As we approached the mansion, we saw that guards had been posted around the exterior of the building. They stood underneath burning oil lanterns affixed to the outer walls, on either side of the front door, clearly illuminated even from a distance. That wasn’t particularly surprising. What WAS surprising was how easily we were able to slip past them. We had expected to need to scope the place out, make a plan, and come back another night. That was before we saw how sparsely guarded the property really was.

We spotted only those two guards, and they were both posted on the front side of the house, near the center where the main door was. We waited, but we never saw them move from their posts, nor did we see other guards patrolling the other entrances. While it was possible there were more guards, hidden in the shadows somewhere, and we just didn’t see them, that wasn’t the impression I got. It seemed more like they were short-staffed. With a property as large as this one was, even a dozen guards might not have been enough. Perhaps the others were off searching for us, and the two left behind were the minimum Berenguer felt comfortable with.

Still, I can’t say I didn’t hesitate. Cadoc shot me a look, which, even read by moonlight, I knew said that we didn’t need to come back another night. This is our chance, it said.

It seemed too easy.

But I nodded to Cadoc all the same. This was our chance, and I wasn’t going to let a little irrational fear get in our way. I gripped the antisword where it hung on my belt. It steadied my thoughts.

We kept our distance from the guards, and slowly circled around towards the back of the mansion, navigating the finely trimmed hedges and trees. It wasn’t even necessary to go all the way to the back - the structure was so large that even the edge of one wing was not visible from where the guards stood near the front door. We had obviously had no real information about the layout of the property prior to that night, but we had speculated and planned that, if the mansion was laid out in a way that made it possible, it would be best to start from one end, and sweep towards the other. It would then be less likely that we would be cut off from our escape. It was lucky that this two-wing layout enjoyed usage in this dimension as well. We made our way to the right wing noiselessly.

Is this Berenguer person not afraid of getting robbed? I thought to myself. Does he have such a menacing reputation that he thinks no one would dare steal from him? But then why have guards at all? Is it arrogance? An oversight? A bad gamble, sending his guards to search for us and hoping no one chooses this night to rob him?

I didn’t have an answer. Once again I wished that it was Tom beside me, not Cadoc, even if it would be foolish to talk extensively this deep in enemy territory. I could follow Tom without any words needing to be passed. Cadoc, on the other hand, was much too willing to take my lead, until, suddenly, he wasn’t. Not that I wanted to follow his lead, exactly. It was a lose-lose situation.

My unease only grew as we entered the side door. Which was unlocked. I didn’t think anything of this at the time except that it was careless, and Berenguer must have felt safe with his two guards, or his reputation.

A rush of cold air leaked out as I cracked the door open, turning the ornate handle in my slightly-trembling hand. I shivered, but it wasn’t a physical cold.

I turned and looked Cadoc in the eye. He stared back. I spoke as softly as I could.

“I think we should turn back,” I whispered. “Something isn’t right here.”

But Cadoc shook his head. “Calm, friend,” he whispered back. “This is our chance for revenge. For power. For wealth. Steel yourself.”

I sighed. He was right, of course. I had never robbed anyone before in my life, so I was nervous, that was all. We had gotten extremely lucky. While his men - and perhaps even Berenguer himself - were out searching for us, we would be rooting around in his own home. It would be crazy not to continue. Who knows how many guards would be there the next night.

But that didn’t make me feel much better.

I opened the door the rest of the way, slowly, and the coldness emanated outwards, almost like it had an air conditioner running full blast. Maybe that’s all it was. A magical air conditioner.

I stepped over the threshold, and it was like stepping through a blizzard that was only two inches thick. In the blink of an eye the feeling was over, and I was perfectly warm, staring at Cadoc. He shrugged, unperturbed, and shut the door behind us.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

We were staring down a wide, long hallway. A flowery wallpaper covered the walls, and expensive-looking statues and vases lined the edges. The statues depicted the likeness of nightmarish monsters I hoped didn’t truly exist, while the vases depicted scenes I couldn’t quite interpret, though it felt wrong to look at them. Doors were set in the walls on either side, and almost all of them were closed.

Almost, because one door, just to the right of us, was wide open, though I couldn’t see through it from this angle.

Cadoc made for this door without a word, and I hurried to follow him.

There were two modes of thought, in my mind, for how to approach this. One would be to check out the open door first, because that was both the place we could enter the most quietly, and because, likewise, it was where someone could most stealthily sneak up on us, if we passed it by.

On the other hand, it was also the most likely place for Berenguer to be, if he was awake.

No chance of arguing just then, however. I had to keep up with Cadoc, and yelling after him was much worse than the alternatives.

Without any knowledge of the mansion’s layout, there was no way for us to know where we should be looking, or even what direction we should head in. It would be nothing but guesses. But if we could find even one room of valuables, I would be happy. Even the vases in the hall would probably fetch a decent price, but I didn’t want to haul those out. Or pay RENA the transportation cost for something so heavy.

