The Costs

Sasha stepped through the door and glanced around. They had been in Deepmoon for three days now, and this was the first chance she had to get what they were here for.

In front of her, across the room, stood the pedestal, and the bastard sword lay on top. It seemed easy enough, but Sasha knew better. It seemed that people thought they could trick her into thinking that their most prized possession was the easiest to steal.

Removing her pack from her back, she pulled free a small bag. At the top was a tie, which she opened with one easy tug.

"Come," She whispered into the bag. After a moment a small head protruded from the sack.

A spiny creature came out, seeming confused, they always were. Sasha only ever called Kobolds to her when she needed them to find traps. There was no need for her to risk herself.

She commanded the Kobold to go, she wanted the bastard sword. The tiny thing wasn't big enough to pick up the sword, but if it got there she would send it back into the bag, knowing the way to be free of hazards.

The creature walked about 10 or 12 feet and froze. She waited, watching it for a minute, then looked around.

On the ceiling was a mural showing the glory of Nyrike, God of honor, loyalty, and trust. She laughed; it was ironic. She was trying to steal the sword from underneath the eyes of the God of honor. The domed ceiling reached up to 80 feet or so. The pillars reaching to it were gold and wearing black runes, telling the glory of this God.

Sasha looked back to the Kobold, perturbed as to why it wasn't moving. She again bade it forward. It didn't flinch. She opened the bag and summoned forth another Kobold, she told it the same thing. She wanted the sword; it was to bring it to her. It reached the side of the other Kobold and froze just the same. This confused her; she had never seen anything like this in all her years of service to the Thieves Guild. She called forth another and gave it the same directions as before. When that one stopped she called forth another, and another, until she had herself a whole line of frozen Kobolds.

The next she gave slightly altered directions. She had it climb on top of it's allies and stand there awaiting further instructions.

It did as instructed and began to climb on top of it's companions. The instant it's head reached the point the other's feet were at, it to froze. Now she had a plan. She summoned more from the sack and gave them all directions to climb on top of their friends. They did and stopped just as the others had. She called forth more and repeated the directions. They all climbed up. All of them came to a halt, except the middle three. They stood for a second and pivoted to face her. She gave new orders, to touch the sword and come back. They did as commanded and all of them came back. She asked them to climb one on top of another, they did and the top one froze in place. The others moved from underneath it, it stayed there unable to move it's body. This seemed simple enough, she thought.

She turned her head about, her long auburn hair flying out behind her. It barely grazed the Kobold's leg and she was frozen in place, no better than the tiny monsters that surrounded her.

Behind her moved something small and hunched over. She couldn't make out what it was. It waddled as it walked. It's long robes swishing the floor. It drew out a long blue mace; lightning crackled around it as he slowly brought it up from his belt.

Sasha was confused; she hadn't heard anyone following her. But then she didn't hear the giant red best that came from the mystery man's side. Its head grazed the ceiling, and it's body barely fit in the room, how this thing made it in she didn't know or care. It's gleaming scarlet eyes lit the area around it's face just enough for her to catch the size of it's enormous head.

The head moved closer to her, smiling it seemed. It's lips parted to let her see it's rows of jagged teeth. The small man behind it cackled maniacally.

***

Across the way Tikaya Ahmans and her accomplice, Voniv Blutorture, stood and watched the dragon move in closer to the Halfling woman caught in the motion trap. Voniv looked over and caught a glimpse of the fear that played in his associate, Tikaya, eyes. They widened as the dragon's head moved slowly, and it's lips parted just a little more, letting it's forked tongue slip out between them.

"It's not real," Voniv whispered, moving his lips closer to Tikaya's ear, "It's just an illusion."

Tikaya let her eyes slip from the magical beast to fall on Voniv's mouth. His scaled lips parted slightly and a forked tongue slipped through them. Her eyes widened, and she looked back to the large monster across the cathedral.

Voniv's laugh was so low it was barely audible. It rumbled through her like thunder.

"Had I known you were so swayed by simple magic, I would not have chose you to do this job," He closed his mouth and chuckled again.

Tikaya knew the weakness to illusions; if you didn't believe in them they weren't there. She closed her eyes and thought, "It's not real. Voniv said so. It's not real." She sighed a little and opened her eyes