Raeyla dropped down into the cave, her feet hitting the ground with a soft thud. She paused and listened intently for any signs of anything that may already be living down in the dark space. After a few moments, she looked up at the narrow crevice she squeezed through. "I think it's clear," she called up softly.
"Comin' down!" Erik's voice responded from above. Raeyla quickly moved aside to give him room. She could make out the outlines of old, dusty shelves but little else in the darkness. When Erik landed beside her, he immediately turned back to look up at Derk, "Toss the rope and bag down!"
"On the way!" Derk replied, his voice muffled. Moments later, the bag landed with a thump on the stone floor beside them. Erik knelt down and rummaged through it until he pulled out the materials for a torch. He quickly set to work and soon a warm flickering light filled the once dark cave.
It had been two years since Raeyla woke up in that snowy inn, her memories a jumbled mess. Two years of traveling with Erik and Derk, searching for clues about her past while they searched for valuable treasure. They had initially scoured nearby villages and towns, hoping to find someone, but no one recognized her. Eventually, she stopped searching, both losing hope of anyone knowing her and fearing that pursuing the past might mean losing the friendship she had found with Erik and Derk.
She still pushed on that wall in her memories, and because of this, she had managed to piece together some of her history. She remembered that her home village had been destroyed, and that she had lived in the mountains for a time. She recalled traveling with companions, though their faces and names remained elusive. Even though this frustrated her, it was enough to know that she didn't have a traditional home to return to and so she was confident in her decision to remain with the two boys.
Instead, Raeyla focused on being useful to Erik and Derk. She discovered a talent for ranged combat and saved up enough gold to buy a recurve bow. It became an extension of herself, a tool she used to fight monsters and shoot ropes across long distances, aiding their explorations. Erik valued her support in battles, and Derk appreciated the easy method of getting across roofs.
On one of their adventures back to Heliodor, they crossed through the Manglegrove where Derk found a small space in a rock face and curiously looked in. When he saw a glint of something silver within, he excitedly informed Raeyla and Erik, who equally became motivated to return to the city for some extra supplies before returning to search for the space they now found themselves in.
As Erik lit the torch, the cave came into sharper focus. Dusty shelves lined the walls, filled with old, forgotten items. Raeyla stepped forward, her eyes scanning the room. "Looks like no one's been here for a long time." she observed.
"Yeah, let's hope it stays that way." Erik replied, his tone guarded but kind. He handed the torch to Raeyla, freeing his hand to draw his weapon. "Stay close. I'll clear the area and then we can loot." The brunette nodded in response, her grip tightening on the bow on her back.
The pair found that the space was smaller than they initially thought, with what appeared to be a small cave-in at the entrance preventing any further exploration. Realizing they were safe, the 19-year-old sheathed his daggers and signaled to his brunette partner, "We're good." He then moved over to open a creepy old chest, digging through its contents.
The girl took a closer look around the room. She saw a shelf that had been knocked over by a particularly large root pressing against the stone. She walked over toward the bookshelf and knelt down to pick up one of the books that had fallen on the ground. As she went to stand back up, she touched the wall lightly to steady herself. Suddenly, a strange sensation overtook her.
Images flashed in her mind, leaving her disoriented. She saw a room that looked very similar to the one they were in, but with all the shelves in place and well lit. A large blue book appeared, and a page with orbs printed on it. Then, just as quickly as the images came, they were gone.
Raeyla first recognized that she was on the floor of the stone room, with Erik sitting beside her, concern etched on his face. "What happened?" he asked, his tone low but worried.
She took an extra moment to look around the room, shaking her head as if to clear her mind. She turned to her friend, "I saw something. Images."
"Images? What kind?" Erik's voice was skeptical, yet his eyes reflected his genuine concern.
Raeyla moved to stand, and Erik helped her up. She took one last look around the room and muttered, "It looked like here." Then she spotted a familiar blue tome buried beneath some other books on the floor next to the desk. Before the cyan-haired male could ask more questions, his partner moved across the room and reached down to pick up the book. Erik followed her, his curiosity piqued.
"I saw this book too. There was a page with orbs on it." She flipped through the book, her fingers trembling slightly. When she found the page, she looked up at Erik with a confused expression. "Erik, it's real."
