Ranloo stared through the crack for a while but soon got bored. He glanced around and slowly closed the door. It would attract attention if a guard came by and saw it opened. Sern and the others would likely take some time in the house anyway. With a sigh, he leaned against the stonewall and looked up and down the alley. Empty of people, lined with walls of differing height and fashion, hiding gardens and nice residences. Treetops poked up here and there, and lanterns hung from poles at intervals along the street outside the alley, creating little pools of light. It wasn't exactly bright, but lighter than most streets Ranloo had seen so far.

He hated to wait, he decided. He'd been left waiting many times since he'd become a vampire and it wasn't something he enjoyed. Quite the contrary. He turned his eyes on Aedil. He stood stoic by the alley opening, looking up and down the street, his straight, shoulder-length hair barely moving in the still night air, his eyes darting back and forth, alert.

Ranloo bent down and picked up a small pebble from the ground. He studied it for a moment, then impulsively tossed it at the tree beside the twin. It hit the trunk with a crack and Aedil spun around, eyes wide. Upon seeing Ranloo's smile, he frowned and glowered at him.

´What are you doing? Be quiet!` he hissed before turning his attention back to the street.

Ranloo sighed deeply. This was too boring. He looked around some more. Nothing was happening and the house lay quiet. He glanced up at the wall. It was high. But maybe. Standing back from the wall, he studied it. It was more than twice his height. He threw a quick look at Aedil who still had his attention on the street, his back turned.

Smiling mischievously, Ranloo took two quick steps forward and jumped as high as he could. Reaching out with both hands, he grabbed the edge of the wall, avoiding the spikes. He was surprised that he had been able to reach it with close to no run-up. Slowly, he pulled himself up, helping with his feet pushing against the side of the wall. He crouched on the top, looking out over the garden on the other side with a smile when he heard a gasp behind him. He gazed down on Aedil who stared up at him, mouth gaping open. Ranloo grinned and waved. Aedil closed his mouth, glanced up and down the alley, then walked closer to the wall.

´How'd you get up there?` he whispered, his brows wrinkling.

´I jumped,` Ranloo answered calmly, satisfied with the attention.

Aedil looked annoyed by the answer but seemed intrigued at the same time.´What do you see?` he asked.

Ranloo looked back to the garden and the house. He saw nothing of interest, but he heard a guard approaching on the gravel path again. Maybe he should get down? But he enjoyed being up high. The tree's boughs would hide him, he thought, and the guard probably wouldn't look up anyway. He sat rock still and looked in the direction of the sound.

´Hey! What do you see?` Aedil asked again, a bit louder.

Ranloo raised a hand to silence him. He didn't want the guard to hear anything.

The twin quieted, looking up, waiting. The guard rounded the corner of the house, treading with a bored expression. He glanced towards the door in the wall, but never looked up.

Ranloo tensed, a growing elation inside. He wanted to pounce down on the guard, surprise him and tear him apart, bite into his neck and taste his hot blood.

He blinked and grabbed a spike to keep himself in check. By the Dark Ones! Those feelings, sometimes they overwhelmed him, surprised him. He didn't want to kill anyone. Annoyed, he pushed his hand down on the spike, distracting himself from his hunger with the pain.

He looked towards the house. A faint sound from inside had caught his attention. He held his breath to hear better and stared at the windows. But there was nothing now. Only the wind rustling faintly through the trees in the garden. Letting his breath out, he turned back to Aedil who still frowned up at him. He moved his hands out from his sides as if asking what was going on.

´A guard passed by,` Ranloo explained in a whisper, just loud enough for the man below to hear.

Aedil nodded and shrugged, turning back to watch the street.

* * * * *

Eyes stared, boring right through the thief. Barely daring to breathe, Sern was rooted to the floor, heart pounding loudly in his ears, sweat running down his back. Seconds passed by as slow as years as he met the steady gaze. A loud noise caused a jolt of adrenaline to course through his tense body, making him teeter, his vision narrowing. As nothing happened, the shock passed. The sound had been a snore. The man still slept.

With a deep shaking breath, Sern started moving again. He didn't see any keys on the desk, but it had many drawers. With quivering hands, he pulled the brass knobs on the drawers and checked them all. In the bottom drawer, he found a key. He hoped it was the right one and brought it back to the door.

