Time for revenge III: Greedy fingers reach out for vengeance

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 5th, 2014, 7:53 pm

The 66th of Spring 514AV –Close to midnight

The sky was as black as the darkest depths of Rhysol’s corrupted heart, as black as his soul, if he even possessed such things. Leth shone like a pearl, his silver glow peeking through the darkest of clouds, huge blankets and towers of clouds, threatening and majestic. A downpour of unseen quantities tormented the city of crystal, the cluttering sound inescapable, no matter where one went. Inevitably it had chased the citizens of Lhavit off the streets, empty and with puddles forming and streams of fallen water running through the cobbled streets. However, not all of the denizens of the skyglass Diamond of Kalea had cleared the streets, some Shinya still dutifully patrolled, shivering in their soaked robes, and in the shadows a black shade moved, slipping in and out alleys as his boots splashed through puddles and drummed on the street.

He too was soaked, his cloak heavy and dripping, but fluttering nonetheless. The thief was not out in the rain for his own pleasure though, instead he was coursing towards the one place his mind had been in for several days, dozens of days, and his thoughts had been executing the act he was about to do for real, over and over again, and while it had provided some comfort and satisfaction, it had been not quite enough to quench the thirst, so set on vengeance he was, so … obsessed he had been all this time. Yes, that was the word, obsessed. The bat had thought of revenge, he had done surveillance, he had searched, found and tracked the source of his obsession, he had planned his revenge and dreamed of revenge, and now was the time all of it would prove to have been worth it. It was that moment he wanted to experience, it was what shackled him, and it was what would free him from this obsession.

A maniacal grin perched it on his lips, his eyes vicious, he was close, this was the alley he would find the swindler’s house in, the hideout of the man who had dared to evoke his wrath. And he would pay dearly, there was no doubt about it, whether he was at home or not, he would find a nasty surprise waiting for him here. Impossible as it seemed to be, Brandon’s grin grew even wider, a smile filled with malice that promised little good. However, even if he should have ran in to anyone, his hood covered his face in shadows and his scarf hid his mouth and nose, a figure that had no identity, none but perhaps that of someone worthy of suspicion.

When his eyes found the small cross that marked the right place, the feet attached to his legs halted their forward motion, his body turning towards the residence without hesitation. There had been no need to search for the mark, since he could have found the right place blindfolded, but the bat wanted to be absolutely certain, there was no room for mistakes. One mistake could blow it all. That was not something he would accept without as much of an outburst of rage later.

A hand dug into his belt pouch and fished a skeleton key out of it, his eyes needn’t be used to find it, he recognised it on touch alone. With the same motion he stuck it in the keyhole of the front door, and waited a tick. He did not expect anything to happen when he turned the key, it was the most useless skeleton key ever, there was but one lock it had been able to open, all others he’d tried it on had refused to cooperate. This lock would too. His wrist twisted, the key followed, it did not stop moving when his wrist didn’t, it did not get stuck. It fitted. Astonished, the thief let go of the tool to replace his fingers, and turned it again. Nothing went wrong, the lock made metallic noises, something sprung back into the door, it was now unlocked. The skeleton key had done it’s job … there was but one other lock that had failed to withstand it ….

Was this Fate?

For the other lock it could open was the one that sealed another shelter, another hideout. The one that was Brandon's very own.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 7th, 2014, 2:39 pm

Ah, that’s right, that good-for-nothing skeleton key had served him once before it had ceased doing it’s duty. When had that been again? Sometime in first quarter of Summer, but the actual day and time had been long forgotten already. It did not matter though, for that was a story for another, better suited time, right here and now he was too busy to relive some memories. Instantly the thief focussed, pushing the door wide open and entered the darkness within. Not immediately though, a rectangle of moonlight shone through the doorway, illuminating the hall and only when Brandon shut the wooden entrance, he indulged himself into the dark for real.

As always, his eyes –even though they were more attuned to night than day- had to get accustomed with the absence of light, his vision returning a chime or two later. Tsk, as a creature of the night he really should have some sort of night vision, yet that was not the case and had never been. In his human form he only saw a little better than a normal human … actually way better, like stated before, his eyes were naturally dark attuned, but not in a way he could see everything clearly, not even in bat form.

