Darien lay in the dust for a minute longer, waiting for his vision to clear and his muscles to function properly. While he lingered, his mind raced with the negative consequences of what had just happened.

Firstly, the amulet was in the hands of a person or persons unknown. The plans for the magical item were equally unknown, be they righteous or evil.

Any hope of using the anchor to move to another land was also gone. Furthermore, the shroud fell the moment the amulet left his possession. Darien knew Lendus could see him magically. Retrieving the amulet without Lendus watching every step of the way was going to be a near impossible task. Additionally, the moment Lendus figured out Darien had traveled to Balocen by way of the anchor, the apprentice would know with certainty Darien had used the amulet and failed to tell Lendus about it. The apprentice would come looking for Darien's blood, and without the amulet to help Darien in the fight, Lendus was sure to succeed.

Darien could see only one viable option. He managed to stand, dusting off his dark thief clothes and studying the ground for tracks to follow the one who'd taken the amulet. He knew he would have to go after the person and reclaim the amulet before Lendus came looking for him. Darien could only hope the perpetrator didn't know how to use the magic granting item.

Following the boot prints in the dust and ash covering the road, Darien began his pursuit.

He guessed the culprit behind the capture of the amulet was an armature thief at best. Blindsiding someone and taking whatever they dropped was stupid for several reasons. Firstly, the owner of the property might be a faster runner and easily catch up. Secondly, no way existed to tell if what the person dropped, assuming they lost their grip at all, would be worth the effort employed and possible punishment received. Lastly, the owner could be like Darien, able to track down the thief no matter where they went and how they tried to hide, leading to a confrontation with an irate owner who could be either a skilled fighter or a powerful magic user. Such amateurish theft could easily lead to imprisonment or death, and Darien had barely dodged both on numerous occasions during his early years as a thief. Thinking back, he wondered how he'd survived long enough to get better at it.

The trail led through burned out houses, a blasted marketplace, and two crumbling buildings of such size Darien assumed they were formerly warehouses.

The foot prints were starting to become heavier and further apart. He suspected the thief knew Darien was following behind and increased speed to a run. Darien shook his head as he recognized yet another mistake. An expert tracker could follow a trail for longer than most people could run. The thief was only pushing toward exhaustion rather than doing anything constructive to lose him.

Darien quickened his pace to a long stride without breaking into a jog. Besides pacing himself for a long chase, Darien wasn't so stupid as to go charging after someone he didn't know. The thief, being from here, possessed a greater understanding of the terrain, and it was possible the thief had friends lying in wait for anyone foolish enough to give chase. Darien would catch up eventually, but he refused to race into a trap.

A small ray of hope lingered in Darien's mind as time continued to pass. The thief didn't appear to be using the amulet for its magic granting abilities and either hiding the trail Darien was following or turning to fight him. If he could get close enough to the thief, he might be able to lay hold of the amulet and use its powers to take back what had been stolen from him.

Rounding a corner, Darien instantly halted. The walls of the buildings flanking the road had collapsed and partially covered the pathway. Darien was instantly on alert as the additional piles of debris seemed too perfect in their placement, constricting the available space and limiting his visual range. It felt like an ambush because organized defenses didn't happen by accident; they required planning and work to put them in place. Someone had arranged this, and Darien suspected they were still around. Although it explained the feeling of being watched he'd felt since he'd arrived in Balocen, it didn't put him at ease.

Not wanting to give away his awareness of the trap, Darien crouched down as if inspecting the trail before heading off in a different direction. When he was out of sight, Darien opened his pockets and removed his grappling hook and line. Using the three clawed implement, Darien was able to climb up and on top of the crumbling building. He knew it was structurally unsound and probably not the safest course, but it was preferable to walking into an ambush.

The roof beams of the collapsed building were slanted down slightly, resting on the debris pile covering part of the walkway. Darien knew the old beams were unsteady and could creak or even collapse under him if his weight was improperly balanced, so he took his time and moved slowly. His extensive training served him well as he was able to sneak up on those planning to ambush him.

Huddled behind the debris piles, and extremely well camouflaged, five people held motionless. Darien ignored all but the one he saw holding the amulet for he knew reclaiming the magical item was of paramount importance.

