Chapter 1: Umnideus

The sky glimmered into the dead of the night. The wind blew against her shoulders, gently
caressing her long dark hair. She stood there staring onto the ocean. She closed her eyes and
breathed in silently, inhaling the salty sea, her feet slowly sinking in the sand. She could feel
every grain against her skin. She loved it here. It was the only place she felt calm. The only place
she could breathe and push away everything in the deep corners of her mind.

“Sophie!” A small voice called from behind her. She gently opened her eyes. Her purple eyes
glimmered against the crystal dark ocean. There. In an instant, it was over. She knew this was
probably the last time she would be able to escape what she dreaded the most.

Sophie started walking towards the voice.

“I’ve been looking all over for you”

“Hey”

“Wow, don’t you look happy”

I forced a smile upon my face. He simply stared at me for a few seconds.

“Uhm…yeah. You’re kind of creeping me out right now. How about no smiling, it suits you
better.”

“It’s bad, isn’t it?”

I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t want to say it, but I knew.

“I’m sorry Soph’ but yeah, it’s bad. They’re waiting for you in the living room.”

“How many?”

“I think about five of them. All of them look kind of old. And pretty weird. And man, was it
awkward in there. They just sat there in a circle staring at me like I was going to make a bunny
jump out of a hat.”

I let a small chuckle escape my breath. He always knew what to say.

“I thought you knew how to make a bunny jump out of a hat”. I looked at him slightly smiling.
He grinned and said “Oh, ha ha ha! Look at that, making jokes are we now.”

There was a small silence. We looked at each for a short time. We didn’t need to say anything.
We stood there smiling at each other, just like when we were kids. When we played in my
parent’s backyard, before doing something stupid or dangerous, we looked at each other in
silence. Smiled and went for it while we screamed with all our breath. So, little words and yet
we understood each other very well.

He took a step closer to me. I could clearly look at his face now. I could see his grey eyes slightly
shine against the moonlight. I loved his eyes. His light brown hair fell slowly around his gentle
face. It danced around as the cold wind blew around us.

He lifted his arm and slightly touched my shoulder.

“Sophie Gray” He took a pause looking at me with serious eyes. “We will pull through this
together like we always have. Whatever lies ahead we will defeat it.” Using his deep voice, he
used every time to make a more dramatic effect. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What? What’s so funny?” He looked back at me hurt that I didn’t take him seriously.

“How am I supposed to take you seriously with that voice?”

“What is wrong with my voice?!”

“Nothing is wrong with your voice Jax” I couldn’t help but still smile.

“Fine” He took a step back and crossed his arms on his chest.

“Don’t be such a drama queen” I said bemused.

“I am not being a drama queen”

I took a step towards him. “Jax?” I tried hiding my smile. “Jax, I’m very sorry to have hurt your
feelings. And I’m sorry that I have mocked your voice. I think that it is lovely as the sun shines
down upon the crystal blue water”

“Okay now you are just mocking me” I could see a small smile drawing itself on the corner of his
mouth.

I took one step closer to purposely be nose to nose with him, like we used to do when we were
kids. I was always slightly shorter then him so I had to push myself up on my toes. I looked into
his grey eyes, squinted mine to make the dramatic effect of a cow-boy standoff. Immediately
we started laughing, he had such a beautiful laugh. His head tilted backwards and then he
looked back at me simply smiling. I could feel the power of his stare, I could feel his cool breath
on my cheeks, and I could feel his heart thump against the music of the ocean swaying back and
forth. We didn’t have moments like these very often but when we did it was powerful and
suffocating at the same time.

At that moment, he cupped my face in his hands. His thumb slightly caressing my cheek and so I
tilted my head to rest my face in his hand. I could feel the warmth of his soft skin and I closed
my eyes. I inhaled deeply so I could inhale his sent, sweet yet fierce.

