Chapter II: Sneak Thief

I have no idea how I'm gonna find this key, Selene thought as she carefully crept up the stairs.

Back home, I was a pickpocket, not a burglar! All I know about burglary is that you don't just sneak into someone's house. You gotta have a plan, and I've got nothing! Nothing but... She stopped in place as she realized her distinct advantage. Shadowstep! I should be able to get in and out of spots nobody else could. That might be just the edge I need. Her mood lightened considerably at the prospect.

The stairs were damp, but not enough to be slick. She stepped with an added care to avoid making any unnecessary noise as she ascended. Alert, Selene watched and listened for any sign of approaching guards, but her attention was soon drawn to the door at the top of this portion of stairs. This was one of several doors she noticed when the party had been dragged down to their cell.

Maybe one of those has a path out, or it might lead me around the guards at the top of the stairs.

She approached it with care, placing her ear gently against it to check for any sounds within. After a few minutes of silence, she softly tugged at the door, careful to avoid any creaking.

Regardless of intent, there was quite a bit of creaking, likely due to the age of the door and hinges. She bit her lip harshly as she eyed the stairs above, hoping nobody would notice.

Once there was enough space, Selene slipped inside. She was greeted by another long hallway of empty cells. Her pace towards the other end was initially quite cautious, but soon she realized its futility. There was no one on this floor, so there was no reason to be discreet when time was not a luxury.

Quickening her pace to a careful scurry, she began to realize just how large this facility was. I must have passed at least a dozen cells by now.

Given the architecture, she could tell this was likely a relic of the old city, meaning it was built with a far greater population in mind than the current residents of the Hollow.

Still, why would you need so many cages? Can't imagine a country of squid people would be very crime ridden. Unless...

Remembering her encounter with Lendrig, she came up with a few possibilities why he might need a lot of cages. Most of them explained the smell. All of them were enough to send a shiver down her spine.

Let's just focus on getting out of here. As soon as possible.

Returning to a walk, she kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, it was clear this floor was in disuse, and everything worth exploring was caked in a filth that she dared not disturb. Eventually, she came to the end of the floor.

It was a flat stone wall.

Great, guess this probably means the staircase is our only way up to the surface...she thought, her brow furrowed.

On the way back, Selene decided to speed up the process by trying to Shadowstep to the end. The first attempt was a failure, but she then considered the strength of the stench emanating around her. Using the desire to get away from that stench as soon as possible, it worked on the second attempt.

As she kept practicing, she began noticing consistencies in distance travelled. Without conscious effort, Shadowstep always seemed to stop her about twenty paces from her last position.

If she considered going further than that, it was only a few more steps before she felt herself getting pulled back from wherever Shadowstep took her. Those extra steps also seemed to drain far more mana from her body, as if she had to will herself to remain in Shadowstep after a certain point. If she did not take those extra steps, she had no trouble. It also helped her to realize that, so long as she did not try to extend the range, she could cast Shadowstep in quick succession with little to no ill effect.

As she reached the door once more, she considered a few other possibilities that might make Shadowstep more efficient. For the time being, however, she returned to the task at hand.

Sliding out past the door, she found herself on the stairs once more. She continued her ascent, checking the door as she reached the top of each flight of stairs. It did not take her long to realize each floor was the same. Time was short, so Selene decided to only peek inside the door on each floor to see if there was anything worse exploring. If not, she would continue to the next door and try again.

So far as she could tell, each floor was a matching hallway of endless cages.

Eventually, she reached the door before the top of the stairs without any sign of another way out or something to aid in their escape.

As she placed her ear to the final door, she heard the noise of conversation on the other side. Luckily, it was slightly ajar, so she peaked through the hole. There was no one inside, yet there were clearly voices within. Slipping through the door as quietly as possible, she looked around, confused.

This floor appeared far cleaner than the ones below, but all that meant was the air was far more favourable. She followed the voices down the hall. After a moment, she understood that the voices were actually coming from a room above her. It appeared the boards between them were worn and old. Conversations were now audible enough that she felt as if she was practically in the same room as them.

As she began to hear words form, she imagined what they might look like based on the voices she heard.

"Can' believe they actually found folk outside the walls," one said, his voice brusque and loud.

Dwarf, probably. Big brown beard and rosy cheeks. I'm guessing he's the oldest and he doesn't care what the others think of him. Bet he drinks on the job and has a bit of a gut, but the other guys respect his experience.

"I know, you'd have to be crazy to be caught outside," said another, his tone casual and relaxed.

Composed...elf maybe? Probably younger than the dwarf, but not enough to care. Probably looks like a younger Argent...wait, how would I tell an age difference? Elves don't age, do they? Whatever...maybe he just looks like Argent with blue eyes and blond hair.

