The Journey of a Thief by Dominique Pearce (heavenly.kaos) (world of reading TXT) 📖

name is Luneth,” he said. “I live in Okia village, it’s not far from here. Satisfied?” I smiled again. “Quite.” I replied. “Alright, a deal’s a deal. What’s your name, and why are you here in our forest?” he demanded. “Call me Kitiraa.” I said. “At least, that’s what everyone else calls me. My name is much too long to remember, nor is it important to you. As for why I’m here, well that doesn’t concern you either.” Luneth looked mad. “Hey, you said you’d answer my questions!” I kept walking. “Uh, yeah, I said I’d answer them, I just didn’t say it would be the answer you wanted.” My interest piqued. I stopped walking and turned to face him. “You live in Okia, huh?” I asked. “Yeah, you were heading right for it, actually.” he cooly replied. I bowed my head and sighed, and started walking back in the other direction. “Ah, well,” I sighed. “Looks like I can’t stay there for the night. Better find someplace else soon.”
Luneth looked kind of shocked. “You were planning to stay at my village? Why not?” I paid no heed and kept walking. “Because,” I simply replied. “It’s probably full of people like you. Why would I want to stay there?” He was taken aback. It was so funny, it was almost cute. “People like me?? What’s that supposed to mean??” he exclaimed. Again, I paid no heed, but I turned my head so he could see my face. “People like idiotic racists who judge people before they get to know them. Me being a guest in your forest, you weren’t very welcoming. I gotta say, it hurt my feelings.” I stopped and thought for a moment. “By the way, how could you tell I was Ivvanan?” I asked.
“That’s not much of a question. You stick out way to much. Not to mention your eyes...” Upon hearing this, I quickly placed my hand over my left eye. ‘Has he noticed it?’ I thought. ‘If he sees the red flecks in my eye, he’ll know I’m a...’ I bowed my head and kept walking, with my hand still over my eye, away from the sunset. “So, where are you going?” he asked. “There isn’t a single house, let alone a town for another five miles. Best shot you’ve got is with me.” He started to catch up with me. “And since you’re clearly not accepting my offer, where else are you going to stay?” I turned my head to the right slightly, so he couldn’t see my left eye. “I’m gonna sleep outside, you have a problem with that?”
Luneth started laughing. I began to become annoyed, and stopped and turned. “You plan... to stay the night... outside...? Hahahaha!” he laughed. “Are you quite done yet?” I asked as I waited for him to stop laughing. He started to catch his breath, and stopped laughing. He leaned his back up against a very wide tree. I was very annoyed then. He doesn’t know who I am, so I can’t entirely blame him for doubting me and my skills. But still...
“What makes you think you’ll be able to survive the night? Surely you’ve heard of the fell beasts that come out at night around here. Not a single hume is dumb enough to stay out here after dark.” Thieves Code Rule #21: Keep your temper. I was fuming at this point. I was trying, but he was making me so mad... I had to get out of there, or else he would end up dead, I knew it. “I’m stronger than you think I am, okay?” I replied through clenched teeth. “I can take care of myself, I was raised that way. A few beasts won’t stop me.” I think he could tell I was pissed, but he didn’t seem to care. “Beasts, maybe not,” Luneth said. “But I don’t think you’ll last even one night in the elves’ territory.”
That’s what caught my attention. No one said anything about elves. Damn that Pyran! “Elves...?” I asked. “There’s elves here?” He seemed quite amused, as though my uncertainty brought him joy. “Oh, yes,” Luneth explained. “There’s a sanctuary up north about ten miles. A lot of them live there. We’re talking hundreds. And you don’t seem like a particularly dumb person, so you must know how powerful and cruel the elves can be.” I’d heard about the elves. I knew what strong warriors they were. Their power was unmatched with spears, and not many people know this, but the elves were some of the first people to tame dragons, as well as the first to slay one. And their archers... I’d heard they could strike a man down from 500 feet, and do it in complete silence. The worst of it all, they never showed any mercy, if they had any at all. The elves are extremely territorial, and they despise humes. I was one of the strongest people I know, but in my heart, I knew even my skills would be no match for an elf.
“Well. I’m glad to see you’re concerned,” I calmly replied. “But your attempts to scare me aren’t going to work. I can handle myself, you just watch. I’m a lot tougher than I look. That’s the way I was raised.” I turned around and kept walking. The sun was falling fast. My time has been wasted here, I need to get to that cave before it goes down. I didn’t look back, but I could here his footsteps moving in the opposite direction, and a heavy sigh. Looks like he’s given up on me. Ah, well.
