The cold air of the night remained silent as the clock on the Lighthouse struck three am, the white spire overseeing the city from its heart like a eternal guardian with its light illuminating the moonless night. The buildings below piled on top of each other without much care or decor, trapped within grey stone walls built a millennia ago and which had now become a dam preventing the urban chaos from spilling into the fields beyond. Centuries of history were written in the columns and beams that supported the frankensteinian abominations where the citizens of Galara’s Hold spent their nights and days, cracking and bending under the weight of new layers, new homes and new stories. Among the labyrinthine alleyways and passages left in between, way below the reach of any but the most determined light rays, a figure cloaked in dark green made its way with cautious step. The figure avoided any of the major streets, which at this time of the night were lit with faith lamps and had the odd guard patrol or drunkard on its way home, and instead chose to remain hidden looking for its target.
It was twenty past three when the figure found what it was looking for: a jewellery shop, one of those big ones, with one large glass storefront that faced the main street and another smaller window on its side. The inside of the store could be easily seen from the front, which was not ideal but it still was probably the best target that this thief was going to find. They looked inside from the lateral window, protected by a grid of metal bars, in search of some indication that this business was as successful as its opulent exterior suggested. There were not as many wares as in other stores they had visited in the past, which was to be expected given how this province was mostly dedicated to agriculture and had very few successful mining enterprises. However, on the ceiling there were some lightbulbs visible and even in the biggest cities it was only the rich who could afford having lamps inside. The cloaked figure smiled and stepped back towards the main street, peeking around to check for any potential witnesses. Other than a person sleeping on a corner about three hundred metres away, the coast was clear.
The figure walked back towards the lateral window and pulled back its cloak revealing a young face, dirty and sweaty from days of travel, a gambeson armour, wool trousers with multiple patches and old leather boots; all of which were in even worse condition than their face. On their left side hanging from a crumbling leather belt was a sheathed sword, which was the only item this person seemed to possess that was not in complete ruin. Taking their gloves off they stared at the inside of the store, extended their right hand and spreading their fingers open towards it without touching the glass or the metal bars. They closed their left hand into a tight fist and placed it over their heart. Inhale, exhale. A few seconds went by. Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Pause. The thief remained still and closed their eyes. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the exhaustion from the day, but right now it was difficult to concentrate. They continued to breathe slowly, pushing aside the bitter bite of the night, their shaking legs and their rumbling stomach. They were looking for a special feeling, something buried deep in memory, a familiar sensation they needed to evoke. After about ten minutes of closed eyes and meditation, something sparked in their guts. A vibration, a rush of tingles that burst from their heart and spread to the rest of their body, lighting their eyes with a powerful ochre glow and escaping through their skin creating a glowing aura of the same colour.
“?ijagofawi”
With the final syllable of the incantation they stepped forwards and pulled their right hand towards their chest, closing it while pushing the left one forwards and stretching the fingers. Their eyes sparkled for a second but nothing happened. Sighing, they turned to their original position and tried the incantation and gestures again, this time with a bit more care in pronouncing the words properly. Nothing happened again. Another sigh and another few seconds to make sure they hadn’t lost their magical aura yet. For the third time they tried casting the spell making sure their feet were in the right position and their step was long enough and in a straight line. This time, as the incantation began an transparent figure of ochre light resembling the mage manifested itself in the store, slowly becoming more dense and visible. With the final syllable and movement, the image swapped places with the caster in an instant and then quickly dissolved into the air leaving no trace of its existence. The thief chuckled with pride for a moment before turning to the storefront to confirm that there was no-one outside who could have seen them. Looking around the store, most of the glass cabinets where the jewels and precious gemstones were stored had strong locks which would take way too long to pick. They quickly dismissed the idea of breaking the glasses, there might be some kind of security measure, and the plan was always to disrupt as little as possible. Just under the counter, however, there was an unlocked drawer which contained about two hundred imperial seals. Jackpot. In the same drawer on a small hidden hole there was a single key, which the thief tested extensively in all of the locks in the room and found out was for accessing the back of the store. The small workshop was too dark to see clearly so the thief opened their backpack grabbing a metal rod and a small glass cube that emitted a faint golden glow. They inserted the cube on a hole at the bottom of the metal bar and it lit up as if it was a torch with he same warm golden radiance that the lighthouse and the lamps outside had.
With a light source now the mage could see that the room contained plenty of exposed jewellery, precious metals and gems which most likely were being used on some crafts or repairs. However, the most valuable finding was a thin pipe of steel that raised from the floor on the left side of the room and crawled upwards until it was about waist height ending in a metal box with a complex gold engraving over it. A Faith pipe. Without wasting a single second the intruder pulled from their backpack a hand-crafted and crooked wooden square with a similar engraving and set it up on the top of the steel box with the gold, carefully balancing it. They grabbed another seven cubes of glass identical to the one currently powering the torch and put them on top of the wooden contraption, rebalancing the precarious pile until the faith crystals started to emit a pulsating golden light. They retracted their hands quickly as to not disturb the charging batteries any further and moved back to observe the other findings in the room.
