Chris Hedges
We were making a theft which would hopefully allow us to lie to a bishop. The slippery slope we were standing on seemed to be most obvious to Father, but we were all aware of it. The difference was that we for the most part seemed to view it as a necessary evil and hopefully not a descent down that slippery slope into the depths of the Lodestone. That being said the idea that we would be putting on a heist of any sort was fairly exciting. Even more so because we would get to watch Grandfather in action. I was reminded of my theft of the pewter in my first months only this was going to be so much better as this time round I had accomplices. We even had a getaway driver in my father as much as he was conflicted over our course of action. The heart grotto underneath the Elendil tree had been shaped and grown by Lady Acacia, Aleera, mother and me this morning. Before the normal toils of the day. We had kept everything as normal as possible. Hopefully, our theft would not be noticed but there was no reason to raise any red flags before the attempt. The evening meal was a little stilted with us wanting to discuss the nighttime activities but not being willing to do so in front of Cora or Baldrick. Finally, it was time for everyone to retire Although I found it difficult to fall asleep with the excitement of the nighttime activities ahead of us.
When I was always bored or unable to sleep, I retreated into my mind for a little mental exercise. With the number of new skills, I had been learning I had plenty to practice and never enough time to do so. Working through my martial skills in my mental workout room did not result in any new levels or skills but it did help me to familiarize myself with the movements and sequences to that back in reality I would not have to think through each step quite so strenuously. I continued to add books to my library replicating the ones that Lady Acacia had allowed me to peruse so far. I planned on going through all of her books sooner or later. I might not have the internet as reference materials any longer but her library was extensive in explaining the known history of the Compass Kingdoms and their interactions. Her reference books on each race were equally fascinating. However, the books I focused on acquiring first were her books on spellcraft, spellsong, runes, glyphs and sigils. While pottering around in my mental fortress, I used my skill parallel process and my psi abilities to keep an eye on what was happening outside of my body. I watched as Cora and Baldric eventually retired for the night and finally fell asleep. Then I waited until I noticed the rest of my family arise once more. From what I had observed they had not fallen asleep either.
When Grandfather came to collect us from our rooms I was ready and waiting.
“Ready to go?” he asked as he opened the door without knocking.
“Yes. I replied excitedly. Though I could detect a frown on Lady Acacia's face either at my excitement or my Grandfather’s failure to knock on my door. Perhaps she had also been a recipient of what she deemed poor manners earlier.
“Well then off we go then.” He led the way through the dimly lit halls of our maintain home. Father, Mother and Aleera had to follow closely in his footsteps but Lady Acacia and I seemed to be able to see well enough despite the cloud-covered sky which hid the light of the moon. We silently crossed between the salterns until we arrived at the boat.
“In you get then.” Father sighed still a little sceptical of the morality of our plan. His doubts robbed him of the joy of sailing turning it into just another job however he made no more attempts to change our minds.
The boat felt smaller with the six of us on board even though we still had plenty of room. Most days I was used to it just being me and him or at most one other. At a gesture, Aleera and I filled the sails used as we were to his commands we set sail silently slipping through the water in the darkness. The only sound we made was the occasional creaking of the ropes and the odd wave against our hull. We soon arrived at our old pier for our old house. Des and Sinis had set up shop in our old home providing transport for anyone who still lived in Wester Town to our island in the morning so we tied up alongside their boat but did not make ourselves known to them.
Grandfather and I left my parents sister and tutor in the boat to wait for us while we attempted the theft. Before we left and passed by our old house in the dead of night Grandfather made sure to check I was tightly tied onto his back to allow him to speed through the streets. I was mortally disappointed when he simply strolled the town gates.
“Aren’t you going to run along the roofs?” I hissed in disappointment.
“What is more suspicious?” he shrugged and I felt myself move up and down with his shoulders. “A man running along the rooftops or a man taking a midnight walk.” He asked rhetorically.
We calmly walked along North Street before taking the left fork that would lead us to the Lodestar Church and the market square rather than the right which would have led us back to the lake.
Resigned to the lacklustre start to our leg of the theft I relaxed against his back wondering why I wasn’t walking seeing that this had been his plan. He paused before reaching the last junction which had the corner of the Lodestar on the other side of the crossroads in sight.
“Ready?” he asked as he paused on the final corner. We were still out of sight from the Church but about to make a move. If it was anything like our casual entrance to the town I would not have been surprised if he walked up to the main door before letting himself in.
