SHANEGORMLEY

Kira seemed overly cautious, even paranoid, demanding that they go to the only part of the city that was almost entirely unoccupied in order to plan the heist; The Old Granary. Ryoko led the way, the posse of thieves trailing behind her as she went through the back streets to the western edge of the citadel. It had once been a hive of activity, a thriving centre of industry, importing wheat from all over the province. Here it would be ground and baked into all manner of breads and sweets from a number of different bakeries. “However,” Ryoko explained to Kallis, as they wandered away from the hum of the festival; “There was also a home for foundlings here, and when the King wanted to use this space for a court, for foreign dignitaries, the owner refused, thinking it abominable that such a vital lifeline for the destitute be given over to such frivolity. He vanished, and no one knows what happened to him. Obviously, most think he was murdered, either by the King or by one of the other landowners, but no one knows for sure.” Ryoko’s story had drawn most of the young thieves closer to her, and they gathered around her to hear the story, while Dimitri simply rolled his eyes at Kira, who grinned in response.

 

“Then of course the people began to swear it was haunted, that the old man still refused to move for the King. Of course, no one wanted to stay in a haunted building, so the King had to find another place for his court.”

 

Kallis began to drift towards Kira, until Ryoko said; “but that isn’t the end of the story.”  Pleased to have regained the youth’s attention she continued; “The new site the King chose was inhabited by a large number of people, and when they were forced to leave, they began an uprising, and soon the whole of Wherehurst was in uprising against the King.” Pointing to the high wall, that marked the area before them, she stopped. “They nailed him to that wall, right there. And the whole area has been abandoned since.” She continued walking, as all but Kira and Dimitri exchanged nervous glances at the thought of ghosts.

 

The gates to the granary were tall, made of wrought iron, and locked with great chains, padlocked together. Through the gaps between the iron bars they could see the granary beyond, all ruined and abandoned buildings. However the surrounding wall seemed intact, and as Kira struggled with the lock, Dimitri set the others to searching the wall for any holes. Kallis looked up at the wall. It was pretty tall, he thought, but he had shinned up trees as high, reaching the prime branches for wood. Taking a deep breath he skipped back and then ran at the wall as fast as he could, the momentum taking him high up the wall. Unfortunately, he could not quite grasp the top and came down with a loud thud, landing flat on his back. He lay dazed for a while as the youths burst into fits of laughter around him.

 

“Maybe you should run at it with your head.” Kira snorted as she threw the bent lock pick down in disgust.

 

“I came closer to getting in than you did,” Kallis retorted with disdain, getting to his feet. Feeling Kira’s glare upon him, he quickly added, “But with all of us, we’ll be inside in no time, right?” still hoping that she might grow to like him. She suddenly smiled at him and clicked her fingers. Turning to the others she barked “Over ‘ere all of you.” Having got their attention she explained her plan “You make a pyramid, and me and Kallis will hop over the top and pull you guys up. You shorties,” She pointed at the smallest few “you will stand guard in case any one wanders our way. Everyone got it? Let’s go.”

 

Two of the number stood guard, and the other children climbed on top of each other, each few shakily supporting the next few, until Kira climbed up and Kallis joined her, beginning the painstaking process of hauling the others over. The last of the children tumbled to the ground on the other side of the wall, just as Dimitri closed the gate behind Ryoko, pocketing his lock pick. Kira gave him a fierce glare and then turned toward Kallis as he gave Dimitri a self satisfied grin. “What are you looking so pleased for?” she snarled before storming off; muttering something about idiots and smugness.

 

Among the half ruined bakeries was a house that must once have been grand, but now was shabby and run down. It was, however largely intact and closer inspection revealed it to have a large table in the central room, perfect for planning upon, they decided. One of the large oak doors had fallen off its hinges, and with some effort, Kallis eased it open. He looked to Kira for some recognition, looking downcast as she brushed past him without a look.

