Thieves' Race

by Isaac Padgett

  Nick fought back a catch in his throat as he tried to speak, "They....they did well. I'm sorry that they won't get the afterlife they deserved."

  I just looked at him with a sad smile and replied softly, "Will any of us?" That night we all slept little, knowing that we had won and lost at the same time. We all had heavy thoughts weighing us down, and it led to restlessness. I slipped away with her name on my lips, wondering when I'd see her again.

  Aether

  The day was sunny, light streaming through the dust that had risen under the feet of everyone heading to the market. I, myself, was on my way to the stables. I wanted to see if I could convince Tom to let me get a horse to ride around a while, burning off the excess energy that had nowhere to go.

  Gregory was too busy trying to repair the aftermaths of the raid to spar with me, so I had to find other ways to get it accomplished, and I thought riding would do quite nicely.

  The smell of horse and horse manure filled the air and told me that I was getting close, though my feet knew my way around most of the city by now. The only place I wasn't sure of was the poor quarter. I hadn't even tried to go there since Jack died, and Kate ran off in the woods; it was too susceptible to change.

  At the sound of slurred shouting, I stepped back into a slightly recessed doorway, drawing my brown cloak shut in from of me.

  It was the best I could do in broad daylight, but I figured it would keep the people who were arguing from seeing me. The last thing I needed right now was to be swept up into someone's argument.

  My eyes scanned the buildings around me, trying to pinpoint where the shouting was coming from when I saw a bundle be practically thrown from the stable's door.

  Closer examination showed Tom, disheveled and obviously upset, red-faced and veins bulging. His father, the stable Master, filled the doorway, belching and running a hand over his massive belly.

  "Ge' yer ass out of here, 'n don' come back till ye get some backbone in ye, ye little shit!" The stable door slammed shut, and Tom slowly sat up, a hand clutching his stomach.

  I started forward, going to ease his pain, or talk to him, make him feel better, but a sudden movement out of the corner of my eye made me stop.

  The person stepping out of the shadows made me glad I had taken pains to hide myself, even if only a little bit. Elroy knelt at Tom's side, a hand touching his shoulder in comfort. His other hand brought out a dark, opaque bottle filled with some spirit of liquor. I knew that Tom had put off drinking while trying to walk out with me, but the look of...hunger that appeared in his eyes told me he hadn't forgotten about it.

  He looked at Elroy with gratitude and took the bottle from him. Together, they stood and strode off towards the poor quarter, the bottle swinging through the air being the last thing I saw before they turned a corner and disappeared.

  Deciding to skip my ride through the woods, I set off after the pair, hoping to catch up enough to see where they were heading.

  Even though it was the middle of the day, the streets seemed to get darker the farther from the standard parts of town we got. A chill filled the air, and I could feel the eyes of people unseen watching me.

  I followed them deeper and deeper in the poor quarter, gagging at the occasional smell of rotting food and dead animals. Sidestepping cracks, I spent half the time watching them and the other half watching where I put my feet. "Jack made this look so effortless..."

  My mind wandered, and I snapped back to focus when my foot caught on a crack and sent me sprawling against the ground. Scrambling, I tried to ignore the scrapes and bruises, rushing to try to catch back up, but they were already gone. And looking around me, I realized that I had no idea where I was. Even worse, she had no idea how to get back home.

  Jack

  I woke to the smell of smoke, and there was a lot of it. It practically filled the small tent I was sleeping in, causing me to stumble out, coughing and choking.

  I rubbed my eyes, trying to blink away the tears that now filled them, and saw the blurry forms of Nick and Olive on their knees in front of a man… dressed in a suit of some sort. He idly smiled over at me and flicked his head towards the fat man from the woods. His eyes never left my face as if he was trying to remember if he had seen me before.

  The fat man practically ran forward, like one of the hounds he was so fond of...straight into the fist of the suited man, "You blithering idiot. You're a weak, pitiful fool who can't do a simple job as I tell him to. I have to come and see it get done myself. Do you know what this is going to do later down the road? Get your sorry ass back to Hell before I send you there myself!"

  The fat man whimpered and cowered but slowly faded away until it was just the four of us remaining. The rest of the camp was decimated, and no one was in sight.

  "Sorry about that...Gluttony, what can you do about him? I try and try, but he just doesn't seem to understand. But I forget myself. Hello. Ayden, you call yourself, correct?" He walked towards me slowly, a smile spreading across his face, "You must be wondering who I am."

  I don't know where I got the courage even to speak, let alone be flippant with the man, but I snidely replied, "Not at all. You're obviously Satan…though I suppose they could do much better. Are you looking for a replacement or something? If so, I'm sorry to say not interested. I'd rather not inherit the mess you've seemed to have gotten yourself in."

  Satan stopped walking with a look of shock on his face. Soon, however, it turned to a scornful smirk, "Oh? I've gotten myself in a mess, so you say? Care to explain yourself, boy?"

