Descent into Darkness Rise of the Avar Nira Awakening Part 1 of Book 1 of the Redemption Trilogy

By Allen Saucier

In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15075 on the 9th of November in the city-state of Alixandrea on the Deeloraine peninsula, which is situated upon the continent of Andoe’Klin, a gnome steals to survive, a young wealthy trophy woman seeks meaning and purpose, a tortured half-elf questions his existence and a 300 year old exiled lizardman just wants to go home. All are caught up in a larger struggle that spans centuries and their seemingly little lives will be snared in a trap that requires the best of them to come forth and to leave old ways, old prejudices and the familiar, behind, to embrace the new that Christ Jesus has for them on this epic journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allen Saucier
• Release date: Mar 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215994641

Allen Saucier

Allen Saucier, chief instructor for Cobalt Self-Defense Tactics & Fitness studios (CSDT), holds a black belt in Shotokan Karate, Ryu Kyu Kempo and Krav Maga. Shotokan and Ryu Kyu Kempo also provided a solid grounding in Small Circle Jujitsu, Judo, Western Wrestling and Military Fighting Techniques. Ryu Kyu Kempo built upon that base and added Kyusho Jitsu. Krav Maga built still further upon this base and added weapon disarms, no-gi jujitsu and small arms training. The cord that ties all of these arts together is Jeet Kun Do, in which there is no way to achieve a black belt but the essence of Cobalt Self-Defense Tactics & Fitness (CSDT) is Scientific Street Fighting as taught by Bruce Lee and his students: Tommy Carruthers, Terri Tom, Dave Carnell, Dan Inosanto and Ted Wong. The author is a student of Tommy Carruthers. For further training, the author trains the arts of Escrima, Kenjutsu and Wing Chun. These arts add weapons’ knowledge and further expand his close quarter combat repertoire.

Book preview

Descent Into Darkness

Rise of the Avar Nira

Awakening

(Part 1)

(The Redemption Trilogy)

Allen Saucier

Cobalt Studios Publishing, LLC

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2023 Gene Allen Saucier Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without the express permission from the author or publisher, except as permitted by the U.S. copyright law.

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Allen Saucier

Cobalt Studios Publishing, LLC

104 Merrilee Way

Huntsville, AL 35806

First Edition

Cover Composed by: Allen Saucier

Illustrated by: Allen Saucier

Edited by: Cobalt Studios Publishing

Publisher: Cobalt Studios Publishing, LLC

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This Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the rights and hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Awakening Part I

Acknowledgements

Forward

Chapter 1: The Typical Jewelry Heist

Chapter 2: Hotbeds, Hustlers & Extortionists

Chapter 3: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Chapter 4: The Escapees

Chapter 5: The Choice

Chapter 6: Searching for the Prize

Chapter 7: Unexpected Aid

Appendix A: Definitions

Appendix B: Saints

Appendix C: Quotes

About the Author

More Books by the Author

Acknowledgements

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A heart felt thank you goes out to the following loving people who’ve helped me, guided me and supported me on my journey into manhood, knighthood and adulthood. I have many to thank for the invention for my trilogy, which is based on my Role Playing Game, Blood, Guts and Grace (La Tera des Mystique, The Land of Mystics).

This trilogy and the game are all inventions of my imagination that I gained through playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Shadow Run and many other RPGs. I also gained it from playing board games like Battlestar Galactica as well as card games like Ivanhoe.

I attribute my imagination to Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who is my best friend and His Dad is my Dad. I also wish to express my thanks to Jesus for making me Roman Catholic and for taking such great time to grow me up, walk me on our way in my life and cause me to reach my greatest potential in Him so that I am the most fulfilled man He wants for me to be. Thank you Jesus.

I would like to acknowledge my Mom and Dad who raised me and who gave me my faith and worked with Jesus to give me my life. Mr. and Mrs. Gene and Joan Saucier. Thank you Mom and Dad. Miss you much.

I also thank my sisters, my two brothers from another mother and my friends who have walked with me throughout my life. Jay Hamlin and Shawn Mitchell and been my primary friends throughout my life. My sisters have provided good home cooked meals when I visited and I wish to thank the other friends who’ve come and gone but who have walked with me for a time. Thank you.