 

The room with the table they had noticed lay to their right, but up ahead were a myriad of other doors to unseen areas of the building. An entrance way and stairs loomed in the darkness, but overcoming the desire to explore the mysterious house Kira lead the others into the room on their right. They all gathered around the beaten and dusty mahogany table, but a silent hesitation halted the plotting as a chilling breeze poured through the broken window panes of the front of the house. The room reeked unmistakably of urine, and not a murmur could be heard save the occasional creak of Kallis’ tight leather breastplate over his rusty chainmail shirt.“Here seems as good a spot as any.” Said Dimitri, his voice commanded calmness beyond his years.

 

“Ryoko, what do you know of the tower?” probed Kira.

 

“The little I know is only rumour, mostly speculation, word of mouth.” Ryoko began tentatively. “What I do know for certain is that there is only one door into the tower, and that is always guarded. What with the feast of Ashiroth, they may allocate more guards although with that same logic they might also have to stretch their forces out which could work to our advantage. Perhaps if there was some sort of distraction.”

Kira snapped her fingers together. “Of course, a distraction is exactly what we need, if we create enough confusion maybe one or two of us can slip through the door unnoticed; Ingenious.”

 

“Hmmm.” Kallis mulled. “Yes, but what could possibly be so distracting as to cause a whole company of guards to not notice people stroll into where they are guarding?”

 

“Oh, just leave that to me.” Chimed Dimitri; with a wink.

 

“Excellent.” Kira bellowed. “Then it is decided. As we don’t know anymore of the tower, we shall just have to see what awaits us within. Ryoko nodded in agreement, and for the first time she was overcome with the sense of foreboding. The thought of being caught or what trials may be in the tower chilled her to the bone.“Ryoko, Kallis.” Kira began. “I want you to come with me, into the tower, while it is Dimitri’s responsibility to create the distraction with the others.”  At the mention of his name Kallis moved toward Kira, as though pulled by an invisible force. As he did so, his heavy chain armour rattled, and leather breastplate creaked. Kira turned to face him. He proudly banged his hand on the table.

 

“We will find the treasure,” he proudly announced.Kira sighed deeply, as a few of the others giggled. Completely oblivious to this Kallis purposefully strode towards the window to look at the looming tower.

“Yes, my fortunes are certainly changing. This mission should be easy for someone who displays such stealth and agility, such as I.” As he reached a crescendo, he raised his arm majestically into the air, and doing so his armour noisily squeaked and jangled. All the youths started laughing.

 

“Kallis, you are about as stealthy as an ox,” Kira cackled like a crone, clutching her sides for support.

“You’ll see.” Kallis stammered, remaining rooted to the spot with his arms crossed for the rest of the planning.

 

“Right then, that’s enough,” Dimitri interrupted the giggling youths, who leaned in to hear his plan. “Kallis here isn’t going to get very far squeaking and jangling, so I reckon he should acquire him some new armour.” He grinned, causing the others to smirk at Kallis, who snorted with contempt. “So,” Dimitri went on, “We each steal one piece of armour, and make sure someone sees us, so we cause a bit of a stir in the marketplace, get the guards moving. Then we get the bits to you two,” He pointed at the two smallest of the children “and you get it back to the Old Tavern, where Kallis will be waiting. The rest of you will meet me there, and then we’ll move on to the real distraction.” He refused to give more details on this ‘real distraction’, much to the annoyance of the excited younger thieves.

 

After spending a small amount of time moving some large sturdy boxes near to the wall, making sure that they could easily get back into the granary if necessary, the group split up. Dimitri and the others were gone in seconds as Kallis, Kira and Ryoko strolled to the Old Tavern and waited. The tavern had been taken by a fierce fire, the walls and ceiling were black with soot, and even the metal tankards had been affected by the blaze, ebonised and malformed, their surfaces blistered as if by plague. They sat in the cleanest corner, Ryoko taking a chair, and Kallis squatting by Kira, who watched by an opening. The guards were already on high alert and the sound of their armoured boots on the cobbled streets echoed all around them as the sound of their whistles pierced the air. A small snort drew Kallis’ attention and he turned round to see Ryoko, quietly snoring, bolt upright in her chair. She had kept up with the rest of them, Kallis thought, and after all she must be at least nearing her third decade, and not quite have the stamina they had. He shifted noisily on the spot, jiggling with nerves as he turned back to the opening in the wall. Kira was not patient enough to comfort him, and not stupid enough to draw attention by shouting at him. She simply untied the top of her cuirass, revealing an ample portion of cleavage and moved in close to him.