The first room was a library. Great wooden shelves towered over us, reaching up to a ceiling which was easily three or four times higher than the ceiling of the hallway. It made me do a double-take, as I had not spotted a tower before, and the building hadn’t seemed so tall from the outside. Then again, it was the middle of the night. It wasn’t impossible I had misjudged it.

Cadoc didn’t seem bothered. He was grinning from ear to ear, eyes tracing the lines of the shelves as they rose, all of them lined with countless books. Besides the shelves and the books, the room was empty. I couldn’t see a source of light, but the room was bathed in something like moonlight, but brighter, so it was easy enough to see. Another door stood opposite the one we had entered. This one was closed.

Wordlessly, Cadoc began taking books off the shelves at random, flipping through them, a look of amazement still on his face.

This was a treasure of sorts, for sure. If we could find a book on magic, it could jumpstart our abilities, and Cadoc had assured me earlier that there were few places men like us - losers, that is - could buy them.

I approached a shelf. If there was a system to the library, I couldn’t see it. The spines were unlabeled, as were the covers. I picked a book at random - a dark, leather-bound tome - and opened it to the first page.

“Secrets of Herb Growing for the Thrifty Alchemist.” I shook my head. I’m sure it was interesting, but it wasn’t for me. I closed it hurriedly.

The next book I picked up, from same shelf, was much the same. “Alchemical Reagents: A Cautionary Tale.” I closed this one just as quickly.

Thinking that they must be grouped together in some way, I made for a different shelf. This time, I took a slim volume, bound in a purple-dyed animal skin.

“Illusions for the Purpose of Hiding Your Assets: The Handbook that Tax Collectors Don’t Want You to Read.”

This one I lingered on, chuckling to myself internally. I very nearly started to read, but shook my head, finally. I didn’t have time to stop and read.

“Definitely not what I’m looking for,” I muttered to myself.

I stole a glance at Cadoc. I could see that he had already stored a book or two in his pack. Either he was having better luck that I was, or he was planning to take up gardening and tax evasion.

Hopefully he found something useful, because I was already getting fed up. We could spend all night here and come out empty-handed. It would probably be a better use of our time to search further, look for weapons, or potions, or other treasures that were just as likely as books to give us power, for less of a time investment.

Even more than that, I needed money, not power. I didn’t think I could sell a book on magical tax evasion back on Earth.

Before I closed this book too, a bit of movement caught my attention. I turned my gaze back to the open page.

I stood staring, gawking, as the page rewrote itself. It was as if a ghostly figure was writing it out in long, flowing letters. What are you looking for? it said.

I dropped the book in surprise, and the thud was like an explosion in that silent room. At just that instant, the light, which seemed to come from nowhere, disappeared, and I could see nothing but the most complete darkness.

“Shit,” I said under my breath, and just as quickly, the light returned.

Except that when I could see again, it was not a library I was standing in. The floors and walls were tiled in multi-colored tiles, formed into the design of strange mosaics that looked like writing. Steam filled the air, and off to one side, I saw where the floor led down into a massive pool of water, like a lake. To the opposite side, closer to where I stood, was a door, which was open. Inside was a room no bigger than a closet, with a hole in the ground. A toilet. I was in a large bathroom. Or bathhouse. Something like that.

And there was another door, closed, just beside me.

Cadoc was nowhere to be seen.

Confused and panicked, I opened the closed door. To my shock - and pleasant surprise - opening it revealed the library again. I entered, coming from a door off to one side, which I hadn’t seen before. Cadoc had his sword drawn, and turned to me with wild eyes as I stepped in.

“What just happened?” He asked, sheathing his sword again when he realized it was me.

I shook my head. I had no idea what to say, beside the obvious. Magic.

I walked back to where I was standing before, where the books still lay on the floor where I had dropped it. I picked it up. Cadoc came closer, eager to see.

The book had returned to normal.

“This is not what I am looking for,” I whispered, and once again the writing began. Cadoc’s eyes widened.

What are you looking for? The book asked again.

“A map,” I whispered.

For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening. I wondered if I needed to drop it again - though I really didn’t want to. Even the noise I had already made had me on edge, wondering if a guard - or Berenguer himself - was about to walk in on us. I suddenly had the realization that a smarter man would have had much sooner - what if there were more guards, and they were all inside the house?

Desperate not to make any more noise, I tried turning to the next page. Sure enough, instead of instructions of how to trick the tax man, a two-page blueprint of the mansion was being drawn out in great detail. There was even a little circle in a square room on the right-hand side, labeled with one word.

Intruders.

I quickly looked at some of the other labels. Armory. Potion storage. And another little circle, clear on the opposite side of the mansion. Berenguer.

I turned to Cadoc, certain that a manic smile was threatening to split my face in half.

“Now we’re in business.”