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Shin's parents were killed by Orcs when he was very young, leaving him only vague memories of them
and a small spark of light he thought of as their souls. He was swiftly adopted by another man in their
refugee group, which soon settled in the heart of a snowy mountain forest and established the town of
Palamon instead of continuing the long and dangerous journey to The Last City. The town was
eventually governed by Magistrate Loken, who Shin viewed as a good but broken man who gave into
becoming a tyrannical ruler after losing too much.[1] One day Shin watched a stranger walk slowly into
town from the south and gathered with his father and the rest of the townsfolk as they waited for Loken
to arrive and greet the newcomer. They quickly realized the stranger was a warrior and Shin become
mesmerized by him and impatient while waiting for the Magistrate to arrive, so he broke free of his
adopted father's grasp and approached the man. The Warrior's . The warrior knelt before Shin and
offered him the weapon, and after a quick glance back at his nervous father and the other townsfolk
Shin respectfully took the weapon and held it in awe. The warrior stayed in Palamon and befriended
Shin, who soon learned that the warrior was named Jaren Ward and that his sword was known as The
Last Word.
During the next several months Shin studied the way Jaren moved and acted and eventually decided
that there was something about him that made him "more" than everyone else in Palamon. However,
Jaren had earned the ire of Loken by standing up to his corruption and eventually summoned the
warriot and the rest of the town in a courtyard where he declared that this was his town and had nine of
his men aim weapons at Jaren. Shin became nervous and pleaded with his father to intervene, but his
father remained silent and simply held onto Shin tightly to make sure he did not run into the middle of
the confrontation. Looking back at Jaren, Shin noticed the warrior's hand resting near the Last Word
and understood what was about to happen, and that his father and the rest of the town knew as well.
Jaren drew his sword faster than lightning and placed slicing Lokin in half, which caused the magistrate's
men to quickly surrender and freed Palamon from tyranny.
