Accidental Thief: A LitRPG Accidental Traveler Adventure

by Jamie Davis

  "Which brings us to our next request, Your Grace," Hal said.

  "What is it?"

  "We'd like you to divert your guards from the western battlements,” Kay said. “We need them to be clear for the rest of the evening so we can use them to descend down to the roof of the Temple of the Sun. Once there, we’ll deal with the final Warden for you."

  The Duke smiled. "I wondered how you’d penetrate her defenses. Are you going to climb down to the Warden's fortress from above? That is bold."

  "We believe she'd never suspect that avenue of attack," Hal noted. "It should give us the element of surprise."

  "That will be a surprise," the Duke said, glee over the prospect spreading a smile across his face. "How will you get down from the battlements? It must be thirty feet or more down to the Temple's roof."

  "I suppose we must leave that to be our secret, Your Grace," Kay said. "Call it a professional courtesy. We rogues must not give up all our methods."

  The Duke chewed on that answer for a moment. He didn't like being told no. Still, he was so happy about the prospect of being rid of the final Warden he shook his head and waived it off.

  "I suppose I can let you have your little professional secrets, if you must. So, when does this little mission take off?"

  "If you can call off the guards tonight, we can go immediately," Hal said. "We think giving her more time to prepare will only work against us."

  "I can make that happen. It will take me an hour, maybe a little more. Slip back into the secret passage and wait. I will come and fetch you when I've arranged for the guards to vacate the western battlements.”

  Kay and Hal nodded and left the dressing chamber, retreating back into the secret passage behind the wall while the Duke left by the door to the rest of the palace.

  "Do you think he fell for it?" Hal asked once they were inside the passage.

  "I think so. We did a good job of stroking his ego and desire for power," Kay replied. "Now the hard part begins, Hal. This is it. We finish the Temple Warden and confront the Duke with Korran by our side; we will have won. I only hope there is word of my brother and sister in the Temple Warden’s records."

  "One step at a time, Kay. First, focus on the Temple Warden. She is likely to be our biggest boss yet."

  ------

  HAL STOOD ON THE BATTLEMENTS, leaned over the edge and peering at the temple roof far below. The disturbance of the crowd from the Harbor district demonstrating in front of the Temple of the Sun had worked.

  Korran had accomplished part one of the plan. The Temple guards were all grouped towards the front of the building watching the people shout up at them, asking them to turn over their mistress, the Warden.

  Now was the time to go and Hal gauged the distance again. It was a long way down. When Colin came up with this idea, it had seemed like a no-brainer. Slowly float down to the temple roof in the darkness, the guards none the wiser.

  Now that he looked at the distance and the sheer drop, the idea seemed far less than sane.

  "You alright, Hal?" Kay asked.

  She held the flask with her levitation potion in one hand and glanced from it to him.

  "Colin said this would work." Hal held up his flask. "Right? This is gonna work."

  Hal tried to reassure himself with his own words. His stomach roiled at the idea of stepping off the ledge and trusting the potion to save him.

  “Coln’s never let us down before, no pun intended,” Kay said. “Come on then, down the hatch."

  She popped the cork out of the flask with one hand and downed the contents in one gulp. A disgusted look crossed her face the instant she swallowed the potion.

  "Bah, that's disgusting. This had better work, because otherwise, I'm coming back to haunt Colin based on the taste alone."

  Hal pulled the cork from his potion and tilted his head back, pouring the potion in, swallowing quickly to avoid the taste. He was unsuccessful. Kay was right. The potion tasted like rancid garlic and spoiled milk combined. It was disgusting.

  "Oh, my God, that’s disgusting. I'm going to have a few words with Colin the next time I see him,"

  "Get in line," Kay said as she stepped up to the edge of the battlements and stared down. She turned and looked at Hal. "Are you coming? I'm not going alone. We step off together, partner."

  Hal plastered a smile of confidence on his face he didn't feel and stepped up beside her.