To the following designers with WonderDraft and DungeonDraft, a heart felt thanks goes out to them:

AOA, Vevedere, Gordie_laForge, EightBlitz, Krager, J Spashett, RaianStar. All Dungeon Draft asset designers Elvanos, Lapis, jchunick, and Syldi and finally Dungeon and Wonder Draft app inventors, MegaSploot and Mrs. MegaSploot.

You’ve all helped my dreams to come true. Thank you

Forward

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Year 15075 Anno Domini¹ (AD)

Thursday, 9th of November

Ordinary Time

Deeloraine Peninsula² on Andoe’Klin³ Continent

In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15075 on the 9th of November in the city-state of Alixandrea on the Deeloraine peninsula, which is situated upon the continent of Andoe’Klin, a gnome steals to survive, a young wealthy trophy woman seeks meaning and purpose, a tortured half-elf questions his existence and a 300 year old exiled lizardman just wants to go home. All are caught up in a larger struggle that spans centuries and their seemingly little lives will be snared in a trap that requires the best of them to come forth and to leave old ways, old prejudices, and the familiar behind to embrace the new that Christ Jesus has for them on this epic journey.

Chapter 1: The Typical Jewelry Heist

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Alixandrea, being planted near the Great Lake Novasko⁴ on the Deeloraine peninsula of the continent, Andoe’Klin, is typically a peaceful city in wintertime. This stormy night it rained aplenty. The thunder roared and as the lightening flashed across the sky it made the darkness appear like still pictures of well-defined ghostly portraits of buildings and guards transfixed against black and grey structures. Bromide froze in his tracks against some merchant’s shop wall hoping not to be seen with each lightening flash. Tonight, in this peaceful freezing cold stormy city, Bromide intended to spice up his own life. What would it matter if a necklace or two went missing from the house on 34th street? He’d be richer, the rich would be a little poorer and he’d have a full belly. The idea of a full belly drove his desires, for it had been five days, FIVE relentless raven-begotten days since he’d eaten anything! His belly was growling loudly and he was ravenous, therefore not entirely of sound mind. He’d had enough of being afraid of being caught stealing. Hunger often does strengthen a gnome’s resolve. But why was he considering the extravagant mansion on 34th street? Because it was big, lots of shadows, built from marble imported from Das-Mordia-Rin⁵, which is one of two dwarven settlements on the Deeloraine Peninsula and Bromide decided to hit the house on 34th street because it is the home of a very wealthy man that he had stalked these past three days.

The Mansion on 34th Street

Torn between anxiety, hunger and the idea of pure delight after eating a fantastic meal, Bromide crept closer to his target. Dressed in his black baggy clothing with a hat, a cloak and his thieving black mask to shield him from the rain – well, some of it at least – he peered around a corner of another stone bench along the street leading to his target house. The storm of sleeting ice rain raged as he moved towards his goal. "Darn rain! I can’t see for more than 30 feet in front of my nose. Ha! But then again, the tall simpletons can’t see me any better for it. Ha, ha. I will have them! But hasty hasty makes a man crazy." Bromide softly spoke aloud to himself comforting himself as he proceeded towards his prize. The street being barren except – and there is always an exception – for the guards – always guards during the late hours – and their canes²⁸. Bromide disliked dogs, all dogs, except, his childhood playmate, Rollo, long since dead. Rollo never attacked him while he worked. Hum, maybe it was because his work included taking things that he hadn’t purchased with his own hard earned money?

‘O boy, what fun this evening promises to be, hehee, I shall have my precious’, gleefully thought Bromide with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye.

"Let’s seeeee.

From this bench,

Cross the cobblestone river,

Rush to the bushes on the far side of the sidewalk,

Press in through the crevice in the wall I found yesterday

And then…

I’m on the grounds of the ‘castle.’ YESsss!"

