The Way of Thieves

by K.N. Lee

  They turned eight more times. The path was straightforward, well, as straightforward as one might expect from a dungeon. Left, left, right, left, right, right, left, straight, then left. Then, Uriah couldn’t go any farther. An invisible wall stopped him dead in his tracks. His face smacked against an invisible barrier, knocking him back. He flinched, looked up, then saw the same thing happen to Rycroft.

  “What the?” Rycroft wiped his face.

  Uriah looked past the demolitions expert to see Brenden and Keira ahead. They hadn’t seen the invisible barrier that prevented Uriah and Rycroft from going any further.

  “Hey!” Uriah yelled.

  The brother and sister didn’t turn around. They kept moving forward, taking a left down the next corner. Uriah groaned as they left his sight. After less than a minute, Brenden appeared back around the corner. His mouth was moving, but Uriah could hear no words.

  “We can’t go through!” Uriah said.

  Brenden tilted his head, but he showed no inclination of understanding Uriah. Keira appeared behind him, and together they walked back toward Uriah. Brenden walked through the barrier, but Keira remained on the other side.

  “What’s wrong?” Brenden asked.

  “We can go no farther.”

  “Why?”

  “An invisible wall prevents us.”

  “I don’t sense a wall.”

  Uriah placed his hand against it. A ripple formed in the air. Brenden stepped next to him and put his hand through the barrier that Uriah couldn’t.

  “Interesting,” Brenden said.

  “You two will have to go ahead without us.”

  “I wonder if it works like the front door. If you have to be connected to magic to go through.”

  Uriah shrugged. “I know nothing about that magic garbage.”

  Brenden held his hand out. “Let’s try it.”

  Uriah grumbled, but took Brenden’s hand. They walked together to the barrier. Brenden walked through, but again Uriah was prevented. He stumbled backward, his face smacking hard into the barrier with Brenden leading him. He fell backward, pulling Brenden back through the barrier with him.

  Shaking his head, Uriah used the wall to help get to his feet. He now realized why it was so important for Brenden and Keira to tag along. Mirabelle had warned him that they would be needed. He had tried arguing with her that they were best left behind for this kind of mission, but she was insistent they would be needed, and that without them, they would fail. She must have known about the magical barrier. Perhaps that was why the vault was considered the safest place. No one except a sorcerer could reach it.

  “You two will have to go forward without us,” Uriah repeated.

  Brenden nodded.

  “Find the Scepter of Reverum, and let’s get out of this cursed city.”

  “Agreed,” Brenden said.

  Brenden turned to leave, but Uriah grabbed his sleeve behind his elbow.

  “Brenden.”

  “What?”

  “Take the explosives.” Uriah motioned toward Rycroft’s bag. “You’ll need them to break the door down.”

  “How will I know where it is?” Brenden asked. “The map wasn’t exactly specific on the location of the vault.”

  Uriah grabbed a piece of paper from his sleeve, handing it to Brenden.

  Brenden unfolded the paper and looked at it. “This is just a small picture of the scepter. What good is that going to do me? Where is it at?”

  “Show it to Keira. She’ll be able to find it.”

  Brenden nodded. “So you know about her abilities.”

  “It’s my job to know what talents you two have, and what you both are up to.”

  Rycroft lifted a black bag into the air. Brenden grabbed it and slung it around his back. It was heavy, heavier than a claymore.

  “Blazes. Do you have enough explosives in here? Isn’t this overkill?” Brenden asked.

  “The door will be killed,” Rycroft said.

  “Yeah … I bet,” Brenden said.

  Brenden moved his first foot through the barrier.

  “Brenden?” Uriah asked.

  Brenden spun around, his eyebrow raising.

  “Good luck. It’s up to you two now.”

  Brenden nodded, then stepped through the barrier. He handed the piece of paper to Keira who examined it, then closed her eyes. After a minute, she opened them, and was ready to explore.

  Uriah watched for several minutes until he was sure Brenden and Keira were gone. He turned to Rycroft.

  “How many explosives do you have left?” Uriah asked.

  Rycroft opened his jacket and smiled, revealing dozens more explosives ranging from small to large. “Enough.”

  46

  Brenden continued along the hallway, with Keira at his side. He saw her shivering, and he realized that she was as nervous as he.

  He reached out and grabbed her hand. She smiled back at him. They only had to turn at a few more hallways before it ended in a dark corridor with a metal door at the end.

  Instead of the typical handle, it had a large circle with rounded spikes all around it, reminding Brenden of the helm of a ship. He reached out with his senses as he approached, and like the door into the dungeon, he couldn’t sense it at all. Frustrated, he tried again.

  “There’s no key hole,” Keira whispered.

  Brenden sighed. He had hoped to find another way inside. Brenden didn’t want to use explosives. He approached the door, placing his hand against its cold surface and reached out again.

  Nothing.

  He even tried using the different elements to see if he could pass through the door, but still, nothing happened. Frustrated, he dropped the bag on the ground and began retrieving the explosives. Each one had a sticky substance on it, allowing him to attach it to the door. He grumbled the entire time, but he made sure every explosive was attached.

