"Yes, actually I do,” said Garen. "That assignment we gave you earlier, Rizzo is going to assist you with it." Rizzo’s eyes widened in shock. He had not expected Garen to let him go on a job.
"Why?" she said, sounding offended. "I am perfectly capable of handling it on my own."
"I don't doubt that at all,” said Garen. "Honestly, I don't want Rizzo doing anything except observing our most skilled member at work."
"You're such a kiss-ass, Garen," she said, a slight edge still in her voice. "He can come along if you want him to, but keep in mind I'm not a babysitter. He will be responsible for himself."
"You shouldn't have to worry about that,” said Garen. “Rizzo's a sharp kid, he’ll be ok.”
"So, what's his story anyway?" she asked. Rizzo didn’t like how she asked that question like he wasn’t standing right there.
"Promise to keep it between the two of us?" asked Garen.
"You two do realize I'm standing next to you, right?" said Rizzo, annoyed.
"Of course." She replied to Garen, ignoring Rizzo.
"As I’m sure you just found out, he doesn’t have the skill set we usually look for in a recruit,” said Garen. “He's young and inexperienced, but he’s smart has a knack for doing the impossible. I plan on putting that brain of his to good use."
"Well, let's stick to the simple stuff for now," she said. Then she finally looked at Rizzo. "There is a relic coming to the city on a boat tomorrow. We are going to take it before the owner gets it and locks it away. It will be transported by cart with an escort of half a dozen guards, so it won't be easy. Lucky for you, all you have to do is watch."
Even though Rizzo was not supposed to do anything, he was still nervous. How is she going to rob a cart protected by six armed guards, and by herself? He couldn’t help but imagine her getting caught and then being seen himself. Rizzo bottled up his worry, trying to hide it.
“Why don’t you explain to Rizzo the details and exactly where would be the best spot for him to watch?” asked Garen. The girl nodded her head. “Good, because I have somewhere I need to be.” He said his goodbyes then walked back out and locked the door.
“Are you familiar with the parts of the city around where the boats dock?” asked the girl once they were alone.
“Yes,” said Rizzo. He knew that street well. It was where he spent most days observing the different people coming off the boats.
“Good,” she said. “Then you should know about the gate at the end of the main street.” Rizzo did, it was a secondary gate built into a large stone archway about a quarter mile away from the main wall. It served as a final defense, just in case invaders made it past the city walls. “I’m going to set off smoke bombs as the cart is passing underneath and then I’ll grab the relic in the confusion.”
After seeing how quickly this girl could move, Rizzo thought it had a good chance of success. But it wasn’t something he would want to attempt, even in her shoes.
She continued going over some of the finer details of the plan with him. When they finished, Rizzo asked if she would run through the obstacle course with him one more time. He didn’t know, but she was starting to grow some respect for him, thinking Garen might be right.
Later that night, she walked him back to his room to lock him in. He couldn’t wait for the day he had the freedom to go where he pleased. After she left, Rizzo went to the table and found another plate of food waiting for him.
He was ravenous, having built up a large appetite. Once he finished, he laid down on his bed with a full stomach, thinking to himself about how much his life had changed since joining the guild. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep.
Chapter six
The next morning, Rizzo woke up to find the plate of food he had eaten earlier cleaned up and replenished with another. It worried him a little, knowing that someone could enter his room and do that without waking him up. He hoped to one day be that skilled, even if it was just to make Garen satisfied with his choice to let him into the guild. He ate what he could, and then laid back down on his bed to relax. Not long after, his door opened and the girl came in.
“We just received word that the boat carrying the relic is approaching the dock,” she said, throwing a hood in Rizzo’s lap. “Put that on. It will still be some time before we trust you enough to know the location of the guild.”
He did what was asked and covered his head with the hood. The girl grabbed him by the arm and guided him out of the room and up the stairs to the top. She took him out of the guild and walked down the streets of the Slums.
