The Arisen

Chapter 1

It was just another busy day in the streets of Metrissa. They were filled with preoccupied citizens pushing and shoving their way to the marketplace near the center of the grand, white-walled city. Compared to the dull city outskirts, where a majority of these citizens struggled to maintain a living, the market was the only place alive with aromas, colors, and activity. The fishermen were bringing in their catch on rickety carts, sellers were endlessly blabbering, and students were rushing through to the various academies. Best of all, there were hardly any guards patrolling around.

Today was another perfect day for a robbery.

Phoebus childishly grinned to himself. Young street thieves like himself had to steal for their daily meals and begging was something they considered as weakness. Phoebus happened to enjoy the sport and he had a decent number of tricks up his sleeve. Brushing some of his loose, brown hair away from his face, he calmly scanned the surroundings.

"Hmmm..." Phoebus quietly muttered to himself, "The gang's nowhere to be found. That's interesting."

The street thieves in Metrissa tended to stick together in groups, forming their own little networks of thievery. Packs like these were often advantageous for their survival, especially for the younger ones. They relied on the older, more experienced 'street rats' to teach them skills and, in some cases, even how to speak. The latter instance was true for Phoebus. Although he was fourteen years of age and transitioning into the older class of his pack, Phoebus was a street thief for as long as he could remember. He stood by the belief that he learned nearly everything from other children like himself.

Two guards, patrolling in a pair, slowly emerged into the young thief's vision from the crowds of busy commoners. Phoebus narrowed his hazel eyes. With the rest of the band with him, it would have been easy to create a diversion for the guards while some thieves sneakily away with stolen food. The others were still out of sight, however. Phoebus silently concluded that the others either decided to steal at a different time, or they greatly improved their hiding skills. Either way, it was only two guards, making this a very minor challenge at most.

Sitting alone on an empty wooden crate beside a wine stand, Phoebus ignored the disgusted expressions of the citizens as they passed by. He was used to these kinds of reactions after all these years. Besides, his appearance...the messy hair, tattered brown tunic, and dusty feet...wasn't much different from that of the poor people inhabiting Metrissa's outskirts.

Phoebus was also oblivious to the nearby opportunity to snatch some red wine. He never had any alcohol in the past, and the truth was that he never intended to consume any in the future. He had multiple encounters with people taken under alcohol's influence, and he never wanted anything hindering his clever scheming process. His sole focus was slightly ahead of him, as Phoebus stared at two jars of his unquestionably favorite food: olives. He was so focused on the olive stand that he never noticed the cloaked figure watching him from a distance among the crowds.

As if he had done it a hundred times before, the young thief quickly devised a plan and sprang into action. Two guards and two shining jars of the Mediterranean delicacies. Excited as he was, Phoebus had learned to play everything cool, so he quietly strolled into a mass of bustling people.

"Thank Zeus the summer is over," one of the two guards said to his companion, "I'd hate to patrol through these crowds in the heat."

"Agreed," the other grunted, "Fall is arriving, and with it comes the cold."

"Hopefully it'll also bring a decline in thefts," the first said, resting his spear on his shoulder as he walked, "The street rats are more bothersome than ever. They barely have enough rags to keep themselves clothed, let alone stay warm."