by Cody Loewen
“I say we do it tonight,” he says. “We can steal what we need tonight and then make our way into the mansion tomorrow. Once we are in, we are going to have to move fast to get this done and get out. I don’t want to have to kill anyone besides the governor if at all possible. These guards may be doing his bidding, but they are just trying to earn a living. They will benefit from his demise too.”
I nod in agreement, and we move back toward the bar to grab some food before our night of crime begins. Once our bellies are full, and the sun has started its descent in the sky, we make our way back toward the merchant’s square. We find ourselves back amongst the bustle of the crowd and the thick aromas of the traveling merchants. As we walk through the square, we scann each of the carts, trying to ascertain our best target. We need to find a merchant who has a similar build as both of us and doesn’t look to have any hired protection. We soon settle on a young merchant who appears to be selling all manner of jewelry. Necklaces and rings of every precious metal embedded with stones of all shapes and sizes fill his cart. While his wares are sure to fetch a handsome price, he seems to travel alone, trusting the simple sword on his belt to defend him if necessary. We settle back from his cart and try to look as inconspicuous as possible while we wait for the day of trade to end.
As the sun drops the rest of the way in the sky and night falls over the square, the amount of people out and about drops significantly, and the merchants begin to pack up for the night. We follow the jewelry seller to a small secluded section behind a few houses where he deposits his cart for the night. He places a large chain, set with a heavy padlock, on the cart to stop the wheels from rolling and takes his leave in a tent already set up off to the side. We wait for quite a while after he enters the tent to ensure that he is asleep. Once we decide that it has been long enough, we sneak into the locked chest that sits next to the tent. Rayfe pulls a pair of lockpicks from his pocket and moves toward the lock. I give him a surprised look, this new talent unknown to me.
“I learned a lot of different skills at home when I was younger,” he whispers with a shrug. A few seconds later, he gingerly removes the lock, and opens the chest, revealing a large pile of clothes, and the merchant’s other personal belongings. We each grab a set of clothes and stuff them in the empty bag that we brough with us for this part of the plan. With our disguises now set, we make our way over to the cart, walking as silently as possible. Rayfe bends down and examines the lock around the wheels and shakes his head at me.
“I can’t pick this,” he whispers softly. “We are going to need to break the chain somehow.”
I can’t think of anything that would break the chain and not make a lot of noise while doing it. Rayfe looks as puzzled as I do, and I sigh in frustration as we stand there. Suddenly, a thought comes to me. I think back to my village and the equipment in the blacksmith’s shop and focus hard on what I am visualizing in my mind. I open my eyes to find myself holding a curious tool where I once held my sword. It has two handles and a pair of thick metal pincers at the end, almost like a giant pair of heavy-duty scissors. I hold the tool out to show Rayfe, who stares at it with a mixture of surprise and curiosity plastered across his face. When he looks up at me with raised eyebrows, I try to explain.
“It’s a cross between blacksmiths tongs and farmers shears. It should do the trick. I guess it passes enough as a weapon for my sword to cooperate.” I give a shrug and move forward toward the padlock. I place a link of the thick chain in between the pincers and put tension on the two handles. I look at Rayfe, who nods for me to continue. In one quick motion, I throw my chest and shoulders into the movement, pushing the handles together, and the chain breaks with one crack that causes me to hold my breath. We stand there unmoving for a minute, listening for signs that we woke the merchant, but hear nothing.
We work slowly, gingerly sliding the chain out of the lock, and removing it from the wheels of the cart completely. Once the wheels are free, we begin the painful process of slowly and quietly rolling the cart away from the tent and out the gate. We figured we didn’t have anywhere to stash the large cart and would be best taking it out of the city for the night and sneaking back inside in the morning. Once we are comfortably far from the city with the cart, we throw the blanket we took from our room over top of it to hide it and lay out a second blanket on the ground to get some rest before our mission tomorrow.
