Standing before them and the steal box, was the basement corridor. Malum and Jameson peered down the corridor and were relieved to see no Knights standing guard.
Malum went forward but kept an eye on the wall at all times. Candles lit their journey but Malum didn’t make it far.
He stopped after his second step, his eyes darting towards the danger on the wall.
He looked closer, the poor lighting revealing a very small but silvery piece of string. It was tightly stretched across the entire corridor.
It looked like silver but Malum knew silver couldn’t be made so thin, and certainly not into such a small wire.
If it was not silver then what ore could it have been. Such a question could only lead Malum to one conclusion, it was a spiritual ore, taken from the mountains that surrounded them.
Malum wanted to test the ore but he didn’t have the time and neither did he want to risk it. So, he warned his colleagues and they simply hopped over the thin stretch of wire.
They came across a 2 more wires at differing heights and only then did another type of trap appear. This one was more similar to the one Malum had already encountered inside the cavern.
A pressure plate leading to a danger of death. It burned a dark red, and yet all it took to avoid such danger was walking on a different tile.
9 more come before the final stretch of the corridor revealed another trap. This one was different, as it featured a living being.
Not a human, Malum eyes instead revealed a figure of a den of bats.
And unlike in the day, they were awake and the hatch on the roof was open. That meant a simple disturbance was it would take far the swarm of creatures to disperse like an explosion, they shrieks giving away the current robbery.
It was quite an ingenious idea. If only Malum hadn’t been in the possession of such strong poisons. For the little creatures needed but a single smell of Malums poisons for their restful naps to continue. Malum closed the hatch before they fell and with it the final obstacle on the corridor was complete.
Now onto the vault, it was Florence’s turn o shine.
He breathed and got to work. Not to moment later he had his ears against the vault as he fidgeted with his picking tools.
He was listening, for a click, for a scrape, for just about anything.
He looked at the mechanism and saw three separate key holes. Malum and Jameson hadn’t been able to take a good look at the door but now he could see what he would be up against.
He continued to move ever to slightly, searching for change when he found a small ridge and pushed down against it. He felt a small movement as it was pushed down but instead of a click he heard nothing.
With another tool he pushed inside the lock again. If one wouldn’t do it, two certainly would.
He searched around for the second point and found it soon after. With both points pushed in he cleared the lock and gave those tools to Jameson.
For the door to unlock he would need all six points to be pushing inwards so he had to make sure they stayed in place. Jameson could hold one lock in one hand so he got to work making sure he secured the second.
His master looked at him with pressure in his eyes. He had to succeed now, for the boys parents and for himself as well.
He listed and moved, pulling another pick from his pocket as he found the third pressure point. The sweat on his brow was wiped and soon he found the fourth.
He was making fast progress but he found the third key whole was far different from the other two. Inside it was much larger, so he got to work.
Pressing releasing, he stayed sharp and aware at all times. Never to much or the pick could snap and neither to little nor he could false move past a pressure point.
With time on his side, and with his newly learned skills, he managed to pull the three different pins in the last lock. He heard a click and without anything left to unlock he began to turn the wheel of the vault.
It was heavy but with his jubilation the weight felt much lighter. The metallic lock finally came undone and so he called over the rest of the crew to pull open the vault door.
Malum rushed over to help as he felt his expectations rise to a peak. The thrill of the heist had set his mind alight and the bonfire had reached its hottest moment.
Light poured into the room as the vault was always lit by several rows of far brighter torches.
Its peeled into the hallway, first it spread on the wall and as they dragged it back further it lit up the entire hallway.
They walked past the door, and starred into the bright vault.
They overcame their greed and got to work. Pulling out a sack, each of them went towards their respective areas. Jameson went to `unlock` the Nobles metallic boxes whilst Jameson and Malum went straight for the gold.
These weren’t gold coins, these were gold bars meant for holding value or to be smelt down into their coins. They weighed far more than expected but their value kept Malums muscles moving.
Until the bottom of his sack was no longer visible did he fill it with the golden treasure. He kept his eyes on the pillar and then at his next target.
From gold bars to gold coins he began to take them by the handful and dropping them into his sack. Until he could barely lift the sack did he pull out another fresh one and begin filling that.
More and more, his bag quickly became heavy. Once the gold coins ran out, he moved onto to the silver bars.
Metal hitting metal was a loud affair but with an entire floor separating them and the guards who might not even be in the building (instead they should be at the fire) Malum reckoned he would be fine. He sense remained on his Intuition, ready to run at any time.
Once the silver was pillages, Florence went to help Jameson and Malum moved towards the pillar. He had spoke of his interest to the pillar during the meeting and with it being the cherry on top to his plans Jameson added it to the plan.
Malum wasted no time and with the blunt of his sword he began to smash the pillar. It wasn’t like the ceiling was going to fall on him although he did have to make sure he didn’t damage whatever treasure was inside of the pillar.
The first thing that was obvious was the metals hollow nature. The sound gave it away as much as the reduced recoil on his shoulder. The metal dented inwards but Malum was going to need better if he wanted to find whatever was inside of it.
