LINER NOTE: This series follows the adventures of Autolycus, the King of
Thieves, and Muran, a young Chinese bandit who he has reluctantly taken
under his wing, as they travel the ancient world looking for treasures to
steal and trouble to get into….
LINER NOTE 2: This episode written by guest writer Ladybug….
"Guess again,"said Muran, crunching through the dried leaves as she and Autolycus headed through the forest.
"Are you sure it's not an animal?" said Autolycus, rubbing his chin.
"I told you, it's a vegetable," she said.
"Is it broccoli?"
"No," she said slyly, "but it does have a head."
"Lettuce?"
"No."
"I give up!" he said, exasperated.
"It's you!" Muran giggled.
"Not funny," Autolycus growled. Kids! What a pain. "We've got to stop for the night pretty soon. I know of a cave up here we can camp in."
"You know where every cave is in the whole world," she said.
"I've had many reasons to hide," he replied. "And none of them had a sense of humor. Here we are." They stopped a brief way from the opening."Uh-oh," Autolycus said. "This doesn't look good." A trail of red led to the cave, and the vines hiding the opening were disturbed.
Dagger drawn and shielding the girl behind him, he approached the cave and, hearing only silence, stepped cautiously into the opening.
There on the ground lay two figures, a man and a woman, completely motionless. Autolycus put away his dagger and went to the man first, who lay in a pool of blood from the gash in his side. Muran gagged and turned; the sight and stench of the blood was too much for her. It was too late for this guy, Autolycus realized. The woman's foot and arm were bandaged up, and the foot was propped up on her pack. She had a nasty knot on her head, too. He put his hand to her neck to check for a pulse; at his touch, her eyes flew open and she jumped up with her back to the nearest wall. She whipped out a knife so quickly that even Autolycus couldn't tell where it came from.
He could tell, however, that she was dazed and confused, and way too jumpy to be waving around a knife.
"It's okay," he said placatingly. "We won't hurt you."
"Where is the Misha stone?" she demanded angrily, shifting her weight to the bandaged foot only for a moment. Her face became pale as a ghost, but she never relaxed her offensive stance.
"I don't know anything about any stone, so why don't you just put that down that knife and we'll talk about it..."
The woman's eyes darted to the body of the man who had lain beside her. Autolycus saw it, and didn't think it was a good time to tell her he was dead.
"He's dead," he blurted out. Damn! he thought. Gotta work on controlling that truth impulse....
At this, she stared at him with eyes that seemed like black stones in her white face, and collapsed into a heap.
As night fell, Autolycus buried the nameless man outside the cave, and built a fire inside for Muran and the dead man's nameless companion. Muran played nurse to the woman, swathing her forehead with a cool rag.
"You know, underneath that dirt and voracious appetite, I think you're nothing but a girl," Autolycus accused her.
"Oh, hush up," said Muran, only half listening. "Isn't she pretty?"
He looked at her chestnut hair pulled back loosely at the neck, the perfectly shaped lips barely pink against her oval face. He remembered the dark eyes that bore into him just before she passed out.
"Yeah, if you say so," he muttered. "That guy couldn't have been much heavier. I'm beat, I tell ya. Now I know why I'm not in the funeral business."
A groan came from the woman, and Autolycus made sure no sharp objects were in her reach. Her eyes opened slowly, and this time they were dull as she focused on the two strangers who regarded her with concern and curiosity.
"Rylus," she whispered. "He's dead."
"I'm sorry," Autolycus said, at a loss for any other words.
"He was my brother," she offered. And after a moment, "You're not the ones who attacked us."
"No," he said. "We were too late to help. What's this Misha stone you're looking for?"
"It's a long story," she said, closing her eyes.
"You don't have to tell us," Muran said soothingly. "But what's your name?"
"Elissa. Help me sit up..." She struggled to do so, with assistance, and groaned, clutching her foot.
"It's not broken," said Autolycus. "I checked it out. It's just a sprain."
"To whom do I owe my life?" Elissa asked. "I may have ended up like Rylus if you hadn't come."
"This is Muran, and I'm Autolycus. Actually, it looked like your brother took pretty good care of you. That may have been why he didn't take time to care for himself."
"Dear Rylus...you've left me all alone now," Elissa whispered. Then a realization struck her, and she looked up. "Autolycus? King of Thieves?"
"Ah, you've heard of me," he said proudly, twirling his mustache.
"If you are as good as they say you are, I must tell you the story, and from the beginning. I need your help."
Why does it always have to be me? he wondered. Why can't they find Hercules or something?
"Let's hear the story," Autolycus said, sighing.
Elissa's home town, Cassopolis, was once a large thriving city governed by her family. This government was centered around their unusual abilities to control an even more unusual resource: The Stones of Misha. These two stones, oddly shaped triangles by themselves but forming a perfect triangle when fit together, had what Elissa described as magical properties: To a certain extent, they could make thought into reality.
With these stones, Elissa's family ensured the city's prosperity with good weather and good crops, and protection from those who would abuse the stones' powers. However, one such person, named Gerth, managed to permeate the city one terrible day, and all of her family save herself and her brother Rylus were slain. They two alone remained successfully in hiding until the slaughter was over.
They hid with them one of the stones; the other was taken by this evil man for his own purposes. Elissa's only hope was that she could find him before he learned to use it.
For a year, Elissa and Rylus struggled to keep the city well and whole with only their power over just one stone, while she sent messengers far and wide to try and learn where Gerth had taken the other. Finally, she heard he resided in Thrace, and so she set off to reclaim the lost stone with her brother, when they were waylaid and robbed of the one stone they had left.
"Now I am the only one left," she said, aggrieved. "I must find the stones, even if Cassopolis loses the benefit of them when I'm gone. They would better be destroyed than be in the hands of someone like Gerth. You must help me recover the Misha stones. It's imperative." Elissa looked at Autolycus pleadingly.
"I have a few questions," he said, and she nodded. "First off, why didn't you send someone else to Thrace?"
"I am the eldest," she said, sitting and straight and proud as she was able. "It's my responsibility. Rylus was also doing his duty. We always protected the others...I had a sister, Talia. She'd be about your age now, Muran." She looked at the girl with bittersweet longing, and Muran's pity and sympathy for her was evident.
