The Prince of Thieves Ch. 12

The door closes with an abrupt 'slam!' behind Atlas and he spares it only a single glance backwards before turning his attention to the hall in front of him. "Huh," grunts Atlas. "I guess there's no turning back for me."

He proceeds down the hall cautiously, eyes flicking this way and that as he does so. In this moment he felt as nervous as when he was breaking into a nobles home.

He draws near to the end, pushing another set of wooden doors open to reveal a grand library, lit by an absolutely huge fireplace. "Huh...Kale would absolutely love this place."

Atlas steps inside, slowly spinning around to take in his surroundings, even as he approaches the center of the room. He stops in front of a wooden table and looks down at the ancient tomes left lying haphazardly across it's surface.

"I wish I had some idea of what I'm supposed to be looking for..."

Atlas begins shuffling books this way and that, looking for some kind of clue. He registers a single tap of a finger on his shoulder. "Just a moment." Again, he registers a tap and reaches up, swatting at it half-heartedly. "I said, just a moment."

"Pardon me, sir," sounds a male voice from behind. Atlas turns sharply, finding a finely dressed elderly man with a cane in his left hand. "Good evening, sir." He bows his head respectfully. "The next Filium nox, I presume?" Atlas nods, meeting his amber gaze with his own. The man laughs, twirling the cane around quickly before planting it firmly against the stone floor. "Very good! Sir Lucius Ludok, at your service! I shall be your steward for the remainder of your trial. Please, feel free to direct any an all questions to me."

"Alright. I'm Atlas."

"A pleasure to meet you." The two shake hands, Atlas making no contact with his hand through the material of his gloves. "Ah, where are my manners? Forgive me. Would you care for a drink?"

"No. I'd actually like it if you could point me in the direction I need to go to get this trail underway." Lucius nods in understanding.

"Very good. Please, direct your attention over here." Lucius motions to the many, many shelves of ancient books. "Tell me, Sir Atlas, what is it that you see?" Atlas pauses for a moment. To him, 'books' would be too obvious. It is a Trial...he has to think unconventional, the same as when he is approaching a theft. It wasn't books he was looking at...it was--

"Well?"

"Knowledge," ventures Atlas. "I see knowledge." There is a sparkle in Lucius' amber eye, and the old man smiles.

"You and I think alike, I see. Yes. This grand collection of knowledge is the oldest of it's kind in all of existence. All the knowledge of the world is contained in the pages of these

tomes. Your first trial is simple, Sir Atlas. Find the one tome among them that is solely yours."

"What does that mean?"

"There are those books that have existed as long as there have been those to pen them. Long enough to develop a life of their own. Your book will call to you, will demand that you take it up. To others, it will be blank. Nothing but a collection of bare pages that await writing. But to YOU, Filium nox...it will be what you need to make your incomplete self complete."

"A book? Why don't we just move on to the next trial instead?"

"We cannot. The book serves as a path to becoming a complete being. Without it, you will never be worthy of The Blessing."

Atlas sighs a bit and then chuckles. "Well...I suppose. After all, I've come this far. I should give it a try." With that, Atlas begins walking, passing between two book shelves before disappearing from Lucius' sight.

"Very good, Sir Atlas! Return when you have located your tome!" Atlas shifts his gaze, left and right across the books stacked upon each shelf. None of them 'call' to the thief, none of them stand out in his eyes.

All of the knowledge in the world contained among the books before him and no need for any but what he sought. The book that was solely his, and for no one else. But how to locate such a thing?

"I wonder if I'm supposed to do something special?" Atlas mutters to himself in question. "Is looking enough or...?"

"Might I be of assistance, Sir Atlas?" He jumps a bit and looks back sharply at Lucius. "You have questions?"

"How am I supposed to find this book?"

"The spirit naturally seeks out what will make it whole. You need only listen to your instincts, and allow them to guide you where they will. You will succeed. I have faith in you, Filium nox." Atlas sighs deeply and then nods in understanding.

"Let my instincts guide me, hm?"

"It is more difficult for some. You are a thief, no?" Atlas nods and Lucius smiles in response. "Then, it should be easy. You have taught yourself to be completely aware of the world around you, to observe and notice the smallest of things that are completely lost to others. Trusting your instincts should come natural to you, Sir Atlas."