“Ready,” I replied. It was then that I found out exactly why I was strapped to his back. He, we flickered forwards reaching the base of the Lodestar Church’s tower instantly. Without pausing he transitioned his horizontal movement into vertical momentum as he started to step up the wall of the tower . . . and kept going. I had seen people perform parkour before but this was beyond that. Some other skill had to be at play that was allowing him to continue jumping up the vertical wall. I was suddenly regretting my ability to see perfectly well at night as we ascended higher and higher into the nighttime sky. At last, we stopped rising any higher when we reached the top of the tower. I slowly managed to unclench my fingers from his shirt. I had been significantly higher jumping off the cliffs but I had also had a lot more control over my descent than I had a minute ago ascending.
“If there is the option always take the entrance from the roof. You are out of sight for any lockpicking the job might require.” He whispered his wisdom. “There also generally aren’t any guard dogs about on the roof and if you leave the door unlocked you leave your exit clear but that is another story for another time.” He once more alluded to life before the island when such acts might have even been commonplace for him.
He knelt with me still strapped to his back to pick the lock to the rooftop door. It only took him a couple of seconds to have the door open and we were descending the bell tower with hopefully no one the wiser for our entrance.
The tower rose above the sanctum so once we had tiptoed down the flights of stairs it brought us out in the back of the very room we were trying to reach. The Shard of the Lodestar sat glowing in the centre of the room.
“Now the trick to completing this theft without being noticed Kai is to take a part that they won’t know is missing.” He explained as we moved closer to the shining stone. “See it continues to grow with the mana provided by the congregation as well as that it draws up from the earth. So we need to take a piece from back or better yet from beneath.” He said as he unstrapped me and set me next to the plinth.
“Do you think you can remove and replace the stone here at the edge of the plinth so that we can take a seed from the Lodestar without it being noticed?” He gestured at the back of the octagonal plinth which happened to be the Northeast side judging by its decorations.
All the practice carving and shaping the stone on our island meant that it would not be a problem for me. “Sure,” I answered and set to work carefully separating a blank block of stone measuring thumb by thumb. It was challenging working around the carvings that that covered the plinth but not too difficult leaving him plenty of space to make a cut below what would usually be visible and would be covered up once I replaced the block of stone I had removed.
“Fine work Kai. Now comes the tricky part. I will make the first cut horizontally into the Lodestar, it isn’t truly a crystal as we know them and won’t shatter from the cut. Then once that is done you need to place your finger against the wedge we are cutting and supply it with mana while I come down at it from an angle to remove the new seed.” He explained what we were going to do.
The first cut went without issue. I was soon pressing my finger against the stone happy that I could actually reach the plinth and the Lodestar.
“Ready?” He asked once more.
“Ready,” I replied.
The second cut went just as smoothly popping out our wedge of the Lodestar into my palm as I continued to feed it my mana. It's light waxed and waned depending on the amount of mana I was providing it with. Careful not to run out of mana I kept it at just a little over what I would naturally regenerate to hopefully ensure I could keep supplying it until we got back to the boat where mother, Aleera and Lady Acacia could take over supplying it.
“Now to tidy up.” He said as he took the block of stone I had removed from the plinth and realigned it in the space I had taken it from. Carefully singing the stone back into place at a whisper. We stepped back together to inspect our work. To us at least it looked like we had never visited.
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We turned to congratulate one another on a job well done when the door rattled. I had been so focused on the process of removing the stone, supplying the mana, and then resealing the plinth I had not noticed what was immediately obvious on my HUD. Two individuals were standing outside the sanctum attempting to enter.
We heard a key enter the lock and Grandfather only had time to grab me and flicker into the shadows of the stairway before we heard the key turn and the door open.
Underpriest Cleo and Priest Aravan stood in the doorway in their nightwear. “There’s no one here.” Aravan grumpily gestured. “You have had me up in the middle of the night of a fool’s errand.”
“I felt . . .” Cleo seemed confused by the fact that no one was there and the Lodestar seemed untouched.
“What did you feel? All you said when you woke me not a minute ago was that you were worried about the Lodestar and that we had to check on it. The only reason that I am here is that you no longer have your key now that I have confiscated it and if anything were to happen to the Lodestar it would be both our heads that would roll.” It seemed that Cleo letting us in had not passed by without consequence. It also seemed that the under priest if not the priest could somehow sense that someone had been tampering with the Lodestar. That did not bode well for us. I didn’t understand why Grandfather had paused at the bottom of the stairs rather than continue speedily up them but we could move now without being noticed.
