Thieves of Midnight

Chapter 1 --News--

Lizzie sat along on the cliff overlooking the ocean. She turned around and tried to imagine the city before, at the end of The War, but failed. She returned her gaze to the ocean and pulled a small loaf of bread out of her bag and began to eat. It had taken her nearly an hour of creeping through the streets to 'liberate' it and she wasn't going to waste a crumb, especially not on the seagull eyeing her with envy.

She heard footsteps and turned around just in time to stop Erik shoving her off the cliff into the ocean. The two had been friends for longer than either could remember.

"Nice day," he said sitting down next to her.

"No," she disagreed with him. "I've spent the morning delivering letters to people, only to earn three silver coins. Then Talwin picked a fightwith me and, being the rich governor's son he is, I got in trouble for it when it was his fault. I almost got caught for almost steeling an apple from the market and only just managed to get this-" she indicated what remained of the small loaf of bread, "-without trouble. That's only half of it. How 'bout you?"

Erik looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.
"'K, good news first. I intercepted Swarthy Joe on his way home. Stole his shopping. Plenty of food and a new pair of boots. Lazy sod, he couldn't stop a baby from mugging him if he tried to," Erik chuckled at the memory. "I'll show you when we get back."

Erik rumaged around in his bag before finally procuring an apple. "And..." he grinned before looking away sheepishly.

"What is it?" Lizzie asked teasingly and laughed when Erik blushed. "Tell me..."

"No," he said. "You'll pay me out, or make a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be."

"No I won't," she replied defensively, not trying to hide the smile spreading over her face. "You can tell me anything."

"No, I can't. Last time I trusted you, well, I don't even want to discuss it."

"Okay then, let me guess. Tell me, does it have something to do with...hm...let me see..." Lizzie couldn't stop he smile spreading even further.

"NO!" Erik said a little too quickly before blushing even more. Lizzie couldn't contain her laughter any more.

"You finally asked Tia out didn't you? I knew it! You've acted strangely around her for weeks. By the looks of things she said yes! Or at least not 'no'. Ha!"

"Shut up," was all Erik seemed to have to say on the subject.
"Now you'll have to be all prim and proper. She is upper-class after all, not street-thief like you!"

"Says the 'pirate' who cant steal an apple off a table guarded by a baby! It's not like you're any higher up than me!"

"No, but I can sail a boat, hod my breath for four minutes and pillage a village by myself! That's something!" Lizzie argued in as cocky a manor as possible. Erik just laughed and rolled his eyes.

"So what was this bad news you had?" Lizzie asked, finally calming down. Erik sighed and calmed himself down enough to think.

"Well, the inspectors of The Crown are coming next week. Kardorkarr may be known as the Pirate's City, but it still belongs to them. Without them it'd still be smouldering ruins from The War. They need to check it's in order. None of us can mess about for the next week or so." He paused for a minute then looked as though he just remembered something. "Plus they will take a few...street kids to 'raise to their standards' and..." he trailed off giving her a worried look.

"None of us will go. Not you, not me, not Draco, Brea, Jimmy-J or any of the others, okay," Lizzie said quickly.

Erik shook his head. "Last time they came we had to lock you in the Forbidden Room to contain you and stop them taking you. If that happens again..."

"I will run. I can jump across rooftops, run through tthe sewers, swim the ocean. They can't get me," she said stubbornly.

"Don't...just be careful, okay?" he sighed. She nodded and without another word they scampered off in their separate directions.

*****

Lizzie trudged through the forest that wound around over half of the island. Kardorkarr was a mountainous island in the middle of the Cerulean Ocean. About a third of it was covered in buildings, making up the city. Most of the remainder of the island was covered in forest. Farmland lay on the small islands to the south, known as the Dragon Head Islands.

Lizzie swore as she nearly tripped over a branch. She reached a small pond and looked down into it. In her reflection she saw the anger in her hazel brown eyes. She was only 15 and yet so much had seemed to happen in her life. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to get sentimental, she had a job to do. Holding her auburn hair out of her face she bent over and drank from the pond. The cool water refreshed her and she got up to continue her walk.

Lizzie looked up. Towering above her was the wizard's tower. She shuddered before stepping forward to knock on the door. The tower reached well above the clouds. Lizzie had been told countless spooky stories about this place throughout her childhood. She didn't really believe any of them but figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

The door opened and an elderly man with a long grey beard greeted her. He gave her a slightly unnerving look and didn't say anything. Lizzie handed him the bag. Without looking inside it to check it was what he had ordered he threw a small coin purse to her. Then he closed the door.

"Real chatterbox that one!" Lizzie muttered sarcastically to herself as she turned around to return home.

*****

She walked along the path that ran along the top of the cliff. It had started to rain and she trudged along with her head down. Lizzie stopped suddenly and looked up to find someone standing directly infront of her.

"How you doing?" asked Talwin Hille, a little too smugly. He folded his arms over his chest and grinned at her. Lizzie opened her mouth to make a remark about how she'd bashed the hell out of him earlier, but stopped when she notice the guards standing behind him. Instead she ran.

"Get her!" Talwin shouted and the guards started to chase her. Oh, how she hated upper-class snobs and their power over the guards. It was just unfair. This was going to be one long evening.