It took a day for Fhen to finally return to the bakery. He had been busy stalking people and getting information from them that he thought it was already time to return. Once he returned, he immediately transfered the information he gathered to the employees inside the bakery.
"You are finally here," Astrophos came out from his office once he heard that Fhen had returned.
"Yes, I got bored from what I was doing so I came to rest and drink some coffee," he grinned.
Ever since he came to the capital, his bandit way of doing things has lessened but there are still traces of it. Even the way he talked was rough and lacked manners which Astrophos already got used to. Even though he was only a bandit, his loyalty to the master was unwavering.
"The master wanted you to meet him. He must have something to say," Astrophos informed him.
Fhin was surprised because after that day that they were called to the capital, the master hadn't talked to them directly. All of their orders were coming from the butler. This was the first time that the master looked for them.
"Is that so, then should I go to the manor?" Fhin asked because he was still a bit surprised.
"Yes," Astrophos nodded. "It would be best for you to go and meet the master there."
"Should I go like this?" Fhin looked down at what he was wearing with a frown. He was wearing ragged pants with black boots that turned brown because of the hardened mud that stuck to it. He was wearing an old t-shirt that looked unwashed and a ragged jacket with holes on it.
Astrophos also looked at him, "You don't have to worry about your appearance. The master won't even notice it. Just go to him as soon as you can or he might get impatient."
Fhin nodded his head and bid the man goodbye. The mage was right, he had no time to think about how he looked because the master's words come first. He navigated his way towards the manor using the back-alley ways and without coming in contact with the majority of the city people.
He walked to one side of the manor's fences and climbed through it until he reached the top and he jumped down. He didn't want to be seen entering the main gate with his looks so he opted to climb walls. After entering the manor's vicinity, he casually walked towards the front door of the structure.
The butler of the house welcomed him and even led him to the study that the duke had given to Cygnus. Fhin bowed and nodded towards the master before he stood in alert to await the master's orders. Cygnus yawned for a second before he looked at the man.
"Now that you are already here, I assume that the others are also here," Cygnus started as he looked at Fhin.
"Yes, master. They've been on stand-by as we wait for your command," Fhin answered with a somewhat high-pitched voice that cracked a bit in the end.
"That is good. I'm planning on giving the heroes some work to do while I infiltrate their ranks. Now, this distraction will be entrusted to you and to your brothers." Cygnus stretched out his arm and placed it above the table.
"What shall we do, master?" the bandit leader asked. He needed to know what exactly the master wanted so that he could do a good job at doing it.
"Do what bandits do," was the master's simple answer. Fhin couldn't help but grin when he heard what the master wanted to do.
"It would be my pleasure," Fhin bowed his head with the grin on his mouth and before he left, he asked the master one more question, "do you have any more instructions master?"
"You can begin anytime. I want it to be spontaneous. It should get their attention," Cygnus answered, "oh and you can begin anytime."
Fhin acknowledged the master's words and bid him goodbye. He left with a skip on his steps because finally the master had something for them to do. He must show the master that he could carry out his commands perfectly.
The bandit leader immediately met with his people and told them their work. They became excited because finally they could bring fear to the hearts of the people in the capital and that they were free to do what they wanted. A loud cheer rang in area as they all became excited.
"When are we going to start boss?" one of the bandits shouted from the back. They were eager to do what they do best and were looking forward to chaos.
"Why don't we start tomorrow. Let's do it with a bang and destroy some properties. Take everything with you and kill everyone on site, oh wait, let's make sure that there will be witnesses left behind," Fhin instructed. Since the master wanted it to be spontaneous and eye-catching, he added one more instruction, "Let's also light a fire!"
At his last statement, the whistles and cheers from the bandits became louder. And as per tradition, they'll need to drink booze before doing any job and that night, they celebrated with liquor, food and songs. The next morning, they were still energetic and ready to go.
They patiently waited for the night to come and when the sun had set their eyes brightened in glee. Their weapons were ready and even their bodies were burning with the desire to shed blood. Fhin looked at his brothers and was satisfied with the fire in their eyes.
"Let's go," Fhin raised his hand and waved it forward. The bandits shouted and walked forward towards the city under the nose of the city guards.
The night was silent and peaceful as the people were silently going to bed or enjoying their night life. The bandits moved within the shadows of the night and silently made their way to their targeted location. It was the richest part of the city where the bigshot merchants were located. This was the place where one could find the finest clothes and jewels and crafts and everything valuable.
They looked at the place and found it empty with only a few guards that were roaming around to guard the shops. Even though they held swords, these guards had no way of winning against a surprise attack. From the roofs of the shops, the bandits jumped and silently landed behind the guards as they slit the throat of the unsuspecting soldiers.
In just one fell swoop the guards were all killed without them putting up a fight. They then entered the shops by group and silently bagged all of the expensive things they could find inside. Once all was put in the bag, they then started to break the glasses. The loud noise was heard by the adjacent residential area.
One of the people in that residential part of the place woke up and looked outside his window. He was about to yell at the person or people that were creating so much noise in the night, when he saw something that made him think that he was dreaming. He could see people moving on the road and destroying the shops below and he could also see them carrying away large sacks on their shoulders.
He closed his eyes and opened them again when he finally realized that there was something wrong. He could also see some bodies on the ground because there were street lamps scattered on both sides of the road. His eyes widened in shock which made him shout.
"Thieves!" He shouted at the top of his lungs which woke his wife who was sleeping on the bed. The woman stood up and looked out the window only to see those people lighting up the shops.
"No!" She shouted in the hopes that they would hear her and stop but no matter how much she shouted, the people did not stop.
The woman ran after his husband who was already on the first floor of their house. The moment he opened his door, the place was already burning. The man started to run in a panic as he went to knock on the door of his neighbors.
When the neighbors awoke because of the commotion, the fire had already gotten stronger and it made the place brighter. The smoke also started to rise up from the burning wood and other materials in each shop. This incident caught the attention of the other patrols so they rushed towards the place of the fire.
They were taken aback by the scene they met after they reached the place. One of them even started to run towards the fire and pulled something from it. He dragged the corpse on his back until he reached the place where the other soldiers were.
They were still busy assessing the situation when they heard a loud chant coming from the other side of the fire. "We bandits will soon rule this place!" The sentence was repeated a few times before their voices slowly receded and left the place with their loot.
Upon the arrival of the mages, the fire was immediately put out but not before destroying everything it touched. Not even a semblance of what the street was before removed. Every shop that caught fire turned into ashes.