On that note, being able to echolocate whilst human would have been nice too … He wouldn’t have to rely on his eyes all the time then, unfortunately though it was impossible to do. There were no doubts, that was a fact, Brandon had tried multiple times when he was little. The only effect was him running around shouting like a madman, eyes closed, and bumping into everything. Humans were not made to echolocate it seemed, and they couldn’t emit sounds so high a frequency others couldn’t hear it, not to mention that his ears were not even able to hear those sounds, even though his ears were way better than a human’s. There were times when the disguise of a human got on his nerves, not now though, he was used to this.

With lithe step and cocked ears, the bat started sneaking towards the place he knew a door had to be located, the one to the living room. Since the hall had no windows, the dark was absolute there, Brandon relying on touch to find the right place, fingers caressing the wall as he went. Once the rough stone made place for more or less smooth wood, it took Brandon less than a tick to find the knob, careful not to make a sound he clicked the lock open, the door uttered not even the quietest of noises, it had been oiled plenty of times it seemed.

The living room was brighter, lit by Leth’s light, though it still was filled with black, colours faded to a dull grey. Brandon had entered while staying low, crouching in slowly, though as it did not seem to be necessary, he got up. Not quite what he had expected, this. Even though it was almost Midnightrest, most people should still be up and awake, but that wasn’t the case here. Was Dimitri upstairs then? That was quite a fortunate turn of events then, he needn’t worry about being discovered so easily, though he should still keep his guard up, the danger was above him. Or wasn’t it? There were no footsteps he could detect, so … was he lying in his bead already? It was possible.

However, Brandon’s gut told him something about his conclusion did not fit in. He could not smell any traces of smoke of a fire burning in the hearth or from an oil lantern that had been blown out just recently. Not only that, but the scent of the swindler was not really fresh either, it was fading away, too soon. It was impossible that he had left the house recently, as in some bells before the bat had arrived. No, for this stale scent to occur the man should have left way earlier … a couple of days at least. Wait, did that mean he had found it too risky to stay here and had moved in with a friend? Didn’t that imply the bat had been noticed, that Dimitri had known all along that someone was on to him? Was this a trap?

A shiver ran down his spine, he was so close, he could not fail now, he could not bear to see his revenge being taken away from him, snatched away before he could grasp it. No, no, there had to be another explanation for this, right? Right? For example he had … That’s right, he had just gone to the Shooting Star Inn and due to the rain he had not felt like going home, so he had rented a room. That had to be what was going on, right? That was what had happened, right? There was no way Brandon had been fooled into thinking Dimitri had no idea what was going on, right? He couldn’t have outsmarted the bat, right? Right?

However, no matter how many times he denied it, deep down the bat knew he had been tricked by the conman. Again. But still, even though he had realized this and was fully conscious of that fact, he still denied it. Accepting it was not an option, failure was not an option. He would not accept failure! He would have his revenge! He would punish the petcher for what he had done!

Still, somehow the bat felt empty and defeated. There was no denying that, the emotions bubbling in his mind and paralyzing his body were not shackles he could just shake off. And yet he refused to accept this insane reality. There was no way Dimitri had seen through his schemes, there was no way he had known someone was indeed watching and observing him, there was ”JUST NO PETCHING WAY!!” The yell of anger tore itself out of his throat without him noticing, but it did break the chains that held him in place, shattering the silence also. “Yes, that’s impossible … heh … there’s no proof, no evidence! …. “ Mutterings. “Hehehehe….” A weak laughter. “Yes, indeed … I have to find evidence to prove that he hasn’t left … yeah…”

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 8th, 2014, 5:33 pm

And so it was done, while cold sweat and a bad gut feeling poured over his body, the bat forced his body onwards, sauntering as if he had forgotten how to walk. To be completely honest, Brandon did not want to go look for evidence, he did not want to see what he would find, he wanted to clamp to the tiny thread of denial while he still could. However, he also knew that if he did not have the strength to stare reality dead in the eye, how would he ever find the strength to move forward, towards the horizon? His very own goal would be unachievable, the path blocked by none other than himself.

