The Warehouse

Dawn was already just a couple of hours away, but destiny, in its cruelty, had not put any food in her belly yet. She moved deeper into the shadow and pressed against her brother’s side. With her right hand, she adjusted her cloak’s hood over her head, her other arm rested inside, an useless arm that reminded her of the price of failure. Before she could start to feel the nervousness, her older brother put a hand over her shoulders and a reassuring smile. As if that would not have been more than enough, he brought her face close to her ear and whispered, “I’ve got you”.

Out of the shadows, and on the other side of the street, a lonely and aged building was guarded by an fat old man. They both studied him, they both were faster than him but on his waist rested an old rusted sword, that, never mind the state of it, was more than what they both had. However, that sword was not the most dangerous item in the old guard’s possession. On his neck, hanging from a once white frayed string, there was a small black whistle.

She lived in a big city, so big she had only seen a small portion of it. The part of the city that, for her, was the whole world, where robberies, and murders were part of every day’s routine. Built without any planning or sense, hundreds of hubs, rooms and small houses were piling one next and above the other one, creating a maze of roofs, ladders, and streets. The guard, dedicating only a small part of their numbers to this forgotten part of the city, could not cover it completely. To be as effective as possible they placed some men on strategical or important locations and if there was any trouble they’ll blow their whistle and many guards would come running from all directions.

The greatest trouble with said whistle was that nobody could hear it. How did it alert the guards, no one really knew. Her brother usually went directly to the guards and made it clear he was dangerous, so they blew their whistle, this way, he claimed, he could avoid been taken by surprise. But she suspected it was to draw as much attention as possible away from her.

The building on the other side of the street was an old warehouse where good were stored after they were discarded by the stores on the richer side of the city, so it was either expired or damaged things. From food to medicine, and even though her belly was roaring so loud she was scared the guard would listen to her gut, it was the later that they were after.

Her brother leaned closer to her ear once again, “Go in quietly once I drive them away and only get the medicines and go home, I’ll meet you there” he smiled again, she felt safe when she saw him smile. “I can get some food too, for you” she said back to him. “Don’t worry about food, I’ve got you” he said while rubbing her hair and smiling at her once again. And then, he walked out to the open street.

She was always amazed by him, walking out to a danger greater than hers and not even a bit afraid. It was that confidence that gave her the strength to do her part. She’ll go in and get the medicines, she wouldn’t have to worry about food, her brother said he’ll take care of it, so she knew he would. And suddenly, she was not afraid anymore.

He walked out to the light, as soon as his face turned away from her sister the smile was gone. As soon as she couldn’t notice, he started to feel all the fear and worry he had hidden before. It was always like this, the worst part were the seconds before, but he knew, that once he started, he’ll fall into a place where he was free of all emotion and be able to do his part.

He was more afraid about her sister not being able to do hers. It was at that exact warehouse, two years back. He had been ill, and her sister broke in to steal some food, but was caught. There were no written laws for them, so they could’ve killed her, but performing a cruel charade of compassion they had forgiven her, in exchange for the stealing hand. Poor and lonely children on this dark place had only their hands and feet to struggle and fight for their lives.

He walked closer to the guard until he turned his head to see him. Dark lazy eyes studied him, there was more than disgust in them but hate, not directly aimed at him but to what he represented. The guard’s messy white beard was wet as he had not been careful while drinking water just some seconds before, and it had spilled. How much would he would’ve loved to be able to drink without caring about spilling some.

He walked a little closer and suddenly went down, filling his whole fist with dirt and throwing it at the surprised guard’s face. The guard almost fell down from his chair, he had to be quick with his feet to not end up on the floor. While trying not to fall, he kicked his water and spilled it all.

Watching the precious liquid go to waste, K lost some seconds and didn’t realize the guard had already sounded the whistle in alarm. He only found out as he heard the sound of shouting guards coming at him. Before he could see them, and knowing they’ll come from every direction, he started running.

He ran on the plain street, so he was easy to follow, and every single pursuer could easily follow his path. When he was sure they had him on sight, he turned to his left and got on the first ladder he found. Quickly he went up three floors until he was on an uneven roof. Some guards were already starting to go up the stair, and he could see some other guards three roofs away from him to his right. Not wanting to go back, closer to the warehouse he jumped ahead, landing heavily on a lower roof and started running again. The guards behind him hesitated before jumping as he did, and the ones on his right had to back up a little to follow his new route. He was able to turn right, going as far away from his sister.

The guards following him were obviously blowing their whistles, as now, and then he’ll have to suddenly change direction to avoid guards just ahead of him. He tried to keep his direction, his target was to the north and not so far away. He had studied the route and practiced this run many times before this day. Running had never been his strongest talent. He was fast, but his knees were already hurting and threatening with a sudden stop.

“Just a little bit more” he said between breaths.

Just some roofs ahead there were some trees, and even without being able to see it, he knew, pass the trees ran one of the many branches that fed the main river running through the city. Not any branch, but one almost as wide as the main stream and almost as mighty.

Kehlhen had been in the guard for a couple of weeks already and was starting to get bored. So much training and hard work just to sit under a burning sun all covered with metal plates and stare into nothing every single day. He was positioned on the eastern door of the inner city, a door that had not been used by a single person in years. So, it was mostly just sitting there and getting paid for it. He was no good with a sword or on any other thing that required any kind of athleticism, he was only good at using his brain. That had earned him a place on the most boring post, with the responsibility of keeping log of every person that went through the door.

He didn’t think twice when the medallion hanging on his neck, hidden below his clothes started to get cold, “not so far away to the south” he said remembering his training. He quickly rose and started following the sounds, ignoring the calls from his companions. After walking like three or four blocks, if they could be called that, before reaching the river. Disappointed, he was about to turn around when he saw something, or maybe someone, moving on a roof to on the other side. He quickly pressed agains a wall and tried to get a better look.

He was sure he saw someone jump from the river into a branch and then climb higher into the thickest part of the tree, it was very hard to spot between so many leaves, but it was definitely there. Something fell, almost at the same time, or maybe was thrown but this very person, but he had no time for that. He focused on not losing the climber quickly moving among branches.

Once her brother ran away and when she could no longer see the guards, she made her way to the warehouse. There was a small hole on the back, she guessed for throwing away trash based on how much of it was on the floor beneath it. She made her way to it and started climbing inside through it. Getting in had been easier than expected, far too easy for her liking, but she was not a one to reject the bit of luck she rarely got.

She walked through many cabinets in complete darkness, looking for medicines for her mother. She opened many boxes, filled with herbs, bottles, and many instruments she barely recognized, without any sign of what she needed.

After several minutes of looking, she made her way to a weird looking black box. Small to be filled with medicines and herbs, but with a big enough lock to make it look important. She had found an oil lamp and just now let herself turn it on. With light, it was easy to find a key ring hanging on the wall, and after three attempts, she found the one that opened the box.

“Papers” she whispered softly and started reading when, without any warning, the main door opened and the whole place was flooded with light. She saw four silhouettes on the entrance, but couldn’t make out any features. She just ran away the other way and went out the same path she had come on minutes before.

Kehlhen waited until the man was coming back, with a bag under his arm, completely unaware, walking through the middle of the street to blow his whistle. Not many minutes before, the man was still walking, but into a well-placed ambush.

Kehlhen returned to his post a couple of hours after he had gone away running. He left with nothing and came back, proudly, and with a tale for his bored companions. He had been called the next day to report to one of the officials with the highest rank. Without knowing, he had, apparently, arrested one of the most dangerous people in the city.