After leaving Tam and Frisha in the stables, Rezkin had returned to his room only to realize there was no way he could sleep. He was restless. He needed some action, so he decided to put his Skills to use. He donned his stealth gear and snuck out of the inn via the window in his room and made his way across the city by rooftop. Where the roofs were not close enough together, he descended into the shadows of the dark alleys and scurried along in secret. Once he reached Fort Manaske, he found it easy to breach. He already knew the layout and typical guard schedules and routes from his studies with the masters and strikers. Now that he knew more about the strikers, it made sense that they would have that kind of information. There had been times when some of the strikers would leave the fortress for weeks at a time and return with fresh information. The question was, Why?

Tonight, though, Rezkin would be the spy. He wanted to find out more about these rebels of whom the lieutenant spoke. After scaling the wall and dodging the patrol, Rezkin slipped from shadow to shadow across the yard and into a dark alcove. Intent on entering the building through a second story window, Rezkin clambered atop a sturdy barrel and launched himself into the air. He caught hold of an iron hook jutting from the wall that was meant to hold a lantern. His forward momentum and strength carried him higher still, and he flipped into the air once before catching the stone sill of the window. The warrior pulled his body up to perch in the sill while he worked at the window catch. The glass panes swung silently inward, and Rezkin slipped into the darkness.

After closing and latching the window, the young warrior skulked through the dark office. His actual target was across the hall and one door down. He listened closely and then nudged it open. The corridor was dark and empty. Rezkin padded softly over the stones and stopped outside the colonel’s office. The young spy slipped his lock picks from the pouch at his belt and easily disarmed the mechanism. Someone really needs to upgrade the security around here, he thought. He closed and locked the door behind him.

As a security measure, this room had no windows, but that only made Rezkin’s job that much easier. He unwound some of the strips of fabric that he had wrapped around his frame. These strips served two functions. First, they held his clothes tight to his body to keep them from getting caught on things. Second, they could be removed for use in other capacities like tying or hanging objects or people or wrapping wounds, if necessary. At this moment, Rezkin stuffed them under and around the doorframe to prevent any light from leaking out when he lit the lamp.