Fan Fiction ❯ Gelden ❯ Thievery and Mischief ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: Thievery and Mischief

The three thieves crouched, sheltering themselves against the raging gale, behind a spire, protruding from the roof of the city Temple. It had only been ten minutes since they had left the Culver Serpent. The roofs of the city were slippery like ice as the thieves tried to cross them. A brief break, against the howling winds would only set them back a little. The wind whipped their cloaks around them as they huddled in the rain.

"Adem...I know the guards change soon but why did we suddenly have to leave that bar? What's wrong with Falon?" She looked over to her well-dressed comrade, who was huddled up trying to keep warm a few feet away. The male thief, Ademsen Nor, didn't answer for a moment. He gazed out into the downpour from within his hood. His face was always hidden behind his cloak hood.

"Cedar... don't worry about her...just worry about the plan." Adem said calmly, still gazing outward. Cedar Nightfall, the great `Winged Thief', frowned for a moment and she turned to stare out also. Obviously they had left for a reason she didn't need to know. Her odd features lightened as an old phrase ran through her mind.

"This rain is a good sign." She said. " 'It always rains before a great deed is accomplished...' "

"...It's 'It always rain's on the eve of great victory'..." Falon said, but then added in a mutter, as if speaking to herself, "but... it could translated as 'fateful' or 'epic' victory?"

"Does the exact wording matter? I have a good feeling about this..." Cedar said. Adem finally tore his gaze away from the rainy horizon and looked over to Cedar and Falon.

"I think we should get going..." He pulled a small pocket watch, checked it and replaced it. "The guards change in about half hour. The Guild of Magus is a few blocks away. We should have enough time... Let's go."

The three thieves of the night got up and started running across the rooftops. Adem helped Falon along the slippery roofs. Cedar streamed out ahead of them, appear to barely touch the roof beneath them.

"What was the target again?" Falon called out to Cedar.

"The Obsidian Mage... A small statuette... Made of pure Obsidian. Very fragile... but... very... rare... and..." Cedar went silent. There was a look of intense excitement in her strange eyes. She had been more enthusiastic about this particular treasure than any of the other ones they had raided. Apparently Cedar had been searching for this object for the majority of her life, and how long that was, was a mystery to Falon and Adem. In fact, they all were a mystery to one another. They were a team that trusted each other, but they had a rule never to talk about each other's pasts. But tonight, Falon was willing to bet anything that Adem and herself were going to find out more than they really wanted to about Cedar's past. Adem suddenly stopped after a few minutes and dropped to his knees to peer over the edge of the building. He looked down into the street and then at the wall. The roof overhung from the wall about six feet.

"This is the target building…" Adem said as he inspected the building. He once again motioned for them to follow him. He turned around and dropped off the roof. His hands grabbed onto the slippery edge of the roof, he swung sideways, and hooked his foot on a knot of vines on the wall that was five feet to the left. He let go of the roof and fell backwards. He swayed for a minute, hanging freely by the vine.

"Come on! Hurry." He called up. Falon and Cedar's heads appeared over the edge. Cedar's eyes bulged slightly at the sight of Adem hanging upside-down by a vine and she stifled a laugh. It must have been a comical sight. Adem rolled his eyes and reached up and grabbed the vine. Then he, with the other arm, grasped one of the hard vine-covered bricks and twisted his foot out of the vine knot. His legs swung down and he quickly found footing on the building wall. He began climbing down towards one of the windows. Falon and Cedar quickly climbed down after him.

Adem reached the window frame and began testing to see if it was locked or not.

" `Kutah'!" He muttered to himself when the window didn't open. "Locked..." He looked up to Cedar, who was hugging the wall directly above him. "Get Falon's glass cutter."

Cedar started climbing, with great ease, back up where Falon was. There was a moment of word exchanging and then Falon slowly and carefully took her hand from the stone and reached into her cloak. She produced a short thin rod from inside and gave it to Cedar. Cedar began to climb back down and Falon followed, though more slowly. She wasn't as skilled with climbing as Adem or Cedar. Cedar handed the glass cutter wand to Adem, who took it and carefully began to use it.