Because his vision was clear this time and not covered by the bright points of light as when he'd been knocked to the ground, Darien was able to get a proper look at the thief. Barely a teenager, the young thief's clothes were ragged and torn, covered in layers of dirt. His skin and hair were equally coated with ash, turning them dark. The boy's slender appearance gave him the look of someone who hadn't eaten in a week. Darien remembered himself at that age, and the similarities were startling.

After a few minutes the other four boys, none of them older than fifteen, relaxed from their ambush positions, convinced Darien had gone the wrong way and wouldn't be coming back.

"What did you get?" one of the kids asked.

"This," the thief answered, holding up the amulet. "I think it might be magical."

"What do we care?" hissed the oldest of the group. His red hair was spiky in every direction and so covered in dirt it was nearly black. "We need money not magic."

"We can use it to defend this place," the thief pointed out.

"What is there left to defend?" challenged the oldest. His voice rose in volume as his fists clenched at his sides. "We live in a graveyard that was once a city. Magic tore this place apart, and I want nothing to do with it!"

"He's right," another of the youths agreed. His dirty hair had formerly been blond, but the true color was only visible in patches through the dirt coating it. He moved away from both of them, standing apart so as to not be seen as siding for or against anyone in the group. "We need money if we're going to start over somewhere else."

"I don't want to start over somewhere else!" the thief screamed. His momentary outburst seemed to drain him of strength. He fell to his knees, crying softly. "This is home."

Darien forced the compassion from his heart. He knew these kids weren't evil, but Darien had to have the amulet back. No matter what he felt toward them, his own needs had priority. A sudden thought struck him that the one who'd stolen from him had probably been thinking the exact same thing.

His mind considered his life before, and he suddenly realized how empty it had been. His profession as a thief had kept him from making any real attachments. He'd no family, and friends were a potential liability as they could either report him to the authorities if the friendship soured or cause him to linger instead of leaving before suspicion fell upon him. The places where he'd lived were disposable, easily discarded when no longer needed. Darien recognized he'd never really had a life, just one job after the next, taking what someone else had worked for, and selling it for enough gold to live on until the next job. It was time for a change.

He lunged from the wall and landed in a roll, coming out of it in time to snatch the amulet away from the child's relaxed grip. Darien immediately threw his hand up, holding the amulet above his own head while creating a shield to prevent the kids from fleeing.

The starving children tried to escape but found invisible barriers blocking their way. They fearfully turned to face Darien.

"Relax," Darien said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "I'm not here to hurt anyone; I just needed the amulet back."

The children remained motionless, pressed up against the shield.

"Is anyone hungry?" Darien asked. Holding the amulet securely, he waved his empty left hand across the ground and summoned trays piled high with steaming hot food. "I need some information. Can you help me?"

"What do you want to know?" asked the thief.

"Let's start with names," Darien suggested. "My name is Darien, and I used to be a thief. It's one of the reasons I caught you."

"I'm Shad," answered the thief. "Can you teach me some thief stuff?"

"I'd rather teach you something better," Darien countered. "In all my years as a thief, I never built anything, only stole what others had made and worked for. Tonight was the first time anyone has stolen from me, and I have to admit, I don't like it. This amulet is vital for what I need to do, so its removal put me in a very bad spot. I'd never thought about the people I took from or what they went through afterwards. I only concerned myself with the gold in my own pockets."

Darien lowered the amulet and waved with his free hand, dispelling the shield.

"You can stay, eat, and answer some of my questions, or you can leave," Darien told the kids. He sat down cross legged on the ground. "The choice is yours."

The youngest of the children were quick to grab handfuls of food and sit down with him, but the oldest remained wary.

"Tell me, Shad," Darien began, using the thief's name to better remember it. "What happened to Balocen? I overheard talk about magic, but whose magic?"

"Some guy and his student," Shad explained around a mouthful of turkey.

"Oakstaff," the blond boy spoke up. "He said his name was Oakstaff."

Darien felt as if all the warmth had left his body in a single instant.

"Cordin Oakstaff and his apprentice Lendus were here?" Darien asked slowly.

"They wanted into the tower," Shad answered.

"When they couldn't get in, they started attacking the town," the blond finished.

Darien felt as if the ground had opened out from underneath him. All this time, he'd been looking for evidence to prove the character of Naja and the serpents, but he'd never once considered Cordin Oakstaff. He realized the truth of the story he'd never finished. The book King of Serpents wasn't the tale of a hero but the history of a murderous conqueror. Darien hadn't been replacing a hero but a villain.