The cobblestone street did have guards patrolling with their guard dogs infrequently between guard stations, which are located about every 1000. The rain flowing in the street produced a river of icy slick water and for a three-foot tall gnome a problem to be solved one step at a time. Bromide made sure to stay clear of the street gutters – novel concept – so that he did not get caught up in the water slushing down into them. The gutters had either no grate covers or ones with wide bars – wide for a gnome who’d been fasting for not just three days but for more than five days. The Cannonade is closely watched and guarded. Hum, makes sense since it is the section of Alixandrea¹³⁷ that houses the wealthiest and most affluent in the city. In this downpour, the guards did not stray much from their guardhouses until they absolutely had to. Tonight, they purposefully went directly from guardhouse to guardhouse, ASAP. The dogs would not catch much of a scent tonight, either, due to the weather. Who would even think to burglarize the house of a steward of the city of Alixandrea on a night like tonight? A well loved and scorned statesman at that. A 10-foot high, 4-foot thick smooth stonewall that narrowed to about 1 foot thick at the top, ringed this steward’s mansion. Broken glass cemented into the top of the wall made getting over the top of the wall difficult and would leave scars for sure. The wall was ‘always’ in good repair, so Bromide had been told during the tour he attended earlier in the week. There are several gate entrances into the mansion grounds and of course guards at each one – with canes. Statesmen Arknos Pac Feeday, the ruler of this mansion, is a wealthy man and completely frugal – most of the time. Bromide had decided to hit this man’s mansion because Arknos was known to be the owner of the Feeday diamond mines just outside the city. He had to be wealthy and that’s all that mattered to Bromide: wealth equals food equals a full tummy. Honestly, someone else’s money always meant food for Bromide.

Leading into this mansion were two primary gate entrances, one on the east, one on the west. Each gate entrance has double-gated portcullises with catwalks above them so that the archers on the walls and catwalks could easily shoot intruders attempting to force their way through the double gated corridor. Two more smaller entrances are sealed by two iron doors. Both are located in the rear of the mansion because they are for daily deliveries to the kitchen, the grounds keeper and other servants of the mansion performing daily chores. Both of these iron door entrances enclose a rather wide corridor passage between the street iron door entrance and the iron door entrance into the mansion grounds. At the end of each corridor are portcullises that can be drawn up or dropped down to further delay entrance into the mansion grounds. For our gnome friend to cross the street and to attempt a break in, well, is crazy.

So where did this crevice in the wall come from that Bromide found just yesterday? Good question. Bromide, our good little gnome friend, would simply use it to accomplish his goals – a full belly, a fat pouch and a warm bed before this night was over! Statesmen Arknos Pac Feeday is a crook himself – or so many believe. He had gate guards and dogs, grounds patrols and house guards and dogs protecting his mansion. He also loves the art of deception. In fact, he is caught frequently attempting to practice thievery in the city’s market district in the Mids¹⁰³, as well as the Carnivalis¹⁰² by trying to steal food, clothes, shoes or whatever he can! However, he is so bad at snatch-and-grab that the local cutpurses just laugh at him while the shop owners regularly beat him with brooms, sticks or whatever is at hand when they caught him. Well, after performing his thievery for years, the shopkeepers became accustomed to his escapades, eccentric behavior and regularly beat him, took back their goods, chided him for being such a bad thief and send him on his way. What else could they do? Bring him up on charges he’d just pay to get out of? Arknos was an eccentric but harmless. He’s a master of negotiations but an abysmal failure at thievery and disguises. Of course, Bromide knew nothing of these facts. He had only been in town for roughly a week. Alixandrea is home to humans, in fact, it is the capitol of humans, so Bromide knew before setting out on his adventure from Steyr to Alixandrea.

Crossing the Cobblestone River and a B&E⁸⁵

And the night was wearing on.... Bromide picked his moment to brave the cobblestone river and dash across to the other side of the street where the bench hid his entrance to fun and comfort. "How thoughtful," thought Bromide in his mind as he smiled while appreciating the good fortune of a bench in just the right place concealing a very obvious breach in Arknos’ otherwise pristine wall. Looking both ways before crossing, checking the guards’ positions one final time, he bolted. "Ok Bro, time to go!" Bromide spoke to himself in a low tone and dashed across the cobblestone river road, splashing all the way through the run-off water at the edges and puddles in between. The scene was comic: lightening flashing, thunder booming, and a soaked gnome running across a 40 foot wide cobblestone street that had trees, benches, shrubs and guard houses lining it. This area is the wealthy district: the Cannonaid⁶⁸. As lightening flashed, it etched a stark picture of a frozen gnome in mid stride running across the street against the backdrop of rain, road and various trees and the silhouette of numerous structures. What a comical scene. Fortunately, visibility was quite poor this night and no one was spying him. In fact, none of the guards expected anything to happen on this cold, sleeting icy night.

