The kid got up and brushed himself off. He trudged into the woods, weaving slightly. The light meal he had received from his host had done little to build his strength back, and wandering around for hours in the castle hadn't help any.
His slender ankle caught on a root, and he fell to the ground. As he pushed himself up, a bolt of pain shot up his left arm. Stifling a cry, he gingerly touched the wrist. Definitely broken.
He sat down on a soft hill of moss and cradled his wrist in his hand. His whole arm was throbbing up to his shoulder now.
What made him temporarily forget his predicament was the sound of voices coming closer. He crept behind a bush and peered through the thick green branches. It was still night, but the moon was full and he could see the two men bathed in pale white light. One of them lit a pipe. A random thought flitted through the kid's head: that man could start a forest fire.
"So what are we looking for, exactly?" one of the men asked his companion.
"I dunno. I don't think Beyton knows, either. Between you and me, I think he's losing it. This is such a waste of time."
"I don't mind. The baroness has deep pockets, my man!" He laughed.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot you're too yellow to do any real thieving."
"Hey, if the boss wants us to wait around in the woods until Garrett gets caught, that's fine with me. I never liked him anyway."
"Who, the boss, or Garrett?"
"Yeah."
"Well, don't let him hear you saying that."
The first man said something else, but by then they were too far away for the kid to hear it. Behind the cover of the bush, he sat and thought. These men, working for someone called Beyton, were looking for something. They didn't even know what it was. And they were waiting . . . for Garrett to get caught. That implied that they had set some kind of trap for him. And that meant . . . Garrett was in trouble! Thief or not, he had rescued him from Shoalsgate, and given him food and shelter. He owed him.
The kid got up, ignoring the throbbing pain in his arm. He walked surely towards the castle, his steps now with a purpose.
* * *
Mara, balancing perfectly, made her way across the room on the rafters. Below her, the guards were completely ignorant of her presence. But they would find out soon enough. She was in the mood for a fight. A little more practice until she went upstairs and took care of the sorceress.
She leapt from the rafter and fell the fifteen feet to the floor. She landed silently right behind a guard. She kicked low and knocked the guard off his feet. He fell to the floor with a grunt and a thud.
Alerted, the second guard nocked an arrow onto his bow. He shot it at the intruder, aiming for the heart. With catlike reflexes, Mara caught the arrow in midair before it could bury itself in her chest. Another second saw the hand with the arrow arcing down gracefully towards the first guard. She buried the sharp tip of the arrow in the guard's neck. The wooden shaft snapped with the force of the impact, and she threw it down.
She turned to face the second guard, who was currently charging her with his sword drawn. She shook her head before running towards him. An instant before his sword would have taken off her head, a spinning kick sent the sword flying out of his hand and landing on the other side of the room. Her slim body still spinning, her left elbow smashed into the guard's face, breaking his nose. He staggered backwards, his arms flailing. She gave the doomed man a strong kick in the stomach, and he fell to the floor. He raised himself up on his elbows, about to get up. The last thing he saw was a flash of silver, an instant before his head was disconnected from his body.
Mara sheathed her sword and headed for the stairs.
* * *
After escorting the kid out of the castle, Garrett had decided on an uneasy plan. He would sneak up on the sorceress, surprise her, and force her into telling him where the vault was. Holding her hostage would be the key to getting in and out of there alive.
He paused by a window. The sky looked like it was getting lighter. He was running out of time. He could easily stay undetected in the castle for days, but he couldn't very well roam around while the sun was up without being spotted. In any case, he wanted to get this over with.
* * *
The kid stopped to catch his breath. Running up a flight of stairs was probably not the best thing to be doing in his condition. But he had to warn Garrett. Something was going on.
* * *
Jonathan Beyton appeared at ease, his hands clasped lightly behind his back, his eyes watching the top floor of the castle. But in reality he was worried. The only reason he was here was because Dilley was an old friend. He certainly harbored no secret desires to help the sorceress. But gold can make a man want to do almost anything. And it was gold, a lot of it, that had brought him here, in the forest, soon before dawn.
That's why he was concerned. Once Garrett had been delivered to the sorceress, they were supposed to receive some kind of signal. And Mara should have returned. So far, neither one had happened. And the sun would be up soon.
He motioned to three members of his guild standing by him. "This is taking too long."
"Do you think something happened?"
Beyton shook his head. "I don't know. But it's taking too long. It's time we take this into our own hands. Let's go."
They headed toward the castle.
* * *
With one master thief, one starving kid, four members of an untalented thieving guild, and one disgruntled mistress all roaming around the expansive top floor right before dawn, the sorceress's castle was far from peaceful. Yet the sorceress herself was calm, standing in front of the bay window of her bedroom and waiting for the sun to come up.
