Sarah's Shadow
^{A Story}
Chapter 6 - Adventure
by Saless
 

The tower seemed to darken as soon as Tiffany entered it, but only around her. At least that should make it easier to hide. she thought. She continued on into the tower and found a stair leading down. She followed it and found herself at another door. Only this door was guarded by an ugly looking humanoid with tusks. He wasn't very alert and she easily slipped by him. Realizing that opening the door would alert him to her presence, she picked up a loose stone and smashed it into the back of his head. He dropped bonelessly to the ground. Dropping the stone, Tiffany picked up a dagger the creature had in a sheath on his belt. She also found a ring of keys with three keys on it. She tried them on the door and found the right one on the second try.

She quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind her. She found herself in a small room with a desk, bed, and chest. There was also a large standing mirror. It seemed out of place and Tiffany walked over to take a closer look at it. That's when she realized that it wasn't reflecting what was in that room, but in a different, much larger one! That room had a spiral staircase in the center of it going down, and was filled with various books, bottles, and other esoteric objects. An old man was there, talking to Sarah and her friends. Tiffany watched as they began fighting and saw Sarah blast the apprentice with the fireball.

Just before the fireball hit the wizard disappeared. Tiffany gasped as he appeared right in front of her! She was so startled that she didn't react at first, and he had an opportunity to begin casting a spell. His hands glowed with flames that didn't seem to damage them. Before he could finish the spell, Tiffany buried the dagger in his heart. They exchanged horrified glances, and the wizard fell to the floor, dead.

Somehow Tiffany managed to hold her lunch in and followed Erica's example and searched the room. She left the dagger in the wizard's chest, she couldn't bring herself to touch it. The room was rather bare, except for the chest and desk. The desk had nothing of interest to her, but the chest held a couple of items of interest to her. The first was a leather pouch that held several coins that seemed to be made of gold, along with a couple of gems that looked like sapphires. The other was a beautiful golden ring inscribed with strange but elegant runes. She put the ring in her pocket and picked up the bag and left the room.

The guard was still unconscious, so Tiffany made her way back up the stairs and found the spiral staircase that led up to the room where Sarah and the others were. She got there just in time to slip through the portal after them. She couldn't get back to her hiding place, so she ducked behind the couch. She couldn't get the image of the wizard's face as he died out of her mind, so she nearly gave herself away when Jill said that they'd killed the imp's old master. She didn't know that Jill learned of his death from Vash, so she thought at first that Jill had heard her thoughts.

Tiffany tensed in her hiding place, expecting Jill to reveal her presence at any moment. She was shocked when Jill and Mike left without saying a word about her. Why wouldn't she reveal me if she knows I'm here? Tiffany thought.

Sarah and Erica stopped moving after a while and Tiffany heard one of them snoring. She started to ease her way out from behind the couch when Vash jumped onto the top of the couch and smiled a feline grin at her. I won't tell them about you, if you give me that ring. Vash thought to her.

Tiffany was shocked to hear Vash's 'voice' in her head, she'd thought that only Jill could talk to him. Numbly, she dug the ring out of her pocket and handed it to the strange pink cat-like creature. I can make anybody hear me that I want to, except for Erica. he thought to her as he nimbly plucked the ring from her hand with his strangely shaped paws. The ring disappeared somewhere about his person. So long as you don't do anything to harm my Mistress or her friends, I won't reveal your presence. Harm any of them, and I'll make sure they know everything about you, Shadowkin. he told her threateningly. That last word was shaded with meaning that Tiffany didn't understand.

I won't do anything to hurt them, I promise! Tiffany thought fearfully. The furry imp was cute and slightly silly looking, but he frightened her nonetheless. As he watched she ran quietly to the door and let herself out.

Tiffany ran the entire way back to her car and drove home faster than she normally would. Only once she was safely back in her own apartment did she relax. That was a very strange experience! she thought. Despite the horror over killing the wizard, and the fear of Vash, Tiffany found that she had actually enjoyed her night! She opened the bag and admired the stones and coins within. The contents of this bag are probably worth a lot of money… she thought happily. She wasn't sure how she'd sell it yet, but she was sure that following Sarah and her friends would net her many more useful trinkets and treasures. Not to mention plenty of excitement!

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