"Why don't you get someone else to help you with the stones?" Autolycus asked, not detoured by this display of emotion.
"I've tried, but my family were the only ones who could do it. The stones aren't really supernatural; they just operate on the harmonics of nature, and you have to be tuned in to those harmonics to understand their power. We were all just born with that gift, and our parents taught us how to use it. It's kind of like looking for someone who's been hit by lightning. It's very rare. And there's nobody in Cassopolis who's been hit by this kind of lightning. It's hard to explain."
"I guess so," Autolycus mused. "How can Gerth operate the stones if he hasn't been 'hit by the lightning?'"
"He must have at least a little bit of the gift, or else he'd have no use for them. Fortunately, it takes time to learn how the stones work. That's my only hope. If he gets them both together and can figure it out, he can use it for no end of terrible things. It just must not happen!"
"One more thing. Do I get paid for this?"
Muran elbowed him and gave him a dirty look that said, How can you ask money from this poor woman? He ignored her and waited for the answer.
"Of course," Elissa said, not offended in the slightest. "All right, then. I'm on the job. Now let's get some rest. It's hard work defeating bad guys with magic stones."
The three settled down and went to sleep. But before she did, Muran saw Elissa rubbing her ear and eyeing Autolycus strangely, as though she were trying to assess him thoroughly; but she didn't think anything of it, and drifted off right away.
After the fire had almost died, Autolycus awoke to an odd sound. He looked at Muran, who was sound asleep with her mouth half open, and then at the figure of Elissa, wrapped up in her blanket. He realized the sound he'd heard was her muffled crying, and thought of poor Rylus, who lost his life in ensuring hers. He fell back asleep, but tossed and turned until dawn.
The journey to Thrace took longer than usual with Elissa's sprained ankle, but she did surprisingly well. Autolycus was impressed with her hardiness in spite of himself. But he ignored her and Muran's girl antics, for the most part. Elissa would braid her hair and tell stories about her sister Talia, and Muran ate it up. Well, it's to be expected, he told himself. Muran's been living without a girl around for a long time, and now she's acting like this woman's personal baby doll.
So he let them giggle and whisper and take their baths together (how could it possibly take two girls over an hour to take a bath when it had only taken Muran ten minutes before? what were they doing, making omelets or something?) and have their "quality time" in the few days it took to get to Thrace. He was quite relieved when they got there, in spite of the danger that awaited them. Ah! Danger! This was his forte, his area of expertise. Not descriptions of dresses and parties and who got the handsomest boyfriend at home. No thank-YOU! Not for the King of Thieves!
Walking nonchalantly through the busy streets, his shifty eyes darting around and taking everything in, Autolycus was forming a plan.
"Okay, this is how we'll do it," he said commandingly. These female-types would have to take HIS orders now. "I've got contacts here, and they can tell us where Gerth is hiding the--"
"This way," Elissa said, almost trance-like, and turned abruptly down a street to the right. She was completely ignoring him! And Muran trotted after her like a puppy! This was just not acceptable!
"Now look here," he began.
"Shhh!" Elissa shushed him.
"Look here," he said in a hushed tone. "How are we supposed to find--"
"My earring." She tapped on her ear as she stepped slowly, quietly down the small road. "It's made of the same material as the Misha stones. When I think about them, and I'm close to them, it feels warm and gives a little glow."
Autolycus looked, and sure enough, it was a light amber. Just like her eyes, he thought involuntarily. Wait a minute! I'm mad at her. And I'll remember why in just a minute...
"In here," she whispered, nodding to a dilapidated house. "How do we get in?" Elissa looked to him expectantly. Now he'd show her! This was his forte, his...
"I don't know," he said. Nuts! That truth impulse again! That's really a bad thing in a thief, he thought. "Heh..just kidding! No, I've got it all taken care of. Stand back. Waaaay back. Yeah, over there."
The two hid in the shadows while Autolycus knocked on the door. "Are you crazy?" Muran hissed at him, but the door opened and Elissa clamped a hand over the girl's mouth.
"Whaddya want?" asked a scraggly man.
"I'm looking for Selphus. He's my supplier and I'm really low on, uh, supplies, yeah, and my business is just shot without those supplies, and I demand to see him right now! Selphuuus!" But the man just eyed him and didn't budge, so Autolycus talked even faster.
"See, if I don't talk to Selphus then I'm going to get really angry, and you don't want me to get really angry because Selphus got me angry once and that's why he has only three fingers on his left hand, and you're not buying this, are you? Oh, forget it," and Autolycus smashed his fist into the guy's face, pushing past the teetering fellow into the house with Elissa and Muran right behind him.
Inside, two men emerged from the back to investigate the ruckus. Autolycus grabbed one, but before he could tell Muran to take cover, Elissa had taken a club (where does she get these things? he wondered) and knocked out the other man. Wow, he thought.
"All right, you," Autolycus growled meanly in the conscious man's face. "Where's the Misha--"
"Found it!" Elissa sang, running from the back room and waving the brown stone.
"Elissa, please!" he said exasperatedly. "You didn't even let me wring him for it!"
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.
"All right," he growled again. "Let's try this again. You tell us where Gerth is, or I'll pulverize you!"
"You're too late," the man sneered. "Gerth is way ahead of you. He's almost mastered the stone. You'll never get it back."
Elissa approached the man solemnly, holding the stone forth.
"Cooperate," she told him simply. He laughed at her. She held the Misha stone, and it started to give off its amber glow. The man looked over her shoulder with a look of pure fright, and started to whimper.
"I'll tell you!" he cried. "Just send it away! Please!" And he started to sob like a little child. Elissa relaxed and the stone cooled as the man poured out directions to Autolycus, who listened carefully to the man before knocking him unconscious as well.
"Can't have him telling on us," he explained. "What did you do?"
"I just made him see whatever it is he feared the most," she said. "It was as real to him as you and me." So the band of three, plus a very powerful stone, set out to find Gerth and reclaim the other stone.
As they went on their way, Muran caught Elissa watching Autolycus again while fingering her earring, and wondered what she was thinking.