Without turning around she said, "Ah, Garrett. You're finally here."
Garrett remained as silent as he had been since he entered.
Now the sorceress turned. She looked directly into the shadows Garrett thought he was totally concealed in. "There's no use in hiding. The mind knows what the eyes do not."
Garrett didn't move. How can she see me? She must be guessing.
"If you won't come out . . ." She left her sentence unfinished. "Very well, have it your way." She clapped her hands and dozens of candles scattered around the room suddenly and unanimously lit.
Garrett's cover was blown. Okay, so she wasn't guessing. So much for the element of surprise.
The sorceress strolled across the room to a high-backed chair and sat down. Leaning back nonchalantly she pulled a small lever. It would detonate the sunburst device at the very top of the castle. It was the signal for that pitiful peasant Beyton and his laughable troop of henchmen, a sign that they could return to their life of mediocrity.
"You were expecting me," Garrett said. It was a statement, not a question.
"My dear Garrett, I am the very reason you are here."
Of course you are. It's your castle I'm here to rob.
"Although frankly I expected you here sooner. I trust my guards didn't give you any trouble."
A little warning bell was currently sounding in Garrett's head. This whole thing just wasn't right.
"Not much for chit-chat, are you? Well, that's all right. This is a business meeting, after all."
"What are you talking about?"
"I've been watching you for some time, Mr. Garrett, and I must say, your skills are quite impressive. You've become something of a legendary figure in this city's underground. A former Keeper, who gave up one hidden life for another. Living in shadows, always one step ahead of the law. You faced the Trickster and the Hammerites. You destroyed Karras, former leader of the Mechanists. You killed the corrupt Sheriff Truart."
"I didn't kill him." But if I had gotten to him first, I just might have.
She waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter."
"So what's your point?"
"My point, Mr. Garrett, is that you are an exceptional thief. You have the skill and luck necessary to stay alive. But one day your luck will run out."
Garrett was silent.
"I wasn't trying to offend you. It was merely an observation."
"What do you want with me?"
"I have a proposition for you. You and I, Mr. Garrett, could be a team. Together we could take down the most powerful enemies. I could be a very useful ally. Wouldn't it be nice to have a friend in high places?"
"You want us to be partners?"
"Don't sound so incredulous. I mean what I say."
"I work alone."
"Well, I didn't intend that we'd travel the streets together. There are other kind of alliances."
"What's in it for you?"
"The wonderful conversation!" the sorceress laughed. Calming herself, she said, "Seriously, I need your help. My recent attempts to break into politics have made me quite unpopular with many of Dayport's movers and shakers. I've already had several attempts made on my life. I need to dispense of these threats permanently."
"You want me to be a hit man."
"I can offer you money, Mr. Garrett. Quite a lot of it. And if you ever get into trouble, I have contacts who could help you."
"Sorry, lady. I'm not an assassin."
"You've killed before."
"It's not my first choice. I'm not a murderer; I'm a thief. Which reminds me, I have a little business to take care of, and you're going to help me."
The sorceress got up from her chair, a bitter smile on her face. "Ah yes, your little bet with the incompetent Beyton. I was the one who put him up to it. I needed you to come to me; I can't be seen fraternizing with a thief. No, you had to be persuaded to come here, and what better way than insulting your pride? A challenge from a joker like him was something I knew you couldn't refuse. And here we are."
So all this was just some elaborate setup to bring me here? In order to ask me to kill her political enemies? Get real, lady.
He drew his sword and held it in the sorceress's direction. "No more games. Where's your vault?"
"I really think you should reconsider, Mr. Garrett." She went back to gazing out the window. "I've made you quite an offer."
"I told you, I don't kill people for a living."
"Ah, but you have more skill! More finesse! You could do the job ten times better than anyone else I could hire. You are far too clever and talented to get caught and lead a trail back to me."
So, first you dismiss my talent, but now that you need something from me, you're all compliments. How convenient. His voice rose. "The vault!"
The sorceress swirled around, her long black hair flying. "Don't you get it, Garrett? There is no vault! Do you really think it was nothing but a simple coincidence that my guards happened to talk about one where you could overhear them? Are you too blind to see that I have been pulling your strings all along?"
Garrett was seething. "You'd make a fine politician," he said through clenched teeth. "Unfortunately for you, it's never going to happen." He stepped closer.
"You want to kill me? Tsk tsk, Mr. Garrett. I thought you were smarter than that. Redeem yourself by accepting my offer."
Garrett sheathed his sword. "I've had enough of your nonsense." He turned to leave.
"Stop!"
