Chapter 11, a donation from the drifters

(Reskeme)

With a whomp, his soft soled boots touched the cobblestone alley. He crept around the building to the secret entrance. Pressing down on the first stone, nothing happened. He moved to the others, taking only seconds to find each. The three spots the woman had pressed stood out, if only slightly on the ground. If he didn't know to look for them, they would have gone completely unnoticed. He reached for the final Stone. His lack of caution almost cost him. Just before his fingers pressed down on the last stone, a faint tingling brushed the tips of his fingers.

He paused, his fingers only inches from the gritty cobbles. Staring intently, he channel mana, searching for the trap he knew had to be there. His nose was several inches away and he still couldn't see the mana of a barrier.

Unlike when he created a layer of mana, this layer was created so he couldn't see it. This was the way Nijel was trying to teach Reskeme to create his illusions. After all, what was the point in an illusion of someone could see the mana signature from across the room? Shaking his head, he returned to the problem at hand. He analyzed the last stone and, having an idea, he created several tiny runes. They circled the stone, each the size of his fingertip.

He willed White mana from the three runes. Mana filled the air, just smaller than the size of his fist. With intensive focus, he weaved and into guided the mana into a small Dome. He filled the small dome with tendrils of fog like mana. He grinned, the fog like white mana washed around the hidden barrier.

Fog like tendrils of mana swirled around the odd barrier like water around a rock. Sweat beaded on his forehead. It was taking all of his focus to maintain such a light stream of mana. The inner barrier suddenly popped. Reskeme nearly dropped his focus, the cracking of the barrier startling him. He panicked, realizing the trap had gone off. He was going to turn around and leave until a flicker of foreign mana filled his own barrier. It was the shimmering mana used by the other ward. A malicious smile crossed Reskeme's face.

The foreign mana mixed with his vapourish mana blending until they were one. Reskeme made a small gap and reached through his barrier, pressing the third stone. The hidden door slid silently, and a shadow opened up on the stone floor. From up close, it was simply a hole in the cobbles with a ladder.

Reskeme channeled mana into his three runes. Imprisoning the mana meant to warn its creator in his own barrier. His leather boots touched metal ladder rungs as he descended.

The room was dark, but this didn't hinder Reskeme. He glanced up at the hole he just entered. He let out a sigh of relief and cautiously moved down the narrow hallway. With only ten paces, the hall opened into a room the size of most tavern common rooms.

Wooden crates and boxes filled the space. To his right, two rooms with shut doors lined one wall. Aside from that, there was another tight hallway across the room leading under one of the buildings. He peered into one crate, wondering what all the hassle was for?

As he approached, he realized each of the boxes and crates had labels. Reskeme opened one with an eagle emblazoned into the wood. As expected, there were ingots of steel stamped with an eagle on the surface. These were high-quality ingots mined and refined from the kingdom of Pentir. Reskeme opened several of the boxes, eying the various high-quality materials.

Either the drifters were filthy rich or they were liberating these from unsuspecting merchants. Reskeme doubted the Drifters were buying all of this. He checked his timepiece, Reskeme slapped himself. It was nearing five thirty in the morning. He needed to hurry; he needed sleep and the owners might return.

He wanted to take all the boxes, but he couldn't possibly carry more than one. Each weighed perhaps fifty pounds and was as wide as his torso, far too unwieldy to lug over one at a time. Eyeing the two doors on the right wall, Reskeme made his way through the assorted boxes. He found an entire box of Verdin root. He shuddered, remembering that one time when he tried the foul drug. It forced hallucinations and, with prolonged use, could make the user a brainless idiot. Just like that bum Uriah that would sit on the street corner drooling, staring for hours at nothing, blissed out on Verdin root.

Judging by the powerful smell of dried grass and soft earth, that pile of perhaps twenty boxes were all Verdin roots. Despite the extreme value of the substance, Reskeme couldn't carry it all and lacked the contacts to sell it either.

Pushing aside his irritation at the loss of gold, Reskeme checked each of the doors. He didn't touch either knob, but slowly tested each looking for a trap.

