“Sorry for the delay,” I started, unsure how critical the situation was.
“No problem, thanks for calling,” he replied quickly. “Can you meet? I’d rather not have this discussion over the phone. Too unsafe.”
“Sure. Casual or combat outfit?”
“Casual. I’ll text you the address,” he replied. “Thank you.”
I hung up, then quickly got dressed and took a cab to a corner near the location that Allard sent me. Near the location, because while I was sure it wasn’t conspicuous from the outside, I preferred to be safe rather than sorry. After all, anything that could draw attention to the supernatural world should be avoided, and whatever happened yesterday, whatever got the witches riled up, it would probably bring unwanted attention.
The sun was shining in my face as I walked the last two blocks. Angrily, I squinted my eyes, until I remembered that I might still have Octavian’s shades in my coat. I checked my pockets and found them.
“Bingo.” With a smirk on my face, I put them on. Instinctively, I straightened up, and my walk gained some extra swagger. For a moment, I wondered if the glasses were enchanted, infused with some spell that gave the wearer extra confidence. But the answer was probably much simpler: they were cool-guy glasses. And just like I instinctively acted more ladylike in the dress, I felt more like a badass with those shades on than I did while running around, squinting like an idiot.
As I got around the last corner, I ended up standing in front of a Starbucks. With a frown, I checked my phone for the address again. I had expected something different. Another safe house, or the victim’s apartment, maybe.
I let my eyes wander across the tables outside the coffee shop, then up across the building above it. No sign of Allard or any other witches I knew.
“Oh, there you are! I hope I didn’t make you wait,” a familiar voice shouted. Allard was coming out of the coffee shop, a large cup of coffee in his hands. Or was it tall? Grand? I never quite got that.
“I was expecting something… different.” I frowned as he walked up to me.
“Oh. Yeah, I just had to fetch some coffee. Maybe you want some, too, after a long night?”
“No, I’m good, thanks. So, what’s up?”
Allard sighed, then gestured forward and started walking. “There was another break-in, but luckily, the Elder wasn’t home. She was at the ball, and I don’t think the timing was a coincidence. Again, a handful of magical artifacts went missing, we don’t know exactly yet what the attacker managed to get their hands on this time.”
He looked around, then led me into a side alley. “We do know one thing, though,” he whispered. “They got a key to the vault. And we can’t have this mysterious attacker break into it.”
“The vault?” I uttered. “I thought it was just a myth. So there’s a secret bunker full of highly dangerous artifacts, and our mysterious thief has access.” I let out a sigh and pursed my lips. This was getting worse every day.
“Yes, it’s real,” he replied sternly. “And yes, it’s also very well protected. But we can’t be complacent now, so we are doing a check-up on the security. And I know you’re a bodyguard, not a thief, but I’m sure you have a different perspective than we do. So, I was hoping you could inspect the outer layers of defense, tell us if you can find any weaknesses.”
I frowned, looking at him criticality for a second. “I’m not exactly an expert in security or breaking in. Aren’t there more experienced people for that in the city?”
“Maybe,” Allard agreed. “But none that I trust. This is knowledge that can’t become public.”
A warm feeling filled me at his words. “All right, I’ll do it.”
“Great! Just put a hand on my shoulder,” he replied with a smile.
I looked at him in confusion for a second, but he didn’t offer any additional explanation. Hesitantly, I grabbed his shoulder, waiting for him to laugh and tell me it was a joke.
But then Allard reached into his coat pocket, and suddenly, the world around me spun out. I was being twisted out of reality until dizziness turned my stomach upside down. Like the morning after a few too many beers, but on fast forward. I lost all sense of orientation, and my senses began shutting off one by one.
A moment later, I found myself somewhere dark. The bright swirls were gone, and the world had stopped spinning around me, but my head was still dizzy like I just had a dozen too many shots of vodka. Gratefully, I grabbed the stone wall next to me and leaned against it, taking a few deep breaths until my head slowly calmed down.
“Oh, sorry, I should have warned you,” Allard said with an apologetic expression. “Teleportation can be quite… intense when you’re not used to it.”
I shot him an annoyed glare. “I noticed.”
As I looked around, I realized I still had the sunglasses on. I quickly took them off, blinking to adjust. Suddenly, my surroundings weren’t completely hidden in darkness anymore. It wasn’t exactly bright, but I could finally make out details. I was in a cellar, with high, arching ceilings and dusty brick walls—a small hall, apparently. The wall I was leaning on was actually a circular pillar. From the hall, at least one passage led further into the cellar. Or out of it. I couldn’t tell; I had lost my orientation completely.
“Come on, follow me,” Allard said as I stood somewhat stably on my feet again.
He led me into the passageway, which I noticed was only one of many leading out of this hall. As we walked through intersections, took turns, and crossed small flows of water, I realized where we are.
“We’re in the sewers, aren’t we? I asked quietly.
“Indeed. It’s an abandoned part, not accessible from the outside world. The perfect hideout, especially because no one exactly knows where it is, not even me,” Allard replied with a smile.
“So you can only get in and out of here with magic?” I asked.
