Crystals- Chapter One: Nadroj by Benjamin Hampton

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Chapter One
"Dajorn"

It was going to be a very easy day.

Toner Selraw reached into a purse hung from the belt of a man who was obviously from a far away land and had way too much money for his own good. Less than a quarter-hour ago he had done almost exactly the same thing to a similar person, and the quarter-hour before that, and so-on. Lots of wealthy folk, not used to the high-speed life of one in a city such as Dajorn, were in the city which made for easy work; even in broad daylight.

He bumped into the man, taking a fistful of money from his purse and apologizing at the same time. He almost smirked as he backed away and thought of what his mother used to tell him when he was a child: Make sure you stay in school and get a real job, or else you'll never have an easy day in your life! In the past week he had made more than some do in an entire year.

It was no problem for him as he put the money into the purse and blended into the throng of people surrounding him before the man whose money he had just taken would notice that his purse felt pretty light. He never would have dreamed that the pointless visit from the Lord of Norabel would work out so well for him.

Now he would just wait for another opportunity to come his way. Or maybe his prey.

Leaning against a yellow brick building he looked up and down the busy street in front of him and scanned the crowd as inconspicuously as possible.

The streets of Dajorn were made entirely of an old brick with flowers
growing in the odd patches of dirt in around various buildings in town. All of those buildings were also very busy, but there wasn't enough room for him, even with his expertise, to slip through the crowded space; he would find no work over there.

Upstreet was the residential area of the city that was crowded by a bit more spread out. Many of the people living there protected their neighborhood as they would their own first-born. There was no work there, either.

So, the only option was to look downstreet. The road only continued as it did for about three hundred paces or so, and then there was a large fountain. It was one of the main attractions in that region of the city, and from there he could slip into the crowd effortlessly. That was his spot without a doubt.

All he needed now was a target. Sooner than he thought, he found him.
"That fool innkeeper acted as if he didn't know who I am!" The voice belonged to a man dressed in extravagant furs despite the warm weather, and was flailing his arms around carelessly, knocking them into surrounding patrons. A bulging wallet hung from his waist.
Toner thought it too good to be true. It was. A guard of some kind stood next to the man. He outweighed Toner twice, and was almost as much taller than him, and Toner was not a small person. The man was very dark but Toner could see an elaborate tattoo all over his bald head, face and any other exposed skin, all of which were shiny with sweat. Toner knew that the tattoo covered most of the man's body, and that meant one thing: a Skoorbian.