I remember the first time I saw her. Her face … those light brown eyes were something special… They reminded me of the way the light shines through the broken windows of those abandoned warehouses down by the docks. Not exactly the most romantic thing but it’s the only shimmer of something beautiful against a city that’s so bleak.

She was running that first time too. I’d just turned 16 and my gift, if that’s what you want to call it, was to go on patrol to find a pet. It’s a right given to all Black Sapphires in Black Harbor. We got the pick of the litter. The legend, as it’d been told to me, was that a few of the best Anthros were rounded up in the middle of the night. They were set free and whoever I liked I tracked, hunted, and got to keep if they were caught.

A few of the higher ranking members, my father included, would sit perched around the edges of the Towers watching the spectacle. They enjoyed it.

I wasn’t alone on this fateful day. Three others my age were set free to hunt. We flew high letting the sun warm our wings. Once the Anthros were let loose in the city, a red flame beamed up to the sky fired off by Bartholomew Victor, leader of the Scarlet Wings. He and I shared something in common, we had no interest in keeping pets, but there I was, perched on the shattered tenth floor of a building that could have crumbled underneath me at any moment.

When she raced by me, her scent nearly knocked me over. I followed her, skulking from building to building watching with a smirk across my face as she tried pathetically to hide herself from us. I couldn’t help but walk up to her.

In my Anthros form, she had no idea. She actually tried to save me. As soon as I approached, she grabbed me hard and yanked me down behind a cinder block wall, “What do you think you’re doing out here?!”

“I don’t know,” I chuckled, “Can’t make up my mind really.”

“Well whatever you’re doing, you’d better do it quick. We’re being hunted,” she whispered. One of the Scalers out with me flew overhead forcing us to duck for cover. I knew they wouldn’t come near us ... well because I was me.

“I’m not being hunted,” I told her shaking my head.

She leaned back away from me, eyeing me from head to toe and shook her head, “No way buddy. You’re far too healthy and good looking not to be someone’s pet. You don’t want to be one of those, I heard the boys get the worst treatment. Who are you anyway?”

“Name’s Ashton,” I told her.

“Whisper,” she stated.

“Why?” I asked her in a far more hushed tone.

“No, silly,” she laughed, “My name is Whisper. On account as I don’t know how. At least that’s what my Jasper tells me.”

I laughed too. I liked her. I wanted to bring her home, but I didn’t want to keep her locked away in my chambers. Unfortunately for her, that’s the only way she’d be safe. No Anthros survived walking through the Towers without their owner nearby.

“So you’re not going to be a pet?” I asked her.

“Never, and if you knew what was good for you; you wouldn’t be out here either! So which station are you out of?” she asked me.

I hadn’t any idea what she was talking about.

“Come on! You gotta live somewhere near here or the Scarlet Wing wouldn’t have grabbed you for this stupid thing. What station?”

“I live near the Towers,” I told her. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t want her to think of me in any other way than she was at that moment.

“Nice! No wonder you look so healthy. Word is The Tombs have electricity and an abundance of food. It’s a pain in the ass trying to get in there though. They’re so snooty and uppity. No offense, Ash.”

“None, taken.”

“So I’m gonna take off, but next time you see me I plan on being clean and fit for initiation into the Tombs. You can put in a good word for me and my Jasper right? We’re coming from The Gears and all, but we’re not trashy or anything just because he fixes stuff. He can fix anything with moving parts, alive and metal. And me? I’m the best helper he’s got. So will you put in a good word for us?” she asked with her bright brown eyes wide open with hope.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I told her and that was the last thing I said to her. She ducked off and ran into a building before we could talk about anything else. I never checked to see if she ever tried to get into that underground station she was talking about. If I could have helped her I would have, but I didn’t know the first thing about Anthros politics, or how they lived.

Now in present day, as I scoured the sky, I simply wished I’d told her then … what I was. She’d look at me, well a lot like she looked at Skinner. I couldn’t take it if she held that much hatred for me. I couldn’t take it if something happened to her either. With an Anthros riding around on my bike, anyone could pick her off claiming to have done it as a favor to me. I had to get to her first.