"Slow down, what's real? What did you see?" Erik asked, his skepticism clear but tempered by a willingness to understand.
"I saw all these flashes, I saw this room, but it was all lit up and clean. I saw this book, and this page."
"What the hell? What's on the page?" Erik leaned over her shoulder to look at the book, his curiosity overcoming his usual doubt.
She took a long look at the book, skimming over the page to understand what the images were showing her, "It's a story about magical orbs, used in the age of heroes. It says that the orbs were split amongst the kingdoms after the fall of the dark one."
"Sounds pretty valuable." Erik muttered; his interest piqued.
"If this story is right, the orb will be in the castle. You really want to rob the king?" Raeyla's tone was cautious. She knew that sometimes, Erik's desire to find treasure sometimes overtook his usual cautious nature.
"Why not? It's not like he's short on cash. Plus, with the money we get from selling the orb, all three of us can go into retirement." He said, his voice filled with a mix of excitement and practicality.
"What's goin on down there? You lot ok?" Derk shouted down into the crevice, getting the two young thieves' attention.
"Almost done!" Erik shouted back up, his voice steady. He turned back to Raeyla, "Let's talk about this with Derk later. Let's finish looting this place first."
Raeyla nodded in agreement and got to work. There wasn't much more of worth in the stone room, just a few tomes that could be sold for some gold and some tarnished magical accessories. Overall, it was a small haul, but if the stories in the blue tome were true, they had the promise of a much larger treasure.
They lifted up the bag of loot first, then took turns climbing the rope to the familiar woods of the Manglegrove Forest. Derk was initially disappointed to see the loot they had obtained, but with Erik's hint at a bigger score, he became so excited that he pushed to find a place to camp for the night. At Derk's insistence, they decided to stay for the night in the plains of Heliodor. Once the campfire was started and food was cooked, Derk eagerly asked about the new heist.
"Raeyla found this book down there. It mentions powerful magical orbs that were used in the age of heroes." Erik explained, his voice low but charged with excitement.
"Ohh, sounds valuable." Derk responded, his eyes equally lighting up at the opportunity.
"The only hitch is that the story says that the orbs were split amongst the kingdoms. If it's real, then there should be an orb in the Heliodor castle." Erik continued, his tone turning more serious.
"So, high reward, but high risk." Derk mused.
"It'll be a big heist, that's for sure, but think about it, guys. If we pull this off, we can retire from the thieving world!" Erik said, a smile breaking through on his face.
"I don't know Erik, how would we even get in?" Raeyla asked, her voice tinged with doubt but also curiosity.
"I'm not sure yet. Look how about this: let's scope the castle out for a couple of weeks, see if we can find the orb and a safe way in. If we find it, let's do it!" Erik proposed, his tone firm and confident.
"Okay, let's try it." Raeyla agreed, her adventurous spirit outweighing her reservations.
Weeks went by after that night. They returned to Heliodor that next morning and got to work. First, Derk sold the findings from the cave and the group was finally able to buy some replacement clothes. Their last job out in the Emerald Coast had damaged Raeyla's outfit and Erik and Derk found themselves looking for an upgrade as well.
Derk, found a green and white striped coat to replace the brown one he previously had and wore it over his purple tunic, all of which reached down to his ankles. He placed his favorite orange scarf over the new coat that matched well with the red sash around his waist and the brown clogs on his feet.
Erik found a new hooded dark green tunic to replace the white shirt and red vest he previously wore. He kept the same blue pants and brown fingerless gloves from his older outfit, but added a red sash that he pilfered from a stall on his way into town to complete the look, the color contrasting with the orange knee high socks and brown leather shoes he already had on.
Raeyla's outfit had the biggest change out of the group, with Ruby giving her the name of a good seamstress that was willing to work for cheap. She now wore a short, white sleeveless tunic dress, with its hem falling just beneath her knees, so she could still move quickly if need be, her old shorts remaining as part of the outfit. Over the tunic, the woman made her a blue hooded vest that lined up with the tunic, secured with brown leather straps that sat on her shoulders and criss crossed over her chest, meeting at the center where a small piece of metal held them together.
