by Logan Jacobs
I was that breeze.
I crawled along the branch near the middle and discovered I was right. I could see the entire house better from here, and the moon gave me a nice natural lantern as I looked into the glass window that wrapped around the whole structure.
That wasn’t the window I was interested in, though.
The roof of the house had three triangular peaks with a circular window on each one. Except, they looked like latches that could be opened to allow more sunlight into the house.
Fucking day worshipper, thank you for our way in.
I dropped down the tree when I heard the high pitched chirping noise back near the top of the hill. Then I retraced the steps I took to get to the tree and approached Dar and Wade’s shadows.
“What’d you see?” Wade whispered to our halfling friend.
“I want to get a better look at the covered port beneath the house,” Dar breathed. “There could be a door there.”
“Okay, what about you, Penny?” Wade asked as he dropped to a knee, and we did the same.
“I spotted some circular hatches on the peaks of the roof,” I said as I looked back toward the house that reflected the moon. “I think that’s our best bet to get in.”
“I saw those, too.” Wade sniffed and looked around as he formed a plan in his head. “Penny, try the hatches. Dar, I’ll go with you and see if we can get in through the covered port.”
“What if I get in and you two dull blades don’t?” I chuckled as I turned toward the house.
“The painting is in the hallway near the dining room,” Wade whispered. “It’s the one with the humans being massacred.”
“Shit, okay.” I grimaced.
“Listen for my clicker, if the elf hears it, it’s only a pissed off cricket,” Wade said with a smile in his voice.
“See you both inside,” I breathed and followed the same path I had made before right back to the tree. Then I climbed it with ease and perched myself on the same long branch that extended over the roof.
I turned and saw both Dar and Wade move in the darkness like ghosts and disappear into the covered port. They weren’t the most agile climbers, so it looked like it might just be me on the inside if they couldn’t find another way in.
I inched my way along the branch until I was directly above the house. It was probably around a five-foot drop to the roof, even if I hung down from the branch.
“Light feet, light feet,” I whispered what my dad used to tell me all the time, and then I lowered myself down until my arms were fully extended from the tree’s limb. I must’ve looked like another branch from the tree itself. Before I dropped, I took a long and steady breath in and held it.
Then I let go.
A moment later, I landed on my toes with a soft thud on the roof.
I held my breath for a few more moments and listened for any disturbance in the house. When I didn’t hear anything, I slowly exhaled and crouched low.
The balls of my feet balanced me as I scaled up one of the triangular peaks. Then I reached around the front of the peak and felt for the latch on the circular window.
My fingers squeaked against the glass and caused me to lay still and listen once more. Any kind of sound was never good, especially with an elf. After waiting, I continued my search for the latch until my thumb discovered it.
Now, was it unlocked?
I stretched my arm and held it in an awkward position across the peak. As I did that, I flicked my wrist upward and heard a click.
Again, I waited.
Then the window slowly swung outward, and I maneuvered myself into the small opening.
I was inside.
I took a steady breath and wiped the sweat that beaded around my eyes.
I was on a carpeted ledge that overlooked the entire house. The ridge slanted downward and connected with the main floor.
The house was pretty dark except for a few dull night lanterns scattered throughout. As far as I could remember, two elves lived here, and they could’ve been anywhere.
I’d heard day elves slept with bright lanterns in their rooms, like scared fucking babies, so I looked over the house to see any evidence of that. If so, their rooms weren’t anywhere near where I was.
The house was dead and still.
I hoped they weren’t home at all. That was the dream.
There wasn’t any human or halfling crawling around down there, either. So, I was flying solo, and I didn’t have a problem with that either.
I shuffled down the ledge right until it met the glass floor. That’s when I remembered the floor would light up if it was stepped on. A neat magical feature for the owner, but an awful one for a thief.
The sudden chime of a clock rang out like an alarm and jolted my heart.
I steadied my breath.
The clock continued to chime and caught my attention again. Not because of the noise, but it looked to be near the hallway I needed to get to. The edge of a picture frame peeked out from a corner illuminated by a small lantern.
I needed to get there. It was only across the other side of the room, but the floor worried me.
Light feet, I heard my dad’s voice in my mind.
I always wondered if all of the hours of training he put me through would be worth it. He’d lay out a winding path of fragile glass discs on a rocky surface. I couldn’t step on anything but the discs to get to where he was.
If my feet were too heavy, the disc would shatter, and I’d lose. If I didn’t keep my balance, I’d lose. I lost a lot at that drill, and I hated to lose.
But as I stared at the glass floor in front of me, I was glad for all those losses. I learned what methods worked and which ones didn’t.
So, I dipped my toe onto the floor as if I were testing the temperature of hot bath water. The floor did light up, but the magic effect didn’t ripple far. It looked like the magic reacted more to my weight and not just the touch.
Just like the glass discs.
So, light feet it was.
I kept my eyes focused on the hallway and pretended I was on thin ice.
And in a way I was.
I stepped with my toes and moved like a sloth to keep the rippling light effect to a minimum. It was dreadful and torturous to be so close yet so far away at the same time.
