The guard walked silently past the shadowed alcove, neither looking right nor left as he murmured to himself. On his head was a dull metal helmet, while under his surcoat he wore a tunic of rusty chain mail that clinked and shook as he walked. He was armed with a sword.

Garrett waited until the man had reached the end of the carpeted corridor and turned right before moving from his hiding place. He silently walked down the carpeted runner in the centre of the corridor, senses alert for any sign of danger. He eventually reached the end of the corridor, and there slid into a patch of shadow, in order to watch both ways down the corridor. He snorted softly in mild disgust. The guards that defended this place were pathetic. As an institution of learning the University had no security force of its own. It contracted in a private company of guards. Garrett had scouted out the library the day earlier, and seen how ineffectual and amateur the guards were. All they needed to do was patrol around and frighten academics with their swords.

Seeing that there was no danger, Garrett crept from his hiding place in the shadow, and silently continued on his way down the corridor. Finding another, smaller corridor leading off of it, he slipped into a convenient shadow and consulted his map. This was the corridor he wanted. He leant round, took out his bow from his cloak, and nocked a water arrow to it. He drew back the bow, aimed carefully, and finally let loose the arrow. It sped away and extinguished the torch with a brief flash of smoke and sound. Smiling with satisfation, he moved away down the smaller corridor.

* * *

Garrett crept up behind the guard, a heavily built man who stood by a heavy, barred door. The guard leant against the wall beside it, occasionally looking round. The chain mail surrounding the helmet clinked as he did so - most of the guards had added their own enhancements to their armour. The thief silently crept up behind him, making sure to stay pressed against the wall to avoid detection. Finally he reached the guard, and crept up so that he was standing directly behind him. Then, he struck.

He took a knife in his hand, and suddenly wrapped his arm round the guard's neck so that the blade touched on his throat. His other arm slammed over the guard's mouth, taking the stunned man by surprise and preventing him from crying out. Garrett leaned over and whispered in the guard's ear:

"One move or cry for help and you die. Understand?"

The guard, stunned and frightened, nodded, eyes flickering down to make sure he didn't move his neck into the blade. Then Garrett asked:

"Nod once if you're called Resputan".

The man nodded once.

Garrett released his grip on the man's mouth, and took the blade away from his throat. The guard span round, and his eyes lit up as he saw the thief.

"Garrett, you taffer! I thought you'd got cold feet and bottled out. I was getting ready to go in without you!"

The thief smiled back at the man, who had slapped him on the shoulder and flashed rotting teeth at him as he said this.

"And make a mess like you did last time?! Thanks but no thanks Resputan - you just stay here and watch the door. You'll get your share soon enough."

"Ahhh, Garrett, the last time you said that the City Guard nearly caught me. You remember that time we.

"Resputan, let's catch up when we're finished shall we? Now, have you got the key?"

Resputan tossed a key at Garrett, who tried it in the lock of the door. It fitted perfectly. He twisted it, and listened to the click as the tumblers moved and the bolt on the other side of the door slid back. The thief pushed it open, then turned to look at the grinning guard.

"Remember - if anyone comes, knock twice on the door and try to delay them as much as possible"

Resputan nodded, and Garrett slipped through the doorway and closed the door behind him. He locked it firmly, then started off down the passage. He grinned. Resputan was an old childhood friend - the only remaining one Garrett would still trust absolutely. They'd played as boys, and stolen together as teenagers. Until Resputan had decided to do a job without Garrett, and had nearly died as a result of a guard's swing. Garrett had gone back to avenge himself on the guard, while Resputan had stood watch.and been there when the City Guard had turned up. It had been close. But it had shaken Resputan's nerve, and he never stole after that. Instead, he turned his expertise the other way and sought employment as a guard. Garrett had found out he worked for the same company that guarded the library, and it was a simple matter to slip him a note in their own secret code.

Suddenly the passage ended, and Garrett looked with satisfaction at the great hall revealed. He had reached the Pagan and Myth Section. Acting on intuition, he had guessed that the name Father Woodsie sounded Pagan, and it had been a simple matter to ask Resputan to be guarding that particular door, and have the key ready.

The first thing to do was the find the index. He crept around silently, making sure no one was present, and then went to a great book lying on a circular table in the very centre of the hall. It was the index. Garrett rapidly turned the pages until he reached the F Section. His finger ran down the entries, but to no avail. No Father Woodsie. Hissing through his teeth in annoyance, he flipped through the book until he reached the W Section. Again he ran his finger down the column of entries until, finally, he found "Woodsie, Father". He bent over to study the entry.

Woodsie, Father
Noun, Pagan Title - "Father of the Woods"
Reputedly informal, colloquial title amongst Pagans for Woodsie Lord i.e.
The Trickster
See "Woodise Lord" Entry for further details.
References: Pagan Studies, H E Gerturs; Woodsie Gods, J G Hertman; A Study
of Mythological and Pagan Legends, L L Lyer.

Garrett gasped. Father Woodsie was the Woodsie Lord! The Trickster! The fabled god of nature and chaos. And a deity who had sent.beasts.. to kill him. Garrett felt a cold sweat break out over his back as the hairs on his neck stood on end. A deity wanted him dead.and had very nearly succeeded. Did he know that Garrett was still alive? As a god he must do. And that meant he was still after him.