Another series of 3 brown leather belts cinched around her waist, where she could tie some smaller pouches for easy access in battle. She had already switched out her old boots with brown knee high boots last year, and so kept them as they matched the belts on her tunic, as well as the bracers that protected her wrists and forearms and the strips of leather that sat on her biceps. The woman had stitched white sleeves to the leather straps on her biceps and Raeyla tucked in the material to fit underneath the bracers.
As a final touch, Raeyla took the metal bands that were found in her bag on the day she was found and placed them above her bracers. She was unable to understand why the bracers were in her bag, but she insisted on keeping them in case they hold significance to her old self. Upon showing off the outfit to her group, she felt her confidence raise slightly at Derk and Erik making mention that her new look suited her well. Raeyla also commented on the boys' outfit, stating that they all looked like they were real adventurers finally.
With newly obtained outfits, Reayla and Erik took to scoping out the outskirts of the castle, getting to know the guards' schedules and patrol routes. Erik's sharp eyes and cautious nature ensured they gathered as much information as possible without raising suspicion.
While they looked for a way to sneak in from outside the castle, Derk got to work charming his way into a few of the social circles near the castle. He indulged their gossiping while carefully probing for myths and stories about the castle. Eventually, he was able to confirm the existence of a red orb being kept in the castle. He finally found a person who had personally been to a party at the castle and had seen the treasure.
Confirmation of the orb gave Erik a large boost in motivation, and he became obsessed with finding a way into the castle that would alleviate Raeyla and Derk's worries. The cyan-haired thief started taking Raeyla into the castle to search for the treasure room. After a couple more weeks, they lucked out and discovered that the orb was being kept in a room on the third floor of the castle, easily accessible from the room.
With a plan in place, Raeyla and Derk grew more confident about pulling off the job and agreed to carry out the plan a few days after they completed the planned route.
Reayla was shaking before the heist that night but forced herself to be calm as she shot her arrow into the castle walls, a rope firmly tied against it. It took a few tries, but it eventually lodged itself into the castle wall well enough to carry one person's weight. Erik went first, ensuring the coast was clear for Raeyla to follow. Once she was across, they cut the rope and dislodged the arrow to remove any evidence of their presence. They had to be efficient and fast, all while keeping silent to avoid being found.
Derk stayed behind to watch the wall from the rooftops of the highborn Heliodorian residents. His job was to keep watch for any extra activity, and to help the two in their escape later. If he saw any heightened activity, he was to set off fireworks from the rooftops to gain both the guards' attention and alert the two inside the castle. Once he saw the duo back on the castle roof, he was supposed to be ready to help secure the rope and get them back over the line quickly in case any guards were chasing them.
With Raeyla and Erik, the pair's route took them from the roof of the throne room, through a window on the staircase that led to the third floor. From there, they had to be careful, because the hallways were long and provided little for them to hide behind, aside from the armored statues along the wall. They quietly opened the door to the vault and slipped in without being noticed.
Erik didn't hesitate in rushing forward and grabbing the orb while Raeyla got to work. In their previous visits, they had noticed windows high in the room. While Erik secured the orb, Raeyla shot another roped arrow into the stone of the castle ceiling. Similarly to their method on the roof, the rope would only take one person at a time. Once the rope was secured, Erik handed the bag with the orb to Raeyla and climbed up. With his greater upper body strength, he removed the window and pulled himself up to help Raeyla when it came to her turn.
Raeyla panicked when she heard a sound from the hallway. Someone was coming. She looked up briefly as she prepared her bow. Erik had just made it through the window and whistled to signal it was safe for her to come. She secured her bow quickly and climbed up the rope as fast as she could manage, but they were noticed just as they were pulling the rope through the window.
The guards couldn't have seen them, but they knew the castle had been robbed, and the guards would now be on high alert. They left the window out of place, knowing they had been discovered and ran along the roof of the castle. They could see Derk in the distance and Raeyla wasted no time in shooting her arrow toward their partner. She missed the first time, panicked, but managed to reach his rooftop on the second try. Raeyla looked around for guards as Erik secured the rope to their end before tapping the girl's shoulder, signaling for her to go first. With her bow, she could watch out for Erik on his trip across if she went first.