“Exactly, and only if you have the key. Which the attacker has now,” Allard sighed.
He took a few more steps, then stopped in the middle of the hallway. “So, now it’s your turn. If you were trying to break in, assuming you’re already down here, how would you continue?”
I looked at him in confusion. “Well, I would search for the entrance, first, we’re in the middle of—"
Suddenly, my nose picked up a faint smell of magic hidden in the stench of rotting waste and wet stone. With a frown, I focused on it, going after it through the hallway. I hadn’t picked up before because it was so light, but I was getting closer.
I continued a few more steps, following the scent, but then ran face first into a magical blockade. It was barely visibile, only the faint shimmers that occasionally drifted across it made it visible, and only if you actively looked for it.
“Ouch,” I muttered. Allard trying to suppress a chuckle. I shot him an angry glare, then looked around.
The brick wall around us looked no different than before. No buttons, keypads, panels, retina scanners, or anything else that hinted at a secured access. I searched for runes or glyphs, anything magical, but came up empty, too.
Something seemed out of place, though. I couldn’t quite make it out. As I let my eyes roam over the area that looked off, I finally found it. One of the bricks just didn’t fit in. The bricks were all brown-ish, dirty and musky, but this one was lighter, cleaner.
I touched it carefully, grazed my fingers across it, let it wander along its edges. It stood out a little, as if it could be pulled out. Or pushed in. On an impulse, I pressed it.
Without a sound, the barrier disappeared. It had been barely visible before, but now it was gone.
“Really? Is that to stop kids from accidentally wandering into the vault?”
“Well, I… this… is not as helpful as we thought, apparently,” Allard mumbled.
I continued, following my nose until I felt drawn to my right. I couldn’t make out the source of the magic, though. I stared at the wall next to me intensely, searching it for any clues. When I couldn’t see anythin
g, I picked up a pebble and started throwing it against the wall in random locations.
Allard probably wouldn’t let me fool around if the magic was dangerous, but if I was the attacker, I wouldn’t know that, and wouldn’t take the chance. But nothing happened. I was expecting either another defense mechanism that I would rather not trigger again, or some kind of opening mechanism.
I kept throwing the pebble while searching for any irregularities, but it just kept bouncing back. Until one time, it didn’t. Suddenly, it was just gone. With a smile, I looked at Allard, who smiled back knowingly. I found it.
Carefully, I threw another rock against the wall. This time, at knee height. It disappeared through the wall again, but I heard it clack on the ground behind it. Satisfied that it hadn’t been evaporated or something, I carefully stretched my hand toward the wall, then through it. It tingled a little, but this part of the wall seemed to be only an elaborate illusion spell.
“This is good,” I whispered. “I would never have seen it. I only noticed because of its smell.” With a smile on my face, I confidently stepped through the wall.
Then the smile froze on my face as two guards with big, towering shields and spears welcomed me. The tips of their spears were maybe six inches from my chest. One quick thrust and that was it. Behind them, an elementalist stared at me, her hands burning, flames dancing around them, just waiting to set me ablaze.
“Halt!” One of the guards shouted, determination on his face. I had no doubt that he would impale me if I made a wrong move. “Identify yourself!”
I looked back at the wall, which looked just as real from this side. A moment later, Allard stepped through it. “It’s all right, she’s with me,” he said, raising his hands calmly.
The guards visibly relaxed, withdrawing their spears and making way for us to pass through. But I stood in my place, observing the room.
It was narrow. There was no way I could squeeze between the two guards with their shields while they were guarding it. It was also only about six feet high, so the tower shields also made it impossible to jump over the guards.
“The guards are for protection against physical attacks,” I stated calmly. “But my first reaction would have been to blast them back, send them down. The spears and shields are too unwieldy for close combat. Anything bigger than a dagger is useless down here as soon as the line is broken.”
The guards looked at each other, clearly taking my remark personally. “We would have stabbed you to death before you could’ve finished a spell,” he exclaimed angrily.
I always used my hands to focus and direct my magic, but I didn’t absolutely have to. I concentrated for a moment, pulling in magic into my entire body, then sent it forward like a wave without even blinking.
The guards stumbled a step backward, but quickly regained their balance. Immediately, they turned toward me again, positioning their shields and getting their spears into position.
“You would never have seen an attack coming, not from a rogue, not even from an elementalist, probably.” Then I turned to the woman in the back. “Would you kill your two comrades here?” I asked her, pointing toward the two guards.
She looked at me and frowned, letting the fires around her hands go out.
“Because if I break through that line and get into melee combat with the guards, in a room this small, it will be hard for you to kill me without burning them, too.”
I turned to Allard and continued, “Also, if they could see through the wall, they could prepare for an attack, not be as surprised as the attacker. The attacker could even blast magic into the room before passing through the wall, completely catching them off guard.”
“But they don’t know what’s behind the wall!” the other guard protested.
“True. But when you are murderous attacker, trying to steal the most powerful artifacts in the city, just blasting around magic and killing everything in sight seems about right, doesn’t it?”
