1 Close To Freedom
Snow crunching beneath his boots, a cloak-wearing man walked through a crowd of people, pushing them aside without care until he reached the doors to a saloon. The entry is kicked open, and the man pulls down his hood, revealing a young man with white hair and hazel eyes; he glances at the bartender with a stern look.
"Ryker has a mission for me, Albert: open the backdoor."
The bartender quickly put away the glass bottle and cloth in his hand and opened the door to his left.
"Go ahead, lyris," he mumbled, his head down.
Lyris advanced downstairs and met Ryker, a fat bearded man with women in both arms,
Ryker smirked and demanded.
"Go to the castle and steal something brat."
Lyris scowled and blurted, "I'm not idiotic enough to rob the king's castle; that's a death sentence I decline."
He turns around and takes a step forward.
Ryker slammed his fist on the wall and shouted, "Halt bastard! If you do this job, you'll be free; this is the last job till your father's debt is settled."
Lyris freezes. "Consider it done then."
'Finally, after so long,
he walked off with a Grin on his face.
In the pub, with a goofy grin painted across his face, he tosses Albert, the bartender, a pouch of gold.
"My last job is near; prepare a feast for me when I return."
While pouring a drink, Albert smiles and slides it towards Lyris.
"It's been five years. Enjoy your freedom."
Silas sips the hot tea and laughs with pleasure
"Once I'm free, I'll drink tea till I collapse."
He took a big gulp and added.
"I'll travel the world on foot and live in nature; my mother loved nature."
The bartender frowned
"Indeed, she was a nature lover; she never shut up about the waterfalls."
Lyris sighed and stood up
"I'll see you after I gain my freedom, Albert."
Albert bowed as Lyris exited the pub.
Wearing his hood, lyris spotted the castle in the distance and walked through the snowy night.
'This won't be painless. I've done infiltration in the past, but the castle is overly guarded. But I've no choice.'
Lyris walks through the snowy streets under the moonlight, snow sticking to his boots.
Now, in front of the castle gate and walls, he spots four gatekeepers, each wearing identical clothes with helmets that only show their eyes.
Leaning on a building near the gates,
'If I could separate them, I could kill one and take his clothes.'
Lyris grabs a rock near him and tosses it around the corner far from the gate.
The guards notice a noise but don't move an inch.
Lyris crosses his arms
'I hoped they would be fools; I reckon I could climb, but I'm not very good.'
His splayed fingers cover his eyes with one hand.
'I'll leave this life of crime soon.'
Lyris digs into his bag, pulls a grappling hook, and smirks.
'As much as I hate those criminals, they taught me useful things.'
Lyris races towards the castle walls, launching the grapple up,
He jumps, his feet landing on the wall
Lyris quickly scales up the wall.
Once at the top, he climbs up.
Wiping his forehead, "Phew."
He retrieves his grapple hook off the wall, looks to his left, and catches a glimpse of a patrol guard
'Shit!'
lyris tightened his grip on the grapple
The guard shouted
"Who are you!"
The grapple launches at the guard
Impaling his eyes and splitting his head
Lyris pulls the grapple back to him, throwing the guard to the floor
he sighs after murdering the man
'I didn't want to kill tonight.'
Lyris, with sad eyes, removes the guard's clothes
"I'm sorry"
Now fully clothed as a castle guard.
'It's cozy and warm in this, and I didn't ruin the helmet. The job is going well so far; now the body and the guards will probably find it by morning. I'll be out of the city by then, and I'll leave the poor fool here.'
Lyris scans the area and spots an entrance
'Ryker said steal anything, so I'll make my way to a lady's room and steal her jewelry
Lyris walks slowly towards the entrance, till he comes across a guard without a helmet engraved armor, and a red cape.
"See anything soldier?"
Lyris shifted from side to side
'no way he would notice I'm not his soldier, I have a helmet on and only my eyes are visible'
Lyris straightens his back and responds "No sir!"
The important-looking guard walks past him
'Shit he'll find the body soon, I better hurry up
Lyris increases his pace and finally enters the castle
He is In a stairwell that only goes up.
'I better find a maiden's room quickly but I doubt there's one above me, I can't go back outside that man will find the body soon… shit'
He races up the stairs and meets a door
'There has to at least be something I can steal'
He slowly turns the doorknob, once the door is slightly open he peeks through and observes what looks like a lady's room
'Perfect'
He opens the door fully, revealing a bed with a woman who has Raven black hair and pale skin resting in it
'Shit let's just grab the jewelry and go
He scans the room, looking for a jewelry box
'There it is
Lyris slowly and quietly walked towards the jewelry box in front of a mirror by a window casting a dim moonlight on the entire room
He searches through the jewelry box and finds a ton of jewelry he then stuffs it in his pocket but before he can he feels a sword to his back
"Solider what are you doing?" a beautiful feminine voice said in a repulsed tone
'FUCK! I don't want to kill this girl but… Shit!'
Lyris's eyes were visibly ready to kill but his body disobeyed him
"Soldier, what are you doing?"
Silas raised his hands, his palms open, and mumbled
"I am sorry my lady may I leave?"
She presses the sword harder against his back
"I guess that's a no"
She curled her lip
"What are you doing sneaking into a maidens room pervert!"
Lyris rolled his eyes and blurted
"It's not like that! I came here to steal dammit"
She replied
"Show me your face or I stab you"
'She just had to say stab I hate getting stabbed.'
He clenches his jaw removes his helmet and turns to face her
"There it is done happy?"
She had a tight-lipped smile and mumbled
"I thought criminals were supposed to be ugly anyways off to the chamber you go"
She shouts "Guards we've got an Intruder!"
Lyris lowers his head and sheds a tear
'And I was so close to freedom'
