Chapter 3: …and by Night

Garrett got home and took an inventory of what he had gotten from his heist. Carefully removing the arrows and arrow crystals, he put them in his secret closet. Realizing that not all of the arrows would fit, he put them in his secondary hiding place, which was a secret panel activated by pulling a loose floorboard. He then removed his money pouch and counted it out. In the end, he counted about 75 bronze coins, 50 silver, and 100 gold coins. He also had 20 golden crowns from his earlier payment. Let's see, the thief thought to himself as he tried to recall the current rates of currency, there's 5 bronze coins to a gold coin, and 2 silver to a gold. Add that to the crowns, which are worth 10 gold coins each and I get…he completed the math and found that he had 340 gold pieces on him. Not bad, considering he hadn't even embarked on his nightly expeditions. The thief yawned. He had about 8 hours before he needed to start, and he might as well spend that time sleeping. He curled up in his bed and was asleep in an instant.

The familiar quiet of the night woke Garrett. Silently putting on his cloak and robes, he walked over to his secret closet. As the door quietly opened, he looked among his various toys and gadgets and tried to select his tools. His first choices were his regular tools: his sword, blackjack, bow, and lockpicks. He took about fifteen broadhead arrows and put them in his quiver. His quiver could stretch with ease, and could reach a diameter of 1 foot if needed.

Next, he selected three of his noisemaker arrows. The noisemakers, when flying through the air, made an odd noise when they hit, sure to distract any guard around. Garrett also selected five rope arrows, ten water arrows, and 5 fire arrows. The last thing on the list was seven moss arrows. These arrows, when they hit the floor, released a fast-growing moss, creating an instant noiseless carpet; perfect for metal and tile.

Fully stocked on arrows, the last thing Garrett took was four flash bombs, two healing potions, and a gas mine. This would help him get out of tight places. Garrett paused, pondering something. Then he reached in and grabbed another special tool: a lock shredder. The lock shredder would damage the lock of a door, so that the door would either jam shut, or the doorknob would turn, but nothing else, since the lock mechanism was shredded. Perfect for some privacy.

Finally, he reached in and brought out a foldable ladder. It was a mere 5 inches across when wrapped, but was extremely strong and could reach a height of 20 feet. Since it was metal, it could also withstand hot temperatures. Great for a place without wood for a rope arrow.

Satisfied with his loadout, he quietly stepped out of his apartment and into the streets. Now for places to go…

The Watch and Hammer was a place for people to get drunk, have a meal, or, for those who knew the tavern owner, warm up with a girl from behind a metal door that few knew about.

But Garrett wasn't here for anything offered; well, at least paying for it. Moving his way over to the chimney of the tavern, he peered down. The chimney led down into the kitchen, probably into the oven. Garrett didn't want to get cooked, so he took out a water arrow. Trying to shoot it down, he found that if he tried to get a good vantage point he would end up slipping and falling. Three wasted arrows later, a frustrated thief pulled out a water arrow, and let it drop into the oven below. The resulting hiss and extinguishing of the flames showed that Garrett had hit his mark. Unraveling his ladder, he anchored the top end at the mouth of the chimney, thanks to a little set of hooks. Climbing down slowly, he made it down in one piece.

He found himself, as had guessed, in an oven. Pieces of meat, still supposed to be cooking, hung around him. Garrett pushed against the door with his palm, trying not to burn his fingers. He found the door opened with ease, and was about to step out when he heard a young woman notice the oven. "That's funny. I thought I had closed it."

Garrett automatically reached for his blackjack, but he found that it wouldn't be able to reach. Slowly, and reluctant that he had to kill the girl who was approaching, he drew out his sword. As soon as the server came towards the oven, Garrett thrust out his sword at the groin and cut upwards. The sharp sword cut straight through the poor quality fabric, organs, and bone, until it reached the top of the skull and went through, coming out through her hair. The whole process took less than a second. The girl didn't make a sound as her body, now in two halves, fell to the floor. Garrett winced as the pieces hit the metallic floor and the blood spilled out. Tucking the body into, he threw a water arrow onto the floor and watched the blood disperse. With luck, someone would think that the red liquid was just some blood from a tough burrick's breast. He then stepped out, his feet clanging all too loudly on the metallic floor. Gliding over to the door, he pulled out his lock shredder and forced it in the hole. He heard a crunch as the lock mechanism was destroyed. The thief relaxed. Now he could explore in peace.

