The full moon was out tonight, causing the beautiful city of Constantinople to continue shining like the beacon it was; the reflective glass and metals that composed the buildings were so well made that even in darkness the city was illuminated. Thorfinn loved to watch it, every full moon he would sit at his window and watch the city. He was enamoured with it the same way he was enamoured with the other works of art that he had discovered in Constantinople. Paintings, music, ancient writings that depict the sheer beauty of the world beyond their own.
When he was young he was told by Ragnar that Asgard was a golden city with buildings that reached above the clouds. A city made of gold, with buildings that reached that high up; even now Thorfinn could not picture such a place, but if Asgard was more beautiful than Constantinople then he would never want to leave. So enthralled he was by this beauty that he forgot about the book he held in his hands. Looking back down at it he ran his fingers over the pages; they were a marvel unto themselves.
This was the book Thorfinn had found in the second city, the one with pages made of gold. Yet unlike gold it retained the flexibility of parchment, but to his surprise couldn't be ripped. The book also contained a language that Thorfinn did not know. For months he had been trying to translate the golden book, yet he was no closer now than he was before. Languages came to Thorfinn as naturally as breathing and yet he could not read this one. No matter how many days he'd stared at the text it did not make sense to him.
"Thorfinn?" A voice called out from further inside the room.
Thorfinn turned and was greeted to the naked form of Sophia. His eyes locked onto Sophia's naked body as she stood in the lamplight. Her skin glowed under the flickering oil lamps. She had soft breasts that were teardrop shaped and while not overly big they were more than a handful, the nipples that topped them were dark and the Areola surrounding them large, but they hardened in the cool air. Looking further down he looked to her stomach which was flat, her muscles visible beneath the skin. Her long dark hair was unbraided and so fell down her back, cascading in long curls that reached her backside. They also fell in front of her shoulders almost touching her groin which was covered in its own forest of dark curls. The best part however was her legs, thick with muscle yet unbearably soft when Thorfinn touched them.
"You're reading that book again," Sophia said with a raised brow as she walked over to him. She effortlessly perched onto the window he was on and placed herself between his legs, leaning against his chest.
"It's fascinating..." Thorfinn said as he wrapped his arms around her, his fingers brushing against her stomach, making her shiver slightly in his grasp. "Never have I seen something that confounds my mind so much..." he spoke reverently as he held the book up in front of them both.
"Atlantis... The Second City, a place so ancient that it predates the great empire of Rome by millennia, whatever language these words are in must've not been spoken in just as long."
"Perhaps such knowledge is better left forgotten," Sophia commented. She ran her hands down Thorfinns arms and overlaid them on top of his. She pushed back closer into him; despite the hot days in Constantinople the nights were fiercely cold.
"Knowledge should never be lost..." Thorfinn said a little wistfully as he looked out to the city once more. "Thousand of people, thousands of minds, legendary genius's of all kinds formed the Roman Empire, yet this city is all that remains of it... such a thing is a tragedy."
"It does sound sad when you speak of it in such a way," Sophia said, leaning her head back into his chest and getting a little more comfortable.
"If all I achieved in my life was forgotten... I cannot think of a worse fate," Thorfinn said while shaking his head.
"What will you do then?" Sophia asked.
"I'm not sure... while I cannot read the language as is perhaps there is a way for me to translate it," he said as he looked back towards the book. "Look here." He guided her hand to the book and traced her finger across some of the smooth lines on them. "This looks similar to the Sumerian Script, the lines are very similar, but the characters are different..."
"What do you think it means?" She asked.
Thorfinn thought for a moment. "Perhaps this is the first language of man, and it resembles Sumerian as it is a bastardised version of it?" He would need to study more languages to be certain, from what he could see there was no similarities to Arabic or Greek. He'd need to study the languages of Africa and the Mediterranean. Perhaps then it would give him more of a clue into what this language of and just what knowledge was hidden inside these pages.
Sophia started to kiss his arm, placing small soft pecks on each part while she turned around. Soon she was on her knees between his legs, looking at him with a mischievous smile on her face. "Are you done with your reading now Scholar Thorfinn? Or does this naked woman no longer interest you?"