The lock made a faint click as Sern turned the key and the door slid up silently. Breathing out in relief, Sern examined the room. A small study of some kind. Bookcases lined the walls and another big desk stood against a draped window. This could be the right place, he thought excitedly, pulled the curtains aside and began to rifle through the papers, books, and scrolls in the dim moonlight. He wasn't very good at reading but he could do it. Another thing he owed to Jackal.

After a while, he stopped. He needed help going through it all. This would take time. Too much time. Frowning, he replaced a parchment he'd been studying and slowly sneaked out of the bedroom. He entered the hallway and spotted Pei exit another room further down the wide corridor. Sern waved at him to come, but he turned and walked further away.

´Pei!` he whispered, feeling stupid. He couldn't hear a whisper from that distance, of course. With an annoyed shrug, he walked after the twin and entered the room. Pei stood looking at a bookcase, his back turned.

´Pei!` Sern whispered again.

The twin whipped around as if Sern had shouted, his hand going to the sword hilt. Seeing who it was, he relaxed. ´What is it?` he asked in a hushed tone.

´I need help lookin' through all the stuff in a room I found. It's stuffed with books n' parchments. I think what we're lookin' for could be there. But it's too much.` He ran a hand through his short hair in frustration.

Pei nodded and glanced around the room a final time. ´I'll get Felisei, you go back and start searching.`

´There's a guy sleepin' in the room,` Sern said nervously. ´Be very quiet.`

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Pei looked for Felisei and returned with her shortly. They stopped in the doorway, watching the sleeping man. It was dangerous to be three people in there. The risk of making sounds and waking him was simply too great. Pei glanced at Felisei. She bit her lower lip, then signaled with her hands and pointed to the stairs. She turned and hurried off without waiting for Pei's affirmation. He raised an eyebrow but waited by the door patiently. Ready to run in and, if needed, silence the sleeping man for good.

Felisei glided down the stairs and looked around, not sure where to go. She had to find Diquarl. They should have talked with him from the beginning, but she had totally forgotten. There had been too many other new aspects to consider this time, she thought and glanced towards the kitchen. She walked towards one of the doors in the big dining room when footfalls reached her ears from behind. She whipped around, heart in her throat, thinking guards were coming.

Listarl and Diquarl came walking towards her. Listarl nodded and the chemist made a quick wave with a hand to show they'd seen her. She sighed in relief and waited.

´What's up?` Listarl whispered, his brows furrowed. ´Any luck with your search?`

Felisei shook her head and pointed up the stairs. ´We found a room that might have the documents an' need to search it thoroughly but a man's sleepin' there. He mustn't be allowed to wake up,` she explained and looked hopefully at the chemist.

He fiddled nervously with his belt.

´Well?` she asked.

´I can help,` he whispered back. ´I have a potion...` he began looking through his pockets.

Felisei grabbed his arm. ´Not now. Come with us and fix it there.`

Diquarl nodded and they started up the stairs. Halfway up Felisei stopped, turned around, and glared at Listarl. He was doing his best to be quiet but his large size made the steps creak and groan.

´I think you'd better stay here,` she whispered, holding her hand up. ´You're too loud. You'll wake the man up.`

Listarl stopped with a small smile, almost hidden in his dark beard.

Felisei and Diquarl continued to the room. By the door, the chemist pulled out a small flask filled with some kind of liquid. Felisei watched with interest as he fished around in his pockets with his free hand and produced a small cloth. His eyes flickered between Felisei and Pei who stood by the doorway. Pei motioned with his head towards the bed.

Diquarl squared his shoulders and, with lips tightly pressed together, tip-toed into the room. He seemed to shrink as he neared the bed. Uncorking the bottle, he poured some of its contents on the cloth. He held it away from his face as much as possible while replacing the cork in the flask. Leaning forward over the bed, he placed the cloth against the man's face.

Startled, the man woke and tried to push Diquarl away. For a while, Felisei worried the man would get away, but the chemist was adamant. Despite his small frame, Diquarl managed to keep the cloth in place. The man coughed and tried shouting for help, but his eyes closed and he fell back in the bed again, sleeping deeply.

Diquarl kept the cloth against his face for a few more seconds before removing it and throwing it away from him. He was panting and red faced from the exertion and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead. With a shaking hand, he beckoned the others into the room.

Pei closed the door behind them and walked up to the bed. ´How long will he sleep?` he asked and studied the bearded man.

Sern poked his head out from the other door, his eyebrows raised as he looked at them. ´What're you doin'?` he hissed.