Something in her voice made Garrett do just that. He looked over his shoulder and saw the sorceress bathed in a fiery red aura. He had spent enough time around angry creatures with magical powers to know that this was a good time to exit. He ran for the door.
The floor shook with the sorceress's fury. "GARRRRETTTTT," she bellowed. She raised her arm towards Garrett and flames flew from her hand. They missed their intended target, instead turning an antique armoire into an instant bonfire.
Garrett ran out the door, into the hall. There he found a grisly scene. While he and the sorceress had been talking, Mara and the guild members ran into each other in the third floor hallway. Upon seeing them, Mara immediately went into kill mode. She sliced one of them in half with one swipe of her sharp blade. Intestines and blood coated the rug. Then she threw a dagger right between the eyes of a second guild member. The third put up a fight by shooting an arrow at her. She easily dodged it and countered with a dagger in the man's belly. He pulled it out and was about to draw his sword when he was suddenly engulfed in spasms. He fell to the floor, dead. The dagger had been poisoned.
She had saved Beyton for last. With three of his guild members dead on the floor, Beyton was running for his life…but Mara ran faster. As she caught up to him she sliced the tendons in the back of his knees, effectively crippling him. She held him up off the floor by his hair and hissed in his ear, "No one makes me do their dirty work!" With that, she stabbed her dagger into the back of his neck so hard that the tip poked out the front. The doomed man tried to say something but could only gurgle and spew blood. She threw his head forward hard enough to make an audible "bonk" noise on the stone floor, and he was still.
Behind the cover of a stone column, the kid saw all of this. He was terrified. This woman was an absolute maniac. He had to get out of there. Without thinking, he darted from his hiding spot and sprinted for the stairs.
Mara noticed him and pursued. She couldn't let her prey escape. The kid tripped and fell, landing on his broken limb. He cried out in pain. Standing above him, she said, "This is too easy." And she raised her sword above her head. There would be only one powerful finishing blow. The kid's eyes, wide with terror, could only stare at his executioner's face. The muscles in Mara's arms tightened as she prepared to swing her blade.
There was a soft whistling noise. The kid saw the look of surprise on the fearful figure standing before him. Mara looked down at her stomach, where the pointy tip of an arrow protruded from her flesh. The kid looked past her to see Garrett, who had come to his rescue just in time.
But they weren't home free yet. The sorceress was right there, eager to turn both of them into human flambé. Her wrathful expression would have made the Trickster proud. Garrett couldn't help but think, Hell hath no fury…
Mara wasn't down for the count either, even with an arrow in her. She turned to Garrett and charged him, sword drawn. He parried the blow and returned one of his own. It was time to get rid of this nuisance and get out of here.
As usual, Mara had different plans. She ducked under Garrett's sword and sliced into his shoulder. It was a glancing blow and Garrett had plenty of strength left to tackle his adversary. They rolled around on the floor for a while, Mara wanting to tear Garrett's skin off with her teeth and Garrett just wanting to get the hell out of this castle.
To make things worse, the sorceress was shooting fireballs at them. The royal blue banners embroidered with gold thread were burning. The antique Oriental rug was burning. The guild members' bodies were burning. One well-aimed shove from Garrett and Mara was burning.
And that's the end of that, Garrett thought with relief. His plan for escape was clear. He would grab the kid and jump out one of the arched windows lining the hallway. After falling for three stories, they would have a big lead on the fiery she-demon. After a quick run through the garden to the outer wall, they'd be home free.
He turned to the kid and-
Hey, where'd he go?
His answer was at the other end of the flaming hallway. The sorceress had a white-knuckled grip on the kid's neck. Garrett had no doubt that she could snap it like a twig. "Garrett!" she called. "Have you changed your mind yet? Or do I have to kill your little friend here?" She shook the kid a little.
The kid looked at Garrett desperately, but Garrett's self-preservation instinct overwhelmed whatever incentive he might have had to save the little guy. He jumped out the window. In one swift motion he downed the slowfall potion, saving him from a rather unpleasant end.
The sorceress howled in pure fury as the thief escaped her clutches. Searing waves of heat radiated from her body, incinerating nearby objects.
At the back door in the outer wall, Garrett paused to look back. The flames had reached a kerosene storeroom and a series of explosions had started. Flames shot out of the windows. It rained debris as the structural integrity of the castle began to fail. Flaming blocks of stone landed in the garden, wreaking major havoc on the vegetation.
The dazzling appearance of the sun arrived just in time to illuminate the entire third floor of the castle exploding.
The sight of the blaze hurt Garrett's eye. He turned away. He found himself thinking the same thing he had when Mara had died: and that's the end of that. It seemed appropriate.