After what only feels like moments after I close my eyes, Rayfe is gently shaking me awake, and I open my eyes and rub the blurriness from my vision. It is still dark, the sun just starting to show above the horizon. I rise to my feet, stretching my arms and back as I do to loosen everything up after sleeping on the hard ground. Rayfe already appears to be fully awake, and I wonder if he even went to sleep.
“We should get moving as soon as possible,” he says after patiently waiting for me to wake up. “It will be much easier to get these clothes and the cart into the city and through the governor’s walls if we do it before the merchant we borrowed it from realizes its gone and alerts the guards.”
I agree with his logic and go about changing from my traveling clothes into the rich, silky fabric of the stolen garments. I wear a set of deep purple leggings; softer than any fabric I have ever felt. They feel light and airy, but I fear that the flowy legs will impede my movement in the coming fight. I know I don’t have a choice, though and push the worries from my mind. The copper tunic I don has dark green threads woven into the trim and wooden toggles for buttons I look over at Rayfe, who is similarly dressed in flowy fabrics, his tunic a dark green with soft brown pants. He also wears a matching green cap that I didn’t realize he had grabbed. The hat covers his ears, and I realize that I haven’t seen any elves in the city at all. I applaud his attention to detail, wanting to garner as little attention as possible.
I transform my sword into a small dagger to more easily conceal it in my clothing. Rayfe, who doesn’t have that option, slides his swords under his flowing shirt, hiding them as best as he can. Once I am satisfied with my disguise, we inspect the cart we stole last night, double checking that it is stocked with goods. We find a small lock that Rayfe easily picks protecting all the beautiful gems and jewelry within. Rayfe nods at the sight of the jewelry, but a pendant hanging inside catches my eye. A large ruby, like the one in my sword, without the magical swirling within, is set into a diamond-shaped gold setting on a delicate golden chain. I can’t help but stare at its beauty, but eventually turn away.
Don’t even think about it. We are just borrowing the cart. These belong to someone else.
I shut the doors of the cart and fasten the latch, now unlocked, preparing the cart for our journey back into the city. Confident that we are as prepared as we can be, we begin rolling the cart back toward the walls. Just like before, we are waved into the city without any problems, and we quickly make our way to the governor’s home. We take care to go around the merchant’s square, but I still sigh in relief when I see that in the early morning hours the square is empty. We pick up our pace, anxious to get inside the inner walls before the square opens for business. I feel ridiculous in this silky fabric. I reach down to feel the outline of the dagger on my hip and take some comfort in its presence as we round the last corner and stand before the huge gates rising up in front of us.
I try to walk confidently like I am supposed to be here as we cover the remaining distance to stand right in front of the huge wooden gates. One of the two guards standing watch lifts an arm, gesturing for us to stop.
“Good morning and thank you for the hospitality of your fair city,” Rayfe begins as the guard inspects us and the cart. “We are hoping to show our beautiful wares to your governor this morning, in hopes to find something that suits him.”
“You are much earlier than the other merchants who usually come by during the day,” the guard remarks suspiciously. He seems to be satisfied with our appearances, though, as he has stopped scanning us with his eyes.
“A mere business strategy,�
� Rayfe responds lightly. “We thought if we were the first to show up for the day, the governor’s coin purse would be full, and we might lighten it for him before the other merchants’ goods catch his eye.”
The guard chuckles at that and visibly relaxes.
“It’s always about the coin isn’t it?” The guard jokingly asks.
“It’s what makes the world go round,” Rayfe jokes back. The guard moves to the side and gives a rap on the gate, which promptly begins to creak open.
“Go on inside,” he tells us as the opening in the wall grows large enough for us to walk through. “And I hope business is good for you today. Maybe you’ll remember the helpful guard down here who let you in when you come out richer.” He gives us a wink as we pass by him. The gates slam close behind us after we walk through, and just like that we are standing in front of the mansion.
