Thereafter Chapter 21: The Heist Part I (Night Moves)
The Exalted call on a shady contact to gain an inside source on Nih-Ka. Michael goes in as a vanguard on a dangerous mission.
They moved silently with determination through the silent streets of Thereafter. The moonlight that shone from the vague direction of the domed sky was colder, bluer, than what Michael was used to. There wasn’t much activity in this part of town, the loudest sound any of them could hear was the distant carousing from Worship. People were still partying over there, every bit as manic about it as they had been when Michael introduced the Exalted Heroes to Bartholomew Thistlebarrow, lieutenant to Nih-Ka, and Michael’s informant.
Michael had not put much thought into how he was going to convince Bartholomew. The middle-aged magus had been receptive to his idea, conceding that if Nih-Ka had arranged to have the Sword Of Lakes stolen, it would be “a rather grievous escalation, indeed.” Michael had pushed the point. If this matter got dire enough that Eltern would make a move on Nih-Ka, the fragile peace wouldn’t survive the accusation, let alone any consequences. Bartholomew had nodded, and agreed, and after extracting a promise that the operation would be kept as pinhole precise as at all possible, the old man had shared what he knew. Now, as he slipped out of his thin-soled shoes in front of Nih-Ka’s walled mansion, it occurred to Michael that it had been easy. Entirely too easy.
“Now what you need to realize,” Bartholomew had said in hushed tones, barely perceivable over the acoustic music that filled the towering hybrid of Greek pantheon and Egyptian pyramid, “is that finding the place is the easy part.” He had explained Nih-Ka’s address and the nature of his mansion previous to this reveal. “Nih-Ka is a very private individual, but he has an address like most of us. What most of us does not have, or even had in those halcyon before-day, is a perimeter.“
Michael cast a furtive glance up the stone perimeter walls. Like any building in Thereafter, it was made of several distinct types and style of wall, but the mends were different. The hairline fractures that crisscrossed the chimeric wall seemed to glow in the not-moonlight, and Michael had no trouble believing Bartholomew when he told them it was held together with advanced and potentially lethal magic.
“I’m not sure what sway he held over what mad genius of construction magic to have that wall built. All I know is that the few times I’ve gone to visit I’d paid careful attention to not trip any of his wards, and I was invited if you can imagine such a thing.” Bartholomew waved the thought away with a hand. “Never mind that. I would not tell you this if there wasn’t a catch, or at least a loophole that might see you through. Now, this is thorough, attentive work. The ward extends far above the Dome, and below the ground upon which we walk. The wall itself is practically a formality, but I’m told the symbolic effect of the erection,” this drew a giggle from Lex, loud enough to make Bartholomew pause.
Lex cleared their throat. “Pardon me Archon. Go on.”
“Now where was I? Oh yes, the wall and the symbolic effect. It is here that the loophole arises. The wall is actually two walls, one starting at the wall’s top and extending down through the firmament of Thereafter, the other starting on the surface of the wall and extending up into the Dome itself. Now, mind you this is strictly theoretical, a subtle enough spell can separate these two workings and move one of them. I personally recommend moving the upper one, as it is easier to go over the wall than through it. Magic or not, it is rather solid.”
“You don’t say.” Felipe quipped before Michael discretely encouraged him to shut up with an elbow to the side.
“I do. Now, once one has leveraged this fact to get someone on the inside, it’s just the small matter of reaching the study in the mansion itself, where the artifact that allows one to disable the protection is reportedly kept.”
“Reportedly?” Michael found himself asking. “Have you not been there yourself?”
“Oh heavens no. As I mentioned, Nih-Ka is a very private man. I am extrapolating this assumption from the rooms he have allowed me to see during my visits. As his study is extant, but not among them, I have to assume that is where he keeps the artifact.”
“Right,” Michael said. “And you can’t tell me what this artifact looks like, then?”
“I can not,” Bartholomew conceded. “It is most likely made out of crystal or glass, and it is shaped as some sort of container, be it a prism or a sphere or some more exotic shape.”