"I use my eyes not my instincts, Lucius." Atlas scratches his chin and looks first left and then right before continuing on his way. He wanders through the library in silence.

"Instinct..." The thief shakes his hooded head. "I'm a thief. I'm not a Terin, not a Filium nox." Atlas growls a bit. "Should have never gone to that damned oasis!" He angrily slams his fist against the nearest bookcase and a single book drops from the top to his feet.

"Very good, Sir--" Atlas turns and seizes the man by the front of his tunic before he can stop himself.

"Stop...your sneaking up on me, Lucius." He flashes an apologetic smile in response and taps his cane against the leather bound book, which Atlas retrieves a moment later and holds out in offer to the man. "I apologize for--"

"What have you to apologize for? You have located your tome. A Grimoire by the looks of it, Sir Atlas." Atlas looks at the book for only a moment before opening it. Writing, in a language completely unfamiliar to him coupled with symbols unfamiliar to him adorn it's pages.

"A Grimoire? I don't..."

"My apologies. It is a book of magic. You have trained the Body, and the Mind but neglected the Spirit." Atlas flips through page after page of the strange writing and symbols, growing frustrated as he does so.

"I speak Solarian and Maeror, but not this. How am I supposed to learn from a book written in a language I do not understand?"

"You will learn in time."

"Time is what I happen to be short of, Lucius."

"Ah, I see. You are worried about your companions." Atlas snaps the book shut with a dull thud, amber eyes glowering under his black hood. "Do not worry, Sir Atlas. They will come to no harm so long as you complete the trials. Their fates rest with you."

"Then you understand that no matter how fond of them I usually am I don't have time for word games, or riddles. So, we need to be moving on as quickly as possible to the point of each trial." Lucius nods in understanding. "Good."

"Come this way, then." Atlas follows the elderly man through the library to a set of heavy wooden doors. "You have neglected the Spirit. But do not despair, for you are Filium nox. The ability to weave magic will come as naturally to you as drawing breath."

"I am not a Terin, Lucius. They're gone, scattered to the winds during the Great War and without a doubt they are extinct."

"As with all new magicians, you require a Familiar. A guiding spirit to help focus your magic. I will teach you to claim one as your own." Atlas sighs in disbelief, his words having had absolutely no effect on the elderly man. The doors open as they approach, and they enter a room lit only by a pair of flickering torches. A symbol, the same as the one from the Grimoire is carved upon the floor. "Stand on the symbol there."

Atlas takes a breath and does as told, standing on the symbol on the edge of the strange circle. "Now what?"

"You will draw forth your Familiar from this lands beasts. Recite the words as I do, 'Surge nunc, et efficiamini mei servus'."

"Is that all? Well, alright..." The torches flicker wildly as Atlas begins reciting the words, the air singing with energy, filling the thief's being until he felt like he would burst from the pressure.

"Don't contain the energy, you'll die! Focus it on the center! Now!" Atlas casts an arm out towards the center symbol as the energy swells, willing it in that direction with all his might.

A blinding light fills the room, erasing every bit of darkness and forcing both Lucius and Atlas to shield their eyes from it. After a few moments of blinding intensity, it softens to nothing until it completely disappears.

Atlas moves his hand and gazes at the great, white wolf in the center of the circle, head held high as she regards the thief. "Maua!" declares Atlas, smiling. The she-wolf approaches coming to a stop at Atlas' side.

"The noble wolf," observes Lucius. "Very--"

"The next trial, Lucius," interrupts Atlas.

"Very well. You have your Familiar. You have your Grimoire. Proceed through the door and return when you have the Dei Oculo."

"The what?"

"You'll know it when you have located it." Atlas scoffs and then nods. "And...do take a torch. It's awfully dark down there, Sir Atlas. Oh!" Lucius removes the satchel hanging at his hip and tosses the leather bag to him. "For carrying your Grimoire, and the Dei Oculo." Atlas tucks the book into it, raises the strap over his head and brushes the satchel towards his lower back. "Do be careful..."

Atlas takes one of the torches from the wall and approaches the wooden doors opposite the two of them, Maua following beside him the entire time. The orange light of the torch illuminates a set of stairs leading straight down into the earth. "Fantastic..." Maua growls a bit and Atlas pats her head. "It'll be alright, Maua. Come on." They descend slowly, the light of the torch illuminating their path.