Slowly he pressed the tip against the smooth surface and began tracing the outline of a circle. The wand tip glowed slightly. When he had completed the outline, he tapped the wand to the middle of his circle. The glass within the circumference disappeared. Adem tucked the wand into a small pouch at his belt then climbed into the room. Cedar then climbed in, followed shortly by Falon.

It appeared to be a storage room. Boxes and cabinets filled with magical items littered the floors and walls. Interested, Cedar began poking through them, looking for anything worth keeping.

"I love this thing..." Adem said quietly as he took the wand out again and handed it to Falon. She took it and promptly tapped the window again and the glass reappeared.

"... ...There..." Falon said with a smile and glanced back at the window. "No one will know..."

There was a flash of lightning. As the light faded, Falon's smile turned to a frown.

"What's wrong?" Cedar asked. Falon was staring out the window and didn't answer. "Falon?" Adem said and touched her arm. Falon looked startled and gave him an odd look.

"Oh!... Sorry... I just... have a bad feeling…" Falon went quiet and she glanced out the window again. "It's... nothing. Why don't you take your hood off… We're out of the rain."

"No… I'm still a bit cold…" Adem replied quickly. His hand went up, unconsciously, as if to protect the hood on his head. Then he caught himself and dropped his arm. "…What's more important than my hood is if you're alright…"

"I'm fine...really..." Falon insisted. "Let's go find this mage..."

Adem hesitated, bad feelings from Falon usually meant something, then nodded and motioned, once again, for the girls to follow him. He walked to the door and slowly opened it a crack. There was a long dark and deserted hall outside. It was a decorated hallway, with expensive-looking tapestries and ornaments hanging in it. Adem smiled as Cedar poked her head out to take a look. He could almost see her brain counting up what each one was worth. She had a knack for doing that sort of thing.

"Judging by the window we came in… we're on the second floor." Adem said.

"The mage is in the third storage basement. Floors divide the building. Third floor is classrooms, second and first is a kind of magus museum, and the basements are for storage. There are three basements, the lowest having the most dangerous and powerful magic items... That's where we're heading." Cedar said confidently and strode out into the hall. Falon and Adem followed. Silently the three found their way to the staircase that lead to the first floor.

"There are probably guards on the first floor." Cedar warned. "Keep as quiet as possible and follow me."

Swiftly and silently she started down the stairs. It almost appeared she was floating down them. Falon went next, not as swiftly as Cedar but just as quiet. Adem followed them, keeping an eye out behind them, in case a wandering guard happened to be upstairs. Cedar led them to the back of the building, luckily only have to pass one guard who was half asleep anyway.

The backroom was filled with glass cases filled with random oddly shaped objects that appeared to have healing properties. It was too dark to read any of the plaques inside the cases to tell exactly what they were. There was a table in the center of the room with a few magic books and many small colored jars filled with different powders sitting on it. Lightning flashed through one of the windows and Adem caught a look of deep concentration on Cedar's face. Falon was standing at the door, looking out at the sleeping guard, checking to make sure he didn't wake up. Cedar gazed around the room, searching for something. Slowly, she dropped to her hands and knees and crawled under the table. Adem raised his eyebrows curiously. There was a small shuffling noise and Cedar crawled back out.

"Come…" She said impatiently, with a glance out the door. The guard gave a grunt and turned his head the opposite way. She crawled back under the table and Adem led Falon away from her post. They peeked under the table where Cedar had disappeared. There was an opening in the floor leading down.

"How did she know where the basement's entrance was?" Falon whispered to Adem. Adem looked at her from behind his hood and shrugged. Falon climbed down into the hole and Adem once again took rear. He began climbing down the metal ladder and pushed the trapdoor back up into place. He latched and climbed down. Cedar and Falon were waiting for him, illuminated with a small, floating ball of light.