Damn, I’m hungry.
. . .
As I approached the small cave, I looked back at the sun. It looks like I have a few minutes left of daylight, maybe ten. I sat down in the cave, and breathed a sigh of relief. I’d done a lot of walking, even though it wasn’t a very long distance. This place has a lot of cliffs and hills for some reason. I pulled out what little food I had, half a loaf of bread and some cheese. This isn’t gonna last me, I thought. I’ll have to go fishing in the morning. As I began to eat, I looked around the cave, my home for the night. It wasn’t very big. In truth it was only five or six feet deep, but it was at least 20 feet long, so I had plenty of room. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide much protection from the rain, so I’d have to sleep with warm clothes and as far away from the entrance as possible. It was late spring here, I think, so even though it means it might rain, it should be warm enough tonight that I don’t need a blanket. Still... I should go and get some firewood, just in case. I set out, and moved fast, because I knew there wasn’t much daylight left.
That’s weird, I thought. Could’ve sworn I saw something. Must be my imagination. I tried to brush it off, but I kept collecting firewood a little more cautiously. I gathered as much wood as I could carry, and walked back towards the cave. I just couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched, even as I made it to the cave I could still feel it. I dropped the wood off and took out my food again. Suddenly, a noise came from outside, like a rock being tossed or something. I put the bread down and cautiously went out to investigate. The moment I stepped out of the cave, a figure grabbed me and slammed me against the rock. He held me by the throat and pressed the blade of a spear against my neck. I tried to struggle out of his grasp, but it proved to be useless. I took a good look at his face, and I was suddenly filled with a fear I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I realized... it was an elf.

Chapter 2
“Who are you, what are you doing in my woods?” he asked very calmly. I didn’t say anything, I was to afraid. That, and he was strangling me. For a moment, I was actually off the ground. He didn’t even seem to be trying; he must be very powerful. And his spear, the blade was so sharp if he pressed much harder he would break skin. “I’ll ask you again, who are you? What are your purposes here?” I had to say something, or else he might kill me. “I am a traveler here. My only wish is to leave these woods, after I stay the night, of course.” I thought I should try to reason with him, but it’s very hard to talk when you can barely breathe. He was alone... that was very unusual. “Could you please remove the spear from my throat now? I can’t breathe.”
I tried to squirm again, but he pressed the blade harder. “Don’t move.” he said. “The spear is laced with moonlace. Even the tiniest nick and you’ll be dead in a matter of minutes.” He almost smiled. Moonlace...? That’s some seriously lethal poison! He wasn’t bluffing either, I could smell the poison from here... He could seriously kill me in an instant with this one spear alone, and he’d do it, too. “Now, I don’t know much about you, but I can tell when someone is lying, no matter how good they are. So tell me the truth, why are you here?” I could tell he was getting angry. This guy holds my very life in his hands right now, I have to convince him to let me go. I hate playing defense...
“Alright!” I said. “I’ll tell you the truth! But you were wrong. I am a traveler in need of rest, and since the sun was falling I was forced to take shelter here, knowing that this is your territory. But I’m not here for any reason that concerns you. I am a Sage, I’m here on business.” I tried to sound threatening, but that’s very difficult to do when you can’t breathe. “Prove it to me,” he said. “Prove to me that you are a Sage.” I released my hands from his grip, and removed my right glove. There it was, on the back of my right hand was a steel plating fastened to my wrist, and embedded in it, the sacred Stone of Nature. I let him look for a while, then hastily put my glove back on, thanking God that he didn’t touch my bare hand. However, it seemed to work. The blade slowly moved away from my throat, and he released his grip on me. I fell on my knees, gasping for air, and I looked up and took a good look at him.
Even at just a glance, I’ve never met anyone who looked less civilized. He didn’t appear to be that old, late twenties to early thirties. He was wearing clothing made of leaves, leather, and dark wood. It appeared to be some sort of armor, maybe he was a nobleman or something like that. He was very tall, and thin too. I’d heard the elves had very slender frames, but I never expected them to look like this. His spear was most impressive; it was taller than he was and made of the same dark wood as his armor. It was wrapped with thin black rope near the blade, and tied to the rope was