The air begins to cool the further they descend the ancient stone stairs until finally the ground levels out into a hallway. Atlas' boot-steps echo off the stone walls, and the 'click-clack' of Maua's black nails on the stone floor sounds a strange pattern that adds some noise to the otherwise silent and dark world they now occupy. Their long descent is accompanied by yet another long walk.

The hall changes around them. The man-made walls giving way to cave stone and shortly after, the floor as well. The hall widens, slightly so at first until it expends well beyond the light of the torch.

No longer is the sound of Atlas' boot-steps and Maua's nails the only thing in their world. The soft sound of water flowing rings in the distance, growing steadily louder and more thunderous as the two approach. The air grows damper, colder.

It's all around them, though the crashing sounds of water sounds most thunderous in front of them. The light of the torch begins to reflect off a wall of water in their path, Maua and Atlas both come to a stop in a small puddle of flowing water.

"Guess I won't be keeping my torch..." He looks at the bit of wood and then at the wall of water before tossing it through it.

Over the crashing of the water, the torch strikes stone with a loud clatter nearly immediately. Atlas sighs a bit and steps forward, hand out-stretched to guide him through the waterfall.

It collides with no stone and aside from the cold drenching of the water fall, there is nothing to impede their progress. Atlas' hood sheds most of the water, keeping it from his eyes as he pushes forward.

For several long moments he's completely surrounded by the wall of water until at last he breaks free. A wry laugh escapes from him as he gazes around the absolutely massive cavern, strange glowing crystals illuminating the entire place.

"How is all this-- Maua!" Atlas shields his face as the she-wolf shakes off, flinging droplets of water in all directions from her silvery fur. She growls softly in response to his chastising.

Atlas approaches a massive crystal, the gem standing FAR taller then him and wider then he could even reach around. He taps his knuckles against it, smiling softly as it resonates in response.

"I am most definitely taking a piece of this." The thief looks around for a moment before retrieving a sizeable chunk of stone from the ground and smashing it against the crystal in an attempt to chip a piece off...which causes the rock to crumble, the crystal to resonate loudly and Atlas to curse and shake his stinging hand. "That didn't work..."

Feeling the touch of a nose to his fingertips, Atlas glances down at Maua, clutching a piece of brightly glowing crystal between her jaws. The thief takes it from her turning over the bit of crystal again and again between his nimble fingers.

"Good girl, Maua." He tucks the crystal into the satchel moments before a fierce snarl sounds from Maua. Atlas glances down, then in the direction she's looking in. "Hide!"

The she-wolf disappears back into the wall of water behind them while Atlas chooses to hide behind the massive piece of glowing crystal. The thief crouches low, peering around the crystal.

Atlas narrows his eyes, watching as two figures come shuffling towards the light, crooked, notched and ruined weapons in their inhuman hands. Eyes, black as night scan their surrounding as they chatter on in growls, snarls and clicks.

"What are you saying...?" Atlas murmurs softly to himself. One of the ghostly pale creatures gathers the bit of wood that was at one point his torch. "Damn."

The other clicks and growls before turning and shuffling away, leaving his partner in a ragged patchwork of rusted armor to investigate. Atlas slowly draws his dagger and then taps the blade against the crystal, attracting the creatures attention.

It shuffles over ever slowly, prepared to attack whatever was waiting. The moment it is within reach, Atlas moves quick. He lunges from around the crystal, capturing it's blade hand and planting the dagger firmly into it's chest twice.

It pitches backwards and the thief catches it, pulling it around the crystal and lowering it's body softly to the ground. He kneels, searching over it for a moment and retrieving a second piece of glowing crystal, which joins the other in his satchel.

Atlas stands and steps around the crystal. A hiss sounds to his left and he looks over at the creature, which turns and promptly flee's. The thief gives chase, only to be outrun by a silver streak of fur and fangs.

Maua snarls and pounces on the creature, the two disappearing from sight a moment later. He continues running, catching up and finding Maua standing over the body.

She killed it with a single bite to the back of the neck. "Good girl..." Atlas strokes the top of her head as he passes by, leaving it's body where it lay. Maua follows beside the thief, head held high as she does so.

