• Showtime

Spheris crouched in the shadow of Grimdel's Alehouse behind the bastion, his eyes scanning the patrolling marshals. He could only see four at the time through the small back gate as their armored forms paced along the perimeter.

He was all on his own now, as usual. The rest of the team were most likely in the tunnels by now, making their way to the dungeon. At least that's what they had told him the plan was. Spheris knew that there was a scheme here, he knew he couldn't fully trust them. All he had to do was to be as careful as he usually was.

Taking a deep breath, he signaled to Talon who was perched on one of the bastion's rooftops. With a subtle nod, the bird soared into the night, keenly surveying the bastion.

'Alright, now.' Spheris got on his feet. 'Showtime.' He sprang through the grass, barely making a rustle with his feet and soundlessly leaped to the top of the bastion's fence. He glanced at Talon to know if anyone had seen him. No one.

Stretching his limbs and timing his approach, Spheris made another leap, this time with a digger knife in his palm, stabbing it into the wall of the bastion. He lost his balance for a moment, trying to place his feet on one of the stones, but he composed himself quickly and soon began to scale the walls gracefully, his fingers aching as he held onto the ivy-covered slippery stones.

He finally arrived at a narrow ledge providing access to an open window, the room within brightly lit. "This must be the bastion's second level," he whispered to Talon and they both shared a glance. With a gentle push, the window swung inward, and the yellow bright light of the chamber almost blinded Spheris.

He peeked inside. There was a large ornate desk dominating most of the room, covered in parchment, quills and sealed scrolls. 'It's a study room,' he thought.

"Mage Anduris!" a voice boomed from outside the door. "The duke demands your presence."

"Is it the Essence Box?" a more elderly wiser voice asked. "Has it arrived?"

"Yes."

"Okay, lead the way."

Spheris silently waited for the sounds of their footsteps to subside before jumping into the study room. He quickly closed the window and hurried to the door, peeking into the corridors.

Empty. Good.

"Stay close, Talon," he whispered to the bird. Cautiously, he made his way through the bright corridors. The emporium was straight ahead, calling to him like a light at the end of the tunnel. But just as he was about to reach the door, he heard the ambient noise of metal boots echoing through the passage.

His eyes darted around in quick response and in an even quicker reflex, Spheris dived to the corner, pressing his back against the cold stone wall.

His heart pounded in his chest. 'Shit' he swore in his mind as he watched a marshal pass by, his attention focused elsewhere. Spheris exhaled a sigh of relief and glanced at Talon accusingly. "You're supposed to be watching my back." The raven looked comically apologetic.

"Come on, let's go." He tried the emporium's door and was surprised to see it was unlocked. 'Whoever unlocked it might come back,' he thought. 'We have to hurry.'

He quickly grabbed the only giant silver key he could see, but he toppled a table in the process, causing a heartstopping loud bang. Spheris's entire body froze as the echo of the crash reverberated in the corridor.

Did anyone hear that?

"What was that?" A voice asked from outside. Spheris's heart dropped. Indeed, someone had.

"Did you hear that?"

Unluckily for Spheris, two marshals had been passing the corridor that same moment.

"Yeah I did," the other marshal said. "Came from the emporium."

The silence that followed almost made Spheris's heart fall into his pants, and so he peeked through the keyhole.

"Shit," he swore. The two marshals were approaching... and fast. "Shit, shit, shit."

- ☯ -

The door swung open and Marshal No. 54 and No. 347 entered the emporium. However, there was nothing out of the ordinary, the store room seemed as normal as usual.

"I could have sworn I heard a noise from here," Marshal No. 347 said.

"Oh well, it probably came from another room," No. 54 suggested. "I heard a sound too but there's no one here."

No. 347 scrutinized the room for a while longer. "Strange," he said when his search ended up futile.

"Hey, you two!" a Senior Marshal yelled from the corridor. "What in Obadiel's name are you doing there? To the courtroom, go!"

