After Therion left the region of the Ravus estate, he found himself back in the bustling heart of Bolderfall. He took a path that led him to a bridge that overlooked a small patch of grass, a rarity among the Cliftlands and its expanses of red and brown stone. His eyes shifted through the area in search of anything that would be able to aid him in his endeavors before his gaze fell upon a familiar outline. It was none other than the merchant that had shown him what he had to do in order to enter the manor in the first place. "Well, if it isn't our merchant friend," he muttered to himself, taking a step closer to the railing of the bridge so that he would more easily be able to see what the man was doing.
The merchant wasn't alone, Therion noticed. There was another man with him, this one a merchant in green clothing. The familiar merchant, the one in red, shook his head with an angry huff. "Those bloody Ravuses! Don't they know some of us actually have to work for a living?!" he exclaimed in rage.
The other merchant smiled in sad but knowing way. "Turned away at the gate? Join the club," he commented casually.
"You too?" the merchant in red asked in shock. "But why?" His rage had calmed down and was left only with surprise in its place.
The second merchant nodded. "They're doing it to everyone. Rumor has it they're guarding some great treasure inside," he explained. Therion had been hoping to learn something new and helpful from this conversation, but instead, he was only hearing the same old song and dance that he had learned from the barkeep.
"But I'm not after their treasure!" the familiar merchant cried in exasperation, throwing his arms into the air to prove his point. "I just wanted to show the lady of the house my wares. Then they told me I needed proof! As if this sack of silk dresses isn't proof enough!"
"Indeed. You'll need a letter of introduction to get inside," the second merchant told him.
"A letter of what?" the first merchant questioned, his voice tinted with bitter surprise.
The second merchant nodded. "House Ravus only does business with the most esteemed merchants and traders."
"So how can I get one of these letters?" the first merchant asked, eager impatience infecting his words.
The second merchant shook his head. "It's not easy, that's for sure. First, you'll have to make a name for yourself here in town. Once you've proven yourself a reliable trading partner, then-and only then-will the Ravuses write you a letter," he elaborated. "That said, you could count the number of people who've earned a letter on one hand."
"Well, that sounds like an awful lot of work," the first merchant bristled. "Are you sure there's no other way?"
Therion smirked to himself from behind his scarf. He could think of another way to get inside, and it would perfectly suit his profession as the rumored master thief. All he had to do was find someone who had accomplished this difficult task, and from there, his sticky fingers would do what they did best. If merchants had to make a name for themselves in town to be accepted, then that meant that there had to be at least one of them still hanging around. They wouldn't abandon a source of trade that was so helpful unless they had to, and their attachment to the town would ultimately play right into Therion's hands.
He left the bridge behind and set out for the lower half of Bolderfall. He could start at the tavern and try to see if he could glean any information by listening to the people there. One could learn quite a bit just by remaining silent in the right locations, after all. If there was any place that would tell him what he needed to know, it would be the tavern.
Therion was halfway to the stairway to the lower half of town when he heard something behind him. They were footsteps, he realized, and they were remaining consistently close to him despite the crowd. He was being tailed. When he stopped, the footsteps did as well, only adding credence to his theory. Therion was able to make his way out of the thick of the activity, and once he did, he let out a small breath of impatience. "Just out of curiosity, how long do you plan on following me?" he asked, keeping his voice conversational but still somewhat dangerous.
"So you noticed," a familiar voice stated simply, and Therion recognized him as being one of the two thieves that had been sitting next to him at the tavern. The other person was undoubtedly his partner in crime, and together, they were the source of bitter nostalgia that made Therion want to hurl, but he couldn't let them know that.
Therion turned to face them with a small scoff. "For thieves, you aren't very discreet," he commented nonchalantly.
"You're keener than most, friend," the second thief commented, his voice filled with a smile that reminded Therion all too much of tea leaves and something green. It was overfamiliar, and Therion wanted to step on their toes for the sake of his own satisfaction.
"As are we. We can tell you've come for the Ravus fortune," the first thief explained.
"If the army surroundin' the manor is any indication, it's more than worth the trouble," the second thief agreed.
Therion eyed them cautiously, unsure as to what they were playing at but still wanting to play the scenario as carefully as possible. "And have you actually seen this treasure?" he questioned, knowing that it would be just the barbed comment to break down their defenses.
The first thief laughed, and the sound was haughty and cocky. "We don't need to see it! Just look at what they've got guardin' it!" he declared.
"Guards, dogs, traps-you name it, they got it," the second thief chimed in.