  "This will be easy. You'll see," Kay said.

  Hal gulped and took a step forward, walking off the edge of the battlements. His heart leapt into his throat for an instant as he started to fall but when he opened his eyes, he saw the stones of the palace wall drifting past his eyes as if he was on an elevator back home. He was not in the middle of a plummeting fall to his death.

  A glance to the side showed Kay's wide-eyed visage in the darkness, a grin of wonder on her face. She was floating down right beside him. Looking downward, the roof below came up fast, but no faster than a jump from a height of ten feet or so.

  Hal landed and rolled to absorb some of the impact, jumping back to his feet and drawing two daggers.

  The guards still all leaned over the front of the roof's parapet, watching the crowd. He saw several of the six loading crossbows. They were going to fire into the crowd.

  Hal knew some of the people down there. They had become his friends and were doing him a favor. He couldn't let these guards start firing crossbow bolts down into them.

  He ran forward, balanced on the balls of his feet, making almost no noise on the hard stone roof. If he hit the Temple guards from behind hard enough and fast enough, he could take two or maybe even three of them before the rest knew what was going on.

  The slot machine rumbled in his head as he pressed his luck once again. It started the instant he ran at the guards.

  He slipped up behind the first guard, grabbing him around the head, hand closing over his mouth to gag him. Hal plunged the dagger down into the man's neck next to the collar bone. The body stiffened for a moment and then sagged in his arms.

  SNEAK ATTACK SUCCESSFUL – DAMAGE X4.

  3,000 experience points awarded.

  LETTING THE LIMP BODY FALL, Hal spun and grabbed the next guard in the row, repeating the motion that killed his companion.

  SNEAK ATTACK SUCCESSFUL – DAMAGE X4.

  3,000 experience points awarded.

  THE SLOTS HAD STOPPED SPINNING. The chime of success sounded as soon as Hal hit the first guard. He knew the rest was on him and he stepped up behind the next guard trying to replicate the maneuver that defeated the first two.

  The third guard must've caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see what it was as Hal ran up to him. The charging thief still caught the guard by surprise, but this would be no sneak attack.

  Hal slashed at the guard's arm as he reached towards his belt where a wicked looking spiked mace hung.

  He cried out in pain when Hal's dagger bit deep into his forearm.

  Hal drove the other dagger upward, trying to slash up under the guard’s chainmail armor.

  The guard jumped backward from the attack and Hal took a chance, kicking out with his boot at the man's chest. It took the guard by surprise, the kick doubling the guard's backward momentum. He screamed in alarm as he struck the low wall at the edge and fell off the temple roof arms windmilling as if to attempt to fly.

  A few seconds later, Hal was rewarded with the notification:

  3,000 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED.

  HAL'S sneak attack was over now. There was a desperate fight in front of him, but he was no longer alone. As the remaining guards turned to face him, Kay hit them from behind on the opposite side.

  One guard fell to her sneak attack, and she moved up behind the closer of the two remaining guards. Hal laughed and launched feints at both, trying to occupy them, so Kay's next attack had full effect.

  It worked.

  As Kay took down the first guard, Hal launched his attack at the sec
ond. Diving in under the distracted guard's defenses, Hal came up and landed a double attack with his daggers.

  The guard stumbled back, sorely wounded, trying to keep both his attackers in front of him. He didn't have far to go. His back was soon at the parapet.

  Knowing he couldn't retreat anymore, the guard did the only thing he could do. He attacked.

  A flurry of desperate blows from the mace flew at Hal, and he found himself backing away, fending them off.

  The guard turned his attention away from the retreating Hal and attacked Kay, driving her backward.

  This guy was good.

  Hal darted in and scored a quick thrust from behind, making the guard spin around.

  He delivered a two-handed roundhouse swing with the spiked mace. It almost took Hal's head off.

  He managed to use his acrobatic dodge skill to roll back out of the way. It took him away from the attack again, though and the guard turned his attention back to Kay.

