Message #417444

[Gaffit]

Chapter 3:

Rief made a quick check of his equipment before leaving his hideout that he always stayed in after he had pulled a job. Rief exited the alley and looked over the knives and arrows he’d stolen the night before from a couple of vendors. They were of average quality, Rief made it a point not to relieve merchants of their best wares. But he considered anything else fair game.

Rief made his way past the massive gates that marked the entrance to the city of Gemini, checking the map Hawker had provided him with and heading in the general direction of where Hawker though Thaum Cigruta’s fortress was.

“I can’t believe I’m taking on this mission. What the hell was I thinking? Since when do I listen to Hawker when it comes to doing my job anyway?” Rief looked back into the woods from which he came, unable to make out the buzz of Gemini City in the distance. “A little late to turn back now,” Rief lied to himself.

Rief reached the fortress at about mid-day. Surprisingly enough, Hawker’s map was spot-on. Usually half the mission was spent looking for the right place when it came to missions that involved magicians.

Climbing a nearby oak tree, Rief scouted the place, looking for anything that he should keep an eye out for.

“Hmm... No guards, no moat,” Rief sniffed the air, “No smelly guard dogs, not even a pet dragon...”

Rief consulted his map, making sure he was at the right hidden fortress, they were a dime a dozen in his day and age. Rief checked and double-checked, but the intel looked clean.

“This guy must be really full of himself to have no security whatsoever...” Rief watched the fortress for a couple more hours before concluding that there was in actuality, no guards to be found.

“Looks like this is as good a time as any.”

Rief lowered himself from the tree and in one quick sprint made it to the castle walls in the blink of an eye. Rief looked at the fortress walls and didn’t see any balconies, or any windows for that matter, in fact the entire fortress wall was smooth and seamless.

“There’s no way in except the front door? How the hell am I supposed to sneak into that? Who does this magician think he is making me work to steal from him!” Rief swore to himself.

Rief made a quick lap around the fortress, seeing not a stone or indent to climb onto. Eventually Rief reached the front door.

“Looks like we’re doing this the fun way.” Rief took the bow off his back and knocked an arrow.

The huge wooden door went flying inward from Rief’s powerful kick. Rief went in a few seconds later pointing his bow in all possible direction before deciding that no one was there. Rief relaxed his guard and looked around. The inside was a perfect as the outside with bright white walls and balls of pure white light floating over head.

Rief made his way down the hall to his left, hoping it would lead him to the center of the fortress. Eventually Rief put his bow away and unsheathed a couple of daggers as it was clear that he simply wasn’t going to run into any guards.

Rief made his way past the countless doors on both sides of the corridor, trying to get a feel for where the center would be. After a half hour of walking through countless corridors and endless flights of stairs, Rief felt he was getting close.

Walking down a hallway he was sure was close enough to the center, he felt something cold run down his spine.

Magic.

Rief half-turned when he was hit as if by a brick wall with a spell. Rief discovered, much to his unpleasant surprise, that he couldn’t move.

“Well, looks like I’m **** out of luck,” he thought to himself.

Rief heard footsteps coming down the corridor, but he couldn’t see that far behind him. The footsteps were sequenced, calculated. A figure entered Rief’s field of vision. A magician, obviously Thaum Cigruta himself, wearing a flowing blue robe and sporting a long black and graying beard. He looked frail, but Rief knew that he shouldn’t be deceived by his demeanor.

“So, you’re the great thief of magicians are you? What’s your name again? Rief?”

The magician entered full view and stood before Rief.

“I have to hand it to you kid, you must have a lot of courage to come in here and try to take what is mine, speaking of which.” Cigruta took a couple of steps towards Rief and dug into his pouch, pulling out the gargoyle statue and holding it before Rief, “I believe this also belongs to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Rief asked, surprised that he could use his voice. “I stole that just the other day from a different magician, who by the way, won’t be able to walk steadily for awhile, so I suggest you let me go before you get yourself into too much trouble.”

Suddenly Cigruta changed in appearance right before Rief’s eyes, becoming shorter and muscular, taking on the appearance of the magician from the other day.

“I believe I can walk just fine,” Cigruta said, changing back before a stunned Rief. Cigruta then pulled up his robe to reveal two small circular scars located directly below his kneecaps.

“It was you I encountered yesterday? That’s impossible.” Rief said in disbelief.

“You’ve been stirring up a lot of trouble in the magician community recently Rief, we don’t gather often but, you’ve been troublesome enough for us to decide that something should be done about you.” Thaum looked at Rief menacingly, “I contacted your friend Hawker anonymously and told him about a job. I must say, you put on a pleasant show the other day when you stole that statue, I was even surprised that you managed to get a couple of shots off on me. But when I was ultimately unable to capture you there, I decided to take another crack at it so to speak.”

Rief managed to wiggle his hand, it was a start, “So what? You’re going to kill me? What about Hawker?”

“Oh please, we both know that without you, Hawker will be nothing. A thief willing to take on magicians is quite rare, one only pops up every few hundred years. I think-“ was all Thaum managed to get out before a knife came whirling at his head.

Thaum ducked the blade thrown from Rief’s free hand having strained against the spell, but his concentration was broken and the spell he cast on Rief was destroyed. Thaum angrily hurled more stunning spells at Rief, but it was all in vain. Rief was ready for them this time. Dodging the blasts, Rief took his bow and knocked two arrows, sending them cleanly into Thaum’s kneecaps for the second time this week.

“GOD DAMNIT!” Cigruta howled as he thumped to the ground. He reached to pull the arrows out, and as soon as he healed himself and got to his feet, Rief was turning the corner at the far end of the hall, out of sight.

 “I love that shot,” Rief congratulated himself. Rief made his ways through the halls of the fortress, running at a full sprint. He knew magicians could use their magic to travel faster, but with his head start, Rief doubted it mattered.

Rief turned the corner into the entrance hall, but there was a strange blue field guarding the entrance across from the still shattered wooden door. Rief hurled himself against it, but he simply bounced off of it. Suddenly an alarm went off.

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” Came a voice from nowhere. Suddenly two strange metal objects that looked like six metal poles strapped together dropped from the ceiling and aimed themselves at Rief. At this point, Thaum Cigruta turned the corner.

“What the hell is that!?” Rief shouted, pointing at the metal device.

“That my friend, is what we like to call a turret. And you should consider it an honor to be the first of this world to be targeted by one.”

The barrel on the turret started spinning faster and faster, when suddenly a bright light shot forth from it. And then Rief’s world went dark.