Once they had made it a good distance away, she removed the hood. He couldn’t see at first, blinded from not having seen the sun in a long time. After his eyes took time to adjust, he looked around to see the familiar streets he had grown up in. People were walking around, but no one paid them any attention as if it was normal for someone wearing a mask to be walking another person with their head covered by a hood down the street.
“Ok, this is where we part ways for a bit,” said the girl. “I won’t be able to move around in the city with my face covered, and I don’t trust you enough to let you see me. Get to a position down the street from the secondary gate where you can see the cart when it approaches. And remember, don’t do anything that can compromise the guild. We are always watching.” She walked away and turned down the first street she came across.
Rizzo waited a few seconds and then walked towards the docks. When he made it to the main street, he propped himself up against a building near the secondary gate. Nothing happened for some time, which he assumed was because it takes a while to unload cargo from a ship and inspect it.
He saw a few small carts pass by, but knew they weren’t what he was waiting for as they had no guards. Eventually, a cart came down the street that could potentially be the target. It was as described, with six city guards around it.
There was still no sign of the girl yet. He looked at the rooftops, trying to get a glimpse of where she might be, but saw nothing. He worried that something might have happened, but as the cart got to the entrance of the gate, he saw two fist-sized black balls fall from the air. They exploded when they hit the ground, covering the area in smoke ten feet high, going almost to the rooftops. He was far back enough he could see over the smoke, and then he saw her.
Like a bird swooping down to catch its prey, she jumped from the roof and onto the cart, a rope in her hand tied to the top of the gate. The guards heard her and instantly scrambled into action, drawing swords but unable to see her. She was quick, and within seconds was climbing up the rope, an ancient looking sword and scabbard hanging from her shoulder.
One guard jumped out of the smoke and grabbed her foot as she was climbing up. She panicked, kicking at the guard’s hand. His fingers gripped tight, refusing to let go. She kicked her shoe off and with it his grip, allowing her to slither up and onto the gate. Guards were scrambling around everywhere, yelling of a thief.
Rizzo lost sight of the girl as she disappeared onto the roof. He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye and saw two guards rushing towards him. He panicked, looking side to side for a direction to run, but there was nowhere. Fear overtook him, and he tried to bolt. But he was not quick enough. A guard grabbed his arm and pinned him against the wall.
“Why are you trying to run?” The guard was screaming in Rizzo’s face. “Were you involved in this somehow? What do you know?” Rizzo was stunned in a shocked silence as the guard shot questions at him.
“Take him to be questioned,” said the second guard, not even giving him a chance to answer.
“No, please, I don’t know anything,” pleaded Rizzo, still trying to get his arm free and run. “I was just standing here! Let me go.” The second guard walked over to Rizzo and hit him over the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him unconscious.
Garen watched eagerly with Vince beside him as Vosh tried desperately to pick another locked box. The best lockpick tools the guild could offer laid
out on the table in front of him. For weeks now, they had brought Vosh multiple locks to pick for his training, saying he could not progress until he proved himself to be a master at picking locks. So far, he had unlocked them all, given enough time to figure it out.
“I got it!” exclaimed Vosh excitedly. He quickly deflated as he saw the anger in Vince’s eyes.
“Very good,” said Vince, trying and failing to mask his frustration.
Vince is growing more and more upset each time Vosh unlocks something without using magic, Garen thought to himself.
“Am I ready to move on to the next part of my training yet?” asked Vosh sheepishly.
“I have to speak with Garen first,” said Vince.
How is this kid able to pick one of Eddy’s locks, Garen wondered? No one can pick Eddy’s locks. Is he using magic and we just can’t see it?
“Well, it looks like congratulations are in order,” said Garen, trying to sound happy, but he was not much more convincing. “If you don’t mind though, I need to speak with Vince privately. If you would please wait outside the door for a few minutes.” Vosh nodded and walked out of the room, looking disappointed. Once the door was closed, Garen spoke again. “Well, now what do we do?”