Thorfinn snapped the book shut with a smile as he looked at her; she was thrusting her chest out making her breasts look slightly bigger. "Put me out of my misery should I ever prefer books over the company of a woman," he replied as he grabbed her making her giggle.
Thorfinn gathered Sophia into his arms, feeling the warmth of her naked body pressed firmly against his chest. Her skin felt smooth and heated under his calloused hands as he carried her across the cold stone floor toward the bed. Her arms encircled his neck, her fingers brushing through the ends of his hair with a gentle tug. He lowered her carefully onto the coarse wool blankets, watching as her long dark hair fanned out across the pillow in a tangled cascade. She gazed up at him, her amber eyes catching the dim glow of the oil lamps, a faint smile playing on her lips.
He leaned over her, pressing his lips against hers in a deep kiss. His tongue slipped into her mouth, exploring its warmth as it met hers. She responded eagerly, her hands sliding up to grip his shoulders, fingers pressing into his muscle. His hands moved to her breasts, cupping their full weight, his thumbs brushing across her nipples until they stiffened under his touch. She let out a soft moan, the sound vibrating against his lips as her chest rose with quickening breaths. His fingers squeezed her breasts gently, kneading the soft flesh while he continued kissing her.
Thorfinn broke the kiss, trailing his lips down the side of her neck. He sucked gently at the sensitive skin just below her ear, tasting the faint salt of her sweat. Her hands grabbed at his tunic, pulling the rough fabric upward, wanting to see his body desperately. He straightened, yanking the tunic over his head and tossing it to the floor, revealing his broad chest crisscrossed with faded scars from past battles. Her fingers roamed over his skin, tracing the hard lines of his muscles, her nails scraping lightly as she pulled him back down. Their lips met again, her tongue pushing into his mouth with a fierceness that matched his own.
His hand slid down her body, gliding over the smooth plane of her stomach until it reached the curve of her hip. He moved lower, his fingers moving through her pubic hair and brushing against her sex, finding it slick and warm. He rubbed her slowly, his fingers circling her clit before slipping inside her, feeling the tight heat of her walls around them. She gasped, her hips lifting off the bed to press herself closer to his hand, her breaths coming in short bursts. He pushed his fingers deeper, moving them in and out, her moans growing louder as her legs spread wider to accommodate him.
Thorfinn lowered his mouth to her collarbone, kissing the delicate ridge before moving to her breast. His lips closed around one nipple, sucking gently as his tongue flicked over the hardened peak. Her back arched, pressing her breast further into his mouth, her hands tangling in his hair to hold him there. He moved to her other breast, his teeth grazing the nipple lightly as his free hand kneaded the soft flesh of her other breast, fingers pinching her nipple until she squirmed beneath him. Her hips rocked against his hand, her sex clenching around his fingers with every movement.
He withdrew his fingers, spreading her thighs further apart with a gentle push. He settled between her legs, his hard cock brushing against the soft skin of her inner thigh. He looked into her eyes, seeing the hunger there as she stared back, her lips slightly parted, her breathing slightly unsteady. He guided his cock to her entrance, pushing inside her slowly, feeling the tight, wet heat of her walls envelop him. The sensation was intense, her sex gripping his cock tightly, pulling him deeper as he filled her completely. He groaned, savoring the way her warmth surrounded him.
Sophia's hands clutched his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin as she moaned. Her hips lifted to meet his, urging him to move. He began to thrust, feeling every inch of her as his cock slid in and out. Her walls tightened around him with each movement, the friction sending waves of pleasure through his body. He leaned down, kissing her again, his tongue exploring her mouth as their lips moved together. Her breaths came in short gasps, mingling with his as their kiss deepened.
His hands gripped her hips, fingers pressing into the soft flesh as he increased his pace, thrusting harder. Her breasts bounced with each thrust, brushing against his chest, her nipples grazing his skin. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her heels pressing into his lower back to pull him deeper. He felt her walls clench around his cock, the heat and tightness driving him wild. He moved faster, his hips slamming against hers, the sound of their bodies meeting filling the room. Her moans grew louder, turning into sharp cries as her hands slid down his back, nails raking his skin.
