1 Prologue

The bandit dashed through the back alleyways of the small town. His dirtied cloak was wrapped loosely around his body, he pulled up his hood as he approached a small shed. He took a deep breath before carefully and quickly climbing in through the window. He paused for a second, observing his surroundings. The shed belonged to the lord and was filled with any sort of tradable goods such as wheat, ink, potatoes, or herbs. The many wooden crates and baskets were all filled with valuable items. He ran around the room grabbing anything he could find. 

It wasn't long before someone entered the small building. A man tall and muscular stood at the door staring at the thief with surprise. He grunted and grabbed an ax that sat near the shed door. The thief's eyes widened as the ax-bearing man charged at him. The bandit dove to the side and made a run for the door. Once outside he frantically looked around the open street. The man ran towards the plaza to try and lose the ax-wielding maniac.

"Stop you, thief!" The man yelled, the thief looked back for a moment before stumbling back. Sharp pain rippled through his arm as blood seeped into his clothes. He glanced at the man then ran….

"Adonis you're back!" a tall elf said as he ran his fingers across the brail of a book. A small child sat next to him quietly reading along.

"Y-yeah…" the thief took off his cloak and pulled down his mask, he winced when the fabric brushed against the large gash in his arm. The child leaned closer to the elf and whispered something. The elf gasped and closed his book.

"You're hurt again? How many times must I tell you to be careful! It won't help us if you get carried away and die from being so reckless!" he ranted, the child gently grabbed the elf's hand and guided him to the thief -Adonis-. The elf held out his hand and Adonis reluctantly placed his hand on the wound. The thief yelped and flinched as the elf trailed his hands over the gash.

"You're lucky I'm a healer; otherwise, you'd be dead in around half an hour," the elf grumbled.

"Yeah I get it, it's not like you lecture me about this every time I'm hurt," the elf finished using his magic and crossed his arms.

"I'm serious! How many times have I warned you to be careful? Every time you leave this house you come back with your arm almost severed! Do you know how worried we get? Honestly… you're too reckless," the elf continued to rant, Adonis laughed and gently hugged his friend who reluctantly relaxed into his touch. The child looked up at the two with dull brown eyes.

"I would like to continue the story," they whispered in a hoarse monotone voice. The elf pulled away and looked down at the child.

"Of course Zero! Adonis, would you mind making food? Zero's having one of their little moments," the elf said. Adonis smiled with a small laugh.

"Of course Lev… you two just take your time to rest okay?" Lev nodded before taking Zero's hand.

"Okay," he whispered with a small smile. The thief nodded before he made his way to their broken-down kitchen. The wallpaper was tattered and stained and the window was cracked, covered by a tattered cloth. Adonis looked through the rotting cabinets in an attempt to find any of their other food. It had all gone bad once again. He groaned and grabbed the rotting meat and tossed it out with disgust.  Adonis looked through his bag at the herbs and a few apples he got. The apples were bruised and the ink he managed to snag had cracked, making the apples inedible. He sighed with agitation and tossed the bag onto the counter.

"Looks like we aren't eating tonight… I should have just gotten the apples then left," he ran a hand through his hair stressfully, wincing slightly when he touched his little antenna.  He rested his head on the counter and sighed for the hundredth time that day.

Adonis tensed up, feeling a gentle hand rub his back. He looked up at his friend who was looking down at him with a kind smile.

"It's okay, we know you're trying… If… if you ever need help out there I can come with-" Adonis sat up and gently took his friend's hand.

"No no, Lev, you'll get hurt… it would be too dark for you to see most of the time… and if anything happened to you I don't know what I would do with myself," the kind elf sighed and brushed Adonis's dark hair out of his face.

"You know… I wasn't always blind," Adonis looked up at his friend, shocked and confused.

"You weren't? But why does that matter now?" Lev just shrugged.

"Maybe I can get it fixed… I know from my mother that I was born blind. But her magic was strong enough to somewhat restore my vision… Maybe I can get this fixed and start to help you with your food runs," Adonis shook his head aggressively. 

"Not happening… I would gladly help find a way for you to see again but… you can't come with me. You know how this country treats my kind and how they see elves. If the knights saw us out there we would be arrested on the spot… Zero wouldn't know… they would think we abandoned them," Le