• The Enchanting Latch

Spheris approached Nephta, finding her seated behind the outcrop, gently tending to her broken left arm. She knew he was standing there, but she remained silent, the air thick with tension.

"Are you going to kill me now?" she finally spoke, refusing to show fear.

"No." he replied foursquare.

She looked up at him, her arm still in pain and subtle anger in her eyes. "Why not?"

Spheris didn't respond to that, he only gazed down at her, a hint of pity sneaking into his otherwise bleak emotion. "Can you walk?"

"I've tried," she scoffed. "But I hurt my ankle as well." Her eyes shifted to the newly stolen cascadean boots on his legs. "The shoes fit you nicely. Hope it was worth it?"

"I didn't kill him," Spheris remarked.

"But you chose not to save him."

"He would have done the same," his voice lowered. "In fact, he would have been the one to push me into the falling rocks... and you? You would have done nothing but watch. Because it doesn't matter, right? As long as you get your gold."

Nephta bore a look of defeat and contrition on her face, and so she looked away from the shadow walker, unable to face him.

"Every single one of you would have picked the treasure over my life in an instant and because I'm the one who actually did it, you try to judge me."

"It doesn't matter what I think," she snapped. "You won. Now are you killing me or not? If you are, do it fast."

Spheris sighed, his gaze scrutinizing her for a while longer, before turning his back to leave. "I don't know what is going to happen to you when the marshals get here, but I want you to know that you are one of the most interesting people I've ever met. And for some reason, I respect you."

As he began to walk away, Nephta's voice halted him, calling his name. "The boots? Is it through the same way you got that myrethian leather? Did you kill a man for it?"

Spheris ignored the question and continued to depart. "Goodbye, Nephta." His footsteps echoed in the now silent cavern, and once he turned to the tunnel opening to his right, he broke into a sprint.

He was running back to the dark stairs by the side of the dungeon. The stairs that led back up to the emporium and the bastion. The second part of his plan to gain wealth and save his mother was underway.

- ☯ -

Finding his way back to the dungeon wasn't difficult, Spheris simply followed the giant footsteps the Gorgolith had made. He evaded the marshals masterfully when they arrived. They marched in a large number holding their pistolets in hands as they hurried down the cave.

Spheris climbed to a ledge and hid himself in a hole in the wall caused by the Gorgolith during its onslaught. When the troops of marshals had disappeared deeper into the caves, he hurried up the dark stairs, fervently hoping the hatch was unlocked. Fortune favored him – it was.

He gingerly made his way up into the emporium once again. The bastion was quieter now, the marshals were likely all in the underground caves, in search of who had attempted to steal from the Wing's Treasury.

Spheris snaked through the corridor for the second time that night and made his way up a flight of stairs. The beautiful stairs, decorated in gold stretched to the highest floor, which was where the vault room was.

Arriving at the floor, he scanned left and right to ensure the coast was clear, and once he was satisfied, he hurried to the vault's door and quickly pulled out his lock-breaking tools. He then began to work on the locks.

A sense of urgency overfilled Spheris as he manipulated them. He glanced back frequently, trying to steady his heartbeat and keep his calm as the tension thickened. "Don't worry, Talon. They're all down in the caves, we have time." he said to his raven, when he was only trying to assure himself.

Finally the lock surrendered to his pressure and broke. "Yes!" Spheris whispered in joy. He slowly opened the vault and crept inside.

A Magic Torch lighted the room, revealing a treasure trove that glittered like a million stars. Spheris was expecting all of this, yet he couldn't help but marvel at the sight of it.

His plan was smart. Dunnam wanted to steal millions in gold and silver callisters, but him? He knew where the real treasure lied was inside the Duke's Vault. Like the simple gold camikenyan cup cost over ten million silver callisters, and the silver lockwatch with ancient markings cost eight hundred thousand gold callisters! He had no time to waste, he quickly began to take as much as he could.

He grabbed the camikenyan cup, the silver lockwatch, and a gemstone talisman. "Let's go, Talon." he said with a breathless smile.

But as he prepared to make his exit, Spheris cast a final glance at the opulence surrounding him. And that's when he saw it.

A box. It looked like it was bathed in an ethereal glow. Gold markings and descriptions were drawn on every side, and the edges were plated with pure gold.

Spheris gazed at the box in contemplation. It looked very expensive, perhaps more expensive than the three relics he had taken. With a sigh, he quickly grabbed the latch from the table it was placed and slid out of the vault.

"Hey, you!" The authoritative voice sent a shiver down Spheris's spine. He glanced back to see a Senior Marshal, glaring him down from across the hallway. "What the hell? How did you get inside here!?"

Spheris didn't hang around to answer. Swiftly, he veered to his left, sprinting away from the marshal. "Hey, come back here!" The marshal went after him. His speed was nothing compared to Spheris's though, because the thief bolted into one of the rooms and quickly locked the door.