So even when each step became a trial, he pressed forward, the ultimate truth was what he had to conquer, if he kept denying it would eventually crush him. Insanity would take the reigns, and who knows where that would lead him? No, he had to do this, this was what it meant to get revenge: no matter what kind of misfortune one came across on their quest, they would not give up, they would not let it drag them down or devour them. Instead they would try again, track the guy down to the ends of Mizahar if that was what it took, that was their resolve, his resolve. No more whining, no more cowering in fear when it seemed the target had bested him, it could happen, so what? There was still another day tomorrow, and if tomorrow was no good either, there was the day after, and the day after the day after.

The pace of the bat’s steps increased, and so did the determination contained within them, the thief quickly nearing a point of interest. That place happened to be the middle of the room and when he arrived there he stopped, scanning the entire room. Though the twilight created by Leth’s light was obscuring details, Brandon saw what he wanted to see, he had no need for details. The strange thing about the house was that, even though it had been deserted for a while, the furniture was still there, decorating the place like it did anywhere else. That was not all though, there were more items that one should suspect would have been taken away when the owner moved. They looked expensive, paintings and sculpture, even vases and even the soft, fluffy carpet that lay under his feet. His dirty, drippingly wet boots. Somehow that made the bat feel a lot better already.

It was the same in the kitchen, however, when he pulled open the drawers and closets, nothing was there, well, except for a dead spider. Brandon noted that some of the cooking tools were missing too, pots and kettles, he had realised when he’d laid eyes on the shelf where they had been before. The remaining pots all stood together in the middle of the shelf, one would spread them out a little more when they owned a small amount of them, right? Also, the way the small pieces of dirt and garbage were distributed was way too suspicious, there were round spots where there lied a lot less of it, indicating that something had previously occupied that space. Brandon also couldn’t find bowls or cutlery, Dimitri must have taken it with him too.

The question was why he had left all his other valuable stuff here, and hadn’t taken it with him. Sure, he had left in a hurry to escape the bat, yet Brandon had not been constantly keeping an eye on the house, only passing once a day at a random time. There had been time enough to smuggle it all to someplace else without him ever noticing, then why? Maybe he intended to return? But when living with a friend for a while he shouldn’t need his own bowls or cutlery, right? This probably was not a right assumption of where the swindler was right now. Think, Bran, think! He had vanished with some kettles and pots, cutlery and bowls … was there anything else not here that every human possessed?

Quickly he scurried up the stairs, not caring about stealth anymore, after all, no one was here. There were three rooms upstairs, one of them was the bedroom, the room Bran thought he’d find the answer. Not knowing which one was the bedroom proved to be no problem, as the doors were open and the Kelvic thief could see a bed from where he stood. It was that room he entered and searched the wardrobes of. As expected, he could only find a minimal number of clothes, confirming his guess that Dimitri had abandoned the place. Where had he gone was the actual question though.

However, Brandon had been given quite a few clues, and the answer was quite obvious if you thought about it. The swindler had taken cutlery, clothes, provisions and cooking tools, it was highly probably he had also taken other materials, but since the bat did not know what exactly the man owned there was no way telling. Yet, he could think of some things one would need when going where the Kelvic suspected the conman had gone; a lantern, a tent, a bedroll, and other camping utilities.

Right when he was about to turn around and leave the room, the thief heard the rain clutter loudly outside. The fact that he heard the rain was no surprise, it had been striking the roof and windows ever since he got in here, but the fact that it was slightly louder put him on guard. Another thing he noted was that it sounded clearer too, as if it wasn’t blocked by the walls anymore …. And then it faded, going back to how it was before.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 9th, 2014, 6:03 pm

The sudden change of intensity of the sound bothered the bat, that could not be something normal. Then, as he was about to go take a look downstairs, a sneaky footstep reached his ears, along with some kind of clinging noise. Someone trained to walk without making a sound audible to humans no doubt, but Brandon was not human, and the stranger’s attempts were foiled by his armour, which was the thief suspected the intruder was wearing. Armour? The Shinya? “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He focussed on the noises, the silent steps still being detected by the observant Kelvic, though something was off. That rhythm … nobody walked that way, not even when sneaking … The footsteps tapped the floor too fast, in a rhythm that was went like this: footstep, footstep, a tick with none, footstep, footstep.