"And you came all this way to warn me? How thoughtful," Therion said, his voice dripping with both sarcasm and false sincerity. That was undoubtedly just the comment that would break through the frustratingly confident masks of the two thieves, and that made it perfect for Therion to voice. After all, angry people were more likely to slip up than those that were calm. It was a lesson that he had learned long ago, and he had applied his knowledge far below the streets of Saintsbridge.
The first thief glared at him but dulled his rage when he continued. "Look, we've got a proposal for you-"
Therion turned away and started to walk in the direction of the steps that would take him down to the tavern. "And I've got an answer: no," he responded bluntly.
The second thief laughed before he and his companion drew nearer to Therion from behind. Beneath his cloak, Therion reached for his dagger in case this situation somehow went south. "Just hear us out, mate. We can help each other," the first thief said.
"My partner here's been inside. He's seen the traps they've set up close," the second thief explained, emphasizing his words to make sure that Therion heard him. "Hells, he walked straight into one and set off an alarm!"
As the second thief laughed, the his companion let out a scandalized gasp. "Shut up! You said you wouldn't tell anyone about that!" he exclaimed. Therion could hear how flustered he was and knew that his cheeks were undoubtedly being infested with the dreadful sensation of warm embarrassment. His companion shrugged, and the first thief sighed and shook his head before getting back to the situation at hand. "Anyway, I got out just fine, and we're here now. So, what do you say? It won't be easy to carry all that treasure out on your own. We're offering you a helping hand."
Therion just shook his head. "I've already got two hands. That's enough for me."
"So you think you're too good for us, is that it?!" the second thief roared as he took a step toward Therion.
"I'm a thief, not a nanny," Therion responded simply, giving a single glance over his shoulder in the direction of the two thieves.
The first thief shook his head, his face bright red with rage. "You're an ungrateful bastard, that's what you are!" he shouted angrily.
"Listen, I don't have time to entertain you clowns. I have places to be," Therion continued, completely uncaring as to the glares that he was being given.
"You're not going anywhere-" the second thief began to declare. He was clearly planning on saying more, but Therion was able to swiftly silence him by turning around as the thief rushed him. He pulled his dagger from its sheath and slashed at the palm of the thief's hand, sending the man stumbling backward with a scream on his lips. His companion looked down at his injury in shock.
"Get out of my sight," Therion instructed, his voice deadpan and harsh.
The first thief crouched down beside his companion. The second thief was staring at the crimson that was gushing from his palm, shock painted on his expression. The first thief threw his hands down onto the other man's shoulders. "Are you with me, mate? Speak to me!" he instructed loudly in a clear panic.
The second thief nodded, and the two of them rose to their feet. Therion, on the other hand, could feel bitter nostalgia starting to assault him again, and despite his attempts to send the memories back to the hellhole they came from, they flooded into his mind with notable force. "Mate...?" he echoed.
Over the years, Therion and Darius went many places.
They initially met in Saintsbridge, but they didn't stay there for long. After all, they were thieves, and if they were caught out of their cells, they were bound to find trouble. They went wherever the rumors of fortune and the winds of chance took them. This time around, their destination was Riverford, a Riverlands town on the far southern border of Orsterra. It was a dark place and one of the most poorly-governed cities that Therion had ever laid eyes on. Luckily for him, that would only make his job easier.
Even if the government was disastrous at best though, the military of Riverford remained tragically potent. A few guards of the city were rushing after Therion and Darius as they wove and dashed between passerby within the darker alleys of the town. Nobody wanted to look at them in full; that would be akin to admitting guilt as far as the soldiers were concerned.
"Thieves!" one of the guards shouted from afar. "You won't get away!"
Therion's lungs were starting to burn when Darius turned to him, all green fabric, red hair, and unreadable smiles. "They're on to us!" he shouted. Therion knew that much; it was clear as could be if anybody paid even a hair of attention to what the guards were attempting to accomplish.
Therion's eyes flickered around the immediate area as he tried with everything that he had to find a way out of this situation. He needed to get out as soon as possible. He refused to be locked away as he had been in the past. Luckily for him, fortune was smiling upon him on that day, and he saw a set of stairs leading down to the crowded docks. "Darius, this way!" Therion shouted. He gestured for Darius to follow him before he started his quick retreat down the steps.
"Got it!" Darius cried out. He followed Therion down to the ledge next to the river, and when Therion pressed his body behind a barrel, Darius did as well. They had a clear view of the silhouettes of the guards from the platform overhead. They were out of sight though, and if all went well, that would be enough to save them.
The guards paced the area for a while before one of them let out a groan of frustration. "Damn! We lost them!" he shouted in rage.
