New School Magic

Chapter 3

"The strangest case of theft reported by Scotland Yard involved a male magician who worked a scheme for over 30 years. He created a spell to work within the bank's safe and it took 1 coin every few minutes. Not enough for people to notice however with the spell working none stop at all hours the amount soon added up. By the time the spell was spotted the magician had stolen an estimated £150,000."

Mary Mutton, "Magical Thieves", 2010

Hamridge & West was one of Lundruns most famous department stores. Each floor dedicated to a different variety of luxury item. The third floor belonged to jewellery, watches and shoes. It was where several staff members were finishing their duties for the evening. The main doors were closed, the customers were gone and all that was left for the staff on jewellery to do was pack everthing away and lock it in the safe for the night.

Piece by piece they placed the most expensive items into small metal cases. The majority of the necklaces, rings and ear pieces could be left in their cabinets overnight however some were too valuable to leave anywhere in sight.

During this process there were double the number of security guards. Hamridge & West employed its security guards to work in shifts, with a half-hour overlap to allow extra men and women to be available at vulernable times.

There were two guards in the vicinity of the jewellery cabinets. One strolled away to inspect the changing rooms while the other moved closer to the pair of women behind the counter.

"Up to anything fun tonight my lovely ladies?" he slipped his thumbs beneath his belt and eyed the contents of the cabinet with vague curiosity.

The elder of the two women looked at him with an amused expression. "Why, are you going to join us later?"

"Oh, no," the man stumbled verbally. "I'm not, I can't. I'm here all night." The women started to giggle. This was a fact they were well aware of. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, the gaurd retreated, expecting to see his friend grinning or even laughing behind his back. To his surprise the man hadn't come back from the changing room yet.

The guard waited for a few minutes, rising and falling on the balls of his feet as he stood. His fingers tapped at crossed arms and his gaze wandered. A couple more minutes past and he started heading for the changing rooms, muttering under his breath.

As he approached the opening his face was met with blast of icy air. He shut his eyes and stumbled back. While still blinded, someone's knee pushed up into his stomach. The guard keeled over and his attacker sent another couple of cold blast his way, freezing his legs to the floor.

The attacker ran straight for the jewellery counter. She vaulted over the waist-high cabinet, throwing a fist-full of snow at the elder woman's face. As she landed on the other side the attacker allowed her foot to connect with the other woman's shoulder, sending her reeling.

A scream sounded from the shoe department and clipping heels echoed as another member of staff ran for help. The attacker ignored them and continued her assault on the Jewellery department. The first woman had just cleared the last clumps and dribbles from her face when the attacker grabbed her by the wrists and forced them against the wall.

An arch of ice was created around each wrist, locking them in place to the wall. The same was done around the second woman's arms and while both were stuck by the ice, gasping and whimpering, the assailant started collecting cases.

The attacker scooped all she could into a large sack until she heard shouting. This time the footsteps were many. Guards were approaching her from every angle. She hopped back over the cabinet, sack in hand and threw her free hand forward.