Lilaa's Memoirs: The Book Thief
(Part 1)Night had fallen, and with it the desert had grown cold and silent. Looking up, one could see the moon and stars against an imposing black sky. One was much less likely to see the outline of a black figure as it glided over the sands.Amaas was a black griffon, a creatively-named race of griffon-folk known for their naturally black fur and feathers. Their dark bodies made for excellent natural stealth, and as such they often found not-so-noble livings that took advantage thereof, typically as thieves or spies. Amaas was a master thief, traveling under cover of night to burgle the most valuable of valuables. Tonight, his goal was the home of a reclusive gynosphinx that kept an extensive collection of books, at least some of which were bound to be more valuable than a typical library's stock.Maybe she's got a first-edition copy of The Long-Eared Samurai. That was one of the first novels ever printed. One of those in mint condition would be worth a fortune. Ah, there's the place now.Folding his wings for a gradual descent, Amaas touched down noiselessly beside what appeared to be a small desert temple. He peered in through the side window, his specialized vision making it easy for him to see even in near-total darkness.She's probably fast asleep by now, the black griffon thought to himself. Even sphinxes sleep sometime, right?Amaas rested a hand on the oil lamp that hung from his belt-- the sort of lamp one might expect to find a genie in, if one was so superstitious. The lamp was an unusual accessory for a master thief, not even being a trophy from a previous heist, but Amaas had his reasons for carrying it. Putting the lamp out of his mind for now, the black griffon began to circle the temple, his footsteps making next to no noise in the sand, searching for the stealthiest way in.(Part 2)Lilaa dozed lightly on the smooth stone bed, centuries of use weathering it and contouring it to the shape of her body. With a sudden flash, the gynosphinx's eyes snapped open, a green glow radiating from them. Slowly and silently Lilaa sat up and retrieved her glasses, slipping them in place across the bridge of her nose, and looked about. Through magical wards and an instinctual sense, the gynosphinx could tell the peace of her lair had been disturbed. Someone had entered her abode and was moving about. Silently she stood, pacing towards the main chamber where her library of books were stored, and fanned her wings. With a leap, Lilaa bounded up and settled herself on top of a majestic bookcase, her eyes scanning her lair.Amaas froze. A shiver ran down his spine and the feathers on his head stood on end. Something had entered the chamber, and he had a good idea of what it was. Keeping to the darkest reaches of temple library, the black griffon crept along, craning his neck to try and see if his fears were true. Atop one of the bookcases, Amaas spotted two pin-points of glowing green light. The ethereal eye shine of the resident gynosphinx swept across the chamber, and the griffon ducked, staying low as the shine passed his hiding spot.I can still do this, he thought. I just need to keep quiet. Move slowly to avoid drawing attention to myself. She'll never know where I am.Lilaa sighed internally as she spotted the figure creeping around in the dark. Despite her vision, the gynosphinx found it slightly difficult to focus properly, as though the intruder had an aura of shadows around it. Such a feat of stealth mildly amused her. But this was her lair. Her home. And no amount of skill could completely hide them from her senses. She watched as the individual cautiously made their way through her library, pausing every now and then to inspect her books. The gynosphinx briefly wondered why they had come. No doubt they were some adventurer, hoping to test their wits against her in anticipation of solving her riddles, and obtaining her treasure. It was a shame they were wasting their time, as she had long since retired from that game. As Lilaa watched, she noticed the figure pause by a bookcase filled with manuscripts and scrolls, lovingly bound together to form a treasured collection of books. The gynosphinx grew wary. Many of those collections were old, written long ago by now famous writers and scholars. The germination of ideas and thoughts they wrote down. The early drafts and plot points to what would later become literary masterpieces. True, only some of the ramblings held in that particular bookcase held any real monetary value, but to the sphinx, they were all priceless. The figure began to grab at the collected writings and stuff them into a pack, the act drawing a low growl from Lilaa's throat. The would-be thief froze, their eyes meeting with hers in the dark, and they ran. Lilaa pounced, wings spread and she gave chase. The thief was fast, ducking and weaving among the bookcases, and if the chase had occurred anywhere outside her lair, Lilaa might have lost track of them. The gynosphinx turned a corner, and slowed her pace to a walk. The thief had vanished, but Lilaa's sharp eyes focused onto the small oil lamp sitting tucked away between two shelves. The one object in her lair that, to her, sat glaringly out of place.(Part 3)Phew... close call. But I'm safe now.Amaas allowed himself to relax slightly as his body returned from its vaporous state. The room the black griffon now stood in was oval-shaped, with convex walls that appeared to be made of bronze. Up above, a single, spherical glowing light of uncertain nature hung from a similarly convex ceiling; down below, the floor was carpeted in royal purple with gold highlights.The room's unusual shape could be attributed to the fact that it represented the interior of Amaas's oil lamp. (The room wasn't actually physically inside the lamp; it was in a pocket dimension of sorts.) He wasn't proud of how he'd gotten it-- a botched attempt to steal from a djinn, leading to imprisonment within the lamp and being forced to grant wishes for anyone who found it-- but now that he could enter and exit the lamp freely, and no one else could, it was the perfect portable safehouse.Amaas took a slow clockwise walk around the lamp's interior to calm his nerves, taking stock of each feature of the room in turn, most of it virtually unchanged from when the lamp was his prison. A kitchenette and