Thorfinn shifted, pulling back to look at her face. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her lips swollen from their kisses. He reached down, his fingers finding her clit again, rubbing it in firm circles. She gasped, her hips bucking hard against him, her sex tightening even more around his cock. The pressure was overwhelming, her walls pulsing as she moved with him. He thrust deeper, feeling her tremble beneath him, her legs shaking against his hips. Her cries grew sharper, her body tensing as she came, her sex gripping his cock in rhythmic waves that sent shudders through him.
He kept thrusting, feeling her orgasm ripple around his cock, her slickness coating him. His hands moved to her thighs, spreading them wider as he pushed deeper. Her breasts shook with each thrust, her hands clutching the blankets beneath her. He felt the heat building in his groin, his cock throbbing inside her tight heat. He leaned down, kissing her neck, sucking the skin as he pounded into her. Her moans mixed with his groans, the bed creaking under their movements. His hands slid under her, grabbing her ass, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts with even more force.
Thorfinn felt the pressure building, his cock swelling inside her. Her legs tightened around him, urging him deeper as her walls continued to pulse. He thrust harder, faster, the sensation of her tight, wet sex pushing him closer to the edge. His hands squeezed her breasts again, fingers pinching her nipples as she gasped. He kissed her hard, his tongue thrusting into her mouth, mirroring the rhythm of his cock inside her. Her hands gripped his hair, pulling him closer as their bodies moved together, slick with sweat.
His thrusts became erratic, his hips slamming against hers with incredible force. He felt the release coming, his cock pulsing as the pleasure overwhelmed him. He groaned loudly, spilling inside her, his cock throbbing as he filled her with his seed. Her walls clenched around him, milking every drop as her body shuddered beneath him. He collapsed onto her, their chests heaving, their skin slick with sweat. Her arms wrapped around him, fingers stroking his back gently as their breathing slowed.
Thorfinn kissed her jaw, his lips brushing her skin softly. She let out a quiet laugh, her breath warm against his ear. "Better than your book, Scholar?" she teased.
Thorfinn smiled and laughed into her shoulder. "Much better," he replied.
...
To shadowy figures dropped from a building rolling across the tiled roof of another. They pushed up and kept on sprinting. The first one jumped forward pushing with his hands off a chimney and rolling forward transitioning off the building before catching a line with a hook and sliding across it to the next building almost as easily as breathing; the second guy paused when he saw this.
Thorfinn shook his head as he watched Sophia show off again. She had forced him into this competition when they raced each other he knew he shouldn't have taken it, but he honestly thought he might've stood a chance this time. He followed her, jumping off the building and catching the same line sliding up to the next building and scaling it before rolling over the top. When he pulled himself up he caught Sophia flashing him a grin from under her hood, she was already on the building ahead of him. "By the gods..." he muttered under his breath before he rushed forward trying to catch up. While his divine heritage did afford him more speed, that speed could be a detriment if he used it incorrectly while jumping across these buildings. Meanwhile Sophia's divine heritage allowed her to manoeuvre in any direction as well as boost her speed.
He expertly moved across the buildings jumping across the large gaps and even using a grapple hook to swing across. Yet even pushing himself as hard as he could if he didn't manage to catch Sophia and she ended up winning. When Thorfinn arrived outside of The Colosseum, it was to Sophia who leaned against a wall with an apple in her hand. "You finally decided to come, I almost fell asleep waiting for you," she said with a grin on her face, as she took a bite out of the apple.
Thorfinn rolled his eyes at her before snatching the apple out of her grasp and taking a massive bite out of it.
"Hey!" She said with an annoyed expression on her face.
Thorfinn flashed her an apologetic look. "oh I'm sorry. I thought you would be fast enough to defend against that," he said with mock sincerity before it devolved into a laugh.
Sophia hit his shoulder before snatching the apple back out of his hand and eating the rest of it. "Stop messing around now we've got work to do," she said as she looked to the Colosseum.
The grandmaster had tossed them with scouting out the Colosseum. It would be reopening in just a matter of days they needed to know this place inside and out if they were going to succeed in killing the vampire. Geralt and the other Witchers were already scouting the ground it was up to him and Sophia to scout the upper levels and make sure there was no hidden surprises. Considering it was daytime it wouldn't be too easy to get in there unnoticed something both him and Sophia realised the moment they looked at the Colosseum.