Felisei smiled and waved his question away, relieved that it had gone so smoothly. ´Keep looking, we'll join you.`

Diquarl shrugged. ´He'll sleep. Maybe until morning, maybe longer,` he said quietly. ´Then he'll be foggy and probably have a severe headache,` he added with a slight smile. ´He probably won't remember he saw us.`

´Good,` Pei said. ´Now, let's get a move on.` He went over to Sern who still stood in the doorway of the study. The others quickly followed.

* * * * *

Time crawled and Ranloo was soon bored again. But he couldn't really do anything about that. He kept watch from his high perch, enjoying the height and the fresher air, seeing the stars slowly wheel overhead as the moons sank towards the horizon. It wasn't like home, he thought with a pang of homesickness, where the stars glittered between the moving boughs of mighty trees. But at least the stars themselves were the same.

The approaching crunch of another guard some time later made him glance down. At that moment, the door to the house cracked open.

Oh no, not now! He tensed and glanced down at Aedil. He still watched the street, his back turned. Ranloo didn't dare call and looked around for something, anything. A small twig from the nearby tree lay on the wall within reach and he snatched it up. He aimed and threw the stick at Aedil who twisted around, eyes flashing. He drew in air, about to say something to the pesky vampire. Ranloo pointed to the house and motioned for silence.

Aedil's angry visage was replaced by a stern look. He ran to the door, drawing his sword with a metallic rasp. Then he stopped and waited, his hand on the door. Ranloo turned back and saw the door open some more. Diquarl peeked out as the guard rounded the right corner, behind the opening door and out of the chemist's sight.

´Goddess, no,` Ranloo whispered, tense. He whistled, the sound inconspicuous in the night. A real bird answered some way off and Ranloo smiled briefly. But to his distress, Diquarl didn't seem to notice the call and stepped out. Hands reached out from the doorway, attempting to grab the chemist. But it was too late. The guard stopped short and for a few seconds, the thieves and the guard stared at each other. Then the man bellowed and drew his sword.

´Intruders! Intruders at the back!`

Sern drew a knife as Felisei bolted towards the wall. Ranloo heard the guards on the other side of the house yell and come running in answer to the call. Cursing, he moved along the top of the wall towards them. He wouldn't let anyone harm his friend, he was just a boy. But he didn't want to get into a fight, scared he might make the situation worse. What if he ended up killing not only the guards but Sern or the others as well?

Listarl and Pei charged out of the doorway, not bothering to keep quiet, their cover already blown. The chemist tottered, white as a sheet, his eyes swiveling back and forth. Pei and Listarl drew their swords. The first guard came at them, his blade lifted.

Sern threw his knife at the man but it bounced off his chain mail. Diquarl darted aside. Sern took a step back and pulled out another dagger when the guard reached him, swinging his sword.

Ranloo flinched and almost jumped down, but Sern ducked and nimbly sidestepped. Three other guards rushed around the corner to the left and Ranloo called out to his friends. It was too late for stealth anyway.

´Guards coming! Three more!`

Listarl looked about in confusion for a moment before spotting him. Pei grabbed Sern by the shoulder and pushed him towards the gate in the wall. Aedil had flung the small door open and ran towards them over the grass, his sword shining in the pale moonlight.

´Come on! Hurry up! We gotta go!` Felisei shouted as she passed Aedil by. She stopped by the gate and beckoned for the others to hurry. The three guards from the left cut the rest of the thieves off from escaping. Pei and Sern were closest, along with Diquarl since he'd been the first to retreat from the first guard. Now they stopped and readied for a fight.

Ranloo watched tensely, his teeth gritted against the fear and anger rolling through him. Listarl and Pei attacked two of the guards and Aedil hurried to help with the third. The first guard, however, was intent on getting back at Sern and followed him.

Diquarl ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Surprisingly nimble, he managed to get away from the fray. Felisei ushered him past her as he got to the gateway. He stopped outside the wall, panting heavily.

Ranloo stared at the last guard as he approached Sern who brandished his knife. But a knife wouldn't do much against a sword. Fear cut through Ranloo like a tangible weapon. The other three were occupied with a guard each.

Listarl had the upper hand and the guard he fought slowly backed away from him. A skilled swordsman, Pei blocked his enemy's attacks easily, swinging his sword back and forth with very precise cuts and stabs. Aedil struggled against his adversary, a big guard with seemingly great skill. Aedil backed away step by step as he desperately blocked and evaded the raining blows. Nobody could help Sern.