Rob X Punzel ~ Thirty-Three!

“No, no, no…!” Goldie's heart pounded in time with her feet as she sprinted across the rooftops of the slums, the rickety buildings creaking ominously below her as she pushed against them. She had managed to lose the bulk of the mercenaries back in the merchant district, but alarms were going off across the city as she passed through it. She skid to a halt at the edge of a rooftop, eyes locked longingly on the towering ring wall that separated her from freedom.

It had been a staple landmark her entire life, viewable from any straight road. “Not a chance there's a building high enough on this side for me to go over it, so I've got to go through it. But is that going to set off an alarm at my exit point? I don't know how to navigate through open land… how does someone hide in fields, forests, and the like?”

Unfortunately, though it would be a completely novel experience that would put her in a potentially unfavorable position, it was a risk she was going to have to take. Goldie continued running, her path over the rooftops allowing her to evade the checkpoints at the major intersections in the slums which had been set up and manned for the first time in her life. “Everyone's got to be terrified, having no idea what's going on, except that there’s a city guard invasion. I'm so sorry!”

Even as she apologized to the slums as a whole, she glanced over her shoulder and scanned the rooftops behind her for movement. Her hair lifted and moved as though tasting the air like a snake, only to fall limp at her sides after sensing no danger. Understanding this was practically a recommendation, she dropped into a narrow alley and tried to walk across the slick cobblestones casually. Sliding out onto the main street, she braced herself against a rickety house as she walked toward the base of the final barrier meant to keep the citizens inside and protected.

Her mind was whispering that she was close to freedom, but her instincts kept twanging with the reminder that she was being hunted. Goldie came to a stop before committing to stepping out into the much larger no man's land around the final city wall, her hair curling out and probing the open air in front of her. It went still, zipping back to her side as her bangs curled up and let loose a soft explosion of noise.

The thief hissed in annoyance. “Alarms set up here as well, huh? There's nothing we can do about that… we're just going to have to make a break for it.”

She edged her way forward, hair spreading out in preparation of phasing through the wall as soon as she reached its stony side. The warning tingle of magic raced along her skin as she stepped close to the edge of the open space, but Goldie didn't hesitate to push hard against the ground, putting every ounce of effort into sprinting across the open ground between her and the wall.

As soon as she breached the invisible boundary, a wailing sound erupted, and several flares raced upward into the sky. They hung there, spotlighting her against the ground as she ran for her life.

Ten more yards, five… Goldie lifted her hands in preparation for slapping against the wall, only for her hair to suddenly wrap around her body, tripping her and sending her rolling to bounce against the rock face. Through a small gap in her fire-patched hair, she saw a thin net of blazing light racing toward her. It shifted fluidly as it raced toward her, and the thief just barely managed to sputter out, “Elemental Infusion: Shearing!”

Even as her newest Minimal-rank immunity flowed into her hair—gained from evening it out with her new scissors—the net wrapped around her, tightening and hardening into stone in an instant as the alchemical potion it was made from activated. Just as quickly, the now-sturdy cage of foam and bubbles fell to pieces and scattered across the ground around her. Immense shearing force radiated out, going so far as to begin pulverizing the rocks around her wherever her hair touched.

The cobblestone didn't crack or break, instead crushing against itself and slowly turning into glimmering, dust-fine powder. Then, all at once, the fragments collapsed outward, a haze of particles filling the air like a morning fog. Goldie felt her left arm begin to itch, but her eyes remained locked on the point of origin of the attack though the new haze.

Dressed almost exactly as he’d been the last time she had seen him, the Alchemist stalked toward her across the open killing field. “You burst directly out of my Brew of Binding without it managing to take hold? What a remarkable experiment you represent. Come now, you and that ancient telic you wear in place of hair are coming with me. There’s much to do, so-”

Goldie rolled to her feet and threw herself at the wall, only to have her feet slide out from under her as the Alchemist made a casual motion and coated the ground around her in a slick substance. “I tire of these games. Come along. I will even swear that you will be well-treated, though my guild will need to cover our heads and hide from the system as though dining on ortolan to ignore the tribulation such a find will certainly bring upon us.”