Bromide dashed for the trees on the opposite side of the cobble stone river, then to the bushes behind the bench. Finally halting at the large bush covered crevice with his heart pumping, ears ringing and drenched but not soaked to his boxers, Bromide looked like a soggy rat dressed in baggy somewhat water repellent black attire. The crevice was still there. Bromide spied through it first and of course found a cat, a black cat, always a black cat, staring back at him. He surprised it. It hissed at him in response and refused to give up its mostly dry space. Water was running down the outside wall but not in the crevice. The cat didn’t move. It just meowed. Bromide noticed no one at the other end of the crevice when the lightening flashed. So, he looked around and checked his back before entering this crevice, sensed nothing and then proceeded into the wall – a 4-foot plus thick wall at the base – and pressed passed the cat. He is 3 feet tall, almost 1.5 feet thick and decently strong for gnomes. He is exceptionally nimble of hand and fleet of foot so entering this roughly hewn crevice was neither a problem nor unusual. It smelled of new earth, mortar and dead fish. The path being only a little muddy made him sink slightly as he walked in damp earth. His cloak snagged on everything that it could: usual behavior for his cloak. Someday he must purchase a cloak that doesn’t snag.

"Tiptoe, tiptoe...

Through the crevice,

Poke out my head and

Get a view", danced the thoughts in Bromide’s head as passed through the wall and into the backyard garden of the estate.

Well, no one’s around. Not even the dogs, he spoke softly to himself,

Hum, guess I’ll have to just let myself in. He smiled as he walked into the garden.

He stood about one-quarter mile from the mansion within a verifiable forest, garden by human standards, planted with trees, shrubs, lawn furniture and other stuff, lots of stuff, yard trash taller folk litter beautiful glades with. This garden is a gnome’s daydream come true: plenty of room, places to grow food, tobacco and even raise rabbits, chickens, guineas and turkeys. Well, so much for gnome dreams. At least the yard trash would conceal his movements.

"Okkkk, now the dashing begins from tree to shrub to bench; shadow to shadow to shadow" reasoned Bromide as he proceeded to dash from tree to shrub to whatever he could find to shield his approach to the house all the while sticking to the shadows.

About an hour later and being the soggy, ice laden black rat he was, Bromide made it to his staging area: shrubs bounded by a curved bench of 10 feet long with a 2 foot high backing. Bromide quickly dropped his packet of skunk scent on the ground, shuffled his shoes in it, spied the glass inlaid stone doors facing out of the mansion’s back porch and noticed some dogs about 30 yards away down the porch to his right. He proceeded to sneak from his bench cover to the porch’s columns, which he would use to get close to the glass inlaid stone doors before proceeding.

The canes were asleep and his new scent would be a good reason for them to not investigate. He had just 20 long feet between his position and the nearest flight of stairs that lead onto the porch column that he chose to reach. Fortunately, the staircase was slight, only 5 steps of exaggerated width. Crouching, he slowly made his way to the column without a sound falling on the stone-walking path to the stairs. As he walked towards the column and the stairs, he noticed a light flicker on in an upstairs fourth story window. "Hum, Bromide said to himself, it’s twelve midnight. Who is up at this hour?" Each story had a covered porch with railings wrapping each floor’s balcony area. Each porch offered very good protection from the rain. In fact, each story seemed to be an enclosed area. The porches had eves that protruded out from them and were angled down, thereby shielding the porches further than what the porch floor above initially gave. This architecture gave a very closed and private feel to each of the floors.

The lamplight that flickered on in a fourth story room and the shadow that moved in that room caused Bromide to speculate to himself, "Is that the room I’m headed too? Lady Athena’s room?" The room with the jewelry that I came to steal? I sure hope not!" He continued his journey to the large round stone column.

The Doggy Door

Bromide made it to the column after about 1 minute or so of sneaking in the shadows from the bench to the short wide stairs. With the cold sleeting rain pouring down, he could see no one and hoped no one could see him. No one heard him for sure not even the canes. At least the canes had not roused as he crossed the twenty-foot expanse to the backdoor stairs. Now at the column, Bromide looked for his way in, his normal way in, the doggy door. Trying to pick a lock was one thing but attempting to lift the iron bars that were on the inside of the mansion that he could easily see through the thick glass inlaid back porch double doors. To lift them from the outside was an impossible feat. How would a gnome move those bars from the outside? Really?

