Chapter 1: Prologue: A Link in the Chain 1761
Yosurrai ran down an alleyway and ducked into a side alley underneath a building. He put his back to the wall, pulling out his revolver and pointing it the way he had came. Did he lose them? He cursed, this was not how the job was supposed to go. He stood there silent, not daring to make even the slightest sound. Nobody followed. He let out a relieved sigh, docman and his boys would no doubt come this way eventually, he needed to get moving. Holstering his revolver, Yosurrai stepped out of the alley and took a right. The night's sky cast eerie shadows from the few lanterns that hung on the walls and streets of the slums. Wax lanterns of course, he didn't know why he expected it to be anything else. Too much time in the big city probably, pretending to be someone he wasn't. Sure posing as an elite was difficult for most people, but he was a class one mage. Most people figured that only the highest family bloodlines produced class one mages, and in a sense Yosurrai supposed they were right. But he was different, he had been given a second chance by god himself.
"Still," he said to himself, "might have been better just to die." His boots splashed in water as he walked through a puddle, a result of no proper drainage in this dump. He found a road leading towards the docs and took it, "need to stay on my mark, can't let him get away again." Some part of him wished that he could go back, back to his home. But that would never happen. He still pondered the question that tormented his thoughts. Should he had stayed in the world beyond the stars? The answer was obvious, but for some reason he had wanted a second chance at life…well, technically it was his third chance. Venlore seemed like such a long time ago. Men and women passed him on the street, heads down, going to work the factories, or the docs. As a rat down in the slums you didn't have a lot of job opportunities. That was, if you followed the law, the words of high borns made to keep order. They called it freedom, said that every man has a part to play. But Yosurrai had heard that lie far too many times on more worlds than this. Straights walked past in their tight blue uniforms, hands on clubs. Yosurrai tipped his hat down and tried not to draw attention to himself. You didn't see a lot of straights patrolling down here in the slums, didn't mean higher ups weren't watching. The policemen passed by him not giving him any attention, to them he was just another rat, forced to work off debts he would never be able to pay. Unfortunately that was most people here in the slums, not him though. After a while he found what he was looking for, Donny's shop. It was the place most people went to buy random junk, although if you were in tight with Donny…you were allowed more "exotic" items. Yosurrai pushed his way through the doors to the shop and hanged up has coat.
"Aaaay John, didn't expect to see you tonight." Donny's brother Leo said from the counter. "Ya know, their are a lot of straights out tonight. Would watch your step if I were you." Yosurrai walked up to the counter and placed down five cents.
"Donny here?" He said as Leo took the money and passed him a beer.
"Nah, he's got business tonight. Won't be back till tomorrow." Yosurrai took a swig of his drink and cringed,
"Voids this stuff is still nasty." He said coughing, "But it takes the edge off right good I'll give it that." Leo looked at him but didn't comment, Yosurrai often let his mouth slip more than he should, using curses from other worlds was not the ideal way to keep attention away from one's self.
"You know John," Leo said, "there's word going around about about a man in all black shooting up docman's place. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Before he could answer the doors to the shop slammed open and four or five policemen stormed in. His hand went to his gun but he was kicked in the chest by a straight and knocked to the floor. Two men grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. One of the officers, a captain by the look of it walked up to Yosurrai with a smug expression on his face.
"Yosurrai Ballast, by the power given to me by the state of New York, I here by place you under arrest for the murder of nine members of the Centonial family." Yosurrai cursed, he could kill all these men here and now, but that would be a waist of his second chance. Sometimes no matter how careful you were…the high borns always found you.
the captain, seeming satisfied, ordered his men to drag Yosurrai to the car that waited for him.
"Guess my mark will have to wait just a little longer," he mumbled to himself. "No matter, I'll find him eventually."