“You’re beautiful Sophie” he said softly. I opened my eyes and our lips touched. We kissed
slowly taking this moment as if it was our last. My hands moved in his silky hair and I hugged
him close. His hands gently moved down to my hips. I could feel the heat of our ragged breath
as our hearts started to beat faster. His lips were so soft and gentle, so kissable. I wanted this
moment to last forever; I wanted to stay in arms until it ached.

He suddenly pulled back from our kiss grinning.

“What?” I asked chuckling.

“Maybe I should be a drama queen more often if I get a kiss like that” he said with a wild smile.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your hopes up” slightly pushing him away.

“Oh feisty! Mmh, I like that in a woman” he said winking.

“Okay mister hot shot, I think we should be going now. They probably ran out of patience.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and I put mine around his waist, resting my head on his
broad shoulders, and we started walking towards Jax’s house.

We were at the front door of his house. The same door that I grew up with all my childhood, we
could see marks and scratches all over the wood. It was all the times me and Jax kept fighting
against it to see who got in first. Jax was standing beside me now; he took my hand in his and
with his thumb gently caressed my knuckles. It gave me strength and so I pushed the door open
and entered in the living room.

It was quiet, I could only here the echo of the clock ticking throughout the living room. It was as
jax described. There were five men sitting still in chairs, they were wearing long robes with
hoods hiding their identity. They sat still as statues not moving an inch as I entered the room.
The ticking of the clock felt stronger, stretching time as I stood there, my hand slowly shaking in
Jax’s hand.

Suddenly one of the five hooded men slightly lifted its head, it was the one directly facing me.
His appearance was still not visible as the hood cast a dark shadow over his face but I could feel
his eyes glaring at me intently. A deep grave voice filled with age came out of the hooded
shadow.

“Miss Grey, please step forward in the circle” I felt the hair on my arms raise. I looked at Jax and
smiled, it’s okay Jax, everything will be okay I thought to myself. He seemed to have understood
as he let my hand go and I walked into the circle.

I was now surrounded by the dark figures; an uneasy feeling crept in my body as I felt all their
eyes staring at me through the shadows, watching my every move. I stood very still facing the
hooded figure who summoned me.

The chilling voice spoke again “Miss grey, do you know who we are?”

“Yes”

“Who are we?”

“You are the Angels of Death. At least, that is the name you give yourselves. Personally I find it
a bit over the top. ”

I almost felt a small grin play on his lips. We learned this growing up, “The angles of death”,
everyone new about them but they were spoken of as if a myth or a legend. They never showed
themselves but if they did, well, you knew you were in trouble.

“Yes, it is what we are called. Do you know why we are here?”

This time I chose my words carefully.

“Yes and no. I would assume that you have been summoned here because of something I did to
have upset our rules.”

“Indeed Miss Grey. There are quite a few things that have to be dealt with concerning you. It
seems that you are quite the rebel. I can feel it very clearly. You are exactly what I expected. ”

At that moment I froze. I didn’t understand why but his words struck me as if he knew things
about me that I did not even know myself.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I glared at the shadowed face.

“Please Miss Grey, this is not the time nor the place. Everything will be explained in due time”

I closed my fists tightly, I could feel my heart thumping against the palm of my skin. Easy
Sophie, calm down, it’s alright. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly letting the frustration out. I
delicately opened my eyes to stare at him through the dark, trying to desperately get a glimpse
of his face.

“I propose to move to a vote. Please raise your hands in agreement”

I froze. What? How? A vote for what?! I tried no to panic but I could feel my sweaty palms
starting to tremble. My body tensed.

“Wait a minute! I don’t even know why I was summoned here. I thought I was going to get an
explanation”

A shiver went down my spine as the silence seemed to stretch on. I understood that they were
not going to give me the answers I searched for.

I wanted to cry and scream. I wanted to run into Jax’s arms, put my arms around his body and
stay in his arms but I couldn’t move. I turned my head slowly, desperately looking for Jax and
then there he was. Standing gracefully behind me, his beautiful brown hair ruffled up from
when we were standing on the beach. I locked in with his beautiful grey eyes, I felt like I could
breathe again, the tension subsided. He looked back at me with a worried stare, I did not know
why but a lump in my throat appeared, I could feel water in my eyes. As if I knew, somehow, I
knew that I would not see him again. Now the tears slowly fell on my cheeks, I couldn’t stop it.

