The mine was full of workers. The soil under the miners' feet was, as always, a mixture of sand, sweat and blood. Light could faintly enter the fractures in the rock, hitting the dust-covered blue surface of mana crystals.
Within large blocks of rock, hard as granite, drop-shaped crystals were mined. Inside of them, the most valuable and essential substance of all: the mana, the primar source of magic.
Crystals were accurately piled inside carts and transported outside the mine, to be stockpiled under the watchful eye of Grey Mantle guards. Drosven Hollow was a small village inhabited by humble people, mostly peasants who worked in the crystal mine, one of the largest in Veyrad.
"How many crystals did you mine this morning, brother?" a voice echoed in the narrow corridors of the mine, supported by battered wooden beams. Despite that grim scenery, that voice brought a breath of good cheer.
"Hey, Kaen! I'm talking to you!"
Stepping out of the dust raised by the other miners, the boy with the cheerful voice moved forward. Facing him was his interlocutor, a boy of about twenty years old.
"If I didn't miscount, forty-five. Yes, forty-five or forty-six."
Kaen had long blond hair, a legacy from his mother. His brother, the boy with the cheerful voice, was Riven. The two brothers, orphaned for a few years, had been working in the mine for as long as they could remember. Kaen and Riven's father was a hard worker, known throughout Drosven Hollow. He died in the mine, due to a cave-in.
Not much was known about their mother: everyone in the village said she was a prostitute with a gambling habit. She also died, a few years after their father, of an overdose of some low-grade drug. After all, in the suburbs of Drosven Hollow, it was not hard to get it.
"Forty-five? But how on earth did you do that? I barely made it to twenty crystals!" said Riven, rotating the mana crystal in his hands.
That strange mineral, despite being covered with grayish dust, gave off a faint blue light. With each pick of the miners, it reacted with a small vibration, as if it were "alive." For a moment, Riven had the impression that in addition to the usual blue hue, a black filament moved within the crystal.
He swiped his finger over it and squinted: there was nothing strange left. After a long day's work his eyes were particularly tired.
"Whatever, even though you're the youngest, you've always been the stronger of the two of us," Riven continued, placing the crystal back in the mine cart and dusting off his hands.
"Maybe you should just work out a little more" Kaen replied, smiling at his brother.
In the Veyrad Empire, social classes were determined by the quantity and quality of mana at birth. Those who were able to handle mana could train in the Academies, pursue research, a military career or any other profession. Nullborn, on the other hand, who were born without mana, were discarded as genetic errors and were forced to do manual labor throughout their lives, serving Mages.
Kaen and Riven were Nullborn, sons of Nullborn.
Unable to rely on the use of mana and magic, Kaen had devoted his entire life to training his body. Before starting his shift at the mine and on his days off, he loved to train in solitude. In recent months, together with his brother, he had honed excellent self-defense techniques, very useful for those living in the suburbs of Drosven Hollow. For two orphaned brothers in a place like that, danger was always lurking. But that very danger and the absence of their parents had greatly strengthened the bond between Kaen and Riven, making it everlasting.
They were more than brothers. They were best friends.
As every night at the end of the shift, wagons filled with mana crystals were escorted out of the quarry by Grey Mantles. They were the town guards, devoid of magical powers but equipped with heavy armor and anti-riot gear, good for putting down revolts and maintaining control.
Once out of the quarry, the crystals were transported to the train station, where they were shipped westward, more specifically to the port of the nearest town. The destination was Arkanor, the floating city, home of the Arkanor Conclave.
"It's particularly hot tonight, I'd like to eat something fresh," Riven said, admiring the purplish sky as the first stars began to appear.
"All we have left is bread" replied Kaen, looking at the ground disheartened. Inwardly, he tried to remember when the last time was they had had a decent meal. "We could use our daily wage to buy fresh fish, maybe at the harbor".
As Riven was about to reply, his foot stepped on something solid. He stopped and noticed that under the sole of his shoe was a dusty mana crystal.
"How did this get here?" he wondered. Usually, the only crystals that came out of the mine were stored in the carts. He grabbed it and looked around, searching for the nearest wagon.
"Hey you bastard! Put that crystal down now!" a shout broke the quiet.
Before Riven and Kaen could notice, a truncheon struck Riven's back, causing him to feel a sharp pain and drop the mana crystal to the ground.
"Ouch!"
The guard grabbed the crystal, kicking Riven's legs away.
"Hey!" thundered Kaen, clenching his fists and facing the Grey Mantle menacingly.
"I saw you, you thief! Did you think you could steal a crystal right before our eyes?" said the guard, chuckling smugly under his big black mustache. After him, other guards nearby began to laugh.
