Thief in the Night (#3/11)

The rain fell softly on the accepting earth, seeping into the dirt and creating a thick layer of mud over the court yard. It made it hard for her boots to find purchase, but Adela was used to worse conditions. Born, raised and trained in the icy mountains, she was used to how the spring would turn the world into a treacherous place where one was likely to end up on their backside if they paid too much attention to the season's beautiful adornments. As it was, the court yard of this eastern palace didn't offer much along the lines of visual entertainment, so she could easily focus on how her feet slid just the slightest and adjust her weight accordingly. Within moments she was across the stone-lined square, her foot prints all but erased by the small maelstrom coming down on the land.1

Avlona's greatest thief, as well as one of its strongest Jiun sorcerers, cast her green eyes upward, looking for the darkened window that belonged to the great wizard Joryn. She was taking a risk by invading his palace deep in the eastern foothills, as the smallest use of her magic would instantly alert him to her presence. And although Adela might be strong amongst the Jiun, she was nothing compared to this Asani wizard. Joryn was considered the strongest Asani, having quickly climbed to the ranks of wizard at a very young age, whereas Adela had only become a sorcerer well into her thirtieth winter. And the clear brand of the Jiun across her forehead, the mark of the Asani's most hated enemy, would certainly inspire any Asani in his right mind to attack first and ask questions later.2

No one really knew when the battle between the Asani and Jiun began, but it was one of those things fated at the dawn the world. The Asani were creatures of light and nature, whose magic blended with the natural flows of plants to produce gentle, but weakened, spells. It was hard for an Asani to be truly powerful, for their actually power came from the lives of those around them. The Jiun, on the other hand, were creatures born of darkness, who harnessed the power of their own souls to cast their spells. It meant the magic was stronger, but much more likely to destroy the user.3

The Asani claimed the Jiun were evil beings, who used soul magic to corrupt the world. The Jiun saw the truth, how the Asani leeched off the life forces of others. Unfortunately, the rest of Avlona's populace did not see it that way, and so the Jiun were outcast and forced into the shadow in which they emerged.4

It was after the Asani laid siege to Adela's village, causing the mountains heavy with snow to drop their burden on the defenseless townsfolk, that Adela pledged herself to the Jiun. The order of Dark Magic demanded a heavy toll- her freedom, and a brand to be placed across the virgin skin of her forehead- but Adela had been more than willing to give it. When she had pulled herself from the clasp of the snow, she had not been alone. Clutched to her breast had been the bodies of her four year old son, and her two moon old daughter.5

But that was in the past...she needed to focus on the future.6

The stone walls of the court yard were easy to climb, despite how the pounding rain tried to make them slippery beneath her fingers. But true to Asani fashion, the vines of plants draped all along the castle walls, making it no task at all for her to grab them and use them to host her petite body upward. The plait Adela had styled her red hair into had absorbed the falling water like a cloth, leaving it a thick cord down the length of her back. The darkly dyed but light weight cotton she had used to cloak her body in was soaked and scratchy against her skin, but it hid her better than exposing her moonlight-pale skin to the cooled air.7

Even still, with the rain it took a quarter of an hour but Adela finally reached her target window. It left her another fifteen minutes to slip in and secure her package before the next bell tolled from the temple down the valley from the castle. She knew that the loud, resounding noise was likely to stir even the deepest sleeper from their dreams, so it would be at that time that she would be the most vulnerable to discovery. She had to be gone before then, if she were to play it safe.8

According the Jiun's sources, Joryn kept quarters only two doors down from the workroom she was perched on the windowsill of. He was a light sleeper, the energy he drew from the plants and animal that dwelled within his palace allowing him to stay up for long hours on little rest. But he did take a rest in the depths of the night, between the third and fourth bell, not returning to his workroom until the sixth bell. Adela had a horse waiting in the foothills, meaning by the sixth bell she ought to be miles from the palace. And with her, the Jiun's target which lay innocently within the wizard's workroom.9

The Book of the Asani.10

It was an ancient text, handed down to the strongest Asani upon their ascension to wizard. It supposedly held some of their most powerful spells, but more importantly, its destruction would resound through nature, cutting off the Asani from their power sources. With its burning, no longer would plants and animals, and even people, waste away when the Asani cast their spells. And before now, there had never been a Jiun strong enough to take the book from the Asani wizard guarding it.11

Adela certainly wasn't.12

But that was why the Jiun had used her. Before settling into motherhood, Adela had carved a life for herself as Avlona's greatest thief. This was when her magic lay dormant within her, and she had learned to use her body like that of a snake's to worm into even the most fortified stronghold. But a pregnancy outside of wedlock caused her to set that life aside, and then a second sent her to the mountains where husbands were often lost to the traitorous peeks and no one would question her singleness. So when her magic rose at the deaths of her dearest, Adela already knew how to survive without it.13

Meaning she could slip in undetected, a common thief when their enemy was expecting an army of magic wielders.14

