C. L. Norman

I followed Karnage and Sygmund to the busy docks. It were easy to keep out of sight in the crowd and it were easy to keep them two in sight too. They ducked down a narrow alleyway. So narrow in fact that the tips of Karnage’s horns scraped the stone walls on either side when he weren’t careful.

Them two wended their way through a maze of alleys and overgrown, falling apart courtyards and finally ended up at a shadowed doorway. Syggy muttered a few of his mumbo jumbo words that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and traced a funny mark on the door. Sygmund called those kinds of marks sigils. I called them squiggles. Syggy didn’t appreciate that.

Then he placed his palm flat against the door and it opened with only the slightest of sounds. The elf and the minotaur disappeared inside and the door closed behind them with a slimmest flash of blue light.

“Darn them mage-types and their fancy shmancy magic.” I muttered. Magic gave me the willies. I had no defense against it. Nor did I have any way around it. I laid odds that if they used magic to seal the entrance they also used magic to prevent eavesdropping.

I kicked a loose cobble across the courtyard and watched it come to a stop against the bone dry, crumbling, stone fountain in the center. Clearly this wasn’t the way to find out what they were doing. And more importantly, invite myself along for the ride.

I guessed they wouldn’t move until the sun rose the next day. Karnage was always a big one for starting out first thing. And so I made plans to return before then to follow them once more. Until then, I had me a date with a certain shiny stone. I figured by now it be missing me and I never liked to leave a ruby in distress.

I left the maze-like slums and headed back to the shop district, liberating a few more metal coins from their owners along the way. Never knew when an application of coins would be needed to make those nasty militia types look the other way. I may not care for the things but they had a purpose. Sorta like cheese could be used to lure a rat away from its den. So to could coins be used to lure humans and most other races into doing things they otherwise wouldn’t.

Back in the shop district I spent some time in the stores on either side of the jewelers. I found myself a pair of nice gloves that were only slightly too big in the haberdashery. I also found the rear entrance to the jeweler’s place of business, the two windows in the living quarters above, and the low roof of the cheesemonger’s next door that would provide an easy means of entrance and egress.

My plan was coming together and I loved it when that happened. When darkness fell, I would put it in motion.

        

I’m not given to long drawn out plans but I was also not up to a physical confrontation with the nice man behind the counter. A ruby as beautiful as this belonged in the hands of a gnome. Only I could appreciate it in the way it deserved to be loved. Only one thing to do. Come back after the shop closed and liberate the ruby and place it in its rightful place. With me.

I left the shop, impatient for night to fall. The rumble in my middle let me know the time, lunch time. I swaggered on down to a tavern, placed some of those dull metallic disks that the other races tend to get so excited about on the table, and ordered up an ale and the fish stew.

My face buried in the bowl, tongue worked busily to lick up every last drop of the savory meal. My mother taught me to clean my plate at each meal and I always listen to Mama Minmat. She’s a great and wise gnome. An irritated throat clearing drew my attention to the pair of shadows looming over me. A pair of angry shadows matched up with a pair of angry friends.

“Hiya Karnage. Syggy. How’s it going?” I caught the last little shred of fish with my finger and sucked it off with a long slurp.

A red skinned palm with carefully trimmed black nails appeared right under my nose. My eyes crossed looking at it.

“You need something? More of those coins you collect so religiously?” I grinned up at them, grey eyes wide open. After staring into their unsmiling faces a long moment even my expression slipped.

“All right, all right. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. You use to take me on all your adventures. You always said I was a great help. I don’t understand why you have to be all secretive. Just let me in on your job and everything would be so easy.” I slapped the key into Karnage’s hand.

“Mouse, you aren’t invited on this job. The client is very particular about who he wants in on this endeavor and you aren’t a part of those particulars.” Karnage patted me on the head, his big hand palming my scalp. I winced when a couple of those friendly pats were delivered with a tad too much force. “In a couple weeks when this job is done, I promise we will get together and do a job for old time’s sake. However for now, you stay out of it.” Judging by the glare in his eyes and the frosty look on Sygmund’s face, charming my way in was not an option.