The basement was not very large. It was only a single room with earth walls, though the floor was wood. There were stone beans, obviously running all the way to the last basement, holding up the ceiling and floors. There were crates and boxes stacked on top of each other all throughout the room.

"Hurry up… We're almost there…" Cedar said, appearing to grow more impatient with them. Her eyes were growing more excited and anxious to get this over with. Falon, who was standing behind Cedar, gave Adem a worried look. Adem and Falon fell in next to each other as Cedar began to walk through the storage basement, looking for another trapdoor.

"…Do you remember what we discussed before we left for Cerik?" Falon asked Adem quietly. She glanced halfway at Cedar, who was busy searching the ground. Adem held up his hand to silence her and nodded. They both watched Cedar wearily and remembered…

"Adem…" Falon called as she pushed some bushes aside and walked to where Adem had been sleeping. Adem was lying on his side staring into the fire. He pulled his blanket over his head and turned to face Falon, who frowned at him.

"Why are you so embarrassed to show your face?" She said, put off by Adem's sudden action. He was always hiding his face somehow. Not once in the two years that Falon had known Adem, had she seen his face.

"I have my reasons… And… It's not embarrassment…" Adem said simply, then turned it around to her and asked, " How come you can always tell me the ` Suyyba Ayil'?"

Falon stared at him for a moment, confused.

"Soolooba Eh-yel?" Falon asked. "What's that?"

Adem gestured uncomfortably. "Nevermind… I'm sure you wouldn't tell me anyways… We're not supposed to speak of the past anyways…"

Falon walked over and sat next to Adem. They were silent for a few minutes, staring into the fire as it calmly flickered in the dark. Shadows from the trees around their camping space danced around them.

"So… what did you want?" Adem finally said.

"I'm worried…" Falon said. "About Cedar…"

There was silence again. They had only known Cedar for a short while and together they had began thieving small villages for rare magical items. But this next raid, on Cerik, had a strange affect on Cedar. She had become restless about it. She would begin muttering to herself, the best way to raid the building. To Falon and Adem, her mutterings meant that she already knew the building setup well. Cedar had never bothered to look up the blueprints of examine any of their other targets before and rather acted on impulse than thinking things out.

"The mage statuette is one of 7 that were rumored to be created…" Adem said softly. "I heard her muttering in her sleep again last night…"

"Again?" Falon said, not really sounding surprised. The week before, she had been muttering about waiting her whole life for the statuette. Adem nodded.

"Last night… She said `the pain of centuries will finally be gone…' and `…just a little longer…' what do you think of that?" Adem grabbed a branch from the ground and began to stoke the dying fire. Falon was quiet.

"You think she's just using us for getting the mage, then she'll betray us?" Adem asked.

"Maybe… We haven't known her that long. A few months is hardly enough time to truly know a person…" Falon leaned back and stared into the sky. "Besides that… I've been… getting bad feelings…"

Adem shook his head. "One of you're `bad feelings'… last time you had one of those…"

"I know… I'm worried… I don't think anything good will come of this raid…" Falon said. "I just don't want anymore trouble…"

They were silent again for a few minutes, both staring up at the stars. Tomorrow they would board a ship bound for Cerik. There was no time to turn back now.

"What are you two waiting for?" Cedar called from behind a box. "I got the second trapdoor, let's go!"

Falon looked to Adem and he nodded. They followed Cedar down into the second basement. The thunder from outside could no longer be heard as they reached the second basement. The storage crates here all cast small glows, obviously some sort of magic protections. The thieves exercised caution as to avoid bumping into them. Cedar led them back among bookshelves and cabinets. Between the aisles of books, there was a door. It had a large stone frame and was made of heavy wood. A large padlock that was also glowing was fastened to the door. Besides that, there was no handle to open it. Cedar began to study the padlock.

"This may take a few moments." She muttered. She began rummaging through her belt pouch, pulling out small instruments of thievery. Falon and Adem waited patiently as Cedar began prodding the padlock with different tools. Suddenly she froze.

