"So, tell me more about this amulet," Autolycus said. He and Anaya were sitting at a table in the local tavern. The girl looked at him. "Well," she said,"It's called the Amulet of Soul Trapping." "Soul trapping, huh?" said Autolycus. "Yeah," said Anaya,"It belongs to my father. It's a multi-faceted, green gem stone that hangs from a platinum chain. Anyone who touches the gem will become trapped inside."
"And you say it's been stolen?" said Auto. Anaya nodded. "That's right," she said. "Well, how could someone steal it without becoming trapped inside themself?" Auto wondered. "My father keeps it in a box locked in a room of his palace," she said,"But what I want to know is how they got it out of the Underworld in the first place."
"Wait a minute," said Autolycus, "Did you say the Underworld?" "Yeah," said Anaya. "Just who is your father anyhow?" Autolycus asked. "Hades," she said. "As in god of death? That Hades?" said Auto. "Well,yeah," said Anaya,"Unless of course you know some other Hades."
Autolycus thought about this for a minute. "That would make you half-god, wouldn't it?" he said. "Boy, you're quick," said Anaya sarcastically,"Anyway, I have to get the amulet back. It can be very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands."
"Yeah, I see your point," said Auto,"So, let me guess. You want me to steal it back from whoever has it." "Yeah, something like that," said Anaya. "Why me?" Auto asked. "Well, you are the King of Thieves, aren't you?" she said. Autolycus flashed his rougish smile. "I see my reputation precedes me," he said,"Ok, I'll do it. Who has it?"
"Someone called Bakaris," said Anaya. "Bakaris!" said Autolycus. "You know him?" said Anaya. "Of course I do," he said,"But if he's involved you can count me out." "But you just said you'd help me," said Anaya.
"That was before I knew it was Bakaris we were going up against," said Autolycus. "But you've got to help me. I don't know who else to turn to," Anaya practically begged. "Look, kid," said Auto,"I'd love to help you but I just can't." "Why?" Anaya asked,"What are you afraid of?" "I'm not afraid of anything," said Auto.
"Then why won't you help me?" she asked. Autolycus was silent for a moment. "Hey,kid, it's not that I won't help you," he said,"I just can't that's all." "Fine," said Anaya getting to her feet,"If you won't do it then maybe someone else can. Like maybe your sister." She turned to leave.
As she did she felt a hand on her shoulder. Anaya smiled to herself before turning around again. She knew mentioning his sister would get his attention. Thier sibling rivalry was almost legendary. Anaya faced him once more.
"Anaya, everyone knows that I'm a much better thief then Cassandra," Autolycus said. "So, does that mean you'll do it?" she asked hopefully. Autolycus sighed. "Yeah," he said ,"I'll do it." "Oh, thank you, Autolycus," Anaya said excitedly,"You're the best." She gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek.
Autolycus smiled. "I am, aren't I?" he said,"But don't thank me yet. Wait until we have the amulet. Then you can thank me all you want." Anaya smiled back at him. "I knew I could count on you, Auto," she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anaya and Autolycus stood outside Bakaris's fortress. "So, what do we do now?" said a childlike voice. Anaya looked up to see that her kodragon Orion had materialized nearby. "Well," she said to him, "First we have to find a way inside the fortress without being caught." Autolycus looked at the furry, winged creature. "What is that thing?" he asked pointing at Orion. "I am not a thing," said Orion, "I'm a kodragon." "A what?" said Auto. "A kodragon," said Anaya, "Anyway, that's not important. What is important is getting inside the fortress." "Leave that to me," said Autolycus, "Come on."
Anaya and Orion followed the King of Thieves around to the back of the fortress. "There's a secret entrance around here somewhere," said Autolycus, "Oh, and don't touch anything. Bakaris has traps set all over the place." Autolycus had no trouble finding the secret entrance. He opened the secret door which led to a stairway. Anaya's curiosity got the better of her as she looked around the dimly lit passage. She found something. "Hey, what's this thing?" she wondered. It was a lever sticking out of the wall.