“Oh all right. You two go off. Have your little adventures. Don’t be surprised if you can’t find me around when you are done. My feet get mighty itchy when I’m bored and I’m not hanging around for long where I’m not wanted.” I slid to the floor and without a backwards glance, I departed the eatery, imagining the guilty looks on their faces as I marched across the worn wooden floor.

As I stepped out onto the dusty cobbles, I slid around the corner of the building. My Mama Minmat always use to say there is more than one way to palm a sparkly. And as I said earlier, I always listen to my Mama Minmat. I stepped into the shade draped opening between the two shops and waited. A moment later, Sygmund and Karnage passed by deep in conversation, headed towards the docks. I slipped into the traffic and followed. The large black minotaur horns and the fruity elf perfume easy to track in the rumpus of market day.

        

I gave the apple one last satisfying crunch and then tossed the core away.

The market was busy this morning. Farmers in from out of town, hawkers striving to be heard above the noise of the crowds, anxious couplings of merchant and buyer as deals were haggled over and sealed, sailors on leave or looking for their next cargo, city folk wives and servants testing the fruit and meat for quality before taking it home for suppers, and of course the pickpockets.

Pickpockets in their natural habitat. Crowds and chaos and full coin purses and boxes.

As I watched I saw one young feller, only half again as tall as me, stumble into a plump lady, sending both of them and some wares flying. The skinny merchant with a large mole on his nose shouted about their clumsiness and threatened the law if they didn’t return the flagons to his stand immediately. While his back was turned, a second thief, female this time and a tad older, slipped in behind and took half of his morning’s earnings from his cash box.

She turned to slip away in the crowd and I caught her eye and winked. Had to give encouragement to the younger generation. She blinked at me, grinned and disappeared into the fracas.

Bored, I meandered up the street. Karnage and Sygmund weren’t likely to come looking for me for several hours yet and I had time to kill. Plus it had been ages since I had been in a town of any size at all and I wanted to check out the jewelry shops. The shops with the pretty gems, polished until they glowed and sparkled, displayed on the velvet like a feast set before royalty. My fingers itched to caress a deep red ruby, to cuddle a fiery emerald, to hug a shimmering opal.

After gathering a bit of information on the local jewelry establishments, I set off for Jeneer’s Gems. The locals seemed to think he had a large selection and I wanted to see me some sparklies.

The shop looked fairly new, the wooden sills and awning lightly worn from the weather, the stone still square from the quarry. I had heard about the big fire in this section of Kyrancet a couple seasons ago. The rebuilding was nearly finished. I was glad. Stealing from the fire ravaged folk of this town might of tweaked even my conscious but as they clearly were doing a booming business and fully recovered, they wouldn’t miss a little sparkly or two. Would they?

I stepped into the shop and my eyes were immediately drawn to the display cases. Curses! I wasn’t tall enough to see inside. Equal rites for gnomes will be instituted someday and counters, tables, chairs, everything would be built to accommodate our size. We were the superior race, the other races were too intellectually challenged to realize that yet. But it was coming.

“Shopkeeper?”

An aging man with a permanent squint to one eye, presumably the eye he used his loupe in, leaned over the counter and peered at me with watery grey eyes. “Yes, miss?”

“Do you perchance have a stool, good sir? One on which I could stand and gaze upon your fair merchandise?”

“We don’t allow gawkers here, miss. Move along.” He moved down the counter to where a couple, sappily in love, were looking at promise rings.

“Sir! I am here to buy.” I shook my coin purse meaningfully. “If I find something I like.”

The man took in my worn leathers, stringy brown hair, and tanned skin. His gaze lingered overly long on the two daggers at my belt, at least the two he could see. Finally he studied the coin purse in question and said, “All right.” He passed over a small step stool that was clearly used to reach the upper shelves behind him.