Adem did also. A strange noise was coming from where they had entered the basement. A few moments passed, and the noise got louder. It sounded like footsteps. Falon, now hearing it, began to back into one of the aisles of bookshelves to hide. Adem followed her, but Cedar ducked down behind a crate.

A caped figure holding a globe of light similar to theirs appeared at the end of the room. He didn't look like one of the guards. He, like Adem, had a hood pulled over his face, but the light illuminated the bottom of his face. He had a cruel smile on his face and the light glinted off a stone earring.

"Don't bother hiding…" The man said. He waved his hand and the light intensified. His smile widened slightly. He snapped his fingers and the bookshelves Adem and Falon were behind, swept to the side of the room, leaving them exposed. He began walking forward, towards them. "Lady `Aryhpez'…"

Adem stepped in front of Falon protectively. Cedar, who was still behind the box, lunged out and drew her sword to attack the man. The man, sensing her, turned his head slightly and Cedar froze by some force. He turned back to Falon and Adem.

"Move, boy…" He said. He made a gesture as if to brush a fly aside and Adem was hurled across the room. He smashed into the wall and crumpled. Somehow, his hood wasn't thrown back. He slumped over, unconscious. Falon now stood alone. She had a slight look of fear in her eyes, but her face was mostly enraged. The man advanced. "So… The Lady `Aryhpez'… What a surprise I should run into you raiding the same place I would be…"

He pulled back his hood and laughed. It was the same man from the bar. He had dark blue hair and was rather handsome. As before, his cloak was dry. He began to walk around Falon in a slow circle, sizing her up.

"You know… you have something I want… Lady Aryhpez… or perhaps I should call you Falon?" He reached out and gently stroked her cheek. "Isn't that right… Perhaps you'd like it better if I called you better by your proper name… Princess Zephyra?"

Falon continued to glare at him. He stopped stroking her and smiled. There was no passion in this mans eyes to hold that smile.

"An odd group, I must say…" He said and looked at Cedar and Adem. "Definitely an odd group for a princess of the former ruling country to keep company with…"

"Who are you? What do you want…?" Falon finally hissed at him. Anger was in her every syllable. The man looked amused.

"Ah you remember me… is that why you left that repulsive bar so abruptly earlier? I've been hunting you for quite some time now… but then… a few months ago you completely disappeared… I actually thought you were dead…" The man stopped circling her like a vulture and turned to Cedar's frozen position.

"A fusion beast… disgusting…" He spat. "I suppose this is why my tracers couldn't find you. Cursed beings can't do anything without causing trouble…"

Falon's mouth opened slightly. Was Cedar really a creature of fusion? The amazed look on her face was quickly erased as the man turned back to her.

"Why do you keep coming after me…" Falon pleaded. "You even haunt my dreams…"

"I am a curse to you until I get what I want…" the man said. His eyes flashed dangerously. Falon took a step back. "You would do well not to run… It might give me an excuse to kill you…"

He took a step closer and leaned down next to her. "Just like I killed everyone else in your cursed pathetic little kingdom. Don't move if you want their deaths to be in vain…"

Falon gasped and tried to run. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

"Your entire kingdom was destroyed by my men… All for this…" The man whispered cruelly. "Your power…" Suddenly his hand was on her forehead. He began to squeeze her head. "My name is Traque Dytan. Maybe you've already heard of my group, Hardis." He was very strong and the pain was excruciating. She wouldn't be able to withstand him for very long. She closed her eyes and moaned. "All those people… and all we wanted was you…" He hissed. Anger surged through her along with pain. A tingling sensation ripped through her. He forced her head up. Her head felt ready to explode, almost like he was reaching in and splitting it.

"Give… me… your… strength…" Falon's eyes snapped open and suddenly Traque was thrown against the wall, similarly to the way Adem had been. A light streamed from her body, illuminating the room ten times over. She glared at Traque, her eyes glowing dangerously. "Don't… touch… me…"

Traque slowly got up. He felt his head where a warm stream of blood was beginning to trickle. For a moment he seemed slightly confused by the blood but then he looked back to Falon. There was no fear or pain, but a slight amazement in his eyes once he looked back.