Like a beacon to the sun, a blue flame shot up to the sky. I knew it all too well. I could feel it in my bones. I was being summoned. My search would have to continue another time.

The Towers had been my home and while I enjoyed the luxury of lights and consistent food. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about how other Black Sapphires lived. They overindulged, hunted Anthros for sport, and disposed of them as pets by simply torching them alive or tossing them out of a window. I was expected to behave the same way.

Landing on the rooftop, the beam of flames had disappeared as I made my way inside. The penthouse didn’t have any windows at all. A river of flames burned lightly around the perimeter of the floor keeping it a steady temperature. They danced delicately around the edge and only came up about two feet. The lack of walls and windows allowed the higher ranking members who lived up here the ability to take off whenever they deemed necessary.

The floors were made of black marble while the only walls in the entire space were used to separate the living chambers of each member. My father was one of those members and had undoubtedly been the one to summon me. As second in command, he held the reigns of power pretty firmly, especially since our leader spent most of his days traveling outside of Black Harbor. There were talks of expanding our territory and leaving my father in charge here. I didn’t care either way. I’d be perfectly fine being left alone.

“Ashton, how many times do I have to explain to you the process of -”

I didn’t need the lecture as I interrupted him, “You don’t have to say anything, Father. I did everything I was supposed to do but that bastard, Skinner, doesn’t know how to listen. I told him to leave her alone.”

“Was it marked?” Preston Cane growled at me. His salt and pepper hair fell into his face, shading me from the anger building in his steel grey eyes. They flecked with hints of royal blue whenever we had these discussions.

I didn’t answer.

“DAMN IT, ASHTON!” he slammed his hands on top of the table. It rattled the chains of the Anthros cuffed to the leg underneath it. He scurried away from us not wanting to bear the brunt of my father’s anger. He continued to talk, forcing himself to use a calmer tone, “You know the rules. We all agreed to it, and if you want to break them, you know what that will do. We cannot afford a battle with the Onyx Skulls. Too many will die. I will not have the blood of any Black Sapphire on my hands because my son doesn’t want to follow the rules!”

“It’s different,” I assured him, “It was her.”

“Then you should have marked her all those years ago! Why won’t you just make her your pet?” he sighed plopping down into one of the chairs around the table.

The table was huge. It looked like it was sliced out of the middle of a sequoia tree. Completely round, every chair that had a place was ornate in carved mahogany. Three chairs stood out from the other six sitting around it. My fathers was marked with a beautifully sculpted dragon sitting back on its hind legs blowing fire upwards, which carved around in an arch to connect with the sides of the chair. It looked more like a fat tree with branches and leaves until you took a closer look at it. The chair next to him held an even more elaborate carving of a three-headed dragon blowing flames upward and arching down while the chair next to that was the mirror image of my fathers. Those two were empty nearly all of the time as Grady and his wife Celia, the third in command, were always gone. I think I’d seen them twice in all of my time living here.

My father looked at me with worry this time, “I need you to follow the rules or else you’ll force me to treat you like the others who don’t.”

“Don’t worry, father, I’ll leave before you ever have to act on that.”

“I don’t want you to leave, Ash. I want you to stay, take on your responsibilities as my son, and be the Sapphire I know you are. You’re more powerful than all of these guys, and you keep it hidden.”

I had my own reasons, but for him I simply stated, “No one deserves the terror of having me unhinged, unleashed, and out of control in Black Harbor, father. I’m not going through that ever again. So just forget it. And if it helps you feel any better, the next time I do battle with Finch Skinner, I’ll leave to make your job that much easier.”

“How about you just claim the Anthros already? Make her yours and save all of us the trouble,” he sighed.

A flash of her gorgeous eyes and blonde hair flying behind her in the wind played before my very eyes. I shook my head, “That saves us the trouble. But what about her, Father? What about her?”