The path is a downward slope, winding this way and that before eventually leading them to a large stone bridge. Atlas hides behind a large bunch of rocks, peering around it at the occupied bridge.

"Looks a bit crowded for our tastes, huh, Maua?"

A soft growl sounds from the she-wolf in response. A group of the creatures occupies the middle of the bridge, gathered around a small fire burning brightly.

"Hmm..." For Atlas, getting past them would be as simple as hanging over the edge of the bridge and moving hand-over-hand across it until he was to the other side. But with Maua in tow, he simply could not do it. The thief gazes at them for the longest time before looking at the crystal and smiling.

He skirts the crystal, moving low to the ground and using the shadows to get as close as possible to the bridge and away from the crystal. Kneeling behind a rather large rock, Atlas produces a copper coin from one of the pouches on his belt and tosses it at the crystal.

It strikes it's glowing surface, and it begins to resonate loudly. Both himself and Maua watch from the shadows as the creatures slowly begin to shuffle by. Atlas grins under his hood and moves around the rock, nearly running into one of them.

It opens it's mouth moments before he plants firmly into it's throat and clamping a hand over it's mouth. He looks back sharply at the others, finding them too preoccupied with the resonating crystal then their comrade.

Atlas slowly lowers it's body to the stone bridge and moves quickly but quietly away from them. The path winds this way and that, heading at a gentle downward slope.

In the middle of the path, after a final turn Atlas was treated to a sight he would recall for all his days. A grand fortress stands in the distance, illuminated by the glow of the many large crystals sprouting from it's stone walls like tree's.

"Wow," murmurs Atlas, gazing at the fortress in wonder. He knew in that moment why only a thief had managed to complete this trial.

The fortress was no doubt absolutely filled with those creatures, and any swordsman or swordswoman would seek to enter through the gates as though they had been invited.

Absolutely the wrong thing to do. A soft growl from Maua brings him back to the world and he looks down. "Wait here, Maua. I'll be back." The she-wolf whines a bit in response and he pats her on the head. "Now, now. Don't worry one bit. I wouldn't wish for these creatures to suffer Illia's wrath after killing me, so I'll be back alive."

With that, Atlas begins his approach of the fortress, slipping from shadow to shadow as he does so. It is a tedious process, one that he isn't sure is entirely necessary given the apparent desertion of the fortress.

If it weren't for the tingling between his shoulders that warned him such measures weren't wasted, he would not bother with them. Crouching low in a shadow, he watches the fortress from under his hood.

For several moments he see's nothing new until he catches only the tiniest movement on top of the walls. With the feeling confirmed, he takes extra care in his approach until he is finally pressed up against the stone of the fortress, staring up the wall for some kind of hand hold.

He can see only a single way up the sheer stone. The glowing crystals that sprout from the walls might offer some kind of path to him, if it weren't for the resonating of them at the slightest motion.

Though, to his experienced eyes it was either the crystals or the gates and while neither holds much appeal, it is the lesser of the two evils that Atlas chooses.

He takes several steps back and then rushes the wall, dashing up it and grasping the crystal nearest to him. With a soft grunt, Atlas pulls himself up onto it's glowing surface. The thief climbs up one more before dashing up another, the whole time the crystals ringing softly under his boots.

Atlas ignores it as he climbs, moving deftly from hand-hold to hand-hold and crystal to crystal. Standing near the top with a fatal fall below he leaps a gap between the crystals and nearly immediately throws himself against what little stone separates him from the walls.

He had just barely caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. One of the creatures snarls and growls above him to another.

He draws his dagger from the sheath at his lower back and peers up, awaiting his discovery. For several long, long moments he stays absolutely still until he hears it depart and he releases a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

Atlas slowly peers over the edge of the stone, amber eyes shifting from left to right before he climbs over. The walls surround not even a single building, but rather a large tree of what appears to the thief's eyes as solid diamond.

Atlas steps closer to the edge, peering down at it with a rather large grin.

"Just a chunk of that would make me richer then that old king in Solis," Atlas muses to himself. Hearing shuffling footsteps Atlas glances left at the creature with it's blade raised to strike.

He reacts as quickly as he can, turning to dodge the blade...and falling backwards. His eyes widen, and a strangled curse sounds from him as he plummets towards the ground...