Rayne Read online

  Rayne gulped and backed up two steps. He kept a firm grip on the end of the rope he still held, and after a few quick steps, he leaped toward the knot. His luck held, and he grasped the knot. With a grip on each side of the rope as it spanned the limb, the rope held him in the tree. Rayne wanted to yell in triumph until he heard the last noise he wanted to hear.

  Crack!

  Rayne felt weightless for a moment and then quickly went crashing downward. He bounced off of a branch before coming to a stop folded over the top of a second branch.

  You have taken 30 damage from Tree Limb (Falling) (x2).

  His weight caused the branch to bend, but it had stopped his fall. Rayne breathed a sigh of relief and then heard that same dreaded sound again. Crack! “Shit,” Rayne mumbled to himself as he fell some more.

  You have taken 60 damage from Tree Limb (Falling) (x4).

  Another three branches slammed into him as he fell, and he finally came to a rest on the fourth in line. This one was about even with the top of the wall and was much thicker than the higher ones. He pulled himself up to lay along the branch and recover his breath. The fall had hurt, and he was certain he had at least a few bruised ribs.

  There were still people running back and forth underneath him, and although his luck had been horrible with the branches breaking, it was good enough for the broken branches to stay in the tree and not fall to the ground. The sound of all the excitement below also helped cover the noise of his fall. When he had finally recovered his senses, he steadied himself on the branch and made his way to the wall. A quick hop over let him fall to the ground and roll away.

  It wasn’t pretty, but he made it away from the manor without being seen.

  ◆◆◆

  Rose sat in the shadows on top of the wall to Lord Lyan’s manor. She had a big grin plastered on her face, and she had wanted to bust out laughing when she saw Rayne fall through the tree. She had been observing his work for his test and was impressed at his skill.

  His information gathering wasn’t bad either. The point of this test was not to assess his current level of skill but his potential. His ability to complete this mission, and effectively at that, meant a great deal. His quick thinking to pose as a messenger worked in his favor, but it could have been very dangerous if the security protocols were better. Their benefactor was sure to remedy that problem as soon as he was told the story. Their patron would want to hear Rayne’s full account of the event.

  The fearlessness of Rayne to escape with that jump was what they would need. This was purposely a tough mission and was rarely ever passed by anyone. There had only been a handful of people that had completed it so cleanly without leaving a trail of bodies or a huge mess. Their organization needed good thieves and spies, but more than anything, they needed people who would take risks and strive to always win. She smiled to herself and made her way back to the warehouse. As soon as she arrived, she sent a message to their patron, telling him the mission was complete and requested him to meet her at the warehouse to hear the young man’s story. This would be funny to see.

  ◆◆◆

  Rayne wound through the streets and headed straight for the warehouse. There was no point in taking chances with mission items out on the street, so he needed to deliver it quickly. Waiting too long was just asking for trouble.

  The warehouse looked quiet and abandoned from the outside, but there was usually a handful of people milling around the entrance as soon as you entered. To Rayne’s shock, there was no one present as he entered. This set off his survival instincts from working on the street, and he crouched down low and pulled out his dagger.

  A quick step into the shadows was his next move, and he crept along the edge of the wall toward his initial destination. Something was off, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. As he got closer to the door in the back, where Rose should be, he froze. He felt a cold dagger pressed against his throat from behind him. Looking down, he followed the hand behind him and spotted Rose standing there with a grin on her face.

  “You still have a long way to go. Quit skulking around. We have business to attend,” she told him with cheer.

  Rayne stood up in a more relaxed pose and exhaled deeply.

  “What’s going on? This place looks like a ghost town.”

  “We have a special guest, so all others have been asked to leave for a while. It’ll return to normal shortly,” she explained.

  Rayne was nervous about that statement. He hadn’t seen the place cleared out since he had been here. She led him into the office in the back. It was her private office where most of the higher up business was conducted. She directed him to take a seat against the wall on the side of the room as she took a seat at her desk on the opposite side.

  “Can I have the signet ring?” She asked him.

  Rayne studied her carefully for a moment. He couldn’t tell if she just assumed he had completed the job or if she knew. Judging from the fact that the place was cleared out, and he wasn’t asked to leave, he was assuming she knew. His hand grabbed the ring in his bag and slowly raised it to the desk. The ring was carefully placed in front of her, and she smiled at him.

  “That was an interesting heist to be sure,” she said. The mirth never left her eyes.

  “So, you knew I had completed the task already,” Rayne said in acknowledgment.

  “Of course I did, you idiot. I followed your every move since giving you that assignment. I’m kind of disappointed you never even suspected I was watching you, but I can’t complain about your mission performance… well except for falling through a tree.” She laughed.

  Rayne blushed in embarrassment while she laughed at his predicament.

  “Does that mean I passed the test?” He asked in a serious tone.

  “It sure does. Now that it’s official, you’re to be brought into the organization. To do that, you must meet our head benefactor.” She stated with perfect timing.

