This is a small teaser for the book, a shortened down version of the first chapter following two OCs, Quill and Roman, during a time of war and how on day, their paths crossed.

Hopefully I will start posting full chapters soon, but for now, enjoy.

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My heart pounding as I coughed, the dust and ash filling my lungs as I ran. I didn't know where I was running, just that I had to get out of there.

I never signed up for this, to be sent to some planet on the brink of destruction, to be abandoned by my own team, to be stranded and hunted down. Yet here I was, trying to weave my way through large rocks and deep fractured in the ground, knowing one wrong move could end with me wedged in the ground, slowly starving or suffocating to death, which ever came first.

This was war, a war I had thought I'd be prepared for, a war I thought would be a good opportunity, whatever that meant. Long story short I was a idiot for ever signing up.

Then something caught my eye, a glisten of copper and I suddenly stopped, I had passed by many body's, many injured, but I had never stopped for any of them. I don't know what was different about this one, but there he was, propped up against a rock, a dark pool of oil gathering around him as he held onto his shoulder, his severed arm laying several meters away. Half of his face was made of glass, exposing the inner gears of his mechanical body. Hanging down like a earring on the other side was a copper bar, probably what had caught my attention in the first place.

I stood there, our eyes connected for what felt like hours before the silence was broken by his broken voice, crackling as he spoke.

"Just get it over with, kill me already."

For some reason those words cut through me like a knife, I've killed many without a second thought, yet something was keeping me from doing the same.

"What, why would I do that?"

"Really? You people started this war."

"What? We didn't, your people were the ones who attacked us first."

"Seriously? You really believe that?" The mechanical male scoffed, narrowing his eye at me. "You really are naive, news flash, you attacked first."

"That's impossible, why would we attack unprovoked?"

"God, you're so dense!" He practically laughed, looking at me as if I were an idiot. "You know what, never mind, just show me some mercy and make this quick, go right for the centre of the clock." He said as he pulled up the tattered cloak that was draped over his shoulders, exposing a mechanical clock that ticked within his rib cage, what I could only assume functioned as a heart. It was ornate, I assumed under the dirt and grime was ivory paneling, decorated with copper designs, he looked so delicate, like a porcelain doll.

"No." I said as I gripped the large fountain pen I used as a weapon, the metal tip coated in a thick layer of red.

"No? Just do it you coward."

"I will not!" I snapped back, putting the pen on my back as I walked towards him, grabbing him by the collar of the cloak. "I refuse to be the heartless monster you think I am."

"Kill me or get away." He said in a low tone, cold metal fingers wrapping around one of my wrists, his eye starring coldly into mine.

"No." I repeated before pulling the cloak up to expose his shoulder, instantly I noticed the thin black hose that was severed, oil pouring at a decent rate. Quickly I unhooked one of the clips from my harness, folding the hose over a few time before clipping it, hoping it would stop the flow for a while. I looked back at his face, surprised he hadn't struggled or said anything, but now that I'm looking at him, I don't think he had the strength to fight back any more. He was just staring off, his eye half closed and his breathing slow, even the soft steady clicking of the clock and gears had slowed.

"Just hang on." I said softly as I covered his shoulder back up, grabbing the rest of his arm that lay several meters away. I then went back over to him, putting his good arm over my shoulder, holding his wrist as I put my other arm around him. Then I stood up, pulling him to his feet, well, almost. I didn't realize when he was sitting but he had to be around a foot taller than me, making it a little more difficult to support him as I started to walk. I don't know where I was going, just that I needed to get out of here.

Little did I know that this one act would change the rest of my life.

That I was travelling down a road of pain and sorrow.

That he would always be there with me.

Till death do us part.