Son of Two Thieves

By Shugo

"Son of Two Thieves" is a spellbinding epic fantasy that weaves together mystery, magic, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.

In the bustling kingdom of Kora, young Tum's parents are murdered in a robbery gone wrong. Raised in an orphanage, Tum spent most of his time on the streets with his best friends, the twins Buckle and Bonnie. He's always felt like there was something out there for him.

However, his kingdom is ruled by a selfish king and his evil advisor, Sheer. His life takes an unexpected turn when he's mistaken for a knight. The king tells him of an ancient artifact that could free his people and give him riches, and he embarks on an epic journey to find it. The only problem is the princess, Meredith, has tagged along. What will she do when she finds out he's a fraud or worse, when the artifact isn't all it seems?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shugo
• Release date: Jun 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9798987975404

Book preview

Prologue

The horses idled away in the big compound outside while the couple inside watched the store. They seemed tense at a point and excited at another.

The last time? the woman asked. She had green eyes and had her hair dyed red. She also had the slender figure of someone that did not engage in tough work. The horse fitting was a contrast to her person. The leather of the seat was torn, and in some places tattered. Yet, she seemed to be at home in the company of the man and the horse, despite the tenseness that was present in the atmosphere around them.

Yes, the man said. He looked the same as his horse. Big, rough, and scarred.

His hands were big on the reins of his horse, tough and rough.

The last time, and we won't have to do this again.

They both relaxed on their horses like they were reluctant to get down from them.

He was sleeping, right? the man asked.

Yes. I made sure he was sleeping.

Let's do this, the man said.

His name was Jorges Mendes and he was known around these parts as one of the most notorious grocery store robbers. The pretty woman with him was Ariana Mendes, his wife. They were the deadliest trio the area had ever seen, and they kept coming back when security forces seem to have forgotten them. The city of Newt was known for the spate of armed robbery that had overrun it and the security forces. There seemed to be new groups of criminals coming up wherever anyone looked. They attacked without mercy, but only a few groups were known to focus on stealing alone without harming their victims. Mendes and his wife were the first who were known for that.

For some criminal groups, the more ruthless they were, the more respect they invoked. It was different with Mendes and his wife. Mendes' height and body mass invoked the kind of respect he wanted first, and he milked it for what it was worth. At 6'4", he was not the tallest man in the city, but he sure knew how to carry himself, and he had a solid muscle mass that he kept adding to whenever he was doing nothing.

As for Ariana, she was the fastest gun drawer the city had ever seen. Once a cop pulled a gun on her and regretted it. The cop still had four out of five fingers from the encounter. She was also the brains of the operation, the one who knew where to attack and when to attack, so they would not draw too much attention.

When the both of them got down from their horses, they had masks over their faces. The place was almost deserted as it was close to closing time. They would just have enough time to get through the door and steal as much as they could before the police would even get wind of what was happening.

They marched towards the door, guns drawn. The security man, when he saw them, quickly raised his hands in the air without any prompting and stepped out of the way. They pushed the door open and let themselves in, leaving the security man behind, a calculated mistake. They did not want to alert those inside, and at the same time, they knew that before the police would respond to the man's panicky call, they would be long gone.

Everybody, get on the ground! Mendes screamed in his booming voice.

You heard the man! Ariana screeched, shooting into the air to change the mood on the place.

The few customers remaining and the shop attendants all went to the ground.

Nobody should try to be a hero, Mendes began. I'm not telling you because I don't want you to fight me. You can try, but I'll just put you down. I don't have time to spare.

There was silence, and fear sailed on the air, carried by forced breaths. Mendes could see the fear in the eyes of his hostages. Great, he thought. It was just the way he wanted it. The robbery would go smoothly now.

Going round the place, Ariana already had a bag out and was collecting valuables from the late shoppers. It was a big shop, which meant there was still a lot to take from the register.

BERNARD SAT BESIDE his horse and watched the road. He had just been recently transferred to this place as a result of the insecurity prevalent here. It was the police chief's idea, and it was the proper thing to do. Bernard only wished the proper thing to do did not involve him. There were other cops to choose from.

He sighed and pulled out a cigarette. From the packet, he took a stick and stuck it between his lips. Then he lit it. When he inhaled, the heat poured inside of him. He exhaled with an O, smiling at nothing.

It was a bad thing to do, smoking on the job, but there was no one here to report him, and he was not going to report himself. He wished he had a bottle of vodka too. It would set things right in his mind.

Gunshots from Tansil Store startled him, and the cigar stick fell off from his hand to the ground.

Dang! he cursed.

The gunshots came again.

With his heart racing, he jumped on his horse and pulled it onto the road. He checked for his gun in his holster and was pleased when he found it there. Sometimes he reminded himself of 'the chocolate soldier' in a book he had read. Man and Arms. No. Arms with a Man. No. It was Arms and The Man. Yeah, that was the book.

He worked in a small, quiet town before he was transferred to this place. Sometimes, his gun had no more use than an empty water gun. He had forgotten the gun at home on some occasions and came to work without any weapon. That day went by peacefully.

The horse moved faster than the one he was used to, back in the little town of Costa. Everything here moved faster; the people, the day, the criminals, even the police chief's words—he had to strain his ears to listen to the man on several occasions.

At the intersection, Bernard had difficulty turning the horse onto the next street, and they both almost tumbled over.

When the horse screeched to a stop in front of the grocery store, Bernard wondered what in God's name he was doing here. All he had ever wanted to be was a rich man. It did not matter what he did to get there. But his life's choices had been shaped by his father, who was a police chief. The man made him think being a cop was the best timing one could be, so he made the costliest mistake of his life.

