She ran her fingers over its brass, crown-shaped bow, trailing the rounded stem, all the way to the uniquely shaped ward. Spinning the key by its bow around her finger, she walked towards the grand door and inserted it. As she turned it, she felt the key slot into place and release a series of soft, brief clicks. Renae glanced at Andyr and smiled. With both of her palms pressed against the large, heavy doors, she pushed as hard as she could, but was barely able to move them. Andyr took a deep breath as he also placed his hands on the doors and pressed. Despite knowing her strength was no match for Andyr’s, Renae still pushed alongside him as a token of her efforts. A few moments later, the doors were finally open.

The room in front of them was dark. Briefly looking around, Andyr grabbed one of the lanterns mounted on the walls and handed it to Renae.

“It’s definitely in there,” he pointed.

“Right, I’ll be out before you know it,” she grinned.

Andyr unfastened the belt in which his short sword was sheathed. Then he removed his heavy armor and revealed two of his own knives tightly strapped to his back.

“I’ll stand guard down the hall and cover you in case anyone comes.”

“Be careful, okay?” she spoke softly.

“You too,” Andyr smiled, “Now hurry up and go get our jewels. I want to go buy more of that Melchiorian beer.”

“I’m going, I’m going,” Renae spoke as she quickly disappeared into the large dark room.

The treasury was much larger than she had expected, and it seemed to be twice as full. She hastily rummaged through crates filled with valuables and walked past large vases and paintings of people in expensive clothes as she searched for her treasure. While she had a specific item in mind, she’d also pocket small gems and trinkets if they seemed small and valuable enough to take. The room was still; so still, that it felt as though time itself had stopped. Even the commotion outside couldn’t penetrate the thick walls of the treasury. As she turned another corner, she bumped into a pedestal, sending something clattering to the floor and rolling away.

“Aha! That sounds promising,” she thought to herself.

Using her lantern and crouching down, she searched the floor to find the item.

A few moments later, while feeling around in the dim light, she discovered that the item was a brass vase, which now had a slight dent on one side.

Renae cursed under her breath. Now standing upright, she glanced in front of her, noticing something reflecting in the light of her lantern. Recognizing its shape, she rushed towards the crown. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the crown was inside a thick glass case. After several quick attempts to break open the case, she positioned herself behind the pedestal and pushed. It loudly smashed to pieces as it hit the ground.

“Finally!” she smiled, running her hands over the headpiece.

“I’m sure Myghell won’t miss this old thing.”

The gems glowed slightly in the light as she trailed their shapes with her fingers.

“I’ll have to extract the gems later.”

Having found her treasure, Renae quickly placed the crown in her bag and bolted for the door.