The Thief's Gambit

Garren swung his rope and hook high and laughed as the hook found purchase in the stone below the sorceress’ tower window. Dalmar, Master of the Thieves Guild in Valter, assured him that Shara, the sorceress and advisor to the king, would be gone. That meant her treasure would be his. At least some of it as the guild insisted on their split being the larger cut.

Garren shrugged. What would they know? If he happened to pocket more than they realized, then it would be him the better off for it. He needed to do something to buy his way out of the protection of the guild. He didn’t have any honor of his own like most thieves and had put a knife in a back a time or two.

“Okay, sorceress, let’s see what magical treasures await.”

He started the slow climb up. The tower was impossible to climb by hand, and since Garren had no magic to aid him, the skills the guild had taught him would have to do. Picking pockets and the occasional assassination would soon be the part of the past once he got Shara’s treasure.

Everyone knew of her treasure. Shara, a powerful mage, and loyal to the King Ari of Valter, had an arsenal of spells she used to help the king defeat his enemies. Many spoke of other items she’d hidden away at the top of her tower, far away from the prying eyes of the kingdom’s populace.

The thief pulled himself up, one step at a time. “Soon, they’ll be all mine, I say. No more Garren getting beat up for his work. They’ll come to respect you soon enough, alright.”

Beads of sweat appeared on his brow. The late summer night air kept the night as warm as the day. It was one of the downsides of living in a world that never saw a sunset or sunrise more than twice a year. Even the seven moons in the heavens couldn’t dampen the heat of the evening.

Another tug and he lifted himself up a few more steps. “I can buy someone to fan me all day like a proper citizen of Valter. Not a slave or thug to the guild’s pleasures. I’ll get mine and leave them for good. Buy my freedom and never have to look back.”

Hand over hand, he moved further up the rope and closer to the tower window that hid the treasure he longed for. “Too many years as a child in the guild, slaving under Dalmar and the others. Perhaps the sorceress had something he could use to take over the guild. Yeah, Garren, keep climbing to get that treasure.”

The window appeared closer, and he looked back to see the ground far below him. Heights never bothered him, and he considered scaling the tower a challenge. Everyone that had tried it before him had either fallen or never returned. But Garren knew he was smarter than the others.

He steadily inched toward the window. “It's a good thing I found the map. Master Dalmar thought he was clever, but in the end, it’ll be me who laughs last, and I’ll have him serving me for once. I may even get me a slave or two. After all, I’ll have all the sorceress’ treasure.”

With a quick grip on the window ledge, Garren pulled himself up and grinned in pleasure as he surveyed the land of Valter around him. The wind blew through his hair, and he almost chuckled in glee at the sight.

“No wonder she lives so high up. I’ll do the same once I take what belongs to me. By the gods, maybe I can steal her magic. If I can find the source, everything she owns will be mine.”

Garren crouched on the ledge, staring at the large room. Once inside, he took in the torches that lined the walls along with books and candles on one side and an altar on the other with a shelf of strange dolls. The floor was bare stone and covered with only the outline of a magical circle.

Garren gripped the edge and flashed a wide greedy grin. “Looks like I hit the jackpot. Too bad her guards don’t know I’m even here. I’ll be in and out in no time.”

He leaped onto the floor of Shara’s laboratory. Slowly, he sauntered past the shelves of books, dragging his fingers across their spines. A slight tingle rippled through him and caught him by surprise.

“There must be a lot of power in these books. I’ll come back to you all, but treasure first. A dusty spellbook won’t buy my way out of the guild.”

The smell of incense hung in the air, and Garren took a deep breath, allowing the scent to delight his senses. “Oh, what a place of wonder! I could stay here forever.” At a desk, stood a large burning candle. Looking closely, Garren realized it burned with no wax melting from the flame.

“What a wondrous place indeed,” he whispered. He hung his hand over the flame. “No heat. How can a candle flame produce no heat? Shara is powerful, indeed.”