I finally reached the hallway and saw multiple paintings on each side of the wall. I didn’t need to search long for the one Wade said to look for.
There it was.
It didn’t look like anything special to me. The image was disgusting if anything at all. The painting featured the elven army ripping apart human soldiers limb from limb in the middle of a great battle. It was a vivid massacre.
Why the fuck did we need it?
Just as I was about to reach for the painting, I heard Wade’s clicker.
He was inside, too. But where?
There was a faint high-pitched humming that came from behind the wall the painting was on. The muffled voice wasn’t Wade or Dar, so it had to be an elf. Then I saw the floor illuminate brightly off to my right near the dining room.
“Fuck,” I squeaked.
I held completely still and watched the floor to determine where the elf might be.
Wade’s clicker creaked again, but all I pictured was a pissed off cricket before the clatter of dishes and silverware being clumped together rang out from where the kitchen was.
The floor grew brighter, and the ripple of light extended to where I was this time. The humming was clearer now, too, but then Wade’s clicker went crazy, and suddenly the whole room was one pissed off cricket noise.
The light on the floor and humming stopped.
“Lord Eleran?” an elf called out. He sniffed softly somewhere in the dining room to my right just around the corner, and I recognized the voice as belonging to the one who slapped Marver.
Then a loud crash echoed from back by the kitchen, and a door slammed shut.
“What in the--“ the elf gasped and stomped toward the noise.
>
Wade’s clicker went crazy again, and I took that as a sign to grab the painting and get the fuck out.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
I snagged the long rectangular painting off the wall and tucked it underneath my arm.
There was another loud crash behind me as I sprinted toward the ledge I came down. I didn’t know if I was being chased or what. But another one of my rules was never look back, that only slowed me down.
I raced up the ledge and tilted the picture through the round window. Then I slung the frame as best as I could on the peak until it balanced on top before I squeezed out the window, flipped myself along the ledge, and straddled the peak. The painting balanced on my leg with my other hand while I reached down and shut the window. Then I stayed deathly still atop the house.
“Who’s there?” the elf’s voice echoed off the trees, and a thin and tall shadow appeared just below me.
Wade’s clicker chirped again somewhere off to the side. Now, he was outside, too.
As fucked as this situation seemed, I felt safe that Wade was watching over me. I’d already have been dead if he didn’t distract the elf. That’s now two times I owed him my life.
I listened to the chirp and wasn’t sure if he was letting me know where he was or if he wanted the elf to follow the noise.
I turned into a pixie statue on top of the elven noble’s home and waited. I heard the soft steps from the day elf directly below me and held my breath. I knew his senses were dulled, but he was still an elf, and they had extremely sensitive ears.
Wade’s clicker screeched on the other side of the house now. He was drawing the elf away so I could get down.
I didn’t have a plan for how exactly to get down with the painting. I debated just tossing it to the ground. That was the only idea I had, but it sure as hell wasn’t a good one.
The roof creaked as I crawled below the branch. Then I looked up at the tree’s wooden limbs and realized I needed both of my hands to make this jump. There was no way I could with the painting underneath my arm, so I had to take it out of its frame.
I hoped this wouldn’t damage what we needed, but it was the only way.
My fingers pressed into the canvas and pulled the frame the opposite way at the same time. The thin canvas sheet slightly pulled away from the frame little by little, so I slid my fingers underneath and inched them forward to release the hold from the glue.
I couldn’t see if the canvas was being damaged, but this was the only way.
Wade’s clicker chirped on the opposite end of the house again. He had the elf on a chase. Thank the Ancients he was a day elf. He would’ve spotted us instantly if he wasn’t.
The canvas continued to pull apart from the glue until it was finally freed from the frame. Then I abandoned the frame and quickly rolled the canvas sheet into a tight scroll. My satchel wasn’t that big, but it would keep the painting as secure as possible.
Then I took a few steps back on the roof to give myself enough room to grab onto the branch. After a sharp inhale, I sprinted toward the tree and leaped off with one foot. If I missed, I was going to drop to the ground and be seriously hurt, if not killed.
I reached for the branch, gripped it with one hand, and almost slipped off as my momentum swung me forward. I recovered and brought my other hand up to pull myself up. Slowly but surely, I moved across the wooden limb and dropped down to the ground.
Then Wade’s clicker chirped as if a cricket massacre was taking place.
“Don’t look back,” I blurted and ran toward the hill where our wagon was as fast as I could.
Wade’s shadow raced next to me from the other side of the house.
We sprinted up the hill together, but I didn’t look at him the entire time we ran.
“Move, move, move,” he repeated as we both gasped for air.
The chirping from the clicker behind us suddenly stopped.
Was Dar the one doing that?
No, he wasn’t since Dar stood on the wagon and motioned frantically for us to dive in the back. He already had the horse in a trot.
My lungs were on fire, my legs felt like thin twigs, and my vision blurred.
“C’mon Penny, almost there.” Wade nudged me from behind, sprinted forward, and leapt onto the back of the moving wagon.