All of sudden I saw a shadow of hands rising all around me. I snapped back to reality. One by
one all five hands were raised. Their hands were white and shriveled like grey corpses with long
slim fingers dangling from their hands and dark crooked nails pointing towards the ceiling. I
simply stared in shock. Is that why they are called angels of death? Because they look like
corpses? Are they…

“It is settled then. Sophie Grey by order of the Five Angels and The Tria Xameis, you are to come
with us to train as The Sons of the Dark Shadows, the Umnideus.”

Time stopped. I could hear the roar of Jax’s voice from behind me, resonating throughout the
room. I turned around to see his beautiful face now disheveled with wild eyes. I have never
seen him this angry. I could make out his mouth saying my name though it felt like I could
barely hear him. The tears now rolled ever more down my face. This is it. This is goodbye.
Where I am going there is no going back.

All of a sudden all the five hooded figures stood up around me, I could see Jax only in between
the gap left by two angels of death. He started darting towards me but as he grew closer he
abruptly stopped. He was inches away from me but simply stood there, paralyzed.
“Stop it! Let him go! Now!” I could feel my blood boil throughout my body. I took my eyes off
of Jax and looked at the black corpses surrounding me. My steady hands reached for both of my
blades hidden behind my back.

“I don’t care who you are! I will fight you if I have to. You call yourselves angels but you sure as
hell don’t look like any angels I know!”

I could feel my heart beating against my chest, my power growing ever more. My hands
tightened around my blades pulling them swiftly in front me. I was ready. I breathed in to let
my serge of power flow like a river through my blood. As a light dark glow emanated from my
hands, I dashed forward to the angel that summoned me. As I lifted my blade to his face, I
froze. The edge of the knife stood inches away from his shaded face. I struggled to break free
but it was no use.

“I give you credit for your courage child, but it is no use fighting us. We cannot be beaten. The
sooner you understand that, the sooner you will stop wasting your time”

The cold voice came out from the shadows. I was so close that I stared at the black depth of his
hidden face, I could almost feel his breath on my cheeks.

“I see that you are attached to this boy. Emotions are a weakness Sophie. You will learn this
soon enough”

Immediately Jax fell to the ground panting heavily, relief flooded through me. Suddenly against
my will my rigid body started turning towards Jax. My back was facing the creature and a cold
voice from behind me whispered in my ear.

“Watch Sophie, you are not to close your eyes. You must understand that you are too soft, you
must harden you heart. Where you are going there will be no mercy”

Jax was on all fours, my eyes fixated on him as ordered. I could see his handsome face swiftly
look up at me. I couldn’t help but smile as I quietly wept. Tears freely flowed on my face,
slipping off my chin. The room was so quiet I could almost hear the small impact of my tears
touching the ground.

My eyes fixated on him as a knot formed inside me. Memories flashed before my eyes. I saw a
young Jax covered in mud after he fell in a puddle, standing there with an annoyed face. I
couldn’t help but laugh at him. Me and Jax every Saturday night, clinging onto each other as if
our lives depended on it because we were watching a movie called the reaper 2. Both of us
sitting on his bed while he held me in his arms, stroking my hair, the day my parents died.

I quickly shut my eyes as the pain in my heart was too great.

“Do not close your eyes Sophie” the voice echoed behind me.

My heart slammed violently against my chest, pain shot through my body, I started panting as
sobs escaped my mouth. The lump in my throat was too great I felt like I was going to be sick.
My body started to shake. Get a grip of yourself Sophie! He can’t die! I’ll save you! You won’t
die!

I desperately tried to move anything in my body but nothing, it was all in vein, absolutely
nothing moved. I screamed in frustration.

“You are wasting your breath. You must open your eyes Sophie.”

