The Books of the Shadows II - The Broken House

2

By the time he reached 10, Sei have read every piece of information about the shadows. He knew it all. He learned it all. His only thought was… to know your enemy… to be thy enemy. All the spare time he could find in between the daily training, he was just making new plans and reading over and over again.

He did not want to be one of them, so he cut off his hair and only his eyes were a reminder of the demon’s fire from inside. He still did not have friends, because the other children were afraid of him, but at least they did not try to bully him anymore.

Not having many friends was not a curse, like this, he had plenty of time to read and learn new things. Like the shadow history.

There were now five houses that split the shadow world and the sarumans belonging to each house have a different color. That was how they could differentiate them all. It is said that the most powerful are the darker ones, as they draw their strength and powers from Death itself, and that is why they feed on war, as the House of Warchild practically lives on the battlefield. Each house has its own importance.

The House of Warchild is the main house of the shadow people. They are mostly descendants of the first kings that reached the lighted world, from the undergrounds. In the beginning, there were only a few families of pureblooded shadows and their servants, who formed the peak of the shadow empire today. They came along with the Shadow Assassins, and they were the first kings of these lands. Each house established its own territory, close enough to get help in need, and far enough from each other so they can not hunger for the other's resources. 

So, first comes the Warchild, as they control the army because most of them are soldiers and with no army, the shadows would not exist in the first place. They owned the territory from the center of the actual kingdom, with the capital and the 10 fortresses that surrounded it together with a long wall, from one to another, as the last defense, which made it very difficult to access for enemies, not that someone tried to dare at least to think something like that.

The Warchild Lords it is said that each can be recognized after the color of their saruman which is dark. Most shadows can get decent fighting skills, but with the advantage of their saruman that craves for the blood, they prey on any big powerful animals and even humans, and that is what makes them placing higher in the trophic chain, above the humans. 

Humans were weak, prey for the shadows.

The second house of the shadows is the Daggers House, up to the northern territory. These were the main army body of the shadows. If the House of Warchild contained most of the royal family members, the Daggers House was in control of the Royal Guard and the Lord of this house was always the Lord Commander of the shadow army. They would always back up the Warchild, as most Warchild crown princes took their wives from the Daggers, as it is known that these are the most elegant and mannered shadows. They were the faithful soldiers of the crown.

The third one was The house of the Diplomats. This house was special because it was not really necessary to be born in it, but the council of war and the king himself elected its members according to the skills and by the necessity of the positions. The shadows that were part of this house were detached in many of the realms of light people, where they had to practically live and infiltrate without standing out.

They were the shadow spies, and they would transmit the information so necessary to the intelligence and military information, which was specialized in information and misinformation regarding the kingdom of shadows. They were all answering personally to the king himself and to the Head Master of the house, which was also answering to the king.

As most of them were delegated to live outside the shadow kingdom most of the time, they were not much part of the military conflicts, and that was making the Warchild and the Daggers to usually take any matter in their own hands. They were also poorly represented in the War council because many of them being spies, they were the unknown faces of the world, even to their shadows brothers.

Not to mention they were never taken into account when choosing a consort or concubine for the king, nor do we mention a wife outside the House of Diplomats.

The fourth was The House of the Sun, and it called them like that because they owned the eastern territory, which meant about 6 fortresses along the border. They liked to invent things, such as beautiful weapons and also the majestic architecture of the shadow fortresses that it is said none can be conquered. 

It was a house formed from elevated shadows, intellectuals, and diplomats. They could also learn fighting skills, but they mostly mastered science. Their lives revolved around studies and experiments. The architects were the richest of the shadows because they were the ones who took care of defending the weaknesses of the fortresses and especially the design, experimentation, and personalization of the new weapons.

The fifth, but not the last, was The House of the Shadows Assassins, in the south of the kingdom. As the Warchild and the Daggers, they should have been part of the main corps of the shadow army as they had the best skills as trackers and many of them were the scouts of the main army. The first kings were part of this house, along with the Warchild, and many made alliances with the House of Assassins.

Since the establishment of the Warchild line, they have waged a cold, fierce war, in which both main houses have lost many valuable lives of powerful warriors.

In time, it reduced the House of Shadow Assassins to a position of mercenaries specializing in shadow assassinations, just as they were called. This somewhat divided them and made them see each city as their own interests, and although the value and fame of their skill in the art of war increased, it only brought them numerical decimation.

This was also the policy pursued by the Warchild House in any case, this kind of divides and conquers, because by dividing the houses and making them fight among themselves, they all weakened, allowing the Warchild clan that owned most of the royal blood to remain in charge. 

So even if unclear, legends say that the first house that entered this realm of the people of light, was the House of Shadows Assassins. They were a small army formed from one clan only at that time. They went up mountains as the conditions there were not exactly favorable for the people. Thus began the age of shadows in the human world.

As the shadows multiplied, they occupied more of the territory of the lights and needed more resources.

They also fought each other in the mission to conquer the new world. They took sides and in time, kings rose and fell. And nowadays, the house of Warchild is ruling the kingdom. 

The king is the one to who all the shadows answer to.

Usually, there is no betrayal in the kingdom because the shadows have the discipline running in their blood. Their lack of control comes only from the saruman, the beast in charge when the shadow feels the hunger for blood. Otherwise, even those who are not educated in the art of melee show the discipline and obedience of the soldier.

The King Sheng Zung of the Warchild House came to the throne after assassinating his 6 brothers and sisters. He was the second of them in age, and perhaps that is the reason why his father did not consider him worthy to receive the title of Crowned Prince, which almost led to the collapse of the dynasty.

In the War of the Princes, one by one, they all fell, except for him, Sheng Zung, and along with his brothers, their mother also fell because she did not support him in the war but took the side of the little ones who were not even adults yet.

This is how Sheng Zung came to the throne. He was a wonderful fighter, a brilliant strategist who seemed to think two steps ahead of everyone.

He was One Who Never Lost. He could lose a battle, but he made sure he didn't lose the war.

He was full of resources, because he never gave up his prey, and you know how to say: he who does not give up never loses.