Adela tested the window, happily finding it unlatched. She expected this much, with the window facing the center court yard of the castle. But like the handsome bandit that gave Adela's children to her, she knew how to wiggle into tight places not often though passable by other men, and so made it to the undefended court yard. The leaded glass opened silently on well greased hinges, letting in only the sound of the falling rain and her gentle footsteps as she slid off the ledge and into the darkness. She softly closed it behind her, leaving her with only the pale light of the storm clouds coming through the dirty glass to light her way. It wasn't enough to light the oppressively dark room.15

After a few moments of quietly fumbling around the wooden benches for a candle, and lighting it with the matchsticks kept dry in the cloth binding her breasts, Adela could at least see a few feet in front of her. She promptly stuck her right index finger in her mouth, suckling at the smarting wound that came from something sharp on the work tables she had found the candle on. The wood surfaces were all over the room, creating a waist high maze covered in various books, ingredients and other instruments spread here and there. She looked at the finely polished wood enviously, not that as a Jiun she would ever need a workroom like this, but simply because obvious age of the tools coupled with the superb upkeep of them spoke of their value. Even in the frail candlelight, it was a marvelous room.16

And then there was the book.17

The Jiun scholars who had sent her on this task had drilled the image of the Book into her head for hours on end, and even without that she knew she would have recognized it right away. It wasn't a large book, perhaps just big enough to fit comfortably under someone's arm, and the yellowed pages had been left open to the air, baring the graceful black lines of ancient text for all to see. In fact, there wasn't much remarkable about it at all, for the binding was simply brown leather and there were no adornments besides the powerful words within. Instead the entire book resonated with power, humming beneath her fingertips as Adela traced the words written inches above the actual paper. She didn't know how long she stood there, the candle wax melting onto her hand as she stared dazed at the Book; she only knew it was the sound of the hour bell and the rustling of someone behind her that awoke her from her thoughts.18

In an instant Adela spun, snatching up the Book in one hand while the other dropped the candle and reached for the dagger at her waistline. But it was too late- whoever was there had seen where she had been, and both his magic and his body crashed into her seconds later. She felt the air leave her lungs as he pushed her across the work bench, and she grunted in pain as she fell to the other side along with whatever tool had dug itself into the soft skin of her side. With her dagger hand she yanked it out, and rolled away, focusing her magic to keep back the battery of power that was being thrown against her shields. No actual spells had been cast yet, but whoever this was was strong enough to be putting pressure on her inner barriers- the very ones protecting her soul from being used by anyone but herself. It was hard to try and keep her shields up, all while moving as quietly as she could toward the window while the man stumbled around the dark.19

"Thief!" She heard him call as fire sprung from his hands, the little light too weak to fall over her while he was focusing his power on assaulting her shielding. Even still his voice, a deep and vibrant baritone, sent shivers down her back as Adela inched ever closer to the tiny rectangle of freedom on the far wall. "Who dare steals from me? Who dare steals from the wizard Joryn?"20

It took all of Adela's strength not to let herself gasp, but she was frozen in place as she realized just who was searching this giant room for her. One would think it were an easy thing to just claim to be someone you were not, but to invoke the name of a magic user as your own was deadly. The soul that truly claimed that name would flow through nature, determined at all costs to strike down whoever try to masquerade as it, sometimes killing the magic user in the process. The stronger the magic user, the stronger the soul. No one would dare claim to be the great Joryn but he.21

Which meant Adela was in a lot of trouble.22

She reached the window and threw it open the moment his weak flame threw light on her. Before she could scramble up the wall, he was on her and they were grappling, Joryn's strong fingers crushing her wrist until she dropped the dagger within her hand. The sickening sweet scent of his magic breaking her shields clogged her nose, making her feel lightheaded as his torch spell flickered on and off with his concentration. She felt the last of her shielding crumble beneath the onslaught, leaving a tiny hole to where her soul lay bare and vulnerable. A hole where his magic could leak through, where it could grab her life and literally drag it from her body...23

With no thought other than her survival, Adela reached her free arm- still clutching the precious book she had risked her life for- out the window and flung the treasured Book of the Asani out into the muddy court yard.24

The distraction worked, as Joryn almost flung himself from the window in a desperate grab for the book. At that moment Adela grabbed at his dark robes, even the platinum blond hair that hung to his shoulders, and pulled herself onto his back. It placed her outside the window, and in his attempt to gain his balance back Joryn took hers. Adela tumbled forward into the open air as he tumbled back into the workroom, her dirty boot leaving a foot print dead center on his back before it met nothing but air. The wizard gaped at her as Adela began to fall, his hands making an unconscious grasp at her to try and grab her before she fell.25

It was then she saw his face, saw the Asani wizard Joryn's face and heard him call her name. It was as she was falling, plummeting to the muddy but still hard earth below, that Adela saw the man who had given her two children staring back at her, her name spilling from his lips. And then, as what she saw registered in her mind, Adela saw no more.26