Direbound

In an old warehouse, Meryn Cooper, known as the Alleycat of the Eastern Quarter of Sturmfrost, participates in an illegal fighting ring and defeats a man several times her size. When she wins, Igor, her mentor, checks her for injuries and informs her of the next fight. Meryn desperately needs money for medicine to ease her mother’s mental illness. Her boyfriend, Lee, comes to find her, but as they’re about to leave, a man from the crowd tries to attack Meryn. He blames her for his loss of money since he bet on her opponent. She quickly subdues him. While Lee tends to her injuries, someone finds Meryn and tells her that another child was abducted, one who looks a lot like her younger sister, Saela. She rushes home but learns that the abducted child was a friend of Saela’s and a neighbor. Sick with worry that Saela might be next, Meryn resolves to put a stop to the recurring kidnappings by the “Nabbers.”

During Meryn’s training with Igor the next day, they discuss the kidnappings. They’ve been happening for longer than Meryn can remember, and the Nabbers are most likely Siphons, ancient monsters from the neighboring country of Astreona who consume human blood as their life force.