The guard didn’t have anything to say to that. As I took a step forward, the guards turned back to the sides and let us through, but I could feel their angry stares in my back.
Allard turned to them as he followed me. “Don’t worry, you did well. We are just investigating possible weaknesses, and these are our faults, not yours.”
The guards visibly relaxed and smiled at the witch. “Thank you, sir. We will not disappoint you.”
As we moved further through the hallway, I whispered to Allard, “Loyalty. That’s one advantage you have over the hideouts I had brok… uhm, had access to in the past. I don’t think they would run at the first sign of real danger.”
“They know how critical their task is, especially now. They would fight until their last breath, but I’m really hoping it won’t come to that,” he responded with a hint of pride in his voice.
“Agreed.” I continued through the hallway until I reached the door. I quickly examined it before pushing the handle, but didn’t find any traps. Still, just to be safe, I wrapped myself in a protective shield before I stepped through.
No arrows flew through the air or spikes came out of the floor, like they would in any treasure room in any video game ever created. Instead, I entered a room with more hallways leading out of it left and right. In it, there was one small map pinned to the wall, apparently showing a blueprint of the vault. It only showed the rooms and some comments on them, probably the artifacts that were kept there. I shook my head at it. Convenient, yes, but just as convenient for an intruder.
There were two big tables standing at opposing walls, both with a couple of chairs around them. Otherwise, the room was bare, lit up by naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.
Well, empty except the dozen people chattering about. The air buzzing with nervous excitement. It seemed like preparations for the coming attack were in full swing.
“And that’s as far as we‘ll go,” Allard said as he stepped through the door behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around to face him, subtly pulling my shoulder back from his hand. “Let me guess, the rest is top-secret?”
“It is, actually,” he chuckled. “We’ve had a few people on the inside run inspections here, though. We will implement some of these changes today, then we should be well prepared if someone actually tries to break in.”
Before I responded, someone dressed like the guards stationed at the entrance walked up to Allard. He looked at me for a moment, then whispered something into Allard’s ear. They stepped away, and Allard’s expression darkened further as the man continued whispering. Whatever it was, it was clearly not good.
While they were talking, another man approached me. He wasn’t quite as good looking as Octavian, but he was the most GQ-style magical I had seen so far.In his late twenties probably, stylish hair, and wearing a white shirt with a pinstripe vest. His confident strut and elegant attire made clear that he belonged here. Not one of the guards, someone in command.
“Hi, I’m Aaron,” he introduced himself with a smile, offering his hand. “You must be the rogue that Allard brought to inspect our defenses, right?”
“Right, that’s me.” I chuckled nervously, shaking his hand briefly. He wasn’t threatening, the opposite, actually. He was charming, friendly, with confidence for days, clearly a man of power. I wasn’t the most powerful fighter in Darkhaven, but I could hold my own against most creatures and magicals if it came to it. But in a politically charged social situation? I was no match for a man like him.
He tilted his head as if he was reading my thoughts, then smiled, teeth sparkling. “So, how did we do?”
“Uhm, well…” My voice trailed off. I was unsure how much I should tell. Allard was the one who hired me, after all, and I wouldn’t have been in business long if I didn’t know client confidentiality.
“That bad, huh?” Aaron laughed. Then he shrugged and shook his head. “I told them, the 1800s called, they want their security systems back. But no, rumors of it being impenetrable and deadly are enough, the
y said. As if,” he scoffed.
“Are you… like, the security chief or something?” I asked hesitantly. At least he didn’t talk like a politician. Blunt and honest. I could deal with that.
“Not really, no.” He shrugged. “Just the only one in the Ring without a dusty brain, apparently. Don’t tell anyone I said that, though.” He grinned, winking at me.
“Oh, you’re an Elder? You don’t look—"
“Old? Thanks,” he laughed again. “The Ring needed some fresh perspective, so I stepped in some time ago.”
“Oh, you two met, good,” Allard said as he suddenly joined us. His face was covered in furrows. Whatever news he had received couldn’t have been good.
“You alright?” Aaron asked with worry in his eyes, clearly thinking the same.
Allard looked back and forth between us for a long second, then sighed. “There is a… situation. While we were preparing the security, a dagger had gone missing from its room. Most likely today. A dagger. We either have a thief in our midst, or someone very talented broke in.”
“Another dagger?” I raised my eyebrow. “That seems suspicious.”
“I know. I’ll get Lizzy. Let’s hope she can locate the object and clear this up.”
With a frown, I crossed my arms before my chest. “Should I call Octavian? The last group that took—or otherwise acquired—the stolen artifact was pretty brutal.”
Wait, when did I turn from lone huntress to “I need some guy as backup”?
“Let’s not go into this one blindly,” Allard warned. “There’s a reason why the dagger was down here and not in some private collection.” He turned to the other man, “Aaron, warn the others, please. No more guests down here until we know more. Raven, follow me, please.”
I pushed my thoughts away and followed him into another room, smaller and, after Allard closed the door behind us, quieter. There was a desk in the middle of the room, with a couple of chairs around it and a small bookcase on one side. Otherwise, the room was empty. Not that it offered space for much more furniture than that.
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