“Maybe there’s another explanation.” Vince paced around the room like he always did when trying to think. “Maybe the old man forgot to put a ward on the door that night. Vosh might not have magic at all.” Garen walked over to the table and picked up the box he had unlocked.
“So, if that is the case, what do you propose we do with him?” Garen looked at Vince, expressionless.
“Honestly, I think we should keep him here,” said Vince. “The boy has proven that he is rather talented.”
“I can’t argue there,” said Garen with a dumbfounded expression. “If his other skills are anywhere near as good as his lockpicking, he may surpass us all one day.” Vince nodded his head in agreement.
“And since we are on the subject of new recruits, have you decided to get rid of your little experiment yet?” asked Vince mockingly.
“I’m actually taking him on a sort of… test run today,” said Garen.
“What do you mean a test run?” said Vince. “You’re not planning on taking him into the city yet… Are you?”
“He’s actually out in the city as we speak,” said Garen. He waited a few seconds for the news to settle in. “You’ve already made it clear that he is my responsibility. I’ll clean up any mess he makes. But, it will be a quite some time before I have any news of how Rizzo’s assignment went. So, in the meantime, what do you say we put a hold on this testing Vosh for magic thing and let’s find out what this kid can really do?” There was a long silence before Vince spoke.
“All I will say is that you know what will happen if he tries to expose the guild,” said Vince. He stopped pacing and walked out the door to get Vosh, who was waiting outside with his back propped against the wall, looking upset.
“Are you ready to do something besides pick locks all day?” said Vince. Vosh’s face lit up with joy as he heard the words. He couldn’t speak, he just rapidly shook his head yes. “Good, then follow me.”
Garen watched as Vosh followed eagerly on Vince’s heels as he walked down the spiral staircase and into the recruits training room that Rizzo had spent his first few months in. Vince lined the first mechanism up, the same one that he himself had started Rizzo off with where he had to move objects from one rod to the other.
After reviewing the instructions and demonstrating how to do it, Vince let Vosh try. Vosh was easily successful on the first attempt, something rarely done. Vince looked at Garen with disbelief, then walked over and grabbed another device.
Again, Vosh completed it with ease. Vince kept testing him with other training devices, and each one he completed. A few took more than one try, but in the end, he finished them all. He had never witnessed anything like it.
Garen just shook his head, barely able to believe what he was seeing.
“How is it that we never heard of you sooner?” Vince asked, sounding highly impressed.
“I’ve only been doing jobs from Sten for a few years,” replied Vosh. “And I know I’m a lot younger than the normal people you recruit. But I have been practicing my entire life. I grew up hearing stories about the priceless items the guild has stolen over the years. And that’s what makes me want to join, those stories will live on forever. I want to be remembered as the greatest thief in Sartram.” Garen started laughing, bringing Vosh back to reality.
“There’s only one problem with that,” said Garen. “Do you know why you hear stories about the great items we took and nothing about the thief who took them? That’s because the truly great thieves never get caught, and no one ever knows who they are.”
“Let the kid dream, Garen. He’s still young,” said Vince, coming to his defense.
“As long as that dream motivated him to get this good, I say keep dreaming.” Garen said. “Hey, what do you say we put him through a real test?"
"That sounds like a great idea,” said Vince. “What do you say Vosh, ready to really see what you got?”
"Just show me what I have to do,” said Vosh confidently.
Garen smiled and nodded his head, then led Vosh up the stairs to the obstacle room. Once inside, Vosh reacted the same way that Rizzo did when first seeing the course. He looked around, wide-eyed and mouth open, admiring the complexity.
"Glad you like it,” said Garen after seeing the look on his face. "This room is our crowning achievement. Some of the best thieves in the guild trained here. And many of them still do."
"This is unbelievable,” said Vosh, still looking around. He had witnessed nothing like it before. "How far does it go?"