He continued to explore the room, occasionally pulling a tome off a shelf and opening it, having no idea what it said but nodding as if he did. After a few moments, he strolled over to the altar and found a wand resting in the center.

Picking it up, he pointed and pretended he was a mighty wizard. “Soon, once I get out of the guild, Dalmar will bow to me in respect.”

After a few waves of the wand and nothing happening, Garren shrugged and put it down to stare at the many dolls that lined a shelf behind the altar. Approaching them with caution, as he wasn’t a total dullard, he inspected each one. An uneasiness came over him as he felt the eyes of each one bore into him.

He peered into one and grimaced. “How odd, they seem so real. Maybe it’s the magic or how well they’re made. These would fetch a fortune at the market.”

Garren sniffed again as the scent of incense grew stronger. In the corner stood a large stone incense burner in the shape of a dragon with a thin column of smoke coming from its nostrils. He rubbed his eyes wearily and realized it must be getting late and knew he still had the fortune to find.

The sound of bells from the Temple of Valorus, God of Honor, rung heavily in the night indicating the stroke of midnight. A door he never noticed before stood near the shelves of books.

Grinning widely, he moved toward it. “Ah, this must be where she keeps the treasure.”

Each step slowed as if he walked through knee-deep mud. Looking around, he noticed the magic circle had an unearthly glow to it, and weariness threatened to weight him down. He stood in the center of the room, unable to move another step.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked around and breathed in more the incense that was filling the air. “That climb must’ve worn me out more than I thought. I’ll just sit down for a bit.”

Trying to sit down, he fell on his back and stared straight up to the ceiling. “How curious I’d be so tired. I’ll need my rest before getting that treasure.”

An older bald man appeared over him and smiled down at him. “Master Dalmar? What are you doing here?”

Everything went dark, and Garren felt himself drift off into a deep sleep.

Upon waking, Garren glanced around and found himself lying on the altar. He couldn’t move even though his hands or his legs were bound. It was as if he was paralyzed. His heart raced as fear took over, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

A rich, deep voice echoed in the room before the man from before filled his vision. “Young Garren, how good it is to see you. I’m glad you managed the climb up. For a moment, as I watched you from below, I thought you’d fall.”

Garren struggled as much as he could but still couldn’t move. “Master Dalmar? Get me out of here.”

“You can call me that if you wish, but he’s been dead for months now.”

“What do you mean, dead? You’re standing in this room with me right now.”

“Dalmar died months ago, like I said. He no longer served a purpose while he lived, but in death, he still serves me well.”

Garren glanced at the Master of the Thieves’ Guild in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

The man, who Garren thought was his master, caressed his arm and a slight tingle ran through his body. “I’ll explain as it’ll do you no harm, and it’s not like you’ll be able to tell anyone else.”

Garren’s vision shimmered as Dalmar melted in front of his eyes and took another form. He tried to scream at the sight but found his voice stolen from him along with his ability to move. The melted form shifted into a beautiful, raven-haired woman with porcelain skin and ice-blue eyes.

She caressed Garren’s arm again and gave him a polite smile. “I’m Shara, Grand Sorceress to the High King of Valter. I’m also Dalmar, the Master of Thief of the Guild. At least whenever he’s needed.”

Garren finally felt a release on his voice. “How? How can you be both? What did you do to Master Dalmar?”

“As you can see, I can change my form through magic. It’s a simple illusion spell and nothing more. It was how I seduced Dalmar into doing what you tried to do tonight. I needed souls for my plan of taking over Valter to come to completion.”

Garren swallowed hard. “Souls?”

“Ah, yes, souls. See, Dalmar was the first. Honestly, I had doubts my spell would work as the ritual was so new to me. Necromancy isn’t my specialty. I prefer enchantments and illusions over such dirty magic.”

Shara moved toward the shelf of dolls. “Do you like these? Honestly, they give me the creeps, always staring at me. I won’t have to look at them much longer, as I’m giving them to the king’s family and other barons as gifts. Once there, they’ll do what I need them to.”

