Shawnrik considered how weird this all was, but with the man's laid back attitude, and apparently friendly demeanor was putting him at ease. He grasped Ashur's hand and replied, “Names Shawnrik and my friends call me Shawn.”
“Well, Shawn now that we know each other can I ask ya' what exactly are you and your friend in the manor over there are doing here?”
This made Shawnrik tense up again, and he almost bolted into the street, but Ashur's grip held him firm, and he couldn't move. Ashur pulled Shawnrik deeper into the alley. “That's how you get caught kid, you don't just run out into a lit street. You are a rookie.” Ashur let go of Shawnrik's hand and held a finger up to his mouth before pointing towards the head of the alley.
Shawnrik was thinking about yelling at the man for manhandling him, before he heard the clank, clank, clank, of metal boots. Two men then became visible in the nearby street. They were wearing the purple, black, and gold of the city watch. They seemed to be absorbed in their own conversation, neither of them looking anywhere but the street ahead, marching down the street in blissful ignorance. Some watch they are. Shawnrik thought for a second, and nearly chuckled from the Irony. After watching the street for a few moments more, making sure the watch was still heading in the other direction, Shawnrik turned back to the man standing behind him as Ashur spoke.
“You should have seen the look on your face kid. I'm guessing you want the watch to find you here about as much as Nim and I do.”
“Who's Nim?”
“That is a good question kid, and if you ever figure it out why don't you tell me.” Ashur's manner told him this was a long running joke for the man, but the way his eyes went slightly out of focus for a second after he said it told the boy he wasn't entirely kidding. “Just a joke kid, he's my associate, or I guess I'm his associate. He's kind of like that little Gnome your working for.” He paused to see Shawnrik's reaction.
Shawnrik tensed and tried not to let anything show on his face, but he knew that he had given too much away already. “What Gnome?”
Ashur's smirk returned. “The one I saw scale the manor wall a little while back.” He then pointed to the exact window that Victor had gone into a few moments earlier.”
Good. Shawnrik thought, they think Victor is a gnome. Wait, they… ”Where's this Nim Guy?”
“He's around.” Ashur said, as he leaned back against the wall, before adding, “So, want to compare notes on employers?”
Chapter 4
Easy as Pie
Year 3043 AGD
Month: New Year
Early Morning of First Day
Continent of Terroval
City of Safeharbor
Nobility District
Nim flowed through the open window on the second floor with the ease of a breeze blowing through a meadow. There was a dog outside, but it hadn't seen or heard Nim as he entered. The dog had smelled the two intruders of course, yet it's attention had been distracted by a large chunk of meat that it found while searching the yard. Nim followed the small cloaked intruder through the room. He watched as the figure, which he assumed to be a Gnome or a Halfling, stared at the jewels that were on display with open admiration. Nim knew that this was not the room he wanted, so he slipped out ahead of the would-be thief.
Nim would have once gawked openly at the jewels and other niceties, but he had seen their like many times before now. Not only had he seen them, but he now owned quite a few like them. He had acquired quite a few pieces of property throughout the lands of Terrazil. Most of the property he now owned had come fully furnished; some even came with a full staff. While walking through the halls he did see a few things that he wouldn't mind having, but Nim had never considered himself a thief though, just generally lucky. From time to time he would take things from individuals he thought untrustworthy, or remove something dangerous from someone who couldn't protect it properly. There were just certain things in the world that some people should never get a hold of. Tonight was an instance where a dangerous item was owned by the wrong man.
He knew that the manacles that he was looking for would be in one of the rooms on the back side of the wing. Nim could hear the footsteps of the other intruder rather well, and knew that it was only a matter of time before someone heard them as well. He heard the door to the room that he had just exited open, and he moved against the wall to hide in the shadows of the corridor. The little figure moved out of the room and checked the door directly across from the first room. Nim watched the figure quietly open the door and slip inside. Nim was still moving down the hall when he heard the door open again, and he quickly ducked into a corner. It appeared that the little one was done gawking, and was now getting down to business.
The next door down the hall that the little thief tried was locked, but that didn't seem to dissuade him. Nim didn't see any telling movements, but the thief must have picked the lock, because a moment later the door swung open silently on it's hinges. He watched the thief open the door and slipped in, Nim following closely behind. The small figure looked around, apparently sensing the movement behind him, but Nim was already moving through the room. The figure shrugged, as if telling himself that it was just his imagination.
The room was lined with ancient armors and weapons; Some of which Nim had neither seen, nor heard of before. Nim knew the owner of the mansion was quite the collector, but he didn't understand how much of an obsession it was for the man, until now. He saw armors that were made out of bone, wood, rock, and various other elements that armor was rarely made from. He saw swords, daggers, axes, and hundreds of other blades in all shapes and sizes. Some of the weapons and armor gleamed as if they had never been used, but Nim could tell by their design and craftsmanship that many of them were too old to have maintained that luster even with the best maintenance. From this he garnered that some, if not all, of these had to have been manipulated by master Shapers or Clerics. Nim also knew that anyone that could have a collection like this, would likely be able to afford the best security for their collections.
