Distant voices echoed through the castle's roads as the weight on Adlem's shoulders rose. He gulped a large one, feeling the fearful shivering of his fingers. It was evident that this evening's nightsky could have very well been the last that he witnessed. The elf's eyes glowed in the darkness, reflecting menacing green light towards the redhanded. It felt like hours, but in reality, this stare-off had hardly taken more than a minute. It was then that she broke the silence with a giggle, covering her face to hide her mouth, as a slight blush appeared on her face, all to Adlem's confusion. Could it be that he knew her? No way... What was so funny? Adlem was all up on his toes with fear.

"You're such a good thief, Adlem." Her words pierced the man, mercilessly, as his heart began beating rapidly. It was not that she knew his name, no... but that the voice that came out of her mouth sounded just like Lilla - his mother's. He had heard her say that before, during his last days as a child, but by the time he could ask questions, the woman had walked away and blended into a distant crowd. Adlem had expected much, but that one was not on the list. Who was this elven woman? It certainly wasn't anything resambling his mother, or his mother herself, as he had seen her final breaths when her final hours had struck, and she most certainly wasn't anyone that he knew. Adlem's entire body heated up, as he himself was struggling to breathe properly. Was this what it was like to see a ghost? "What the fuck..." He whispered to himself as he felt like frozen.

His trance was soon interrupted by incoming noises of a talking group of people. Their speech was filled with exquisite vocabulary, some words being a rarity in the slums, maybe even in the inner sector. Those must be the servants. They seemed to be arguing about something. Maybe they were being late with the baggage deliveries and had a few handfuls of furious nobles on their heads. Adlem could not afford to stick around any longer. He had to hurry. The man dashed to the shadowy areas right by the buildings. The castle was much brighter at night than the other sectors for sure, but there clearly were blind spots here and there, which Adlem would gladly exploit in his dragon theft.

Further into the city, the streets of the castle were bustling with wagons, which were escorting members of the royalty, the attention of which hardly had any business to do with the darker corners. They were much more focused on keeping their carefully put-together looks in tact and putting up the etiquette in order to not cause conflict by a silly accident. In the royal scene the ice was often thin. This simply couldn't be the life for Adlem. He had gotten in trouble many times, but he often had backup plans that didn't involve fighting an entire nation in an open field for territory and riches. Though the riches part might have been tempting to his ears.

Luckily, some royal dwellers, who possibly lived nearby preferred to walk, rather than take a wagon to the next few streets. They were elegantly dressed women of age, the hair of which was majestically braided and accompanied with shiny trinkets. "... My eyes witnessed it, yes" Spoke one of the fine women to the other in a calm tone. "It was chained up in the upper levels of the southern tower. What poor, unfortunate, critter! It looked so calm and polite, much like a petite feline!" Just hearing the words these two were spitting seemed funny to Adlem. He'd gladly have cracked a laughter, but unfortunately this was supposed to be a stealth mission. The castle wasn't much larger than the slum aread, so surely, the southern tower wasn't too far away. There were four major towers in the castle, connected by round walls, which were accompanied by tinier towers in the point of circumferance that was equslly in between each pair of said towers. The larger ones corresponded to the directions, while the smaller ones were named after folk heroes. There weren't many streets which lead to the towers, so if Adlem could get to the walls unnoticed, he would easily reach the tower at a time like this.

His feet dug into the soil which surrounded most buildings, whispering the song of manouver. Stealthily, the man leaped in between dark areas, making sure to stick in the light for as little as possible, but throughout the process, he could not stop interrupting his thoughts with the memory of that elf. It was surely a sight that would haunt him for a long time. Soon enough, the silhouette of the Southern tower was visible in the distance.