Fortunately, as he’d noticed the other day when touring the grounds looking like any other gawking kid who came to the Arknos’ grounds for the fun – it is open to the public for daily tours – the doggy door was more than big enough for him to fit through and it was a flap door set inside the wall, not the door. He proceeded to the doggy door, pulled out his oil and oiled the hinges. Then, putting his ear to the door, he waited a moment and listened for the snores of sleeping dogs on the other side. The doggies, large Dobermans that he saw thirty plus yards away down the porch on the outside where he stood had not stirred. Those canes were against the wall, behind some furniture and the low over hanging porch eve kept them rather dry on this cold, crisp, wet, sleeting night. Fall was definitely in the air this Thursday November 9th night and all was quiet except for his belly and the storm. His belly rumbled louder than the storm! At least in Bromide’s own estimation.

His excellent hearing picked up nothing from beyond the doggy door. He sensed nothing and so proceeded to open the dog door... slowly. Having excellent night vision, he peaked into the room beyond and found about three dogs sleeping close to the door on their blanket beds. Close is a relative term. So the usual thoughts pierced his brain and he performed them as they entered: drop the cloak, the tunic, the baggy rain pants and he would change into his dry clothes (or dries⁶ as he commonly referred to his dry thieving clothing) and his deerskin wool lined sneaking moccasins. Outside before entering, he put his wets⁶.¹ in a chair not far from the doggy door and changed into his dries. Bromide then proceeded to enter the doggy door, quietly. He, of habit, wiped the skunk scent from his boots onto his slipper soles before proceeding. Not much was there now thought due to the rain.

Bromide proceeded through the doggy door ducking modestly since the door was three feet tall allowing the large Dobermans to enter and leave easily. The door swung sideways instead of up and down. It had springs on both sides to bring it back to position. "Only the rich can afford such unique extravagances... Bromide thought, stepped through the doggy door and easily padded past the sleeping canes towards the huge double staircase that he could see right in front of him. The double staircase as a U shaped staircase with large wide stairs on in the left and right. The distance between them extended over thirty feet and a gnome could plant a huge garden in that expanse! The stairs themselves were fifteen feet wide and about two feet deep. These stairs are large enough for elephants to walk up and down on. Wow!" Thought Bromide.

Sneak & Steal

Bromide’s dries consisted of a snug fitting silk shirt that had lots of pockets in. Atop that was his hoody jacket that had even more pockets in it. Next, his black belt, his thin snug fitting pants with more pockets, dry wool socks and finally his prized wool lined slippers that had deerskin soles. All his cloths were the beautiful colors of night: black, grey and deep earth browns. He carried his usual thieving tools along with a short, thin lasso, climbing tools, caltrops and small metal balls. He enjoyed scaling walls and relished the idea of being like a spider pursuing its prey. Mortar between bricks in walls usually made for good anchor points but no climbing walls tonight.

Up the stairs he went and on to the rooms on the fourth floor of the mansion. Fortune ran along side him tonight! He had learned three days ago that a particular high lady was staying in the mansion and he had previously seen her on the grounds wearing elaborate jewelry: necklaces (2), earrings (4), rings (lots!), wrist bracelets (2 thin ones on left wrist) and ankle bracelets (2 worn on left ankle). Her clothes... her clothes were of fine silk, satin and lace with jewels embedded in them as well. Yeeees, she could afford to fund Bromide’s dinner. "What a wonderful unwitting benefactor she would be for my future. In fact, she will gift me with many dinners for quite some time to come, Bromide happily thought. Now, he just had to find her room, her jewelry box, take his gifts and leave. A nagging thought pushed its way to the surface of his mind: I know where her room is from the outside but I could not find it the day I toured the mansion because the guard sent me away before I could finish exploring the off-limits fourth floor. So now I must search to find it. Was that lamplight I saw earlier her light or someone else’s? No time to consider that now. First, get to the fourth floor, find her room and then determine what to do next."

"Details, details, pay attention to details else I’ll hit the jail. Only one thing matters: what I am doing right now." He stood on the second floor landing knowing that he had two more to go. It was midnight, rainy, stormy, cold, icy and thundering loudly and powerfully enough to be felt through the walls and the walls of this palace were thick! What a wonderful night to acquire spending money, absolutely wonderful. So, our good little thief padded his way down the hall to reach the next set of stairs leading still higher in the vault mansion. Darting from doorframe to statue to tapestry to his next cover point he made it to the third floor and finally the fourth floor.

