A Thief's Tale

L'Sara climbs from the iron hatch into the abandoned tannery yard, ledger tucked securely away. Mud, weeds, and collapsed drying racks surround a sealed office door beneath sagging eaves.

Behind her, Alleria reaches the tunnel mouth with two estate guards gripping her arms. Two more lanterns descend after them, their light sliding over muddy tracks that vanish between the buildings.

Alleria wrenches one arm free for an instant, but the guards haul her forward again. Their boots splash from the hatch into the yard as lanternlight closes around the available paths.

The sealed office stands to the left, its iron lock crusted with rust. To the right, several fresh tracks cross the mud: booted, narrow, and leading toward a broken rear gate.

L'Sara surges through the mud and drives into the guards holding Alleria. Her bruised shoulder flares as the cordon absorbs the impact instead of giving way.

One guard loses his footing, but the others lock their grips. L'Sara wrenches Alleria's arm halfway free before a mailed elbow forces her back against the office wall.

Alleria twists with the opening and tears completely free of one captor, though another seizes the back of her tunic. The struggle slams both of them into the sealed office door.

The impact has split the rust-caked lock from its lower hinge. The door remains shut, but a dark finger-wide gap now shows beyond it, wide enough for tools or a slim hand.

Alleria braces one boot against the threshold while two guards drag at her shoulders. The rear tracks and broken gate remain behind the cordon, but the damaged door offers a new escape point.

L'Sara slips her slim hand through the finger-wide gap. Her fingertips find the interior latch while Alleria braces against the struggling guards, buying a precious breath.

The latch yields beneath a careful twist. The office door opens inward with a soft scrape, revealing stale darkness, collapsed shelves, and the faint scent of old ink.

Alleria ducks through the opening, wrenching her tunic free as the guards reach for her. Lanternlight spills across the threshold but fails to illuminate the office's deeper corners.

The opened office offers a narrow refuge between dusty cabinets and a rear window filmed with grime. Behind L'Sara, armored boots pound toward the threshold as Alleria searches the gloom.

L'Sara crosses the cramped office in a low rush, catches the grime-filmed window, and works its swollen frame loose. Alleria follows close behind as Estate Guards crowd the doorway.

The window grinds open onto the tannery's rear yard. L'Sara slips through first, then reaches back and guides Alleria over the sill without a sound.

Alleria lands beside her in wet weeds. Together they duck behind a collapsed drying rack while lanternlight sweeps across the office window and passes on.

The guards remain trapped in the office's stale darkness. L'Sara and Alleria reach the broken rear gate, leaving the tannery and its fading shouts behind.