"Is it true they survived the night out there?" the last one said, he sounded young and a little soft spoken.

Human. Probably really handsome, but shy. Short red hair and deep brown eyes. Bet he's really popular with the women around here, even if he lacks the confidence to talk to any of them.

"That's what I heard from Bastion before he left, anyway," the elf said.

"Yeah. Good man, seemed a lil out o' sorts when he left, though," said the dwarf.

"Can't blame him," responded the elf, "Last few days have been rough for everyone on the wall."

"Yeah, but better on the wall than on babysitter duty for a dopey captain and crazies," the dwarf said before taking a swig of some drink, "Wish I knew what was going through that bloody Governor's head. Heard the worst anybody's seen is some extra Drowned. That ain't nothing like the 'supposed' invasion."

"I'm sure the Governor has his reasons," the elf said, then added quietly, "Unless he's finally gone insane, anyway."

"No, he's not insane. I heard the governor's got some kind of talisman in his quarters. Something that lets him know when the Hollow is in danger," the handsome boy said.

"How would you know that?" the dwarf accused, "Governor's locked up tight and he ain't seein' anyone right now. Don' be spreadin' lies, boy."

"Probably been flirting with a scullery maid there and heard some gossip," the elf guessed.

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The dwarf's laughter echoed through the room, clearly amused by the revelation and the handsome boy's reaction, "Oh ho, is that what's happened, boy? Found yerself a pretty lass?"

The handsome boy stammered, "I...no! She's...just a friend."

"Fine, fine," the elf said, clearly unconvinced, "Then how about you tell us more about this talisman. Like, what is it?"

"Nobody'll know that," the dwarf barked, "Governor ain't a fool, bet if anything like that exists it's locked up tighter than a dragon's hoard."

"So all you got is some useless gossip, then?" the elf asked.

"Not exactly," the handsome boy said, clearly preferring this subject, "I know he fears losing it. Keeps it real close. Em—I mean, I heard from one of the maids that you can hear him moving around in his study late at night. Sometimes you can hear him yell and shout, as if he's arguing with something."

"Sounds more like our Governor's gone daft," the dwarf grumbled.

Before she could hear anything else, however, a loud creak came from the door she entered.

Two guards, one holding a torch, passed through it, searching around suspiciously. Both were Malenai, similar to Bastion, but they appeared far older. Luckily, neither seemed to notice her yet.

"I could have sworn this door was shut last time I came down here," one of the guards said, his voice squeaking almost as loud as the doors in this place.

"It's probably nothing. Come on, we gotta get this slop to our prisoners," said the other, voice hoarse.

"I know. Just a quick glance, Nate. I don't want to be down here any longer than you do," said the squeaky guard, as he stepped forward with his torch aloft.

Panicked, Selene looked around for a place to hide. The only place viable was a nearby cell with the door rusted off the hinges. She hurriedly slipped inside. Unfortunately in her panic, she did not enter silently.

"Somebody there?" one of the guards called out. The sound of footsteps soon followed.

Not good. Selene thought as she clung to the wall, eyeing them as they approached. Her tune changed, however, as she heard the jangle of keys from one of the guard's hips. A plan began to form as she waited for them to get closer.

It's crazy. Probably insane. But it might just work.

Before they reached the cell she was in, Selene calmed herself and focused on her goal. First, I need to get those keys.

With a deep breath, time began to slow. As the darkness enveloped her, she raced towards the guards as they turned into glimmers of light. Upon reaching her target, she stopped. Time resumed.

Before the guards could process what was happening, she slipped through them with practiced ease. While she certainly remained a novice in adventuring, here, in this moment, she was a professional plying her craft.

With pinpoint accuracy, she managed to pull the keys from the guard's hip before sprinting as fast as she could for the door.

"Wha—" the guard said, turning to see her running away, "Hey! Stop!"

Rushing footsteps soon followed her.

Good start. Hopefully the guards upstairs heard us as well.

As Selene barrelled through the door at the end of the floor, she heard the crashing of boots above as they raced towards the staircase.

Perfect, I got their attention. Easy part is over, now for the hard part.

She raced down the stairs without attempting to quiet her movement. Once she reached the door on the floor below, she threw open the door with an ear-piercing whine as she raced inside.

The guards, soon followed by their companions upstairs, burst through the open door after her. Only the original two had torches, but none seemed able to see far in the dark. Still, it was enough to illuminate the faces of the guards, and she was disappointed to note none of them looked as she hoped. The dwarf was just an old human man with a white beard, the elf was a portly halfling, and the handsome youth was in fact a full grown human man with a brown, bushy beard and broken nose.

"Where are you, thief?" the one she thought would be a dwarf called out.

