Realm of Skill

Joz was worried. He didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, but he was a little scared of returning to the Stash empty-handed. He had only been working for Xander Lanthorn for two months, and he had already seen what happened to people who crossed him. Xander had made his life immeasurably better, it was true, but he ruled his small kingdom with an iron fist, and Joz knew the price of failure would be even worse here than in the outside world. He had reached the Road of Tears, and the dark shape of the Stash loomed before him. He slipped into an alleyway to approach the building from the back and buy more time. He needed to think. He needed a way to get a time jinx before dusk. He stepped around a corner and stopped short, hands already raised, as he saw a shadow break loose from a nearby wall. It morphed into a small, cloaked figure, hood pulled low over its face. Joz brought his hands together, ready for an attack, but the figure paused and then gave a low laugh.

“Relax.” Esna’s voice came from its mouth. She threw the hood back from her face, and Joz blew out a breath, letting his hands drop to his sides. He still wasn’t used to her silent comings and goings.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, annoyed at how quickly he’d been spooked.

“Looking for you. You haven’t been in all day.”

“Xander sent me out on a job.”

Esna’s eyebrows shot up. “A job? What did he have you do?”

Joz glanced around quickly to be sure none of the others were around. “He wanted me to get a time jinx from the Depository.”

Esna’s eyebrows rose even higher than before. “He wanted you to break in? To steal one?” Understanding crossed her face. “So that’s why he picked you.”

Joz knew what she meant. He was a locksmith, and no one but a locksmith could get past the nuts and bolts of the Depository’s security system. Xander hadn’t chosen him for his experience or his reputation; Joz knew that unlike Esna, he had neither. Xander only had a small handful of locksmiths in his service, so the job had fallen to him by lot. Joz knew Xander didn’t care who did his work for him, he only cared that they had the right skills and used those skills for his gain. And in the hierarchy of the Stash, locksmithing was a skill far down on the list. Someone with a better skill, like Esna’s shapeshifting, could enjoy a certain amount of power and prestige, have a name and a reputation that people recognized, instead of being just a skill. Locksmith number four, that’s me, thought Joz. Or were there only three locksmiths in the Stash? He didn’t know.

“So?” Esna’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Where is it?”

He shook his head grimly. “I didn’t make it.”

In his mind he could still hear the wailing of the sirens that had gone off when he stepped into one of the Depository’s many rooms. He still didn’t know what had triggered the alarm, but he did know that he had made the right choice in making his getaway as quickly as possible. Within seconds, the room had been swarming with guards, their red insignia glowing under the flashing strobe lights that had accompanied the siren. He had made it out by pure luck, running this way and that, ducking into the smallest hallways he could find, and finally slipping out a small gate in the west wall. The one advantage he’d had on his way out was that there was no need for caution when approaching doors. He had already triggered the central security system, things could hardly be worse, so he picked and broke locks with abandon. He knew all too well just how lucky he’d been, he doubted he would have seen the light of day had he been caught.

He told Esna what had happened as briefly as possible. She bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair, making it ripple in a way that her whole body wavered and shifted. Joz blinked and her outline was clear once more, as if nothing had happened.

“I wouldn’t go back if I were you,” she said, glancing back at the Stash. “Xander won’t take kindly to you coming back empty-handed. You should leave. Make him believe the guards got you. You can get out before anyone sees you.”

“Where to? Esna, I don’t have anywhere to go. This was my home! I can’t go back to the streets. I just need to find a time jinx, there has to be one somewhere!”

“Ssh.” She grabbed his arm. “Do you want to tell the whole city your business?” A thoughtful look crossed her face. “I might know someone who has one.”

Joz stared at her hopefully. “Where is he?”

Come back soon for part 2!