The three men rushed Connor. He sidestepped, putting Bvorn’s desk between them and him.

Bvorn’s guards came around either side of the desk and swung at him with their shortswords.

Connor parried the one on the left and spun, twisting his body out of the way of the other without even looking. He continued the spin and lashed out, kicking the man on the left side in the stomach.

Breath whooshed out of the man’s lungs, and he tumbled backward. The other man slashed at Connor’s head in the split second his back was turned.

The blade whistled in the air, singing where it would land to Connor’s enhanced ears.

He parried again before he’d even finished turning to face his attacker.

The clash of steel on steel rang out, and Connor grabbed the man’s sword arm, keeping the blade away from him as he stabbed upward.

His rapier pierced the soft flesh under the man’s jaw and continued upward… skewering his brain.

The other man rushed him and swung at his exposed back.

Connor pulled his blade free, dropped to the floor and rolled backward behind the man. He stabbed his rapier into the man’s kidneys in quick thrusts. The man collapsed, and blood pooled on the ground beneath him.

Bvorn gritted his teeth and glared at Connor even as Vadik drew his scimitar.

“I want him alive,” Connor said.

Bvorn frowned. “Who are you—?”

Vadik held the edge of his scimitar against Bvorn’s throat.

Bvorn swallowed hard. “Traitorous bastard! I should’ve known better than to trust you,” he said.

“I get that a lot,” Vadik said, “drop your sword.”

Bvorn dropped his sword. The blade clattered on the floor.

Footsteps clambered toward them from below. Moving fast.

Connor stuck his head out the doorway. Sure enough, a sea of thieves was heading straight for them.

The key was still in the door. Connor pulled it out, slammed the door and locked it. Half a breath later, a wave of thieves slammed into the door like a tidal wave.

It shuddered violently but held. No doubt thanks to all the wards.

They couldn’t pick the lock the way he had, but how much longer would it hold up against the beating it was taking, even with the enchantments?

The door rattled continuously, and Bvorn stood still with Vadik’s blade at his throat.

“So… now what?” Vadik asked.

“I’m working on it,” Connor said. He opened the safe, and a cloud of smoke poured out. He coughed and peered inside.

Even with him smothering the flames as quickly as he had, most of the documents inside were little more than ash.

He sighed and tenderly brushed what little remained into his bottomless bag. Ash and all. Maybe they’d find something useful. He doubted it.

The door shuddered.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

With the contents of the safe ruined, their best and possibly only lead now was Bvorn himself.

“We’re taking him with us,” Connor said.

“We’re what?” Vadik said, “In case you haven’t noticed there’s an army outside that door. I don’t think they’ll just let us stroll out of here. Hostage or not.”

Connor pulled the runed rod out of his bag and struck Bvorn on the neck. He crumpled bonelessly, and Connor hit him again and again just to make sure he couldn’t so much as twitch.

Vadik sighed. “Great now he can’t even walk out of here. What next oh mighty leader?” he said with just a hint of sarcasm.

Connor looked at the window.

Vadik followed his gaze. “No! No way! I am not going out there! And while carrying someone? Are you insane?” he said.

Connor hefted Bvorn over his back like a sack of potatoes and undid the latch on the window. The array of interlaced wards deactivated. He opened it, and a gust of wind washed over him. He peered over the edge at the ground two floors below.

There was no stairwell, or even a nearby rooftop to throw Bvorn and leap across to.

He gritted his teeth and swung one leg over the windowsill, then the other. He lowered himself down and got a foothold on a deep crack in the wall. Bvorn teetered, and Connor balanced him on his shoulder.

He wouldn’t be much good with his brains splattered all over the street.

“Coming?” Connor asked.

Vadik shook his head. “What is it with you and bloody windows. I’m starting to think Davison was onto something,” he muttered.

Connor eased down the side of the building. When he made it halfway, Vadik started his own descent.

The door stopped rattling. The hairs on Connor’s neck stood on end. Why would they stop? Did they know the two of them were climbing down the building? How?

The door thumped heavily. Then again… and again. In steady beats.

“Great,” Connor muttered, “they have a battering ram. Why in the twelve does a thieves guild have a battering ram?”

“You’re asking me? I just worked here. Probably one of Bvorn’s insane contingencies. Could you hurry up down there?” Vadik said.

“I’m already moving as fast as I can,” Connor hissed through clenched teeth.

“It’s just… I’d like to get away from the hornet’s nest you’ve kicked over,” Vadik said.

Connor slowly lowered himself, aiming for another foothold. His handhold crumbled in his fist and broke free. He fell and slid down the wall.

He caught himself on another crack. Pain shot through his fingers, but he held on. He let out a relieved sigh.

“See? You can go faster,” Vadik said.

“If we get out of this alive, I’m going to strangle you,” Connor said.

A man with his hood pulled up strolled along the alleyway below them. Connor froze.

The plaster beneath his foot crumbled and a trickle of debris skittered down the wall.

The man below them stopped and looked at the base of the wall.

“Hmm?” he said.

Connor held his breath.

The man looked up. “They’re coming down the side!” he yelled. He ran back around the corner. The steady thumping on the office door stopped, and the entire building exploded with noise and vicious shouts.

Connor reached the ground. Bvorn slid off his shoulder and smacked onto the cobblestones with a heavy thud.

Vadik climbed down the last few feet. “You take such great care of your guests,” he said.

“He probably didn’t even feel it,” Connor said.

Connor hauled Bvorn’s limp body up and slung him over his other shoulder. A flood of thieves came around the corner, their weapons already drawn.

Connor sprinted in the opposite direction. Vadik soon took the lead even with Connor running as fast as he could.

“Come on, Connor!” Vadik yelled, “just leave him!”

“I can’t,” Connor said between panting breaths, “he could be our only lead.”

The footsteps were drawing closer… damn it! They were gaining…

A crowd spilled out of the street on his left, packed together so densely it would be impossible to move without shoving somebody.

“This way!” Connor shouted. He ran straight into the crowd and pushed his way through.

“Hey watch it!”

“Jerk!”

“Guards!”

He ignored everyone yelling at him and pushed his way through as fast as possible.

The wave of thieves behind them slammed almost to a complete stop. People shouted profanity and cried out, but the crowd was simply too densely packed to allow so many to push their way through.

Connor smiled. Perfect.

Guards came rushing in toward the commotion, and the thieves turned on them. The first to respond were cut down. Blood filled the streets. The crowd screamed and panicked. More guards ran down, and everything devolved into utter chaos.

Connor grabbed Vadik by the arm and pulled him out onto a less crowded street.

The crowd had served its purpose. It was time to put as much distance between them and The Shadowcloaks as possible and lose the few that remained on their trail.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be,” Vadik said.

A guard pointed at Connor. “Hey! You! Stop!” he yelled.

“You just had to say it didn’t you?” Connor said.

The guards raced after them, along with The Shadowcloaks that’d kept up. Thankfully, many of the guards had spent far too long relaxing in the guardhouse with a tankard of ale, and they fell behind.

More guards joined the chase though, and The Shadowcloaks weren’t nearly so easy to get rid of. A few split off in different directions. Connor gritted his teeth. What were the bastards up to?