"You will have to find out,” said Garen. “You think you’re ready?”
"Yes, definitely. I can't wait,” said Vosh eagerly.
"Ok, this is how it's going to work,” said Vince. "As you may have guessed, this is the beginning of an obstacle course that’s almost half a mile long. The course is designed to push your strength and agility to its limits. You’re going to try to catch up with Garen as he runs through."
Vosh nodded that he understood and went with Garen to the beginning of the course. Garen looked back and smiled.
This kid has some skills, but I can’t let his head get too big, Garen thought. Let’s see if we can humble him a bit.
Without warning, Garen bolted to the first block and ran up it, not even slowing as he climbed. He didn’t know that Vosh was ready and quickly chased after him, hot on his heels. After crossing the stepping poles without even slowing, Garen looked back to see he had only a small lead. He doubled his efforts, realizing that Vosh was faster than anticipated.
They raced through the course, Garen losing a lot of ground when they came to a section where you had to zig-zag around, over, and under multiple objects. He realized Vosh was incredibly fast when shifting his momentum in a different direction.
Garen had gotten a good lead early on, but not nearly as much as planned. And there was no way he could run faster, having pushed himself to his limits. He refused to slow down or tire, his reputation and pride on the line.
Vosh was fast, but Garen was still faster. Very few people were able to give a challenge to Garen when it came to speed.
By the time Garen finished the course, Vosh was just making it to the last obstacle. Vince stared at him with a proud look. Once Vosh came to where they were waiting, he doubled over with hands on knees, out of breath.
“Again,” Vosh said, thinking he did poorly because of how far behind he was. “I understand the course now, so I will be faster this time.” Vince walked over to Vosh, clapping his hands in applause.
“Not bad at all,” said Vince happily. “Take a break kid, you’ve done enough for one day.”
“No,” said Vosh, standing up straight and trying not to look as tired as he felt. “I told you I want to be the best thief in Sartram. And now I can clearly se
e I need to get faster.”
“You plan on trying to be faster than Garen?” said Vince incredulously. “Now that is a goal. Seriously though, no one beats Garen. We like to hold competitions every now and then to see who is the best. And when he was just a normal member like everyone else, he was banned from competing because he would always win.”
“One more time,” said Vosh, not giving up.
“I can appreciate your drive Vosh, but you still have a lot to learn,” said Garen, slowly gaining a new respect for Vosh’s determination. “We can compete again some other day. You have an unbelievable amount of natural talent, but there is much more to being a thief that you can only learn from experience.”
If this kid can just learn to be patient, he will surpass us all one day, Garen thought.
“How about this, you can continue training in here, and while you do that, we will try to find a job for you to do,” said Vince. Garen looked at Vince angrily, knowing it was too soon for Vosh to take a job.
“Don’t you think we should wait a little longer before letting him into the city?” asked Garen.
“Why is that?” Vince asked simply. “You already let Rizzo leave the guild hall, and he doesn’t have half the skill.” Garen saw the point he was trying to make. Neither of them would normally let a recruit out of the guild hall until they had been here for months, sometimes years. But Vince didn’t know of all the precautions he had taken.
“What do you mean Rizzo has already been allowed out of the guild hall?” asked Vosh.
"Don't let yourself get riled up,” said Garen. "Rizzo is still in training, but he is not like the rest of us. His skill set requires real-life situations to improve, rather than just improving speed and coordination here in the training room."
"He's doing ok though, right?” said Vosh. He still hadn't seen Rizzo since joining the guild.
"He’s good,” said Garen. Vosh looked at him as if expecting more. "We put Rizzo through these training courses, same as you. He struggled with all of them. But in the end, I decided that the reasons I recruited him were not normal, so why should his training be. That is the only reason he is out in the city right now." Garen neglected to tell Vince and Vosh that the outcome of Rizzo's job today could change everything.
The Mage's Path (The Age of Legend Book 1) Page 9