Chapter 9: Thief in the Night
Both Leopold and Shezu were panting heavily from the battle. It either came from exhaustion, fear of the situation, the joy that they were able to pull there plan off, or a combination of all three. Regardless, they were the ones standing, while there foe was on the ground.
"He, he, he-have to admit recruit, I didn't think that plan of yours would work," Leopold said/panted out while wearing a half-grin.
"Well to be honest, neither did I. And for the last time, call me-"
But before Shezu could finish his sentence, he heard a growl come up from the ground.
"Grrr… you… brats!"
Both of the Magic Knights looked in shock to the owner of the voice, as he started to pick himself off the ground while shooting the nastiest look of anger at the two boys. If looks could kill, his would've speared there heads. Shezu, at this point, was in a panic.
"WHAT! Who? When? How did he-"
But before he could finish the thought, he saw the answer to his question. Underneath the scorch mark where Leopold's attack landed and practically burned a hole through Muskel's clothes, he saw a glimmer of white.
"Oh damn," Shezu cursed, " when leopold hit him with his attack, he must have formed a layer of that salt armor under his clothes. It must have protected him from the flames, while the force of the attack must have knocked him back. Him skidding along the ground is probably what put the flames out."
Whatever Shezu though however, it really didn't matter in the end, as it was clear that any understanding of what had happened wasn't going to change that fact that the boys were in trouble.
"Well, well, well. Seems like I underestimated you little pieces of filth."
Every word Muskel spoke was seething with rage and hatred. The fact that he had been humiliated so was bad enough, but the fact that it was by people so young only made his anger magnify. Shezu was absolutely frozen. His plan had not worked, and he did not have a back-up. All he could do was stand still with a face of fear. Leopold on the other hand had a slightly different response. He was still struck with fear, but he did at least conjure some flames around his arms, for the fat amount of good doing that would do.
"So you think you can make a fool out of me! Well, I'll…"
"Muskel! Enough!"
The female voice cut through the air like a knife, severing the tension. All the boys looked over to the one who spoke. It was Hue, the other mage that was helping with the grave robbing. She was still wearing her cloak, thus making it difficult to get a good look at her. Not to mention that there was someone else behind her, cloaked in shadows.
"Come on Muskel, we're done here."
This made Shezu look around the graveyard. The battle with Muskel took all of his attention, making him blind to his surroundings. As he looked, the magic night noticed that practically everyone was gone. All the fellow people that were helping Muskel and Hue disappeared, along with all the bodies they were digging up. Which all that was left were the five people there, and a mass of empty graves.
"WHAT! Are you kidding me Hue! You think I'm just going to let these children-"
"Muskel...is this something you really want to fight me on?"
Hue shot the coldest look someone could give to another person, and the tone of her voice made it clear that she was being serious. Muskel gave a grunt of protest, but still obeyed her commands.
"Looks like I'll just have to slaughter you later Magic Knights."
Before either of the boys could try to stop them, a black portal opened up behind the mysterious woman, and Muskel, Hue, and there companion all disappeared into it. In what seemed like a split second, only Shezu and Leo were left there, at the empty graveyard that was silent as the night.
Both of the magic knights reported back to there captain at the HQ as soon as they possibly could. They gave a fully detailed report about what they saw, what they did, and the implications that it could entail.
"Are you two sure of what you saw," questioned Fuego, standing in front of both Shezu and Leo?
"Yes, they were definitely stealing corpses, not robbing from them," responded Leo.
Fuego Leon gave a look of contemplation, pondering what the actions of the grave robbers could possibly imply.
"Hrrm, for now, I will take with the other magic squad captains. We need to get extra protection around the graveyards to make sure no more of our dead are stolen. Meanwhile, you two go and rest, good job."
Fuego gave a nod of approval, while Leo and Shezu gave a smile and salute in return. Both of the members then left the tower by taking the stone platform down. It was a magical item that used mana to power it, and was the only way to reach the top of the tower. A stone pillar was in the middle of the platform, and a mage placing their hand on a ring of runes on top and injecting mana would make it go up. A lower ring of runes would make the platform go down. Leo was the one making the platform go down, all the while talking to Shezu.
"Man, stealing corpses, just what could a person want with a dead body," asked Shezu, ruminating on the events he observed.
