Sparrow on a Plank Chapter 7: One Sparrow Down

The temple was dark. Not just dark in the sense that they couldn't see, but dark in the sense that even with Hajime's summoned ball of light they had problems seeing what was in the inner sanctum. Hajime thought that it may have been because of some sorcerous darkness, but then he just realized it was because of the walls painted black and the dust in the air. Sal debated leaving behind the address of some decorators for the cultists, but then realized that they probably would get free decorating by virtue of killing the decorators after the job. 

Sal's body froze as the hair on the back of her neck straightened themselves out. Her hand moved to her knife of its own accord, just as her eyes started watching Hajime. The boy was a rookie just out of the academy, but it was his fresh eyes that were a solid advantage in this line of work. Of course, it didn't help that he could somehow sense magic, and he had some background in sneaking out of the Five Ponds Koi Academy. Because of that, when her neck hairs straightened, her body froze as her eyes went to the Nihonen youth. 

Hajime saw her freeze and knew that his survival depended on her ability to react quickly to danger, and that the more information he could give her the more likely she could save the both of him. He extended his senses out, looking for the familiar glow he could sense. His brow furrowed a bit as he had to work through the interference of the room itself, but then the room seemed to snap into focus, with different areas glowing at different strengths. Although the feedback caused him a little pain, he didn't lose the vision. He had been shown what the necklace looked like; now, it was a matter of matching the right glow and finding the right object in a haystack of magical items. It took a few moments of ruling out items, but he was able to find it. He focused in on what he thought was the necklace, and determined that it matched the fire evocation he had been told it was. 

He motioned to Sal to stay where she was but be prepared for anything. He had noticed the sigils on the floor just in front of her; if she touched them, she would become one with the walls in a very non-metaphysical way. The box that the necklace was in had no magical aura; that actually made him more nervous. After all, this was an item important enough that they were calling in a specialist to take it home, but there were few safeguards. That meant either that they were just lax in security, or that they attempting to hide it in such a way that it wouldn't draw attention to the necklace. A third possibility, that it was a trap, was in the forefront of his mind, and he took what precautions he could. 

He attacked the lock of the box. However, the lock on the box was too hard for him to pick, so he looked for alternatives. He smiled to himself as he noticed that the hinges were on the outside. He quickly unscrewed the hinges and opened the box from the rear. He frowned as he saw the crossbow rigged to shoot if the front was opened. He had a new-found respect for the trap-makers as he quickly deactivated the crossbow. 

He then had a chance to look at the necklace itself; all he saw was a string of clamshells where he was expecting to find ruby spheres. His eyebrow cocked itself for a moment, and then his eyes rolled up as he realized that he wasn't looking at an illusion; his magical sense had been fooled. As he quickly retreated, he signaled to Sal to get out. She backed out quickly, and Hajime hoped to be just a few steps behind her. He heard grinding, and pushed himself, his heart pounding and his forehead sweating. He jumped to the doorway as he saw a block starting to fall down. Sal thrust a hand forward to grab Hajime, but could only grab the strap of his bag before the falling block forced her to pull her hand away. Hajime hit the stone, knocking the wind out of him for a moment. 

Sal heard footsteps hurrying to her location, forcing her to melt into the shadows. She would need to get away and come back later, hoping for a chance to extract the necklace and rescue her fellow operative, in that order of priority. She put his bag on and found a nook just as the cultists came in. She didn't have a chance to look at them as she raced out of the temple; fortunately they were more interested in what they had trapped than what was getting away. In moments the cold winds of early morning hit her as appeared in the alley behind the inn. She debated her options, and decided that the best place to run to would be the ship, so she started running back to it, praying that Hajime could survive until she returned for him, or escape on his own. If not, it was nice knowing him, but time to get another helper; Hajime knew the risks going in. 

Hajime was praying for himself. He figured that Sal would be safe, and just didn't have time to really worry about her beyond that quick thought. His mind raced from one creative and nasty end that the cultists would do to someone that he had entered their sanctum to the next. He reigned in his panic before it destroyed him and totally shut him down. He heard the door grinding, and realized that that he had just moments until he was going to have some visitors that would probably want his skin flayed from his body, probably with him alive and awake during the process. He quickly debated his options, using the panic to sharpen his intelligence rather than dulling it. The first thing he did was to look for some kind of window or ventilation; apparently there weren't supposed to be any long-term visitors as he didn't see anything that would let him out. He then looked for something to hide behind, but quickly ruling that option out; the sigil that was on the floor covered the walls, making any spot behind an item potentially as deadly as just getting caught. The door was almost a foot off the ground; a little higher and the cultists would be able to start crawling in. Some had already lowered the spears in hopes of pinning him before the door was completely open.

He had one option left, but he had wanted to make sure that other options were closed to him. After all, the best thief was one that didn't leave a clue of his existence, even when caught. He put his ring on its cord and then on his neck, and jumped up. His clothes merged into his body as he shrunk, becoming a sparrow, and he flew to through the open door on feathered wings, dodging the spears and other weapons converged on it. As he flew towards the ceiling, a cultist pointed a crystal wand at him and uttered a single word. Electricity ran through his body, and it began shutting down. In mere moments, his four-ounce body felt like it was made of lead, and he was falling earthward. He collided with the floor, and just couldn't get up. As black filled his vision he saw a blurry priest walking towards his small body. Hajime's last thought was spent hoping they thought he was just a bird.

* * * * *

Sal quickly boarded the ship. The guard was asleep so she was able to slip aboard. She looked into Rick's cabin, and didn't see him, so she went to the berth shared by Hajime and her. She unlocked her berth and entered, and crashed unto her bed. She allowed herself a few moments to feel grief and angry at her failure and the capture of her junior operative. She hoped that he had somehow gotten away, but knew that she would be attempting to rescue him. The kid may have known what he was getting into, and may have been willing to risk even his immortal soul in order to ensure the mission's success, but that wasn't an acceptable excuse to forget about him. She was sure that he could become a valuable asset, and that the risk entailed in rescuing him was worth it. 

More to the point, the cauldron priests still had the necklace. Rescuing Hajime was a great and altruistic goal, but he had known the risks, and the extraction of the necklace was still her main goal. She had to find out where the necklace was, and then figure out a way to snag it. That was now more complicated due to the absence of Hajime's unique senses, but she would find a way; she always did. She had hugged her pillow long enough; now it was time to get serious and start planning.

She found her notebook and a graphite stick, and grabbed them. She wondered where the nearest all-night tavern was, and then realized, with a smile, where it would be: where there was a concentration of sailors. Ah well, she was trying to get away from the sea, not its sailors. She locked up the berth and started walking for the nearest tavern.

[The last chapter can be found here. The next chapter can be found here.]