"This power? …Summoning?" He muttered to himself. "Is this a summoning?"

There was a loud screeching, like a large bird of prey diving in for the kill. Traque looked up above to where the sound had come from and suddenly the light dimmed. Falon went limp and collapsed.

"Well… I thought I was in for a show…" Traque said as he realized that Falon's summoning had failed. He kicked Falon over and reached for her head again. "Shame… I really wanted to see your true powers…"

He touched her forehead and froze as a steal blade pressed against his throat.

"Are you as ignorant as to forget the `Fusion Beast'?" Cedar spat and pressed the blade harder. Traque backed up. "It's nice to know such a powerful man as you can be caught off guard by a mere girl… It even broke your spell on me…"

Traque gave Cedar a glare. "Curse…you…Fusion Demon…"

Cedar moved the blade so quick it appeared a blur. Blood seeped and spread over Traque's uniform sleeve. A small rip in the fabric was the only proof her blade had moved at all. He showed no look of pain and merely glanced at the wound. Cedar smiled slightly.

"How is it a man can come out of a raging storm without being drenched, yet he can still be stained by blood?" Cedar asked. She gave a sideglance to Falon, who had begun to crawl to Adem's limp form. Traque touched his wound.

"I could kill you right now…" Cedar taunted, waving her sword playfully. "Now… What do you want?"

Traque gave a slight smile and bowed. "The same thing you do…" He waited for a moment. "I'll leave quietly… Goodbye Falon…"

Traque turned to leave and began striding back into the shadows. Then he stopped and gave another halfglance at the group. "Farewell."

The door that led down to the third basement burst into flame as Traque disappeared into the dark. The old dry wood around it began to catch quickly. Cedar whipped around and stared at the door as two other fireballs hit the bookshelves and crates and added to the blaze.

"Curse…" she hissed and ran to the door. The fire was growing rapidly and the smoke was already getting heavy in the air. Falon, mostly revived from her summoning attempt, was trying to get Adem conscious again while protecting him from the flame at the same time.

"Cedar… we need to get out of here…" She called through the fire. Cedar whipped out her sword and hit the remains of the burning door with all her strength. It collapsed in revealing another staircase. She began to go down and then turned to Falon.

"I'm sorry but I have to get that mage… The guards are probably on their way down here, from all that noise and now the fire… Get Adem out and get to safety… I'll meet up with you later. Go! NOW!" Cedar called, her voice desperate, then disappeared into the depths. Falon hugged onto Adem as the fire grew.

"Wake…up…please…" She begged to him. Above her, she heard a deep voice calling for help. The guards…

"Falon…" Adem muttered and began to move. Falon looked back towards the doorway, but it was hidden in flame. Adem, appearing to realize what was going on, snapped out of his daze and grabbed Falon's hand. "Come on… stay low and follow me…"

"The Gods Be!!!" Cried a voice as the guards began crawling down the ladder and saw the fire. Adem pulled Falon behind a stack of boxes that had yet to catch the blaze. The guards ran down towards the fire. The leader whipped around to one of comrades.

"Get the bloody Ice Mages." He screamed. The lower guard looked at the fire in awe for a moment, then turned and headed right back up the ladder. The leader turned back and stared into the blaze. The flames had shifted slightly, revealing the door once more.

"Thieves!!! They've gone down into the third basement." He hissed. He was a rather large man with a dangerous looking sword. Adem stared at him from behind the crate. It was intensely hot.

"Falon… There's no way we can get past that man to the ladder…" He coughed. Falon hugged on to him. "We're gonna have to break through the ceiling."

