I think I don't like chapter one very much. it is strangely chaotic but I wasn't able to pinpoint why, so I left it as it is. I promise it gets better with the next chapters!

"Hello." As was customary, Huskar the Sacred Warrior greeted everyone he didn't know with showing his wrist. Only two of the four creatures who would be fighting together with him were new. The other two he had already met before. One during a war and one in the most popular inn in their world.

With showing one's wrist, soulmates found each other. Every creature had a symbol on their wrist, a unique pattern of lines and colours. They were very different and only soulmates shared the same symbols. So in presenting wrists, creatures found their mates without having to puzzle about someone being one's mate or not.

Wrists were compared and it was immediately clear if two creatures were meant to be together or not.

Huskar's symbol was a scattered mix of dark and red lines. There were blue lines as well, but they had the shade of his usual skin colour. Only when his body changed were they visible, bright against his then dark skin.

The two heroes in front of him showed their wrists, too. One was a skeleton, with a green glow coming from the inside of his chest. But every creature, even undead ones, had mates and even skeletons had a mark. Huskar was relieved, though, that it didn't in the least resemble his. He wasn't really picky, was sure that fate would do the right thing, but he could imagine better creatures as his partner for life. Especially, since his life was still very long. What was he supposed to do with a skeleton? But, this one wasn't his.

With a nod, the skeleton left the safe zone, in which they were currently all standing, with the other two creatures.

That left Huskar alone with the second creature he didn't know. A female, clad in tight dark clothes, daggers on her belt and a sword in hand. Confident and strong, that was her vibe as she stretched her arm out.

But, there was nothing. The Sacred Warrior blinked, looked up at the female's face, then back at the unmarked skin of her wrist.

"I'm one of the Veiled Sisters. We don't bear any kind of mark on our skin because we are all alike. We don't mate, either, so such a mark would be pointless anyway."

Then she was gone.

Huskar was confused, but the battles would start soon and he had to get to his position. On the way, he pondered what he had just heard. He had never met a creature without a mark, and he had met his fair share of strange creatures throughout the world. Could it really be that there were some, the Veiled Sisters, a group of assassins, that had no such mark? That they were designed, by fate, to go without a mate? It was absolutely new to him and the thought seemed strange and foreign. Wrong somehow.

Mates were important. How could they live without one? How could they live with the knowledge that they'd be alone all their lives?

The thoughts wouldn't leave Huskar alone. At least he was skilled enough in battle he didn't have to think about what he had to do all the time. Otherwise he'd have lost by now.

As it was, he pondered the possibility of the female's statement being true. Because she could as well have hidden the mark. If it was true, and even it if it wasn't, it wouldn't be any of his concern.

It definitely wouldn't, this was just some female without a mark. What did he care about it? He tried to focus on what was going on in front of him, which made him actually win a fight. Because he was that good. He hurled one burning spear after the other at his enemies, the magical fire burning their clothes, their skins, deep into their bones if they didn't back off. Huskar grinned at the burning creatures, revealing his sharp teeth. When one of them flinched, he laughed.

The war was good but Huskar couldn't get the Phantom Assassin and her unmarked skin out of his head. For some reason, it bothered him more than it should and whenever he saw her his gaze shifted to her empty wrist.