I want you to help me break into Duke Hasel's vault," the boy said and I stared at him.
"No," I replied suddenly and began to push him out of the door "I'm not a criminal,"
"Your wanted post says otherwise," he replied and I was starting to get annoyed by this guy.
"I was framed," I argued and he laughed.
"I know, that's why I wanna help you," he said "but you gotta help me first"
"I won't help you steal from an honest man" I replied, glaring at the thief. And to my surprise, he laughed. "Did I say something funny?"
"Do you have any idea what's in his vault?" the thief asked and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"From the way you're talking I'm assuming it's not gold" Yuna stated and the thief nodded.
"It's slaves," he said and I froze. How long had he been doing this? How had he gotten away with it for so long? Strangely enough, Yuna seemed even more haunted by this news than me. The thief must have noticed this because he had something to say on the matter. "What, did the Prince assume his kingdom was full of good people who could do no wrong?"
"Shut up!" I demanded and Christa caught my arm, preventing me from punching the asshole in the face.
"Just calm down, there's no reason to fight him," she said and I took a deep breath before looking the thief dead in the eyes.
"Very well, I shall offer you my aid," I swore and he nodded
"My name is Jun by the way," the thief said and I nodded.
"Well then Jun...you're a prick" I greeted and he laughed loudly, throwing his head back and closing his eyes tightly.
"Oh I'm gonna like you," he said as he finished laughing and suddenly got serious again "you guys ready to hear the plan?"
"Lay it on us," Yuna said and Jun nodded.
"Firstly there are three entry points to choose from," Jun explained "the front door, the balcony, and the basement window"
"Which one is closest to the vault?" Christa asked and Jun quickly replied.
"The basement window, it's also pretty unguarded" he explained and I nodded.
"That's our entry point then," I said and Jun nodded before turning to Yuna. "How good are you at getting attention"
"I'm pretty much a pro," Yuna bragged and Jun nodded again.
"In that case I want you to focus on drawing the guards attention, you're going to do this by lighting the armory on fire," Jun said handing the archer an arrow "that arrow is imbued with fire magic, one shot should set the entire building ablaze"
"Yessir," Yuna said with a mock salute and Jun turned back to Christa and I.
"You two will be entering the estate with me, mage girl will use whatever concealment spell she has and the prince will be there in case a fight breaks out" Jun explained and I nodded.
"Is that all?" I asked and Jun nodded.
"I'm more of a wing it kinda guy" Jun explained "we move at midnight"
____________________
Cold. It was cold outside. Of course, my attire didn't help at all, my shirt left half of my upper body uncovered and my upper thigh downwards was also exposed to the elements but it's not like I had anything else to wear.
Now the other three were just waiting for my signal, I drew my bow and pulled the fire arrow out of my quiver.
I tried to steady my breathing but the cold was distracting me. I notched the arrow and pulled back the string before firing.
It was a direct hit. The armory exploded and burst into flames as alarms began blaring and guards rushed towards the inferno. Hopefully, by now the others had already gotten into the estate and I could pull back.
"Well what do we have here," a deep voice asked and I quickly drew an arrow and turned around to meet a hulking mass of a man.
"What's it to you?" I asked and the man reached for his club before slamming it into the ground where I stood. I narrowly managed to dodge out of the way and I realized something.
For someone of his size, this guy was fast. Strong too of course but that was to be expected.
"Honestly I'm kinda happy this happened" he laughed "it's been a while since anything exciting happened"
I readied my bow once again and stared the massive man in the eyes. This was gonna be a troublesome battle, I just knew it.
____________________
The second the armory was ablaze the three of us on infiltration climbed through the open window. The mage girl, Christa, quickly pulled out her spellbook.
"unsichtbar," she said and I noticed my body become transparent, I suddenly felt a hand grab onto my wrist and I recoiled slightly.
"We have to link up, we can't see each other either" Loki explained and I nodded. His logic did make sense. I began to lead the way through the corridors, following the map I had memorized until we finally came to the vault door and suddenly the spell was broken.
"Sorry...I'm out of energy," Christa apologized and Loki smiled.
"Don't worry, Jun pick the lock. I'll look out for any guards," He said and I nodded.
"Got it," I replied and got to work picking the lock
Everything was going smoothly on the inside so far but I could only assume that it wasn't always gonna be this easy.