“I felt . . .” he hesitated once more before continuing unsure, “as if the Lodestar was being weakened somehow.” He finally answered.
Aravan stepped forward to examine the plinth but seemed to find nothing wrong with it despite our removal and replacement of the stone surroundings.
“It is the same as always.” He answered after checking cautiously. “Nothing is missing, there are no cracks in it or minions stepping out of the shadows of the Lodestone to steal it.” He continued after his visual check. I was surprised that despite his grumpiness at being woken he stepped forward to check.
“You are sure it’s all right?” Cleo continued to question worried by whatever it was that he had sensed when we had taken our seed of the Lodestar. I continued to feed it mana while keeping it and its light concealed in my hand while the shadows sheltered us in turn.
“There is nothing wrong, you said you were meditating before bed, correct? It is more than likely that you simply slipped into slumber without noticing and were woken by a dream more of a nightmare than truly sensed anything happening. Now that is resolved we can finally return to our sleep.” He ushered Cleo to the door without a second glance at the Lodestar.
Cleo who was still yet to be convinced said, “I could always stay with the stone for a little bit. It would be good to meditate in the Light of the Lodestar it might help soothe my worries away.” He offered to stay behind.
“No. We are both leaving the sanctum and locking it behind us. You are sorely mistaken if you think that I will be leaving you with unsupervised access to the Lodestar without me again.” He reprimanded.
“I only escorted them in. Providing them with privacy was hardly a capital crime merely a courtesy offered to the new noble family of the island.” He seemed bewildered as to why he was still in trouble over what he viewed as no more than a polite favour.
“It might not be a capital crime or against the creed but that does not mean that it was not a foolish step offer without gaining anything in recompense.” He pinched the top of his nose as if he couldn’t quite comprehend how Cleo had acted without his permission or at least advice.
“I don’t understand.” He asked still conflicted about the state of the Lodestar on top of this disagreement with his senior.
“I know, which is the only reason the only consequence of your actions was me removing this key.” He raised the key in question. “You were born here and raised here so you are unaware of the general balance of power in most cities. Furthermore, the rise of the Silverseas is too soon for the majority including you to have noticed the changes.” He sounded almost exasperated by the underpriest’s ignorance.
“What changes? The games?” he asked excited to possibly have the answer although he did not comprehend what he was getting at. “They are hardly a bad thing, they were positive all around both the entertainment they provided the watchers or the prizes and levels they gave the competitors. I heard that several competitors even gained a new skill through their races.”
“It’s not about the games or the race. Look . . .” he paused pinching the top of his nose and rubbing his eyes before trying to explain once more the realities of the world to someone who had never left the town he had been born in. “Back in Ponente in any major city there is a balance of interests, of powers if you will, no one, not even the King has complete control although to be fair he has considerably more power than most. First and foremost is the King and the crown, then there is the Archbishop and the church, the generals and the army, the nobles and the houses, the captains and the guard, the bank and the merchants, the guild and the craftsmen, finally the farmers and landowners.”
“Yes?” he asked not getting what Aravan was driving at.
“Here though? The King is too far to matter without some sort of envoy which we do not warrant being a pioneer town and paying no tax, the Silverseas are effectively the King’s representatives being recognized as a new noble house of Ponente. How they managed to do that and survive the backlash from the nobles I do not know other than to assume that the distance from the court has made it not worth the effort. As for the Church that is just us two and even there our influence is being cut into by this new school of the Silverseas we no longer educate any of their children. There is no army merely a militia that has seen no use at all since Arawn arrived, another member of the Silversea house. As for the Nobles we have none other than the new Adals again branches of the Silverseas. There is no guard but if there was they would be paid for by the Silverseas, indeed Smit is the local bank providing loans when people need them in cases of misfortune or need loans to get them started and independent from their parents. As for the Guilds again, the Silversea family branches cover most of the professions you would find in it. As for the farmers and landowners, there is not a single square meter outside the walls of Wester that is not owned by the Silversea family and let me tell you that was not a pleasant surprise to find out.”
“They do?”
“Yes, I requested permission on behalf of the Lodestar Church to build a shrine on the westernmost point of the island, the compass edge if you will or land’s end, the limit of human life in the Light of the Lodestar. Imagine my surprise when the response returned stating that I would have to take it up with the local landowner Smit. Ultimately, that was why I returned early from the consultation on building a chapel on their island. He refused to donate the land in question in recompense for our efforts.”