Wait a tick, did the guards not usually patrol in teams of two, meaning that there were two of them here? Possibly, he should assume there were two, in that case he would not be caught in the back so easily. Speaking of which, he should hide, one of them was climbing the stairs and through the slightly ajar door a flickering orange light shone, a smoky smell greeting the bat’s nostrils. They had brought torches? Petch, that would make it harder for him to hide in the shadows, he’d have to be way more careful than he’d otherwise have been. The light was getting brighter, the steps louder, he was close, quickly hide! Though where? Under the bed, in the closet? No, those were the places that were always checked. Then where? There were no other hiding spots here! Except for… he thought as he eyed the spot next to the door.

Brandon wasted no more time, pressing himself against the wall, even forcing his feet sideways onto the stones. Keeping balance was hard, though he wouldn’t block the door that obviously now. Wait, wait! Was the ‘hide behind the door’ tactic not one of the most basic of all tricks and the place they checked first? Gods, he was in trouble, he should move! However, before he was able to even tension a muscle, the door swung open, obscuring the thief from immediate sight. Peeeeeeetchhhhh! I’m toast! May Yshul help me! Ignorant of the silent and desperate cry, a robed man walked into the room, head turning from left to right and back, one hand held in front of his chest, a small flame hovering above it.

Murmuring something about a trail of water the guy stopped before the bed, examining it for one reason or another. Trail of water? It seemed to have no relevance to the situation, but as the bat watched the Shinya guard and the floor illuminated by the fire, he noticed small puddles forming a road the guard could follow, ultimately lying in places he had stopped or had moved slowly. Damn, he should have paid more attention, no wonder the Shinya had entered this room first, the trail had led him here! Brandon realised he had to get out of the room as quickly as possible, otherwise he would be discovered eventually. It was a miracle he hadn’t been already, the guard still staring at the bed, thinking about something apparently. This was his chance, a golden opportunity! Yshul had heeded his call for help, or maybe the guard was just a moron, but either way, he should not dally.

Nimble and light-footed as a cat, the thief snuck out of his hiding place, slowly placing one foot before the other, his brow knitted together and eyes focussed on the back of the man before him, his thoughts repeating one single phrase : Don’t turn around, don’t turn around, don’t turn around, … He was slowly getting there, he only had to take a step to the left and walk out of the room, simple enough. That exact moment though, the Shinya moved, the bat stiffening on the spot, petrified. However, instead of looking over his shoulder, the man crouched down on hands and knees to cast a glance under the bed. While relief flooded his senses, the bat recognised this as the time to leave. Still on the ball of his foot, the thief managed to take the necessary nerve wrecking steps, escaping the room.

A shiny object sticking out of the lock on the door attracted his attention though, it was a key. A mischievous grin crept up his lips, and with a reach of his arm, he grabbed hold of the handle of the door, pulling it closed carefully, without making too much noise, though his amplified senses screamed it was too loud. Then, with a slow twist of his wrist, the lock was being closed. Dimitri’s habit of oiling the hinges and locks of his doors proved useful, and the bat’s grin grew wider, smug. That one has been taken care of. It will take a while before he notices, he didn’t look very bright … have fun in there, fool!

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 14th, 2014, 6:05 pm

Before he turned around with a twirl of scarf and mantle, the thief made sure to retract the key from the hole and threw it into one of the other two rooms. It was not like he needed it anyway. That was not his best move actually, though his hearing abilities exceeded that of humans, the sound of metal crashing down on wood –a dull thud- echoed through the building. Brandon did not waste time freezing on the spot, instead he jumped off the stairs, landing in the hall within a tick. There had been not enough momentum for a roll, so even though he did his best to connect with the floor as quietly as possible, landing on the ball of his feet and bending his knees on impact, the smack was audible to anyone.