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In the bigger cities of the empire, especially state capitals, all the automatic systems such as running water, lights, doors and self-cleaning floors were powered by Faith, a liquid-like energy that was transported from the Lighthouses to all locations that needed it. Places from which to extract Faith directly from this pipe system were rare and only the richest of citizens or government officials had access to their own charging stations. Thankfully, the intruder had had the chance to steal a makeshift one from a group of soldiers a few months ago which allowed them to start using some of the faith-based devices that they had acquired over their travels. It was going to take at least half an hour to fully charge the crystals so they might as well take some time to find the most valuable pieces to take. A few diamonds or any good quality jewels would suffice, if sold elsewhere, to get a few more hundred imperial seals. After looking at the materials carefully laid on the workbench and ordered in drawers and shelves without touching anything they decided to pocket a single gold ring with encrusted rubies and about two metres of gold thread. It was all from the bottom drawer on a corner so hopefully the owner would not notice too soon that they were missing. After some more consideration, they decided to also take fifty imperial seals from the drawer in the counter.
With all seven glass cubes fully charged, they pocketed them back and locked the door to the back room and put the key in its original place. After turning off the torch and double checking everything to make sure there were no traces on their presence, the thief casted their spell again to teleport outside. Feet firmly on the ground, left hand on their chest and right hand extended. They concentrated again for a few minutes to evoke and unearth their magic again, blocking out the feeling of clothes over skin, the smell of wood and sweat, the bloody taste in their mouth, the sound of their own breathing and clanking of metal against metal. They needed to focus on bringing their magic up again. As soon as they did and the tingling sensation invaded their body again, the thief focused back on their hearing. Metal against metal, the sound of armoured boots getting closer.
“Well, shit.”
They tried casting the spell immediately, but failed due to their trembling hands. They tried again, without luck. The metal steps were close, too close. They jumped to hide behind the counter and wait for the potential witnesses to pass by before trying again. However, this was the worst case scenario for them.
“This place is intact, no broken glass no nothing, are you sure this…” A woman’s voice was interrupted by what seemed to be an older man.
“I am certain the silent alarm triggered and woke me up.” He shouted and stomped his feet.
“It might be a malfunction, do you want us to check anyway?” A third voice spoke.
The angry man huffed like a tired dog. “Yes, if it is a false positive then I will have a not-so-friendly conversation with the priest that set the alarm up.” The intruder heard the jingle of a keychain being pulled out of a pocket. “Let me open this for you”.
There was no time left. Thankfully, the mage was still ready to cast the spell and from the position they were in squatting behind the counter they could see the outside of the lateral window they came in through. They set up in position to cast the spell again, in a very uncomfortable position that should, in theory, still allow them to perform all of the actions required. The thunderous sound of the metal grid protecting the entry being lifted gave the thief the last desperate push they needed to cast the spell.
“?ijagofawi” It worked, they were outside.
However, from their new position they could see the two guards, dressed on the white and green checker pattern of imperial soldiers, and the store owner opening the door. And the three of them could see the newly materialised thief. After what felt like years of still silence, the mage put the hood of their cloak back up, turned around and started running towards the city walls.
The guards, still in shock, didn’t react until the old man with the keys shouted. “There is a rogue mage! There was a rogue mage stealing from me! Go catch her you imbeciles!”
The guards ran forwards, spear in hand ready to be thrown or thrust forwards. That moment of hesitation had given the fugitive enough time to get ahead and run around the claustrophobic maze of the city streets towards the west gate. The time they had spent the past few days familiarizing themselves with the city paid off as they were able to reach the gate in record time. Patrolling on the wall above it, as expected, four guards. There was no way they could use their magic and then ran away without being seen. They crouched behind a nearby fence belonging to some cart storage building and stared at the posted guards, waiting for an opening. After a few minutes of chittering teeth and quivering legs the Lighthouse’s bell started to chime, spreading its deep and deafening chat throughout the city, echoing in the streets below. The guards atop the wall started to move, abandoning their posts to go down to the streets and aid on the search of the rogue mage. Only one of them staid on the wall.
That was as good as it was going to get, and now with the city waking up and mobilizing against them the mage had to make some risky moves. And if there was one thing this mage was good at, it was poorly-thought out risky plans. With the pressure of the chase on them their magic arose within seconds of concentrating and they managed to cast the spell on their first try during the few second that the guard turned his gaze away from the street, traversing the twenty five metres between the fence and the gate in the blink of an eye. Keeping up their magic they inspected the gate they found a small crack in one of the thick wood panels barely big enough to let a fly pass through. The road on the other side was visible, and that was enough. Looking through the whole they casted the teleportation again and once more it succeeded on the first try. They were out.
