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Rated: 13+ · Other · Fantasy · #1319597
Elsewhere in the city a thief stalks in the dark of a museum searching for an artifact.
NOTE: This piece is completely raw, it is unedited, unspell checked (used word pad) and only just finished.
I am looking for reviews of the story itself rather than grammatical and technical spelling reviews.
Please bear this in mind :)


Enjoy.

Chapter 2:
         The Luck of Boon

         Nira quietly stepped down from the empty street above into the darkness of the building’s basement.
A thick layer of silence coated the room she was in.
Dusty white walls encased her.
There was a large wooden door in the only opening of the room to her left.
She closed the window she’d come through inaudibly then quickly wheeled back around towards the door.
The room was filled with crates and barrels stacked around shelves cluttered with more boxes.
She began moving towards the door, her leather armour making a gentle creaking sound almost impossible to hear.
There was an unlit torch on a wall to her left, she stalked over and took it out of its bracket.
It fit snugly into her pack and so she continued to move towards the door.
Her hand reached for the door handle but it was already turning, she quickly darted behind a crate where she could see the door through a crack.
The door opened and light spilled into the room from the stone corridor.
A booted leg stepped into the room followed by a large bearded man carrying a vicious looking axe.
He did a quick sweep of the room then stepped out again and proceeded away up the corridor.
His footfalls were audible all the way to the end then they disappeared.
Nira breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out from her place behind the crate and moved over to the door.
She waited a few moments before turning the handle just to be sure there was no one in the corridor.
The door opened a crack and she peeked through the gap, the corridor was dark and apparently empty.
She slipped through the gap and closed the door behind her then began to proceed up to the next door staying close to the wall.
Heavy boots passed outside the door she was heading to and away again.
If she was caught in here she’d surely be taken to the council for judgement and maybe even labelled a Witch.
That had been a powerful tool for the wise men’s enforcers to use of late.
How corrupt the government was she knew and it disgusted her but suited her well.
Corrupt rich men were always easy to take money from and they made the life of a woman thief so much easier.
She reached the door and cracked it open a notch to look into the large pillared room on the other side.
A lonely torch light pierced the dark of the night at the other side of the hall.
It moved up the other side then passed up some stairs undoubtedly carried by one of the museums guards.
Once it had disappeared through the double doors across from Nira she slipped into the cavernous room.
It was the entrance hall of the museum and seemed very lightly guarded; she was expecting a lot more.
Her feet began to move fast and quiet across the tiled floor to the big double doors on her right.
They led to the largest exhibition room where her target for tonight resided.
The steps were cleared in two quick leaps and the door opened and entered in no time at all.
She clicked the door closed again behind her; she knew no one would be in here on guard duty.
The boon she was after was dangerous on a night but she had come well protected.
An enchanted amulet hung around her neck below her leather jerkin.
It’d had cost her a lot, including a more personal favour for the sleazy merchant she’d bought it from.
There in the centre of the room it sat, the Luck of Boon.
It was encased in crystal, perched on a purple velvet cushion.
She’d probably steal that too.
She moved over to the edge of a stone circle that surrounded the case.
One step onto that and she’d of been nicely toasted.
This whole area was magically rigged to destroy intruders.
She knelt down and drew her pack off her shoulder then set it down on the ground.
Her hand went inside and she felt around a bit then drew out a small stiletto dagger.
It glinted of its own light.
Setting that on the floor she drew out another implement, this one a lock pick that seemed to be made from some sort of bone.
Now she drew out a piece of parchment with runes scrawled all over it which she also set on the floor.
On it she placed a blue gemstone on a square shaped rune with strange markings around it.
The stone began to levitate an inch off the parchment glowing and shining as did the markings on the scroll.
A great flash of lightning and a roll of thunder pierced the night sky, illuminating the lashing rain.
She spoke two words to the parchment and it flashed a bright blue.
Two tendrils of a blue miasma began to float upwards, intertwining, crossing, unwinding and crossing again.
The ends met like two snakes consuming each other and there was a small puff of blue sparkling dust.
A door handle with a small keyhole appeared formed from the powder and hung there in the air.
Nira picked up the lockpick then placed it in the floating lock.
She sat fiddling it around for a bit until she heard a series of clicks, this was followed by the door handle dissapearing in a small flash.
The stone circle around the glass case fizzled and sparked slightly then died down again.
The magic scroll had done it's work so Nira picked up the dagger and moved forward to the case.
The boon was just a plain silver ring with a small diamond set into it.
All around the band intricate markings and runes were engraved, all magical and all very potent.
She pressed the tip of the dagger lightly onto the glass which liquefied around the point.
The dagger was now glowing a dim orange like a dying furnace.
Nira moved the dagger round in a circle and the piece of glass fell outwards.
She caught it then placed it on the ground, working swiftly but silently.
Her hand went into her front right pocket and when it came back out it was clenching some red powderous substance.
Then she put her hand through the hole in the glass and opened it, releasing the substance which swirled and occasionally sparked.
Now was the moment of truth, if the amulet she was wearing was a fake the boon would incinerate her slowly but without letting a single noise escape her mouth.
Once all of the powder had sparked out she again put her hand back into the case and hovered her hand over the ring.
She held her breath and closed her eyes, reaching for the ring.
It was now or never she thought.
Her hand clasped around it's silvery surface.
She let out a sigh of relief as she opened her eyes and saw it it briefly flash green then go dead again.
She took it out of the case with great reverence, staring wide eyed at it's beauty.
It was held cupped in her hands, a streak of lightning pierced the sky again and the thunder made her jump nearly causing her to drop the ring.
Tearing her eyes away from the boon she turned and began packing everything back into her bag.
She heard footsteps outside the exhibition room doors.
There she crouched, frozen, as were the footsteps.
After what seemed an age of holding her breath the footsteps continued back down the stairs and she let her breath escape her once more.
This was the most nerve racking but exhilirating job she had done in atleast 5 years.
The great rush of stealing something, being in a place she shouldn't be, the thought of what would happen to her should she be caught all summed up to a greater feeling than sex for Nira.
Most didn't understand why she did it, why she didn't just do the norm, get a job in a tavern or settle down with a husband.
She was a very pretty woman, her hair was brown and it crept down to her lower back.
Her eyes were green and sparkled like emeralds.
If she so chose to she could have quite a noble husband but the thought repulsed her.
A man could never afford her the adrenaline or excitement she gained from being a proffessional thief.
It wasn't that she liked possessing other people's belongings, she was no petty robber.
No, this was something more, it was about skill.
She had money, lots of it, she could easily set a life up for herself if she wanted.
But she didn't want to, she wanted to continue stealing more valuable and more dangerous items, items that never really have had a true owner.
The Luck of Boon was defenitely such an article, it was rumoured to have the power to change the winning order of gambling games, the outcome of a persons choices in a day.
If used correctly it could make a person extremely rich and very happy but if used at all wrong, if a superstition of bad luck was engaged by the wearer.
The boon would instantly begin to make their life hell, but never so much as to kill them, for that would be too lucky.
Once her pack was filled again, she stood up and made a move for the exit.
Her run back to the storage room, her way out, was quite uneventful with no guards in the main hall, she only found this mildly strange.
She took a guess they had gone for a game of Dice or some other such time passer.