"They can't have gone far! Let's check the back alleys!" one of the other guards shouted. When his companions agreed, they started to dash off in the direction of what they believed to be the best hiding spot. The sound of armored plates clanking together grew distant, and Therion finally allowed himself to take a deep breath after forcing his lungs into stillness during the final phases of his escape.
The silence that followed the departure of the guards was, in a word, excruciating. Therion and Darius were quiet for a long time, almost as if they expected their pursuers to turn around and figure out where they had gone somehow. When that didn't happen, Therion gave himself the power to speak once again. "They're gone. We should be safe for now," he told Darius.
Darius nodded. "That went better than I expected," he confessed with a light snort.
"I wish they could've seen the looks on their faces," Therion snickered. Being removed from that situation, even if it was just by a few seconds, gave him the power to examine the situation with humor on his mind.
Darius laughed along to show his agreement. "They deserved it for treating us like teapots," he pointed out, and Therion nodded. Speaking in terms of tea was a habit that Darius had always possessed as far as Therion was concerned. In a way, it was comforting to him to hear something so familiar after he had spent so much time running for his life over the span of their short time in Riverford.
"We might be small, but we're smarter than they'll ever be," Therion said with a smile on his face. They were twelve years old, and yet, they were more than able to outclass the guards that always seemed to give chase when they messed up. This escapade, while close and terrifying as it was happening, was just another note of pride for them to add to their lengthy histories of successful thefts.
"You got that right! We put our loaves together, and no one can stop us!" Darius declared. Any thoughts of staying quiet had been cast aside already, and Darius was laughing heartily and loudly as he showed the world just what he was capable of without bothering to hesitate. He shoved one hand into his pocket and produced countless shining pieces of jewelry. Among the fray, Therion could spot leaves, gemstones, and gold as well. "Take a butcher's at all the loot we got!"
"Yeah... It's quite the haul," Therion murmured with a nod. The gems were the shiniest things in Riverford, the darkest place that Therion had ever been to. There was a frown in his voice, and as he eyed the haul that he and Darius had accumulated, he refused to look up to meet his partner's eyes.
Darius took a step closer to him. "Show a little more enthusiasm, mate! This is all ours now!" he exclaimed as he shook his hands for emphasis. The jewelry began to rattle in his grasp.
"Right..." Therion whispered uncertainly. "We knew what we wanted, and we took it with our own hands." That was something that Darius mentioned a lot, so it was only a matter of time before it rubbed off on Therion as well. Therion did his best to not think about the fact that Darius had turned to violence during this most recent heist. Darius used his dagger to stab at anyone who got in his way once he was discovered to be a thief, and that was what got the guards on their trails in the first place. Unlike Therion though, Darius didn't seem to care. To him, it was all means to the end of expanding his influence and power. To Therion, it felt as if a line had been crossed, but he didn't think that he was in a position to say such a thing. It just felt wrong to him somehow.
"That's the spirit! All the world's treasures are ours for the takin'!" Darius proclaimed proudly. He shoved the loot back into his pockets before clapping one hand down against Therion's back. The smaller boy stumbled from the sheer force of Darius' friendly hit. Part of him wondered if Darius knew that there were doubts manifesting in the back of his mind. Maybe that was why Darius had made the dramatic gesture with such force.
"If you say so... Partner," Therion responded simply. He did his best to shove aside all guilt that he may have felt due to stealing so much. Before he met Darius, his thefts had only been in the name of survival. He did what he did solely because he was trying to live, but Darius had introduced him to the idea of a thief's pride and what it meant to make a name for oneself. He had been a thief as stories told ever since, and his own guilt didn't matter. After all, glory was the most important thing for him to keep in mind, right? That was what Darius always told him, and Darius hadn't ever been wrong before. Darius looked out for him and made sure that they were as safe and prosperous as possible. Who was Therion to go against his words?
Darius shoved his hand out for Therion to shake it, and his companion followed up on the gesture a moment later. He was being ridiculous. He was fooling himself if he though that Darius was getting more cutthroat and ambitious as of late; this was simply what thieves did, and that was what they were. They would stand by one another no matter what happened, and nothing would be able to stop them. After all, what else were partners for?
Therion was beyond relieved when the memory bled away to fade into the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about those days if he could avoid it. He was a loner these days, and the two thieves before him were fools if they thought that they would be able to sway the opinions that he had held so firmly for years. Placing his faith in others was only the first step to being overwhelmed with disappointment, and he wasn't going to make that mistake again.
Therion's expression must have been particularly sour when he pointed his dagger in the direction of the two thieves before him. He took a step toward them even though he had no intentions of spilling more blood than he had to. The two men held up their hands in surrender before pivoting and running away as quickly as possible. Therion sighed angrily and shoved his dagger back into its sheath.