At the edge of Gerth's domain, Autolycus got that adrenaline rush again that he always felt at the brink of danger. He scoped the parameter until he found a place for them to sneak in. Once inside, they slunk down hallways with the guidance of Elissa's earring, finally coming upon the room where she swore it was being held. Two guards stood at its door.
"Two guards? That's it? I thought you said this thing was valuable," whispered Autolycus.
"It is," she whispered back. "There are probably booby traps inside, which I'm sure you'll know how to get around."
"Of course I will. I am, after all, the King of Thie--hey, wait up!" But Elissa was already headed for the guards with a sword in hand, the third weapon she'd pulled out of thin air. I hate when she interrupts me, he thought, hurrying to follow her and Muran, who again was on Elissa's heels.
The two guards were dispatched of easily--too easily, Autolycus thought, and the heavy double doors swung open. Elissa took a quick look around and spotted the Misha stone in a wall cavity shaped especially for the two stones when joined.
"Aha!" she exclaimed, and darted for it.
"Wait! Would you just WAIT a minute??' Again there was no stopping her. Fortunately, nothing happened. Curious. Only two guards...no poison darts or false floor tiles...that could only mean--
"It's a trap!" he called, but the doors shut with a thud. They were indeed trapped, and from another door (the only other door, Autolycus noted) flooded a handful of armed men, with a big smug-looking fellow behind them: Gerth. Before Elissa could retrieve the stone from its resting place, she was charged and had to defend herself. They drove her back from the wall, while others swarmed to Autolycus. He quickly used his little grappling hook to swing across the floor, kicking furiously all the way, giving his famous whoop and holler. A few fell, but most of them got up again. Muran took out one or two herself (Atta girl! ) before getting captured and held down by two of the men, who at least were occupied in keeping her out of the way instead of fighting Autolycus or Elissa.
The King of Thieves used his tricks and gadgets to get by the men and get to the Misha stone in the wall. He turned to throw it to Elissa, but she was overwhelmed, and losing to Gerth's henchmen. Gerth himself watched from the corner, amused. If Elissa couldn't catch the stone, how was she going to use it to defeat these guys?
"Help me, Autolycus," she cried. "Use the stone! Help me!"
"Me?? I can't!"
"Yes, you can! You have the gift, at least a little bit! I've felt it--" Elissa fought to push away the enemies surrounding her, but they pressed on her still. "Think of ice! Think of the coldest thing you've ever felt..." Muran saw Gerth frowning and furrowing his brow, collecting his thoughts to use against them. He's going to fight it, she thought. He's not going to let them do it. She went limp, surprising those who had held her from kicking and biting a moment before, and then broke free, charging full strength into Gerth and knocking him to the floor. She used all of her wiry little strength to wrestle him, hopefully buying her friends some time. Meanwhile, Elissa coached Autolycus quickly, desperately.
"Just give to me your thoughts and I'll guide them...let it all go, Autolycus." After a moment, he realized her voice was not out loud, but in his head. He held the stone and closed his eyes and thought of blizzards, mountaintops, glaciers, icicles. He felt the cold around him, but it didn't touch him.
The images swirled around in his head, making him slightly dizzy, but he held on. "That's it," her voice said. "Now send it all to me..."
He wasn't sure how he did it, but Autolycus visualized sending the white snow to Elissa. Her amber eyes burned in the midst of it as she shaped it all into a heavy blanket and laid it down....
Autolycus realized there was no sound. He opened his eyes to see every person in the room, except the three of them, frozen stiff.
Elissa drooped slightly. Muran and Autolycus stepped around the icy statues to get her out from the middle of them, and he handed over the other Misha stone.
"That was hard," she said, slightly winded. "I've never done that without Rylus. Thank you." She grasped her friends' arms.
"This is all well and good, but what happens when they melt?" Muran asked.
"That won't be for a long time," Elissa said. "But when they do...they won't have a boss." She walked over to the frozen form of Gerth, still on the floor where Muran had been wrestling him. For a moment Elissa stood before him, one stone in each hand, rigid with emotion.
"You've taken everything from me," she said in a low voice. Her words came slowly, deliberately. "You've stolen my family from me, and you've destroyed my future, and the future of my home." The stones glowed, and Gerth began to thaw. "I have no parents. No siblings. Nobody to help me keep the peace and prosperity in Cassopolis." Gerth blinked, almost warm, and stumbled to his feet, crouching against the wall behind him. "There is no one for me now. All because of your greed. Your desire to be great and powerful." She stepped up to him, her small face in his big ugly one, and poked him in the chest with one stone. "Oh, you will be remembered, all right. I will make sure of that." Drawing back, Elissa fit the stones together with a resounding click, and stared at him with burning eyes. In seconds, Gerth was solid rock.
Autolycus and Muran stood behind her, watching the transformation. She turned to them with the pain and satisfaction of her delivered vengeance showing plainly on her face, and said, "Let's go home."
Cassopolis was alight with hundreds of lanterns after Elissa arrived home with both Misha stones. The citizens started a festival in celebration of her victory and in honor of Rylus' memory, and it was quite a party. Music filled the air and people filled the streets, dancing and singing and reveling. Elissa had taken Autolycus and Muran to her house, and dressed the girl in one of her too-small party gowns. Muran positively glowed in the pink material, ribbons to match in her hair (placed there carefully by Elissa, of course), and she ate herself silly while running wild with the other children. Autolycus watched them together that evening.
Elissa treated Muran with such tenderness and genuine affection, touching her hair and telling her stories, complimenting her on how pretty her eyes were. Muran openly adored Elissa in return, emulating the older girl's every move. Autolycus wondered if he was doing the right thing. Sure, she probably would have gotten in far worse trouble if he hadn't been there to look out for her; but maybe he should have turned her into an orphanage or something, to give her a shot at a real home, a real family. The unstable, dangerous life he led was no way for Muran to grow up. For the first time, Autolycus saw that maybe there was some merit in this "girl stuff," after all.