He breathed deep for he knew that women wear perfumes and even use scented oils when taking baths. He smelled the scent of women’s perfume in the air and he had a good idea of what that woman’s perfume smelled like because he’d gotten close enough to her during the tour to notice it and he followed that scent now to the room that exuded it the most. It hadn’t hurt to play the part of the lost little gnome who just so happened to follow ‘the precious’ to her quarters two days ago during his tour of the mansion and the mansion grounds and then be summarily shooed and escorted out by the miffed guards. During the tour, he made it as far as the second floor but with his childlike attitude inquired of the guards and tour guide to learn that the Arknos family lived on the fourth floor. Playing the dumb little happy inquisitive gnome worked all the time, well, most of the time.

Lady Athena’s room resides on the fourth floor, to the right of the staircase, down the hall, third door on the right. Bromide padded his way down the hall towards her door and the door grew larger as he moved closer. No guards, no dogs, no one stood outside her door: curious situation. Quickly, he padded quietly on the thick carpet to her door – the door that the womanly scented oil fragrances led him to and now he faced a six-foot wide, ten-foot high door at roughly 12:45 AM in the morning. The Precious now rested within the reach of his little hands.

Bromide drew out his lock picks, popped the lock and in a rush every so gently turned the handle, then, he remembered that he needed to oil the door handle and its hinges before going any further. However, to his great surprise, the door opened very silently, as if already oiled. He opened the door a few inches, listened and then peered inside. His excellent night vision showed him nothing. At first, he only heard the light opening sound of the door, his slow measured breathing, his elevated heartbeats and the sound of someone breathing deeply and sleeping soundly. "Hum, if she had been the one with the light on earlier, she wouldn’t be sleeping so deeply right now. It’s simply too quick to fall asleep so fast… unless she’s been drugged," thought Bromide as his stood in the door entrance of her room. The feminine perfume scent hung heavy in the air in her room, too. This room just had to be High Lady Athena’s room. It just had to be.

Jewelry and the Friendly Rottweiler

So, he opened the door the rest of the way, padded into the entrance, turned and slowly pushed the door mostly closed behind him and then proceeded to enter the main part of her room. He looked around and was amazed. The room was huge, thirty-feet by thirty-five feet easily! He focused on the dark wood mirrored dresser. Bromide further surveyed the room and noted the large canopy bed with veil drapes, the curtains lavishing the windowed glass inlaid stone doors to the porch, the dark oak writing table and well-padded oak chairs surrounding a low deep oak wood coffee table. These things only interested him in how much they could be used as hiding places to reach his goal: ‘The Precious,’ and no, not the high lady but her jewels. Padding over to her dresser and looking upon it, he noticed... nothing. So he proceeded to open the top most drawers – smaller than the other ones, and found his ‘Precious,’ well, several of them actually.

"DINNER AT LAST!" Bromide said to himself as his tummy rumbled as his mind raced with thoughts of juicy mutton, hot fresh bread and good cheese. The necklace, the ‘Precious’, laid upon on a display pad covered by a black fur cloth covering the pad. He gently picked up the piece without making a sound, looked at it and then wrapped it in its cloth and stuffed it into one of his many pockets. Next, he searched diligently for the other less expensive necklaces and found two more and they found their way into his pockets, too. He proceeded to scarf a handful of loose gems: diamonds, rubies and pearls. O my, he struck a gold mine in just the first drawer!!

Of a sudden, the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up; the telltale sign that time had run out. "Greedy, greedy has left me needy," Bromide mentally recanted this much-experienced motto to himself. So he slid the drawer closed, opened the next drawer to his right, found a few rings and scooped them into his jewelry bag. Closed the drawer, turned and started padding for the door.

Just then, he noticed that the door was slowing opening all of its own accord. Bromide’s eyes widened into fear, shock and dismay. He shot from his spot to the nearest oak chair and hid behind it within its shadow. The sound of the high lady sleeping never wavered. A rather large dog – all dogs being large to our good little thief – bobbed its head through the door entrance, sniffed the air and then nudged the door open a little more with its nose. Sniffing the ground before proceeding, he then pushed the door wide open. He padded fully into the room and started walking speedily towards the bed.

He sniffed the rug and bobbed his head as it to follow the trail of a scent he