Almost as if a higher power was listening in on my thoughts we quickly heard a noise behind us.
"Stop right there!" The voice demanded and I cursed under my breath, Loki had already drawn his sword and I drew my daggers. One masterfully crafted weapon in each hand, though I was at a disadvantage here. Our enemy used a spear, the reach difference was gonna be a pain in the ass but I figured I was nimble enough to manage.
"Christa I already handled the lock, go in and free the slaves," I ordered before winking at her "feel free to grab yourself something pretty while you're there"
"You said there wasn't any treasure!?" Loki stated in annoyance.
"No I said he was holding slaves in there, I never claimed there wasn't any treasure," I pointed out and Loki's growl of annoyance was enough to prove I had won this time.
Christa had had enough of this argument because she decided to jump in.
"Can you two morons please focus!?" She shouted and I smiled sheepishly before turning my full attention to our adversary.
"You there, identify yourself," Loki demanded and I sighed.
"Why do you care?" I asked and he grew flustered.
"Shut up!" He yelled and I snickered. The prince was very fun to tease.
"My name is Lance Victis" the spearman announced "and you are Loki Leonhart and Jun Freeson"
"Aww look how popular we are Loki" I joked and Loki readied his sword. Both of us were ready for a fight.
____________________
For a guy as big as him he was fast. I was more nimble of course but all I could do was dodge.
"Just die!" The club-wielding guard shouted as he slammed the club into the ground where I had just stood "You're an annoying little brat aren't you?"
"I pride myself in my ability to piss off my opponent" I joked and the guard laughed harder than he probably should have.
"I like you, it's a real shame you have to die," he said as he readied his club once again "tell me your name girl"
"Yuna Spring" I greeted as I pulled back another arrow and he smiled
"Orak...just Orak," he said as he ran at me again. I wanted to gain some distance and fire my bow but I didn't have anything to work with.
First of all the platform we were on was small enough that I couldn't gain any serious distance and second of all, he was too fast for any distance to matter. No matter how far I ran he caught up with me almost immediately.
I fired an arrow at him and it pierced into his shoulder but he didn't even seem phased by it. Instead, he just kept running and slammed his massive club into me, sending me flying nearly off the wall. I managed to catch the ledge and pull myself back up but that was too close regardless.
I needed a plan and fast.
____________________
"Hey don't worry, I'm here to rescue you," I said as I knelt in front of the slaves, all of their eyes softened a bit as I said this.
I grabbed a small knife from my belt and one by one cut all of them loose, each of them thanking me afterward.
"Do you know if there's any way out of here?" I asked and one of the slaves spoke up.
"There's a cellar door over there," he said, pointing at the grate and I smiled before running over to it and pushing it open.
"Let's go!" I ordered and the slaves all climbed out, I quickly grabbed a small amulet that I figured would be worth some gold. Jun was helping us out so I figured I'd reward him for the trouble. I eventually climbed out after the slaves and I noticed a large man on the wall.
Lowering his massive club onto Yuna.
Thinking fast I grabbed my spellbook and got ready to assist her. I also just now noticed that it was raining, fire was no good.
But I could also use the rain to my advantage.
"Springflut" I yelled and a large amount of water slammed into the large guard, knocking him away from Yuna as I ran over to her and helped her up "heilen"
A warm golden light surrounded Yuna as the spell took effect and she slowly rose to her feet.
"Thanks for the save," she said and I smiled at the smaller girl.
"Just doing what I can do to help" I replied and she smiled back at me.
"Well if it isn't another annoying little girl, I gotta say though your hair is pretty at the very least," the large guard said and I groaned.
"Can people just stop talking about my hair, I'm seriously considering going bald at this point" I complained and the giant man smiled.
"I like you, the name's Orak," he said and I growled at him.
"I don't see the point in giving my name out to my enemy but very well" I started "my name is Christa Naori, of Ravenwood"
"Let's go, Christa," Yuna said and I nodded before launching another spell at him.
"Windstoß" I yelled as a gust of wind flew at Orak and slammed into him, sending him back a few feet. Yuna and I immediately knew how to deal with him After that.
"You know what I'm thinking?" Yuna said and I smirked. Yuna quickly ran forward and dodged a quick blow from the man, kiting him closer and closer to the edge.