My eyes slowly opened, everything was blurry as tears kept dripping from my eyes. Say
something Sophie! Anything! I have never felt this weak in my life. I was completely helpless.

All I managed to get out was a small whisper “Please, I beg you. Please don’t do this. I will do
anything you want. Anything! I promise!”

“Sophie you still do not understand”

Suddenly I saw Jax starting to twitch violently on the floor. I could see the pain inflicted on him.
His eyes were shut tightly, his face covered in cold sweat. He bit his lip until blood trickled down
the side of his face, staining the floor. I gasped in shock; he did not want to give in. He did not
want to show them weakness.

“NO! STOP! STOP IT! PLEASE!” I could almost feel his pain. My blood raced through my body. I
can’t lose you Jax. I can’t. I don’t think I can take it. You are the only thing that has kept me
together. You are everything to me. Please Jax, don’t die.

I could see the life slowly crawling out of him. He started to look like one of the creatures. His
hands and face were becoming pale. He looked like a corpse as his body slowly stilled. I could
barely see his chest moving. His bloody lips fell open. This was it. There was no more life in him.
He was dead.

Quiet. It was so quiet. I felt as if time was irrelevant. One of my worst fears came to life. I felt
like a crack formed in my heart. The pain was too great I felt suddenly numb. Something
changed in me. Emptiness filled my heart.

“Good. You are now ready”

Chapter 2
I was seated in a dimly lit large stoned room, my naked skin cool against the cold iron chair.
There was a big chandelier, lit with candles hanging above my head. You could clearly see the
crackled grey stones set in the bare walls. The air was chilled but it did not seem to affect them
at all. The five angels were all seated quietly in front of me, their shadows swayed to the
rhythm of the fire on the hard stoned wall behind them. They seem to fuse with the darkness,
looking more like death then angels. A chill ran down my spine, for the first time fear crept in
my body. I couldn’t help but be drawn by the pale ghostly hands wrapped around the armrest
standing out more than ever in the darkness. The same grave voice spoke again.

“We are going to ask you a series of question that you must answer honestly. Do you
understand?”
I simply looked at him, my hands started to shake uncontrollably. Stop it Sophie. Why are you
so weak! Don’t let them break you! I gathered whatever strength I had left and spoke.

“Yes”
“Is Sophie Grey your name?”
“Yes”
“Do you know why you are here?”
“To train as an Umnideus”
“Will you commit your life to serve your people, the filide, and the Angels of Death”

My body went cold. Now I understood. I am all alone now. I have nothing to lose. They cut off
everything that ties you to your old life so you can start a new one, here, with them. My eyes
started to sting. A useless sacrifice for a life I did not want to lead. Anger now boiled through
my blood. I could feel my cheeks heat as I tightened my grip around the edge of the armrest
until the cold iron poked at the skin of my palms.

I answered through gritted teeth “Yes”

“What does the name Jax Lexus mean to you?”

My heart skipped a beat. Bastards. This is a test. How dumb do they think I am? I looked
straight at the dark shadow, showing no fear. They want me to show how strong I can be. Fine. I
will show them. Two can play at this game. Jax will not have died for nothing. They will not
break me. I will train harder than anyone. I will be best warrior so that one day when I am
stronger than them, I will kill them all.

“Nothing” My answer came out stronger then I expect. I felt a sneer coming for the pale corpse.
Did he not believe me?

“Good. Now rise my dear brothers and let us bestow the gift upon this child”
Five dark figures suddenly all rose at the command, slowly gliding towards me like spirits of the
underworld. I was now surrounded by ghostly shadows, each of them standing right below the
chandelier. I felt as if the room suddenly grew colder, as if death surrounded me. I simply
starred at the tall somber figure in front of me, panic rose in my chest, the sweat of my palms
made my hands slowly slide of the armrests. All of a sudden I felt paralyzed, as if an invisible
energy surrounded my body, crushing me gently against the chill iron chair. I felt my chest rise
and fall with difficulty, fighting to be able to breath in the cold air stinging against my lungs. My
head slowly stuck to the head of the seat. My right arm turned, the palm of my hand facing
towards the burning candles, I could feel the icy breeze dry the heat of my warm skin. The dark
hooded man, who stood in front of me, took a step closer to my right arm. He raised his
skeleton hand over my naked limb, hovering its dark nails over my soft skin and paused their
while the same familiar voice spoke from behind me, again.