“Thank you, sir. I will let you return to your other customers. It may take me a while to make my decision.”

I stepped onto the stool and my attention was drawn to the large medium toned dark red ruby pendant displayed proudly in the center of the case. The cabachon cut and gold setting glowed in the light coming in from the window.

I had to have it.

        

The following is a sample of my writing, quickly written with very little revision. It stars Mouse, my favorite character from my very first gaming experience. She weaseled her way into my heart and I missed her. So I had to bribe her to return from retirement. With copious amounts of sparklies. Hope you enjoy it.

“I’m back! That’s right. Mouse has returned.” I clambered up the chair and plunked myself down on the scarred, ale-stained table. The groans uttered by Karnage and Sygmund were quiet, so I ignored them. Probably had tummy aches anyway. That certainly wouldn’t be their reaction to seeing little ol’ me. Their bestest friend on the face of Corethe. “So, what pies have you two got your fingers in?”

Karnage, a minotaur of immense proportions and unusual education (that is, he had some), snarled. I don’t think he can help it. He has the face of an animal and animals snarl, right? “Oh no. You aren’t joining us. Every time you ‘help’ the job always gets more complicated and extremely dangerous.”

“But Karnage, you know you love me!” I threw myself at him. He had very fast reflexes so I wasn’t worried about him catching me. And in case you didn’t notice, I’m like an infant in his arms, he is so big. Of course most people are bigger than me but that’s just cause everyone else has an abundance of inconvenient inches. When you’re in my line of work a compact body is very useful.

Karnage gently held me in his arms and that goofy grin appeared. The one only I could put on his ugly mug. I laid a big fat smooch on his cheek and wiggled about until I was comfortable.

“Hm hmm.” That was Sygmund. You never knew how he was going to react to a situation. Sometimes he was very fun, almost as fun as a gnome. Other times he grumped and groused and in general brought everyone else down. Strange fellow that elf. This clearly was a grumpy day.

“Somethin’ wrong, Syggy?” I batted innocent grey eyes up at him.

He glared. “Karnage, check your pockets.”

Sighing, Karnage set me down on the table and patted himself down. “Hand it over.”

“Hand over what?” I held out empty hands.

“You know what.” His fierce brown eyes were level and unblinking.

I watched my reflection in them as I slid a hand up under my tunic and pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment. I held it out, lower lip stuck out in a pout.

“I thought you didn’t try your tricks on your friends.” He slid the paper back into his battered belt pouch.

“I don’t. Usually. But you know I can’t resist not knowing. If you and Syggy would just tell me what you are up to, you would make me so happy. Not knowing is like an itch I can’t scratch. Very uncomfortable. Tell me, pleeeeaase, Karnage.” I squeezed a tear out, freeing it to run down my cheek. Most big un’s couldn’t resist it when I cry. I so very closely resemble their younglings. I admit it, I take advantage when I can.

“No. Karnage let’s go before she wraps you around her finger again.” Sygmund stood and straightened his elaborate robes. “Mouse, it was a pleasure seeing you. We must now take our leave of you.” He gave a half bow in my direction.

“Aww, Syggy. You did miss me.” Standing up on the table, I hugged him. He may be stick thin and currently in his pompous, too-good-to-associate-with-a-thief stage but he was a friend and I had missed him. He patted my back with less than stellar enthusiasm.

“Stop calling me ‘Syggy.’ It’s undignified.”

Karnage gave me another hug and then they both walked out the door.

“Huh.” I jumped down from the table, opened my hand and looked at the ring nestled there. The large ruby setting was so very pretty. Practically had my name written all over it. Sygmund was so very considerate to gift me with it.

A practiced shake of my sleeve freed a large iron key, the handle all swirly in design. I thumped it against my open palm. “They’ll be back.”

Whistling, I left the tavern and sauntered up the street.