Now Elissa walked toward him, carrying a sleeping Muran in her arms. Muran's face was stained with blueberry pie, and she still held a pastry in her hand. As Elissa handed her over to Autolycus, Muran stirred. "Not sleepy," she mumbled in protest, and settled right back to sleep against his chest. Elissa motioned for him to follow her into the house. She led them to a bedroom decorated with all kinds of animals and a pink blanket on the bed. "My sister Talia's room," Elissa whispered. Autolycus laid Muran down on the bed, and Elissa covered her up, kissing her forehead gently. He felt a strange pang watching this, but couldn't say why, or what it meant. "Goodnight, Muran," she said quietly. Muran's eyes fluttered open.
"I love you, Elissa," she sighed, closing her eyes again.
"I love you too, dear," said Elissa, and when she came to the door, shutting it behind her, Autolycus saw she had tears in her eyes. He said nothing, feeling that any words would be incapable of comforting her now, or describing his sympathy for her.
"I want to show you something," she said, and took him to a room on the very top floor of the great house. He followed her out to its balcony, and there lay a breathtaking view of Cassopolis, beautiful in the night, but even more so for the festival lanterns and the faint music wafting up through the trees.
"It's stunning," Autolycus said.
"This is my room," she said. "I chose it after Gerth left, because of this view. Whenever I would feel sad about my family, or doubt that I could carry on as they'd taught me, I came out here and looked at the city. I knew that they all counted on me, that they needed me, and somehow I found the strength to go on."
He watched her, this young woman with such grave responsibility, looking out solemnly with the moonlight bathing her lovely face. He admired her strength, her maturity, her sense of duty. As a king of thieves, they were qualities he didn't much empathize with, but he could appreciate it in others, especially Elissa.
She felt his gaze and turned to face him. "Don't you ever want to settle down?" she asked him.
"Sure, sometimes. Usually when I'm in prison or about to be executed or something."
"Seriously, Autolycus." She drew close to him. "Didn't you ever want a family? A home?"
"Well, now..." He was uncomfortable looking too deeply within himself, but somehow she made it easier. "There are moments when I think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad."
"Then stay here with me. You and Muran. We could be a family, and I could teach you to use the Misha stones. You wouldn't have to worry about ever getting in trouble again, and there are plenty of adventures to be had here. Please." The look in her amber eyes, the smell of her perfume, her very closeness to him...Autolycus was momentarily intoxicated with her, and almost said yes.
But he didn't.
"I can't, Elissa," he said, genuine regret in his voice. "I'm not the kind of guy who can stay in one place. I think you know that."
They looked in each other's eyes for a moment, and he could see she did know it. She smiled ruefully.
"Well then, I shall enjoy you while I have you," she said. Autolycus leaned in to kiss her gently, sweetly; then passionately. She wrapped her arms around him, and he breathed her in. She took him by the hand and led him back inside her room, leaving the fireworks outside to pale in comparison to the fireworks within.
In the morning Autolycus packed up his things and waited for Muran to finish breakfast. She'd polished off eight pancakes already, and was now on to the eggs and toast.
"Do you have a hollow leg where you keep all that?" he asked her. "Aw, leeme alone," she said, her mouth full.
Elissa came in as the two prepared to leave. "I wish you would stay longer," she said. "But I know you have things to do, adventures to have, other people's treasures to pilfer."
"That's right," Autolycus said jovially. "Your adventure was just one in a long line, my dear."
"I thought as much. Well, since your stealing days may not always be fruitful, I've prepared a few things for you." She motioned to a couple of servants, who brought forth a horse loaded with packs brimming with food and supplies. One servant handed Autolycus a large pouch that jingled; he looked inside to see a mound of dinars bigger than his fist.
"Elissa..."
"You wanted to be paid, didn't you? Besides, you earned it." She eyed him wickedly, and the King of Thieves very nearly blushed. Then Elissa turned to Muran. "But Muran...I was wondering...if you would stay."
Shocked silence followed as the girl stared at her. "Stay? Like, forever?" "Yes, like forever. We could keep each other from being lonely."
Autolycus waited, expecting to hear Muran's shout for joy and command to the servants to unpack her bags.
Instead, she drew close to Autolycus. "Elissa, thank you for your offer. I would love to stay if I could. But I have to find my real mother. And besides...Autolycus needs me."
Normally that sort of comment would have drawn quick protests; the King of Thieves, need a little girl? But he said nothing. He was curiously touched by her decision. And even a little relieved. After all, he told himself, he could use her to help him keep his cover...nobody would be looking for a man with a little girl...that's why he was relieved. Yes, indeedy, that must be it.
Elissa sighed sadly. "Then I am destined to be alone. At least for a while. Very well then." She turned and retrieved a box and piled it onto the already-laden horse, who whinnied in protest. "That is your dress, my dear. You were lovely in it, and no one but you could wear it so well." Muran squealed and kissed Elissa delightedly. She petted the horse, which now nickered happily at the affection it was getting.
"As for you..." Elissa drew Autolycus off to the side. "You won't get out of here without a proper good-bye." They embraced warmly, and strolled as they talked.
"What will you do without any one to help you with those Misha stones?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. After I die, they may have to destroy them, or hide them until someone else with the gift comes along."
"That seems pretty extreme," Autolycus said. "Why don't you just find some nice village boy to marry?"
"Hah!" Elissa said. "After the adventure of you, my dear man, I don't think any nice village boy can possibly compare." She pulled something from her pocket and handed it to him. "I want you to have this." Dangling from a gold chain was a small, brown piece of rock.
"What is it?"
"It's made from the Misha stone. See, when you think of me and I think of you, it'll let you know. Try it." They looked at each other and thought rather riske thoughts, and sure enough, the pendant and her earring glowed amber. "It'll also warn me when you're coming back for a visit," she grinned.
Autolycus put it on, and pulled her close. They kissed warmly, finally breaking away and returning to Muran and the horse.
"Well," he said to Muran, "what are we going to do with this big lug of a horse?"
"His name is Haley."
"What?" asked Autolycus. "What kind of name is that?"
"His name is Haley!" she insisted. "He told me."
He shrugged and lifted the girl onto the horse. "Whatever you say."
"So long, Autolycus, King of Thieves," Elissa said.
He hugged her again and gave her one last kiss. "You've given me a wonderful adventure, and some wonderful memories to take with me," he said.
