The Flamer

III - Nine Years

     The long corridor was dim, save for the faint light towards the end, and the shadows cast upon the roughly hewn stone loomed as menacing and taunting as the shadows from his nightmares.

     Which I am NOT thinking about, he thought firmly. I have a mission to do before I get outta here.

     He took a deep breath before inching forward, his short sword at the ready. Gripping the worn handle tightly in his left hand, he clenched his other hand into a fist. The corridor stretched on and on, until it turned sharply around the corner. There were arched, glass-less windows and more lit torches lining the walls, held in their iron sconces delicately. The squares of light upon the rough flagstone led way to the moonlit courtyard outside. A closer look at the shrubbery caused him to stumble back in surprise, before he shook himself in annoyance and continued on his way.

     I should've expected phoenixes and griffins...I'm too tense about this. I need to relax...I've been preparing myself for nine years, surely that means something... he thought furiously.

     His hand twitched to his side as he continued his pace down the corridor, muttering irately under his breath. He was losing precious time every moment he panicked; he needed to hurry and find the royal treasury. That was where the scroll was, and he had waited the entire day for the castle to fall back into slumber before making his move.

     There wasn't any point in remembering the last time he walked down this corridor, shaken and singed and starving.

     Ivan Frundsy squeezed his blue eyes shut, opened them, and began to stride down the hall with a new resolution.

     It was time to take back what was his.

                                                                                 *******

     She panted breathlessly as she stooped down to catch her breath. After a moment, she raised her head to peer up at the intimidating turrets that rose over her and beyond the tops of the trees. A large stone wall shielded the inner courtyards from her view, wrapping around the perimeter of the palace and tucking the inhabitants snugly away from commoners' gossip.

     Violet eyes fixated at the wooden door at the far northwestern corner of the wall, and their owner frowned as they noticed what seemed to be a guard slumped against the wall, snoring away to his heart's content.

     What kind of project is this...?  Envo mused suspiciously. Who exactly is Ivan? What has he been working on for so long?

     Her questions were left unanswered in the shadows of the trees, with only the moon to shine upon her face and the weight of the concealed quiver on her back to acknowledge her. The black leather armguards she wore on both her arms pressed into her skin purposefully, provoking Envo out of her thoughts. She bit her lip in nervous anticipation. Gripping her newly-strung bow in her hand, she slunk through the trees to the door and past the guard.

     With a barely audible creak, she opened the wooden door slowly and shut it gently behind her.

                                                                                  *******

     He whooshed out a breath full of suppressed relief at the sight of a set of two doors, inlaid with rich golden designs.

     Well, that's step number seven out of the way, he mused with satisfaction.

     He proceeded to pull out a barely perceptible object out of a satchel from his side, using it to pick the lock on the doors. Seconds later, one of the doors creaked open and a flash of light winked at him from inside the spacious chamber. Ivan swallowed down his feverish excitement, chastising himself for almost getting carried away.