Down on the ground there were dozens of guards covering every entrance and there were likely to be more inside, they need to find an official or a worker there so that they could disguise themselves. Both assassins came up with this plan before they even spoke to each other. Thorfinn turned to Sophia "scout out the southern entrance with the competition just a few days away; they must have supplies coming into the Colosseum," he said.
Sophia nodded. "Once I find them. I'll take the place of one of the servants and get myself into the Colosseum."
Well, this was all well and okay for Sophia for Thorfinn it presented a different problem. He was simply way too big and his looks were unnatural. There was no way he could disguise himself at least not without covering his head but even then his unnatural size would make people naturally suspicious of him and considering he was trying to sneak into the Colosseum, they would ask questions however that didn't mean that there wasn't any way in for him. He just had to go lower.
Thorfinn looked down, he had been into the sewers once before and encountered Fleders a sub species of vampire that were more monster than person. But that had been a long time ago and he was a different man now... he was stronger. Sophia looked at him with concern on her face. "Be careful okay?" She said as she touched his arm.
Thorfinn smiled at her and touched her hand with his own. "I'll be fine don't worry about me, just focus on your task," he replied back. Sophia nodded before doing a flip of the building and landing in a bale of hay. Thorfinn shook his head again as he New no she was just doing that to look cool. Thorfinn made sure his hood was on properly and scale down the building coming into an alley. He kept the shadows and moved from alley to alley until he came to an entrance to the sewers. He paused the moment he arrived at the steps, he sniffed the air.
Blood.
It had become common as of late, especially around the entrances to the sewer, with the large population of Fleders living down there it meant more and more people were being taken during the night. The Brotherhood had yet to do anything about it yet as they'd been stretched too thin by the Templars. A new Templar leader had shown themselves recently; this one was different however, she was said to be fast and strong like a ghoul, but her agility seemed to be on another level to them. They had recently lost five assassins when trying to take her out.
Thorfinn would do it himself, but he was needed at the colosseum, once they took down the Vampire that's when they could wrestle control of the city back from the Templar's and put Constantine back on the throne and depose his damn bitch of a mother.
Walking down the steps carefully he traces the edges of the door that led inside, there was blood on the edges. Equally spread apart, like someone tried to hold on as they were dragged inside. Thorfinn unsheathed his sword before approaching the gate and slapping the lock on the gate which shattered when he channeled a bit of his quake magic into it. He opened the gate and walked inside, it was dark naturally so Thorfinn raised his sword while channeling his divine power into it.
The sword started to light up with a beautiful light, soft like the sun and yet intense like a blazing bonfire. It lit up the tunnel quite well revealing more blood and a trail that led to the darkness. Thorfinn didn't have time to investigate it, nor would he have even if he did. He started to walk down the tunnel, coincidentally in the direction of the blood trail. He hated this place, the smell was bad, but it wasn't the only reason; the air was suffocating down here, the longer he was down here the more it felt as if the walls were closing in.
Thorfinn's ears twitch as he heard a slight rumble from further ahead of the tunnel. He held his sword forward channelling more divine energy into it and illuminating the tunnel even further. As he did so that rumble he heard turned into a hiss and a shadow at the edge of the light moved backwards. Thorfinn frowned and spat on the ground in front of him. 'Such disgusting creatures...' he thought to himself as he continued forward. He came to a junction in the tunnels, based on where he entered, he had to go left in order to get to the Colosseum. He turned and continued on down the path eventually coming to a huge dome like room.
Sounds of hisses and other strange noises emanated through the room. He could tell that this room was full of Fleder; they were staying just out of the radius of his light as it seemed to have a burning effect on them. "Do you think it will be that easy?" Thorfinn said, with a small grin forming on his face. Despite the fact he had other things to do he could not help himself the creatures down here was simply entertaining to kill.
