The Dead King

Leaving the room, Travis crept down the hall, with Marin following close by. They took several turns and even traveled down a staircase to a lower floor. Travis stopped at every corner, quietly peering around every turn and entrance, looking for anyone who might notice them. Luckily, they encountered no more faction members.

Minus a few people who normally stayed behind to run the joint, everyone really seemed to be out like Travis had mentioned.

“We’re getting close,” Travis stated quietly. “This next hall is living quarters, and beyond that is the holding room in which stolen goods are stored. There’s a very good chance your item is in there.”

Marin nodded instead of responding with anything. His hopes were at a high and feared responding in a tone that might get them caught, so he just acknowledged the statement, and kept moving.

Rounding another turn after Travis checking that it was clear, they now were in the living spaces of the faction. A long hallway had doors that were shut lining the walls. Each room was an individual living space. The hall opened up into a common room that had tables and chairs, each containing lanterns and several recreational items on them to pass time.

Marin took note of several games and reading books littering the tables in an untidy fashion. In one corner, a rogue seemed to have unraveled maps and notes out at one point, hinting at a planned robbery he was developing.

Everything was left in a state as if anyone using them had instantly vanished. Were these all shared items that no one bothered to take away when finishing with them? Marin could ask dozens of questions from everything he took in, but knew this wasn’t the time to ask, even if Travis knew at all.

Travis gawked in each direction as they crept up to the door at the end of the hallway. No one was here, or if they were, they were sleeping in their unit if not preoccupied.

“This is it,” Travis stated. When he reached the door, he produced a key from his pocket.

“You have a key to get in?” Marin shockingly asked.

“I’ll tell you about it later.”

With a shining gold key in between his fingers, Travis brought his hand up to the keyhole, and stuck the key in. It was quite a surprise to see that he was in possession of a key that opened up one of the most sensitive rooms in the entire base. Had he looted that key off a rogue earlier? Perhaps he had received it from his parents long ago. Regardless, Marin tensed up as he realized he was mere moments away from recovering his beloved possession.

The key turned, and Marin heard a metal rod move over inside the door, signalizing its unlocking. Travis swung the door open.

Marin was greeted to an empty room.

Travis followed behind, gazing inside.

This was obviously a dummy room, Marin gathered. Travis must know of a secret wall door that would grant them access to all the stolen wares.

“It’s EMPTY!” Travis cried out.

“What?!” Marin demanded.

“It’s all gone! None of the stuff is here!”

“Are… really?! This is where it all normally is?” Marin asked to make sure.

“I’m telling you this place has been cleaned out!”

Marin’s heart sunk in his chest. All this effort to end up in an empty room.

“Well, what does this mean?” Marin asked.

Travis shook his head, speechless. His eyes darted around the room, checking every corner, as if the loads of items were secretly packed into one of them. His brained raced with thoughts.

It was unbelievable. Had they been duped? Perhaps the rogues finally took action with Travis constantly stealing from them, and had changed the location of the loot. That would make the most sense.

Seeing as Travis was still in a daze, trying to figure out what had happened, Marin offered a question.

“You think it could have been moved?”

“Obviously its been moved! What, do you think it grew legs walked itself out?! I’m trying to figure out where they put it!”

Alright, Travis was definitely thinking the same thing Marin was, and was much angrier in doing so. Marin stayed quiet after the fact, letting Travis brainstorm.

A moment or two passed, but not any longer than that, the doorknob to the storage room began rattling.

The intruding sound caused both of them to jerk their heads at the door, realizing someone was trying to get in.

Travis cursed at the fact, now having to react to the impending danger before them.

“Marin, whoever comes through that door, how ever many, can you freeze them all like you did at the tavern?” Travis desperately asked.

“Yes.”

“Then do so.”

The both readied themselves as the rattling moved from the doorknob, to the key lock below. Whoever was on the other side was now unlocking the door.

Marin gripped his hands. His previous thoughts echoed once again. They would know ice.

After a clicking sound, the door swung open. Before the Scarlet Eye rogue could take a second step in, he was frozen in such a hasty manner, that icicles from the frozen body pointed in the opposite direction.

It was just one rogue, and he barely had time to react to seeing the duo in the empty storage room.

Travis slowly advanced, checking the status of the newly created thief popsicle.

It was no contest, and it always seemed to be that way. Every time someone tried encountering them, Marin would just subdue them in less than a second.

“Wait a second,” Travis stated. He continued to study the frozen rogue. “This… this is the same guy I fought earlier. The accountant.”

“Are you sure?” Marin asked.

“Yes! Did he melt that fast? What is the ice timer you’re using?” Travis demanded.

“Several hours, at least.”

Travis scratched his chin in thought. “Then someone is freeing them. Breaking them out of the ice.”

He then looked beyond the body who stood in the doorway to see if anyone else was coming. The outer hallway was empty, but Travis couldn’t shake a creeping feeling.

