The city was incredibly dark at this hour, lit only by the moon and stars. Yet even that light was largely blocked by the top layer of Cloudreach, where the farms resided. It was, by far, the darkest environment that Maeryn had ever found herself in. Back in Vert, glowmoss had ensured that no place was completely devoid of light… but it seemed that Cloudreach had no real equivalent.

  It was colder than she expected, too. Maeryn hadn’t realized how well the stone of her old home had retained heat, whereas the air at this altitude had turned bitterly cold rapidly after the sun set. Goosebumps had traveled down her exposed arms more than once on this trip already, as Maeryn had favored her Geovan outfit for their late-night rendezvous.

  Even after an hour of adjusting to the dark, Maeryn could barely see more than outlines of buildings and benches on the street. Yet Terrance seemed able to see perfectly, and she found herself simultaneously in awe and envy at his talent.

  Dan followed a step or two behind Maeryn, who in turn did her best to stay close to Terrance as they made their way down narrow side streets and alleyways towards the noble district. Frankie had wanted to join them as well, but Maeryn had tasked her with guarding their belongings in the inn, just in case.

  Terrance abruptly halted and held a fist up, soundlessly calling for them to stop and wait. Maeryn instantly did as bid, repeating the gesture for Dan. She heard him stop, but didn’t take her eyes off Terrance, silently waiting for his signal as he peered around a corner.

  Then the Zephyrian boy lowered his arm and dashed across the street, and Maeryn followed suit, trusting that Dan would do the same.

  After another couple of alleyways, Terrance finally called for a halt and turned to face the two of them. “Alright. Just around this corner is the noble district. There are two guards just out of earshot,” he murmured softly. “Don’t whisper, just keep your voices soft. You two ready?”

  “Yeah,” Maeryn breathed.

  Dan quietly patted at his pockets, reassuring himself. “I’m ready.”

  The plan was simple. Terrance knew approximately where the researchers were performing their work from the documents that he and Maeryn had gone over the night before. He had originally wanted to go alone, but Dan had pointed out that their escapade had a greater chance of not being noticed if Dan only took necessary papers - and potentially, a few select research apparatuses. There was no point in taking research that didn’t have anything new.

  It would take slightly more time, but Maeryn and Terrance had agreed that reducing the chance of their theft being noticed before they left was worth the extra effort.

  So Dan had given Maeryn two vials of some alchemical compound that he dug out from one of his myriad pockets. She was to throw one down the street to distract the guards long enough for Dan and Terrance to sneak in, and again to let them sneak out when it was time.

  Maeryn breathed in deeply with her nose, her heart pounding as she slowly passed Terrance, who silently gave way, giving her room. She peered around the corner, verifying Terrance’s words. There were indeed two guards at the entrance, though they seemed to be carrying lanterns of some kind. Yet there wasn’t fire in them? Instead, each lantern seemed to have… tiny flying lights inside? How mysterious. Maeryn immediately wondered if they were powered by magic, but it wasn’t the time to think about that.

  The lanterns didn’t provide much light - barely enough to cover the entrance between the two of them, and no doubt it hampered the guards’ night vision as well. That made Maeryn feel better about their chances.

  “Whenever you’re ready,” Terrance quietly assured her.

  “Right.” Maeryn closed her eyes, steadying herself. Then, looking the opposite direction from the guards, she flung one of Dan’s vials as far as she could down the street.

  The vial exploded on impact with the street, sending shards of glass flying, and a mysterious green flame abruptly manifested with an incredibly loud bang and a flash of bright light. The fire was at least waist-high, and perhaps a half-meter in radius, yet after that initial flash it didn’t cast very much light at all. What kind of alchemy was this?

  The sudden fire and noise definitely caught the guards’ attention. “Go check it out!” one urged the other. “I’ll wait here.”

  “Are you kidding me? That fire is green! Someone is playing with magic!”

  “And part of our job is to keep magic-users from trying to get in, so go already!”

  “Ugh, I hate you sometimes.” The second guard reluctantly began jogging over to the fire, completely oblivious to the three teens hiding in the shadows of the alleyway that he passed on the way.

  “Now,” Terrance breathed, and he darted out, hugging the walls of the buildings on the side of the street, Dan following close behind. The first guard, still waiting at the entrance, had his eyes on the second guard down at the green fire. With his night vision ruined by the initial alchemical flash, he completely missed the two teenagers sneaking by him on the other side of the gate.

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  Seeing this, Maeryn breathed a sigh of relief and slunk back into the shadows of the alley. They would be some time, but she didn’t dare go too far for fear of losing her way in the dark.

  A few minutes passed as the guards investigated the area, and the green alchemical flame died out. Eventually, the guards reunited at the gate, and Maeryn listened to the investigator guard loudly grumble about “stupid kids pulling stupid pranks” until his companion not-so-politely told him to shut up.