pantry. A curtained-off bathroom area. A queen-sized bed with a nightstand and a pull cord to toggle the light. A giant abacus that had once been enchanted to tally his prison sentence. A storage trunk where he kept his ill-gotten goods; he set his stolen books gently on the trunk's lid, intending to appraise them properly later. And, at the very center of the room, a multi-purpose table and chair, with a crystal ball sitting on a stand in the middle of the table.Taking his position in the chair, Amaas gave the crystal ball a gentle rub, "waking it up" and activating its enchantment, displaying the outside world in the lamp's vicinity. The black griffon watched as the sphinx he'd escaped from approached the lamp, gently picking it up and examining it."Does she know I'm in here?" the griffon muttered to himself, slowly tracing his hand over the ball to change the viewing angle. "I can't tell. I don't think she saw me disappear into the lamp. But even if she knows, she has no way to reach me. I don't respond to lamp rubs any more. I just have to wait for her to give up and leave the lamp unattended, and I can make my getaway. I'm safe... I'm safe..."Amaas had a sinking feeling that he was not actually safe.(Part 4)Lilaa carried the oil lamp over to a desk, carefully setting it down. She could feel the magical aura around it, triggering a suspicion regarding it's origins. Keeping one eye on the lamp, the gynosphinx retrieved a book, Djinns And Genies Of The Arabian Nights, and opened it up. Just as she suspected, the oil lamp was magical, the particular design of the one before her indicating it's role as a prison lamp the djinn used to punish those who transgressed against them. Lilaa gave a small predatory smile. It wasn't hard to guess where her thief had hidden. They would have to emerge from their safehouse eventually, and when they did, she would have a surprise in store for them.Amaas paced around in his lamp, the black griffon checking every now and then to see if the gynosphinx had left the vicinity so that he could emerge and escape from her lair. For what felt like the twentieth time, he looked into the crystal ball, and felt a glimmer of hope. The area around the oil lamp was unattended. Amaas checked again, studying the view carefully to make sure. His heart beating quickly, the black griffon began to emerge. Slowly Amaas opened his eyes as his body solidified after exiting the oil lamp, and he looked about. A wave of confusion overcame him. Somehow he was still in his lamp. The black griffon closed his eyes, and opened them again, but his surroundings remained the same: An oval shaped room with convex walls. A spherical light glowing above, and carpeted floor below. Even the furnishings were the same. He started to take a step forward, and felt himself kick something on the ground. He looked down at his feet, spotting his lamp, and picked it up in confusion. "That's impossible," he muttered. "How?"A strange, but familiar feeling washed over him, and Amaas gasped. It felt exactly the same as when he had been punished to serve as a genie. The feeling of being summoned from a lamp.Amaas' vision blurred, and he found himself floating above an oil lamp set on a desk, his lower half reduced to a mist that wafted from the lamp's spout. Before him sat the gynosphinx, her figure polymorphed into a regal, more humanoid form, as she regarded him. The black griffon panicked and tried to enter his own lamp, still clutched in his hands, but found he could not. The sphinx laughed."You're in my lair, thief," she said. "My world. You have no power here other than those I chose to give you.""How is this possible?" Amaas said, fear in his voice. "I can't be a genie. I served my time. I should be free.""Planar shift," the gynospinx said. "I thought it a fitting punishment for you. We're currently in one of my books, your role in this story is of a genie under my command.""No," Amaas protested. "You can't. I refuse to...""I wish you would shut up," the sphinx said, cutting him off.Instantly Amaas found his voice gone. He watched as the gynosphinx stood, feeling very small before her."Do you grasp the severity of your situation, now?" the sphinx asked.Lilaa watched the black griffon nod, acknowledging her question. In his eyes she could see the trauma of once more becoming a genie hit him hard. She spoke, her voice low."I'm going to give you a choice. You can give me back my books, leave my lair, and never return. Or I keep you here so that I can make wishes whenever I want. I wish to hear your answer."The griffon gasped as his voice returned, and the words flowed from his mouth like water."You can have them back. I'll give your books back. Please, I don't want to be a genie again."Lilaa stared into the thief's eyes, looking for any hint of lies, but found none. She nodded slightly."Then I wish you free to fulfill your promise."The gynosphinx watched the black griffon grant the wish before she planar shifted them both out of the book. Technically she could have freed him whenever she wanted by using her own magic, but she hoped the act of making him follow her commands would help him understand just how much trouble he could have been in, had she been in a more ruthless mood.Amaas spun on the spot, finding himself once more in the lair of the sphinx. He looked down, feeling a sense of relief at seeing his legs solid and whole. Quickly he retrieved the books, handing them over to the gynosphinx who had returned to her normal form."Go," she said, her eyes glowing brightly in the dark. "Never come back.""You don't have to tell me twice," Amaas said.The black griffon turned and made for the exit to the lair. Once outside he spread his wings wide, and took off, rising up into the sky to feel the freedom of not being confined to a lamp. The griffon glanced back towards the rapidly receding temple, and made a mental note. A sphinx in it's lair would join djinns on his list of beings to never try and rob from again. Amaas looked towards the horizon, and flew on, his confidence slowly returning. This job may not have gone to plan, but if there was one thing the griffon was sure of, it was there were plenty more treasures out there he could try his luck on. He just needed to be more careful of his targets in the future...
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