Freedom & Folly IV

Nannade had always been a naturally curious and active girl, but her excitement today was more than usual, Garrett could see that in an instant, by the way she kept clicking her claws together, by the way how she curled her toes in that where poking out of her leather wrappings, by the way she kept curving and straightening her short tail. The two of them had arrived the wall below the estate they were supposed to infiltrate for evidence, hidden by the dark of the night. The climb would be around a hundred feet, not all of which would be along the natural stone face of the elevated terrain the wealthy district of the city was built upon. The last twenty or so feet would be a smooth limestone wall topped with fence spikes.

Garrett looked at the girl, expecting her initiative. She took a while to free her eyes from the long way up, when she finally did, her expression told him that she had no idea what he wanted.

"Well, I said you'd have to memorize the plan!" He reminded her.

"OH, OH! Yes!" She looked up again, then down. She tried to remember. "The glue!"

Garrett nodded. "And then!? The whole plan!"

The girl thought for a while longer. "Up the wall with the glue, secure the rope, wait for you. Up through the window, also with the glue, climb into the storage chamber, secure rope again, up to the study, search the study, find the evidence, get back out, down the rope, down the other rope, meet at the place, hand over evidence, get paid."

Garrett nodded with satisfaction. "And what do we do with the plan?"

"We stick to it!" Her eyes were determined. It was her first mission and she showed promise.

"Excellent. Let's go."

They took off their cloaks and left them in the bushes, then they put on their leather masks. He took a bottle with a thick green liquid out of his bag while Nannade fixed rope to an arrow and got her bow out. She tied a length of the rope around the arrow, they added the liquid to the head and then Nannade tied the other end of the rope around her ankle. She aimed for a moment and shot. It stuck to the upper part of the limestone wall. Nannade quickly got to climbing. She wouldn't have much time before the glue would turn completely hard and started to crumble.

Nannade climbed up as fast as some people walked over even ground when in a hurry. Determination and confidence spoke from her movements and she arrived at the drying glob of glue. She now had maybe nine to twelve feet to bridge to the top of the wall. She stemmed her legs against the limestone blocks, bent her knees and, with a mighty push, propelled herself upwards. Just as she pulled on the rope, the dried glob broke off the wall with a dry CRACK. Garrett shielded his eyes against the limestone shards and dried glue raining down on him. When he looked back up, Nannade was still on the wall. With all four she clung to it, pushing her claws into the narrow gaps between the blocks. It didn't look very secure for any moment longer than necessary. She looked down to him. He tried signalling her that she should throw him the bow so he could shoot a new rope. She didn't pay him any heed and let herself fall.

She landed on the little footing of natural rock at the bottom of the wall. Carefully she spread her legs and squatted down to keep her body as close to the wall as possible. Garrett tried to figure what it was she wanted to do. Did she want to jump all the way up the wall from this unsecure squatting position? She couldn't jump twelve feet!

She went down one more inch, then she propelled herself upwards.

With the sound of scraping claws on stone she almost crawled up the wall, sustaining her momentum with the slightest hold the claws on her hands and feet found on the wall. She arrived at the top and grabbed onto the ledge, pulled herself up and swung a leg over the wall, carefully avoiding the wall spikes. She untied the end of the rope from her ankle and tied it to one of the spikes. Then she waved to Garrett to give the all clear.

Nannade was already over the wall when he arrived. She had run towards the mansion and pressed herself to a wall to avoid detection. Garrett threw the rope to the other side so they could still get back up and ran to her. He couldn't see any guards, but he wasn't willing to wait for one.

"That was pretty good." he said after arriving by her side.

"Thanks. I learned from squirrels and cats."

"And what do we do now?"

She got a small mirror out of the pocket of her leather vest and used it to look around the corner. After a bit of looking, she said "We should be able to get in through the top window at the very end of that wall."

Like a teacher during a test, he asked her "And how do you know that?"

"Because the servants always leave that open in the evening."

Garrett nodded with satisfaction. The two of them started to run along the wall.

After they arrived, they did the same trick with the glue and the rope and the arrow again, shooting the arrow above the window and just stepping inside from there. First Nannade, then Garrett. The window led into a small side room primarily used by servants as storage for cleaning utensils. The girl checked the hallway when Garrett put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll take it from here!" He said. She slouched her shoulders in disappointment and wanted to protest for a moment, but then she relaxed and let it got with a nod.

Garrett took his small square notebook bound in leather from his hips. He flipped through all the different spell formula he had written down beforehand, then ripped out six and stuck them securely under his belt. An Invisible Fist, a door seal, two constrictors, an arcane lens and a metal storm. Then he took two more, both silent steps, and held the first in front of his eyes while looking at Nannade. He concentrated on that SNAP in his mind. The ink of the spell formula ignited and a flame swallowed the piece of paper. Then he did the same with himself. He got to the door and beckoned Nannade to follow him.

They sprinted down the hallway, to the stairs, up into the third floor, their footsteps silenced by magic. The hallway was clear. They had a few breaths left on the spell. They hurried along to the second door, the one which they deduced to be the target's study. The spell had run out by the time they arrived. Garrett knelt by the door knob and looked at Nannade. She was ready. He drew one of his throwing knives, so did she.