It was undeniable that he was a tad bit sloppy, stringing one bad move after the other together, as if he were a novice on his first heist. The fools were obviously not only the Shinya, the thief was part of that elite group as well. Ah, whatever, it could not be helped –if that was how it was to be… Dashing footsteps rapped on the floor, coming his way. They were no doubt being made by the other half of the duo of guards, having noticed the noise. As quick as a shadow being vanquished by the light, the bat rushed to the wall, once again pressing his back into the stones while standing next to the door.

The wooden object was pushed open violently, swinging away from the Kelvic, who feared an arrest while he pinched his eyes shut and waited for the voice to yell and hand to grab his arm. That did not happen though, when the thief opened one of his onyx orbs, he noticed that there was no circle of light around this Shinya. The guard stood right next to him, he heard by the panting of the man- close, he was too close for comfort! It was a miracle he hadn’t noticed the bat’s breathing yet … oh, he wasn’t breathing… It seemed that the anticipation had taken away his breath, stuck in his lungs. Even though it had saved him, it threatened to become his doom as well, the breathing organs burning, screaming for the needed oxygen.

Just when he thought he could not hold it in much longer, as he was about to inhale, a loud knocking, rattling sounded from upstairs, along with someone’s shouts for help. Unknowingly, the fool had saved the thief that locked him in, drawing his partner’s attention. Said partner started sprinting towards the staircase immediately, allowing the Kelvic to slip through the doorway behind the guard’s back. And to breathe too, let’s not forget to breathe!

As Brandon made his way to the kitchen, he could hear the voices of the guards loud and clear, both of them in disarray, yelling at each other simultaneously and without listening to what the other had to say. Both of them were fools, though that did not mean the thief could just relax, no, once they’d freed the one locked up, they’d come after the culprit. Getting out of here was the logical option, especially so considering that his objective could not be realized in Dimitri’s house anymore, yet maybe there were clues where the conman had run off to. So…. He’d have to hide …. Could be problematic, the Shinya would search the place thoroughly, wanting to catch the trespasser. Come to think of it, how come they’d known he was somewhere he shouldn’t be? No one had been in the alley when he’d opened the door…

A booming sound of a door being broken down thundered through the silence, startling the bat. That was faster than he’d anticipated, there no time to waste anymore!

”I told you I heard someone scream, did I not! That it was strange for the front door to be unlocked, that there was someone inside this deserted house? But who said I was imagining things? See now what that has earned you!”

“Yeah, yeah, just find the damn burglar! He is still in here, I’m sure!”

While that was interesting, it was also very distracting and with their feet pounding on the stairs, there was but little time for the bat to think clearly and to stay calm. What he did next was based more on intuition than on schemes, but it was better than nothing. His eyes took in all information available and his mind swiftly poured it into some kind of plan of action, it was developed in the haste, though it should be quite effective, or so he hoped. The legs attached to his hips started to run, towards the back window in the kitchen, grabbing a chair in the passing. As he reached the see-through part of the wall, he shattered it by launching the chair with a mighty swing, the wooden seat banished. This alarmed the men by the stairs, their footsteps picking up the pace but the bat did not dally either; within two steps he got to one of the low cupboards which had been left opened -by the Shinya, possibly- and crawled into its belly, closing the two doors to remain hidden even when the guards would look his way.

Fortunately it was empty, and large enough for him to fit in, given that he pulled up his knees to his chest while lying on his back. Not the most comfortable position inside a closet, however it was better than jumping through windows. The thief was just in time with his hiding too, the guards arriving at the scene right after the doors had shut silently.

”He escaped through the window, quick after him!”

“The door is locked!”

“Let’s break it down! One, two, threeeeeee!”

Running footsteps rapped on the floor once more, followed by the cracking of wood and something –probably the door- slamming into something else –a wall? The elements that raged outside could be heard better again, along with the voices of the Shinya attempting to overrule the noise.

” Where the petch did he go?”

“I don’t know, let’s spilt up. I’ll go left, you go right!”

The footsteps faded gradually, splashing in puddles and pounding on stone, as the two ran off in either direction, but even though the coast was clear, the thief did not come out just yet. He knew it was safer to wait a couple of chimes to ensure they were really gone. Besides, they would probably return here anyways, seeing as there was no way they could catch the burglar they thought they were chasing. Well, I guess that means I managed to fool them … ah, I love it when a plan comes together.