At the entrance, a bulky guard stood on a chair alone. It was important, as keeping the dragon away from intruders was not only essential for security, but also for it's stillness of mind. Dragons were not social creatures, so too much attention most certainly overwhelmed them. Adlem's way in was a few meters higher though. There was a hole he could squeeze through. These were likely used for cover. The opening got wider as it reached the inside, so the archers could have a better aim while also having less area for enemy arrows to pass through. But the currosion of time had worn it off, causing a few stone bricks to seem shaky and moveable making it possible to enter. The long years of peace had made defensive renovations unnecessary. Adlem snuck to the edge where the tower and the wall met - it's easier to climb walls at an edge. These walls were much steeper and well-made than the others, but with enough care, Adlem could stick his dagger in between the bricks in order to hold on to something while ascending. He would also take his boots off, so that he could feel every nook and cranny on the wall, making it possible to hold on with his feet as well, thus climbing higher. It was exhausting and painful, but he had practiced such activities at the outer wall, as well as the walls of some houses before, so he was no newbie in that physical activity. When he reached high enough, he used the dagger to hold on to the wall, by stabbing the space between bricks, thus staying on the same level, moving towards the hole. He peeked inside, only to witness a wooden floor, several cells and chains with cuffs hanging from the walls. This was likely where the old prison was, before the outer sectors were built. Luckily, it appeared to Adlem that there was nobody inside. He tried his best to make as little noise as possible, pushing a few bricks in, making a bit of noise, but still making the opening wider. Soon, he was able to pass.

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When he got inside, he was met by a pair of astounding yellow eyes, staring at him from one of the cells. Their retina was split in half by a black beam - like that of a cat, but had no impurities or cloudy patterns. A smooth yellow eye. The moonlight revealed a wonderous reptile-like being when it moved closer in order to inspect Adlem, tilting it's head. It had a long muzzle, but it's scales were so dark that barely any details could have been spotted at such a time. It's breathing was loud enough to be heard even at the other end of the room. The sound resambling a quiet roar was heard when it exhaled as the dragon sat down and opened it's mouth to breathe. Adlem took his time to examine the creature as he took out his dagger once again, getting closer to the cage.

The dragon hissed loudly at the sight of the weapon, some of it's scales perking up, as well as it's now visible tail. It had two fins at it's end, each of them black like the scales. "It's alright boy, just a drop..." He said as he took out a bit of mutton from his pocket. He had not forgotten to bring a treat! The hatchling was not falling for this though. It stood at the back of it's cage right by the wall as Adlem sighed, sitting down, without realizing that a pitch-black veil had opened right behind him, revealing three armored figures. One was the knight, protecting the entrance, whose armour was evidently purple. It covered his entire body, to the point where there was no sign of flesh. No weak spots. On his back was a huge battleaxe, each blade the size of a fully grown turkey. The second one was wearing a green robe underneath a breastplate, the hood of which was lifted up, hiding his entire face, but revealing an elderly beard and a smile. The third one was... Pitch-black - like a shadow. Whatever it were, it did not feel human at a glance.

"And when were you planning to leave?" asked the one in green, his smile still up as he held forward a wooden staff. At this instant, Adlem realized that he had no choice left but to fight - there was no other way out of stealing from the king. His plan all the way up to now seemed flawless, but he had never dealt with a dragon before, let alone whoever these guys were. It was evident now. He wasn't some enigma... Just lucky. He gripped his dagger tightly as he bolted towards the green one, but was taken down by a quick bash to the neck with the staff. "Shame. I thought one who manages to get all the way here would be a capable fighter. Let's throw him out. Breaking into the castle is not punishable with death, but stealing from the king is to be punished with banishment from the kingdom. You will be branded traitor and no soul in Aturqua would dare do your bidding". While he was saying that, Adlem was trying his best to move, but was incapable for reasons unknown to him. It was like he was paralyzed.

The man's staff began flaming with a green color as he held a piece of metal, heating it up until it glowed, before pushing it onto Adlem's chest, while the other two grasped his arms, holding his body in place, burning onto his skin - the image of a headless horse in a circle. This was the most excruciating pain Adlem had ever felt as he screamed all the air out of his lungs and saliva dripped to the floor from his mouth, to the point when the dragon was curled up in a corner, shivering with stretched out scales.

"With the power given to me by King Ferdinand, I, Aegis declare: For breaking in, you will be roughed up and banished. If you attempt to enter Hestis again, we will know!" The man spoke slowly as the other two came closer and began stomping and kicking Adlem to the point where he stopped screaming and passed out after the speech was over. His plan had failed and he had ended up a fool and emptyhanded.

Time passed, as the brightness of sunlight irritated Adlem's eyes. It was morning. His teeth grinded together as he tried to fight the pain and stand up. Looking around, he saw a bright yellow field, which spread out to the horizon, birds singing songs cheerfully and an empty road he had just woken up on. Wherever this place was, it wasn't anywhere in Hestis.