His caution payed off as one door, presumably whoever was the mage had a small barrier around the doorknob. Once again, even after channeling mana, Reskeme couldn't sense the ward until his fingers were inches away from triggering it.

Unlike the first one, the ward on the door felt distinctly malicious. He didn't know how he knew, but Reskeme had the impression it might set him on fire if he didn't diffuse this trap like the last.

Repeating his previous barrier, Reskeme wrapped the doorknob in a small barrier of three runes and surrounded them in his own mana. His green mana roiled as it touched the other barrier. Reskemes' fire mana met another's volatile mana, and they mixed. In a mesmerizing cadence, green and red mana mixed the enemy's barrier, becoming visible in a red hue. Well, judging by the malicious feel of his small barrier, he needed to hurry before it exploded.

Using his mist like green mana, he held the foreign mana away from the doorknob and reached in. The door was unlocked. What kind of moron would trust their ward so much?

Steeping inside, Reskeme scanned the bedroom. There was a small bed, a nightstand with a pile of papers and two small lacquered boxes as tall as a wine bottle. On the surface of each box was a gold plated R.

Reskeme searched the room. Aside from some expensive dresses and some well-made pants and blouses, the closet had nothing to steal. Taking one pillowcase from the bed, Reskeme put all the papers inside. Once done, he put both cases with the gold plated R inside. He heard a light sloshing, denoting the liquid inside. He slung the bundle over his shoulder and gently shut the door behind him. The small green and red barrier swirled Reskeme's green runes holding the red inside. He grimaced, the tingling on his skin warning of leaking mana.

The second door was locked, but that wasn't a problem. Reskeme used his lock pics and within a minute had the door open. Not his fastest, but he was learning different locks.

The second room was obviously that of the mans. It contained a small bed, clothes were strewn across the stone floor. After searching the room, all Reskeme found was a pouch of twenty silver crowns and a belt with two curved daggers tucked under the mattress. They were well hidden, but Reskeme was determined to take everything of value.

He belted the knives to his waist. The belt clung loosely to him, lacking the holes to Sinch to his size, sliding down his narrow hips. Reskeme grumbled, picking up his liberated goods and headed down the hall towards the exit.

His arms strained, and he gasped as he lugged the heavy sac up the ladder and onto the flat of the street. Grinning like an idiot, he set the sac to the side and pressed all three of the inconspicuous stone blocks to re seal the entrance. The floor slid and the faint sound of stone grinding on stone drifted to his ears.

The door slid into place. Reskeme eyed his little barrier, holding the foreign mana in place. He could already feel mana leaking away from the barrier as the runes eroded. Usually the runes would last hours before breaking down, but the mana inside appeared to be eroding his small barrier. Well, that was unfortunate. Reskeme whistled a tune and hefted his sack of valuables. He hoped the green and red barrier in the basement didn't burn down the city when his runes tore apart. Sure, it was in the basement, but a building burning down was a threat to the entire city in the tight confines of the slums.

Stepping into the street in no real hurry, Reskeme waltzed along the darkened street. He was only two blocks away when a distant muffled boom shook the street. He smiled. All of those valuable drugs, metals, and clothing were about to become a pile of ash. Sure, he hadn't been able to kill any of the Drifters in it, but taking away all of their stuff was good enough. Trying not to appear hurried, he headed out of the Drifters' territory. Several people rushed towards the explosion, passing him without a second glance. After all, he was simply strolling down the street in the dark, nothing to see here.

Like a beehive hit by a thrown rock, people headed towards the pillar of smoke and flames. He glanced over his shoulder. A bell tolled and people left their houses to see what the disturbance was. A fire lit up the city. Well, now he knew the underground hideout connected to the house above it. Sweating nervously, Reskeme paused as the fire brigade barreled around the far corner. He stood aside as the horse-drawn cart barreled down the street ringing that god's damned bell.

He made his way back to the inn, taking as many side alleys as he could to catch any pursuer.. Nervously glancing over his shoulder for any sign of pursuit, Reskeme enter the back door to Maybells Inn. Lights shone from the windows, and Reskeme had to remake his disguise to appear as Adam.