"Yes, Senior!" the marshals echoed and scurried out of the emporium. Once they closed the door after them, Spheris waited for a few seconds before leaping down from the corner of the ceiling where he had been hanging on like a spider.

He grabbed the key one more time and tiptoed out of the emporium into the lowering steps to the dungeon. It was times like this that Spheris surprised even himself at how good of a thief he was.

- ☯ -

"I've got it!" Nephta announced as she released her outstretched hands and a blue mystical force revealed itself and then dissolved into the atmosphere.

"That's the fifth one and we're yet to arrive at the dungeon," Jion said. "This treasure is quite heavily guarded."

"As is expected!" Dunnam boomed. "It is almost a billion when exchanged to silver callisters."

"Let's keep moving, we do not have the time for small chatter," Nephta said. "The boy might already even be waiting for us."

Dunnam surprisingly didn't take offense to her order and the rest of the team continued down the part of the caves. They had left the stinky sewer some few minutes ago, and were grateful to smell the dusty dry air rather than the smell of feces.

"Speaking of the boy..." Jion said to Dunnam. The bounty hunter gave him a raised brow. "What about the boy?"

Jion lowered his head, realizing he was about to make a mistake. "Nothing," he replied. A short silence reigned for a moment until Acko spoke up.

"Nah, if you won't say it, I will!" he snarled. "You don't really plan to give him some of the money, do you?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Dunnam engaged.

"A Heathian boy with all that money? It's stinky, and not only that, it would draw attention! When people realize that a Heathian just somehow got rich overnight, questions would be asked."

"Surprisingly, Acko has a point," Jion said, refusing to look at Dunnam as he spoke. "If the boy gets caught, he could drag our names into it and we would be discovered."

Dunnam nodded. "Interesting point of view. But there's no saying that he wouldn't report us if we don't give him the money. I mean, in a bid for revenge it is something he would likely do."

"Which means the boy is a problem either way," Acko chipped. "I say we get rid of him."

Dunnam side-eyed the thief. "Get rid of him?"

"Y-yes," Acko maintained. "I mean it's the only way we can be assured that none of this will be traced back to us once it's done. He's a loose end."

"Acko? Are you suggesting we kill the boy?" Dunnam pressed.

Acko gnashed his teeth. "Well, he is Heathian. It's not like they don't die every day. No one is going to miss the mutt."

"Wow," Dunnam shook his head in a comedic disbelief. "That is foul. You are a vile man, Acko... and you, Jion. You are a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"We do what we must to survive," Jion replied straightforwardly.

"What about you, Nephta?" Dunnam asked the Incarnate.

Nephta didn't turn around at all, she just continued walking. "What about me?"

"You've been awfully quiet. What do you think we should do with the boy?"

Nephta shrugged. "He's a thief, just like us. Doesn't matter if he's Heathian or not. He's done his part, so he's entitled to his pay. That's what I think." Then she sighed. "But what I think doesn't matter, you three can do whatever you want. As long as I get to leave with my gold."

"I see."

"This is the rendezvous point," Jion declared. Everyone stopped talking and looked around. To the left was a dark stairs that led upwards into the emporium of the bastion. This part of the cave was darker. Uglier as well.

"Be quiet the boy might be listening."

"Listening to what?" Spheris asked, appearing out of the shadows with a giant key and his raven.

"By Obadiel's name!" Acko swore. "Is he going to keep doing that?"

Spheris ignored him. "Here's the key." He handed it to Dunnam and stepped backwards. There was a certain tension in the air as the thieves all stared at him. Did he hear any part of their discussion?

"When did you arrive here, Spheris?" Dunnam asked, gazing at him suspiciously.

"A minute ago," Spheris replied. He turned around to return to the wall he was leaning on.

"And how much of our conversation did you hear?" Dunnam pressed, his gaze turning ominous.

Spheris turned to him, and with an apathetic demeanor, he said, "None of it."