Okay, moment of truth. If this doesn't work, at least I have keys to let everyone out and we can try and fight these guys together.

"I'm in here! But I should warn you, I'm a world class assassin. If you hesitate for even a moment, I'll cut you down one by one," Selene said in what she hoped sounded threatening. Her knees trembled slightly from adrenaline.

"Assassin, eh? Bet that means you can't beat us all at once!" the guard with the hoarse voice called out.

Soon after she heard them marching down the hall. A toothy grin spread across her face at her good fortune.

Thank the heavens these guards are stupid. Or at least really, really bad at their jobs.

As they approached, Selene studied their hips. She counted off several more dangling keys.

I'll need to get all of them for this to work, Selene thought.

Once they were about twenty paces away, Selene made her move. She threw open the nearest prison cell and ran inside. The guards were close enough to see this movement, and quickly ran up to it and slammed the door on her.

"Ha! Got you!" the old man said proudly.

Selene, in what she hoped appeared to be overwhelming confidence, pulled out her own pair of keys, "Not quite. You have to get these back or I can leave whenever I want."

The five guards all looked at each other, confused. They then huddled together and began whispering. Selene could tell from the fact none of them ran off, that there were no reinforcements to fear.

Bet half my coin purse this lot were thrown together from the bottom of the barrel, she thought as they turned back to face her.

The old man, who appeared to be the one in charge, swallowed hard, "Y—you can't get all of us. We got the numbers, so you better give it to us nice and easy."

"No," Selene said casually revealing one of her hidden blades. Drawing from all the tales she knew of assassins or killers, she gave them her best devil's sneer as she said, "I'd rather fight. Let's see how much you bleed."

The guards blanched slightly, she then retreated to the back of the cell, waiting. Due to the fact these cells were designed for dozens, they were quite spacious. There was more than enough room for a fight in here.

Finally, the old man sighed, "Okay, we'll get it back then. No matter what, even if we have to kill you."

The door was slowly pulled open. Each guard drew a wooden club, ready for a fight as they entered the cell.

As the last one entered, Selene made her move. Using Shadowstep, Selene closed the gap far quicker than they could anticipate. She took the keys from one's hip and deftly moved to the next with another Shadowstep.

Each one was far too surprised by her speed to respond immediately. By the time they could even attempt to strike her, she was already back in the shadows, moving to the next.

It was a chaotic few minutes, but outside the wooden clubs, it was a standard grab and run gone south. If one got caught pick-pocketing, the best thing you could do was to keep moving. Thanks to the Shadowstep, Selene managed to always stay one step ahead, finally finding herself outside the door with all the keys in hand. The guards, in their panic, failed to notice her departure, nor did they hear over their shouts as the door shut behind them with a definitive thunk.

After making sure the door was properly locked, Selene left without another word.

The guards, however, had yet to realize she was no longer in the cell, circling around with their torches searching for her.

Before long, though, she heard them begin yelling and shaking the bars. Slightly out of breath, she grinned as she shut the door to the floor and ran up the remaining stairs.

Looking around, she was happy to find the first floor was now clear of all guards. It did not take long to find the room where she heard the guards talking. It appeared to be some kind of combination of barracks and break room. A table with a half-finished meal and drinks stood on one side of the room, with five bunks stacked up in the corner.

Continuing in her search, she found a conspicuous chest in a store room filled with assorted weapons and gear. A grin spread across her face as she saw the party's effects within.

Without further delay, she ran down the stairs and began rummaging through the keys to open their cells.

"I take it you somehow handled the guards?" Argent said, eyeing the four key chains she had out as she tried fitting the keys through the slot one by one.

"Yeah," she said, a toothy grin on her face as she found the right key and opened the cell, "Guards are all locked up a few floors up."

"Great work, Selene," Argent said, "But you know that would have never worked if these guards had an ounce of experience, right?"

Selene fiddled with her hat, "Yeah, I know. I didn't expect it to work that well, but I got lucky, I guess."

"Be careful not to rely on luck too much," Argent chided, but said nothing more on the matter, "Did you find our gear?"

"Yeah, I did!" Selene said, as she was now trying the keys on Renik's cell, "It's in a chest in the storeroom on the first floor."

"Perfect," Jezran said, "I can't wait to write down Renik's dream in my notes."

"Oh yeah! Jezran, you said, you know where the Governor lives, right?" Selene asked.

"Well, yes," Jezran eyed her, "Why?"

"Heard some guards talk and they said he has some kind of artefact that lets him know when there will be attacks on the Hollow. That has to be the key, right?"

Jezran looked confused, "I don't believe I ever heard anything from the Governor about an artefact like that..."

Argent thought for a moment, then declared, "We can ask the Governor ourselves. For now, let's move."