  As soon as the statement was finished, the door opened, and a man walked in. Rayne’s jaw almost hit the ground when he saw a familiar face. Looking back at him was the smiling form of Lord Lyan.

  Lord Lyan chuckled for a moment, “That explains part of how you succeeded. Luckily for you, I wasn’t aware of what you looked like, or I might have been able to throw a wrench in your plans.”

  Rayne couldn’t believe his eyes. The person he was sent to rob was now the man standing right in front of him. Not only that, he was laughing about the job. His senses caught on what the man had said, though.

  “How would you have accomplished that, M’lord?” Rayne said out of instinct.

  “None of that, young Rayne. You can call me Lucas. Had I known you were the thief I was looking for, I could’ve identified you as you posed to be a messenger and made up some bogus security protocol to trip you up and catch you. Now that I know it was you, though, I’ll have to implement some new security protocols myself, it seems. Never let a weakness remain open once you have identified it. I’d like to hear the full story of your ordeal. Start from when Rose gave you the assignment,” Lucas told him.

  Rayne regarded the man for only a moment before he started describing the job. He told him about the reconnaissance and how he had taken the place of the messenger. The details of her release were also relayed, and Lucas sighed in relief with how he handled it.

  “Marvelous, young man. Not only were you good enough to take her place, but you were smart enough to send her off with an ominous warning as if nothing happened and insinuated it was at my order. I applaud you for that. Please continue.” Lucas interjected.

  Rayne continued his story and told him how he had scaled the wall and found the guard. Then he had planned the fire in the woodpile to draw their attention. Climbing the wall with the spikes really intrigued Lucas, and he raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. The search through the office was discussed, and he told them how he had seen the small imperfection in the stone that gave away the location of the secret panel. He described opening it
and taking out the ring and closing it.

  From here, he let them know about the dilemma with the people outside the window and climbing up onto the roof. He tried to gloss over the details of the tree by saying he jumped from the roof to the tree and then made his way to the wall, but Rose started laughing uncontrollably, and Lucas turned to her with a smile.

  “What’s so funny, fair Rose?” he asked curiously.

  She slowly got her composure back to answer. “The part of the tree is, in fact, true, but what Rayne failed to mention is the first branch he grabbed snapped, and he fell through part of the tree. The second branch he stopped on also snapped and caused him to fall even further before he finally made it out of the tree and back over the wall. Other than that, I can verify his story is entirely accurate.”

  Lucas smiled at that. “Rayne, one thing of utmost importance is for you always to be 100% truthful in your reports of missions, even if it’s something embarrassing. I can tolerate a lot of things, but leaving out details is not one of them and could lead to someone getting killed.” He said in a dead serious glare.

  “Understood, sir.” Rayne quickly replied.

  “Good man, I am very impressed that you not only succeeded, but you did so without truly harming anyone, and without me even being aware I was robbed until I was informed. It has been a very long time since a thief of your skill has graced our ranks as a new initiate.” Lucas explained.

  “Sir, if I may?”

  “Of course, and call me Lucas, please.” He said.

  Rayne looked uncomfortable for a moment. “Lucas, what is this organization? I know Rose has been training me for a while, and I knew it had to be for some reason, but I don’t know why.”

  “I wouldn’t expect you to since you haven’t been brought in officially. We are known as the Shadows of the Flame. Our goal is to set the world right from the injustices of the current ruling family. The betrayal of Tristan and Violet Firebrand were heinous crimes, and we set to put things right again. We have been working to take out the people who supported our current king, Wailyn. It’s been challenging since almost all of them are in higher positions of power. Now that you’ve proven yourself useful, it’s time to extend an official invitation to join.” Lucas said as he reached his hand out to Rayne.

  Rayne looked at it for a moment before he spoke again.

  “What does the position entail?”

  The question surprised Lucas for a moment before he composed himself.

  “The job requires you to assist us on missions of utmost secrecy and discretion in whatever manner we deem necessary. You’ll need to keep training with Rose, but there will be additional things you’re allowed to learn now that you’ve completed the task. We will provide anything you need for missions and will also ensure you stay fed. Pay will be determined based on the jobs you complete.” Lucas explained.

  Rayne thought about it. The job sounded similar to what he had been doing for the last month, only more dangerous. It would at least guarantee him a way to take care of his sister as long as he didn’t die during the process.

  “I would be honored to join the cause,” Rayne said as he reached out and shook the man’s hand.

  “Welcome to the Shadows of the Flame.” Lucas and Rose both said in unison.

  Chapter 4

  A Path of Righteousness

  The last couple of months had been a blur for Rayne. Rose had been drilling everything into him she could think of. The most surprising development was magic, though. Rose had been granted special permission to teach Rayne Air Magic. This was an incredible feat and was not a common occurrence.

  The instruction took him two days of grueling mental work, but he learned the Air Magic skill. Rose also taught him how to use it to increase his speed. She didn’t have any spells herself because she never used them. Rose told him that since she didn’t invest any points into Intellect, she didn’t see any point in working on actual spells. She could burn raw mana to increase her speed. Rayne didn’t know any better, so he couldn’t argue with her on the point. This caused Rayne to use the ability in the same way so he could burn raw magic to get short bursts of speed.

