Armor. He sucked in a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Full plate armor. None of their guards wore plate armor. This was just a suit. Never had there been a suit of armor decorating a corridor before. They had placed this here for the purpose of confusing or alarming him. He realized he needed to hurry. If they had placed this here, they had considered the chance he would choose this entry. There was no telling how many other things they might have changed to confound him.

Rezkin knew he only had moments before the next roaming guard wandered down this corridor. He padded quickly and quietly to the end where it met a second corridor at a T-shaped juncture. This is where it got tricky. Thirty paces to the left, the second corridor ended at another corridor. A guard would pass by just as the roaming guard entered the corridor in which he was currently standing. He would have to slide into the second corridor at exactly the moment the second guard passed out of view or the first guard would see him. The guards were using time dials to coordinate their efforts. Rezkin did not have a time dial of his own, but he had been given a copy of the guard rotations two days prior to simulate the event that he had a spy in residence. He had memorized the guard patterns and relative movements to the point that he had actually dreamt about them the previous night.

His ears perked. Was that a scuff? Rezkin strained to hear the eventual passing of the guard in the third corridor. There. He was certain he had heard a creak. Two more breaths would give the guard enough time to pass. He silently exhaled and peeked around the corner just as the brown hair disappeared. Jerking his body into motion, Rezkin thrust himself around the corner into the second corridor just as he heard a shuffle of feet in the passage he had just vacated.

He listened a moment. No running footsteps. He let out another silent breath. The guard had not seen him. Luckily he did not have to worry about avoiding all of the guards since they were stationed throughout the fortress. If he could keep out of sight of the second guard and the standing guard near the target, he would be okay—at least until he had the object. Then, he had to get out before they knew he had trespassed.