In an abandoned warehouse somewhere in the town of Veja in Sund'ry, a group of bandits met. The bandits were a select group of nine men compiled mostly of burly Horse-men, renowned for their superiority in hand-to-hand combat and horse-riding; a few of the Sund'ry race, known for their loyalty and great numbers; a Woodman, a race respected for their skill for hiding in plain sight, weilding deadly daggers and their bow and arrows; and a Draconian, the last remaining living specimen of his race.
The bandits were having a discussion around a small rectangular table that on Tuesdays they used to play board-games on. The Draconian and leader of this team of bandits sat at the far end of the table with a crystal glass of Equu fire-water in his hand, the other eight sat around him. Their discussion revolved around a certain priceless gem.
‘My colleagues, today is the day when we steal the Ru'kon Gem’ said the leader of the bandits smirking.
‘Indeed my friend, the route is set, so no sidetracking, remember what happened at the coup’ said the Woodman who was obviously the second in command.
‘Oh come on, she was beautiful you have to admit that’ he smirked.
‘Felix, what was her name again?’ He asked mockingly.
‘Um… so, where is Ravius?’ said Felix changing the subject suddenly. ‘Is he late again?’
‘No sir, he’s outside, he can’t fit through the door, and he’s too bulky and tall…’ said Karion the most promising of all his archers.
‘You really do not remember her name?’ Revari said incredulously.
‘No’ Felix said with a shrug.
‘Unbelievable, if it was not for that woman we would have certainly-’
‘Are we all ready then, it’s time’ Said Ravius from outside
‘We sure are…’ said Karion picking up his bow an arrow.
‘Let’s move then’ said Ravius from outside, in that deep voice of his.
It was dark when they reached the huge palace at the centre of the city. There were detailed engravings upon the walls and gate of the white stoned palace, presumably done by a Woodman sculptor.
‘God I hate this palace’ said Felix in disgust.
‘Yes, I know… sad really, this moron spends all the tax money on his palace while the majority of his subjects are illiterate and starving’ said Revari between clenched teeth.
‘Look guys we are here to steal the Diamond not overthrow the government, that was last year’s task which, might I add, we failed because our revered leader couldn’t keep his pants on’ said the biggest of the burly Horse men, called Ravius by his people, in a sarcastic tone.
‘Oh, come on, not you too!’ said Felix a little upset.
‘Boss, the centenaries are gone now’ said Karion in a serious tone.
‘Good, time to move, we have work to do. Come on Ravius bring your men and that grappling hook.’
‘Karion come here. Can you hook this on the wall?’
‘Sure can, boss’
The arrow soared through the rain, glinting (because of the centenary torches) as it clinked and held at the top of the main wall.
‘Time to go up’ said Felix tugging at the wet rope and wiping his forehead of the rain.
‘Ok Revari you go up first, just to check if it sustains any weight.’
‘Thanks Felix, very honourable of you.’ He said sarcastically.
It took them ten minutes to climb the soggy wall even though the rope was wet. They were all burglars, though.
At the top of the wall, Felix looked upon the castle complex, half-uncovered by the night sky lit only by tiny torches, which flickered in the rain.
‘Remember people, you are here for fighting guards. If no guards are found, which would be very unusual, stay uncovered. If not, reveal yourselves, is that clear?’ whispered Felix.
‘Yes Boss’ said the soldiers in unison
‘Ok Karion, can you hook it on the first floor landing?’
‘Why ask boss, you know I can.’
He tied one end of the rope onto an iron bar used as a heavy flagpole, and then with perfect precision, he slotted the arrow onto the stone landing floor underneath.
‘Follow me, I’m going in’ whispered Felix before he took hold of the rope and climbed down to the first floor landing.
Felix, the agile Horsemen, Karion and Ravius (a huge horseman, twice the size of any normal human being) crossed the slippery rope unafraid of the precipice underneath them, egged on by the lust of money and riches, which they would have once they had sold the huge Diamond…
The thought of the gold he would own is what kept him warm during the climb across the wet rope in that horrid blustery weather.
He was still daydreaming when they reached the ground of the first floor and met the first guards, easily beaten by the burly Horsemen. Short fight but successful, none killed just unconscious.
‘It doesn’t make any sense! Why do they use novices to guard the palace?’ said Ravius puzzled.
‘Um Ravius, all of the available knights are fighting the Unknowns, which is bad news for the king but good news for us’ he said smiling
‘And bad news for those guards’ said Ravius pointing at the comatose guards. ‘They are going to have a hell of a headache when they wake up’ he said smiling.
‘They sure are Ravius’ said Felix also smiling.
‘Did you all remember to stab the guard assigned to you in an inconspicuous place?’
‘Yes Boss!’ the Horsemen chanted in unison.
‘What are you all waiting for? Put on the guard’s uniform! Um, please?’ Said Felix quickly after realizing that the people he was shouting at were burly giants.
After the hassle of putting on the chain mail of the novice guards in the pouring rain, they began to climb up the high and slippery wall of the second level.
