“Who said this is a good idea?” The Drow Ranger sighed. She already knew the answer before five fingers pointed at the Stealth Assassin.
In return, the Assassin shook his head. “Because it is a good idea. Just maybe not with him.” He nodded towards the five identical creatures, who were technically only one with four copies. “He is too flashy.”
“Not everyone can be invisible, I have other talents, as you know well enough. Try to break into the shop, even without stealing something, without my help and you’ll find yourself captured, invisible or not.” All five creatures grinned, annoying in their sameness. He’d be annoying on his own, but with four copies he was four times as annoying.
The Drow Ranger preferred the Assassin, at least he was quiet and unobtrusive. He was the perfect partner for a heist. But they needed the Geomancer and his copies this time. He was supposed to be the distraction, with his ability to trap others and to jump to his own copies, no matter how far away they were. He’d create the chaos while the Assassin would slip into the shop. The Drow Ranger was backup, lookout and protection for the satyr thief all at once in the meantime.
The target, some rather fancy and expensive gemstones that held an insane amount of magic, would be well guarded. They couldn’t just walk in, not even when invisible, and back out like it was nothing. That was the only reason the Stealth Assassin had suggested to involve the Geomancer. And the only reason the Drow had agreed.
“We made the decision and we are here, so let’s begin.” Backing off wasn’t anything the Drow Ranger did, at least not like this, not when she hadn’t even begun. She wasn’t above running when the situation got too dangerous, but not yet. Her lingering sense of unease was more due to the Geomancer being with them, not because she sensed any danger. She didn’t like change, didn’t like other creatures and rarely trusted anyone. It was an unsettling idea that they had the Geomancer with them but alone they couldn’t have done this.
The Stealth Assassin acknowledged her words with pulling one of his knives. His body shimmered a little, the sign that he was invisible for others. Not for her, though, since they were working together.
The Drow took an arrow from her quiver and softly blew onto the tip, coating it in ice. Then she knocked it. She retreated until she stood next to a tree, hiding in its shadows. Taking a deep breath, she then exhaled sharply, sending a gust of magical wind forward to cover their approach. “Go.” The command was for the Geomancer, the Stealth Assassin was already on the move. They had done this often enough.
A few moments later, chaos erupted when the Geomancer did what they had planned. He was a distraction, loud and annoying and everywhere at once. Even the Drow forgot for a moment to look after the Assassin, her eyes drawn to the creature with his four copies.
Yet when someone came running, she reacted as fast as ever, ignoring the ruckus in front of the shop. Her arrows, enchanted with ice, weren’t as harmful as normal arrows but they slowed the targets, until they were frozen to the spot. Neither Drow Ranger nor Stealth Assassin were out to kill anyone, they were here to steal. So the Drow stopped anyone who came to intercept them. Killing was the last option.
With the guards distracted, the Stealth Assassin slipped into the shop. He knew to hurry.
More people came running, from different directions. Too many for the Drow to shoot all at once, but that was where the Geomancer came into play. He did his job rather well and the Drow only had to watch for the ones who weren’t fooled or trapped by the Geomancer.
When the door opened, she sent another gust of wind to help the Assassin’s retreat. In return, the Assassin threw a powder onto the Geomancer, not to harm him but to help him get out as well.
A few seconds later, the three (or rather seven) were running away from the shop, not as fast as they were able to but as low-key as possible. The Geomancer even called his copies back so he only had to hide one body in the shadows they were ducking into.
During the run, the Stealth Assassin threw one gemstone towards the Geomancer. “Your share. Bye.” In the same movement he turned away from the creature, the Drow following him. Together they continued until the Assassin stopped underneath a tree. It looked like every other tree in this forest but it was their tree. Their meeting spot whenever they wanted to do a heist together, whenever there was something to discuss, when they had gotten separated and needed to meet up again.
For two thieves they were astonishingly loyal towards each other but they had relied on each other often enough, they couldn’t betray each other now. Code of honour or something, the Drow supposed.
In any case, she was glad to have an ally in the satyr and when he held the smaller of the two remaining gemstones out for her she didn’t protest. He did the more dangerous part of their heists, always did, it would be unfair to complain. Instead she nodded. “Thank you.”
They parted ways, because if someone followed them, which wouldn’t be unexpected, that would make it more difficult to find them.
All in all, this had been astonishingly easy. The Geomancer had done well, more so than the Drow had expected. She looked at the gemstone shortly. It glowed from within, very faintly, and she could feel its magic. Satisfied, she tugged it into a pouch on her belt.