Chapter 1

Riza yawns, slouching on a wooden chair. Her pointy ears twitch as she stretches before readjusting herself, revealing the sigil of a winged snake engraved in her shoulder pad: The symbol of the Coven.

“Come on Riza, it isn’t such a bad job.” says a man calmly walking toward her with 2 tankards of beer. He bears a slight smile over his lips when he hands her one of the brews.

“Fuck off Nader, you know I hate these kind of tasks.” she says with half-closed eyes before grabbing the beer.

She drinks. Nader shrugs and returns to the middle of the room. He leans over a glass dome placed on a pedestal in the exact center of the place. Sheltered inside resides an excessively ornate crown.

“At least it’s an easy one, nobody will want to steal that thing with 2 sorcerers guarding it.” he smirks, still looking at the crown, gold and jewels reflecting in his eyes.

“It is what, 11pm? It’s almost over!” Nader exclaims. “That king said he wanted to pick it up at noon tomorrow ... Why would a king want to leave secretly at night without his crown?”

Riza snaps her fingers, sparking a little flame. “Well, he may cheat on his wife.”

Nader chuckles. He walks to a window, leaning his back against the sill. “In any case, I hope he won’t be late. So we’ll be free to return to our occupations, bags full of gold.” he takes a sip out of his beer. “Speaking of, you know what you’re going to do with that money?”

Riza leans forward, elbows on her knees, her chin resting on the back of her hands:

“Oh, I’ll probably. go to one of my favorite taverns, have myself a nice meal, drink and chamber and...” the red-haired elf pauses with a devious smile. “I’ll probably rent the services of 1 or 2 highly skilled professionals for the night, you know, to compensate for the boring mission you sent me on.”

She looks at him with a suddenly invigorated, steady gaze, with that same mischievous smile.