  After that, it was just a matter of waiting. Terrance had estimated that it would likely take at least an hour, but had easily admitted it could take a lot longer depending on how their infiltration went. Judging the passing of time was almost impossible, though. Maeryn had no timepiece, and even if she knew how to judge the time based on the night sky, most of it was obscured by the upper layer of Cloudreach.

  She eventually resorted to counting the seconds under her breath. It wouldn’t be completely accurate, but it was better than nothing. Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, so… thirty-six hundred seconds. That wasn’t too bad, right?

  After finally counting all the way up to that number - and Depths below, was it boring and tedious - Maeryn peered around the corner to check if Terrance was waiting for her. He’d promised to signal her by using light reflected off the mirror-like surface of his knife.

  Despite waiting for a full minute, Maeryn didn’t see any glimpses of reflected light. Not a big deal, she reassured herself. They’d planned for that.

  Instead of retreating fully back into the alleyway, Maeryn quietly positioned herself at its edge so she could see Terrance’s signal whenever he arrived. The guards had long since relaxed and were sitting down, playing cards in the dim light of their lanterns, so Maeryn was almost positive they wouldn’t notice her even if she weren’t shrouded in the dark.

  Time passed agonizingly slowly, and Maeryn wished that she had something to keep herself occupied like the guards did. She tried to stay alert, she really did, but it was hard to keep looking into the shadows of the noble district when there was nothing to see.

  She shivered again. The night had grown steadily cooler, and Maeryn had begun to regret not wearing something to cover her arms. She looked at the guards in their warm-looking uniforms with a smidgeon of envy, before taking a breath and shaking her head. It wasn’t the first bad decision she’d made, and it wouldn’t be the last. Next time she was outside at night in a Zephyrian flying city, though, she’d wear a coat. Or at least long sleeves.

  The thought nearly made her giggle, and Maeryn realized with a start that she was starting to become a little drowsy. “Keep it together,” she mumbled to herself sternly, pressing her palms against her eyes for a moment as if she could literally push away her exhaustion. “You’ve still got a job to do.”

  Unfortunately, becoming aware that she was tired just seemed to make her eyelids feel heavier. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms, trying to shake off the drowsiness, which helped momentarily, but it wasn’t enough. Gritting her teeth, she began counting seconds again just so she’d have something to do. Surely Terrance and Dan would be finished before another hour was through, right?

  Finally, just when she’d reached two thousand, one hundred and forty-seven, something caught her eye. She blinked, and then it happened again - a tiny glint beyond the gate. Terrance! Adrenaline flooded her system, and abruptly Maeryn was wide awake. She narrowed her eyes slightly, peering into the darkness beyond the light of the guards’ lanterns, and thought she could just make out Terrance’s outline.

  Maeryn nodded to herself. Right. It was time for her to distract the guards again.

  She stood, retreating back into the alley for a moment to stretch. Then, pulling out Dan’s second vial, she flung it down the street again. Like before, it exploded with a bang and a large flash of light, creating green flames once more.

  “Whoa!” Both of the guards flinched, falling over at the unexpected light and sound before scrambling to their feet, the card game forgotten.

  “It’s those sky-forsaken brats again,” the guard who investigated earlier swore. “Just another prank!”

  “We still have to take a look. It’s our job, man.”

  “Then you do it. I did it last time.”

  “Fine, fine… don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

  The guard strolled down to have a look at the alchemical flame, seemingly unconcerned. Maeryn ducked once more into the alleyway, hiding as he passed. She held her breath, waiting - and then a figure joined her in the dark. Then a second one. Maeryn let out a sigh of relief. “You got what we need?”

  “Got it all,” Dan agreed.

  “Let’s go,” Terrance ordered.

  The three of them slowly made their way back to the inn, their footsteps echoing softly on the cobblestone streets, only for Terrance to abruptly call for a halt right across the street from the inn. “Hold up. Something’s not right,” he hissed.

  Maeryn frowned, looking past him. She didn’t see anything… but she’d trusted Terrance thus far. “What do you want to do?”

  Terrance was silent for a long moment. “You two wait here. I’m going to check the window, see if Frankie’s there. I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

  Maeryn glanced at Dan, who nodded, gripping his pack tightly. She took a deep breath, the night air sharp and cold, and watched as Terrance moved stealthily toward the inn, blending into the shadows. He reached up, and… somehow climbed the building as if he were a spider, literally sticking to the wall on his way up to Maeryn’s window. After a moment, he moved to the next room over, where Frankie and Dan had been staying, peering inside. Finally, Terrance quickly descended once more and made his way back to the others.

  Terrance’s expression was grave. “Bad news. There are guards in both of your rooms waiting for you to return. Frankie’s not there either.”

  “No…” Dan breathed.

  Maeryn’s mind raced, heart pounding madly in her chest, and she had to swallow bile as she reached the only reasonable conclusion. “They must’ve known that we’re leaving tomorrow. The only chance we would have had to get the research would be tonight. Now they’ve got proof we weren’t there all night, so when the theft is discovered, it’ll be all too easy to put two and two together.” She swallowed heavily. “We… We were outsmarted tonight. And now Frankie’s a hostage.”