Thorfinn paused, the muscles in his leg then tensed before he shot off the ground and into the darkness coming to around a dozen of the creatures. They all screeched as they were exposed to the light of the sword and so tried to flee. Thorfinn did not let them however he drew his sword back and in one swing decapitated one of the monsters, in the same breath he reversed the grip and impaled another one in its eye socket. By this point, the creatures had caught onto what was happening and split between attacking him and running away. The ones that attacked him did not farewell as Thorfinn used the Igni sign and caught the ones charging at him in a blast of fire. Following up after that, he delivered several extremely fast slashes that ended with the monsters dead on the grounf.
Thorfinn smiled as he did so. Killing these creatures was simply entertainment there was no challenge in it; they had numbers on their side and while a regular warrior or assassin might struggle, Thorfinn was different. His divine heritage made him their natural enemy. His light was poison to them, and his sword which was blessed by Baldr himself worked much more effectively against these creatures of darkness where a normal sword would not.
Thorfinn stepped back and dodged and weaved between the Fleders claws. Hopping to the left, he drew his sword up and cut off one of the creatures arms before he drew his fist back and channelled some of his quake energy. He slammed his fist into the air just in front of the monster, he was careful to make sure there wasn't too much power in it. The air cracked and everything in front of his fist was thrown back; the very first monster in front of him was obliterated.
"Ehhh what are you doing?" Thorfinn said as he started walking forward. Intensifying the light once more, Thorfinn was able to see dozens of creatures making a run for the tunnel on the far end of the chamber. He intensified the light in his sword even more to the point where you could barely see the metal, this was a little draining, but it wouldn't take too long. He threw his sword through the group of creatures—slicing through the centre of one of them. It then stuck in the ground and blocked off the exit from the Fleder.
"I didn't say you could run..." he said while cracking his knuckles. Followed was an absolute slaughter as Thorfinn forward using his divine energy to enhance his body—giving him power equivalent to ghoul. He then started tearing them all limb from limb, while their durability may be a problem to conventional weaponry and normal humans.
Thorfinn was anything but normal.
He punched one of the creatures so hard that their neck snapped backwards, he then ducked, one of the creatures arms sailing over him. He grabbed their arm and pull down roughly, snapping the arm over his shoulder before pivoting on his feet and slamming his palm into its chest also channelling some quake energy into the creatures body which made it convulse at fall to the floor. Thorfinn smiled wildly as he tore them apart, never had he expected to gain so much power that dealing with such nightmarish creatures was child's play.
He grabbed one by the throat and twisted its neck 180 degrees before throwing it into a group of them. He sensed one of them ambushing him from behind; he used Quen and raised his arm to block their claws, the creature screeched in displeasure, but that shriek was quickly ended when Thorfinn jumped up from one foot and delivered a powerful punch to their throat while activating his hidden blade which pierced the creatures throat. The blade itself was coated in a poison that was incredibly toxic to creatures like Fleder; needless to say the creature fell to the ground shrieking as it clawed at its throat.
It didn't take long for him to mop up the rest of the creatures, though some managed to get behind him and flee to the tunnel he entered from. Thorfinn brushed himself as he stood up; he was lucky that vampire blood was so thick and stagnant, it made the blood he was covered in minimal. Thorfinn let a smile form on his face as he began to walk towards his sword.
He wouldn't lie that felt good.
While he had taken to and listened to the training the assassins had provided. A true battle always got his blood boiling in a way that sneaking around never would. He may have the skills of an assassin and a Witcher, but at heart he was still a Viking. Thorfinn picked his sword out of the ground, it had finally started to dim as the power he poured through it began to fade. Not wasting anymore time he sheathed his sword and began to jog down the exit tunnel. There was still lots to do and he couldn't allow himself to get distracted again.
After a while longer he finally came to the location that should theoretically be under the colosseum. He looked up at the large circular iron disk that was his entrance; it was nearly fifteen feet up. Kneeling down he tensed the legs in his muscle before he jumped up, he pulled his fist back and smacked it into the grate which lifted it off and allowed him to pass through the hole; he used his other hand to help and in one smooth motion he exited the sewer system while managing to catch the iron grate before it hit the ground. Such finesse would've been foreign to him 8 months ago, but now it was like he had an entirely different body. While he was much larger than he had been when he stilett Kattegat, his divine gifts enhance his speed and agility making him a deadly combination of both.
