finding it difficult to walk. Everything seemed funny to them that night, notably since I had, admittedly, enabled them to become intoxicated. 


It was a fun evening at our favorite inn. It was one of the only ones that openly served to both humans and shadehands, as well as the rare covened; witches who could use the elements to their advantage.


That night, we were celebrating our friend's birthday.

"Oh come on Eish, drink up." The drink I had gotten them was getting too warm. 

"I'm not in the mood," Eishen bemoaned. All day, they had been nervous about something they couldn't quite define. 

"That's the point. A drink a night keeps the anxiety... away?"


"Please never become an author."  

Eishen rolled their eyes and conceded to whatever drink was handed to them. It was far too bitter for their taste, yet before they knew it, the glass was empty, and they went from clenching their jaw to laughing at to my pathetic imitation of their magic. 

Soon enough, the conversation turned to the towers being built in the northern half of the city. Their construction had started months before, for no apparent reason. Rumors circulated the streets and canals about what they could possibly be used for.

"Four gold says that the towers are just being made because the king compensating for something," our friend Elizabeth snickered, pointing at the construction. I couldn't help but chuckle - for such a beautiful and classy woman, she had the humor of a drunken sailor. The mask she often wore over her eyes hung from its ribbon around her neck. She was Eishen's cousin, and at the time, I still didn't truly understand why she carried a shadehand gift with her when she didn't have magic.

Her boyfriend, Lucien, laughed out, and rose his hand to request another round of drinks. He certainly was treating us all well for his birthday. "Alright, I'm game. Six gold says those towers will be our future jailcells, Eishen. A special cell for the Shadehands of Leyeln. Maximum security, of course." 

"Hhhnngh I don't want to go to jail, I want to stay at home where my bed is comfy, and I'm not up high in a tower..." Eishen bemoaned, prompting Elizabeth to give them a glass of water. "But ok ok. I say one gold that the towers will be something useful like... an astronomy tower for you, Lucian, or... a weather tower. Yeah..." they started giggling, making everyone else laugh. "Yeah, you know, get up closer to the sky to make sure it really is cloudy indeed for real." They glanced at me then. "Don't tell mother I got drunk..." 

I chuckled and ruffled my friend's golden hair. "The way you keep talking you're going to end up telling her yourself." 

"Shhh you're so loud, Theo... wait, why is that cloud holding onto the tower?" 

I rolled my eyes. "OK Eish time to go home-"

"No no look!" Eishen pointed out of the window we were sitting next to, towards one of the towers. "There's a cloud stuck to the top of it." 

The bunch of us looked outside the window to see something neither of us had bet on. 

"It's coming from the tower," Lucien muttered. "What in the four hells..?" 

Little by little, more people from the tavern approached the windows, or went outside to see the sight for themselves. A quiet murmur took over the crowd. Was the tower on fire? It didn't seem like it. 

A moment later, the we heard the churning of gears clicking into place, and found ourselves in a small pocket of light.

Immediately, I stood from the table and rushed outside to see where the light was from. I could have sworn that earlier that night, the lamp in front of the inn was lit by a simple oil frame. Yet the usual steady glow we all knew well was replaced by a bright, buzzing light that cut through the night.

"Gods of Night..." 

I grew up knowing magic. My family had served Shadehands for generations. This was nothing like the soft lights they could make. No. This was not magic at all. 

The gears clicked again, and as quickly as it had appeared, the light was gone. I turned to the tower, which slowly let go of the cloud.

No... it stopped releasing smoke.  

That? That wasn't magic. 

It was darker still.