Ridge Men are Silent.

Ridge Men are Loyal.

Ridge Men ride shadows,

As their enemies recoil.

Ridge Men are Quick.

Ridge Men are Clean.

Beware the Ridge Men,

For their deeds are unseen.

Whoever had come up with the little rhyme had been wise. They knew to give just enough praise so as to not be silenced, yet still bare the warning within. Aegin had been taught again and again what it meant to be a Man of the Ridge. What it meant to swear his loyalties and serve his masters. And yet, he'd never quite been good enough.

That was just what became to sons who did not live up to the expectations of their fathers. The great Raymond Shadowsmith had simply cast a shadow that was too large for his son to surpass or avoid. Still, that did not stop the famed Captain from pushing his son. From encouraging him to train harder, study longer than any of the other Ridge Men-to-be. Aegin was thirteen now, it was time he step foot into the world of Ridge Men. It was time he prove his worth to the organisation, and to their masters in turn. So technically, this was his first mission, and Raymond had come along to ensure it was carried out. Evidently this was not a task that could be failed, no real mission given to a Man of the Ridge could be failed, and Raymond was not about to watch his son become the first.

So, Raymond, Aegin and another agent, Johan, had left their picturesque home in Fountain Ridge and travelled endlessly to the far North-Eastern corner of the Empire. Only to find that their target had been moved.

Aegin had watched as his father's gaze had hardened in annoyance. They'd had no choice but to follow the trail after that, all the way to Toulle. But when they left Cordon, Aegin hadn't failed to notice Raymond's eyes catching on a blonde, blue-eyed man working in the fields. That golden halo of hair and the facial structure…it couldn't be, right?

Aegin had opened his mouth to inquire, but had quickly snapped it shut again. No questions. It was an absolute law amongst the Ridge Men. They were to carry out their missions quickly and efficiently, then return to the shadows which they called home. That was all their master demanded of them, and all they'd ever been seen as good for.

They'd arrived in Toulle just a few hours before, and had gone to the Magician's Guild where they'd expected to find some stirring of their target they had been sent to retrieve. Nothing, barely even a whisper, as if the Guild had no idea what one of their Magicians had brought back. It had taken another hour of waiting and watching before Johan spotted the Magician that was supposed to have brought back the target. They followed her. All the way to outskirts of the city, beyond the wall, were a large warehouse stood on its own just before the farming district. Turns out that it was going to be far easier than expected to take what they wanted. If their target was indeed out here, they wouldn't have to deal with knights of the city security, just nosy neighbours who knew better than to talk about it if they saw suspicious shadows in the night.

The three Ridge Men climbed the walls of the warehouse to glimpse in the high windows, after scouting through them, Aegin paused at seeing the boy lying on a bed with a chain wrapped around his neck. A stack of books was lying next to him, and he looked bored to say the least. He signalled his father and the others.

Aegin turned to his father as he arrived, their target was this boy? He seemed rather harmless despite the chain around his neck. But Aegin had long ago learned that there was more than what could be seen on the surface.

Aegin's father signalled to Johan to take care of the Magician so that they would have no interruptions. Talking wasn't really practiced in the field. The Ridge Men trained together for hours on end to have the kind of communication and trust they had in one another. Hand signals and knowing looks passed between them efficiently. They simply knew what to do, and no one questioned the leader, just as they'd always been taught.

Raymond and Aegin watched the boy for a while longer, but he was unnaturally still. Eventually, when the moon was high and Johan had returned with an affirmative that the Magician had been taken care of, Raymond ordered them to descend inside.

They did as told, pushing the windows open and dropping to the floor. There was no response from the boy. Raymond immediately signalled Johan and Aegin to retrieve the ends of the chains. The locks were too easy to slip past for these men. Barely a whisper of wind and the locks clicked open, the chains free from the walls. Aegin and Johan turned back to Raymond for orders, and Raymond appraised the boy on the bed with caution. He moved forward, and drew a dagger, flipping it to hold the blade as he poked at the boy.

The boy moved. His hand swiped across the air fast enough that if Raymond had been a second slower, the dagger would have skittered across the laboratory floor. The boy flipped, getting his legs beneath him as he opened his mouth and hissed, needle-like fangs protruding out threateningly.

Even Raymond stepped back in surprise.

"Who are you, and what in the gods' names do you want with me?" hissed the boy.

Aegin took in his young face, his dark hair and eyes, his skin as pale as a corpse. He was honestly stunned by the display. The boy might not have been as fast as them, but he was clearly trained, and trained well. Aegin doubted he'd be able to hold a candle to him if it came down to a fight. Luckily, it didn't seem like that would be the case.

Raymond gave quick hand signals, and Johan reacted with him. The two of them moved, and with them the chain pulled tight around the boy's neck, yanking him back into the wall. Aegin snapped out of it as Raymond's eyes landed on him expectantly. He moved forward and picked up the mask that was on the floor, securing it to the boy's face before he could protest any further. The boy hissed in pain, and Aegin watched as the skin beneath and surrounding the mask reddened, irritated.

From there, Raymond and Johan moved as a unit, securing the boy in the chains so that he couldn't move or escape. Then Johan lifted him over his shoulder and turned to Raymond.

Raymond looked at Aegin, the disappointment clear in his eyes as he shook his head.

Aegin didn't bother to argue. He had not reacted with the unit. He had not been quick as a Ridge Man should, nor clean. Still, whatever punishment was to come his way, it would not be done here. The three Ridge Men and their prisoner blended into the shadows of the night and disappeared, the eyes of the prisoner and Aegin meeting briefly as they did.

Aegin, despite his training, couldn't help the questions that popped into his head upon seeing the frustration and anger in their target's eyes, in the feeling of utter helplessness that clearly showed. His significance, his uniqueness, what could it possibly have to do with their master? Mere interest was not something that their masters entertained, so the question remained.

Why?