Garren tried to struggle but could only shake his head back and forth. “What are you talking about?”

Shara turned around and leaned on the altar. “I can’t just disobey the king. He’d have my head, and so far, he trusts me as his closest advisor. Once my dolls kill all the king’s relatives, I can ascend the ancient throne of Valter and rule. I am after all the king’s long, lost, forgotten sister.”

“You can let me go. I won’t tell anyone.”

She looked down on him and smiled sweetly. “I know you won’t. You’ll be working for me soon. Once the ritual is complete.”

“What ritual?”

She grabbed a doll off the shelf and held it close to her. “You didn’t think the tales Dalmar told you of my treasure was for fun? No, no, poor Garren. It was a ruse to get people to come to the tower willingly. No one will report missing thieves to the king. He doesn’t care about them.”

“I thought Dalmar was dead?”

Garren felt Shara’s icy gaze bore into him. “It was me in his form telling you and the others these tales. How many of your friends did you lose these past couple of months?”

“At least nine of us went missing, maybe ten.”

“Actually, eleven. You’d think a thief would be able to count. Maybe you were blinded by tales of my treasure.”

“What are you going to do to me? Don’t kill me.”

She leaned over him, her face barely above his. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you, but there are things worse than death.”

She laughed and placed the doll on Garren’s chest. He breathed fast and hard, afraid as to what might possibly come next. The doll, lifeless, sat on his chest, staring off into the distance. Nothing about it seemed alive. By the gods, what is this doll for?

Chanting resonated in the air as Shara paced the room in a circle. She had a black candle in her hand with its wax running down her hand to drip on the floor. A strange sensation came over Garren, and he glanced back at the doll in fear.

“You don’t have to do this!”

“But I do. An outright attack on the throne would be seen as treason, but if others would die while I was in the presence of the king, he’d never suspect it was me who was instrumental in their demise. And you’ll help me.”

“I won’t. You can’t make me.”

Shara paused and smiled at him. “Oh, but I can and I will. See, my dolls can’t do this on their own. They need someone to help them move and even talk if needed. They’ll need a soul.”

She continued her chant, and Garren stared at the doll in horror. A realization entered his mind, and he screamed in fright. No, please, gods no! He tried to struggle, but his body wouldn’t obey.

“Scream all you want as no one can hear you. My magic prevents all sound from leaving this tower. No one’s coming to rescue you. Rest at ease. I’m not going to kill you.”

“Let me go! I won’t work for you.”

“Dalmar said the same thing.”

“What?”

Shara paused and stared down as Garren looked around hoping for a miracle. “He lay here a few months ago, like you are now, pleading for his release. He was my first and proof I was better at necromancy than I thought. He came so willingly to the tower. A man is so easily controlled by his desires. That doll on the left you so stared into earlier, that’s him. He can see you but not move or speak as my magic prevents it.”

“By the gods, you’re a monster.”

“No, I’m the king’s sister who has been robbed of what’s rightfully mine.” Garren grew tired as Shara worked her magic on him. “Now rest. The transition will be painless.”

“Someone will stop you!”

“No, not before I have my dolls ready. I’ll need a few more, now rest.”

Garren drifted off into sleep. In it, he dreamed of being weightless and free before a darkness grabbed at him, pulling him into wakefulness. He screamed as the magic ripped him out of his body into something else.

Opening his eyes, he looked out and saw his body underneath him on the altar. The sorceress blew out the black candle before coming over and staring into his new eyes. She smiled and picked him up, and he saw the shelf with the other dolls getting closer. Spinning him around, she put him on the shelf, and his body on the altar slowly dissolved into dust.

No, by the gods, someone help me!

Garren knew his gambit to get the sorceress’ treasure failed, and he was forever trapped in the doll. He screamed, but no one but the other dolls could hear him as their screams joined his.

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