She smiled and waved good-bye as Autolycus led Muran off on Haley. Rubbing her belly gently, Elissa said quietly, "And you've given me a wonderful legacy."
THE END
LINER NOTE 2: This episode written by guest writer Ladybug….
"Guess again,"said Muran, crunching through the dried leaves as she and Autolycus headed through the forest.
"Are you sure it's not an animal?" said Autolycus, rubbing his chin.
"I told you, it's a vegetable," she said.
"Is it broccoli?"
"No," she said slyly, "but it does have a head."
"Lettuce?"
"No."
"I give up!" he said, exasperated.
"It's you!" Muran giggled.
"Not funny," Autolycus growled. Kids! What a pain. "We've got to stop for the night pretty soon. I know of a cave up here we can camp in."
"You know where every cave is in the whole world," she said.
"I've had many reasons to hide," he replied. "And none of them had a sense of humor. Here we are." They stopped a brief way from the opening."Uh-oh," Autolycus said. "This doesn't look good." A trail of red led to the cave, and the vines hiding the opening were disturbed.
Dagger drawn and shielding the girl behind him, he approached the cave and, hearing only silence, stepped cautiously into the opening.
There on the ground lay two figures, a man and a woman, completely motionless. Autolycus put away his dagger and went to the man first, who lay in a pool of blood from the gash in his side. Muran gagged and turned; the sight and stench of the blood was too much for her. It was too late for this guy, Autolycus realized. The woman's foot and arm were bandaged up, and the foot was propped up on her pack. She had a nasty knot on her head, too. He put his hand to her neck to check for a pulse; at his touch, her eyes flew open and she jumped up with her back to the nearest wall. She whipped out a knife so quickly that even Autolycus couldn't tell where it came from.
He could tell, however, that she was dazed and confused, and way too jumpy to be waving around a knife.
"It's okay," he said placatingly. "We won't hurt you."
"Where is the Misha stone?" she demanded angrily, shifting her weight to the bandaged foot only for a moment. Her face became pale as a ghost, but she never relaxed her offensive stance.
"I don't know anything about any stone, so why don't you just put that down that knife and we'll talk about it..."
The woman's eyes darted to the body of the man who had lain beside her. Autolycus saw it, and didn't think it was a good time to tell her he was dead.
"He's dead," he blurted out. Damn! he thought. Gotta work on controlling that truth impulse....
At this, she stared at him with eyes that seemed like black stones in her white face, and collapsed into a heap.
As night fell, Autolycus buried the nameless man outside the cave, and built a fire inside for Muran and the dead man's nameless companion. Muran played nurse to the woman, swathing her forehead with a cool rag.
"You know, underneath that dirt and voracious appetite, I think you're nothing but a girl," Autolycus accused her.
"Oh, hush up," said Muran, only half listening. "Isn't she pretty?"
He looked at her chestnut hair pulled back loosely at the neck, the perfectly shaped lips barely pink against her oval face. He remembered the dark eyes that bore into him just before she passed out.
"Yeah, if you say so," he muttered. "That guy couldn't have been much heavier. I'm beat, I tell ya. Now I know why I'm not in the funeral business."
A groan came from the woman, and Autolycus made sure no sharp objects were in her reach. Her eyes opened slowly, and this time they were dull as she focused on the two strangers who regarded her with concern and curiosity.
"Rylus," she whispered. "He's dead."
"I'm sorry," Autolycus said, at a loss for any other words.
"He was my brother," she offered. And after a moment, "You're not the ones who attacked us."
"No," he said. "We were too late to help. What's this Misha stone you're looking for?"
"It's a long story," she said, closing her eyes.
"You don't have to tell us," Muran said soothingly. "But what's your name?"
"Elissa. Help me sit up..." She struggled to do so, with assistance, and groaned, clutching her foot.
"It's not broken," said Autolycus. "I checked it out. It's just a sprain."
"To whom do I owe my life?" Elissa asked. "I may have ended up like Rylus if you hadn't come."
"This is Muran, and I'm Autolycus. Actually, it looked like your brother took pretty good care of you. That may have been why he didn't take time to care for himself."
"Dear Rylus...you've left me all alone now," Elissa whispered. Then a realization struck her, and she looked up. "Autolycus? King of Thieves?"
"Ah, you've heard of me," he said proudly, twirling his mustache.
"If you are as good as they say you are, I must tell you the story, and from the beginning. I need your help."
Why does it always have to be me? he wondered. Why can't they find Hercules or something?
"Let's hear the story," Autolycus said, sighing.
Elissa's home town, Cassopolis, was once a large thriving city governed by her family. This government was centered around their unusual abilities to control an even more unusual resource: The Stones of Misha. These two stones, oddly shaped triangles by themselves but forming a perfect triangle when fit together, had what Elissa described as magical properties: To a certain extent, they could make thought into reality.
With these stones, Elissa's family ensured the city's prosperity with good weather and good crops, and protection from those who would abuse the stones' powers. However, one such person, named Gerth, managed to permeate the city one terrible day, and all of her family save herself and her brother Rylus were slain. They two alone remained successfully in hiding until the slaughter was over.
They hid with them one of the stones; the other was taken by this evil man for his own purposes. Elissa's only hope was that she could find him before he learned to use it.
For a year, Elissa and Rylus struggled to keep the city well and whole with only their power over just one stone, while she sent messengers far and wide to try and learn where Gerth had taken the other. Finally, she heard he resided in Thrace, and so she set off to reclaim the lost stone with her brother, when they were waylaid and robbed of the one stone they had left.
"Now I am the only one left," she said, aggrieved. "I must find the stones, even if Cassopolis loses the benefit of them when I'm gone. They would better be destroyed than be in the hands of someone like Gerth. You must help me recover the Misha stones. It's imperative." Elissa looked at Autolycus pleadingly.
"I have a few questions," he said, and she nodded. "First off, why didn't you send someone else to Thrace?"
"I am the eldest," she said, sitting and straight and proud as she was able. "It's my responsibility. Rylus was also doing his duty. We always protected the others...I had a sister, Talia. She'd be about your age now, Muran." She looked at the girl with bittersweet longing, and Muran's pity and sympathy for her was evident.