Still pushing the cart, we make our way over the freshly manicured lawn, following the small, perfectly straight cobblestone pathway to the front door of the huge building. Having already made it through the gate and past the first set of guards, we find no resistance from the second pair at the front door, and we easily walk inside the stone building, those smaller doors also shutting behind us. We find ourselves in an ornately decorated entryway, so vastly different from the buildings that take up the rest of the city.
The walls are a brilliant white, the floors a light marble with dark veins running through them. A massive staircase built from a dark wood dominates the entry. We climb the stairs slowly, pulling the cart up behind us, and I am breathing hard when we finally reach the top. Even more guards stand in front the door at the end of the hallway, which I assume is where we are headed. As we approach, they open the door and move out of the way, allowing us to pass into a huge room filled with gaudy furniture, bookshelves full of old manuscripts, and trinkets of all shapes and sizes. The amount of wealth in the single room takes my breath away, and it makes me hate the man even more. Another staircase sits in the corner of the room, leading up one more level, and we climb that one as well, hauling the cart up as we go.
“I’m glad we decided on jewelry and not fabric or fruit,” Rayfe says through ragged breaths as we drag the cart up the steps. I laugh in response, the sound coming out tense and nervous. I hate that we don’t know who we are facing or how many others will be present around him. We follow one more hallway at the top of the stairs to an unguarded door that Rayfe knocks on. I move forward to see if I can hear anything beyond the door but am startled as it opens toward me, pushed by another city guardsmen. I have to quickly step back to avoid being hit. Rayfe thanks the guard at the door, and we push the cart through, catching our first glimpse of the man who must be the governor.
He sits in a regal chair in the center of the room, dressed richly in deep red garments, a massive plate of food in front of him. He is one of the fattest men I have ever seen, juice from the apple he is eating running down his chin. The sight is revolting. Watching him stuffing himself with food while his city starves fills me with anger, and it takes all the control I have not to charge him right then and there. I grip the sides of the cart as I push it to try to steady myself, but every step forward that we take is a mental fight to not end his life instantly.
“I take it this is our man?” Rayfe asks me under his breath as we walk forward, obviously sensing my emotional state. I nod in answer, unable to speak through the struggle taking place inside me. “Just hold off a little while longer,” he says to me soothingly, sensing my rising anger at the monster in front of us.
“Bring your cart over here, let’s see what you have for me today,” the governor bellows through a mouthful of pastry. “It better be more unique than the useless junk that was put before me yesterday.”
I clench my jaw so hard it feels like I am going to crush the bones and keep putting one foot in front of the other, slowly moving toward the man I am certain I was sent here to kill.
“Leave us!” he yells once more, this time at the two guards standing at the door. “I will do my business in peace, you idiots! Now, before I have one of you executed for wasting my time!”
The two guards scurry out of the room, and I can hear their heavy feet stop outside the door. The enormous man impatiently gestures us closer, saliva dripping down his still full mouth. We oblige, moving forward until we're standing right in front of his table, and Rayfe moves to open the cart doors. I remain standing where I am, still gripping the sides of the cart, straining to maintain my control.
“Now that’s what I'm talking about,” The governor says as he scans through the various precious metals hanging in the cart. “Finally, something worth looking at.”
Watching him casually scan the cart full of expensive items, as if he has all the money in the world to spend, puts me over the edge. The familiar red mist coats my eyes as the gem confirms my target. My rage takes over, and I pull my dagger from within the folds of my silky shirt. I began to walk toward the governor, who looks up, noticing the weapon in my hand and the look in my eyes. I shift the dagger into a full-length sword with a thought, stretching my arm out toward this evil man as he opens his mouth to yell out in fear. I stab him right in the throat, before he can make a sound, his huge body crumpling down onto the table in front of him.
“Well, that was fast,” Rayfe remarks with a chuckle at the sudden assassination. “Mission accomplished. Now let's see if we can manage to get out of this place in one piece.”