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  “What?” Keira asked.

  “It just seems like overkill. We’re trying to blow the door open, not disintegrate it.”

  “If we don’t use enough…”

  “We’ll be without another way to open the door. I know.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  Keira nodded.

  Brenden knocked on the door. He waited for several moments before trying again. Pressing his ear to the door, he heard nothing. He hoped the door wasn’t too thick to hear on the other side. Brenden raised his hand to try again when he heard a knock from the inside. It was the sign Seraphina was far enough away from the door to be safe.

  He grabbed Keira’s hand and led her down the hall.

  “Don’t you have to light one of those fuses with a flint?” she asked.

  “I’m not that foolish,” Brenden said.

  He pushed Keira around the corner of the first hallway. Then he closed his eyes, concentrating. He could feel the firelight as it ignited in his fingertips. Opening his eyes, he looked at the small, beautiful flame. He didn’t need much, just a spark. He tossed it toward the explosives, then stepped behind the corner to Keira.

  It took only a second for the air to grow quiet, void of sound, before a massive explosion filled the air. Brenden grabbed Keira, forcing her to the ground. He arched over her, keeping her protected with his body. The explosion didn’t stop. The sound continued to grumble and lasted for almost a full minute. Brenden’s hands were over his ears. Keira covered her ears as well. The sound was deafening.

  When the chaos stopped, and the fire disappeared from the hallway, Brenden waited another full minute before peering around the corner. Fire filled the hallway. The door was gone. He didn’t see it on the ground, and he didn’t see it inside of the room.

  He stood, mouth agape, as she staggered toward the door. Keira walked behind him, her hands clutched on his bicep, nails digging into him.

  Brenden stepped inside of the vault. Crates were lined everywhere. Most of them were on fire. Smoke filled the room, making it hard to breathe.
He coughed as the smoke filled his lungs.

  Brenden stepped back, closed his eyes, and reached out with his senses. He searched for water elements in the atmosphere, and brought them all to him. He funneled the water and mixed it with light, creating water-light. Brenden released the water-light into the room. Opening his eyes, he watched as water appeared out of nowhere, lighting up brighter than a firefly as it covered all the crates and barrels. The fires all extinguished. The air began to clear.

  He once again stepped inside of the room. “Seraphina?”

  Silence surrounded him.

  “Seraphina?” he called again, uncertainty in his voice.

  “Do you think—“ Keira asked.

  “Seraphina?” Brenden demanded.

  He stepped further into the room, scanning all the carnage. Crates and barrels were overturned. Several of them had been blown into pieces. Gold and jewels scattered the ground. Charred barrels and crates lay on their sides. And an arm stuck out of a barrel to his right. Brenden approached the barrel. Relief flooded him. She’d hidden inside of a barrel far away from the door. He grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her out. An arm came out of the barrel. It had been cauterized at the shoulder. He dropped the arm on the ground.

  “No, no, no, no, no!”

  Keira rushed over to him. She saw the arm and screamed.

  “I knew there were too many explosives,” Brenden growled.

  Keira shook her head. “No. The explosives weren’t what killed her.”

  Brenden raised an eyebrow.

  She pointed ahead, and Brenden’s face twisted in disgust as he saw several more of Seraphina’s body parts. Her other arm, a leg, and her head staring blankly at the room above her.

  “There’s no blood,” Keira said.

  “No blood?” Brenden asked. He looked around and noticed she was right.

  “If the explosion killed her, there would be blood. It would be everywhere. This looks like something cut her into pieces and cauterized her wounds.”

  “What could have done that?” Brenden asked.

  “I don’t know …” Keira ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. “Perhaps a sorcerer’s trap?”

  “Curse this place. Let’s get out of here as soon as possible.”

  Brenden began searching the barrels and crates. He did his best to avoid glancing at the dozens of body parts scattered throughout the room. He did his bed to not think about Seraphina being sliced into pieces. He did his best not to think what went through her mind as it happened. He did his best to act like it wasn’t his fault.

  Brenden failed.

  The emotions rushed to the surface. He stopped, closing his eyes, trying to hide in the tears of his failure. His arms trembled and he fell to a knee.

  “Brenden?”

  He ignored her. His eyes clenched tighter. He would not break down now. They were too close to finishing the mission. He needed to be strong.

  Keira’s hands reached his shoulder, and she knelt next to him. She hugged him from the side, squeezing tight.

  “Brenden?” she asked again.

  She tugged him to the side, so he had to face her. But he kept his eyes closed.

  “Open your eyes,” she commanded.

  Brenden did as she asked. And then the tears fell. He could no longer control them. All of his life, he was taught to show no emotion. He remembered being upset or sad when he was a child, but when he cried, Uriah would beat him. Uriah would tell him boys didn’t show emotion.

  They were stronger than that.

  And so, Brenden locked it all up. He fought against his tears, he rose above them. Brenden became stronger, but now—all of his heartache, all of his sadness and loss over the years, swarmed up. The seal had been broken, and he didn’t know if he could ever fix it.