"Why don't you get someone else to help you with the stones?" Autolycus asked, not detoured by this display of emotion.
"I've tried, but my family were the only ones who could do it. The stones aren't really supernatural; they just operate on the harmonics of nature, and you have to be tuned in to those harmonics to understand their power. We were all just born with that gift, and our parents taught us how to use it. It's kind of like looking for someone who's been hit by lightning. It's very rare. And there's nobody in Cassopolis who's been hit by this kind of lightning. It's hard to explain."
"I guess so," Autolycus mused. "How can Gerth operate the stones if he hasn't been 'hit by the lightning?'"
"He must have at least a little bit of the gift, or else he'd have no use for them. Fortunately, it takes time to learn how the stones work. That's my only hope. If he gets them both together and can figure it out, he can use it for no end of terrible things. It just must not happen!"
"One more thing. Do I get paid for this?"
Muran elbowed him and gave him a dirty look that said, How can you ask money from this poor woman? He ignored her and waited for the answer.
"Of course," Elissa said, not offended in the slightest. "All right, then. I'm on the job. Now let's get some rest. It's hard work defeating bad guys with magic stones."
The three settled down and went to sleep. But before she did, Muran saw Elissa rubbing her ear and eyeing Autolycus strangely, as though she were trying to assess him thoroughly; but she didn't think anything of it, and drifted off right away.
After the fire had almost died, Autolycus awoke to an odd sound. He looked at Muran, who was sound asleep with her mouth half open, and then at the figure of Elissa, wrapped up in her blanket. He realized the sound he'd heard was her muffled crying, and thought of poor Rylus, who lost his life in ensuring hers. He fell back asleep, but tossed and turned until dawn.
The journey to Thrace took longer than usual with Elissa's sprained ankle, but she did surprisingly well. Autolycus was impressed with her hardiness in spite of himself. But he ignored her and Muran's girl antics, for the most part. Elissa would braid her hair and tell stories about her sister Talia, and Muran ate it up. Well, it's to be expected, he told himself. Muran's been living without a girl around for a long time, and now she's acting like this woman's personal baby doll.
So he let them giggle and whisper and take their baths together (how could it possibly take two girls over an hour to take a bath when it had only taken Muran ten minutes before? what were they doing, making omelets or something?) and have their "quality time" in the few days it took to get to Thrace. He was quite relieved when they got there, in spite of the danger that awaited them. Ah! Danger! This was his forte, his area of expertise. Not descriptions of dresses and parties and who got the handsomest boyfriend at home. No thank-YOU! Not for the King of Thieves!
Walking nonchalantly through the busy streets, his shifty eyes darting around and taking everything in, Autolycus was forming a plan.
"Okay, this is how we'll do it," he said commandingly. These female-types would have to take HIS orders now. "I've got contacts here, and they can tell us where Gerth is hiding the--"
"This way," Elissa said, almost trance-like, and turned abruptly down a street to the right. She was completely ignoring him! And Muran trotted after her like a puppy! This was just not acceptable!
"Now look here," he began.
"Shhh!" Elissa shushed him.
"Look here," he said in a hushed tone. "How are we supposed to find--"
"My earring." She tapped on her ear as she stepped slowly, quietly down the small road. "It's made of the same material as the Misha stones. When I think about them, and I'm close to them, it feels warm and gives a little glow."
Autolycus looked, and sure enough, it was a light amber. Just like her eyes, he thought involuntarily. Wait a minute! I'm mad at her. And I'll remember why in just a minute...
"In here," she whispered, nodding to a dilapidated house. "How do we get in?" Elissa looked to him expectantly. Now he'd show her! This was his forte, his...
"I don't know," he said. Nuts! That truth impulse again! That's really a bad thing in a thief, he thought. "Heh..just kidding! No, I've got it all taken care of. Stand back. Waaaay back. Yeah, over there."
The two hid in the shadows while Autolycus knocked on the door. "Are you crazy?" Muran hissed at him, but the door opened and Elissa clamped a hand over the girl's mouth.
"Whaddya want?" asked a scraggly man.
"I'm looking for Selphus. He's my supplier and I'm really low on, uh, supplies, yeah, and my business is just shot without those supplies, and I demand to see him right now! Selphuuus!" But the man just eyed him and didn't budge, so Autolycus talked even faster.
"See, if I don't talk to Selphus then I'm going to get really angry, and you don't want me to get really angry because Selphus got me angry once and that's why he has only three fingers on his left hand, and you're not buying this, are you? Oh, forget it," and Autolycus smashed his fist into the guy's face, pushing past the teetering fellow into the house with Elissa and Muran right behind him.
Inside, two men emerged from the back to investigate the ruckus. Autolycus grabbed one, but before he could tell Muran to take cover, Elissa had taken a club (where does she get these things? he wondered) and knocked out the other man. Wow, he thought.
"All right, you," Autolycus growled meanly in the conscious man's face. "Where's the Misha--"
"Found it!" Elissa sang, running from the back room and waving the brown stone.
"Elissa, please!" he said exasperatedly. "You didn't even let me wring him for it!"
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.
"All right," he growled again. "Let's try this again. You tell us where Gerth is, or I'll pulverize you!"
"You're too late," the man sneered. "Gerth is way ahead of you. He's almost mastered the stone. You'll never get it back."
Elissa approached the man solemnly, holding the stone forth.
"Cooperate," she told him simply. He laughed at her. She held the Misha stone, and it started to give off its amber glow. The man looked over her shoulder with a look of pure fright, and started to whimper.
"I'll tell you!" he cried. "Just send it away! Please!" And he started to sob like a little child. Elissa relaxed and the stone cooled as the man poured out directions to Autolycus, who listened carefully to the man before knocking him unconscious as well.
"Can't have him telling on us," he explained. "What did you do?"
"I just made him see whatever it is he feared the most," she said. "It was as real to him as you and me." So the band of three, plus a very powerful stone, set out to find Gerth and reclaim the other stone.
As they went on their way, Muran caught Elissa watching Autolycus again while fingering her earring, and wondered what she was thinking.
At the edge of Gerth's domain, Autolycus got that adrenaline rush again that he always felt at the brink of danger. He scoped the parameter until he found a place for them to sneak in. Once inside, they slunk down hallways with the guidance of Elissa's earring, finally coming upon the room where she swore it was being held. Two guards stood at its door.