 

“Kallis” She whispered. Kallis’ head snapped round at her voice and their lips met. His shoulders went limp and he pulled himself back, he became acutely aware of Kira’s partially exposed bosom. “Take your armour off. Quietly now, we don’t want to wake Ryoko do we?” She whispered seductively.  Kallis could barely contain his excitement. Certain that he was due some form of reward he stripped down to his loincloth. Kira meanwhile readjusted her armour to be more comfortable and had tied it up tightly. She turned to see Kallis standing to attention in all respects. She stared at him for a moment, lost for words, before raising an eyebrow and throwing him a poncho she had snagged earlier in the day. “I meant your rattling armour…so the guards don’t hear you...Just…Just calm down,” She whispered. Kallis turned a shade of bright red and quickly donned the poncho, sitting and hugging his knees to hide his ‘excitement’. Kira came over to him and flicked him on the nose. “Perhaps when this is over, you’ll get your ‘reward’,” she laughed.

 

After a short while the two small thieves came skidding in, their arms full with mismatched pieces of leather armour. One by one the others dashed in, until Dimitri last of all, wandered in panting, wearing a new cloak that was much to big for him, and beamed a satisfied smile at the other young thieves.

“Ee, that were close,” he said, mimicking the local dialect. “One of them very nearly had me.” He sat on the floor to get catch his breath. “Still, gave ‘em a good ol’ chase I did,” He panted before re-enacting his great escape for the benefit of the younger children, complete with fist shaking guards and fighting. Kallis noticed, or perhaps hoped, that Dimitri appeared to be sporting a swollen eye, and secretly hoped that the guards had hit him hard. Kallis’ sadistic thoughts were interrupted when Kira thrust the pile of armour at him. “Get dressed,” she commanded. He quickly donned trousers and gauntlets but was struggling to get the breastplate over his head, much to the amusement of the others. Kira rolled her eyes and insisted on helping him. Not realising how foolish and childish he appeared he gratefully allowed her to dress him, taking great pleasure in the accidental brush of her fingers against his pale flesh. Dimitri, meanwhile, gently awoke Ryoko, who despite the noise and merriment, had continued to sleep, quietly snoring like a sick kitten. As she roused from her nap, Dimitri removed his newly acquired cloak and offered it to her, easing it over her shoulders and clipping in the ornate clasp. It was a long travelling cloak, of fine material in a rich deep brown, and offered her cover where the armour beneath was lacking. It had probably been stolen right off the back of one of the nobles, she supposed, and judging from the freshly purpling bruises blushing on to his face, he hadn’t quite gotten away with it.

 

As Kira tied and tightened belts around Kallis’ person he caught a glimpse of Ryoko adjusting her cloak and was momentarily stunned. The leather armour emphasised her voluptuous physique, struggling to contain her bosom, framed by the dark cloak about her shoulders. He was quickly brought back to his senses as Kira almost choked him with one of the straps. Despite her best efforts, Kallis’ armour was too big for his slight frame, and he stumbled over his cloak, refusing to remove it, claiming it could be useful for hiding with.

 

Having prepared as best they could, it was now time to act. Dimitri still refused to tell the details of his distraction, simply saying that it would work best if the were genuinely surprised too. Kallis was becoming increasingly agitated by his cheerful demeanour, and especially by his tendency to wink mischievously at the others. As Dimitri led the youths out, Kallis found himself once again hoping that one of the guards would give him a sound beating, “and knock that stupid smile off his face!” The words sprang from his mouth before he realised what he was doing. Fortunately most of the others had left, and only one of the smaller, grubbier children stood looking at him. “You’re a weird one you are,” the child said, and then bounded out after Dimitri.