“You maniac, leave me alone!” Goldie flipped onto her front, hands and knees skittering back and forth across the near-frictionless surface as she tried to edge ever closer to the wall.

“I certainly won't be doing that.” The Alchemist’s voice dropped, almost hidden by the still-wailing alarm. “You don't even know what that thing is, or you would’ve thrown yourself at the mercy of the crown for protection and benefits when you first found it. They would’ve been able to force my entire guild to bend the knee in order to gain access to such a precious resource, yet I will be able to bring it back and secure an endless supply of materials for our craft. Thanks to you, I will single handedly bring about the alchemical era-”

“There she is!” A gruff voice rang out, pulling the Alchemist’s attention away as scores of mercenaries flooded into the area.

“Fools! I've already captured her. Or, in other words, did the job you were hired to do! Back away, before you damage my precious-” Sudden motion from where Goldie had been a moment ago caused his head to snap back, pupils dilating even in the bright light. “Oh no, you don't! Enough! You can't run if you don't have legs!”

Her hair had dug into the ground, forcing its way into the cracks of the stone in order to send her sliding at the wall. She picked up speed as her hair rowed her toward the barrier like a gondolier determined to capsize his boat. A glance back at the Alchemist showed a fresh potion bottle in his hands, an insane energy emanating from his eyes as he stared at her. His hand lashed forward like a whip, and a thin line of bubbling liquid raced out of the bottle, swooping through the air and adjusting itself to land perfectly against the crease of her knees.

It moved far faster than her, but Goldie was closer to her destination. Choking down a scream, she managed to spit out two words just as she hit the wall: “Temporal Trapdoor!”

Then she was looking at a thick wall, gasping for air as the thrum of victory flooded through her. She flinched and flung herself to the side as the rock face crumbled before her eyes, a line of stone bursting out into open air around her as the alchemical attack split through dozens of feet of warded stone. Scrambling to her feet, she started to run—if there was a follow-up attack, she wasn't going to wait around to try and dodge it.

Only for her limbs to lock in place as she came face to face with… another wall.

“What?”

“You there! Halt, in the name of the queen!”

Goldie's eyes traveled up, up, ever so slowly drawing closer to the source of the voice. When she saw what awaited her atop the wall, she slowly slid down into a seated position, so overwhelmed that all she wanted to do was take a nap. Dozens of city guards stood there with crossbow bolts aimed at her heart, hands glowing with skills waiting to be unleashed or already on the move rushing down to her side.

With her ability to move through obstacles removed for the next hour, she had nowhere to go. As the first guard strolled toward her, pike leveled at her face, Goldie could only slowly lift her hands to show they were empty. “Why is there another wall here?”

“Scum from the slums, I see,” the guard haughtily scoffed at her. “The first protection of the capital city is a double wall at the outer ring, with the innermost wall being higher than the outermost, in case the outermost is breached by an enemy. They’ll have no cover, no succor against their rightful containment or death.”

Another guard in fancier armor than the first stepped close, showing himself to be a broad-shouldered man with a heavy jaw and cold eyes. “So you're the thief who’s caused the city to be in an uproar these last few days. I’d be annoyed with you, if it weren't for the smile you put on my face by causing the alchemy guild no end of frustration.”

“Kapitän Crunch!” The first guard who had approached Goldie looked at his superior officer with wide eyes, nudging him knowingly. “That means this is the one with enough of a bounty to-”

“She will be facing the queen’s justice and will not be handed over to some visiting crafter.” The captain of the guard stared at his subordinate until the lower-ranked man looked away, face red with shame. Then he turned back to Goldie, pulling out a massive cudgel and using it to lift her chin and force her to meet his eyes. “That is, unless she causes us problems on the way to her cell. If that ends up being the case, I might be convinced to throw her to those vultures.”

“I will cause no issues!” Goldie promised fervently, and the first guard begrudgingly clapped manacles around her wrists. They hauled her to her feet by the chain, giving her a good look back at the damaged inner wall and causing her to blanch as the light flooding the area showed a set of furious eyes staring through the gouge in the stonework. “Err… any chance we could go the scenic route?”