“Alright, so,” Lex said, “let’s say I manage to open the way and Alicia chucks Michael here over the wall. Will Michael be able to leave without locating this… thing first?”
“Rather unlikely, I am afraid,” Bartholomew said. “You’ll have a hard time prying the wards apart twice in one night, and all the… arcane agitation may make crossing back over inadvisable. Disabling the wards will be the only way to make a safe sortie.”
“So, no pressure, gotta go to this location I don’t know and have never been to and locate the key to get out of there, and if I don’t it all goes to shit,” Michael said, this sounded like a terrible idea to him all the same.
“That is in essence what will have to be done, yes, but you forget one important aspect. The mansion will most likely be entirely dark.”
“What?”
The strange patchwork wall that formed the perimeter of Nih-Ka’s compound seemed higher than the two and a half, maybe three meters that Michael knew them to be. It could be because he knew there were powerful spells bound to it that would stop him if they weren’t incredibly careful. It could be that the only way he’d cross it was being launched at high speed over it, and running into the aforementioned powerful spells at ludicrous speeds didn’t strike him as inherently kinder to his general structural integrity. Michael found himself doing stretches, preparing as if limbering up would do him a damn sight of good if the crossing went awry. Then again, he thought, it didn’t hurt, and being able to land smoothly once the crossing was done would probably be preferable.
The rest of the group were preparing as well. Lex was closing their eyes while clutching their staff, their eyes darting around as they followed the intricate workings of Nih-Ka’s wards with the unseen sight of the arcane. Alicia was, as best as Michael could tell, doing breathing exercises. Felipe was the lookout, crouching on a nearby roof with an arrow nocked and ready to ruin any interloper’s day. It wasn’t a perfect place to camp, but he had chosen the spot to not be visible from any of the imposing mansion’s windows.
“Are you ready?” Alicia’s voice warbled slightly, as if there was some sort of effect put on it in post-processing. The fact that no post-processing was done on her voice made the situation a bit uncanny, but Michael had just decided to roll with these things.
“I’m ready.”
Alicia opened her eyes, empty and shining, and the piercing bright light of The Deep Voice lit up the alley.
“Oh yes, it’ll be quite dark,” Bartholomew said, he wasn’t quite laughing, but there was a slight drollness to his tone that made Michael think he did find this whole situation at least a little funny. “Nih-Ka doesn’t need any light in his day-to-day, so unless he has reading he wants to do he doesn’t use lamps or any kind of light. I’ve got half a mind to assume that if it weren’t for him on occasion receiving guests and his ongoing frustration with the lack of Touch Rune books available in this town, he wouldn’t even have lamps."
“So I’ll be sneaking around in the dark?” Michael asked.
“Aptly enough, yes. I’m sure it won’t be an issue for the hero of Caveworld. I would advise you to be as light on your feet as possible.”
Michael cleared his throat. “Right, I suppose Nih-Ka doesn’t have any extended periods he’ll be out of the house in the immediate future?”
“No, unfortunately. As I said, he is very private, but on the bright side, this being a night in which he expects no guests, there’s every chance he’s gone to bed already.”
Michael shifted his foot slightly, it wasn’t intuitive to crouch on Alicia’s outstretched hand at all, but it felt a damn sight better than having no control over his balance at all.
“Alright, when I say go, you chuck the boy,” Lex said as they, with unfocused eyes moved their hand and staff in strange patterns, tracing out the spell they would try to cast. “I have the wards just about figured out and… bingo was his name-o”
Michael didn’t sense anything changing, but there was a slight crackle in the air, like a very localized static electricity field passed just past them. Lex was sweating with apparent effort as they closed their eyes. It could be the artificial moonlight, but Michael could swear Lex’ skin was turning pale and gray.
“We’ve got movement,” Felipe said, his hushed urgency clear even from the roof. “If you guys are gonna do something wild you have a minute. Maybe minute and a half.”
“Open Sesame. Chuck him Alicia!”
And then, suddenly, the world was dropping around Michael. A ferocious wind ripped at his face. The first wind, he realized, he had felt since he walked to work the afternoon he got spirited away to Thereafter. As soon as the drop had ended, reversing suddenly into a ferocious charge, Michael did his best to land with a roll.