         A minute later and she was climbing out of the storage room's basement window.
It brought her out into pooring rain and total chaos.
Magical bolts were flying all over the place, guards ran about like headless chickens.
Commoners were running for their houses, some were being dragged screaming out into the streets by black clad Witches and members of the Shadow Order.
One Witch had a teenage girl in her grasp, she had lifted her, with uncanny strength, two feet off the floor.
The girl was screaming and kicking at the hag but it made very little difference.
The Witch didn't even seem to realise as she threw out a magical whip crack from her hand at a man who had been tied to a shop sign, left dangling there to be tortured.
Nira pulled out the dagger again, she made the quick decision to join the fray to save the girl.
She rushed straight at the Witch holding her and the enchantments on the blade easily shattered the hag's protective incantations.
It buried deep into the woman's neck causing her to have a quick spasm as the blade flashed bright orange.
The inside of her neck had undoubtebly been incinerated by the fire spells wrapped around the knife.
With the Witch dead the girl dropped to the floor and Nira quickly moved forward to her.
She held out her hand and the girl looked at it apprehensively as she stood up shakily.
"I'm Nira, we need to get out of here." Nira called out over the sound of the fight and the storm.
The girl looked distraught.
"I'm... I'm... Eliza, we can't leave... my parents... my brother... I have to help... help them... they are..."
"They are dead Eliza, or as good as, if you don't leave with me now we'll both die."
The girl broke down crying and fell to her knee's.
"Get up!" Nira gave her a quick slap to the face.
Eliza looked at her shocked but stood up.
Nira took her hand and began to run with her in tow down the battle torn road.
They came to the end of the cobbled street and took a left down the side of the museum.
Soon Eliza was completely lost by how many corners and streets they had taken.

         Eventually Nira stopped at a wall at the back of an alley.
She reached down and Eliza watched in confusion as she pulled a manhole cover up revealing a pitch black hole from which came the sound of rushing water.
The pair climbed down and in no time they stood ankle deep in the water.
Eliza could hear the sound of Nira closing the manhole hiding away the little light there had been coming from the hole.
Next came the sound of Nira rustling through her pack and then the sound of flame.
The tunnel was quickly lit with a warm amber glow from the museum torch that Nira now held in her hand.
Eliza still stood stationary looking dazed at her leather clad savior waiting to be pulled along again.
Once again they began moving.
After a few more minutes of navigating confusing tunnels they stood infront of a large valve door.
Nira placed her hands on it and began turning the wheel until the large steel entrance creaked open.
The door had opened to reveal what appeared to be the interior of a very welcoming and comfortable house.
"Please, do go in." Nira smiled at Eliza who simply looked blankly back at her but stepped in anyway.

         Once Nira had sorted all the gear she had used that night she had made something to eat for them both and given Eliza a small shot of brandy to drink.
Eliza's food stood relatively untouched but the brandy had dissapeared almost instantly.
Neither had said much to the other but Nira poured a second drink for Eliza without even needing to be prompted.
Eliza made the liquor quickly dissapear again but didn't put the glass back on the table, she sat there cradling it instead.
It didn't take long before she broke down to mournful tears, Nira simply held her and stroked her hair.

         An entire hour passed before Eliza had exhausted herself.
She had cried herself to sleep on Nira's shoulder so she carried her into the spare bedroom and put her in bed.
Nira herself felt extremely tired after the very weird night she had just had so she climbed sleepily into her own bed.
The storm was still raging above them, even under the streets as her home was she could still hear the thunder.
Her thoughts drifted to the Witch's outside the museum, she guessed open revolt had finally happened.
They had passed quite a few bands of Witch's and Shadow Order operatives killing commoners and guards alike.
She knew she would need to wait till the morning until she found out what had happened.
Or so she thought.
Her eyes closed slowly, eclipsing the roof she lay under.
After barely a moment she drifted off to a troubled sleep.
© Copyright 2007 C. J. Sayer (silverex at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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