As Dark as the Forest

Chapter 4

Ori

A torrential downpour greeted Ori outside the as she slunk out of the Nest, masking the twilight hour with the darkness of midnight. Ori wasn't particularly fond of this type of weather - it certainly wasn't good pickpocketing weather as most of the people worth stealing from would be dry in their homes. But it made it easier to skulk about unnoticed without using too much of her magic - which worked to her advantage tonight since she knew she'd need it to sneak into the city's greatest fortress.

The Fortress was home to the royal family, the Terrendian parliament, and various other nobility that stayed in Terrendia City during the Autumn, Winter, and Spring months, before moving to their Summer homes. This time of year the fortress was rather quiet, many of the guest rooms empty.

There was a particular Terrendian royal family member that Ori had in mind to help her enact this plan, as she moved silently through the city. And he typically stayed in the city year-round.

The youngest of the three royal siblings, Asher, had shown up at the guild one day, asking to speak with his "Uncle Remo." Remo, of course, had delighted in the opportunity to corrupt his royal nephew. Ori suspected, that although he had begun the endeavor out of spite, Remo had actually grown fond of Prince Asher, often remarking that he wished the prince could break away from the castle and inherit the guild.

This of course meant that Asher and Ori were possibly half-cousins (in the likely event that Remo was Ori's biological father), and they had spent countless hours together with Ori showing Asher the ins and outs of pick-pocketing and sneaking.

Asher did it both for the thrill and because he had a heart of gold - a charitable heart that saw the excess of the noble class and wanted to disperse some of the royal riches to the common folk of the city. These days, his royal duties took more of his time, but having an older sister who was heir to the throne, and a brother who was second in line left him with more free time than his siblings - especially during the summer months when he chose to remain in the city while the rest of his family traveled the kingdom.

Ori approached the fortress wall. She had conserved most of her magical energy for this moment. She removed her leather slippers, and tucked them in her pack, then transformed her hands and feet to mimic those of a squirrel with long claws that would help gain purchase on the wall and distribute her weight more evenly.

Climbing the wall still made her nervous as hell - no matter how effectively she could transform her body to that of another creature, Ori could not transform her mind. She swallowed down her fear and began her ascent.

Pyromagicians couldn't be burned by their own flames, and in the same way, shifting did not cause Ori any discomfort. Once she got used to a form, she was able to maneuver in it with ease. What it did cost her was energy - at eighteen she was young still, but entering her prime as far as magical energy stores were concerned.

Ori poked her head up over a ledge, adjusted her eyes briefly to that of a nocturnal animal, and glanced around making sure there were no guards milling around below. There was one, strolling this section of the Fortress perimeter and Ori waited for him to pass before leaping across the divide and latching onto the castle wall. She ascended again, muscles beginning to scream in protest - there was a reason she was so well-muscled, but eventually her endurance would begin to give out.

She reached the window ledge that she knew to belong to Asher's room, and lifted herself up, arms trembling with the effort, but Ori's squirrel claws grasped the stone firmly and hoisted her self up part way, and when she saw Asher's broad form, hunched over his desk, face illuminated by his lamplight, she knocked three times on the window.