Lujen stared into the headlights of the hovercraft in front of him as he raised his arms. He sighed and shook his head. Lately, a bad streak of luck had been dogging him, with interference from the law enforcement and the Shavenni; and for some reason, he suspected it had something to do with Lyanna Selon, the not-quite-matured Havenian who had taken to hanging around his apartment.

The girl was stunning; he had to give her that-but in the underworld, stunning meant trouble because you stuck out. As experienced as he was, Lujen Serege knew that being inconsuspicious was the only way to survive out here. If only she would try to conceal herself a little or at least hide that mane of flowing golden hair and her pale blue skin which no human would be caught dead with. He knew she came from the surface, where there was still some semblance of the life which denizens of Fernail had once led ,and the Havenians ruled; but the underworld was no place for a young luscious Havenian-not with slave traders lurking around each corner.

Normally, Lujen would have taken Lyanna under his wings and thought her a little about streetlife. The information trader had always had a soft spot for young innocents, though he would never admit it. The problem was that Lujen had not always been a trader; he had once been one of the elusive, highly secretive runners who would do anything, and even risk death to get the job done. Lujen was retired, officially, but he still did a lot of work on the side.

Then, out of the blue, an old friend, Draver Thran, had called in a favor. The job had gone bad and Lujen now had the Shavenni dogging his every move. Lyanna had appeared around the same time. Mere coincidence? He did not think so.

Author's Note: Go easy on me becuz this is my 1st attempt at writing original stuff, I usually write fanfic. Anyway, pls give me your comments!! If its bad..say u think its okay..say so! Thanx.