Thorfinn inspected the room he was in, there were various casks and barrels placed in various stacks and shelves. A wine cellar then. That was good. With the competition not happening for a few days and the room looking relatively full, no one will have a reason to be down here. Thorfinn moved through the wine cellar like a shadow, his feet barely making a sound. He kept his body coiled, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. With effortless smoothness, he glided from shadow to shadow. His mind was working overtime, analyzing his surroundings. He had to gather information on the colosseum and the upcoming gladiator competition. There was much to learn, and little time to do it.
He moved past the barrels and crossed the room. There was a stairway at the far wall. It led up. He checked the steps and made sure none were loose before climbing. The walls were made of stone. The air changed as he moved higher. The smell of dust and old wine faded. Now it smelled like iron, hay, and sweat. At the top of the stairs there was a thick wooden door. He pressed his ear to it. He didn't hear anything. He opened it slowly and stepped through. The floor was flat stone. There were more barrels here, but smaller ones, and cages stacked along the far wall. Some were empty. Others weren't. He walked between the cages and looked at what was inside. One of them held a large cat with dark fur. It was awake but didn't move. Its eyes followed him. Another cage had a lizard with thick scales and yellow eyes. Its mouth was closed but he could see the muscle in its jaw. It had been fed recently. There were bones in the corner of the cage.
He kept moving.
There were more cages ahead. One had a black bear with its face scarred. It was chained at the neck and stood when he got near. It pulled at the chain and made a sound low in its throat. He stopped and watched it.
'So they're not just using men anymore. They're putting beasts in the arena now.'
He walked past the bear.
Further ahead was a metal gate. He looked through the bars. The room beyond was larger. There were men in that room. Some were sleeping on the floor. Others were sitting against the wall. One of them was doing push-ups. They were all large. Most had bruises and broken skin. One of them was missing an eye. Another had tattoos that covered his chest.
Thorfinn watched them for a while. It was easy to tell just from the way they looked and the scars on their bodies that these men were trained killers. While he wasn't worried about them, he did wonder why they had been gathered in such a large quantities. He slipped through the room without any of them noticing him and continued onwards. What followed was a rigourous task of detailing every exit and entrance, every window and even the opening on the roof. He needed to study the Colosseum inside out. He searched the lower floors for hours for any hidden rooms or exits, but he couldn't find any so he decided to move onto the higher floors.
'Sophia should be up here,' he thought to himself. He hoped that she had more luck than he did, for as of right now he hasn't discovered anything that they didn't already know. Though he was surprised that they were using animals in the gladiatorial match.
Thorfinn pressed himself against the wall, as two guards came down the corridor. he considered taking him out but decided that was not the best idea, and most likely the Viking part of him talking. Though he will admit that his fingers did itch when they came in reach.
Once he made it to the higher floors, he started searching them. Apart from being a lot more luxurious and opulent than the lower floors they had just as little to offer. That was a lease until he reached what look like a private suite or perhaps a library of some kind due to the large amount of books in the room. Thorfinn felt awed as he looked around surrounded by so many books. He tried to stop himself, but in the end he couldn't and he took one of them off the shelf.
*Julius Caesar*
Thorfinn looked at the old tome in his hands, he had heard reference of Julius Caesar before, but never had he found a whole works dedicated to him. He found himself smiling. This made the entire trip worth the effort.
*Creak*
Thorfinn acted quickly and use the footing he got from the shelf in front of him to push himself up and grab the top of the bookshelf which he rolled on top of. He looked down hoping that whoever had entered the room did not see him and luckily for him it was even better than that.
"Sophia!" Thorfinn whispered quietly before jumping down from the bookshelf.
Sophia, who was dressed in an outfit that hid her sex and identity—yet could not disguise from Thorfinn—looked up. "Thorfin!?" She said back as she walked carefully over to him.
"What are you doing here? You was supposed to look at the lower floors," she said, before pulling the scarf down from her face.
"I finished the lower floors a while ago there was nothing down there," he replied.
"Why didn't you wait outside the Colosseum like agreed?" She asked as she crossed her arms.
Thorfinn shrugged. "I was more interested in exploring this place more, especially since I'm going to be one of the competitors."