Riven got up from the ground, wiping his face and clothes. "I didn't steal anything, I just wanted to..."
Before he finished his sentence, Riven was hit again by the truncheon, this time on one leg.
Kaen's fists tightened even more.
"How dare you keep talking, you beggar! Shut up or you will regret it!" the guard barked.
Kaen looked at his brother, hoping for his reaction. Riven closed his eyes, took a deep breath and smiled. Without another word, he bowed slightly forward, as a sign of respect.
The guard, huffing, stowed his truncheon. Then his gaze rested on Kaen. "What about you? What do you want to do?" he muttered.
One step at a time the Grey Mantle approached Kaen, stopping just inches from his face. At that distance, Kaen could smell the stench of whiskey coming from the guard's breath.
Kaen's fist was growing tighter and his gaze fixed on his interlocutor's eyes.
"Kaen" whispered Riven, trying to keep his younger brother from doing something he would regret.
"Listen to your brother, you scarecrow. Do as he does, stay in your place if you don't want me to punch you to death here in front of everyone." After speaking, the guard rolled up the sleeves of his jacket.
Kaen remained motionless and closed his eyes. Very slowly, his arms stretched out and his hands relaxed, opening his fists. His gaze focused on the ground.
Many people watched the scene: a group of miners stood by, as did the Grey Mantles guarding the gates, as if they couldn't wait to see some blood.
"Don't ever look at me like that again, brat. Remember to stay in your place." Taunting Kaen, the guard kept looking down at him, hoping he would respond to the provocation. His hand again rested on the handle of the club.
"You can't do that, hold back!" thought Kaen. "You could break their teeth one by one, but then what? Then those damn people would point their guns at you and you couldn't do shit. I don't want to get my brother involved, but damn it! They deserve a lesson! I really want to punch him
!" As he thought, Kaen continued to maintain an attitude of apparent calm.
Without saying a word, he turned and continued walking toward the exit from the mine. Riven followed him.
"Go home, rats. The next time any of you try to steal anything I will cut off a limb from each of you. "Of my choice!" the Grey Mantle burst into a big laugh, turning to his colleagues, who chuckled.
At a brisk pace, Kaen and Riven headed toward the stairway that led from the lower quarry onto one of Drosven Hollow's suburban streets.
"Kaen, slow down!" gestured Riven, limping slightly from the pain in his leg.
Kaen continued his way, furious, ignoring his older brother's call.
The two brothers soon reached home, not far from their work site: a row of ratty shacks stretched for several kilometers. Most miners lived in those houses, built of lime and mud mixtures, with patched roofs and makeshift windows. At least, their father's sacrifices had guaranteed a roof over his children's heads, even after his death.
As a routine, they took off their worn clothes, now ragged. This time, however, as they washed one at a time in the tub next to the fireplace, the house was quite as a mouse.
"Kaen, what's the matter with you? You know we can't do anything against those..."
"We can't do anything?! We could kick those damn cops' asses!" thundered Kaen, interrupting his brother and trying to hold back a punch. It would have taken only a little of his strength to punch a hole in the wall.
"You can't stand up to anyone! I am tired of being treated like a rat! We're doing our back in in the mine since we started walking! If Dad were here, I'm sure he'd make those pricks pay for it!" he continued.
"But he's not here," Riven replied, drying his hair with a rag. "Father was not perfect, you know that. He had many flaws. You remind me a lot of him" he smiled, trying to make peace.
Kaen turned away and lay back on the bed, exhausted. "One thing is clear in my mind. You're not like him" he replied.
The smile slowly disappeared from Riven's face and turned into a sigh. He and Kaen were very different. He, as an older brother, felt a responsibility to look after his brother and to never put him in danger. He had promised this to himself. He would do anything, even accept their condition, knowing that they could not aspire to anything else.
Their lives were already written.
Kaen, on the other hand, was different. He was angry.
He had never accepted to live in a shack, to dress only in rags, to sleep on a straw bed, to have to work forever in the mines. A different spirit was behind his eyes, burning with the desire to change everything, to save himself and his only family, Riven.
The lights of Drosven Hollow went out one after another as night fell. They fell heavily asleep. It was the middle of the night, there was no trace of light when it happened. That life would no longer be so monotonous.
"He's in here, I entered here!"
Kaen opened his eyes first. Whose voices were those in the night? He could not tell whether he was dreaming or it was reality. The nerves and muscles in his legs and back slowly woke up, his body was tired.
As Riven also opened his eyes and turned toward the entrance, the outline of the wooden door was tinged with a dazzling red light.