  They were whittling away at the final guard, but they needed to finish this before someone noticed the commotion on the roof and came up to investigate.

  Hal climbed back to his feet and ran at the guard, tackling him around the waist and knocking him to the hard roof. The mace went spinning away into the darkness.

  Atop the guard now, Hal plunged his daggers down into the man's back several times, piercing the chainmail shirt and stabbing into the flesh beneath.

  The body beneath him spasmed several times and then lay still.

  3,000 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED.

  "YOU ALRIGHT?" Hal asked Kay as he got back to his feet.

  "Yes. You?"

  "I'm great," Hal said, flashing a grin. "Let's find the roof access door and get down into the temple."

  Kay nodded and started towards the middle of the roof where the high domed ceiling of the central temple sanctum rose upward. That had been how the general temple layout was described to Kay and Hal when they'd inquired about the interior floor plan from a few people who'd worshiped there in the past. Their sources didn't know about anything but the main entrance and the grand central sanctum, but at least that gave Hal a starting point. All the other rooms had to be arranged in a circle around the sanctum's central worship area.

  Circling the central dome, they found the trap door leading down into the temple. Hal drew two throwing knives and nodded to Kay to lift the door while he prepared to attack anyone who was down below.

  The small room below was empty. A simple wooden ladder was fixed to the wall leading up to the trap door. The remainder of the room seemed to be for storage. There was dusty and broken furniture scattered around the room. It looked like a path to the roof ladder had been hastily cleared for the guards they'd just killed.

  That was good news as far as Hal was concerned. It probably meant that few people came up here or used the room below them.

  Hal knew with a glance at his character stats that the levitation potion was still in effect. He stepped into the opening and floated down into the room. Kay soon joined him below.

  Listening at the door, Hal heard nothing from the other side. He nodded to Kay and tried the handle, pulling the door open.

  There was a long, curved passage beyond stretching in both directions. Several windows were visible in the wall opposite the storage room doorway. Because of the curve around the central dome, Hal couldn't see in either direction very far.

  That worked both for and against them. It kept them hidden from a distance by any temple guards. On the flip side, it also allowed guards to come very close to Hal and Kay before they'd be detected.

  "Which way?" Kay asked.

  "I don't think it matters. We don't know where the Warden is hiding. This passage is probably a big circle. We'll end up back here eventually if we keep going. All we can do is start checking rooms."

  The first room after the storeroom was a small room with a bed and a small chest of drawers in it. Hanging from pegs in the wall were two red robes with hoods.

  "Here," Hal said, handing one of the robes to Kay. "Put this on. We'll be able to move around better with disguises."

  Hal pulled the other robe over his armor. It was a bit tight across his chest, but it would do better than running around in their black leather armor.

  Kay had to fold her robe and gather it at the waist with a rope belt to make it fit without tripping her when she walked.

  "Come on. Let's keep searching," Hal said.

  Wearing their new disguises, they stepped out into the corridor and began to search the rest of the rooms of the upper level passageway. They found several other storerooms and many more of the monastic cells where priests or monks in the temple must sleep. None of them were occupied. There was also a broad stairway down to the next level.

  Satisfied they hadn't missed anything, Kay and Hal started down the stairs. A red robed priest, no, it was a priestess, came up the stairs walking past them. They nodded as they passed her by. As they went past the woman, Hal wondered how they'd know the Warden if they saw her. He was pretty sure she wasn't the woman they just passed. The Warden wouldn't be walking unattended, and there was no way she lived in one of the tiny rooms up above. Still, it was a reminder to him how blind they were to what they planned to do. What they needed most was information.

  Hal leaned towards Kay. "We need to capture one of these priests and question them about the Warden's whereabouts."

  "Let's go back and get that priestess who just passed us," Kay suggested. "We know no one else is up there with her. We should be able to capture her with little trouble."

  Hal nodded. "Good idea."