Just as Anaya reached out to pull it Autolycus turned around. "No wait!" he said. But he was too late. Anaya had already pulled the lever and the stairs folded beneath them. They slid down into an underground room somewhere beneath the fortress.
"Nice going, Ny," said Orion, "Now you're trapped." "Hey, you're trapped too, furball," said Auto. "No, I'm not," said Orion,"I can easily teleport out of here. And don't call me furball!" "Hey, Orion," said Anaya, "That's a good idea. Why don't you see if you can find us a way out?" "Sure thing, Ny," said Orion. And with that the kodragon left.
When they were alone Autolycus turned to Anaya. "Didn't I tell you not to touch anything?" he said. "Sorry," said Anaya, "But don't worry, Orion will get us out." "Do you really think he can find us a way out?" he asked. "I hope so," said Anaya,"But even if he can't I've still got my magic." "Magic?" said Auto. "Uh-huh," she said,,"I'm a sorceress...sort of." "What do you mean sort of?" said Autolycus. "Well, I'm still learning my spells," said Anaya, "But I do know some magic."
Just then Orion returned. "Any luck?" Anaya asked him. "Nope," he said,"Looks like you're stuck pretty good." "Wy don't I just cast a spell?" Anaya suggested. "Uh, Ny, do you really think that's a good idea?" Orion asked. "Sure it is," she said. "Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you," he replied.
Anaya held her hands before her and chanted a few words of magic. A ball of white light shot forth fron her fingertips and struck the wall in front of her. It bounced off and flew back toward them. Anaya ducked but Autolycus wasn't fast enough. The ball of light hit him right in the chest. The King of Thieves stumbled back a step as a strange feeling came over him.
"Auto, are you alright?" Anaya asked. Autolycus didn't respond. Anaya and Orion watched in silence as the form of Autolycus changed into that of a ferret. "Oops," said Anaya. Orion started to laugh. "What's so funny?" said Auto. "Nothing," said Anaya who was trying hard not to laugh as she reached down to pick up the ferret.
"Hey, what's going on?" Autolycus said,"What did you do to me?" "Don't worry, Auto," said Anaya, "I can fix this. Just give me a chance." "Fix what?" said Autolycus. "Ny turned you into a ferret," Orion told him between giggles. "A ferret?!?" said Autolycus,"You turned me into a ferret?!?" "I'm sorry, Autolycus," said Anaya,"It was an accident." "Yeah, you seem to have a lot of those," said Auto.
"Never mind that," said Orion,"You still have to find a way out of here." "Any suggestions?" said Anaya. Orion thought about this for a moment. "Wait a minute," he said, "I have a portable hole in my pouch." "Well, why didn't you say something before?" asked Anaya. "I forgot," he said.
"Well, give it to me," said the girl. Orion reached into his pouch and removed a large, black circle of shimmering cloth. He handed this to Anaya. "Here, hold Auto," she said handing the ferret to Orion. The kodragon put him in his pouch. Then Anaya took the hole and placed it on the wall. Then she stepped through it into another room beneath the fortress. Luckily this room had a door. Orion took the hole and put it back in his pouch. Then Anaya took Autolycus back. "We wouldn't want him to get lost in there," she told Orion. They headed over to the door. Anaya tried to open it but couldn't. "The door's locked," she said.
"Well, I could pick the lock," said Autolycus,"But someone turned me into a ferret!" Anaya giggled at that. "Hey, you're not the only thief around here," she said,"I can pick the lock just as good as you." She put the ferret into her shirt. "Hey, I could get used to this," said Autolycus. "Yeah, well don't," said Anaya,"You won't be in there for long. Orion, give me my lock picking tools."