Like an answer to their predicament, the ceiling gave them gave a loud creak. There were screams from the people upstairs as the ceiling caved into the fire, added to its fuel. Cinders, dust and smoke was blown onto Adem and Falon and the large guard had been knocked against the far wall by the impact. Adem grabbed Falon's arm and dragged her out from behind the crate towards the large hole in the ceiling. They ran up a large wood beam, which had just caught on fire. They reached its end and climbed up into the first basement. A few guards, who hadn't fallen in, were shielding themselves from the blaze. One of them gave a cry when Falon and Adem appeared from the smoking hole.

"kCascho!" Adem screamed and picked up a burning piece of wood. He hurled it at the guards and pulled Falon against the wall. "Damn, where did Cedar go when you need her?!"

The guard who had first seen them rushed at them.

"You thieving bastards!" He cried and pulled out his sword. Adem pushed Falon aside and ducked. Something shot from the wall of the basement and impaled the guard in the chest. Falon gasped in horror as she realized it was a tree root. She looked over to Adem who had turned to the remaining guards. They all looked nervously at their impaled comrade. Then the walls erupted with more tree roots, each entwining themselves around the guards.

" Myii ena…" Adem muttered sadly. "I didn't want to do that…"

"Adem… what was that?!" Falon screamed in horror. Adem turned to her and grabbed her hand. She pulled back, too shocked to trust him at the moment. Adem had never done anything like that before. Nothing that brutal…

"Falon, we don't have time for this… We need to get out of here NOW!" He yelled at her as the floor gave another dangerous creak. Falon snapped out of it and she bolted for the ladder. Adem ran after her as the floor collapsed where they had been standing. Falon started up towards the trapdoor. It opened and a hand reached down and pulled her up roughly.

"Adem!" She cried as she disappeared through the hole. Adem quickly began up after her but the trapdoor was slammed shut as he reached it. He pushed against it, trying to get it open again, but it was locked shut. He could here Falon screaming from the other side faintly.

"Falon!!!" He yelled. He half-glanced behind him and saw the fire had spread through most of the room. The smoke was thickening. "No…"

It was hard to breathe. Adem fell from the ladder. He saw the trapped guards being overtaken by the fire. They were screaming in agony but he could barely hear it over the roar of the fire. Everything was getting rather blurry and dull. He had to save Falon…somehow…

He took one last look around the room to see if he had over looked any possible exit. None. He leaned back and started coughing uncontrollably. Then, he saw something that made his stomach turn. One of the guards had freed himself somehow, from the roots. He was crawling out of the inferno, half burned, dragging his sword. Adem pulled back his hood and crawled to the man.

"I'm sorry…" Adem said. The man gave a wheezing noise and collapsed. Adem's eyes began to tear slightly. He reached over and grabbed the man's sword. He wrenched it from the dead man's hand; some flesh and sinew had melded to the handle. Adem crawled back to the ladder, dizzily, and began climbing back into the smoke.

With a cry, he slammed the sword against the trapdoor again and again. The trapdoor gave in and fell onto Adem's arm. He clutched on to he ladder rungs, trying not to be knocked under the heavy wood of the door. Then he climbed out. His arm stung badly from where the door had fallen onto it. He lay on the floor for a second, catching his breathe. Smoke was already filling the room and he got up. He stumbled into the next room. The sleeping guard was gone, as was anyone else that had come to stop the fire. It was inevitable that the place would burn to the ground. Odd it seemed to Adem, as the fire had started near in the ground.

"Falon?" He gasped. He dropped the sword and turned to a window. It was still storming furiously outside in the alley the window looked out into. Dazed, Adem ran at the window. He crashed through and landed hard on the muddy road. He groaned and looked out of the alley to where people were gathering in front of the Guild, despite the storm. Where was Falon?

He began to stumble towards the crowd when there was a loud explosion. The people started screaming and running. Pieces of wood and stone began to fall from above them. Adem began to run away from the burning building. His brain had no control, he just ran. He was still dizzy from the smoke but he was beginning to feel the pain in his arm fully now. By the time he realized he was running, he had traveled a few blocks.

As soon as he stopped, he looked around, confused to where he was. The ordeal caught up with him and he swooned. Ademsen Nor fell face first into the wet, muddy street unconscious.