  I gave a slight shrug before responding, "Well, as Nick told me, you can't act here directly without retribution from the other side. I think you made a desperate move with that fat man and his dogs, trying to take over Purgatory. Get a foot in the door, you know? And you obviously failed that pathetically. So, now you don't have the bargaining chip you hoped for, AND you are at a weak point for when the retribution strikes. So many hounds dead, your power here weakened to the point where you have to come here yourself? I'd say you're in quite a bit of trouble."

  Satan paused in the middle of a step, his foot slowly sinking to the ground. The smirk was gone from his face, replaced with a blank look, "I suppose you would have figured it all out by now. You're smarter than you look; I will give you that much…but I bet you still can't remember who you are. Or, better yet, I bet you can't even remember why you're dead, can you? So why don't you try to be polite to the one who knows these things and just maybe you'll find something out?"

  I tried to lunge at him, but two hellhounds appeared in front of me, mouths gaping in what seemed to be grins. I barely stopped myself in time to avoid their teeth, "What do you know about me? About Aether?"

  He grinned once more at me and waved his hand, creating an image of a beautiful girl, tears staining her cheeks. "That is Aether. And you are Jack. I'll restore your memories if you wish, though, of course, all things come at a price." I hesitated for half a breath but, in the end, nodded, and he waved his hand calmly. My mind was washed over by a wave of memories, accompanied by an even more significant wave of pain. I stumbled back and fell to my knees at the weight of it all. Everything seemed to come back all at once, the times we spent in the woods, shooting, the waterfall. And finally, the knife plunging into my stomach and the last effort I put into protecting her. My love, my Aether…

  When he saw that I remembered it all, his smile stretched even wider, "She needs you, Jack. Desperately, it seems. And you have two choices ahead of you."

  "What are my choices?" I demanded, just wanting him to go away. The pain in my stomach was nothing to the pain in my heart, knowing she was alone.

  "You can go to Heaven and live the rest of eternity there. At least, the rest of it as you know it. Your soul was good enough to be accepted. However, if you do this, you can't help her. And she needs your help more than anything. Unless you want your love to die out and be replaced, of course."

  "And the second choice?" I demanded, knowing without having
to hear it that it wouldn't be what I would choose. Nick and the girl looked at me with horror in their eyes as I planned to make a deal with the Devil.

  "Ayden, don't do this, you can sti-" I cut him off with a chopping motion, not bothering to look back at him, and gestured for Satan to continue.

  "You can go back. Help her. Be with her. However, you risk your soul. Your next life might not be enough to get back into Heaven. And to show my goodwill, these folks," he waved to Nick, "will be left alone. They will survive your foolish mistake. So, what will it be, Jack?"

  I looked around me, taking in the damage to the camp, the pain on my new friends' faces, and knew what I would have to say, sighing out loud, "I'm going back."

  Once I disappeared, Satan motioned once more, and Olive went to his side, "My darling daughter, would you like to come back to your real daddy? I can take care of you now. We could be happy together."

  Olive looked at Nick and back at Satan, "No. Nick is my daddy. You never were."

  Roaring, he flung her away from him, "You damn fools. Now that he's gone, the bow and arrows are too. It will take time, but this land will once more fall under my dominion. And when it does, you will both suffer forever!"

  A flash of flame scorched the ground, and the clearing was empty except for a crying Olive and a saddened Nick.

  "Well, my dear, I guess we should start rebuilding the camp. Never know when we're going to need to defend ourselves again, though I suppose we should probably move it." He sighed and picked himself up, helping his adopted daughter back to her feet and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

  With sorrow in their hearts for the future, the two slowly set to fix the camp. Every once in a while, Nick would look to where Ayden had disappeared and shake his head sadly, "You foolish boy. What have you done?" With one last look back, Nick walked over to where the boy had hidden the bow the night before. With fear, he moved the leaves aside, already assuming that what the Devil had said would be true: The bow would be gone.

  For some reason, though, the gleam of silver shone through the leaves, leaving Nick on his knees, looking up at the sky with tears in his eyes. Clutched in his hands were the bow and a re-filled quiver of arrows. Another note was tied to it, the script written in gleaming letters, "Don't give up."

  9

  Aether

  Night was already falling, and I still hadn't found my way out of this place. And no one would even come looking for me for days; my parents were used to my forays in the woods, leaving me gone for days at a time. But if I was still here when night fell, the pickpockets, thieves, and rapists who made both this area and the night their home would find me. And even with my fighting skills, taking on unknown assailants in the dark would press even my luck.

  I wandered around at an even faster pace, thinking that I'd get out more quickly if I walked faster. I had given up on trying to find Tom and Elroy, the former was probably passed out somewhere, drunk, and the latter would be off planning or plotting some new theft.

  With Jack gone, he was officially known as the best thief in this area, and he had never been busier. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he meant for Jack to die.

  That was why, when I heard his voice, even though he should have been in someone's house already, I stopped short. I padded closer to his voice as I echoed down a short alley, "I have Tom right where I want him. Everything is in place, just like you wanted. So you tell your boss that I'm set and ready, and the only thing holding us back now is on your end. Got it?"