“That depends…” Crunch stepped close, his voice lowering, “on whether I am given clear directions to the pile of magical loot you were so keen to steal. Before you give me a flippant answer, know I will make you swear an oath to guarantee it is where you say it is. I know what was recovered in the citizen’s district wasn’t the entirety of the windfall. Now tell me where it is, and promise.”

“I promise…d other people I wouldn’t talk about it.” Goldie could only offer a weak grin, perfectly unwilling to explain that she’d never stashed any of it away, and it was in fact on her person. The captain grunted in acknowledgment of her quietude, then quickly searched her for hidden weapons. After finding nothing, exactly as the thief knew would happen, he began escorting her toward a small gate. “Edgewatch Sentinels! Form up on me!”

At least a dozen city guards rushed over, forming a phalanx with Goldie at the center. She was pulled along without a word of warning, wrists already bruised under the metal and rough treatment and blood running down her arm from under the makeshift bandage she had applied to her stab wound. The gate slowly swung open as they approached, and she realized the armor-clad warriors around her were constantly scanning the area as they quickly moved into the narrow streets of the slums.

Crunch whispered into her ear, “Stay as quiet as possible. Don't think the crown hasn't noticed the alchemy guild’s interest in you. I have my orders, but I will not die for you, thief.”

As if to punctuate his quiet command, the Alchemist who’d been pursuing Goldie across the city casually strolled out in front of the formation. “I see you found the little mouse who’s been nibbling away at my storage. Excellent work… Kapitän, is it? I think I got that right. Your little ranking system is adorable. I'll take her from here.”

He lifted a hand, and the chain of her manacles shot toward him, yanking her off her feet and dragging her a few steps forward. A scream of pain erupted from her lips, and the captain stepped in and wrapped his hand around the cold metal. “You will stand aside.”

“The law is on my side here, Kapitän,” the alchemist explained with a broad smile. “She stole my goods, so it's on me to decide her punishment now that I found her. If I need to, I'll invoke the other laws of the kingdom… and simply take her away from you. Might makes right, and all that.”

“If you’d like to try your luck, please offer me the opportunity to explain how I earned my ‘adorable little’ title.” Kapitän Crunch lifted his oversized cudgel threateningly, and for a moment, it seemed that they had reached an impasse.

The surroundings lapsed into silence, broken swiftly by the sound of dozens of footsteps closing in on them as the mercenary company finally caught up with their employer. “Ah! Right on time. The rest of my might.”

Goldie's eyes darted back and forth, her gaze alighting on grizzled mercenaries no matter where she looked. Heaving a sigh, the guard captain looked at her with sympathy but lifted a hand to wave his men away. Before he could order them to part and allow the alchemist into their midst, the thief's hair flashed with a pink light as an idea struck her.

“Laws!”

Even as the guards looked at her in confusion, the alchemist shot her a pitying glance. “Oh dear, it seems she's become rather distraught. Let’s get you to a nice, comfy, padded room-”

“I wish to challenge the queen's arena and demand to be escorted there immediately so no one can bar my entrance!” As her pealing voice echoed off the armor of the guards around her, a bronze light briefly covered her before bouncing to each of her captors.

Kapitän Crunch let his head loll back as he let out a low moan of frustration. “Now you've gone and done it, you brat. Now the rest of us have to die with you.”

The pleasant facade the alchemist had been maintaining until this point faded away, and his hand slowly slipped into his pocket. Before he could retrieve whatever was stored there, the guard captain lifted his own hand and spoke a garbled command.

A pillar of bronze light surrounded the unit, shooting into the sky and stabilizing. Crunch stared at the alchemist, who had frozen in place. “Now the entire capital knows we’re here. Reinforcements are guaranteed to arrive soon.”

“Perfect.” The Alchemist pulled a stopper from his vial, a slight pop floating over to Goldie's ears. “I get to use the fast-acting concoctions. I never get an excuse to use the good stuff.”