The Tinkerer's Angel

Chapter 1

*Lux POV*

"Will you hurry!" a demanding yell echoes in my head as I try to get the lock pick hook to catch the tumblers.

"Dermare, I need you to stop talking. I'm trying to focus." I whisper grumble back to the sea witch.

The blue halo around the lantern at my hip glows brighter as Dermare's annoyance grows but eventually fades as the witch remembers why we are here.

She has been complaining endlessly about getting her 'flame' gem back. The gem used to power her lantern before it become her new home and she became its new source of power. It was lost during our battle years ago when she had called a wave to carry me out of her cavern. Apparently, this led her to blame me for it going missing. In my opinion, her wave, her gem, her fault but if this can give me even a week of no nagging from the opinionated sea witch, I was going to take it.

Dermare led me to the small port town of Tethys, having felt a minuscule pull of mana from her lost belonging. From there, it didn't take much more than some false compliments and battling of my eyelashes to get all the information I needed including where the gem was and the layout of the temple from the record keeper in town. They should really let that kid out more. The temple belongs to one of the smaller sects dedicated to the sea goddess, Amphitrite. As it didn't have as many followers, there wasn't much information about the inner workings of the temple beyond just the building plans. After observing the temple the night before from the border of the forest, I was able to get a rough idea of how many guards protected the temple and their patrol routes.

I just need this last tumbler to catch and as I start to hear the clank of armor of the guard patrolling back my way, the tumbler finally clicks into place. I rush through the door pulling it silently close behind me. I hold my breath waiting to hear any indications that I've been discovered. All remain still as I'm faced with a dark corridor. The rest of the temple is made up of dark winding halls meant to confuse those without knowledge of the layout, but with a few quick lefts and rights and the help of my darkvision, I find myself at the entrance of the treasure room. I expected to run into someone on my way here, but the temple must have counted on the confusing hallways to act as a thief deterrent.

"I can feel the gem's power radiating through the door. We are in the right place." Dermare's accented voice vibrates in my mind. I make quick work of the lock and push the door open, immediately feeling warmth envelop me. I realize how much warmer the treasure room is compared to the hall and am mesmerized by the orange light dancing on the walls as the gem in the center of the room casts shadows around it. I hear Dermare's intake of breath, and I know that I finally found what we've been searching for. I make my way to the gem but as I'm about to be in reaching distance, I hear footsteps entering from the door across the room.

I look forward seeing a group of priestess water Genasi in long sea foam green robes accented in silver swirls resembling waves. Their skin reflects the light in the room as though they have water droplets covering the surface of their skin and their seaweed green hair moves as though caught in their own water currents. 'So that's where everyone was', I think as my eyes catch sight of silver daggers glistening from the folds at their hips.

"Who are you?" the Genasi standing in front of the group demands. "This is a sacred place, and you have defiled it with your presence."

I hold up my empty hands so they are visible to the Genasi, "Hey, shall we talk this out? I just came to pray to Amphitrite for a safe passage across the sea when I got lost in these confusing halls. If I could get proper directions to the sanctuary, I would be forever grateful." I say, trying to maintain a calming tone and smile. The priestesses don't look convinced, but at least they haven't advanced on me yet. I try to calm my own emotions as I see the flickering appearance of my wings at my peripheral.

As I rely on my training and start running through the possibilities available to me, Dermare casts her voice from her lantern so everyone in the room can hear, "This gem is rightfully mine not your measly minor goddess's and I shall take back what is mine." As the lantern glows brighter with each word spoken, I feel my options of getting out of here diminish.

The priestesses look at me in disgust as they register where the voice originated from, "Not only has a thief defiled our lady's temple but she was brought this dark being in with her. You shall not leave here until you face judgement." They pull their daggers, the tips gleaming ominously.

"Well, it can't be helped now." I sigh as I leer at the lantern at my hip.

"Dermare, some help would be useful as this is your fault." I whisper and I roll my eyes as I hear a reprimanding tsk in my head.

After I notice one of the Genasi take a step forward, Dermare seems to accept her part in our situation and fog floods out of the lantern and begins to fill the room. I take the last step and grab the flame gem. Before I lose my visual of the Genasi in front of me, I look at the spot between the group and say, "Shatter." As a ten-foot icy blue sphere surrounds the priestesses, not allowing them to proceed forward, the fog fully fills the treasure room. I take advantage of the moment of confusion, shoving the flame gem into my bag and making a run to the door. A sudden noise like the loudest ship bell rang out behind me and I hear the scream of Genasi.

I can barely tell where I was going through the fog but as my hand finally meets a door handle, a dagger flies through the dense fog and finds its target in my left shoulder. Some of the priestesses must have remained conscious after my attack. I hold in a yelp trying not to give away my location if it happened to be a lucky throw and pull the door open with my right hand. Another dagger flies by missing my head by a hair. I realize maybe it wasn't just luck guiding these daggers. I call on primal energy making my fingernails sharpen and slash at the door handle corroding the metal in hopes of slowing down my pursuers and I slam the door closed.

There is no time to think about the pain in my arm as I quickly run back through the halls. I step out into the main entrance of the temple, hearing one of the conscious Genasi shout, "Stop that thief!" A surprised guard appears in front of me with his sword drawn. I reflexively bring my left arm up sending blinding pain through the left side of my body. "Blast." Electric currents travel through my fingertips toward the guard, pushing him away from my path.

I make it to the edge of the forest surrounding the west side of the temple before I feel something pierce the back of my right thigh. I stumble forward but adrenaline dulls the pain in my shoulder and thigh. I continue my sprint through the forest not knowing if I was being followed. As I allow myself to think I actually escaped, the foot of my wounded leg catch a tree root. I hit the forest floor hard sending even more pain traveling through every part of my body.

"I hate you" I mumble into the dirt not being able to turn over in fear of pushing the daggers further into my limbs. "The feelings mutual," Dermare retorts back from the safety of her lantern.

I begin to question that sentiment as I feel myself be pulled into hervessel. She must have realized an Aasimar body is a lot more noticeable on theforest floor than a lantern but the transition into the lantern pushes my bodyover its limit. My vision begins to tunnel, but before everything turned black,I realize I must have hit my head harder than I thought. I could have sworn Iheard what sounded like mechanical wings flying around outside.