On the forest-facing side of Brix, guards paced the wooden palisades, periodically surveying the dark edge of the Valterre Woods, on the lookout for bandits or wandering beasts. Direct attacks on Brix were rare, but every now and then a stray band of bugbears or forest ogres decided to test themselves against the settlement’s thick timber walls.

Inside Brix, however, things were much more still.

It was a few hours past midnight, and Max and Alby had quietly snuck out of Rilliard’s front door. Besides the guards standing at the main gate, hardly a soul wandered the grounds this late. Only a couple windows of the inn and barracks still burned orange with candlelight.

The guards posted atop the walls and at the gates carried torches, but otherwise the settlement was dark and shadowed, which helped the two soon-to-be thieves cross the middle courtyard without notice. They waited until the gate guards’ backs were turned, then they tiptoed across, carefully watching each footfall as to not trip over the divots hiding like traps in the packed dirt. While it wasn't illegal to wander the grounds of Brix after hours, it wouldn't be hard to put two and two together.

Once they reached the stables, Max and Alby proceeded even more slowly.

The boys crouched forward, mindful to not startle the horses and other farm animals slumbering inside—the front of the wooden building was open-faced, and animals could be loud, unpredictable. The back of the stables was set against the palisade wall, so any sudden noise coming from inside would surely alert the guards passing just overhead.

After reaching the far corner of the long building without incident, they paused. Skole’s stone house rose up ahead, only a few paces away, moonlight illuminating those dull gray bricks. Even in night, it stood out against the dark timber of everything else in the settlement.

The second-story of the house was only half the size of the first. Slate tiles stretched over the rest of it, covering the bottom floor in a sturdy roof. The lower windows were all shuttered. Just as Max hoped and predicted, however, the top corner window was left open as usual. He tapped Alby on the shoulder and pointed up at it.

Under the dark green hood of his cloak, the boy nodded.

Without hesitation, Alby cautiously made his way over to the side of the house. In the gloom, Max could see him sliding his palms over the bricks, searching for footholds. Having found them, Alby began scaling the wall, his dark figure spiderlike in the pale moonlight.

Just then, a guard passed by atop the palisade.

Alby must have noticed, too, because the boy stopped moving completely. He clung to the wall, motionless, like nothing more than an out-of-place shadow.

As he listened to the guard’s heavy boots thumping slowly across the wooden walkway, Max’s breath felt stuck in his lungs. Time slowed to a crawl. His heart beat against his chest. If Max had known of any Alethian gods, he would’ve prayed to them right then and there.

The guard paused.

For a long, agonizing second, Max thought he had seen the strange looking shadow halfway up Proprietor Skole’s house. However, a yawn soon escaped the guard’s throat, and a moment later the footsteps continued along the wall, fading into the distance.

Max exhaled. It was lucky the guards were conditioned to look for threats outside the walls rather than inside—his grand plan was almost over before it had really even started. Now that the threat had passed, Max returned his focus to his friend.

With the guard now gone, Alby had started to climb again. His skill took him up the wall rapidly, and soon his fingers were upon the sill of the open window. Max found himself holding his breath again as Alby’s head inched over the windowsill. The boy must’ve not seen anyone inside, because a moment later he vaulted the rest of his body through.

Infiltrate Skole’s house. Check.

Now, Alby just had to make sure nobody was home before unlocking the front door from the inside… where Max would be waiting with two loot bags eager to be filled with stolen goods.

Max quickly looked around. After making sure the guard atop the wall wasn’t heading back this way already, Max scampered over to the front door of the house and crouched down. Fortunately, because of the angle of the house, no guards atop the walls would be able to see him, even if they had been looking.

There, he waited, trying to calm himself by counting the seconds.

It didn’t work. Max’s heart hammered away in the suspense of the moment. What if Alby had accidentally bumped into Skole, or an unexpected guard stationed in the hallway? Max couldn’t help but imagine situations of worse and worse consequences… What was taking so long? The house wasn’t that large, surely Alby would have made it to the front door by now? Max’s trepidation continued to skyrocket, until—

Click.