The little thief stood transfixed by the displays. Nim noticed that the little thief wasn't only looking. As the little man was about to touch one of the weapons Nim grabbed his arm. The thief let loose an unmanly squeal, and Nim got down on one knee so that he could be almost eye level with the obviously inexperienced thief. The noise cut off immediately, and Nim could feel the thief's eyes peering at him intently from the darkness within the hood. It was not the first, nor would it be the last time, Nim had gotten such a reaction from someone seeing his eyes for the first time. In fact, Nim's hair and skin(were anyone to look close enough) would also elicit similar results. He was used to people fearing him for things beyond his control, but that didn't mean it ever got any easier. All of the different reactions Nim's features had elicited in his life could not have prepared him for what was to come next.
“Those… are…the neatest eyes I have ever seen!” it came out in a moderately high pitched squeal containing an enthusiasm easily associated with a Gnome or a Halfling. What he heard however was a voice that was unlikely to have come from either.
“You're just a kid?!” Nim's incredulity as he threw back the thief's hood was apparent in his voice. The boy that appeared from those depths possessed gray eyes, and hair that was a golden color that Nim had rarely seen outside the company of Elves. He noticed the child's ears were slightly pointed and guessed that the boy must have an elven relative somewhere in his family tree.
“Hey, don't change the subject, are those real? Did a wizard give them to you? Can I get a pair? If they are real, are you a Dracarai? What did Shaylyn call those… hey doesn't that mean you…”
“First of all...” Nim said before lowering his voice. “...we weren't exactly invited in here, so lower your voice. Secondly, slow down kid, you ask a lot of questions.”
The two of them just stood there staring at each other, anyone who looked in may have mistaken them for one of the displays at that moment. It didn't last as long as Nim might have liked bef
ore the boy started asking more questions though.
“Are you going to eat me?” Victor whispered more inquisitive, than afraid.
“No” Nim shook his head ruefully as he continued. “You're much too skinny… Anyway, we don't have time for this right now. Don't touch anything. I'm surprised you haven't triggered an alarm already. My only guess is that the items themselves are so well guarded that they don't feel they need to place any in the room. So, our best bet is not to touch anything.” Nim noticed the boy still had the same look on his face as he did when he had begun asking questions. “Save your questions for later.”
“Ok” The boy replied obviously not thrilled with the idea of waiting to have his questions answered, but disciplined enough to let it drop for now.
Each, with a bit of reluctance, and with many questions still hanging in the air between them tore their gazes away from each other. It was obvious by the way each of them would stop every few feet and look at the other person that both would not leave the other alone until they had their answers. Nim's usually graceful movements were slightly stilted as if his body was as confused as his mind, and Victor knew that the appearance of the man in the room with him would either bode ill, or would make for an interesting night.
It didn't take long for the two of them to make their way through the collection, and soon Victor's attention was usurped by one of the display cases against the far wall. He had found his prize. Nim noticed the boy stop and stepped over to see what the boy had found. Inside were the manacles that he had set out to find this night. He had found his prize. Without a second thought both of them began their work.
Nim focused his will into his retinas and changed them slightly so that they could see the energies put out by items that had been influenced by Shaping. As the change occurred, the room suddenly became brighter to his vision. Nim had never seen so many items of varying degrees of power packed so closely together outside of a battlefield. There was power radiating off of just about everything in his line of site. There were two emanations in front of him that were much stronger than the rest, one of them blindingly so. The stronger of the two was radiating outward from the boy, but it didn't take long before his eyes began to protest against the blinding light. From the short look he had been able to take he could almost swear that the energy had the feel of four separate, and extremely powerful, Shapers about it. At the same time however the three strongest energies had felt like they belonged to the boy, and the fourth felt like it was trying to contain the other three for some reason.
Nim almost let out a sigh of relief when the boy knelt down and began to rummage through his pack, as it let him focus on the object that had been in front of the boy. He knew immediately that his information was accurate, and the manacles had been made with a malicious intent. After studying the energy for a moment he realized that the manacles had been made to repress the wearers will, and block the Shaper from being able to sense the flow of the universe around them. The whole idea sent a chill down his spine. He was not a strong Shaper by any means, but he knew that to lose that connection would be just as bad as suddenly losing one of his other six senses. Getting to the manacles however could be a problem, as the case that it was contained gave off an energy that made it clear that it had been shaped. From the feel of it the effect had two purposes. If someone were to touch the case who was not supposed to the effect would trigger and manipulate what he assumed was some sort of alarm in another room. The second effect would seek out anyone in the room should the case be opened in any way, and electrocute them.