We grab the cart and make our way back toward the door. I open it just wide enough to allow Rayfe to push the cart through, hoping the guards won’t go back into the room right away. One of the men steps aside as of to let us through, but the other one happens to glance into the room and see the governor’s body slumped against the table. As he moves to draw his weapon, the other guard also jumps into action. My rage far from sated and adrenaline continuing to pump through my veins, I strike the first guard down, a slicing blow to his throat laying him low.
“We aren't killing innocents!” Rayfe cries out in surprise at my second kill of the day. “We need to get out of here now.” I barely register his words as I turn to the second guard, who now holds his weapon ready to face me. I give him an evil smile, ready to take my third life in this building, when Rayfe’s strong arms grab me, pinning my arms to my sides.
“Lykara, we need to get out of here now!” Rayfe yells at me one more time. This time, his words filter through the rage and I am drawn from my anger enough to turn to follow him. In one last moment of impulsiveness, I reach for the cart, grabbing the pendant that caught my eye earlier. Rayfe blocks an attack from the sword of the remaining guardsman and kicks him hard in the chest, throwing him into the wall and off balance enough for us a sprint by him. We run down the stairs and blow past the next set of guards, who don't realize anything is wrong until we have left them behind. We reach the door to the giant house, throwing it wide and heading straight for the gates beyond.
The lone guardsmen standing at the gate mechanism in front of us lets out a cry of surprise and moves to grab his sword. Before he has the chance, I thrust my sword forward, pointed at his throat, applying just enough pressure to draw a small drop of blood.
“Open the gate! Now!” I order him, anxious to be through the barrier before the host of guards catches up to us. Luckily, the man does not hesitate, cranking the wheel in front of him and causing the gate to begin to open. When an opening large enough for us to clear has appeared, we sprint through, headed straight for the outer wall. Our pursuit grows as we move through the city, alerting more guards to the fact that something is amiss. We run straight through the merchant’s square, hoping to gain some ground in the crowd of people that has gathered.
As we reach the wall of the city, I look back and feel a moment of relief at the sight of the guards falling further and further behind us. We arrive at our makeshift camp from last night, barely slowing to grab our belongings that we had stashed there, hoping to lose our pursuit fully in the wildernes
s beyond. Gasping for air, we run on, not daring to look behind. After what feels like hours, we finally skid to a stop, and I immediately bend over, my hands on my knees, feeling as if my lungs are going to explode. Rayfe turns around, taking in the scene behind us before looking back at me. He takes a minute pull air into his lungs, unable to say anything, before eventually letting me know that we have lost them.
I collapse to the ground, trying to recover and Rayfe does the same. Eventually, my gasps turn into laughs, the satisfaction of eliminating yet another evil enemy creeping in. Rayfe laughs with me as he sits on the ground beside me, also trying to catch his breath. For a small moment, all the pressure and anxiety and fear of the gravity of our mission fades away. I regret not being able to stay in the city long enough to witness the changes that are sure to come over it with the defeat of the tyrannical ruler, but I am confident that tomorrow will be a better day for the people of Shady Grove.
Chapter 22
We sit in our small camp, and Rayfe cooks our dinner over the fire. Across from him, I am enjoying the warmth on my hands and face. The sun has just vanished below the horizon, throwing its brilliant colors out to either side. The night is calm, cool not cold, and the moon already hangs in the sky. Our camp lies in the middle of a cluster of rolling hills surrounded by trees covered in needles. Even though the chill of winter is fast approaching in the area, I know that these trees will remain green and strong throughout the brutal season. It has been a year since we first began our quest, Rayfe and I hunting down evil across the world, following the call of the ruby that sits in the pommel of my sword. Sitting in front of the fire, I run through the list of enemies that we have vanquished on our mission, each one of their faces flashing through my mind for a moment, before being replaced by the next. A grim satisfaction comes over me at the killing.
