Haven - Part 2 - Close Call

Selene crouched close against the side of a fruit sellers stall. Dressed all black swathed in her cloak and wearing a mask that only revealed her eyes she waited patiently for the guard to continue up the next street. She was a trained thief not like those petty cut purses that these guards were used to. Selene made her way to the next street over making sure to stay close to the walls; being a shadow in this dark city was easy. This odd assignment had been given to her by Sahak, who ran her den of thieves. Doing this favor for him he said would help distinguish her among other thieves, but he had also made it clear that doing him this favor was not a choice. So she had followed the new guard named Pavol all over the trade district tonight and finally having his route mapped in her head she began the real work.
First she needed a way to slow him down once the trap was sprung. Selene slung the small bag from her back and took out a hammer and pry bar. Putting the pry bar against the edge of the cobblestone she was going to use the hammer to loosen it so that it could be pulled out of the street. The first swing of the hammer missed and it ricocheted off the stones. Stopping to listen if anyone was coming she continued working. Finally she had managed to get the pry bar under the stone enough to lift it by hand.
Selene smiled as she set the cobblestone on its side, an upturned cobblestone in this dark city was sure to be a tripping hazard. Making her way over to the row of wealthy merchant houses she searched for an open window. In this weather she had her pick but most of the windows were on the third story and not so easy to escape from. Then she saw the windows of a second floor room swing slightly in the breeze down the street.
Climbing up a rainspout was easier then most thieves thought; they must secure these things to the building with a hundred nails and mortar. Peeking in the window Selene saw a woman snoring away in her bed. Good only one person was in there making it easier to avoid detection although that was the opposite of what she was supposed to do. Steal anything you want he had told her but make sure you wake them up raising the alarm for the city guard. Selene crawled through the window like a spider and made her way over to the woman’s dresser which was stacked with pots of makeup, hairbrushes, and hand mirrors. Judging by the looks of the owner she definitely needed all the help she could get. Well she did need a new hair brush and this one just happened to be made of ivory and inlaid with gold. Now it was time for the real fun to begin, Selene thought to herself. Taking her arm she swept everything from the dresser onto the rug. To her the sound of breaking glass and metal was as loud as the hundreds of canaries sold in the trade district everyday. The woman in the bed groaned and rolled over oblivious to the intruder in her bedroom. This lady better wake up soon or that guard will be long gone from these streets, Selene thought to herself, maybe it was time for a more direct approach. Gliding across the carpet on her soft boots she removed a sewing needle from the pin cushion next to the woman’s bed. Gently she pressed the needle against the back of her arm nothing happened. Putting a little more pressure until she was sure that blood must be ready to spill all she could elicit from the woman was another groan. Her skin must be as thick as dragon hide, Selene thought. She would never get this job done right at this pace maybe she should have tried one of those third story windows. The woman let out a long moan, smacked her lips, turned over and looked directly up at Selene.
“EEEKK!” the woman screamed right in her face then fell back against her pillow; she had fainted. The sight of a masked person standing over your bed might have that effect.
“Thief!” Selene cried out from the window before sliding down the rainspout and back into the street.
Sprinting up the street and towards the Arts district she was filled with a rush of adrenaline. She heard the tell tale sound of bells and chimes behind her. So her trap had worked as she glanced around the corner she just turned the guard following her was too far behind now to hope to catch up. A stray sound caught her ear coming from up ahead, another damn guard was coming to help the new guy. Pumping her legs to get more speed she shot past the guard as he skidded out of a side street right on her heels.
She could see the lights from the guardhouse up ahead. Almost there she thought, normally guards wouldn’t chase you from district to district unless you really made them angry.
“Close the gates!” the guard behind her shouted. Already in the light from the guardhouse up the street shadows could be seen moving inside. Her stomach tightened, this was going to be a close one.
“Close that gate you fools!” she heard the guard yell ahead of himself again.
Commanding her legs to move faster and push harder she saw the gates sliding closed in front of her just in time to cut to the right and down an alley. They wouldn’t follow her down here so she took time to breath and think behind a stack of crates. Holding her dagger tight in her fist she watched them from her hiding spot looking hard for where she had gone. Selene cursed as the clouds started to part behind the guards; she knew the moonlight would give her away. As soon as the light from the moon hit her she was off and running back towards the guards. Something snagged her arm as she passed them, a quick slash across the wrist of the guard that grabbed her and she was free again not even breaking stride. The adjacent alley ended in a dead with a brick wall and buildings close on both sides. Try to catch me now she thought trying to get as much speed as possible. Approaching the back wall of the alley she mentally went over the steps in her head. A wall run was not the first thing a thief learned but pretty close to it. The easiest way to avoid the guards was to jump a wall or get on a roof; they rarely gave chase after a stunt like that. Without stopping or slowing down she literally ran up the wall pushing off at the top of her second step and turning to grab the edge the roof. Pulling herself onto the roof she kept running. An easy job Sahak had told her, the guard is new and he won’t know what hit him. She couldn’t wait to get back home and let him know just how close she had come to the gallows. Haven was not a city you wanted to be caught thieving in which was the reason all thieves went shrouded in black. Hopefully her distraction had worked and tonight’s real crime had gone off without a hitch.