Suddenly, a thought came to Garrett that knocked the breath out of him. Constantine.the desire for that gem.the sense of unease he had about him.the pagan feeling Garrett had had about him.and his refusal of the offer. Could Constantine actually BE the Trickster? Garrett wanted not to believe this, not to believe that he had shaken hands with a god, drunk his liquor, and then turned down his offer, but a logical part of his mind was telling him there was a probability this was so. He sank down to the floor, stunned.

Finally, after several minutes, he roused himself. What could he do? Constantine would keep hunting him down until finally he was killed. He needed a way to appease him, and maybe escape with his life. An idea came to him. Constantine had mentioned he wanted a gemstone called "The Eye". Perhaps if Garrett got this gemstone and managed to get it to Constantine, his life would be spared? He might even make some money on it, enough to retire perhaps.

He dragged the index towards him and flicked to the E Section. It was of considerable size, but eventually Garrett tracked down the entry.

Eye, The Noun, no Pagan/Mythological name known Fabled gemstone. Existence unproven, current owner unknown. References: Lost Gemstones, K A Retremarte; Of Gems and Legends, J A Barnest; A Detailed Study and Consideration of Fabled Objects and Gemstones, with Special Reference to The Eye, K L Hermandares; A Study of Mythological and Pagan Legends, L L Lyer; Hammer and Pagan Tales and Myths, H A Joneste.

Garrett looked across the page for the reference number of Hermandares' book, which seemed to be the most specific. Having found it, he moved off towards the relevant aisle, snatching a pair of glasses foolishly left on the table. He wasn't in this for money - but Resputan was.

* * *

Garrett pulled down the book from the shelf, and carried it over to a reading table. He rapidly flipped through the book, until eventually he came to K L Hermandares' consideration of The Eye. He skimmed through it rapidly, pausing to read important sections.

".a fabled gemstone, never proven to have existed, but with too much evidence to be dismissed as a figment of the imagination. References to the Eye feature in early Pagan writings, as noted by Lyer (1), ascribe the gem fantastical powers of necromancy and anarchy."

".to be a large, cut gem of unknown composition, but with a milky clarity. Legend also holds it to be set in a decorative holder of some significance, possessing three decorated prongs. The entire holder is supposedly decorated with gold. Who decorated it, or why, remains a mystery."

".several theories of its origin. Some have suggested Precursor provenance, citing various pieces of evidence. Gurtelsterte dismisses these conclusions (8), and instead affirms that the Eye is probably of Pagan origin. He bases these conclusions on evidence in Pagan texts, which say that the Trickster was who commanded the gem cut and mounted, and then infused it with Pagan powers."

".supposedly possesses the powers of necromancy and anarchy. Theorists have used these powers as an encompassing reason for the prevalence of the undead in several sections of the City."

".suppressed Hammerite accounts seem to affirm that the Hammerites discovered a gemstone capable of necromancy and took it to the Hammerite Cathedral in what is now the Closed Area in order to use it to their own ends. H G Termenatre, in his foreword (12) to "The Collected Letters of the Smith-In-Exile", suggests that this gemstone, possibly the Eye itself, was responsible 'for the emergence of the undead.and remains there still, controlling them.' This conclusion, though fanciful, has as much merit as any other observation put forward."

Garrett put down the book, his mind fired with what we had read. A gemstone - capable of necromancy? With Pagan origins? Why could Constantine possibly want such a gem, except to wreak havoc upon the City? Garrett had no great regard for any other inhabitants of the City, but this place was his home and his livelihood - and what would happen to it if Constantine were to get his hands on the Eye? But what would happen to Garrett if he could not appease Constantine?

He finally arose from the volume, not knowing what to do or even what he could do. But he knew one thing for certain.it was time to leave the library. He had what he wanted, and the more time he spent here, the greater the chances of being caught. He moved off towards the exit.

* * *

A gentle tap on Resputan's shoulder made him spin round in surprise. His features changed from fright to happiness when he saw Garrett locking the door to the place behind him.

"Thanks Resputan. I would say I owe you one, but I got this for you instead"

The thief flicked the set of expensive reading glasses to Resputan, who laughed in delight.

"Ahh, I knew you wouldn't forget me Garrett. Well, let's be off then"

"What?"

"I'm coming with you Garrett. Can't stay here now that you've been at work inside. Come on.let's go!"

Garrett followed Resputan, with grave misgivings, as they crept down the corridor. He knew he should have left Resputan be, and gone another way, but the man was an old friend. How could he abandon him. Resputan glanced around, then softly lept from one shadows to another. Garrett smiled - at least his friend still remembered how to be a thief.

* * *

Suddenly the footsteps of the guard grew louder, as the man took a path neither Resputan nor Garrett had anticipated. The pair was forced into a brightly lit corridor, with only a bare amount of shadow. They squeezed into the small patch of shadow together, and waited with bated breath as the guard approached.

Garrett looked around this small hiding place with mounting apprehension. There was no way he and Resputan could hide here - the guard would see them for sure. One of them would have to move. He turned round to look at his friend to tell him.

Unfortunately, Resputan had reached the same conclusion. As Garrett turned he heard his friend whisper;

"Sorry about this, Garrett."

Resputan brought down his massive fist on Garrett's head, dazing the thief and knocking him into the centre of the corridor, and in full view of the approaching guard. Resputan stepped over to him and launched another blow that spun the thief round and dropped him to the floor. As darkness began to close over Garrett, he heard Resputan's triumphant cry to the other guard;

"I got him, I got him! He was about to kill me, and I got him! Captain Parsom's gonna be giving me a bonus for this. I caught the thief.!"

Garrett dropped his head to the floor in disbelief and anger, and the darkness rushed in to devour him.