The alley was shrouded in utter darkness and silence. Her eyes darted from the trash containers to the roof and then up ahead at Daren who had also paused after he had noticed she wasn’t following.
A whisk in the air caught Ange’s attention, reactively she pulled out both her daggers with a flick of her wrists. Her right wrist throbbed in agony as something smacked her hand and easily forced her to release her weapon. In the faint light the blade twirled in the air momentarily before another hand caught it. The blade then arced for her face.
But Ange was already prepared, her left hand slashed the blade away easily with a spark of silver before her dagger came to rest on the throat of her attacker. The person paused then chuckled.
“You’re good,” applauded a charming male voice.
Ange glared, paying no heed to his flattering words.
He leaned closer to the touch of her blade which made Ange take a step back in surprise at his unexpected boldness. His face was revealed in the light, he smiled enchantingly and unbothered by her hostility.
She gazed in surprise at his beautiful deep blue eyes and the curly black hair that framed his handsome face. His expression was absolutely captivating, Ange couldn’t help the urge to blush. His hand confidently grasped the metal of her blade and she felt shocked that she allowed him to push her hand down without any resistance. She instantly noticed the silver pin on the young man’s cloak, she recognized the insignia of the Silver Weasels and her blood ran cold with suspicion.
“So you’re Fox, Daren never mentioned how cute you are,” he chided like he was annoyed.
Ange blinked shocked and stared at him then glared at her friend expectantly.
He was grimacing nervously as he came over.
“The name’s Jason, but people call me Ferret,” he lifted her other hand with his own strangely smooth large half-gloved hand and slipped her dagger back into her unresponsive fingers, a jolt passed through her as he kissed her black leather-gloved hand and winked at her. “But you can call me Jace.”
Ange blinked startled, unable to decide what she should think about this boy who looked like he was probably no older than eighteen and who had the skills of a criminal but the hands and sly manner of a noble.
Fortunately, Daren’s hand cut in and grabbed Jason’s wrist and glared at him in warning. Jason let go with a displeased frown as he pulled his hand away from Daren’s grasp.
Ange felt her annoyance flare. “Who’s this Daren? You know it’s against guild policy to fraternize with thieves from other guilds,” she snarled, irritated to find her suspicion that Daren hadn’t revealed all his secrets to be true.
“What?” Jason asked confused as he looked at Daren. “Didn’t you tell her?”
“Tell me what?” Ange hissed infuriated at being kept in the dark.
Daren cast an angry warning glance at Jason before he turned to Ange with a more calm and vacant expression. “Nothing, I only bumped into him once, and we talked, he wouldn’t stop probing,” Daren explained smoothly.
Ange glared. He was lying and she knew it.
Jason let out a burst of laughter, it echoed in the alley and made Ange and Daren stiffen and check their surroundings impulsively.
“I see,” he glanced at Daren mischievously before he jogged away blowing a kiss at Ange that left her frozen startled again. “You’re going the wrong way by the way,” he joked as he disappeared into the darkness.
Ange stiffed, instantly alert. How does he know where were going?
Daren glared after him and snorted as he muttered something under his breath.
Ange clutched her daggers and confronted her friend. “How does he know where we’re going?” she seethed accusingly.
Daren gritted his teeth as he took a step back. “He doesn’t,” he defended outraged. “He’s just joking.” His emerald eyes were steely and cold as he stared down at her, stubborn.
Ange stared at her friend feeling her heart sink painfully in her chest and for the first time in her life she felt she couldn’t trust him. Her gut was tense with a sense of foreboding and Daren was intentionally leaving her in the dark, and she didn’t like it.
She spat and walked around him and jogged ahead leading the way, convinced he was trying to deceive her. His voice broke after her, desperate.
“Ange! No, wait!”
She ignored him and ran faster, they were almost late for the raid and she wasn’t about to look like an idiot on her first heist.
Chapter 4: Thievery Gone Awry
“Where have you two been?” Garrett snarled crossly.