Then I dipped my head, grunted, and reached for the wagon that was nearly at full speed.
“Slow the horse down!” Wade yelled to Dar.
“No!” I shouted mid-stride as I chased after the cart.
“Take my hand,” Wade grunted and extended his hand toward me as he gripped onto the wagon with the other.
Our fingers brushed against each other for what felt like an eternity, until I leaned my body forward, and finally, our hands interlocked together. Then Wade pulled me up in one swift motion, and my feet lifted off the ground. I braced myself as best as I could for the impact with Wade, and my momentum sent me flying into his chest as we collapsed inside the back of the cart.
“Thank the Ancients!” Dar celebrated when he saw us both in the back of the wagon just as we emerged from the forested area.
“You okay?” Wade asked between strained breaths.
I could feel the warmth from his body against mine.
“Yeah, you?” I blinked and panted along with him.
“You made it,” he said with a grin as our eyes met. “But uh, you going to get off me?”
“Huh, oh, yeah.” I unclenched both of my hands that squeezed his muscular arms, rolled over to the side, and sat across from him amidst the pots and pans.
Wade sat up, rested his hands on his knees, and curved his lips into a side smile as he looked at me with his dark eyes.
“Did you get the painting?” Dar asked.
“I did,” I said as I kept my eyes locked on Wade’s.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the urge to run away from him.
Chapter 11
“Make sure it’s the right one,” Penny said as she passed me the rolled up canvas.
“Alright.” I turned my gaze away from her emerald eyes as I reached for the scroll, and as soon as the canvas touched my hand, both my heart and gut jumped.
I was still learning how the keys liked to communicate with me, but the gut punch was one they liked to use quite often.
“Is that the one?” Penny asked urgently a few seconds after I’d unrolled it and studied the battle scene.
“This is the one,” I confirmed as I recalled how the keys had made me dream of the battle scene.
“You sure?” Dar asked. “I don’t want to come out here again. Fucking elves.”
“Yeah.” I rolled the painting up and gave it back to Penny. “We can look it over more once we get back to the stables.”
“Okay, good.” Penny placed the scroll back in her satchel as we came to the white walls of the Capital District. Even in the darkness, the gates still sparkled from the moonlight, but now they looked like giant walls of ice.
“You may want to hurry up and hide that in case the elves get curious,” Dar said as he shot us a quick glance over his shoulder.
“Ya think I’m new at this?” Penny scoffed as she rolled her eyes. “I already hid it.”
“Okay, okay,” Dar snickered. “I’m just nervous is all.”
When we approached the gate, the Elven Guard wasn’t as strict as when we had entered, and he only motioned with his hand for us to move on through.
“We’re free,” Dar exhaled, but then he glanced back toward the gate just to make sure.
I did the same.
The last thing I wanted to see was the gray-haired elf sprinting after us along with the Elven Guard.
But he wouldn’t. He didn’t see a damned thing.
“So … ” Penny began as she looked at me and then to Dar, whose back faced us as he drove. “What in the name of the Ancients just happened?”
“We just robbed an elven noble,” I chuckled.
“Yeah, but how?” P
enny asked as she shook her head in disbelief. “I couldn’t see you guys, but I heard your clicker. What happened?”
“Turned out there was a small door underneath that covered port,” Dar began. “It led us underneath the weird glass flooring.”
“Underneath me?” Penny asked with wide eyes.
“Yeah, I crawled underneath you the entire time you were inside,” Dar said.
“You were under me?” Penny asked as her green eyes opened wide.
“Yup,” Dar laughed. “You’re lucky you weren’t wearing one of them dresses you always wear, or I would have seen your knickers!”
“It was a stealth mission, idiot,” Penny laughed. “Dresses don’t work when I gotta climb up the side of a wall.”
“Yeah, but I was kinda hoping there would be some elf ladies there, then I coulda seen their knickers,” Dar laughed, and I couldn’t help but chuckle with him.
“Anyways,” I continued, “it was probably the entrance for maintenance since it was a snug little area. I couldn’t fit, so I stayed near the door where I could still see you, and then Dar went in.”
“Was it you who made the crash in the kitchen?” Penny nodded toward Dar.
“Yup, that was the way up I found,” Dar said as he pointed a finger up in the air.
“And you used the clicker to draw the elf’s attention outside?” Penny’s eyes moved back to me.
“I did. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off out there.” I smirked. “Thankfully, he was a day elf, or it wouldn’t have worked out well for us.”
“That’s exactly what I thought, but … ” Penny paused, “how’d you make the clicker keep going when we sprinted toward the wagon?”
“Easy,” I said as I stretched out my shoulder that ached from when I pulled Penny in the cart. “I placed a rock on top of it.”
“Shit,” Penny said and chuckled to herself, “we did it.”
“That we did,” I agreed and leaned my head back against the wagon’s side rail. “Now, let’s go make us some whiskey.”
With one victory under our belts, another battle awaited us at the stables. We’d have a few more hours of darkness before the sun rose unless the day elves kicked into high gear, but either way, we had to get the mash made.