"Boss its time." Mathias nodded to his messenger, taking one final breathe he rose out of his ornate wing-back chair, placed his glass of Scotch on the side-table and left the study. "Poppa, Poppa" Little Isabella ran up to him, Mathias lifted her and held her tight "Ay Bambino, look at you, you grow more beautiful everyday. Daddy loves you Princess. Go on why don't you go find your brother and play in the garden ey?". He put her down and with a smile she skipped off. "Must you go darling? Its almost time for dinner." The ever radiant Mrs Winters spoke, she waited by the door for her husband, wearing an elegant blue dress that outlined her figure gorgeously. "Darling, if i could stay then i surely would, i`ll be home in time to put the kids to bed, I promise." He held her hand and kissed her, then he left.

Sitting in the carriage he pictured the events of the upcoming hour. They would meet the dealer at the docks, money would be exchanged for new tech, they would leave. A simple "meet and swap"...so why did Mathias feel so suspicious? Perhaps it was talk of a military approved contract on his head, maybe it was the scotch, either way, trouble was brewing.

The carriage pulled up, Hank, the driver, opened the door and Mathias stepped out. Hank, Mathias, Johnny, Vito, Ray and Tony walked forward into the docks. Six pairs of eyes scanned the area, Six watches were checked and double checked. They were in the right place, at the right time, but only six stood at the docks, not seven, not the dealer.
"He should be here?" Tony commented. "I don't like this boss, think we should go?" Vito nervously spurted. They looked around once more to be sure, they tried their contact via holo-com,with no response. "Come on boys, he`s a no show, we came, we tried, lets go home, iv`e got bedtime stories to read." Mathias cooly ordered as the gang walked to the carriage, Hank ran up ahead to start the engine, nervous as always. 

It was then that Hank disappeared, as did the carriage, engulfed in a cloud of fire and black smoke following a rapturous explosion. "What the- Hank!" Gun shots followed, Mathias looked around, catching a glimpse of a figure atop a warehouse roof. "Snipers! Get to cover, Tony call the house, get some more guys here, tell the-".

Mathias awoke on a bed of gravel, mud and ash. Heavy thoughts spinning through his aching head; GUNFIRE!, BLOOD!, DEATH. These thoughts rang true in his head, he had been ambushed, his men were dead and he was dying...until...the sky tore. Tha-poom! The echoing explosion naturally caught his attention, horror spread across his face as he witnessed the City of Sovereign ablaze; his grey eyes now seeped in dark reds and glowing amber`s. 

"Fire. Such a vulgar thing." An unseen person stated. Startled, Mathias began to stand, frantically looking around for the owner of the voice. As he did so a pain roared between his chest and shoulder and his right leg gave way, letting gravity do the rest. "Steady now Mathias, You`re not fully healed." The voice spoke calmly, yet Mathias was confronted by hidden undertones that made him uneasy."Where are you? What have you done to me?" Mathias demanded.

"You deserve a name i suppose. Very well, I am Boreas, the devouring one, bringer of the Northern Winds. You Mathias are my host."Mathias stopped searching for the voice, he believed the voice, he believed that the voice was in his head and he believed that this voice was Boreas. He did not know why he believed this, he just did. Perhaps when surrounded by such chaos one finds comfort in the unknown. "So Boreas..." Mathias mused " I take it you can hear my thoughts?" Mathias Inquired."Correct." A short answer, progress was hardly being made. "And you healed me you say?" Mathias grew impatient of Boreas` uncooperative responses, "Correct." another short response. "Well you didn't do a very good job." Mathias sniggered before coughing up ruby droplets that fell onto the dark gravel floor,
 
"I didn't have much time, I did what i could to repair the vessel, you will heal eventually. Now however, we need to find somewhere safe." Such tremendous pain filled every fiber, yet it only served to fuel his determination. Mathias rose to his feet slowly, surrounding him were the corpses of his fallen soldiers, his brothers, his family. The strongest pain he felt at that moment was grief. Using the wall as an aid he traversed the baron docks for several minutes before reaching a high street. The window of an antiquities shop caught his eye. Laying on the front display was a pristine White-Gold cane, the head of which was encrusted with a fine onyx.

"I think that's just what we need...take it Mathias", Bemused by the request, Mathias at first tried to hold back, but was met with a wave of strong malicious urges, he had to oblige. Mathias threw heavy fists at the glass, blood dripping down his knuckles, pain building in his veins, before the glass came crashing down like waterfall. With a shaking, dripping hand the cane was firmly in his grasp.
"Now, let us rest Mathias." The bewildered kingpin hobbled through the desolate streets of a once vibrant city, to find safety, to find a meaning, to find his family, to find revenge.