….Yeah, I know … A-Team reference

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Brandon Blackwing** on May 17th, 2014, 8:13 pm

Even though he had intended to stay in his shelter until the two fools had returned, it seemed that the bat had overestimated how long his patience would last. It proved to be short-lived, Brandon had never been the most patient person, and that was especially true when being folded up and lying uncomfortably in a cupboard. The dry wood smelled weird and musty, his back started aching and well, he wanted to get out, the Shinya –bunch of slowpokes- were taking way too long. It wasn’t much of a surprise when the thief rolled out of his hiding place before two chimes had passed.

There was not much time he could use, the guards would return soon, he was sure of that. Thus, he had to work quick, a swift search for some clues as where to find the swindler, there had to be some around…

As he reminded himself to work with a healthy portion of haste, the thief guessed things would go faster if he used a light-source, a lantern or so, it would make things easier. He had seen a lantern around, though he couldn’t immediately remember where… It wasn’t in the kitchen though, so he had to start somewhere else. Hm… where had he seen that lantern? Upstairs probably, it was also the place with the highest chance to find one, seeing as a lot of people’s houses he had invaded had had one on the night table, which was where he would go take a peek. The bat’s legs carried his body up the stairs within ticks, they too found that there was no time to waste. Now, the bedroom was easy to discern from the other two chambers, and that was because the door was open. Well, ‘open’ wasn’t exactly the word, the wooden rectangular shape had been forced out of its original position, anyone could tell. The wood of the frame where the lock held the door closed was splintered, and the door itself hung awry from its hinges, from only the lowest of the three hinges actually, the other two empty and bent. It appeared like the Shinya had been really desperate to get it open…

With a shrug, the thief strolled inside, spotting the night table right away, the lantern standing next to it instantly after. A quick downward arc of his hand snatched the object off the floor, placing on top of the table, opening the small door of the lamp while crouching. It did not seem like the oil had dried up yet, so he should be good but the problem laid in lighting the lantern, as he had never done that before. Yet, it couldn’t be that hard, the thief imagined it was quite similar to lighting a candle, something he had done before. All he needed were his flint and steel, a piece of cloth and the lantern itself, nothing more, nothing less. The flint and steel were fished out of one of his pockets in a tick, and finding a suitable piece cloth wasn’t hard either, there was a bunch of it on the bed next to him. One hand reached under his armpit on the opposite side of his body –where three daggers were snugly held together- and as his fingers curled around the hilt, he pulled it out of its sheathe. For the dramatic effect only he stretched the arm wholly, the blade of the dagger pointing at the ceiling and after a tick of sitting there as a statue, the tip of the dagger sliced through the air in a pattern that resembled the number eight lying on its side, only moving his wrist.

Then, with his free hand the thief grappled a corner of the sheet draped over the mattress, and with one smooth downward arc the blade severed the two pieces of cloth. Razor sharp the dagger’s blade was, the bat whistled low in awe, before sheathing the weapon again. The small piece of cloth was being dipped in the oil lightly, so the bat could be sure it would burn and serve as a means to light the wick inside the lantern. The flint and steel, both held in a different hand were slammed together, a rain of orange sparks being set free when they collided, some landed on the cloth, the oil fulfilling its duty and a small flame erupted, cradled by the cloth and fed by the oil. Now the thief used the cloth to light the wick inside the glass and iron container, the baby of flame grew into a child of decent size, illuminating far more than a candle could have.

The search for a clue was started that immediate instant, the glow of the lantern’s flame helping with the task, the bedroom being searched first, however, nothing that seemed useful could be detected. The other two rooms upstairs held nothing like a clue either, one chamber being some kind of storage room filled with all kinds of artworks, trash and random objects –the bat felt that it would be a never-ending job to go through all the rubbish so he didn’t, instead moving on to the last of the chambers, which held nothing but cobwebs. No clues there.