Looking around, he searched for some food. He probably couldn't travel to Letheritzia by carriage, so he'd have to stock up on non-perishables. Opening another smaller oven, he found that it had three loafs of bread, which were just beginning to brown. I'll take those when I exit, he thought to himself. However, in the far corner there were some apples, bananas, and some Spirelli fruits. The Spirelli fruits were known for their sweet taste, good texture, and healing properties. They were extremely rare, being as they only grew in the forest, but Garrett managed to pocket all five of the delicious fruits in a padded section of his cloak, which he kept for food carrying. He also pocketed the apples, but left the bananas; the yellow things just grossed him out.

Going back to the small oven, he saw that the breads were now done. He put those in his special pouch as well. Turning around, he saw that there were some strips of dried meat, which would be perfect for his travels. Chewing one of them, he noticed four pieces of cheese, which he also picked up; they'd go great with his bread. Lastly, he picked up a few bottles of wine that might be of value.

Satisfied, he turned back to go back into the oven when he heard a noise in the door. Quickening his pace, he forgot that the oven was still hot. He tried to muffle a curse, but too much of it slipped out. He heard another serving girl scream, "Help! Please! Anyone who's armed! There's someone in the kitchen!"

Dammit! the thief thought to himself. He dove into the oven and climbed the ladder…

But the anchor snapped and fell down the chimney onto Garrett's head. Cursing again, he tried to swing it back up. But flinging something 20 feet up is no easy task. He wasn't able to get it up past 10 feet. And to add to his already bad luck, he heard someone pounding on the metal door, probably with a sword. No problem, I could handle a guy with a sword, Garrett thought to himself, but then he heard the attacker yell, "Thou art doomed, heathen!"

Shit, a Mechanist. That meant he had a mace, and maces were just as effective as the Hammerites' hammers. Feeling like a mouse in a cage, he had one last idea. First, he grabbed a mine from his cloak and set it right in front of the door. Climbing back into the oven, he shot a moss arrow at the side of the chimney. To his great relief, the moss stuck to the side. Quickly pulling out a rope arrow, he shot it into the thick patch of the moss. The rope arrow hit the moss, and stuck tight. Yanking the rope a few times, he was grateful to find that it stuck. Feeling the first ebbs of religion, he climbed the arrow, up to the lift of the chimney-and safety.

The mine exploded when Garrett was about 5 feet away from the lip of the chimney. Garrett heard someone scream-and then a far more powerful explosion. What could have happened? Then he remembered that the bread oven was gas-heated. The explosion must have destroyed the gas tank, and add it to the explosive power. Garrett climbed quicker, but a giant roar filled his ears. Looking down, he saw a column of flames rushing to meet him. Cursing a string of words bound to make a priest kill himself, he hoisted himself up to the lip of the chimney and hoisted himself over just as the towering inferno met him.

The heat wave knocked him over, and he lay sprawled on the roof of The Watch and Hammer. Looking under him, he saw that the whole tavern had caught ablaze, and was threatening to consume the entire building. The deafening crackle of the mostly wooden tavern burning was accompanied by the screams of its fleeing or aflame patrons. Looking down, Garrett watched in horror as the roof began to glow and smolder under his feet. Suddenly, a column of flame shot up from across the rooftop as if it wished to join the starry night above. Then another flame shot up, and another, and another.

Garrett began to panic. Looking around for an escape route, he saw a possible sanctuary: a stone roof of a neighboring apartment building Rushing over to the far side of the tavern's now freely burning rooftop, he jumped over the 4-foot gap and grabbed on to the neighboring roof. He hoisted himself up and ran as fast as he could over the top of the building. Behind him, he heard the tavern screech in a symphony of wood and metal twisting, then collapse to the ground, still ablaze and brightening the night sky.

Chapter 2 / Chapter 4