Theft

The cold winds threatened to pull the hood of his cloak down. Aoric absentmindedly pulled the hood down and masked his face with a simple black cloth, tiger over his nose. He wasn't sure why, but he felt rather anxious this evening.

The stone paved street below was rather crowded as the residents left their homes and headed for the cathedral. Aoric couldn't help but wonder what this sermon entailed that nearly everyone attended it. A quick glance at the macabre statues and engravings around the cathedral was enough to curb his curiosity. He wouldn't be too surprised if he learned they practiced animal sacrifice in there.

"Some things better left undisturbed." He uttered, mostly to himself, and watched the citizens pass by. About an hour passed until the streets were devoid of life and movement.

He waited a short while longer, to make sure no guards were patrolling the streets and that he wouldn't come across someone late to the sermon. Minutes past in silence, and after counting to six hundred, he got moving.

Just like last time, he climbed down the rooftops, crossed the wide street, and hopped over the wall surrounding the mansion. As soon as his feet touched the ground on the other side, he ducked and moved behind the plants. He silently waited, listening for any unnatural sound, any signs that he was not the only person here.

A few moments passed in complete silence before he once again moved quickly and silently, making his was over to the window he had used before. Climbing to the second floor was easy, and so was unlocking the lock of the window. He slipped inside with ease, making sure not to leave any dirt on the couch the stepped on, and once again remained still for a few seconds, listening to any odd sounds.

Once he was convinced that he was alone, he left the dusty library he was in, and stepped onto the narrow hallway. Once again, his gaze leapt between all the doors on both sides of the hallway. He bit his lip, hoping he wouldn't need to search the entire mansion for one god damned vial.

Before it came to that however, he hurried to the room he had found the case in. As soon as he creaked the door open, the smell of blood reached his nostrils. It was so bad that he could taste the metallic taste of blood in the air.

With a sour expression on his face, he walked up to the table. There it was – the case lay on the table just like he left it a few days ago. He picked the fragile silver lock with ease and opened the case.

The old documents were still inside, and so were two more objects. In the central section of the case, a simple glass vial lay on the velvet. It was filled with a rather dense looking dark red liquid. Aoric's lisp curled down with a frown. He didn't need any more context clues to know that the vial was filled with blood. But why?

He turned his attention to the third and last object. A simple metal knife, in pristine condition. He furrowed his brows as his gaze leapt between the fancy case and the two simple objects inside. Something felt off, but it wasn't his place to question it.

He closed the case, locked it, and then picked it off the table. Thankfully, it was far from heavy, and he could carry it with ease. He left the room reeking of blood and returned to the room where he first sneaked in from.

Climbing down from the second floor wasn't too difficult thanks to the hand and footholds the fancy statues and engraving provided him with. He couldn't help but feel like this city was almost perfect for thieves.

After hopping over the wall, he quickly looked at both sides of the road. After making sure no one had seen him, he pulled his hood down to shadow his face, then covered the case with his cloak as he walked. He couldn't run atop the roofs with this case it was too large and clunky.

Instead, he walked on the stone paved roads. As he passed by the gates of the massive cathedral, the bell began to toll, startling him. He hastened his steps. It was best to be far and away from here by the time those attending the sermon stepped outside.

He considered hiding the case somewhere other than his room at the Rooted Inn, but a quick glance at the cloudy night sky made him decide his room was just fine. If the case was ruined because of some rain, he didn't even want to imagine what the woman clad in black would do to him. She had certainly proven herself to be dangerous.

"Welcome back, sir!" The young woman welcomed him as he entered the inn. He asked her to prepare some dinner and headed upstairs to leave the case in his room. By the time he came back down, a bowl of steaming stew was awaiting him.

"You are amazing." He said at the girl and was immediately rewarded with a beaming smile. "Enjoy!" She exclaimed before running off to check on the other patrons of the inn.

The stew was heavenly, and Aoric went to sleep on a full stomach. A luxury he hadn't had for a while.

Tomorrow, he would hand over the case, receive his payment and find a way out of this godforsaken city. And he would never set foot in Vesporum, he promised himself. Never again in this lifetime.