"Hey! Open this damn door!" The Senior Marshal demanded, banging repeatedly on the door. Spheris slowly backed away, his heart beating as he scanned the room for a way out.

'The window! Yes!' he thought. He pulled it open and climbed out, withdrawing his digger knife from his safe pockets. Peering down at the base of the bastion, he was met with a sea of marshals. They were everywhere! How was he going to escape now? Talon cawed at him, and he demanded the bird to go to his mother, he needed her to know that he was alright. Talon obeyed and flew away.

Spheris meanwhile continued to scale the walls of the castle, until he arrived at another open window in the second floor. This one led to a bedroom. He peered inside. The room seemed empty and so he hopped in, and pocketed his knife.

Glancing around the bedroom, Spheris wondered why he sensed looming danger. It didn't take long for his question to be answered. He heard footsteps rapidly approaching from behind. "Arghhhh!" a feminine voice cried.

Spheris quickly pivoted to see a girl, around the same age as him, charging his way with a wooden stick in her hand. He ducked and gazed at her confusingly.

She seemed shook to her toes, breathing loudly with scared eyes. She was also half dressed, the towel she wore barely covering her round firm breasts, the water from her wet hair dripping all over her body.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"How are you here?" Spheris retaliated with his own question. "This room is always empty."

"No, no, no. I ask the questions here, Mr. Man-In-Black," she said sassily, flexing her weapon. "Now if you don't tell me who you are, I'm gonna bash your brains in."

Spheris gawked at her, unruffled. "Are you a relative?... Of the Duke's son?"

"What? No. I'm his girlfriend, you moron. Now tell me who you are!" She swung the wooden stick at him, but he easily evaded the strike, and grabbed her from behind, pressing her body to his and placing his hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" he whispered as she tried to wriggle free. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to get out of here." He could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her heavy breathing on his palm. "You're frightened, I'm sorry. I don't want to scare you. I'm going to release you now, but you have to promise not...to yell."

When she calmed down, he slowly removed his grip on her and they seperated cautiously. "Good," Spheris nodded, eyeing her suspiciously.

"He's in here!" the girl yelled. Spheris eyes suddenly darkened with fear and anger.

"Why did you have to do that!" he thundered. He shot her a hateful gaze before bursting out of her door and out into the corridor.

"There he is!" A marshal yelled. "It's the thief, get him!" A group of marshals chased after him, firing their pistolets as sharp mini-arrows wheezed past him. "Don't let him escape!"

Spheris ran through the corridors and down the stairs, but he found himself confronted by even more marshals, hemmed in on all sides. "Get on your knees, kid!" barked the Senior Marshal.

It was over. Everything he planned; his dream to heal his mother, give her the life she deserved and prove himself to everyone—all shattered because of a moment of compassion for that stupid girl. "I said get on your knees, before I shoot a mini-arrow straight into your forehead."

"Don't shoot!" a voice yelled from behind in urgency. "He has stolen the Essence Box, do not shoot!" The marshals turned towards the approaching figure, revealing a grand old man, bald with a long greybeard.

Spheris's heart pounded harder, his eyes flicking around in fear and confusion. "Don't worry, Mage Anduris, I'll handle this," assured the Senior Marshal. He then turned to Spheris. "Is that true? Do you have the Essence Box?"

Essence Box? Was that what it was called? From what Spheris could see, they were worried that it could break when he falls and that is why the Mage didn't want him to be shot. And so he slowly pulled the box out of his safe pocket and sampled it on their faces. "You mean this?"

They all gasped. "Are you mad, boy? Do you know how important that is? Hand it over, now!"

"Let me go, and I'll place it by the gate," Spheris said. "Shoot me and I'll drop it."

"How dare you, maggot!" the marshal growled.

"Do not shoot the boy!" Mage Anduris warned. He then looked at Spheris who was trembling in fear. "Come on, hand it over. We will spare your life, I give you my word. Give me the box. Do not open it, please."

Spheris knew the Mage's word meant nothing. He was a thief, and thieves lose their heads. Spheris liked his head. "Why not? What happens when I open it?"

"Do not open it!" the Mage panicked.

"Then let me go," Spheris demanded, his fingers prying on the lid of the box, threatening to pull it open. But at the corner of his eyes, he noticed the Senior Marshal, brimming with prideful rage, cocked his pistolet and fired.

Spheris didn't know whether he was fast enough, but he decided in that millisecond, that if he was going to die, whatever was in that Box was going with him. And so he yanked the lid open with all his might, but the speed of the mini-arrow was unbeatable and it tore into his heart with perfect precision.

Spheris saw nothing. Not even darkness, not even light. So this is what death is like?

Perhaps Jion was right after all.