  Rayne’s other skills were not neglected during the training sessions. The largest surprise of all was from Rose; immediately following his meeting with Lucas, she presented him with new weapons. To his shock, they had been the very weapons he had described to her during their earlier training. He had learned about those styles of weapons because of a talent of his. Over the last few months, he increased his effectiveness with them through his Small Blades skill.

  His surprise at seeing Lord Lyan in charge of the group had led to many more revelations since. The main core of the thieves didn’t know the true purpose, and they were essentially potential recruits as he had been. There was a core group of them who were the true members of the Shadows of the Flame. Now that he had been officially brought into their ranks, his missions had drastically changed.

  When he initially joined, he worked with Rose to learn the skills of the trade, and most of their jobs centered on some of the wealthier merchants in town. Now they were branching out and working more closely on missions inside some of the noble houses. His work overall had also changed. Instead of the normal thievery, most of his position was now spying.

  During his time with the group, he discovered more of their purpose. The organization started as an intelligence department for the Firebrand family when they were in power. The Shadows of the Flame were responsible for keeping an eye and an ear on dissenters in the kingdom and attempt to stop any dangers. A few of the members betrayed the organization and had sided with the current King Wailyn and assisted in betraying the Firebrand family by providing false information and pulling them from their duties in the capital when the king was murdered.

  Now the group was trying to continue the original work entrusted to them but had a burning purpose of dethroning the traitors who had betrayed their original benefactors.

  Infiltration into these groups was the critical aspect, and observing their behaviors to gain knowledge was the currency he dealt in. Lucas needed all the information he could get to help root out the problems. The main issue was determining who was truly working with the current ruling family and who was only pretending to do so to keep from being removed from power.

  Both groups were detestable as far as Lucas cared, but he felt pity for those who did it out of fear. Had they just banded together, they could overthrow King Wailyn and correct this farce of a kingdom. Putting someone on the throne that could actually fix this kingdom was his number one goal, and to Rayne’s surprise, Lucas didn’t think that was him. He had his own candidate he thought would be the best choice, but he never told him who this mystery person was.

  That didn’t surprise Rayne since he was still relatively new to the group, but it would be nice to see the individual who could be king in the future. From the decisions Rayne had seen since he officially joined, he couldn’t fault Lucas, and the man did seem to have a level head on him. He couldn’t imagine him picking a poor candidate.

  Their current mission was to infiltrate the party of a Lord Samuel Clearly. The man was high on their list of potential ring leaders in the area and believed to be under the direct influence of King Wailyn. Rayne’s mission was to enter the manor and disguise himself in the crowd. The goal was to try to find anything that directly tied him to King Wailyn.

  Rayne stopped reflecting on what he had been doing over the last few months, and focused on the mission at hand. He had observed Lord Clearly’s manor for a while and had found his route into the place. Luckily, most of the lords in this city enjoyed their landscaping and foliage. Too many of them overlooked the inherent dangers of trees growing near walls. Since they believed their walls to be mostly for show anyway, they tended to ignore minor details like that.

  This entry point had been chosen, and Rayne was given his deadline to be out. It was quick work to make it over the low wall, and he quickly picked his
way across the yard. The servant’s room was his intended target. He planned to enter the servant’s area and then make his way into the formal dining room. Since it was a small gathering of people and not a large party, he’d have to pose as a servant instead of trying to blend in with the others.

  Rayne quickly wove through the servant’s quarters and ducked in behind one of the servants as they walked toward the kitchen area. He was fortunate to know the layout of this building. Lucas had been here many times and had drawn the floor plan out for him. As luck would have it, he had also been trained in servant etiquette by Rose for this exact type of scenario. A thief and a spy needed to be able to blend in anywhere, and the only way to accomplish that was to know how everyone acted. From the highest noble to the lowliest servant, a thief needed to understand the mannerisms each would exhibit and be able to play the part.

  Upon reaching the kitchen, he tossed on one of the serving aprons hanging in the room and grabbed a tray loaded with a metal wine carafe. The smell coming from it made him imagine it was a stout red wine that was held within. This was the chance he needed to make it to the room.

  Rayne straightened his back into a formal serving position, and his entire demeanor changed. Rayne actually turned into a professional servant at that moment and made his way with a regal station to the dining room. Upon entering, he saw a group of eight men. Rayne knew five of those, Lord Clearly being one of them, but he didn’t recognize the other three. Most shocking of all was that one of those three was a Dark Elf. Rayne had never seen one in person before, but they had an unmistakable appearance.

  The elf had a tall and stately appearance. He must have stretched to seven feet tall, but it was hard to tell for sure with him sitting down. His skin was a dark purple, and his raven black hair was pulled up into a bun on the back of his head. The man wore a basic set of armor but was otherwise unremarkable.

  “Lord Preston, I am glad you could make the trip to come and see me all the way from Seora. It must have been a perilous journey,” Lord Clearly called out.