“You did not offer to purchase the land?” Cleo quietly questioned.
“I doubt that he would have accepted any offer that we could afford. That is the danger with monopolies they are unlikely to give up any advantage no matter how small.” He muttered. “Needing to select new metiers for their children was a small lever that we could have attempted to use to pry forth some small agreement but you lost us that.”
“You would use the light of the lodestar as a bargaining tool?” Cleo asked sounding somewhat disillusioned.
“Not a bargaining tool a counterbalance to offset the current power imbalance developing on the island.” He confirmed his position.
“Then why the sudden worry about the Lodestar? I doubted you would listen to me before I woke you up and was afraid of your rebuke but you were equally worried.” Cleo added.
“After the initial fear of some form of base race attack from the depths of the Lodestone had been proven false. I was still worried that the Silverseas might be making a play for it. The church has control over a few shards of the Lodestar in Elvish lands and the next step for most noble families with the support of the church is to create their own chapels with their own shards. We were only just talking about creating one on their island and I worried that they might be taking matters into their own hands with or without our blessing.”
“Then you believe me? That the Lodestar truly is weaker than it was this morning.”
“No. We came, we saw it is the same, no harm has come to the Lodestar and it is time to return to bed.”
“To bed, should I not stand vigil, to protect it?” the concerned under priest asked.
“If you are truly worried about harm or threats to the Lodestar you may search the town for anything out of place but that is that.” He answered giving Cleo his marching orders refusing once more to allow him to stay in the room. “No one is to be allowed in without me, not even you alone.” He said as he ushered Cleo out of the room locking the door firmly behind him.
We continued to stand in silence for a second as we heard their steps depart before Grandfather dashed up the flights of stairs with me under his arm. He had just strapped me onto his back once more when we heard the front door to the church open.
“Time to go, Kai, looks like you get to see a rooftop dash after all.” He whispered before he leapt from the top of the tower.
We landed silently on the round roof of the building opposite. We were out of sight of Cleo whose unease had driven him to circle the church. Before he could arrive at our end of the church Grandfather sprinted along the shingles in darkness and silence magically failing to crack any of them beneath his wait and running along them as if they were as flat as a road rather than the steep angles they were. He leapt the next street as we continued our flight out of town and jumped one more to the top of the town wall before running east along it to the lake where he quickly climbed down and raced to the boat.
The family had been waiting ready to set sail probably anxiously seeing as it had taken us far longer than we had expected.
“You have the seed?” Asked mother worriedly.
“Yes, yes,” Grandfather responded as he once more unstrapped me from my back. Once free Aleera and I filled the sail with the wind while handing off the seed of the Lodestar to mother and Lady Acacia to supply with mana.
“Needs a little more mana.” Lady Acacia commented on its dim glow
They must have provided more mana because it began to shine brighter between their clasped hands.
“Keep it down.” Father pointed to the bottom of the boat. “If we are going to steal the Light of the Lodestar could you at least keep it out of sight?” Despite his support, he was still conflicted about our theft.
It was not long before we were once more back on the island then climbing up the slope. Mother made it to the island before she tapped out. “I’m out of mana.”
Aleera carried it across the salterns before she too ran dry.
Lady Acacia carried it a quarter of the way up before she too ran out.
“Look give it back to Kai and I will run him up to the top.” Grandfather suggested and I took back the seed once more. Yet again I was picked up by my Grandfather and he flashed up the slope leaving the others far behind despite their protestations that they would be right behind us.
Once within the cone of our mountain I approached the base of the Elendil tree we had carved a set of stone steps to disappear beneath it. The roots left a small entrance for us to pass through. Then in the centre of the heart grotto, the tap root went down. Lady Acacia had sung a pocket into which we were to place the seed.
Unwilling to wait for the others to arrive I placed the seed in the centre of the pocket in the tap root and watched as it began to shine brightly pulling from the tree as it settled in and joined to the root seamlessly.
We breathed a sigh of relief at our successful efforts. “Congratulations on your first heist, boy.” Grandfather ruffled my head in satisfaction.
“Couldn’t have done it without you, old man,” I replied happy that the first stage in fooling the bishop appeared to have been completed without a hitch. Now we just had to learn those skills. We waited in comfortable silence bathed int he blue light of the growing seed of the Lodestar for our family to arrive.