Therion turned back to the stairs that would take him to the lower part of Bolderfall. This wasn't the time for him to get distracted. He had to concentrate on getting his hands on one of those introductory letters that would get him into the Ravus estate. Years had passed, and things had changed. Darius was no longer in his life, and Therion was no longer as soft as he once had been. He stole for glory one way or another these days, and he couldn't deny such an evolution for better or worse.
Therion walked quickly through the town from there, unwilling to stop for long since that would just invite his memories of Darius to intrude his mind once more. That was the last thing he wanted when he was in such a precarious position regarding both his emotional state and his plans for theft within the Ravus estate. He had to stay focused. Therion wished briefly that he could take a dagger to his thoughts so that they would leave him the hell alone, though this was hardly the first time that he had yearned for such a thing.
Therion was almost to the tavern when he heard two people engaging in noisy conversation nearby. He glanced over at the people responsible, doing his best to pretend that they weren't worsening the headache that was starting to pound at the corners of his mind. Both of the people were dressed in the typical garb of a merchant, though one of them was clearly richer than the other. In fact, he was so notably dripping with jewelry that Therion's eyes almost hurt just looking at him. He stood behind a fence pole and pretended that he wasn't listening in by pulling out his dagger and starting to clean it off with a small cloth.
"When you've been in the business as long as I have, the Ravuses will be begging you for a visit!" the older merchant exclaimed. "It's all about experience!" Therion noticed that the other merchant that he was speaking to was the same man that Therion had seen outside the estate earlier in the day. It seemed as if he was far from being the only person seeking a letter that day.
Therion snorted to himself. No matter how much experience this man had as a merchant, it hadn't taught him when to shut up, and that was going to play right into Therion's hands. The letter in question was on proud display, rolled up and tucked into a side pocket of the merchant's bag of wares. Therion approached the man, pretending to head for the weapon store of Bolderfall, and snagged the page on the way by. He tucked it into a pocket within his cloak as he arrived at the shop in question. He walked into the building and examined the wares briefly before leaving to look as inconspicuous as possible.
It was only after Therion had left the building and passed by the merchant once more that he felt save unfurling the page to check its contents. He glanced over the paper and smiled to himself, recognizing that he had indeed grabbed the correct page. The letter was written with such bold and ornate letters that it was almost dizzying to look at. In other words, it was exactly what Therion was searching for, and it would be his ticket to enter the mansion.
On his way there, Therion did his best to put together his appearance as much as possible, though he recognized halfway through that there was no way he was going to pass as a merchant. He was dressed to be a thief, and while that helped him a majority of the time, it was only going to be detrimental to his cause here. He was going to need to sort this out in order to sneak into the mansion, but unfortunately, there was no easy solution that he could think of. In other words, his heist was going to have to wait just a little bit longer.
Clearbrook should have been their last stop before they went to Saintsbridge.
Ophilia knew this. Clearbrook was a small town within the Riverlands, and it was the closest thing that they were going to get to Saintsbridge given that her birth village had been destroyed years ago. They should have turned their course for another part of Orsterra, but something deep down told her to not do that.
The Ember had been speaking to her. It did not provide actual words, but that was of little consequence to Ophilia. She could sense what the Ember was trying to tell her, and Ophilia could tell that this was a time when the Ember was sending her in a direction away from Saintsbridge. There was an anxious voice at the back of her mind that said that she had to get to Saintsbridge if she was going to return to Flamesgrace in time to see her father one more time before he gave in and succumbed to his sickness. She had to hurry, but the Ember didn't seem to want her to do so.
Ophilia held up the Lanthorn and looked at the Ember from its place at the heart of the glass. She swallowed dryly and tried to shove her thoughts free of what the Ember was asking of her. She had completely stopped walking without even realizing it, and the group began to crowd in around her. They were asking if she was alright, but Ophilia didn't even hear what they were saying. She was still staring at the Lanthorn and waiting for some answer to present itself to her.
Ophilia had been led to multiple members of the group by the Ember. It seemed to react when it was around someone of note, and Ophilia had followed its advice in the past when she found it to be the suitable thing to do. That was how they had wound up with Primrose for example, and Ophilia had to wonder if perhaps the Ember was protesting her plans to go to Saintsbridge. Was there something that was waiting for her in another town? Was that the problem? Was the Ember trying to push her in the direction of the Cliftlands instead?