He banged around the pillar to see where the hollow parts ended, and found the hollow parts to be all the way around the central part of the pillar. He looked for anyway to open this area but found nothing but smooth metal and historic recounts.
The only slight difference on the entire pillar was the bottom of the pillar was just a little bit of the floor: they weren’t connected.
He looked at the top and found the same thing, the pillar seemed unconnected to the entire vault. That begged the question of how the damn thing managed to enter the vault.
Malum couldn't find the answer and his intuition wasn’t helping in the finding the answer. It didn’t help that he was surrounded by riches so all he got were glowing recommendations to steal the surrounding objects.
To open it, he either needed to find the proper way in or slice the metal to force his way in. With his sword that wasn’t possible but with Jameson’s, he reckoned it was possible.
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He looked in their direction to see Jameson slashing locks and Florence taking the loot of the opened ones. It had only been 2 minuets since they had entered the vault and the deadlines they wanted to leave with the first haul was 10 minutes.
Malum really wanted what was behind the pillar, but asking for the sword from Jameson would be going against the point of the heist: revenge.
It was better that they got hurt more Nobles than they hurt the Roosevelt clan. So, Malum was left with his only other option. To find the actual way in.
He reckoned that the pillar was pushed in. A whole was cut through the top of the vault and the pillar was dropped in through the roof.
A treasure was inside said pillar and for it to be retrieved perhaps it had be taken out through the same way it came in. Malum therefore focused his eyes towards the roof.
He looked carefully at the spotless ceiling but with both his eyes and his Intuition he found nothing out of the ordinary.
Stumped, Malum sat down on a sack of loot. He realised that loose metal wasn’t very comfortable so he shifted down to the smooth floor.
He thought of all he knew of the vault, it’s history, it’s reason for being and then to it’s schematics. If he were to align the first and basement floor he could get a better idea of where this pillar would be taken up to and perhaps that would give him the answer.
He thought to the stairs, which connected the two floors and then traced it back to the lobby of the first floor. That was where the vault pillar would lead to, and that was where Malum was going to go.
Taking a bag of loot with him he made his way on his first trip. Jameson and Florence only eyed his movement for a seconds before focused back on their task. If there was danger, he would have said the code word.
Malum rushed upstairs and back to the lobby. Here he was exposed to the guards return far more than before but with his ability he reckoned he would be able to get away.
He dropped his loot by the hallway leading towards the back exits and then stood in the centre of the lobby.
It was massive open areas, with waiting areas making up the first part, a partition, then a section for the clerks much like the one Malum and Jameson had spoken to before they had been directed to the man with the golden chain, then at the back was more chairs and desks where other bankers worked.
Throughout the room where several pillar holding up the tall roof above them. Each was as thick as a horse’s chest, and each of them could hold the key to Malum treasure.
Outside of the vault, Malum could now use his sense more accurately to pick up danger and opportunities and in the large lobby there were only a few areas which were detected.
Several of those dim lights were located on paper at the desks of workers. They likely contained sensitive information, but Malum passed up reading those a focused only on the brightest light.
The light came from a small unnoticeable whole in a central pillar. Even stranger was the fact that it wasn’t head height, instead it was located near Malum foot and he had to crouch down to see it.
If it was noticed, it was easily passed of as a small dent but with the amount of light it exuded, it not just a dent. Malum peered in and second guessed his idea of it being a key whole. It was deep and Malum guessed the key would have to be significantly larger than the one needed to unlock the vault and not only that but it would have several more pins needed to unlock the thing.
But a key whole needed a key, and the only one Malum could think of was the ones that the top management could use to unlock the vault.
He thought about calling Florence over, but that was against the deal also picking at such height at such a strange angle seemed like something that wasn’t possible and if Malum were to create such a device himself he wouldn’t allow something as simple as a lockpick ruin it all.
With that in mind, Malum went on the hunt for the special key. As he went he did pick up some of the lighter opportunities, during which he learned more information about the Nobles in Roosevelt.
Some were in heavy debt, spending just as much as they earned on the interest alone.
Others had wealth far above their status.
Such information in the Noble world was worth it’s weight in gold. If Malum ever needed money, a letter to the right person would be enough for him to earn several hundred coins.
Some mundane information was included, for instance the light had guided him to the drawer of an office worker who kept several letter inside of his desk. Each contained words of love and with the love revealed the information that the man was already married.
All in all, Malum was gaining several pieces of information that he could use to blackmail people such earn a decent amount of money but nothing nearly as important as the key.
Once a few rooms had passed, Malum decided to call it quits. For as much as he wanted the treasure in the vault, did he also know when it was time to give up on a hopeless dream.
The key wasn’t in the bank, in reality it was probably in the Roosevelts own family vault. Hell it could even be related to the royal family in some way and they kept the key in their own super secure vault.
Malum rushed back to get his gold and decided he would drown his disappointment in gold coins. His mind was distracted, and fate didn’t waste it’s chance.
