Chapter 1

Ankara Mailey was orphaned at a very young age. When she was only six, OZ raided her home and

executed her parents. It had been decided that her parents were traitors and helping the rebels. This was

never really proven, but the man in charge of where they lived disliked her parents' popularity. He feared

replacement, and decided to take care of the problem. Shortly after this had occurred, a lady next door to her

home discovered the child alone, and reported her to the authorities. Realizing that she had been discovered,

Ankara fled her home and sought safety on the streets. She lived a hard, yet simple childhood. She was

trusting, therefore many sought to use her. She was quick to learn the way of the streets. She survived like

most other war orphans, taking food ad shelter where she could. They tried to put her in an orphanage, but

she was wary of them and always escaped. This lasted until late one night. She was on her normal route,

stopping and picking up food where she could. She came to a place where she hated. It was dark and eerie,

but they always offered good food. So she slipped into the alley. Once halfway down she realized that she

was not alone. She had stumbled onto the gang of five teenage boys that roamed this part of town, picking

on smaller orphans." Uh, oh." She whispered, backing up. " What do we have here? "A boy who looked to

be the leader, sneered at her. "Please go away, I don't have any money." She stated nervously. "Can't do

that, you are on our turf. You should know better than that." The leader approached her. He stood in front of

her, smirking. "We might leave ya alone if ya don't mind running some...errands, for us. Right Jake?" One

of the other boys asked the leader. Jake nodded in agreement. "I would never do that, I know your type of

errands." She retorted angrily. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way." Jake growled. "Make my day." Ankara

growled back. Another boy approached her and took a swing at her. She ducked and hit him in the gut. Then

grabbed his arm and bent it backwards till it snapped. 'I am SO happy that I took the time to learn how to

fight.' She thought to herself. "Why you!" Another boy exclaimed, rushing at her. He tried a combination

of attacks. Somehow Ankara managed to deflect each one, except the last. It caught her side and she flew

into the alley wall. "Oww... that hurt." She groaned. She got up and was ready to fight again. "Hm, you

seem to be pretty strong. I'll have to take extra measures." Jake pulled out a knife. 'Not fair' Ankara thought

to herself. She looked around; noticing that the only escape route was behind the boys. 'Oh lovely, this is

certainly my lucky day.' "We'll make this quick and painless. Well, sort of." The boys laughed. Four of the

boys rushed her. She couldn't fight them all, and was soon restrained. Jake approached her, knife in one

hand. "What are you boys doing? Leave her alone!" A voice shouted. Ankara struggled to concentrate on

that voice. During the struggle she had been hit in the face a lot. "Why now...." Jake growled. "Here is your

punishment. Remember not to come back. It won't be so easy on you next time." He whispered harshly.

Then he took the knife and swiped it down the right side of her face. "Ahhhh!" She screamed. The boys

released her and she collapsed on the ground. Then they ran past the person and out of the alley. "Whoa!

Are you okay?" someone questioned. 'hmm. A female voice..." Ankara noted, then all went dark.