Vera was already leading the other guild members away from the fence and down the dirt roads covered sparsely with snow that lead to the mines they would be raiding tonight. Night had completely eclipsed the world, and only two of the moons hung in the sky over them. The first one, the smallest of the five moons and always glowed orange was half full while the largest of the five was full and brilliant white.
Ange lowered her head apologetically, feeling her pride burn with shame. “We got lost,” she lied, though she knew something was up with Daren, she would never betray her best friend.
“You got lost?” Garrett repeated outraged. “You’re not children anymore!”
“We know,” Ange replied sullenly.
“It was my fault,” Daren cut in with an apologetic voice.
Garrett snorted unconvinced and said no more as he walked faster and left them behind as he caught up to Vera.
Since they had arrived, Daren had nothing but a miserable expression plastered across his face and it seemed to Ange he was not making the least bit of effort to hide it as he stared at the ground. She glanced back at him, feeling concerned and angry at the same time, her feelings were beyond turbulent and she couldn’t decide on a feeling to stick to.
She sighed and turned her gaze back ahead, glaring into the darkness and realized there was no point in asking him what was wrong, he wouldn’t tell her.
A cold breeze suddenly gusted up to them, her cloak fluttering out behind her and she was suddenly chilled.
That’s a bad sign. She thought glumly. A storm is coming.
She pulled her cloak closer, sheltering her body from the wind. She looked up but saw no clouds, the only ones in sight crowned the snowy mountains but perhaps there were more behind its large and threatening form.
They made it to Dragon’s Hoard without meeting one guard or passerby on the road, lucky. A little too lucky that the mine seemed practically vacant as they all hid behind some large rocks beyond the metal fence and surveyed the area.
Two guards, with large illuminators that funneled a beam of light swept periodically over the grounds, were on duty upon two large platforms within the gated mine site, overseeing the mine and the warehouse.
Vera pointed at two of the Crimson Crows and pointed at the two guards and made a simple sign that meant ‘knock them out’.
The two assassins nodded, dressed in their Crimson Crow’s clan uniforms, their faces hooded and masked, only their eyes were visible. The woman darted first into the shadows, a man followed her quickly into the darkness, absolutely silent.
Ange watched them feeling awed by their stealth and she wondered if she was as good as others claimed her to be. Mina, one of the Crows in their guild had even offered Ange training to become one of their assassins. She had told her it would be a waste of her talent to just stay with the Black Owls and that with the life of an assassin, she could live a rich and comfortable life if she never got caught and still be a thief.
Ange had been thrilled and flattered by the offer but she didn’t believe she had the propensity it took to kill other people in cold blood, and often. The thought had actually given her a shiver of dread. So she had graciously denied, though Mina had insisted that she give it a try first before making up her mind. Ange had no response to that proposal at that time and she still didn’t quite like the idea.
Ange peered over the rocked warily as she pulled up her hood a
nd her own mask over her face. Tensely, she waited for a sign, a slight movement in the dark and she wasn’t the only one looking, Vera was also peering into the gated area, still and patient.
Suddenly one of the guards fell over without a sound, the second guard on the other platform followed not a second later, his illuminator clattering down the beams of the platform and to the floor, rolling as it lit out into the darkness of the mountains. In the guards’ places crouched two dark figures, in the black they shined their blades in an ‘all clear’.
The guild didn’t hesitate, they all leapt over the rocks and ran for the fence, snow crunching quietly under their feet. Vera was the first to escalate it, others followed quickly behind her, quietly landing on the other side.
Ange leapt up and quickly crawled up the fence before making a handstand, stretching her entire length into the air at the top before flipping down lightly and landing quietly on the balls of her feet. She felt proud of the quiet yet graceful entrance and satisfied with the leather armor’s flexibility.
She looked over and noticed Daren didn’t bother in such shows, he climbed the fence and swung his body over and landed quietly into a crouch, without a glance at her he ran after the other thieves, his short curly brown hair waving behind him.