Then he finally landed a blow, sending Yuna over the edge of the wall, thankfully she caught herself and looked up at the massive man.
"It was a good effort nonetheless" he offered and Yuna smirked
"Hey, have you ever heard the old saying," she asked and Orak looked at her questioningly "the bigger they are..."
"The harder they fall!" I shouted before casting my spell "Windstoß"
The man was hit in the back and sent careening over the edge, slamming into the ground below.
"Is he..." Yuna asked and I smiled before shaking my head.
"No, a fall from this height wouldn't kill someone, it would likely knock them out though," I said and Yuna laughed.
"That's what you get fatass!" She yelled over the edge before coughing and holding her ribs "oh it hurts to yell"
"Here let me heal you," I said, praying that the boys were okay.
I was sure they could manage but still.
I was concerned.
____________________
Loki and Lance continued trading blows, Lance had the upper hand, however. The reach advantage given to him by his spear was too great, all Loki could do was parry and dodge.
I twirled my daggers and attempted to get the jump on him but he noticed and jumped out of the way. I lost my balance and slammed into Loki, both of us falling to the floor.
"Can you watch where you're going!?" He shouted as he pushed me off of him.
"Maybe you should watch where you're standing, you ever think of that!?" I countered as Lance thrust his spear at us. We both narrowly dodged the fatal blow before jumping back to regroup.
"Do you have any bright ideas?" Loki asked and I nodded.
"Yeah...just one," I said and I turned to Loki "can you stall for just a minute or two"
"I can do that" Loki said and I nodded before pulling my hood up and slipping back behind him, grabbing a small talisman from my belt as I did so.
Loki rushed in, again exchanging blows with the spearman. Each one of them refusing to give in to the other.
"Shadouu~ōku" I muttered as I felt my essence disappear.
"It appears your partner ran away" Lance taunted as he ran his spear through Loki's shoulder. The prince cried out in pain as his blood poured out of his open wound.
I slowly walked around to the back of the spearman. Waiting for the right time to strike as he continued to gloat.
"You'll die here, all alone, then I think I'll hunt down that red-haired girl, I'm sure she won't be hard to find," Lance said continuing to gloat and I finally had my opening.
I dove forward driving my dagger into his throat as I slit it open.
"Maybe don't gloat until you've won," I said as he clutched his throat in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It was in vain however, he was already dead.
The battle was over.
I fell backward and tried to catch my breath as Loki did the same.
"Thanks for the save," he said and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"What? Are you not gonna give me that whole heroes don't kill speech?" I jokingly asked and he sighed.
"What kind of fairy tale crap do you think this is?" Loki asked as he stood up "if you didn't kill him he would have killed me"
"Yeah yeah," I replied as he offered me a hand up, which I gladly took. "Well come on, let's meet up with the others"
"Yeah" he replied as we climbed out through the window to be greeted by both girls.
"Let's get back to the inn," Christa said "we can talk there"
____________________
"So where are we going next?" Jun asked and I stared at him in confusion.
"We?" I asked and he laughed.
"You guys helped me out with my job, so I'm just holding up my end of the bargain" Jun explained and Christa's eyes widened.
"Oh, right I almost forgot," she said before grabbing a golden amulet out of her bag and handing it to the thief. "This is for helping us"
"Huh?" Jun asked "hold on you guys were the ones who helped me? Why am I being rewarded?"
"Stop being so modest and take the damn thing already" Yuna ordered, offering a smile to the thief and I just sighed.
"Normally I'd scold someone for stealing, but that bastard did deserve it so whatever," I said and Jun smiled before taking the amulet from Christa.
"Anyways about our next destination" Yuna offered and we all turned to her "I know the location of that knight you were looking for Loki,"
"That's great!" I exclaimed, "where is he?"
"He's in a location known as The Veiled Woods," Yuna announced and Jun groaned.
"Oh that is such a long walk" he complained and Yuna laughed.
"He does have a point though, it will be at least a 3-day journey," Christa said "and that's without accounting for rest and other stops we may need to make"
"That may be true but still we have to do it," I said and everyone nodded.
"When do we leave boss," Jun asked and I smiled.
"We leave tomorrow at first light, get to sleep everybody" I announced.
Finally, we were almost there.
I would not let my home fall into the hands of a tyrant. I would clear my name and restore order to my kingdom.
No matter what it takes.