Downstairs there was something that resembled a hint of sorts, namely on top of the dinner table in the living room. The Kelvic hadn’t noticed it the first time-in the dark- but exposed by the light of the lantern, the sheet of paper was not able to escape the bat’s piercing gaze. Putting the lamp down on the tabletop, the thief picked up the sheet, examining it closely, the strange collision of lines not something he could figure out what it meant. Not immediately anyway, but after a few more chimes of investigating he found out what the lines and symbols drawn on the paper were trying to tell him. Turns out it was a map and that he’d been holding it upside down the whole time, the reason he never noticed being his ill reading abilities. However, holding the map like he was supposed to, he managed to decipher the handwriting used to write down the words on it. Misty peaks was at the top of the paper, indicating that the paper mapped the area outside Lhavit, obviously. Then there were some other names, but the one that caught his attention was a location drawn as a small house which had the words Shinya Rest below it. Wow, that was useful, the thief hadn’t known there were Shinya in the peaks …

However, the real clue was one specific place encircled with a pencil line. It wasn’t named, and it did not seem to be a location of interest a cartographer would take interest in, though the bat recognized the place. It was because there was a huge boulder drawn in the middle of that circle of pencil, the bat knew it was located on a plateau of rock, with a more woodlands-ish area starting to spread out below, a spot where the bat came once in a while to practice his fighting skills, to train as it were. Was this Fate at work as well? But it was so … obvious… Wasn’t Fate supposed to be more mysterious and vague? That being said, it was strange that something valuable as a map was left behind in a spot where anyone who’d come looking for clues would … find it…

“…”

This was unmistakably a trap, an invitation to the one searching for the swindler. There was no way that someone careful enough to leave his house without anyone noticing (immediately), someone who had learned not to make such silly mistakes would make a fault as grave as this one. That was simply impossible. Someone who had to be used to flee from a city quickly, to disappear without a trace would not leave about something as crucial to find his hiding place. There was no way that it wasn’t a trap, however, it was also the bat’s best bet to find Dimitri, so in the end he would have no choice but to walk right into a trap … troublesome.

But, even if he would not make it back, the bat would make sure he was not forgotten by the conman, that even if the bat was killed in the act of vengeance, the swindler would return to find a surprise of unpleasant proportions here. Preemptive revenge, one could call it, and it would be just as satisfying as the real revenge. “Hehehehehe!” the thief chuckled mischievously as he walked to a closet he recalled being filled with flasks of oil. Lots and lots were grabbed and transported to the table and then, one by one, the flasks were thrown in all directions, shattering into tiny pieces as they crashed into walls or onto the floor, their contents spilling, a dark liquid that slowly was absorbed by the dry wood of the floor. The thief grinned maliciously, striding to the hall, avoiding the puddles with a lantern in one hand and a rolled up map in the other. Once having reached the hall, the bat threw the lamp on the floor with all his might, the oil flowing out of the wreck, carrying the flame with it. It grew and grew, gluttonously eating the nearby oil to become a monstrosity that devoured everything in its way. Brandon laughed maniacally, the heath warming his face and the rest of his person, the flickering of the fire reflected in his dark orbs until it became dangerous to be this close, realizing also that if he stayed any longer he wouldn’t be able to get away before the hungry claws and tongues of the fire could be seen outside of the house as well. Thus he ran out of the dwelling, shutting the door behind him –it was still unlocked- and sprinted through the alley, his laugh echoing there even after he had left it, and when the first cries of “FIRE, THERE’S A FIRE!” escaped the denizens of that alley’s lips. When he finally stopped running, exhaustedly pulling his scarf down and tucking his hood back, he looked back to see an orange glow at the horizon, and to hear chaos and panic taking control. The Kelvic couldn’t help but keep staring in awe at ate spectacle and disaster he had caused, only snapping out of it as a group of guards rushed by, towards the scene. A shark-like smile spread out over his face, and with a fluttering mantle he turned one hundred and eighty degrees, continuing his route, noticing only now that the rain had stopped. Without the rain, it was quite a nice night to be outside, maybe he’d go for a stroll before going home … Another grin, followed by another outburst of crazy laughter, caused by the look he imagined to be expressed by the swindler’s facial muscles when he saw the ravage. It was a nice night indeed.

Credit goes to Cylos Marn

by **Catastrophe** on May 20th, 2014, 9:32 pm

Brandon Blackwing :

Notes :