  A smooth, quiet voice replied, and just hearing it send shivers down my spine, "Don't presume to tell me what to do, boy. You know nothing of what is at stake or what can be done to you for such disrespect. If you knew who you were speaking to, you would weep and beg me to forgive you."

  Elroy stammered and stuttered but was saved the need to respond by that creepy voice starting back up, "I know what you tell me is true. I just wanted to be sure that nothing would go wrong like last time. You had been so certain last time that everything would work, and look what happened. You better hope this works. Our Master will be displeased at another failure."

  I heard Elroy grumble and scuff the ground before grunting as if he was straining to lift something. I risked a look around the corner and could see by the almost wholly faded light. Elroy was straining under the bulk of Tom, struggling to keep the drunk, half-awake boy upright and walking. There was no sign of whoever he had been talking to, which was strange. I should have at least seen someone walking away down the street or something.

  Elroy seemed to be leading Tom back home, which I was grateful for. I knew how to get back to my house from Tom's, so all I'd have to do would be follow the pair of them, and I'd be home before I knew it.

  I was proven wrong as the walk back to my area of the town took even longer than the whole time spent here, as drunk Tom took forever to get moving and stopped at random intervals to burp or take a piss.

  Finally, I was able to find my own way home, leaving the now singing Tom and the swearing Elroy to their games. I had to get some sleep and then make sure Elroy didn't do anything further to Tom. He was involved in some plot, and I didn't want to lose another person who was even semi-close to me.

  Jack

  The last thing I saw was the Devil snapping his fingers with a slight chuckle before I found myself in woods similar to the ones I was just in, but at the same time, vastly different. For one thing, there was no one here but me. For another, there was more color, more life, which made sense if I was really put back in the world of the living.

  My once tattered clothing was now little more than threads clinging to my frame. Looking at the stars above, I could tell it was still the fall and wondered how much time had passed. If it had only been a few days, maybe I should see Aether first and explain.

  I hurried towards the smell of smoke that hung in the air and barely stopped to wonder where I was. None of the landmarks that I could see looked familiar, and for a few seconds, that worried me, but I quickly blew it off when the first villager came into view.

  "Hey!" I called out, speeding up a little, "Boy! May I ask what village this happens to be?" The boy was young, and his green eyes were full of suspicion as he called out a response.

  "It's Fairview. How do you not know that if you're so close?" His grip on the rake in his hand tightened, white knuckles standing out against the dark wood. "If you want trouble, watch out. Our militia is well trained and ready for trouble."

  My mind raced through the small list of villages I knew until it lit upon the one that this boy hailed from. I chuckled at his boast, knowing from men far in their tankards of ale that Fairview was a small, poor village with barely a militia at all. They could scarce handle a wolf attacking a herd, let alone a bandit patrol looking for loot and food. Even so, it wouldn't hurt to get in the village on a good foot.

  "I'm not looking for trouble, just passing through. I got lost a few days ago in the woods and wasn't sure which direction I was traveling. What is a good tavern to stay at here?"

  The look of suspicion stayed in his eyes, but he hesitantly stated, "Wyverns' Head has the finest mead, and at cheap prices as well. If you go, tell 'em that Pete sent you, and they'll get you a good deal. Me mum works there."

  I nodded in his direction and kept walking, knowing he expected a copper but not having one to give him. I called over my shoulder, hoping it wouldn't be followed with a rake being thrown at me, "Thanks, boy. Continue working, and you may earn that copper you were going to wait around for."

  Lucky for me, the boy was more level-headed than I, for I didn't have a rake occupying where my brain SHOULD have been. It didn't take long to get to the inn the boy, Pete, spoke of.

  The instant I opened the door, laughter, cheers, and music assaulted my ears. An elderly man was getting up to leave, ignoring the jeers from the others daring him to stay.

  Knowing I needed some coin, I bumped into the older man as he was leaving, fingers seeking out the few bits o
f copper and lint he had on him. Smiling, I apologized and bowed, beginning his forgiveness. The man just smiled and nodded back to me, "Good day, boy. If only the village kids had your kind of manners. We'd be in a much better place, I think."

  I just smiled and kept walking, my eyes sweeping the room around me. Swiping a silver piece left on a table by another man to pay for drinks, I sauntered up to the bar and sat down with a sigh, "Been a long day of walking. Pete told me to come here, said you had some good mead and food."

  The woman who was working the tap beamed at me, "Oh, my Pete, workin' hard is he? Isn't he such a good lad? I don't know what I'd do without him. But aye, we have decent food here. Room and board for a night are eight coppers. Food is a nice stew that's been cooking all day and a small loaf of bread, as well as two pints of ale or one of mead." I rolled the silver across my knuckles and slapped it down on the counter. "Instead of the drinks, just some water would be nice." Three coppers quickly replaced the silver coin.