Guards appeared on the rooftop shortly after the duo had safely reached the roof. Erik quickly cut the line as soon as he was clear, and they ran as fast as they could into the safety of the buildings. They took the backroads to downtown Heliodor and thought quickly.
"Hey wait, we need to stash this, if they catch us with it, we're dead meat!" Derk whispered quickly, halting his two partners in their place in an alleyway away from the public eye.
"Where are you thinking?" Erik whispered back as he looked at Raeyla quickly. She took the hint and took out her bow, holding it low as she inched her way toward the exit of the alleyway and looked around the corner, ensuring that the coast was clear to head to their next destination.
"The trash-pit in downtown Heliodor, no one'll think to look there." She heard the older man suggest. She glanced back toward them for a moment and gave a slight wave, they had to move soon before guards came around. Erik agreed to Derk's suggestion and pushed everyone to continue to their planned hideout.
With the city on high alert, they knew that soon the gates out of the city would be closed, and so they planned for Raeyla and Erik to hide within an abandoned rooftop shed downtown until things cooled down. Derk would hide the orb and go about his normal routine from the inn while he kept an eye on the level of security in the city. Once the gates were open again, they would take the orb and sneak out of the city so they could find someone who would buy it.
Their plan would never fully be played out, though, as only two days after their heist, guards found Raeyla and Erik in their hideout and arrested them.
They were questioned for hours about the location of the orb, and even Heliodor's champion, Hendrik, was called in to try and force them to talk. But after the pair refused, Hendrik gave the order to imprison them with a life sentence in the Heliodorian dungeons.
Raeyla remembered the moment she was sentenced, her ears ringing at the realization that she might be stuck in a dark dungeon for the rest of her life, never knowing who she really was. She wanted to be mad at Erik, but found that she couldn't. She had chosen to join his group, and he made sure she knew the risks. She had also chosen to follow him in his heist of the orb, again fully aware of the dangers.
Feeling dispirited, she slid down against the wall of her new cell and sat on the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and stared through the bars down the hall where the candlelight from the guards' room could be seen. She almost didn't hear Erik speaking to her from the cell next to hers. "Hey, Rae, you ok?"
"I'm… adjusting. A life sentence in a dungeon isn't what I expected today."
There was silence for a moment, before a scraping sound could be heard from Erik's side of the wall that separated their cells. She didn't look to see what was happening until Erik spoke again, "Hey, come here."
She looked up to her right, where the sound was coming from, and saw Erik's hand poking through the stone wall. She stood up and found that he had popped out one of the stone bricks from the wall, giving them the ability to look at each other through a small hole. When he locked eyes with her, he gave a sympathetic look and lowered his voice. "This is my fault, I'm sorry. I promise you, it won't be a life sentence. We're gonna get out of here."
A small smile made its way onto her face, she could hear the sincerity in Erik's voice. She couldn't let him feel bad for this, "Don't apologize, I chose to follow remember? So, how will we get out?"
A determined look flashed in his eyes, "I'll dig us out if I have to."
"I'll help, if we dig two holes and connect them, we can take turns." A motivated look flashing in her eyes as well.
"Good idea. Let's wait a few days though, we have to act like we've accepted our fate."
Raeyla went to accept his plan at first, until a better idea popped into her head, "No, we have to act like we want to get out."
Erik saw the glint in her eyes and whispered back, "You have another idea."
"We only just got tossed in. Anyone would be upset and angry over that. No one wants to live their life in a dungeon. We have to be angry, even with each other at first. Then, when we eventually lose hope, the guards should watch us less. That's when we start digging."
The goal of the plan clicked in Erik's mind, he muttered his thoughts as he made sense of what the brunette was suggesting. "They need to see it happen for them to believe it. Alright I'm in."
Raeyla smiled at the agreement, and nodded, "Okay. Let's put the brick back for now. We can take it out when we stop fighting."
"Alright, we can do this. We're partners Rae." He gave her a reassured smile.
Raeyla nodded in return with a small smile, "Partners" she agreed before Erik put back the brick, isolating her in her cell once more. She no longer felt defeated. She and Erik would get out of here; they just had to be patient and careful.
They would be free again.