They burst inside. The room was empty. Quickly they got to barricading the door. It was a rather large one. Two sofas around a coffee table to the left of the door, to the right the desk carved from burl wood and behind it a comfortable looking chair. The two of them started searching the room. Their contact had assured them that the object they were looking for was somewhere in this room. Garrett had finished looking through one of the cabinets when he heard steps outside the door. Both of them stopped for a moment before drawing their knives and looking at the door in anticipation. The steps passed by. They sighed in relief and got back to searching.

Finally, Garrett had already gone through all the cabinets, when Nannade waved to get his attention. She was standing in front of a bust of some noble that made himself distinguished to the city a few years back. The bust was facing slightly to the wall, no way for a bust to be arranged in such a room. Garrett drew the Arcane Lens and cast it. The bust was boobytrapped. He figured out a simple counter that should work. He got his notebook out and quickly drew the formula with an infused wax crayon. The lines were messy and uneven, but it was good enough for what it was supposed to do. When he cast the counter, the bust vibrated for a bit, jumped to the side and then came to a standstill.

When Nannade tried to pick it up, she immediately retracted her hand. The bust was incredibly hot. She carefully held it with the part of her hands wrapped in leather.

The bottom had two small brazen clasps. Rotating them out the way allowed one to take out the centre of the downside, revealing a hollow space inside. From there Nannade pulled forth a very long and tightly rolled scroll. On it they found the information their client wanted. Nannade stashed it under her belt and went to unblock the door.

Nannade burst outside of the room onto the hallway and saw herself confronted with a surprised maid. Nannade made a sudden sound. Garrett barely had time to recognize the uniform before he pulled one of the Constrictors from his belt. He tensed his mind and SNAP. A flame swallowed the paper, and half a moment before the maid could call for help, her entire body seized up as if tied by a big rope and her mouth gagged. Now, they had around a minute to get out. They carried her into the study and Garrett applied the door seal. Then they got back to hurrying down the hallway, making sure to not run to avoid any unnecessary noise. The second floor seemed clear. Quickly they got back to the storage room, rappelled down the mansion wall and back towards where they had left the rope. It was still there, but as they came closer, two guards came around the corner with shining lanterns. They spotted the two, looked at the rope and quickly yelled an alarm.

Nannade was quick to throw two knives, both of which were blocked by the guards' armour. Garrett's hand reached for his belt. He pulled out the Invisible Fist, held the piece of paper into his line of sight to the first guard and cast the spell. The guard was punched backwards by an unseen force and landed on his back, his chest plate dented inwards. Then Garrett used the second constriction on the second guard.

Bells were heard, the alarm was rung across the mansion. Soon both private and city guards would be swarming here. They got to the rope over the wall before the guard could recover from the Invisible Fist. Garrett took his notebook and threw it to Nannade. "CATCH! GET ON THE WALL FIND ME TWO FEATHER FALLS!" She took the lead up the rope and sat on top of the wall, a leg to each side frantically flipping through the notes while Garrett drew his dagger with the crystal pommel. The girl was still flipping when the first guard had arrived and swung his halberd at Garrett. He dodged to the side and saw the other guards approaching behind his opponents.

"Are you even looking?" He yelled to the girl.

"I can't find a second Feather Fall!"

The guard swung another time. With a quick step Garrett got closer and behind the head of his opponent's Halberd. He stepped on the shaft, wresting the weapon from his opponent's arm and readied his dagger for a thrust under his armour plates. The guard had already reached for his short sword. Garrett parried the swing from the sword with his dagger's prongs and gave it a twist. The short sword fell to the ground. Garrett quickly took the opportunity and kicked his opponent down.

"TAFF!" Garrett cursed and hurried to the rope. A guard had already started shooting arrows their way. He dodged an arrow, half stumbling.

"FEATHER FALL! NOW!"

"I only got one here!"

"SHOW ME!"

Nannade held the Feather Fall at arm's length, with formula facing Garrett. He cast the spell on Nannade.

"WHAT?" was her only reaction as the paper went up in flames.

"Stick to the plan!" He yelled at her.

Despite the arrows flying, Garrett went into himself and remembered every nuance of the Invisible Fist and cast it on Nannade with strong intensity.

A spell that should have pulverized her bones, was softened to just a slight shove by her mother's last wish. She was pushed backwards, losing her balance and falling down the way along the wall. On her way towards the cobblestone street, she yelled another "WHAT?" before realizing that she was falling at a rather comfortable speed.

Nannade arrived safely on the ground. She looked up to the rope. Garrett still wasn't coming over the wall. She waited for another heartbeat. Her hands started to get sweaty. Continue with the plan, she thought. Another heartbeat. She heard people coming around the corner in a hurry. Another heartbeat. Still nothing from up top. She picked up both their cloaks and Garrett's palm book, then she ran down the streets. Continue with the plan. Meet at the place. Hand over the evidence. Get paid.