The night air was cool, but not cold, I decided as I jogged down the empty cobbled street. I was now dressed in my more familiar outfit of boots, khaki shorts and light blue singlet - complete with my pair of automatics, black fingerless gloves and my backpack. I had returned to my apartment to change, after leaving Pierre and Larson. I felt good. This is what I lived for.

I stopped just opposite the backstage entrance of the Opera House, and recalled the map I had glanced at before I left my apartment. According to my reading, the four stones that are said to open the entrance that leads to the Philosopher's Stone were all located in this part of Rome. And I already had one of them.

I jogged towards the end of the street, the map in my mind, and went straight ahead through a small doorway. I entered a small courtyard with walls on two sides and an ornate balcony with elaborate stone pillars on the other. To my left were some stairs leading downwards, but a grill blocked them.

Ducking my head under the hanging greenery about the opening, I went down the stairs to the grill. On the other side was a short corridor with a carved face at the end on the wall. I could just see the opening where the mouth was, and I guessed there was a switch or lever within.

I shook the bars of the grill, but it didn't move. Frowning, I looked for a lock to shoot off or pick, but there was none. Growling slightly, I made my way back up the stairs.

I doubled back to the main street, and turned left. I followed a narrow alley lit with ornate lamps and entered an open courtyard with a fountain. There was a red- and white-stripped awning to the right, and several alleys leading off it, although gates blocked some of them.

I made a mental note of the locked gate and keyhole on the left side of the courtyard, before following the open narrow alley on the right. I turned a corner, and sure enough, there was another carved face on the wall, although a gate did not block this one.

I walked up to it, and peered into the niche that was its mouth. I couldn't see anything, so I shrugged and reached inside. I felt around, but there were no obvious levers or switches inside. I frowned.

Then I had and idea. Brushing my fingers against the back of the niche, I found a stone that protruded out from the rest. I grinned in triumph, and pushed it in. I was greeted by a low grinding noise within the wall.

I returned to the open courtyard, only to find none of the gates had moved. I checked each of the gates anyway, but none opened. Then a thought struck me, and I ran back to the wide street, before turning into the small walled courtyard again.

The grill that barred the way to the carved face was gone. I ran up to it, and reached into the mouth. Again, I pressed the stone button, and heard a grinding noise. A swarm of angry bats flew at me from the corner of the room, and I threw my hands up in front of my face. They flew off after a minute.

I turned and ran back up the stairs and found a large stone block in front of me. I walked around to the side, and saw it was pushed up against the ornate balcony. I smiled and took the hint: I was supposed to go up there next.

I vaulted up onto the block, and then onto the balcony. Before I went through the open doorway in front of me, I turned and looked at the view of Rome I could see to my left, and noticed the sky was turning a pinkish purple as dawn approached.

After a minute, I turned and ran through the doorway and up a ramp into an open-roofed room filled with red furniture and an elaborate rug. I kept going to a rooftop balcony. The view from up here was better, particularly now that the sky was beginning to lighten.

I ran across the walkway leading off it and passed through another doorway onto a ledge. I looked around and saw an alleyway below me, but nothing I could jump to on either side. It seemed as if down was the direction to go.

I turned around and dropped, grabbing the ledge and then letting go to lessen the impact. I landed on my feet and looked around again. There was a window to my right and a dead end, so I turned to the left.

I followed the corridor and noticed that it had peach coloured walls and white molding, like many in Rome. It seemed as if Romans had a preoccupation with the colour. The corridor turned and became a flight of stone steps. About halfway down the stairs was a window that looked out over a small street to the building next door.

I made a mental note of that, before following the stairs down. Just as I reached the second last step, a dog raced out of the room on the left and attacked me. I quickly jumped over it, and rolled, feeling the stony ground bite into my shoulders.

I came up firing, my heart thumping in my chest, as I felt the familiar rush of adrenaline kick in. The dog ran at me, so I back-flipped out of the way, firing as I went. The dog yelped and fell. Once I was sure the dog was dead, I rose up from the crouch I had landed in and looked around.

I noticed that I was now in an open courtyard with a clothesline stretched across it. There were two doors in the courtyard, but they were both locked. I turned to explore the small room where the dog had come out, and found a switch at the end of a short alley, along with a narrow gate. I pulled the switch, and the gate opened, leading out into the courtyard with the fountain.

Before returning to the courtyard, I ran back up the stairs to the window. There was a small ledge just beyond it, but I couldn't find a latch to open it. Shrugging my shoulders, I drew my guns and shot out the window, before stepping out onto the ledge.

I took a running jump across the gap to the next building and landed in a long corridor. There was a doorway off to the left, and I detoured inside. I followed the ramp upwards, until I came to a platform. I vaulted up onto it, and something caught my eye.

I walked over and found it was a small, dirty key. I picked it up, and brushed the dirt off it. I rolled my shoulders before putting it in my pocket. I would need this. I could feel it. My blood began to pump harder. There was nothing I loved more than a good mystery. Except maybe an adventure.

I exited the room and followed the ramp to a rooftop balcony. There was a railing to the left that looked out over the red- and white-stripped awning and the open courtyard. A courtyard in which a dog was now running around in, barking.

I jumped over the railing, onto the awning. I hit the soft surface and rolled. Standing up I walked to the edge, just as the dog noticed me. It ran towards the awning, and then stood below, barking up at me.

I just grinned coldly at it, and opened my backpack. I dug around inside, until I came up with my laser sight. I clipped it on to one of my automatics, and pointed it at the dog. I aimed the laser sight at the dog's head, and fired. It went down with a short yelp.

I dropped down into the courtyard, and watched for other dogs. When nothing attacked me, I looked around, to decide where to go next. I remember the keyhole I had seen next to the gate on the opposite side of the fountain, and walked over.

Cocking my head to the side, I looked at the lock as I pulled the key out of my pocket. Yes, I should fit. I tried the key, and grinned in triumph when the key turned in the lock and the gate swung open. Beyond it, was a dark corridor and what looked like the trunk of a palm tree.

Stepping through the doorway, I wondered if everything was going to be this easy. Nothing had challenged me yet . . .