"Two guards? That's it? I thought you said this thing was valuable," whispered Autolycus.
"It is," she whispered back. "There are probably booby traps inside, which I'm sure you'll know how to get around."
"Of course I will. I am, after all, the King of Thie--hey, wait up!" But Elissa was already headed for the guards with a sword in hand, the third weapon she'd pulled out of thin air. I hate when she interrupts me, he thought, hurrying to follow her and Muran, who again was on Elissa's heels.
The two guards were dispatched of easily--too easily, Autolycus thought, and the heavy double doors swung open. Elissa took a quick look around and spotted the Misha stone in a wall cavity shaped especially for the two stones when joined.
"Aha!" she exclaimed, and darted for it.
"Wait! Would you just WAIT a minute??' Again there was no stopping her. Fortunately, nothing happened. Curious. Only two guards...no poison darts or false floor tiles...that could only mean--
"It's a trap!" he called, but the doors shut with a thud. They were indeed trapped, and from another door (the only other door, Autolycus noted) flooded a handful of armed men, with a big smug-looking fellow behind them: Gerth. Before Elissa could retrieve the stone from its resting place, she was charged and had to defend herself. They drove her back from the wall, while others swarmed to Autolycus. He quickly used his little grappling hook to swing across the floor, kicking furiously all the way, giving his famous whoop and holler. A few fell, but most of them got up again. Muran took out one or two herself (Atta girl! ) before getting captured and held down by two of the men, who at least were occupied in keeping her out of the way instead of fighting Autolycus or Elissa.
The King of Thieves used his tricks and gadgets to get by the men and get to the Misha stone in the wall. He turned to throw it to Elissa, but she was overwhelmed, and losing to Gerth's henchmen. Gerth himself watched from the corner, amused. If Elissa couldn't catch the stone, how was she going to use it to defeat these guys?
"Help me, Autolycus," she cried. "Use the stone! Help me!"
"Me?? I can't!"
"Yes, you can! You have the gift, at least a little bit! I've felt it--" Elissa fought to push away the enemies surrounding her, but they pressed on her still. "Think of ice! Think of the coldest thing you've ever felt..." Muran saw Gerth frowning and furrowing his brow, collecting his thoughts to use against them. He's going to fight it, she thought. He's not going to let them do it. She went limp, surprising those who had held her from kicking and biting a moment before, and then broke free, charging full strength into Gerth and knocking him to the floor. She used all of her wiry little strength to wrestle him, hopefully buying her friends some time. Meanwhile, Elissa coached Autolycus quickly, desperately.
"Just give to me your thoughts and I'll guide them...let it all go, Autolycus." After a moment, he realized her voice was not out loud, but in his head. He held the stone and closed his eyes and thought of blizzards, mountaintops, glaciers, icicles. He felt the cold around him, but it didn't touch him.
The images swirled around in his head, making him slightly dizzy, but he held on. "That's it," her voice said. "Now send it all to me..."
He wasn't sure how he did it, but Autolycus visualized sending the white snow to Elissa. Her amber eyes burned in the midst of it as she shaped it all into a heavy blanket and laid it down....
Autolycus realized there was no sound. He opened his eyes to see every person in the room, except the three of them, frozen stiff.
Elissa drooped slightly. Muran and Autolycus stepped around the icy statues to get her out from the middle of them, and he handed over the other Misha stone.
"That was hard," she said, slightly winded. "I've never done that without Rylus. Thank you." She grasped her friends' arms.
"This is all well and good, but what happens when they melt?" Muran asked.
"That won't be for a long time," Elissa said. "But when they do...they won't have a boss." She walked over to the frozen form of Gerth, still on the floor where Muran had been wrestling him. For a moment Elissa stood before him, one stone in each hand, rigid with emotion.
"You've taken everything from me," she said in a low voice. Her words came slowly, deliberately. "You've stolen my family from me, and you've destroyed my future, and the future of my home." The stones glowed, and Gerth began to thaw. "I have no parents. No siblings. Nobody to help me keep the peace and prosperity in Cassopolis." Gerth blinked, almost warm, and stumbled to his feet, crouching against the wall behind him. "There is no one for me now. All because of your greed. Your desire to be great and powerful." She stepped up to him, her small face in his big ugly one, and poked him in the chest with one stone. "Oh, you will be remembered, all right. I will make sure of that." Drawing back, Elissa fit the stones together with a resounding click, and stared at him with burning eyes. In seconds, Gerth was solid rock.
Autolycus and Muran stood behind her, watching the transformation. She turned to them with the pain and satisfaction of her delivered vengeance showing plainly on her face, and said, "Let's go home."
Cassopolis was alight with hundreds of lanterns after Elissa arrived home with both Misha stones. The citizens started a festival in celebration of her victory and in honor of Rylus' memory, and it was quite a party. Music filled the air and people filled the streets, dancing and singing and reveling. Elissa had taken Autolycus and Muran to her house, and dressed the girl in one of her too-small party gowns. Muran positively glowed in the pink material, ribbons to match in her hair (placed there carefully by Elissa, of course), and she ate herself silly while running wild with the other children. Autolycus watched them together that evening.
Elissa treated Muran with such tenderness and genuine affection, touching her hair and telling her stories, complimenting her on how pretty her eyes were. Muran openly adored Elissa in return, emulating the older girl's every move. Autolycus wondered if he was doing the right thing. Sure, she probably would have gotten in far worse trouble if he hadn't been there to look out for her; but maybe he should have turned her into an orphanage or something, to give her a shot at a real home, a real family. The unstable, dangerous life he led was no way for Muran to grow up. For the first time, Autolycus saw that maybe there was some merit in this "girl stuff," after all.
Now Elissa walked toward him, carrying a sleeping Muran in her arms. Muran's face was stained with blueberry pie, and she still held a pastry in her hand. As Elissa handed her over to Autolycus, Muran stirred. "Not sleepy," she mumbled in protest, and settled right back to sleep against his chest. Elissa motioned for him to follow her into the house. She led them to a bedroom decorated with all kinds of animals and a pink blanket on the bed. "My sister Talia's room," Elissa whispered. Autolycus laid Muran down on the bed, and Elissa covered her up, kissing her forehead gently. He felt a strange pang watching this, but couldn't say why, or what it meant. "Goodnight, Muran," she said quietly. Muran's eyes fluttered open.