The front door opened a sliver, revealing Alby’s wide-eyed, boyish face. He pushed the door wider and beckoned Max inside. After a glance in either direction, Max slipped through, shutting the door behind him as quietly as he could manage.

The small entryway of the house was dark and still, blanketed by gloom. Several boxes and crates lay stacked on top of each other in the corner of the room. Along the walls were a few shelves, with what looked like a variety of bottles, cups, and bowls. The lack of light made it difficult to see anything all too clearly.

Alby moved aside to give Max more room. “Sorry it took so long,” he whispered. “So dark in here… I had to be really careful not to knock anything over by accident.”

“Skole?”

“Checked the bedroom and study. Nobody home.”

“That’s a relief... he must be logged out.” Max opened his inventory and took out two medium-sized cloth bags he bought from the General Goods store. It would allow them to quickly toss items inside and make their inventories less cluttered. He handed one to Alby. “No time to waste. We don’t want to spend any more time in here than we have to.”

“Agreed. I’ll start upstairs. You got down here?”

“Yeah. Remember, no candles. Someone outside might notice.”

“Got it.”

Alby made his way back upstairs, while Max began feeling his way around the entry room, searching for any items that might be valuable. Without any decent light source, it was difficult to make anything out, and he had to be extra careful not to bump into any shelves or tables along the walls. All it would take is a falling tin pitcher or overturned barrel to disrupt the delicate silence in the house. One misstep, and the guards would be banging down the door in no time.

From the shelves in the entry room, Max found a few silver goblets, but nothing else worth taking. It seemed Skole used the space for storage. He was tempted to find out what the proprietor kept inside the crates, but they were nailed shut and Max had no easy (or quiet) way of prying them open.

Max moved into the next room, which proved to be the kitchen.

There, he opened cupboards and drawers, looked up and down the shelves. There were many small clay bowls with all kinds of ingredients; flowers and seeds, insect wings, honeycomb, and what seemed to be different kinds of dried up mushrooms. There were glass vials filled with powder and a variety of utensils—unfortunately, they looked to be pewter.

Worthless.

Max took none of these things. Even if they did hold some value, he had no idea what was worth stealing, and he wasn’t about to fill his bag with an assortment of cooking ingredients. However, in a chest against the wall, he did manage to uncover a few finely decorated gold bowls. These he placed in his bag, wincing as they clattered against the silver goblets resting inside.

From the kitchen, he passed by a small washroom into the dining room, where a long table stretched across the middle. Here, he took two silver candelabras and all the eating utensils, which he assumed were also silver. There was a large platter and some china, but these he left on the table.

Hopefully, Alby was having more luck upstairs.

What Max had taken so far was worth something, but would it be enough for a new start in Tiann City? Questionable. He mentally crossed his fingers and prayed that Alby had found some jewelry in Skole’s bedroom. Now something expensive like that would make all this risk worth it.

Max was circling back through the kitchen to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, when he noticed a rectangular trapdoor set into the stone floor, barely discernible between a few upturned barrels.

A cellar.

It was probably just extra storage for foodstuffs… but maybe, just maybe…

Now on his hands and knees, Max felt around until his fingers came upon a cold metal ring protruding from the wood of the trapdoor. He tugged upwards. The door gave way to to a flight of rough steps, descending into complete darkness.

Max paused.

If he could hardly see up here in the kitchen, there was no way he’d be able to navigate in the pitch black of the cellar. He could open up his inventory window, which gave off a dim bluish light… but the window was only semi-transparent, making it somewhat difficult to see through. It would be best to leave his vision as clear as possible. He was thieving, after all.

Instead, Max took a candelabra out of the sack and found a long, thin candle on the dining room table. After fitting it into one of the three silver sockets, he tapped on the candle. A small window popped up that read:

Light

He pressed it, and the tip of the candle sprung to life.

With his hand cupped around the small flame, Max began down the gloomy cellar stairs.