Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Into the Frying Pan
From my bag I pulled out an empty leather pouch. It was lined inside with a cloth specifically made to isolate any and all magic elements. Preventing what's inside from being perceived from a distance. Holding the opened pouch with my left hand I reached into the chest with my right and gently lifted the crystal from its safe harbor.
The moment the crystal separated from the silk lining a blaring whine assaulted me. The shock to my system nearly had me dropping my prize as I attempted to cover my ears. Shaking my head, I tried to ignore the noise as I shoved the crystal in the pouch and the pouch in my bag even as I maneuvered back around the table toward the window.
Halfway around the table the door opened spilling light into the room. The slam of the door against the wall accompanied the guards yelling as I took off in a sprint. Two steps from the window I jumped, turned slightly to my right, shielded my head with my left arm and glanced behind me. Three men were running at me, but my eyes remained locked on the face of the man on the right.
Blond short hair, blue eyes, five foot ten, a rapier strapped to the right hip and dawning recognition contorting his face. My cousin Sven was seven years older than I was and already a junior member of the royal guards. I knew there was a possibility he was in the castle that night, but I hadn't thought he would be one of the guards outside the room I just robbed. To make things worse he recognized me just as I had him.
'Well shit.'
The thought crossed my mind as I barreled through the window into the night air. Thinking too much would only get me caught or killed, so, I threw the thought of Sven and the consequences to the back of my mind to worry about later. From in my left sleeve, I pulled out a hidden dagger, which processed an array, and threw it back through the open window. As it left my fingers, I sent a pulse of magic to set off the array. With my other hand I pulled a small scroll out of my right sleeve and let it unroll in the wind. As the scroll unrolled an explosion sounded from the thrown dagger letting me know it had hit something, anything.
Knowing the recoil was about to hit me and force me toward the ground at a faster speed I quickly channeled magic into the scroll. Green light lit up my hand before spreading to the rest of my body. The further the light traveled the dimmer it became but at the same time the slower I fell. Even when the blast hit me my falling speed was no faster than a feather. A couple seconds later the light faded completely, and I dropped the last foot to the ground.
Without looking back, I took off at a run along the tree line headed to the west wall of the gardens. Distant clangs of metal, voices calling orders, and the march of guards sounded from every direction. As they got closer, I ducked into the bushes but kept moving low to the ground. As long as I could make it to the west wall before being surrounded, there was a chance I could make it out. Once on the other side of the wall, and in the city proper, it would be easy to outmaneuver the city guards. After all, they were significantly less well trained than the royal guards currently on my tail.
The tree line stopped fifty feet from the wall and the nearest guards were less than one hundred feet behind me. Turning my attention inward I looked to see how much magic I had left. Even with the support of arrays, supplementing my dwindling magic, I only had enough to power three more spells. Recovering after that would take about an hour per basic array.
Reaching into my bag I pulled out the six scrolls I still had left. Two would be useless for now leaving four potential ones. Fleet foot, sticky fingers, wind barrier and hallucination. Fleet foot would allow me to move faster with lighter tracks left behind, sticky fingers was needed to climb the wall, wind barrier would divert any incoming arrows and even swords a bit, while hallucination would make me unnoticeable - like something seen out of the corner of the eye but when looking straight on it can't be seen. Theoretically, as long as I wasn't targeted then I didn't need a barrier, therefore, hallucination seemed to be the better choice.
Having decided to forgo the barrier I returned the other scrolls to my bag and cast the remaining three. Green light covered my feet, yellow light covered my hands and orange light covered me from head to toe. The moment the last of the arrays activated I felt a wave of dizziness invade my senses. Lack of magic left me weak but it was something I had gotten used to. The shouts behind me had gotten closer, urging me to move.
Taking a deep breath, I bolted for the wall. Even if they caught a glimpse of me, the spells would make it hard for anyone except a Master Elementalist to target me. Any master, though, would be able to cancel my spells even from a distance. The commotion behind me got louder as they got closer. I made it to the wall as the torch light cleared the tree line, illuminating the clearing at the base of the wall. Without stopping I jumped up and climbed for all I was worth.
The yellow glow on my hands began to fade as I made it to the top of the wall. At the rate it was disappearing I would have a hard time making it to the bottom of the other side before it was completely gone. Without care for anything around me, I rolled onto the top of the wall and slid right off the other side. The fading spell had my hands slipping on the stone even as it tried to stick. Landing on my feet with a thump I looked down at my hands in the flickering torchlight to see them raw and slightly bleeding as if the skin had been partially scraped off.
Jogging into the nearest alley gave me cover as fleet foot and hallucination began to disappear as well. I didn't have the luxury of tending to my hands but, I pulled a handkerchief from my bag. Clenching it in my left hand I kept the other free for unexpected company.
'Leave it to father's strict etiquette lessons that even during a robbery I have at least one handkerchief with me.' I thought as I smiled ruefully.
Turn after turn. Alley after alley. The back streets of the capital were a confusing mess of angles and dead ends that only those who lived there or constantly used them had any chance of not getting lost. I didn't live in them, but I did spend most nights in one alley or another, so, I had gotten rather good at knowing where I was going.
I walked for an hour before finally stopping just inside an alley that opened onto a main thoroughfare. Two streets away from the south gate. I had left the royal and city guards far behind me with about a half hour buffer time before they made it to this street. Leaning against the wall I finally had the chance to consider my next step. Originally, I wasn't supposed to be seen and wasn't planning on leaving the city. Now though that was my only option.
"So, you were here Jefferson."
The sound of my name shocked me as I looked up at the mouth of the alley. The man standing there had jet black hair, blue eyes and stood straight making him look taller than his six-foot frame. He wasn't overly muscled but the grace he exuded indicated hidden strength. His royal guard uniform portrayed his status as an elite even amongst their ranks. The look on his face though wasn't one of pride or success. Instead, it was disappointed and sad.
"Hey, Steven. Nice night, huh?" I replied trying, and failing, to sound happy at seeing my older brother.
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