Sophia didn't say anything else after that, she didn't charge him that he could've been caught because she trusted his abilities. Nor she argue that he hadn't followed orders because he never usually does so there was no point. In the end all she did was inhale a deep breath. "Fine," she said. "Since you're here, you might as well help me look around the room. This is the last room I haven't searched, hopefully we'll find something."
Thorfinn nodded and then they both got to work searching the room for any hidden secrets or information. This room was clearly the domicile of someone very important just one look at the opulent decoration would tell you that. But were they important enough to have crucial information on them.
Time to find out.
While Sophia searched Thorfinn was a little distracted as he looked at the book titles that lined the shelves. After the debacle with the vampire was done, he would be looting this place dry. Such knowledge shouldn't go to waste with whoever placed the books here. Just one look and you could tell that many of these books have not been read for awhile, they were covered in dust. In a way it was offensive to him, such incredible knowledge and it was not being utilised.
Thorfinn shook those thoughts out of his head and kept on looking for anything. But since he was here, he might as well help himself. Thorfinn began taking books of shelves and stuffing them into the small satchel on his belt, as many as he could fit. Sophia had this and looked to what Thorfinn was doing. "Thorfinn no you can't do that no one can know we were in this room?" She said as she moved up from the desk she was currently searching.
Thorfinn turned to her as he put a small tome in bis satchel. "It's just a few books no one will miss it," he said with a grin on his face.
Sophia, however, was not pleased and no charming smile would change that. "Put the books back for all you know the person in this room could be a scholar, we can't risk it."
"It'll be fine, these books will better serve me than it will them," he replied as he continued to do so. However, Sophia grabbed his hand before he could put the book into his satchel. "No!" She said.
This led to them getting in a bit of a scrap both shoving each other and trying to get the book out of each other's hands. In hindsight it was quite childish but neither one would admit defeat and they ended up slamming it into a table and making a loud noise. Both of them paused after that and looked at each other. "Shit!" They both said aloud.
*thud*
*thud*
*thud*
There were footsteps coming towards the room now, multiple pairs of them. Sophia and Thorfinn both quickly acted and tried to get hidden though both of them managed to trip over each other which made Thorfinn hit into a shelf and Sophia hit into the floor.
*click*
Thorfinn heard the sounds of mechanisms similar to a water wheel clicking and for a moment he was unsure of what was happening. That was at least until the bookshelf had landed on clicked open; he wasn't sure how that happened, but he wasn't going to complain. "Come on quickly," he said to Sophia who got herself up off the floor.
*thud*
*thud*
Sophia quickly put the table back to how it was before as well as lining the books are properly. "Come on!" Thorfinn said again.
*thud*
*thud*
Sophia rushed through the entrance with Thorfinn and he closed the door, just in time for them to hear the sound of the door in the office opening. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief, after they caught their breath back Sophia hit Thorfinn and called him an idiot in her native language.
Thorfinn just chuckled as he followed Sophia down the long corridor. They walked for a few minutes before Thorfinn spoke. "Where do you think this leads to?" He asked.
Sophia shrugged. "There have been no twists or turns, we have only gone down, I can only imagine these leads to a safe house," she replied.
Thorfinn nodded that made sense if the Empress herself was coming there was no doubt that they'd need a way to escape. They continued on down the corridor for what seems like an hour both of them getting increasingly confused as to where this tunnel led. Soon that confusion turned to unease, but eventually they managed to reach the end of the tunnel and reached a ladder. Both of them looked at each other before Thorfinn went first up the ladder only using one hand as he kept the other on his sword.
Sophia swallowed as she watched Thorfinn. She followed up on the ladder just behind him and watched as he pushed open a hatch.
Sophia didn't hear him say anything, she wondered what he saw. Eventually Thorfinn started to chuckle and then laugh all while keeping it quiet.
"What is it?" Sophia asked. "What do you see?"
Thorfinn look down at her a grin stretch across his face. "You'll never guess..."
Getting annoyed at his secretiveness Sophia climbed on top of Thorfinn and looked through the hatch herself. As soon as she saw what was outside she paused.
A moment later she started to laugh as well.
(AN: The next two chapters are 35K words combined, so imma split them up. This will cover the end of year 3. Hope you enjoy)