The kodragon handed her the tools. Anaya easily picked the lock and they stepped out into the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anaya looked around her. The hall stretched into the darkness before them and branched off to the right and left. "Which way do we go?" she asked. "Let me see where we are," said Autolycus. The ferret poked his head out of Anaya's shirt and looked around. "Take a right," he said. "Are you sure?" Anaya asked. "Pretty sure," said Auto. "Only pretty sure?" said Orion. "Yeah," said Auto,"But this would be a lot easier if I wasn't a ferret!" Anaya and Orion giggled again.
"Well, I'm glad you two are enjoying this," said Autolycus,"But I suggest we get moving before we get caught." "Good idea," Anaya agreed. They headed down the right-hand passage. The long passage twisted and turned beneath the huge fortress. They walked past several locked doors and a few stairways. After a while Anaya began to wonder if they were going in circles.
"Autolycus, are you sure we're going the right way?" she asked. "Positive," he said. "We've been walking forever," said Anaya,"I feel like we're going in circles." "Well, it's not much further," said Auto,"there should be a stairway up ahead." They walked down the hall a little further and sure enough there was the stairway.
"Well, I guess we should go up the stairs," said Orion. "You think?" said Auto. "Hey, be nice, Auto," said Anaya,"Or I'll turn you into something worse than a ferret." Autolycus fell silent. Then Anaya began to ascend the stairs. "It's dark up here," said Orion,"We need some light." "I could cast another spell," Anaya suggested. "No, don't!" said Auto and Orion in unison.
"It was only a suggestion," said Anaya. "I think I have a torch in my pouch," said Orion. He began rummaging through his pouch. "Here it is," he said triumphantly as he held the torch up. Anaya lit it and they continued up the stairs. Anaya moved the ferret from her shirt to a pouch on her belt.
At the top of the stairs was another corridor branching off in two directions. "Ok, now what?" said Anaya. "Well," said Autolycus,"If I remember correctly Bakaris's treasure room is somewhere down the left passage." "The left, huh?" said Anaya. "Yeah," said Auto. "Alright," she said. And they headed down the left hall.
Anaya walked past several locked doors. "Well, which door is it?" she asked. The ferret poked his head out of the pouch. "Last door on the right," he said. Anaya headed over to the door. She stopped outside and turned to Orion. "Hey, keep watch," she said. "Ok, Ny," he said. The kodragon flew to the end of the hall to keep watch.
Anaya turned back to the door. She took a good look at the lock. "Piece of cake,"she said. The girl pulled out her lock picking tools and easily picked the lock. "Hey, you're pretty good at that," said Autolycus,"For a kid." "Gee, thanks," said Anaya her voice tinged with sarcasm. She opened the door very carefully remembering Autolycus's warning about the traps.
The chamber was dark except for the dim light from Anaya's torch. 'Ny, someone's coming!' Anaya recieved the telepathic message from Orion. "Uh-oh," she said. "Uh-oh?" said Autolycus,"What do you mean uh-oh?" "Someone's coming," she whispered,"We have to hide." She looked around for a hiding spot.
"Quick close the door," said Autolycus,"And put out that torch." Anaya quickly did as she was told. Then she waited quietly, listening at the door for the sound of footsteps. The footsteps came and went and Anaya breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was close," she said,"Now let's see where we are." She lit the torch again and looked around the huge chamber. There were piles upon piles of treasure all over the place. Massive stacks of gold and silver, piles of jewels and gems of all sorts, etc. "Wow," said Anaya,"Looks like we've stumbled into the thieves' paradise." She put the torch in a sconce on the wall and began looking around.
"Hey, be careful," said Autolycus,"Don't forget about the traps." "Yeah, yeah," said Anaya,"I haven't forgotten." Auto looked around the room himself. "Looks like Bakaris has acquired a lot more treasure since the last time I was here," he said. "Yes, I have," said a new voice. Anaya looked up to see a tall muscular man standing in the doorway. "Bakaris," said Autolycus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE TO COME!