They decided not to use the hook as it was so dark and they couldn’t make out the edge of the wall. Moreover, in case it attracted the whole mass of novices. Not that they could not deal with more than three thousand novices, but a precaution is a precaution…in my opinion it was a brainless idea bearing in mind that those burly soldiers were afraid of a little thunder…
Three quarters of the way up the seeming endless wall, Felix saw a flicker of light; he turned his head, in the direction from which it came. Then, seeing a flash of lightning, he figured it was only lightning. How wrong was he to be.
‘I have reached the top!’ He shouted at the Horsemen underneath as he climbed onto the second floor landing.
‘Wow boss that was a hell of a climb. Can’t we go through the front entrance next time?’ He said sarcastically
That is when the sky rumbled, and that is when the huge bang of thunder was heard, which made the unexpected Karion jump and which obviously set the burly soldiers a bit on edge, and as my mother always says soldiers on edge don’t hang onto walls…
‘Quickly Karion throw the-’Felix then stopped suddenly flabbergasted.
‘Holy Christ, Ravius! How the hell can you manage that? Those guys must weight a tone!’ said Felix not believing what he seeing.
‘Not really’ he shrugged ‘I can lift twice this load in the gym-’.
In the pale flickers of lightning Felix could make out the string of soldiers being moved up the damp wall by the sheer force exerted by Ravius’ bicep (yes only one bicep, how else was he going to hold on to the wall? He is not Superman, and before you ask, no, he cannot fly). He dragged the panicking soldiers up and over the wall.
Until they had arrived at the top, Ravius’ expression had been one of calm and collectiveness, now that they had reached the top his expression changed to one of fury, his eyes were red with anger…
At that moment, Felix witnessed something he had never seen before (on sober people anyway); huge burly men kneel while crying and asking for forgiveness. However, I must clarify that they were neither softies nor wimps; you would ask for forgiveness if this huge person were looking at you in a murderous way, so DO NOT judge!
Thankfully, they met no novice guards, or else Ravius would have dismissed the no killing clause and slaughtered them, easily.
As they reached the wall, which led to the third floor, Felix stopped abruptly.
‘Ok guys this last bit isn’t going to involve any scuffles, just pure stealth, so only Karion and me are going to climb this wall up to the third level, understood?’.
It was a quick climb to the third floor landing, the mission had gone perfectly so far, too perfectly he thought. He brooded about it until he remembered that the King was an imbecile and probably has no idea about the concept of traps so he stopped worrying about it. ‘Ok Karion you go scout the area, then return and give me the all clear, ok? If you run into any trouble just give the signal and I’ll come and bail you out.’
‘Yes sir!’
It was perhaps 40 minutes later when Felix spotted a twinkling light moving towards him, it was Karion returning, his tunic was ripped and he had a little cut on his arm. ‘All clear sir’
‘What happened to you arm and your clothes?’
‘There were guards but they were easily dealt with, with my trusty sword.’
‘Where the hell did you get that sword from?’ he asked puzzled.
‘From one of the guards’ he shrugged.
Both men moved stealthily under the non-stop rain, across the third floor landing. They moved across the slippery floor with nothing but a lantern to guide there eyes. With that scarce light, Felix could barely make out the marble carved benches at his side and the path leading to the Jewel room door all but a foot in front of him was pure darkness.
They reached the carved wooden door with surprising speed. The door was not very thick but the beautiful carvings made it a shame to knock it down…not.
Felix got his axe out and began to pound the thin door. The second swing completely detached the door.
‘Ooops I think I hit it too hard.’ Felix said in a mock tone.
‘Wow, way to show your hatred for Woodman art!’ said Karion while looking at the smashed door pieces on the floor.
‘Shall we go in Master Karion…?’
Felix and Karion entered a dry dimly lit hall. Upon entering, Felix looked across the dim hall to find where the light was coming from. It was emanating from a shaft in the ceiling, which allowed a beam of light to enter the hall and illuminate the huge gem mounted on a pedestal in the centre of the hall. This light bounced ff the various smooth and polished sides of the gem and gave the room its dim lighting effect.
He walked towards the gleaming gem to take a closer look of what would make all his dreams come true.
Face to face with the gem he couldn’t help but notice his reflection,… he thought of himself as a handsome man fairly popular with the ladies…then he looked at the reflection of Karion a man of his own race, handsome as well but still innocent. He shut his eyes to let the memories flood in…
He had found Karion in a cradle next to his murdered parents; he had raised him to be a great bowman and had succeeded. Felix was proud.
He opened his eyes to look at the reflection in the gem again. Only to find that Karion’s face had melted away and another face had emerged. This face was scarred and visibly insane. Most disturbing of all his eyes had no colour.
‘Who the-?’ shockingly, he found could not speak. An unknown force had closed his throat. He was slowly choking. No way to stop it …It was too powerful…Midway, trying to struggle, his body gave up and he blacked out…
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© 2012 H Williams. All rights reserved