Uri had planned tonight's deed for at least two weeks. Now was the time.
Slipping silently out of his baggy, comfortable brown dressing gown, he approached his dresser. Without a word, he reached inside and conjured a pair of black, tight-fitting trousers and a matching undershirt. After the preparations had been made, he advanced to the storm shutters above the bed. He held his breath in anticipation, and slowly opened the window, silently wording a payer to Siara that the creaking wouldn't wake the others.
He paused, listening for any sign of stirring among his comrades. Silence.
With a sigh of relief, he clambered out of the window, and ascended onto the tiled roof of his home. He waited a few moments for his keen eyes to adjust to the darkness, and spotted his target.
A small, wooden, two-story house belonging to the odd roommates he had met months earlier, sat a good ten yards from his own home. Of course, not even the most agile Jakkai could cover that distance in a single bound, but he had counted on this.
Silently, cautiously, he crept to the edge of his roof, and eyeballed the distance from his house to another. It was larger than his target, but he didn't intend to enter.
The house belonged to an old, cynical Jakkai that Uri had met almost immediately after his own arrival. In his weeks of planning, Uri had convinced the old coot to leave on a business trip to Graycliff for a couple of days. In his absence, Uri assumed that no one would notice his "arrival" to the home.
It was all coming together.
With a momentary crouch, and a rush of adrenaline, the small Jakkai lept.
A rushing of air, and a moment of doubt later, Uri had landed squarely on the edge of the opposite building. He let out a sigh of relief, and listened again for any sign of stirring. Again, silence.
Now he was closer to his target. He felt confident.
He felt less confident when he saw the gap he was to cross.
It was closer than the gap from his own house to his target, but not by much. He doubted that any Jakkai, let alone himself, could cross the hurdle.
Wait. What was that?
Uri's ears perked, and he swiftly spun to face the stairs leading to the roof he stood on. He listened intently, and a wave of shock crossed his face.
Someone was in the house. Someone had heard him. Someone was going to find him.
He swore a silent curse to the old man, assuming that he must have asked someone to watch over the house in his absence. This was not in the plan.
Part one of a two-part series.
Reply