In Michael’s defense, he did roll upon landing, as the remaining thrust of the toss and the eager grip of Thereafter’s technically artificial gravity pulled him to the ground. It wasn’t the smooth agile roll that he had hoped for as much as it was him hitting the ground at approximately 75% force, and the remaining energy of the leap sending him rolling across the lawn of the mansion.
“I guess there’s just one more thing I’m wondering about all of this.” Alicia hadn’t spoken in quite a long time, and it was clear that Bartholomew had almost forgot she was there.
“It’s always just one more question with you kids, is there?” Bartholomew said, but reproach or no, there was a mild humor in his voice.
“I am a little curious what you’re gaining from this, I suppose. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you agree we need to solve this whole Sword Of Lakes problem, but what are you getting out of this?”
“Are you asking if I have ulterior motives? Do you not trust me Miss…?`”
“Alicia,” Alicia said. “Trust is earned. What I want to know is what kind of plans of yours we’re playing into here.”
Bartholomew stayed silent for quite a while, his kindly grandfather-act slipped, and a different, more cynical man peaked out from his faded blue eyes. It wasn’t attempting to intimidate or trick Alicia, Michael realized, but a frank and patient re-examination of someone whose ability he had previously underestimated. Alicia, on her end, didn’t concede an inch. Even if Michael hadn’t seen her preform supernatural feats of strength, he hoped he, and Bartholomew, would have the sense to not underestimate Alicia.
“You are very perceptive miss Alicia,” Bartholomew said at last. “I do consider this a hedging of bets of sorts. If Nih-Ka truly has the sword, it could lead to a number of disasters, which my complicity in would be morally as well as practically troubling. If he doesn’t have the thing, well, he has to learn that he’s not invincible somehow.”
“You’re a very cynical man, Bartholomew.” Alicia said. There was no venom in it, but it sure wasn’t a compliment.
“I am what the world, and its end, has made me.” Bartholomew shrugged. “Same as the rest of you. I am quite certain larceny wasn’t on the docket before Thereafter for you either.”
Michael didn’t get up right away. He was pretty sure he was able, or would be able, after a minute or two, but right away was not on the docket. He’d need to move soon, but not right away. As he laid on the night-cool grass, gathering the will and strength to get up, he ran through the plan in his head. Once he had entered the mansion, he would find the study, disable the magical protection of the perimeter, and make his way back towards the entrance. With the supernatural wards out of commission, it would be simple for the rest of the Exalted heroes to enter the compound and house, and they’d search the house as thoroughly as they could. If they woke Nih-Ka at that point they’d probably stand a respectable chance of incapacitating him without causing permanent damage to anyone or anything. If Michael roused Nih-Ka from his assumed slumber, though, things would get complicated in a hurry.
It was better to not dwell on such things, Michael thought as he climbed back to his feet. Not when there was still so many factors reliant on things Michael could control. The mansion itself, looking strangely suburban on its patch of grass surrounded by the chimeric, gave no clear sign of being inhabited, but Michael figured that it would be more suspicious if there were any lights on. As it were, he wondered what use Nih-Ka had of the windows, but then again, there was every chance he hadn’t had it custom built. Thereafter was a place that rewarded flexibility after all. Michael clutched his short sword and cane as he approached the building. As much as he tried to prevent his brain from going to a portentous place, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was entering the lion’s den.
Author’s Note: Welcome to the Heist. I love me a good heist, and as such it felt natural to close this first Thereafter book with one. Being me, I also decided it was a story-within-a-story in three parts before I decided what would happen exactly. When it all came together, though,I’m quite happy with the set-piece I have assembled. In other news, I use a cane myself these days. It’s hopefully not quite as permanent of an arrangement as what Michael has going, but I do like the extra balance the cane offers so I might stick with it. This is all to say I have an extra easy time getting into Michael’s head now, and considering the things I am about to do to the boy, that’s perhaps not the greatest sign. Tune in next time for part II: A Word In Darkness.
Catch You Later
V.S.D