“We really have to move. I think one of the leaders knows we are here, and Marin, that’s not someone you want to fight.”

“Do you know where we’re going? Do you have any ideas where the stuff could be?” Marin quickly asked.

“My only theory is that it was all moved closer to the leadership offices. They knew that would deter me from getting to the stash, seeing as I’m not strong enough to fight one of them. My only hope is we can get your cross while they’re not there.”

“But how do you know they won’t be there?” Marin demanded.

“I don’t. And since that’s the case, you might very well have to prove to me what being a wizard is,” Travis stated morbidly. “At this point, I’d call the mission off. But since you’re so persistent to getting your item back, including joining me on this endeavor, we’re going to finish it. Let’s go.”

Travis pushed the ice statue over to clear the doorway, and both of them moved with much more haste than before.

They would have ran if not for trying to still be silent. At any moment now, a leader of the faction may be around a corner ready to deal with them. The mission had gone south, and at this point, Travis was enacting his Plan B, a plan to just go with what he best saw fit.

Marin knew this, and witnessed a Travis who no longer had his cool. Travis’s concern and fear was palpable, it was similar to what he saw when the blonde haired man first stepped into Eisen’s household.

Travis took them down a different route, one that lead to an isolated section of the underground base. Every corner was met with a quick glance before turning. They passed by several waterways, including a common room, before heading down another staircase to a lower floor.

Travis had brought them down to the leader’s headquarters. The narrow hall they walked down would lead into an open area where meetings were held, and behind that, another hallway that lead into a large storage room that hadn’t seen proper use in quite sometime. That was Travis’s best bet where everything had been relocated.

Travis turned around to brief Marin. “I believe that no one will be in this room up ahead. I think they’re out looking for us in the base. If that’s so, we can sneak by here and into the backroom. I will have to pick the lock, and then we can get your cross.

After that, the storage room has a run out that can get us out of the sewers. We will be outta here easy,” he explained.

“The treasure room has a run out? It wouldn’t make sense to put the stuff there,” Marin reasoned. “Anyone could backtrack into it and steal from it.”

Travis did a dramatic nod. “Exactly. And I’m betting that’s what they think I would think. But I know them well enough to pull a trick like that.”

Travis didn’t have any more time to explain, as he realized that time was short. They could get caught at any minute if a leader came back to their office.

He approached forward, with Marin creeping closely behind.

The room was dimly lit, a single torch near the opening. The back half of the room wasn’t lit at all, as it should have been. Travis became suspicious, but didn’t have time to brainstorm a new plan. He walked in as he scanned the entire room. No one seemed to be inside.

Marin cautiously walked in too. Everything was quiet.

Then there was a chuckle.

It caused Travis’s neck hair to stand up straight. Marin felt his guts churn, even though they couldn’t possibly.

Marin knew that voice.

It was her.

Marin couldn’t see her, but knew that one of the leaders of the Scarlet Eye was in this room. It was the same one who drove a poisoned dagger into Gus, the one who he planned to kill.

It wasn’t possible to freeze her without his sights focused onto the target, but he did the next best thing he could, to stop her from escaping again.

Marin spread his arms out, and ice wrapped around the walls of the entire room, sealing off any entrance or exit, any doorway or hole.

Travis jerked his head over in response. “Marin, what are you doing?!” He asked.

The cold, hardened, devilish voice of the woman echoed from the shadows. “Now, now, Marin. No need to react so hastily. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Show yourself, now.” Marin demanded as he took a step forward.

“And give myself away so early? I know what you’re capable of. No, I think I’ll stay hidden until the right moment.”

“You’re not leaving here alive, I can guarantee that,” Marin stated, talking to the shadows in front of him.

“What are you talking about?” Travis asked Marin. “You haven’t been killing the members.”

“She is the one,” Marin told Travis back. “She is the one who tried killing my friend. She dies.”

Travis was speechless. “It was… her?” He asked again with dread.

Marin didn’t answer. He stood ready, with his guard up, fully prepared for an attack that would launch from the shadows.

“Travis, throw some flames up in the shrouded area. Give me the sight,” Marin ordered.

Travis didn’t respond, or take any action.

Marin turned to him. “Travis? Are you okay?”

“I’m not doing it,” he said.

“What?!” Marin asked, astonished. Was Travis now turning on him? Was this indeed a trap? Marin readied himself to freeze his hired guide at a second’s notice.

There was more laughter from the shadows.

“Awww… you still hold a sweet spot for me, Travis dearie?” The woman’s voice cooed.

Marin’s head jerked. It looked forward, then back to Travis, then forward again. In that moment, Marin realized, there was a lot of vital information he had missed out on, some back stories Travis had kept secret.

“What is she talking about?” Marin demanded.

Travis sighed. He removed his ski mask, showing his straight blonde hair down to the bottom of his neck.

“Man, this is really, really, unfortunate,” Travis admitted with a heavy heart, and disappointed tone. “I’m not allowing you to kill her.”