"I love you, Elissa," she sighed, closing her eyes again.
"I love you too, dear," said Elissa, and when she came to the door, shutting it behind her, Autolycus saw she had tears in her eyes. He said nothing, feeling that any words would be incapable of comforting her now, or describing his sympathy for her.
"I want to show you something," she said, and took him to a room on the very top floor of the great house. He followed her out to its balcony, and there lay a breathtaking view of Cassopolis, beautiful in the night, but even more so for the festival lanterns and the faint music wafting up through the trees.
"It's stunning," Autolycus said.
"This is my room," she said. "I chose it after Gerth left, because of this view. Whenever I would feel sad about my family, or doubt that I could carry on as they'd taught me, I came out here and looked at the city. I knew that they all counted on me, that they needed me, and somehow I found the strength to go on."
He watched her, this young woman with such grave responsibility, looking out solemnly with the moonlight bathing her lovely face. He admired her strength, her maturity, her sense of duty. As a king of thieves, they were qualities he didn't much empathize with, but he could appreciate it in others, especially Elissa.
She felt his gaze and turned to face him. "Don't you ever want to settle down?" she asked him.
"Sure, sometimes. Usually when I'm in prison or about to be executed or something."
"Seriously, Autolycus." She drew close to him. "Didn't you ever want a family? A home?"
"Well, now..." He was uncomfortable looking too deeply within himself, but somehow she made it easier. "There are moments when I think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad."
"Then stay here with me. You and Muran. We could be a family, and I could teach you to use the Misha stones. You wouldn't have to worry about ever getting in trouble again, and there are plenty of adventures to be had here. Please." The look in her amber eyes, the smell of her perfume, her very closeness to him...Autolycus was momentarily intoxicated with her, and almost said yes.
But he didn't.
"I can't, Elissa," he said, genuine regret in his voice. "I'm not the kind of guy who can stay in one place. I think you know that."
They looked in each other's eyes for a moment, and he could see she did know it. She smiled ruefully.
"Well then, I shall enjoy you while I have you," she said. Autolycus leaned in to kiss her gently, sweetly; then passionately. She wrapped her arms around him, and he breathed her in. She took him by the hand and led him back inside her room, leaving the fireworks outside to pale in comparison to the fireworks within.
In the morning Autolycus packed up his things and waited for Muran to finish breakfast. She'd polished off eight pancakes already, and was now on to the eggs and toast.
"Do you have a hollow leg where you keep all that?" he asked her. "Aw, leeme alone," she said, her mouth full.
Elissa came in as the two prepared to leave. "I wish you would stay longer," she said. "But I know you have things to do, adventures to have, other people's treasures to pilfer."
"That's right," Autolycus said jovially. "Your adventure was just one in a long line, my dear."
"I thought as much. Well, since your stealing days may not always be fruitful, I've prepared a few things for you." She motioned to a couple of servants, who brought forth a horse loaded with packs brimming with food and supplies. One servant handed Autolycus a large pouch that jingled; he looked inside to see a mound of dinars bigger than his fist.
"Elissa..."
"You wanted to be paid, didn't you? Besides, you earned it." She eyed him wickedly, and the King of Thieves very nearly blushed. Then Elissa turned to Muran. "But Muran...I was wondering...if you would stay."
Shocked silence followed as the girl stared at her. "Stay? Like, forever?" "Yes, like forever. We could keep each other from being lonely."
Autolycus waited, expecting to hear Muran's shout for joy and command to the servants to unpack her bags.
Instead, she drew close to Autolycus. "Elissa, thank you for your offer. I would love to stay if I could. But I have to find my real mother. And besides...Autolycus needs me."
Normally that sort of comment would have drawn quick protests; the King of Thieves, need a little girl? But he said nothing. He was curiously touched by her decision. And even a little relieved. After all, he told himself, he could use her to help him keep his cover...nobody would be looking for a man with a little girl...that's why he was relieved. Yes, indeedy, that must be it.
Elissa sighed sadly. "Then I am destined to be alone. At least for a while. Very well then." She turned and retrieved a box and piled it onto the already-laden horse, who whinnied in protest. "That is your dress, my dear. You were lovely in it, and no one but you could wear it so well." Muran squealed and kissed Elissa delightedly. She petted the horse, which now nickered happily at the affection it was getting.
"As for you..." Elissa drew Autolycus off to the side. "You won't get out of here without a proper good-bye." They embraced warmly, and strolled as they talked.
"What will you do without any one to help you with those Misha stones?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. After I die, they may have to destroy them, or hide them until someone else with the gift comes along."
"That seems pretty extreme," Autolycus said. "Why don't you just find some nice village boy to marry?"
"Hah!" Elissa said. "After the adventure of you, my dear man, I don't think any nice village boy can possibly compare." She pulled something from her pocket and handed it to him. "I want you to have this." Dangling from a gold chain was a small, brown piece of rock.
"What is it?"
"It's made from the Misha stone. See, when you think of me and I think of you, it'll let you know. Try it." They looked at each other and thought rather riske thoughts, and sure enough, the pendant and her earring glowed amber. "It'll also warn me when you're coming back for a visit," she grinned.
Autolycus put it on, and pulled her close. They kissed warmly, finally breaking away and returning to Muran and the horse.
"Well," he said to Muran, "what are we going to do with this big lug of a horse?"
"His name is Haley."
"What?" asked Autolycus. "What kind of name is that?"
"His name is Haley!" she insisted. "He told me."
He shrugged and lifted the girl onto the horse. "Whatever you say."
"So long, Autolycus, King of Thieves," Elissa said.
He hugged her again and gave her one last kiss. "You've given me a wonderful adventure, and some wonderful memories to take with me," he said.
She smiled and waved good-bye as Autolycus led Muran off on Haley. Rubbing her belly gently, Elissa said quietly, "And you've given me a wonderful legacy."
THE END