“What’s happening?” she heard Renae’s voice.

“I think it’s Sera’s doing,” Andyr responded, “Wait, I think someone’s coming.”

“You’d be correct,” she spoke aloud with a smile, “It is me.”

“Sera!” her friends screamed in unison.

Sera, smiling, shushed them as she got to her knees and reached into her sleeve.

“Back up a little,” she told Andyr as she grabbed one of the small vials containing a clear liquid and poured it over the lock of his cell.

He shifted away quizzically.

“You’re not planning on rusting away the metal with water, are you?” Andyr asked hesitantly. Before she could retort, a small white cloud floated upwards as the liquid began corroding the metal. Sera quickly then turned to Renae to repeat the process with another vial she had in her sleeve.

“Wow, you’re prepared,” Renae nodded in approval, “I’m so proud.”

“Just back up and wait until the lock’s corroded through, okay?”

With a loud clack, Andyr’s cell door opened.

“Not bad,” he admitted as he opened the door, “Got the jewels?”

“I just saw your stuff down the hall,” she told him, waving dismissively, “Hurry, hurry!”

Andyr returned with their gear within moments.

“Do I want to know what you did to that fellow in the hall?”

“No,” Sera smiled smugly, “but don’t worry. He’s fine.”

“This is taking too long,” Andyr commented after handing Renae her knives.

With a hard kick, he managed to burst into Renae’s cell.

“Not bad, Andyr,” Renae admitted with an approving nod.

“Let’s go,” Sera said as she led the others outside.

Even from afar, it was not difficult to see that the castle was still in a state of disarray. Pillars of smoke were coming out of the windows near the library, and there were many servants screaming and running around with buckets of water. The three thieves were walking along the border of the castle grounds, with only moonlight faintly illuminating their path.

Sera stopped as they reached the pigpens.

“Dear lord, what is that smell?” Renae stifled a gag and covered her nose with her hand.

“This isn’t the way back to our hideout,” Andyr asked, “Sera, why are we here?”

“I have a small confession to make,” Sera laughed nervously.

“Go on,” Andyr spoke quickly, “We don’t have time for this.”

Sera took a deep breath, “Okay, well, when you two were caught, they searched the servants’ quarters. I had already removed the jewels from the crown, and I put them in a small bag to bring back, right? But the search caught me off guard so, in that moment, I…” Sera hesitated as she pointed at a nearby window, “…kind of… threw them out of that window.”

Renae and Andyr were both momentarily stunned.