Ange felt suddenly rejected and annoyed by his behavior and obvious effort to ignore her. She darted rapidly after him and quickly overtook him and ran after Vera, disregarding him completely and not bothering to see his reaction or if he even had one.
She quickly caught up to Vera and Garrett as they made their way for the mine, all the thieves followed in a more loose formation. Ange glanced up as they passed the two guard towers that shadowed their path from the moonlight and the two assassins on watch. Somehow, Ange felt unsafe under their scrutinizing and blank eyes as they passed, a shiver crawling up Ange’s spine. The thieves stopped at the entrance of the mine and Ange gazed at the padlock held steel gates. She glanced back, feeling uncertain and worried.
Vera gently placed a lock pick into the keyhole and softly turned the thin metal, her ear turned to the lock. Ange listened intently, hearing the little mechanism and cogs move inside the lock and then the tiny click. A satisfied grin spread across Vera’s face as the lock snapped open. Ange felt excitement thrill through her, her smile hidden by her cloth mask, warm over her face in the cold air.
The large doors creaked open, slowly and oddly loud in the silence. A yawning chasm whispered hauntingly as air quietly was sucked in, they stared into the darkness before diving in without a glance back. Ange swallowed feeling her anxiety damper her enthusiasm. Lights suddenly flickered to life as rows of crystals down the cave suddenly lit into existence as their metal shutters pulled away and revealed the yellow sol gems. The mine was bathed in afternoon light.
Ange rushed in, relishing the sight of mine carts filled with sol crystals of every color and size as the thieves of the guild removed the lids off the carts and allowed the crystal’s light to shine freely into their surroundings. The cavern was overwhelmed in brilliant shades of color within moments.
Ange smiled and pulled her mask off and brushed her hood back and squinted as she glanced at the carts she passed by and the excited chattering of the other thieves. She walked further in, realized tunnels pulled away from the main cavern in every direction and that the air was heavy, damp, and a bit acrid.
She caught up to Vera and Garrett at the end of the main cavern.
“These fools should have invested on tusk-dogs rather than two guards,” Garrett chortled. “I fail to see how you didn’t manage swaying these idiots with your silver-tongue,” he commented amused.
Ange shivered at the mention of tusk-dogs, she had a run in with one when she was ten years old in an alley. They were horrible large dogs with large sharp tusks coming out from the front of their wide jaws filled with thick jagged teeth. They had no tails, pointed ears and muscular legs and chest and their coats were usually black, gray, or brown if not mixed. They were also extremely aggressive and Ange would know, they could break a person’s bones with a single bite, she had been lucky to get away from it with just a scratch on her leg.
Vera sighed and shrugged. “I have not the slightest idea either,” she admitted, she glanced back suspiciously. “Actually, this whole mission…has been a little too easy,” she allowed cautiously.
Garrett blinked surprised, his shoulders tensing as he surveyed the other thieves as they pushed carts out into the yard.
Ange couldn’t help breath in relief that she wasn’t the only one paranoid over the situation. She glanced back feeling nervous and realized in shock that Daren was nowhere to be seen. They usually never separated, then she regretfully recalled how harshly she had been treating him today.
“Isn’t it good that things went this smoothly?” Garrett asked firmly yet there was a note of unease in his voice.
Vera’s lips crumpled tightly together as she looked at the other thieves thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” she acknowledged quietly and turned her gaze to Ange. “What do you think, Fox?”
Ange couldn’t feel surprise that Vera was asking her for her opinion, instead she felt disquiet. “I have a bad feeling,” she accepted in an uneven tone. “Ever since this afternoon and it’s only been growing.”
Vera nodded. “I didn’t feel suspicious till we entered the mines, though,” she glanced at Ange with a baleful frown. “A thief usually follows their gut, but it seems only you and I are feeling apprehensive.”
Ange swallowed and nodded in agreement.