A small linger of distaste etched it’s way onto Malums mouth. A small ringing tone started to harass his ears.
He only noticed it when a prick of numbness was felt on his skin.
He turned, and saw two Knights starring back at him.
“WHO ARE YOU?!” They demanded, drawing their swords.
“WHY ARE YOU IN HIS LORDSHIPS BANK?!” They moved closer as Malum struggled to find an answer.
He stood their like a scarecrow, the dim moonlight slightly revealing his face. Then he snapped back to reality, he cursed his luck and ran towards the right side’s back exit. The real one Jameson and Florence planned to use was the left side and Malum wanted to get these two away from them as much as possible and for as long as possible.
Running for the stairs his mind went into overdrive and soon his intuition revealed the danger of him going outside. He couldn’t for some reason, but he trusted his ability and instead followed a path towards the second floor.
Of course! The guards couldn’t tell anybody outside. If the greater police forces arrived then they were as good as executed, he needed to isolate them away from the heist entirely.
The two were quick, but with heavy armour weighing them down they couldn’t catch up to Malum lightning speed. He purposely slowed down just to make sure they continued to chase him.
On the second floor, Malum was trying his best to get the two guards to split up. He ran around loops in corridors until finally they decided to take two different directions.
Malum calmy walked into a nearby room where he found a place to hide. A single guard had seen him enter and Malum wanted to take the fight back to him. The best-case scenario was that he took out both guards before they caused any further issues.
He felt a dagger ran on the palm of his hand and he hid it behind his back, on its metallic surface was a small layer of poison.
Now he just needed to fight back.
It didn’t take long before the doors where kicked open, the shout of the guard ringing through the room.
“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR GOING?!”
Malum felt a scan of dread flow through his veins as the guard looked around the room. If he spotted him, death would be the only outcome.
He felt it. The rich taste of blood at the back of his throat. Whatever idea he had chosen, it was far more dangerous than he initially thought. Perhaps he had already made to much bad choices, his moment of inaction had left him with so little opportunity left to live.
He had to grasp; he couldn’t die.
His breathing became soundless, his steps slowly following. The heavy knight couldn’t copy such actions as his heavy armour gave away his location instantly.
Malum didn’t want to head for the door, as the second knight could come bursting in at any second and yet the light in the room came down from two directions.
One from the door, the second from his dagger. Two options, escape or take the fight back to them.
Malum didn’t hesitate to make his choice, as quickly as his techniques allowed him he made for the door. Occasionally, the guard glanced back as he searched through the room but with his Intuitions warning Malum managed to hide just in time.
He felt adrenaline rushing through him but he managed to get through the door without getting spotted.
Relief, in its purest form felt like ice down his sweating body. Yet, something didn’t add up. The second guard was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t taken the other direction; he had headed towards the stairs. He was either checking on the vault, or he was going to get help.
Both as disastrous as the other.
He bolted down the corridor as quickly as he could. If Jameson and Florence were already dead then Malum wasn’t ready for the grief that would follow.
They needed to be alive. He had enough of those around him dying. He needed to see them breathing, even if it meant he had dodge the entire police force of Roosevelt city.
Down the stairs, down the corridors and down the stairs again. Into the finally hallway and Malum noticed Florence coming in his direction, loot heavy in his hands.
“Where were you?” He asked, to which Malum hastily explained.
“We’ve got company, get that bag to the carriage, we need to go!”
Malum rushed towards the vault to tell Jameson and inside he looked around to see his friend getting a better grip on the loot bag of gold coins.
“More Knights are coming; we need to go!” Malum shouted.
Jameson looked back, “Okay let me get this.”
They didn’t have that much time but Malum wasn’t going to argue with Jameson about that right now. Instead he got himself a bag with him and said,
“Its worth nothing if we get caught, get moving!”
Jameson relented on his poor grip and just lugged the bag by force. Malum couldn't help but think of the guard upstairs and the fact Florence was now by himself.
Fuck, he was risking the mans life. He went quicker as he felt the sack begin to strain against the conflicting weights. His footsteps never faltered; his senses remained at their peak.
Every step, he was closer to the escape. He felt opportunity come closer to fruition and that’s when dread started to infect the corridors around him.
He recognised it as the pattern he had felt when the guard was looking for him in that small room. If he was seen whoever caused such dread then he was dead.
Jameson was slightly behind him and Malum went closer to guide them. He went via a different path and climbed out a shutter of an office nearby. Horses were around the building, although they could have been from the fire response they could equally be the steads of Knight coming here to kill them.
They dragged there loot, and made distance on the bank. They then turned left towards the direction of the carriage and now they had to hope that Florence hadn’t been caught.
They turned the corner to see the carriage on its lonesome down at the side of the street. A head was poking out from the side and it was Florence showing a worried face.
It fell into relief as they came closer and after the sacks had entered the carriage, Florence took up the driver’s seat and they began to drive away.
They all felt the sweat down their back, but now only jubilation remained in their minds.