Victor located the scroll case Ol' Man Walins had placed in his pack earlier that night. He quickly removed the stopper from the end of the case and slid out one of the scrolls. He liked scrolls, they were a brilliant use of Shaping in his own humble opinion. They were also a complicated piece of work. The idea was that the Shaper would place his will towards the creation of an effect. The hard part was that at the exact moment the effect was fully realized inside the Shapers mind would need to bend his will towards making sure the universe understood that even though he was willing it to happen, he did not wish it to happen at that exact moment. Once it was clear to the particles that they had been brought together to perform their set purpose, and yet were not yet supposed to create the effect until given permission the Shaper would coax the particles into assuming a shape of his choosing until that permission was given. Any object could be made from such a shaping, but it was usually easier, and more manageable to have them take the form of paper or vellum. This way a Shaper could create effects to be used at a later date so that they did not exhaust themselves all at once, or the effect could be triggered by a Shaper with a basic understanding of the effect. As soon as a trained enough mind triggered the effect, the item would dissipate, and reform into the originally desired effect. Having done their work the particles then usually resume their place in the universe waiting to be called on again, unless the desired effect requires them to take a new shape, or is so dire that it rips them apart and sends the pieces out to be absorbed by whatever grabs hold of them.
He now held two such scrolls, created by a mind more disciplined than he could even imagine being at this point in his life. He could feel the particles that formed the paper, waiting patiently to become that which they were brought together to become. In this case that effect was to attempt to overpower and scatter the effects created by another Shaper. He unrolled one of the scrolls and bent his will to understanding the effect contained within and guiding it's release.
Nim realized quickly what Victor was doing when the boy pulled the scroll case out of his pack, and could feel the intent of the scrolls from where he was standing behind the boy. He could see the pent up energy waiting to be released, and could tell that whomever had created the scroll was a more proficient Shaper than the person that had trapped the case holding the manacles. All that it took to dissipate, or change the effects created by another Shaper was to have a focus and will greater than that of the Shaper who created the original effect. There were of course social stigmas attached to messing with another Shaper's creations without their permission outside of battle conditions, but that didn't usually stop a Shaper from creating an item that could. The longer one worked with the essence of the universe, the better they became at manipulating it to their will. There are many more factors involved than that of course; Natural intellect, discipline, and strength of will to name a few, but that in itself is a part of the nature of the universe. All of this had been the topic of one of his many discussions with his good friend Zander, a conversation in which Ashur had excused himself halfway through complaining of a headache.
Victor felt a moment of elation as he managed to release the effect from the scroll, and he felt the momentary exchange as the energy from the scroll overpowered that contained in the case. He hadn't been able to tell what effects were on the case, if he had touched it, or been comfortable enough getting much closer to it he may have been able to figure it out, but he figured it wasn't really important anyway. Shaylyn had told him that he would be able to feel what something did from farther way the more he grew and worked with the power. Shortly after he felt that there was nothing else on the case for him to worry about, he realized he was not alone in his pursuit.
“Hey, these are mine, I saw them first.” Victor glared as well as he could manage.
“Kid, believe me you want nothing to do with these manacles.” Nim said.
“Why not?”
“Because bad men want those manacles, and I plan to stop them from getting them.” Nim stood still for a moment wondering why he felt like he needed to explain anything to a kid.
“Will you stop talking to me like I'm a child?” Victor said as he put the remaining scroll back into its case and placed it in his pack.
“You are a child!” Nim yelled, and realized that it may have been a bit too loud when the dogs started barking.
“Now look what you did.” Victor chided before opening the case
and grabbing the manacles. He found that they were heavier than they looked, and was also glad when nothing fried him when he touched the things. Halfway to his pack Nim intercepted the manacles and placed them in the pouch at his side. “Hey!”
“Follow me kid if you want to get out of here with all of your skin, and try to keep up.”
Victor focused on his legs and lower back for a moment, adding strength so that he wouldn't fall behind. As with any such change to an organic structure the effects would wear off once the body got tired of the interloping cells. Shaylyn had once told him that it was possible to change something and keep it that way, but to do so you would have to change the organic blueprint that all living things contain; Apparently it was much harder to do than it sounded. He ran into the hallway and saw Nim's back as he entered the room they originally entered the building from. Victor had barely made it into the room before he had to stop quickly or run into the man.
Nim looked down at Victor “We are going to have to jump, can you do it?”
Victor thought about it for a second, before nodding.
“Ok kid, I hope you are right, because I would hate to have to carry you through the yard with a broken leg.” Taking Victor at his word Nim ran to the open window and dived out head first.
By the time Victor got to the window Nim was already on the ground running, looking back to make sure Victor was following. Not thinking himself dexterous enough to perform such an acrobatic leap Victor decided to keep it simple and swung his legs out the window and dropped. The impact was more than he was expecting, but with his legs and back enhanced he recovered quickly. He was only a couple seconds behind Nim, and he made up that time by not having to climb the fence like the larger man had to. Shouts could be heard from the manor telling the dogs to shut up, and lights were being lit throughout the building. Victor thought he felt a tug on his boot as he squeezed through the bars, but didn't look back to see what had tried to stop him. As they neared the alley where Shawnrik was supposed to be waiting for him, he saw his friend running around a corner two streets down with a man in black.
Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1) Page 10