Ophilia's blue eyes were starting to be overtaken by something gentle and silver as she looked to the winds that blew in the direction of the next town over. It was in the Cliftlands as far as Ophilia could tell. Cyrus had stated that its name was Bolderfall after consulting a map that he had bought while they were in Clearbrook. Ophilia knew that she should be making for Saintsbridge, but if that was the case, then why was the Ember trying to point her down a different path? What was it within the borders of Bolderfall that needed her attention so desperately?
She took a step forward without knowing why. Her destination was far from her mind, but the Ember was pushing her onward. This was where she was meant to be going one way or another. The Ember was telling her that it was the case. She just had to listen to it whether she wanted to or not.
Go, Ophilia... A child of the gods awaits thou.
Ophilia recognized that voice, she realized belatedly. She had heard it back when she first departed from Flamesgrace, though part of her had wondered if she had imagined it. That voice sounded nothing like anything that she had heard in the past, and she hadn't heard this voice at any point before resolving to claim the Ember.
"A child of the gods..." Ophilia whispered, her eyes still glassy and silver. She raised the Ember and examined its light once more. A series of faces appeared among the flames, and she recognized most of them. She saw herself, Cyrus, Tressa, Olberic, Primrose, and Alfyn in that order before two unfamiliar faces rose in the white flare. The first was a young man with white hair that fell over half of his face in a sweeping motion. The second of the two was a woman at least five years older than Ophilia with a stoic expression and a wild braid. Somehow, Ophilia knew that the faces that she had seen reflected the phrase that she had heard beforehand from the voice of the woman.
Press on... There is more that has yet to be found...
The voice came to a close in its speech after the final word was spoken, and Ophilia found herself snapping back to reality with such sudden force that she almost stumbled to the ground. Primrose's hand clamped down around her upper arm while Cyrus grabbed at her shoulders gently. "Ophilia?" Cyrus questioned of her, concern glossing over his gaze.
The silver in Ophilia's eyes began to recede, and she blinked a few times as she recognized that the world had more colors than just white. When had everything grown so pale? Was it because of the voice that was speaking to her? Was the voice tied to the Ember somehow? The Ember was trying to communicate with her, and more importantly, that woman was using it as a vessel. Someone out there was attempting to bridge the gap with Ophilia, and she had to find a way to close the distance between them one way or another.
"We have to go to Bolderfall," Ophilia murmured. They had already started on the way to Saintsbridge, but they wouldn't have to backtrack much in order to reach Bolderfall. "Something... Something there is calling for me."
Cyrus and Primrose looked to one another in concern, both attempting to determine what it was that had been trying to reach out to Ophilia. There was no easy answer though, and not even Ophilia knew the truth of what was taking place. She let out a small sigh, once again taking note of how bold and bright the colors were within the Riverlands. How long had the world been trying to melt away from her?
"Alright," Primrose declared. She glanced down to the Ember before turning her attention in the direction of the path that would take them to Bolderfall. "If you believe that this is best option, then I trust you."
Primrose was the first to start walking away, and Alfyn trailed after her once he had given Ophilia a glance of confusion, clearly an attempt to rationalize her symptoms and find a diagnosis as per his occupation. Olberic and Tressa started to walk next while Cyrus remained at Ophilia's side in case she stumbled once again. Ophilia swallowed nervously and focused on putting one foot in front of the other in a dizzying cycle that she wished would stop being so nauseating to her.
Who are you? Ophilia found herself phrasing the question in the back of her mind even though she didn't expect an answer. She held up the Ember, searching for reflections of her companions once more. Nothing surfaced, and she was left to wonder just what was taking place.
Soon... The truth shall make itself known soon enough, my child...
Oh boy! Fun times!
I'm sure that some of you are wondering about what all of this is supposed to mean. Well, I'll just say that the truth will come to light soon enough. There's been foreshadowing for this for quite some time, but everything will be exposed over the next ten chapters. I'm not elaborating more than that since I want to keep at least a few things secret for now.
The reasoning behind all of this is to provide a logical excuse for why the group would go to Bolderfall instead of immediately setting a course for Saintsbridge. I want Therion and H'aanit there for all of the chapter twos, so here we are. There's a bit more to it than that, but that's all I'm saying for the time being.
Therion's flashbacks are just as fun to write as always. Let's just say that we're going to be seeing quite a few more of those over the course of this story, whether it be in his chapters or someone else's. There's a lot that will be added in this novelization (which is going to be less like a single novelization and more like a series of novelizations wrapped in one given the already ridiculous word count we're up to; oops), and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
With that said, I'm going to leave you here so that I can go and work on another story. I've got something new coming out over the next few months, so I want to put some time into it now. All of that aside, I'll see you next week for the next part of Therion's chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is always appreciated. Have a nice day, everybody!
-Digital