“You shall bear our mark upon your arm so that you never forget who you serve. You will be
reborn as an elite warrior protecting your people and serving the Angels of Death. This is the
start of a new life. Your past is now nothing more than a distant memory. You fight for us now.
You fight till you draw your last breath. It is time. Begin”

The shriveled hand now stretched out its’ black fingers over my skin. A black wave of energy
started to surge out of my arm, I watched terrified, unable to move an inch. Gradually black ink
appeared on the surface of my skin, slithering through my flesh. Then a sudden burst of
agonizing pain shot through my paralyzed limb. I could feel the dark ink crawling under my skin,
as if a living creature glided through my flesh, curving left and right, burning an unknown
symbol on my arm. I could feel my heart beat faster, thumping louder against my rib cage,
pulsating on my scorched red arm. The raging pain became unbearable. All I could manage to
do was to bite down my lip hard enough until blood streamed down my chin. Don’t scream
Sophie. Don’t give them the satisfaction. I felt as if my energy was draining away, seeping into
the darkness. The wound on my arm slowly eating away at it. My eyes felt heavy, I could feel
my eyelids closing but I tried to fight against it. No. And again they fell. No .Please. Stay open.
But my body did not listen to me. My strength now completely drained, all I could hear was the
pulse of my heart beating against my ear. I was now surrounded by complete darkness.

Something resonated in the distance. Small drops of water fell on a round metal bowl, echoing
gently through my ears. As I slowly started to regain consciences a sharp burst of pain gnawed
at my arm. I quickly sat up, without realizing where I was. I was sitting on a small bed stashed in
the corner of a cramped stoned room. It was a fairly simple bed made out of wood and a thin
layered mattress. As I sat up, I could feel the wood poking at my body. I delicately touched the
rough wall, feeling the cold wet moisture against the palm of my hands. Wow. So much for
some fancy place. I always pictured the Angels of Death living in a beautiful marbled Palace,
with a beautiful green garden, stretching endlessly till the horizon. Well, at least not in a dump
like this.

As kids we grew up learning about the Angels of Death. It was said that the Angels were ancient
people who have lived for many years. In fact, there is no known specific date to this day of
when they came to be on this land. We say that they were the first to arrive here. They were
the ones who created the realm of Medeis and so they were the ones who created us, the filide
but from where they came from no one really knows. Legends say that they are descendants of
angels and as godly like creatures they are therefore immortal. As they ruled over Medeis, our
realm grew in tranquility over the centuries but as anyone knows light cannot exist without
dark.

There is a legend in our lands that goes as follows. Once there was a young boy who chose to
take a stroll one day and ventured forth into the deep forest close to his village. As time passed
by, night had already fallen upon the land. The villagers grew worried as the boy did not return
to his home and so decided to enter the woods in search of the young boy. Meanwhile, the
child stumbled upon an object on the ground. It was an odd-looking piece of rock that glowed
ever so brightly in the dark. The boy picked up the oddly shaped stone, slightly cold in his gentle
hands, and put it in his pocket. After all the search in vain, the boy was finally found and
brought back to his home. As he was warmly tucked in his bed, the boy took out the glowing
stone and starred at it with curious eyes. The stone was beautiful. He had never seen anything
such as this in his life. It was big enough to cover both of his small fragile hands and ever so
light. The rock glowed of all the colors, slight cracks were formed around the smooth surface
and suddenly something caught his eye. At the heart of the stone something moved. A small
blue wave of shadow danced in the center. What is that? The curious boy asked himself. He
jumped off his bed and tiptoed till he reached his desk in search of his pocket knife. As the
blade was now wrapped around his fist, he started tapping the cracks of the stone one by one,
carefully breaking the object open. Finally the rock unveiled itself. The boy looked at his hands
cautiously, now filled with tiny broken pieces of stone as the small blue mist hovered over the
small debris. Gradually the mist grew in his palms, the boy backed away quickly against his bed
as the fragments of the debris fell to the ground. The mist danced before him, growing taller
and taller by the second. The shadow began to take form and suddenly a man appeared in front
of the child. The young boy trembled in horror as the tall grown man approached him. The man
crouched and placed a smile upon his lips.

