The documents were a trap. Ratface knew that for sure.

  The question was what kind of trap?

  The lines of magic were invisible to most people, that much she was pretty confident about. If they were assuming she couldn’t see it, then all she needed to do was sneak through the room without touching one of them. That was assuming they didn’t know what she could see.

  If this trap was made for someone who could see magic, then the webs itself were a trap. To her knowledge the only person she knew who could see magic was Abigail and that was only when she was wearing her helmet.

  At the end of the day, which it was, it didn’t matter what sort of trap it is. She needed the information that was there, and she wasn’t going to get it any other way. She snuck into the room. The webs spread across the floor but there was still space for her to step. She placed each step carefully. There was only enough space for her to stand on her toes and they were already straining under the pressure. She ducked under another one and kept moving through. She looked like a particularly awkward cat as she slipped through the lines.

  She stepped ever closer until she could see faint scribbles on the paper. She could make up the word raid.

  With a smile she went to step forward but stopped. She looked at the ground just in front of the desk. It was faint but there was a crack in the floor. Ratface lowered one foot onto the floor but didn’t press down. It didn’t feel stable. The question was whether it was an alarm or something more. She wanted to know but not so much that she wanted to get caught. The question was how to get to the desk.

  She looked at the desk and focused. None of the webs were actually on it. She jumped and landed on the desk. She smiled for all of one second before the thing sunk down and an alarm went off. In hindsight, she should’ve known.

  The alarm was loud. A wailing that sounded like a golem screaming. Ratface grabbed the paper and went to run. She stopped when she noticed the lines of magic suddenly looked sharp. On a hunch she grabbed a quill on the desk and threw it at one and the thing snipped apart. Not great.

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  She read through the paper. The goblins were in a place called Halvin’s nest, whatever that meant. Well, that was one thing done. Now how to get out of the room. The sharp magic littered the room. She looked where the quill was. Did those lines look a little duller? Well, it was her only shot. Ratface grabbed the chair from the behind the desk. She waved it into one of the lines. A line started to dig into it but then it snapped.

  Well, it looked like she wasn’t meant to be able to see them.

  She walked forward waving the chair in front of her. She managed to get it to the door before the thing fell apart. She could hear noise coming from behind a door. She wedged the remnants of the chair into it and ran back towards the break room.

  The window they’d used was still open. The two of them climbed out and shut it behind them. They scrambled up onto the roof and glanced down.

  A small group of adventurers were milling around watching the roof. They’d been lucky to avoid them. Underneath, Ratface could hear the people inside getting closer.

  She couldn’t run. The moment she jumped from this roof the people downstairs would see her. She couldn’t just stand here either. She could hear the guards in the break room. It was only a matter of time until they made their way to the roof.

  Ratface glanced at the chimney. Surely it wouldn’t work right?

  She grabbed Halmir and jumped into the chimney and held herself in place. Those faint lines of magic crossed over it but so long as she held herself up she’d be okay. She slid down as close to them as she could and hoped the darkness would hide her.

  The sounds of the people searching for her got closer. They must have gotten onto the roof. They walked around. She could hear one set of boots clicking against the tiles as they got closer to the chimney. They weren’t even trying to be stealthy.

  A person investigated the chimney, peering down. Ratface held herself in place and hoped against hope that the darkness hid her. The fact she couldn’t make their face made her hope they wouldn’t even be able to see her.

  “Anything?”, said a voice from further back. The man peered a little deeper. His leaning on the chimney let a brick loose and it fell. Ratface moved her hip out of the way and it hit the chimney lock with a clang. It had been sliced in two when it hit the lines.

  “Nothing, I even threw a brick in,” said the man. He pulled his head back and walked off. They kept moving around for a while but eventually the noises faded. She held herself there for a little longer. Her arms wobbled with the effort.

  When enough time had passed, she climbed out of the chimney. She sent Halmir to check no one was watching the roof and when he confirmed they weren’t the two of them fled from the scene of the crime.

  She climbed back through her window into her own room and let out a sigh. That’d been too close.

  The room flickered to light and Ratface whirled around in panic.

  Abigail was sitting on her bed waiting for her.

  “What did you think you were doing?” she demanded. She looked furious.

  It looked like she hadn’t made it out after all.