The back door creaked, and he was greeted by the kindly Maybell still in her nightgown.

" Adam, what's going on out there?" asked Maybell, yawning.

" There is a fire in the eastern quarter of the city." said Reskeme, falling into his roll of Adam.

" What are you doing up so early?" asked Maybell, eying his cloak and the sac over his shoulder.

"I wanted to study before going to the academy." reply Reskeme weakly. Maybell eyed his face, no doubt seeing the bags under his eyes and the exhaustion in his posture.

" You stayed up all night again, didn't you?" asked Maybel, concern in her voice. Adam sighed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. His cheeks burned in the low light of Maybel's rune lantern.

" Ya, I need to keep looking. My friends are still missing." said Reskeme.

"Why don't you just report this to the city guard?" asked Maybell.

" I told you they won't care. They already know my friends are missing and from what I have seen they haven't been looking." said Adam.

" Well, go get some sleep. I will wake you up in a couple hours." said Maybell..

Adam yawned and headed for his room. He practically fell into his bed, falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. When he woke for the academy in a few hours, he would check the contents of his loot.

Bang! Bang Bang!

Through a dreary haze, the drumming of a fist on his door shook Reskeme from sleep. He groaned, having only slept for three hours. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he rose, shivering as his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor.

Bang! Bang!

" Stop that! I'm awake! said Reskeme, wanting more than anything to go back to sleep. His large sac of stolen items rested on the wooden floor.

" Come get some breakfast. I also have some tee on the stove." said Maybell he voice muffled by his door.

That made him feel more like getting up. He reached into the sac and pushed aside the pile of documents and letters. The two lacquered boxes stood out in the dim light of his room. He fed mana into the small basic rune lantern on the nightstand and reached for the polished metal latch fastening the box closed. The latch clicked, and he swung open the lid. Inside were four bottles of wine. Reskeme furrowed his brow. What was the point of these lacquered boxes for bottles of wine?

Even the cork was encased in a cage of twisted silver wire. He pulled one red bottle out and eyed the gold leafed label. Royal red was inscribed onto the label. His eyes bulged. He had never tried the stuff, but Trisha had ordered a bottle on their impromptu date. She had payed a whopping eighty five silver for a single bottle. No wonder they were in such fancy boxes. Reskeme scowled at the bottle in remembrance. He didn't know what to think of Trisha right now. His emotions raged from angry to flustered and then gratitude all at once. He didn't know if he wanted to kill her or kiss her. Sure, she saved him, but it was her fault they captured him in the first place. Well, if he was being honest, that was his fault.

Reskeme placed the liquid silver back into the box. The second box was half the size, but it sloshed as he slid it along the floor. The latch clicked, and he swung the lid opened. Inside, wrapped in soft thick cotton, were two bottles. He unwrapped one, noting the blue hue. The cork was tied to the bottle's neck with gold wire and the label denoted the bottle as Royal Blue.

He scratched his head. Sure, the bottle looked extremely expensive, but Reskeme had never heard of Royal blue. He smiled. Maybe he could ask Tony about it when he got to the academy. That could work. Tony was always going to bars and trying to pick up women. Maybe he knew how valuable this wine was? If all else failed, Reskeme was sure he could at least make a couple of silver by selling the gold wire holding the cork in place. Putting away his new treasure, Reskeme glanced at his timepiece.

The much too valuable item displayed the time at seven thirty. He cursed. All of his messing around was going to make him late. He dressed in the deep blue robes or the Darentar branch of the academy, placing the book of structural advancement in a cloth bag, before rushing to breakfast. With such little time, he took the pancakes and eggs, folding them like a sandwich. Maybell glowered at him for destroying the perfectly arranged meal.

" Sorry, Maybell, thank you for the meal. Next time I will sit to eat with you." said Adam grinning cheekily. He rushed out of the inn, eating while he rushed towards the academy. He couldn't be late. Nijel was preparing them for the initial stage of structural advancement today. Not even a complete lack of sleep could dull his excitement for the day.