The Thief of Shagrim

With a loud thud, the dagger struck home, burying itself almost up to the hilt in the wooden wall of the inn. Afeek's eyes widened in alarm; he had felt the fur on top of his head part with that one. He ducked and scrambled under the table, not willing to wait and see if the next knife would come any closer. A loud voice bellowed in rage from somewhere nearby but he ignored it, and skittered across the ground on all fours. For a moment, the young Katrin wondered if he would not be better suited to a different line of work, but then decided it didn't matter one way or the other. He was not likely to escape this inn alive if the walking tree-trunk who was after him had anything to say about it.

He came up against the wall and veered to the left, weaving his lithe frame through the sea of table legs, and booted feet. It was a whole different world from this point of view, he discovered with interest; one could tell a lot about a person just from the lower part of their body. He spent a precious second lifting a stray coin off the floor, then jumped to his feet and sprinted for the exit.

He could see the Haran he had just robbed pounding across the floor, the muscles in his neck bulging fit to burst. Patrons of the inn scrambled hastily to get out of his way, an unlucky few bowled over by the sheer weight of his passage. The man was built like a troll, and had the breath to match. Afeek had been privy to such information when the brute had lifted him almost casually off the floor and flung him against the wall. The young thief's head was still spinning from the impact of that little adventure.

Afeek skidded to a halt and flung wide the door of the inn, slipping through barely ahead of the enraged Haranian. He turned and glanced through the small round window, just in time to see his pursuer slide heavily into the thick wooden door. The man's eyes rolled around in his head for a second and then he fell slowly backwards, his huge frame crashing to the floor with a loud thump. The Katrin grinned happily and then skipped down the inn's steps to the street below.

He patted the pocket of his jerkin, smiling at the sound of the rattling coins within. It had been an easy task, lifting the purse from the man's belt. What he hadn't counted on was almost falling over the barmaid as he turned to make good his escape. The Haranian had looked over his shoulder in time to see the young Katrin sprawled on the floor, the fat purse clutched in a fur-lined paw.

Afeek shook his head. He would just have to be more careful in future. Shagrim was not the best place in the world to be caught stealing.

He was considering how best to spend his money when a huge hand suddenly grabbed him by the collar and spun him around. He found himself staring at a massive barrel-like chest and was half way through uttering one of his most profound insults when he happened to glance up and see who had gripped him. "Oh," he said, thinking with regret that this certainly wasn't his night. "It's you."

Abdul grinned at him with a mouthful of crooked teeth and nodded almost cheerfully. "Yes, you snivelling, mange-furred, son of a camel, it's me." He gave the young Katrin a rough shake for good measure and prodded him with a fat, chubby finger. "Thought you could avoid me forever, eh my friend?"

"Avoid you?" said Afeek, with genuine innocence. "I was not avoiding you. In fact, I was just looking for you. I have that money I owe you."

Abdul raised an eyebrow, which looked more like a furry caterpillar than what it actually was. "My money? Hand it over you spineless worm."

Afeek reached into his pocket and uttered a sigh as he handed over the purse he had only just retrieved. It was definitely not his night, and it wasn't even suppertime yet. Abdul spent a few moments pawing through the coins. "By Peryl's green flame," he muttered when he was done. "It's all there; with interest too!"

He laughed at this last comment, and Afeek scowled up at him. "You'll forgive me if I don't laugh with you," he said.

The big Shagrimian grinned and gave his young captor another rough shake. "This covers what you owe me. Now what about what you owe Hekim? I know you wouldn't come looking for me without it all." He smirked at his own dry humour. May the Gods lay a thousand curses upon your mangy head, thought Afeek irritably.

"Well, that's the thing," he said at last. He could think of no plausible excuse and decided that he would have to play it by ear. Abdul was not known for his quick thinking; it was rumoured that he had once been beaten in a game of riddles by an ogre. "I do have his money, but not with me. I left it with Hassin for safekeeping. There's a lot of thieves about you know."

Abdul laughed. "You expect me to believe that you half-witted son of a desert Djinn?" Afeek was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong when the big thief shook him again. "I think perhaps Effendi Hekim would like to speak with you, and I don't think it is about the price of fish!" Abdul laughed again and set off down the road, dragging the unfortunate Katrin along after him. Could it get any worse? Thought Afeek with a sigh. He was about to find out just how much worse it could get.

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