“My name is Lazarus. Do not fear me boy for you are the one who has freed me from my
prison. I will give you what you desire the most in this world if you follow me” the man
extended his hand towards the scared boy and waited, palm open, for him to accept his offer.
“What is your name my child?” he said with a grin on his face. The boy stood still for a brief
moment. He answered cautiously “Cassius. My name is Cassius” he looked at the stranger’s
face and without hesitation took the man’s hand and together they vanished into thin air never
to be seen again.

Since that night, the realm has never known the peaceful tranquility it was built in. Cassius and
Lazarus grew stronger over the years, gaining more followers and more power which led them
to build their own kingdom, The kingdom of Larox. They sought only one thing, power but the
master wanted more than that, he wanted the gift of immortality. As civil war broke out in
Medeis, people scattered around the lands and that is when kingdoms came to be.

The Angels of Death named the rulers of each kingdom and from then on retreated in a faraway
land, in the kingdom of Asrasis. Soldiers of each kingdom fought bravely against Lazarus and his
followers, the Salazax, but his forces were too strong. Our people begged for the Angels to
come to their aid for they had no one else to turn to. That is when the first Umnideus arrived on
our lands and fought bravely against Lazarus. They saved the kingdoms from complete ruin and
defeated the Salazax. That was the end of our first war. Lazarus and his people retreated in
Larox only waiting for the right moment to spring chaos across the lands once more.

The Five Angels then decided to name three Kingdoms, each of them given a specific role. The
Kingdom of Isogin, where our mages keep all the records of our knowledge stored safely under
their care. The Kingdom of Medeis, where the most skilled healing mages reside treating any
Filide in need and last, the Kingdom of Xatik, where soldiers train hard each day keeping the
walls of our Kingdoms safe. So even though separated we still reside as one, The Tria Xameis.

From then on it was decided that a treaty between the Angels of Death and the three kingdoms
was to be signed. It was what we called the accords of the Kingdom of Angels. The treaty
decreed that the Five Angels must protect the Three Kingdoms against the attack of a stronger
force and in exchange the Angels may take any Filide they deemed fit to serve them and train
them as an Umnideus.

The pain continued to burn on my arm snapping me back to reality. I looked at the fresh ink
that had now been sketched on my flesh as it slightly shined against the dim light. A sizzling red
inflammation covered my arm around the new black mark, reminding me that I was now
branded for life. Even as the soreness of my new wound prickled at my skin, all I could think
about was Jax. My heart ached at the thought. Suddenly a sound of keys followed by a quick
pace of footsteps approached the door towards my cell. I slid off my bed and stood up waiting
patiently for whoever I was about to encounter in the next few seconds. The footsteps finally
stopped as they reached my door, the strangers shadow formed through the small gap
between the ground. My breath quickened as the clang of multiple keys were being turned
unlocking my door. The door swung open letting rays of sunlight illuminate my room, a young
man now stood still at the entrance. “Good, you’re up. Come on, follow me”

I paused for a few seconds confused. “Hey look, I haven’t got all day so get moving!” My feet
moved automatically at his command. I then proceeded to follow him out of my room and
down a narrow hallway. Nothing else was said between us but silence. I could only hear drops
of water fall on the ground all around me while our footseps echoed. As we walked I saw other
cells lined up throughout the corridor. How many people are like me, waiting behind those
doors? I wondered. The air was damp, we were underground no doubt, our footsteps
resonated