Typical late start, hopefully fun bit of writing!
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Prompt: A thief attempts to steal a magical object from a powerful wizard’s tower but is caught and forced to make a deal to avoid imprisonment.
Genre: Fantasy
Source: 121 Short Story Prompts to Help You Write Unforgettable Stories
Time Spent: 60 minutes
Word Count: 1810
Prompt: A thief attempts to steal a magical object from a powerful wizard’s tower but is caught and forced to make a deal to avoid imprisonment.
Talia Gara carefully tested her latest foothold, gauged the distance to the next ledge, took a deep breath, and leapt. Strong fingers caught onto the stone lip. A crack and a shift downward caused her heart to jump into her throat, but it was just a small shift downward. She pulled herself up carefully, and seeing that the ledge was a small balcony off a room with no light showing and heavy wooden doors closed.
Talia examined the door, but seeing the shimmer of an enchantment on it, she thought better of trying to pick it. A glance down showed that she was already several hundred feet into the air. That was the danger of trying to break into the tower of a wizard. There were often many enchantments and other magical defenses, and anything worth stealing was often many hundreds of feet into the sky.
Talia was a young woman of 26, tall and slim, with short red hair and green eyes. She wore simple, and well fitted cloth garments to allow the easiest movement for climbing, colored a dark green. Several daggers and other climbing tools were well hidden about her person. She had a thin face and vaguely pointed ears, pointing to the grandfather who was an elf. Her agility, ability to sense magical enchantment, and her skills came from that grandfather and overall her father’s family in general. Strong and sinewy muscles and strong hands spoke to her mother’s family, and their long lineage of human warriors and soldiers.
Talia would rather have not taken this job. It was dangerous business, to steal from a wizard in general, and even more so if the theft was involved, or even suspected to be, from a rival wizard (and wizards always had rivals, hence the many such towers which dotted the continent). She did, however, owe the thieves guild, and the thieves guild owed a favor to another wizard, she was not even sure who, and so she got the assignment.
Looking up while she rested a moment and took a small sip of water and was relieved to see that only about fifty feet or so was between her and the personal chambers of the wizard. She evaluated the best way to make that climb and seeing a few decorations and banners there, she saw several ways of making the climb. Even as an experienced climber, it took her nearly twenty minutes to reach the top, having to pause and redirect several times to avoid what were clearly traps and several other enchantments. Finally, she was carefully swinging herself over the balustrade of another balcony.
She was rather suspicious that the doors seemed to be somewhat ajar, and there were several candles lit. She had been told that the wizard whose tower she was breaking into was away. She edged herself forward and paused at the very edge of the slight parted curtains to survey the room. Seeing nothing, Talia inched forward, The room was well appointed with a variety of magical apparatus scattered around of which she could not even begin to describe. It had been given vague directions of a polished orb of stone that she was to steal and it took her a moment to find it, sitting idly on the edge of a bench, with not the slightest enchantment and defense around it. This immediately set her on edge, but after a several moments silently crouching in a shadow she saw nothing movie, so began to move forward once more. She reached out for the shiny red stone.
Just as her fingers were about to touch the stone, Talia felt herself stopped cold, with what felt like a tendril of warmth wrapped around her risks. She was pulled roughly back and up in the air and found herself floating aimlessly in a faint blue glow. She thrashed around a little but quickly realized it was pointless, especially since she turned and saw a tall woman in a billowing Orange robe walking toward her.
“I am impressed,” the wizard, who looked about Talia’s age, had dark brown hair, slicked back and running down to just below her shoulders, and eyes of deep amber. “I am not sure that I have met anyone who both the physical ability to climb my tower and the ability to avoid my enchantments, at least working on their own.”
The wizard stepped forward and with a snap of her fingers several crystals lying on tables lifted up and began to bathe the room in light. Talia said nothing. She was tempted to plead for her life, or blame those who had commanded her as a way to pay her debts, but got the sense that she needed to know where things stood, and what this wizard, who was quite young, as far as she understood it, to have her own tower, planned to do with her.
Her captor circled her slowly and her eyes, burning with curiosity, darted over her and she was muttering to herself. “Hmm, well equipped. Clearly a skilled climber. Clearly Thieves Guild trained. . .hmm, but missing the usual equipment and tattoos. Unwilling member, perhaps. . .hmm, or contracted with them. Ah, faint elven features, half maybe. . .hmm, not a quarter elven I’d say, probably with some ability to sense magic. That explains that.”