The precinct here was groaning under the crime rate, and as a result, most cops had no partners. The cop that was to be Bernard's partner was shot the week before Bernard came into town. In the weeks to come, he would meet the man, but not now, not when he needed the man most.

Bernard sat on his horse, watching, waiting. Getting into the grocery store would be foolhardy. He did not even know how many criminals there were. The report had said they were two, but in things like this, one was never sure. Maybe they had an inside man who would attack Bernard and take him unawares when he was focused on the two. Yet, Bernard knew that the moment between arriving and waiting for backup was the key to saving many lives in many crime situations.

His hand went to his gun, and he clenched his teeth. He had to take action now. It would be the difference between him and the coward that was beckoning on the other side of himself.

Bump this! he said and jumped off his horse. Here, boy, he said, tethering the horse to a spot. It was the king's decree that all criminals in the productive city should be brought to hook, otherwise he would not have been here. What right did people who had no idea how a trigger was pulled to make decisions like that? The decisions would not affect them or any of their family members. Why did they not yet the knights too to come down and battle the criminals?

He crept towards the store and stopped at the door. The glass was not that transparent because one had to come close to be able to peer through the glass. He peered through the glass and found people lying on the ground, shoppers and attendants. It was only one of the criminals that he could see from where he stood. The man stood like an elephant with the alertness of an antelope. Bernard knew that going in through the front door was a no-no. He would get a bullet in the chest, and worst of all, he would alert the criminals as to police presence. They were so relaxed like they were not expecting the police to be there yet.

Well, the joke is in you, he muttered.

Then he chuckled when he realized he just put his work above his life. It was a dangerous line of thought, one that would surely lead to death. He shook his head as if to shake off the thought and concentrated on the robbery unfolding before him.

One of the hostages lying on the ground looked up and saw him, then whispered something to another one.

"What are you looking at?' Bernard heard the male criminal shouting. The voice was deep, the movement when he walked over to where the two hostages were was nothing short of intimidating masculinity.

Bernard slipped away from his position and out of view. He could not imagine a combat match with someone like that. His biceps strained against the tight t-shirt he wire, and his chest stuck out when he walked. Bernard decided he would simply use his gun on the man. It would need everything.

He moved around to the back of the store, whispering silent prayers. If the store did not a back door, then he would have no other option than to wait for backup. The criminals could hurt someone before the backup would arrive.

He found the backdoor, but it was shut.

BUMP! he cursed.

He was so close to single-handedly arresting some notorious criminals and a locked door was going to make him botch that?

As if that was not enough, he heard the sound of a horse galloping off. The criminals were getting away. He turned and dashed back towards the front.

True enough, there were two of them on different horses and they were already in full flight. He realized now that he had seen the horses separated from other people's horses, and did nothing to stop their movement. He had messed up, he realized as he dashed towards his horse. He got on top of it and quickly set off after the criminals just as the door of the grocery store pulled open and people crowded out of it.

A gunshot missed Bernard by inches only because both the shooter and the target were moving. He pulled his attention away from the survivors and continued after the thieves.

MONTE WAS TIRED OF the crime rate. Try as much as he did to relate with the people of the town, they still carried on the way they wanted. He knew some of the thieves, or at least he suspected them and he had his reason for that. The latest that he knew of, two of whom he had brought into the precinct on few occasions, were a couple. The description matched both husband and wife, but their alibi checked out. They were not anywhere near the place of the crime at the time of the crime. Yet, the Police chief of Newt knew that that was not all there was to it. The man and his wife were involved in something, but he could not charge them to court without any evidence.

So, when the call came in that it was a couple that was robbing the shop downtown, the chief rushed out of his office, assigning the command of the station to his deputy. He wanted to be the one to catch this couple that was growing on him. He had a soft spot, especially for the woman. She looked delicate and innocent. Monte knew that she was one of the criminals, but he could not bring himself to believing it. Her husband's involvement could be easily believed, but hers? No.

On me! he told his men as they mounted their horses.

If these two criminals were captured, it would reduce the pressure being mounted on him by the royalty. They were already thinking of transferring him to a smaller town, deeming him incapable of dealing with the insecurity in his region. Dead or alive, he knew he had to stop the thieves.

Bernard is already at the crime scene, one of the men reported, toying with his talkie.

Let's get these criminals! Monte declared.

They set off through the street, racing towards the grocery store. Wherever they passed, the people stopped and stared. There were, at least, ten horses galloping on the street all manned. It was the kind of movement that brought confidence back into the town and Monte decided he would have more of these patrols, if for no other thing, but to strike fear into the hearts of the criminals that have decided to turn the city into a war zone.

Captain! one of the officers screamed. Bernard says they are getting away!

Through where? Monte asked before he espied the shapes he had seen described on so many robberies a long distance away. Never mind. There! he pointed.

The party turned their horses towards the fleeing couple. There was a triumphant grin on Monte's face. He knew they could not run away from them. The thieves had the spoils from their robbery weighing down their horses. They, the police, had the finest and fastest horses in the city.

After a little dash, Monte discovered that what he expected was entirely different from what was unfolding. The couple disappeared into thin air after they veered into a dirt road. Monte did not know if the couple had seen them.

Found something, Dany said. He had come down from his horse and was looking at a mark on the ground. It was fresh. Horse hoof mark.

They went through here, Monte declared.

They began advancing. They were no longer galloping fast. There was no need, and they did not want to lose the robbers' tracks. It occurred to Monte that it was possible that the criminals had escaped and there would be no way he could get them. His transfer would be very justifiable then. He had accomplished nothing.

The sound of a gunshot drew him out of his self-pity.