Chapter Two: Lost Caws

Henry was getting bored. It had been three days since the last Risen ambush, and he was missing out on his weekly dismemberment quota.

Sighing, the young mage flopped onto his cot and surveyed his room in the barracks. In front of the wall directly opposite his cot was a table containing half-finished experiments on severed Risen limbs. The wall with the door was covered by bookshelves containing his favorite tomes and spells containing especially gruesome curses. The other wall was bare except for a window, currently closed.

Henry examined these items, trying to determine which one would be a serviceable distraction. He was just about to test out a hex that caused a person's chest to spontaneously sprout mushrooms when a thump on his window caught his attention. Glancing up, he saw that one of his pet ravens had crashed into the glass.

He chuckled- not at the thought of pain, as he would have if this were a human, but at the endearing clumsiness of his pet. He was much closer to ravens, and indeed to animals in general, than he was to humans. He knew on sight that this one was Vasto, named after one of his friends in the Plegian army.

The mage opened the window and fed Vasto a handful of birdseed. As the bird greedily pecked at his dinner, Henry noticed a letter tied to his leg. This struck him as odd, as nobody had ever contacted him using this method. Unrolling the scroll, Henry read this message:

Dear Henry,

This might be a little sudden, but I'm coming to your room at 6:30 today. Wait for me until I get there. And make sure not to tell the others about this, okay?

Gaius

Henry frowned momentarily. Why did Gaius want to talk with him, and why in secret? This scowl quickly became a wide grin. Whatever it was, he'd have a friend to chat with! How exciting!

At half past 6, Gaius stealthily crept into the room. He leaned against the wall with the window and glanced around shiftily. Henry briefly wondered what Gaius was hiding. Did he expect a Risen to jump out at him? Henry giggled momentarily, picturing that dramatic scene.

"Hey-o, Gaius!" he called. "How's everything going with you? Done any cool assassinations lately?"

Gaius once again gave a nervous glance to both sides of the room. "Who, me? Oh, I'm just fine! Wonderful, in fact! No illegal activity planned at all!" He stuck a lollipop in his mouth and began to chew vigorously.

Henry gave him a puzzled look. "You know there's no one else here, right? It's not like I've made a bunch of magical clones ready to pop out and murder you at any moment. Ooh, that sounds fun! Think I could pull it off?"

Gaius let out a sigh of relief. His tense shoulders relaxed to a slouch, and his chewing became slower and more even. He plopped down on the cot beside Henry and stared him directly in the eye. "Well, if there's nobody around, I guess I can be straight with you," he said. "How much do you know about enchantments?"

Henry's face split into a wide grin. "Oh, almost everything! I'm the best at enchanting? What do you want me to cast a spell on? Ooh, I know! You want to to grow cabbages out of your ears!"

Gaius's lollipop drooped in his mouth, which was growing slacker by the second. "Nothing that, um, disturbing," he said. "I need you to break an enchantment."

Henry pursed his lips. "Oh. That isn't as fun."

"Not everything in life is fun, pal," Gaius retorted. "Anyway, I'm trying to break into this old noble's house. The problem is, he has an enchantment around it, so I can't get in the door. I need you to break it."

Henry frowned. "Chrom not paying you enough? You can always kill some Risen for Bullions, you know."

"It's nothing like that!" Gaius explained. "My intentions are entirely honorable. I'm seeking vengeance for his cruel treatment of the poor."

"I don't have a concept of honor, so that means pretty much nothing to me," Henry said. "Never learned that in wizard school. But good on you! Why do you need me, though?"

Gaius sighed. He held up a hand and began to tick through names on his fingers. "Miriel and Ricken are loyal to a fault. Anything I do they'll report to Chrom, and since this is just a tiny bit illegal, that's not a good idea. Robin is too valuable to risk like this. And Tharja… well, to be honest, she freaks me out."

"Alright!" Henry said with a laugh. "But what reason do I have to go with your plan? This guy seems nasty, but I don't know him. I'm Plegian, remember?"

Gaius raised a finger. "Well, you see…" He trailed off, lowering the finger. "Huh. I didn't prepare for this. Uhh… you want to test your wizard skills?"

"Nah!" Henry replied. "I was voted Most Talented Mage three times before I even became an adult!"

"Crap," said Gaius, frowning. "Maybe you get the same visceral thrill from thievery as you do from killing?"

Henry contemplated this. "I wouldn't think so. Not enough blood involved."

Gaius sighed. "Well, that's all the easy options," he said. "I didn't really want to tell you this, but it doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

He took a deep breath, then stared off into a wall, a troubled look upon his face. "See, my dad was a poor carpenter. We barely made enough to get by, so he took out a loan from this noble. The problem was, this noble was a serious loan shark. He gave us loans with 10% interest rates, and when my father couldn't pay, he had him thrown in prison. I had to pay his freedom some day, so I turned to thieving. I still haven't payed it all off."

Henry had been raised by a giant wolf and taught at wizarding school. As such, he didn't have the most normal perception of emotion. Still, he knew that his friends were incredibly valuable to him. And the emotion boiling inside him at that moment was unmistakable.

Anger.

"Gaius," he said, "I want to hurt this man. Very badly."

"Unfortunately, there's no pain on this trip," Gaius said with a shrug. "Still, does that mean you're in?"

Henry laughed. "Of course I'm in, silly! Just one question. How exactly does thieving work?"

You mean I just hired a guy with no thieving experience?" Gaius asked. He then smirked. "Well, fasten yourself in the saddle, Junior. You've got a lot to learn."

Sorry this took so long! I had to work up a lot of motivation to write this. I was a bit scared to write this chapter, as the last chapter didn't have any dialogue. I think it turned out well, though! Everyone seems fairly well in character.

Thank you, anyone who read the first chapter! I never imagined such a positive response. Over 200 views is crazy for me, and I'm very grateful. I won't let any of you down!

Be sure to leave a review! I'm always looking for feedback. I'm not really sure if I made this chapter long enough, so I want to hear your thoughts on that.