  Keira wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. Her hands rubbed his upper back, sending him comfort.

  He took a deep breath, then got back to his feet. Keira followed him, staying close. Brenden wiped his eyes then cleared his throat.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with me,” he said.

  “Brenden … it is all right to cry.”

  “No, it’s not. Men don’t cry.”

  Keira shook her head. “That is not true. Everyone cries. Holding it inside isn’t good for you.”

  “I have to. I have to be strong.”

  “You can cry and still be strong, Brenden. Tears don’t weaken you.”

  Brenden ignored her. He walked past her and continued looking through barrels.

  “Seraphina’s death wasn’t your fault,” Keira said.

  Brenden paused. “Yes … it was.”

  “No,” Keira said.

  Brenden turned around, clenching his fist. “Yes it was. If I had never come on this mission, if we had never agreed to do this—”

  “They would have come regardless,” Keira said. “And then they might have all died. And the answers with them. And one thing is for certain. They would have killed a lot more people to attempt to break in here without us.”

  Brenden went back to digging through barrels.

  “Brenden.” Keira touched his arm. “You are a good man.”

  “I don’t feel like it sometimes. I’ve made too many mistakes.”

  “Everyone makes mistakes, Brenden. I make mistakes. You make mistakes. All humans make mistakes. It’s about learning from those mistakes that define us as unique persons.”

  “I know—I just.” He sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “I’m always here to listen, Brenden. Whenever you need to talk, I’m here.”

  “I thought I just did,” he said.

  “Brenden, I’m not foolish. Those tears were not for Seraphina. They were only the cork of the wine bottle. You have a lot more weighing you down in that bottle. And you know how much I love my wine, so when you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

  Brenden inhaled sharply, then nodded. “Thank you.”

  He went back to searching, and together they dug through dozens of barrels. At first, he was frustrated he couldn’t find anything, but after a few more minutes, Keira whistled.

  Brenden strode over to her. “Did you find something?”

  She held out a scepter. “I’m not exactly sure what this scepter is supposed to look like, but this feels right.”

  Brenden reached out his hand and grabbed the scepter. He examined it. It was short, only a few feet long and made of metal with a small globe at its tip. There was a small symbol near the top before the globe that he focused on. It was the same symbol inside of the Reverum book he read.

  “Yes, this is it.”

  “Good.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said.

  Keira smiled. “After you.”

  47

  Keira watched Brenden exit the vault, scepter in hand. She wondered how powerful the scepter was, and what the guild wanted it for.

  She started to follow, but something caught her attention. It wasn’t anything she saw, but something she felt. She paused, glancing behind her. It was the same pull she had for her missions, but usually the pull would be for things she sought out. Whatever this was, she had no idea, and she definitely hadn’t sought it out.

  Yet, it pulled on her.

  “Keira?” Brenden called from outside the vault.

  Keira ignored him. She began walking deeper into the vault, stepping between the carnage. Keira had been curious about the various valuables the sorcerers hid in the vault. It seemed quite an excessive place to store mere jewelry and gems.

  She had wanted to stay and go through many of them, but she knew they didn’t have the time. The chaos outside would only last so long, and the quicker they left, the less likely they were to have to kill more sorcerers. Yet, whatever drew her deeper inside the vault, wouldn’t let her go. For some reason, she knew it was important.

  “Keira?” Brenden asked again, stepping back inside of the vault. “What are you doing?”

  “I need to find
something,” Keira whispered.

  “What do you need to find? We have the scepter. We need to get back to Uriah.”

  “No.”

  “No?” Brenden asked. “Keira … the sorcerers could appear at any moment. We don’t need to be here when they do.”

  “I know, Brenden. But I can’t leave yet.”

  “Why not?” Brenden asked.

  “You know that pull I get when searching for something? My ability; my gift?”

  Brenden nodded. “Your magic.”

  “Yes. It’s pulling me to find something.”

  “Find what?” he asked.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Has this ever happened before?”

  “No. It shows me how to find whatever I’m searching for … but I’m not searching for anything.”

  “But you feel its pull?” he asked.

  “Yes. And it’s stronger than any other pull I’ve ever felt.”

  “I see. Well—” he motioned his hands for her to continue searching.

  She smiled at him. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her senses. She’d always thought it was an ability, and not magic, so she’d never focused on it too hard, but now she did. Keira called to it, willing it to show her the path. When she opened her eyes, she knew where to go.

  She walked forward, deeper into the vault. Her hands hung out in front of her, feeling the air for the hidden object. It was like a game of hot and cold, except instead of words, it was her hands that felt warm or cold depending on where she went. She stepped over crates and boxes as she made her way to the furthest corner of the room.

  Keira paused. Her hands were burning up and her brow was sweating. She turned off her senses, which was an odd thing to do. She didn’t know she could turn her abilities off and on, and it felt like turning off a part of herself, but now that she knew her abilities were magical, she’s been pushing them to their limits, which meant her ability was stronger than it ever was before. Never had she been burned with her ability to find what she was looking for, but with how strong she’d been focusing on it, it began to burn her skin.