To be looked over and commented on like that made Talia uncomfortable, and she resisted the temptation to squirm or challenge her captor. Finally, the wizard had finished and was staring at her for a long moment before addressing her again.
“You are a fascinating specimen,” the woman began, “and clearly skilled. I am curious, do you know who I am?”
Talia shook her head that she did not.
“Hmm,” nodded the woman, “I suspected as much. My name is Barana Dowgren, and I have recently come into possession of this tower as the final apprentice of its former owner, my master and teacher, the Grand Wizard Septian Marric, who was killed three months ago while returning from a meeting of the Grand Wizards. I increasingly suspect it was deliberate. Many other Wizards resent my luck, and the trove of books, tools, and artefacts I was left. Not the least several of Master Septian other apprentices. There have been many attempts already to steal some of these items from me, but you are the first to make it this far.”
“What will you do with me?” Talia could hold her question in no longer.
Barana shrugged, “Do? Why should I do anything with you? It is plain to me that you were hired for this job, probably through several intermediaries, as were the previous thieves. I suppose I should turn you in to the Watch, although. . .”
The young wizard seemed lost in thought and was muttering, inaudibly, to herself. One minute stretched to two, stretched to three, and by the fourth minute Talia again felt her impatience, and desire for an option aside from the disgrace of an official arrest, get the better of her, and she prompted, “although?”
Barana seemed startled at this and looked up at her, “Oh, I am sorry, it has been a long and stressful few months. I think I might have a preposition for you, a way we can both get what we want.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, first off, am I correct in guessing that you are only reluctantly affiliated with the Thieves Guild, despite your skills, and given the task of stealing my Orb of Redalon with no choice in the matter.”
Talia nodded, “yes, I was trained with the Thieves Guild, mostly to defy my parents, but had hoped to use those skills more productively and I would have, had I not been captured by a Cavalan Raid on my way to visit my mother. It was the Thieves Guild who arranged my release, seeing an opportunity to put me in their debt. They gave me this assignment as a way to finally square that debt.”
“Hmm, probably hoping that you would be caught and turned over to The Watch, and they would again put you in their debt by bailing you out once more.”
“Most likely,” Talia sighed.
“Forgive me, I am remiss in my manners, what is your name?”
“Talia Gara.”
Barana smiled, “well then, Talia Gara, I have a proposition for you. How would you like to work for me? I could use a bodyguard, someone to help better secure and protect me and my home from would be thieves and, I suspect, eventually assassins. Maybe a little thievery against those jealous of me, depending on how things start to play out.”
“What is in it for me?” I asked, hesitantly.
The young wizard thought for a moment, “There are several comfortable bedrooms here, you are welcome to one of them, I shall provide you with food, I will square your debt with the Thieves Guild, and pay you for your services. What I ask in return is to fulfill the role of my bodyguard and aid for not less than 7 years.”
It was Talia’s turn to think for a moment. It sounded like a good deal, but also a hard job, and after the last several years under the Thieves Guild’s thumb, she worried about trading one debt for another. She sighed and said, “twenty-five silver a week and three years in your service.”
Barana seemed startled, but amused, as being bargained with and regarded her captive with a new eye of respect. “twenty silver and five years.”
Talia had also been studying the woman before her and had come to the conclusions that while she was a cheerful demeanor, and was perhaps a bit absent-minded (most wizards were to some degree), that she was extremely intelligent, shrewd, and determined. The work she would need to do would no doubt be hard, and at times stressful, but was almost certainly a more noble pursuit that anything the Thieves Guild would have her do.
“Twenty-five silver, five years, and we put everything into writing.”
Barana waived her hand, and the blue glow disappeared, dropping Talia a short distance to the floor. Caught by surprise, she landed hard on the floor. She looked up to see the wizard reaching a hand out to her. She took it and allowed herself to be pulled upright.
“Done,” Barana said. “I rather think this will benefit us both well. Now, dawn is still some way off. Lets get you settled into a room, and we will draw up an official contact in the morning”
Talia had to admit that she was tired from her climb, and from the fear she had been suppressing while she was captive, and allowed herself to be lead from the room. As she did so, she allowed herself to hope that Barana was right and this had been the right decision.
Well, that’s another one where the length rather ran way from me, but I am pleased with how it came out and how easily the story flowed out of me. I hope you all enjoy it!
Hope you enjoyed and that you are having a wonderful day and get to do, or experience, something creative.
– Jon
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