“Alright!” Krimsun said aloud in the guild’s courtyard, “We shall now commence our stealth training. I have hidden a fake secret message somewhere in the area, Reggie and Mak, you must find it without Katherine or I catching you. Simply as that. You get a two-minute head start. Go!”
We set off, initially in opposing directions to avoid rousing suspicions of any bystanders, but all with a plan in mind. Reggie would search first as I kept watch, we’d then take a break to move around the guild before I’d take a turn searching. It was convoluted, but we couldn’t afford to be caught.
As I climbed to the roof of the hall, I couldn’t help but glance at the looming terror that drew ever closer. In a strange way, it gave me a bit of encouragement to see this through. Though it was a toss-up to what I feared more between the unknown horrors of The Obelisk and the all too known horrors of The Inferno.
Nevertheless, I pressed on, dropping a couple of emergency exit portals before sneaking around the higher areas of the building. Eventually, I made my way to a tower on the Northside where I could get a decent view of the King’s palace as well as the window to the Guildmaster’s private quarters.
“Lucky for us he likes the view,” Reggie whispered as he caught up to me.
“You’ve got five minutes,” I replied.
“I’m well aware,” he said, “I’ll do it in three,”
He quickly made his way down to the window as I kept an ear out for any potential witnesses. Over the past two weeks I had practiced fine-tuning my senses to detect Reggie’s new techniques, and so did he work to improve himself. As such, I was cautiously less pessimistic than usual about my ability to detect other stealthy individuals that may be watching us.
One minute turned to two, then three passed without Reggie returning. After five minutes he exited the window, empty-handed.
“Tougher than expected?” I asked.
“He’s got everything locked up tight, I only had time to pick the two locks on the right side of his desk,” he replied.
“I’ll check the left when we return,” I said as we parted ways.
I then pretended to sneakily scour the halls for a fictional secret item, making sure to be spotted once or twice by some fellow adventurers. Oddly enough, for what must’ve been the first time, I got a good view of the place. I hadn’t really taken the time to explore my new home, only really spending time in a few select areas.
There was a massive garden in the back that grew all kinds of plants, both medicinal, magical, and just beautiful. I found its smell relaxing, an oasis of nature in this crowded city. Conversely, there was the forge on the side opposite the guildmaster’s quarters. Close to Wisebeak’s workshop, I had often heard the clanging of metal while down there but never ventured in myself. Wisebeak told me that the head forge is a gruff old dwarf that had an exterior of stone but a heart of butter. “Then again that may be more of an observation of his diet!” I recalled him joking. Huge smokestacks were pouring out of the chimneys like the nostrils of an angry dragon.
As I circled back around, I saw the large pool that had been built in the courtyard. There was a team practicing water magic as well as more mundane skills like swimming and drowning rescue techniques. It reminded me of the time Aldan tried to teach me to swim. Not long after I had first joined the family; it went… less than spectacularly. To put it bluntly, I panicked and nearly drowned the both of us. I thought for sure he was going to kill me! But just as we got to dry land, Katherine ran up and showed a picture she drew of the four of us together. It was a pretty terrible drawing, but it instantly reversed Aldan’s mood and we simply agreed that I would not continue swimming lessons.
My reminiscing was cut short as I caught a glimpse of The Obelisk in the reflection of the water. “It’s almost my turn,” I thought as I began to sneak back.
Reggie was already waiting for me when I got there.
“You ready?” he asked.
“No, but I’ll do it anyway,” I replied.
“You never cease to fill me with confidence,”
“I try,”
And with that final bit of sarcasm, I scurried down the side of the roof and lowered myself down to the window. I focused magic into the end of one of my claws and proceeded to poke it through the middle of the window and carefully placed a portal on the other side. I then placed another on the outside of the window and walked right in.
“Can’t leave anything to chance,” I said as I dispelled the portals.
Dusty shelves lined the perimeter of the room and a large wooden desk with a comfortable chair sat with its back to the window. Various weapons and trophies taken from large monsters were hanging along the walls, adjacent to each was a portrait of a former guildmaster. “Certainly, a strong family resemblance,” I noted, glancing at what must’ve been The Inferno’s ancestors. It seemed that nearly every other guildmaster was a relative of his.
I lightly tapped the side of each shelf and listened for any irregular echoing before moving on to the desk. It didn’t sound like there were any hidden compartments in either. I even checked the chair, but it had nothing but stuffing inside from what I could tell.
My five minutes were nearly up, and I could hear someone approaching from about 100 meters. It wasn’t likely the guildmaster, as he should still be in his meeting, but best not to take chances. I looked to the window and noticed a large portrait above it. The first guildmaster, the who-knows-how-many-great grandfather of The Inferno. But in what little moonlight escaped from the window I could see what looked like a small gap underneath the portrait.
I focused my magic on lifting myself up to it and peeked inside.
A small compartment with what appeared to be a journal and several other documents.
“Good evening Guildmaster! Back so early?”
I nearly dropped myself as I heard Gnorfdul’s gruff voice coming from the hall.
“Ah yes, not much to report I’m afraid. Still not much progress on that overgrown nuisance out there. But we’ll figure it out soon enough!” he replied in his jovial, yet sickening, tone, “Did you need something from me?”
Panic began to set in, I had only heard one person approach and that was Gnorfdul. So that must have meant that the Guildmaster had been employing stealth magic? But why would he be doing that when casually walking to his office?
In a moment of instinct over rationality, I climbed into the compartment and hid behind the portrait just before the door began to open.
“Oh, nothing much, my ma just wanted to get your approval to order some more medical supplies,”
“At this time of night? Your mother is quite diligent, I must say,”
They entered the room and I could now just barely sense The Guildmaster by his heavy footsteps. Even mid-conversation, he concealed these sounds, but why?
And that is when I had a dreadful realization.
I could hear his voice.
I could hear his footsteps.
And as he sat in his chair right beneath me I could hear the movement of his very bones.
But it was what I couldn’t hear that filled me with a sense of fear and confusion.
I could not hear his heart.
ns 15.158.61.41da2