"I don't know," replied Leo, "but to be perfectly honest, I don't even want to think about it."
"Yeah," replied Shezu, both he and Leo shuddering at the implications. While leaving the tower, the new Magic Knight recruit headed off to his cabin, but not before his senior stopped him.
"Hey recruit, wait up!"
Shezu gave a look of irritation, still chafing at only being known as 'recruit.' Leopold ran up to him, eager to talk.
"What is it?"
"Just wanted to say that the plan you came up with in the graveyard was pretty clever,if i do say so myself."
"Oh, well thank-"
"So tell me recruit, where do you-"
But before Leopold could finish, Shezu finally snapped.
"Alright enough! Stop calling me recruit, I have a name. It's Shezu, Shezu Ichor, and I'd prefer it if you called me that."
Leopold was actually dumbstruck both from the sudden outburst, and the fact that a new recruit had the courage to say that to a superior. However, the only thing Shezu was feeling was instant regret.
"Crap, maybe I shouldn't have-"
"Heh, so it seem you DO have some fire in you."
The who was dumbstruck this time was Shezu, as Leopold didn't seem angry at all. In fact, he almost seemed pleasantly surprised.
"So tell me Shezu, where do you come from?"
"Uh, from a village called Hause in the commoner realm. I used to live in Dresden before, well, things happened."
"Hrm, I see."
Leopold had guessed that the new recruit had come from either the outer realm or commoner realm, judging by his attire.
"Well, in any case, I hope we are able to team up again," Leopold said while spinning around to leave, "see you later Shezu!"
All the blood-mage could do was look on in confusion, as the sun started to set on his first adventure.
From that day forward, it was back to the usual, which was cleaning and maintaining the premises. However if there was one difference, it was Leopold. At the morning meetings, he would always call out to Shezu and save a seat for him to sit at. But other than that it was business as usual, until…
It was the middle of the night, the moon was full and high in the sky, with only a few clouds crossing it. Shezu suddenly jerked awake, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Bathroom.." he mumbled
Dragging himself out of bed and into a pair of slippers, he unlocked his door and ventured outside while in his white cotton pajamas. The bathrooms were behind the dining hall, opposite of the baths. Shezu entered the side for the boys and got his business done. Walking back to his room, he suddenly heard the scrapping of cloth against stone. In the silence of the night, he looked around to see if he could find the source of the sound. Looking up, he could see a dark figure climbing down the tower of the headquarters. At first he thought it was his eyes playing tricks on him. Rubbing them once more, he approached the tower, hoping to get a closer look. But to his shock, he realized that no, it was not his eyes playing tricks on him. There really was someone climbing down the tower. The tower of the Crimson Lions is where the captain resided, bed and all, so one could only guess what one trying to sneak out of it means. The shadow kept climbing lower and lower, using the stones as hand holds, until it finally it got low enough to jump backwards and land on top of the female room's roof. It was only then by the light of the moon, that Shezu got a full look at the intruder. It was a man, dressed in a jester's outfit with a harlequin mask. The outfit consisted of a red hood with three black ears of fabric. The body was covered in a red shirt and pants with black boots, while a leather sash of the same color covered the waist that held two daggers. There were what seemed to be black feathers coming out of the shirt, with black sleeves and gloves. The mask was white with a red crest over the eyes, and a red arrowhead in the middle of the forehead. Shezu looked in surprise for a moments, until he saw a necklace with a stone at the end of it. It was the same necklace that captain Fuego Leone had! It was then that Shezu remembered how to talk.
"Hey where did you-"
But before he could even finish, the thief sprinted across the roof, and was able to make a full clear jump over the spiked fence that surrounded the compound, rolling into safety. Shezu knew his time was short. Reaching out his hand, mana started to glow around it as he summoned his grimoire to him. Luckily for him, he didn't close his door all the way, so it was left a little ajar. This gave enough room for the grimoire to slip between it and fly right into the owner's hand. Shezu made a sprint for the gate, speaking his name opening it up. With that he dashed through, even going so far as to slip between it as soon as the chance allowed him. With that he was off, chasing the thief in the night while still in his white pajamas and slippers.
Notes: Another one done! So sorry that this one took so long! But like I said before...life, tends to slow things down. Don't worry though, still haven't given up on this story! Until next time.