Vera sighed. “Well, enough worrying, we need to get these carts out. Maven, Sera, Derik, and Leo already went down the four main tunnels to set the bombs, the cave will collapse in on itself,” Vera smiled expectantly at Ange as she pulled something out of her pouch. “This is your assignment Fox, the last bomb goes down this tunnel,” she pointed behind them down the largest tunnel, “it’s a bit deep, so just find a weak spot somewhere fifty feet in, alright?”
Ange smiled as she grabbed the bomb and looked at the small one foot wide and tall device with six sticks of explosives filled with sol sand no doubt, a small simple cog device was in place with an already wound timer mechanism connected to a sparker and the wires. A circular handle pin was in place to release the timer. Ange blinked and wondered why it looked familiar.
“This doesn’t look like your usual work Garrett,” she noted surprised.
“It isn’t,” Garrett replied flatly. “Daren made these bombs, and quite effectively,” he added with envy in his voice.
Ange blinked surprised then smiled feeling proud, then a cloud of ill-humor took her as she considered this might be the last night they have together and all she had been doing was clashing with him.
She contemplatively took the bomb and walked into the tunnel, counting her paces then realized that the walls were already periodically marked with numbers in even segments and she was glad for once that Daren had insisted she learned at least some basic math.
She found fifty soon enough and she paused looking around the lit tunnel for a long crack or crevice. She didn’t find anything around the fiftieth mark, disgruntle she walked in further searching the walls with keen eyes. She finally spotted a deep and narrow crack by the sixtieth mark, thought to her chagrin it was high up, higher than her short arms could reach.
Vera’s voice echoed behind her from the main cave, startling her momentarily. “Ready, Fox?”
Ange yelled back. “Almost,” she paused, hearing her response echo down the tunnel. It was rather amusing and interesting, she quickly snapped out of her curiosity and found a crate full of pickaxes by the sixtieth mark.
Quickly she rushed over and dumped the tools and lifted the wooden crate and took it back to where the crack in the wall waited for her. She flipped over the crate and placed it on reasonably flat ground and tested how sturdy it was, it hardly wobbled. Satisfied she stepped onto the crate to check the crack, smaller cracks webbed up to the ceiling, she followed it wi
th her line of sight and noticed it veered off further into the tunnel and a little back.
She smiled excitedly and began clearing the crack of smaller rocks before she gently placed the bomb in, to her disbelief it didn’t fit. Scowling she looked up and noticed the crack widened. She sighed in defeat as she tiptoed and stretched till she was finally able to scoot the explosive into the socket of the wall. She smiled pleased.
“Ready, Vera!” she shouted down the hall.
“Excellent!” she heard her yell back a moment later. “Alright Owls, hold your positions, don’t pull those pins till I give the order,” she instructed.
Her voice echoed for several moments longer in the tunnel as Ange waited patiently, her finger already on the pin, ready to yank it out on a moment’s notice.
She waited there for a good while, her legs were starting to cramp from the constant stretching and she wondered if the other thieves with bombs were getting tired as well.
Finally Vera’s voice echoed down the hall. “Pull!” she commanded.
Ange yanked the pin free as she leapt off the crate, she heard the cogs snap and slowly start clicking, counting the seconds. She sprinted away and down back the tunnel, feeling exhilarated and wondered how long the timers were set for.
She was the first to burst into the main cave. Leo followed a second later and the last two were tied as they burst out of the tunnels.
Vera smiled satisfied. “Alright, the timers are set for ten minutes, so that doesn’t leave a lot of time. Let’s help get the rest of the carts out,” she instructed to all of them. “The detonation isn’t meant to be too strong, but it will make the mine’s tunnels collapse, according to Daren’s calculations,” she informed.
“Where is that boy?” Garrett added with a harsh tone as he looked down the cavern.
Sky Warriors: Poleuthan's Thief (Sky Warriors Saga Book 1) Page 5