  The pair turned around and jogged back up the stairs to the upper floor. The priestess was walking just ahead of them.

  "Excuse me, my good woman," Hal called after the priestess.

  She turned and looked at them, a curious expression on her face. "How may I help you?"

  Hal walked up to her and, before she had a chance to react, drew his dagger, pressing it to her throat. Hal pushed her against the passageway's wall.

  "Don't make a sound. If you cooperate with us, we'll leave you alive," Hal said. "Do you understand?"

  The priestess nodded.

  "Kay, get that door open. We'll take her into one of the rooms."

  Kay opened the door to one of the monastic cells, and Hal pushed the priestess into it ahead of him.

  "Sit down on the bed and don't try any magic or crying out for help."

  "What do you want?" The priestess asked. "I've sworn a vow of poverty. I have nothing of value."

  "You have information we want. Tell us what we need to know, and we'll leave you here, tied up. Lie to us, and we'll have to kill you," Kay said.

  "What do you want to know?"

  "Where is the Temple Warden? We know she's in here somewhere. Where is she?" Hal asked.

  The priestess paused before answering, then her eyes widened, and she smiled. "You're him, aren't you? You're the Hood?"

  "So, what if I am?" Hal said. "Does that keep you from answering?"

  "She's very afraid of you," the priestess said. "The Warden says you can do things no one should be able to do, that you possess special unholy magic." She cocked her head to one side as if appraising Hal for a suit. "You don't look all that special, or unholy."

  "I don't know anything about any of that," Hal said. "I'm here to do a job so I can go home. I have to free this city of the tyrants who’ve abused the people of this city for so long."

  "Did you really kill all the other Wardens with your bare hands?"

  "More or less," Hal lied. He hadn't killed the Harbor Warden. He'd been framed for that murder. He hadn't killed the Merchant Warden, either, come to think of it. He'd succumbed to the knives of two of his slaves. He'd killed the Caravans Warden in a mostly fair fight, though. He was the only one of the Wardens Hal had actually killed.

  "That is not a straight answer, Mr. Hood," the priestess said.

  "We're asking the questions, not you," Kay sna
pped. She pressed forward and drew her dagger. "You can either answer, or you can die."

  "I will help you," the priestess said. "I have no love for the Wardens or what they've done to the city I swore to serve. I only wanted to know a bit about the people I was going to help. I had to know if I was trading one tyrant for another."

  The priestess paused, looking back and forth from Hal to Kay, then concluded, "I think you both are sincere enough. You only want what is best for the city.”

  She nodded and gave them both a grim smile.

  “The Warden is in the central temple. We are no longer able to hold our regular services there or to serve the poor as our calling tells us to do. It is making those of us who haven’t forgotten our vows very angry."

  "What about the others, the ones who support the Warden?" Kay asked. "What of them?"

  "They have been subverted by the love of money. She had shown them the corruption of her ways, and they have succumbed to the greed that dwells within all of us."

  “Is there any place the Temple Warden keeps records of her rule?” Kay asked. “I’m looking in particular for the disposition of slaves under her control.”

  “She has papers she keeps in the sanctuary under guard with her. They are in a strong box she keeps with her at all times.”

  "How many guards are there?" Kay asked. "Will anyone come to our aid if we attack the Warden?"

  "Some of them might, if they were called to do so by one of our own," the priestess said.

  "Called by you, perhaps?" Hal suggested. The slot machine was rolling again as a plan started to form in his mind. He had an idea of how they could face the Warden and her guards. It wouldn't be alone. Hal engaged his detect lies skill. He had five minutes to see if this priestess was telling the truth.

  "I suppose I could rouse some of the others who disagree with what the Wardens have done."

  TRUTH.

  "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" Hal asked.

  "Sister Darla, initiate of the fifth level of the sun."

  TRUTH.

  "WELL, SISTER DARLA," Hal said. "We're here to rid your temple of this infestation. If you can bring some of your like-minded colleagues to help us, we could use the help."