Sky Warriors: Poleuthan's Thief (Sky Warriors Saga Book 1) by Nicole Pendragon Page B

allowed the crystal’s light to shine freely into their surroundings. The cavern was overwhelmed in brilliant shades of color within moments.
    Ange smiled and pulled her mask off and brushed her hood back and squinted as she glanced at the carts she passed by and the excited chattering of the other thieves. She walked further in, realized tunnels pulled away from the main cavern in every direction and that the air was heavy, damp, and a bit acrid.
    She caught up to Vera and Garrett at the end of the main cavern.
    “These fools should have invested on tusk-dogs rather than two guards,” Garrett chortled. “I fail to see how you didn’t manage swaying these idiots with your silver-tongue,” he commented amused.
    Ange shivered at the mention of tusk-dogs, she had a run in with one when she was ten years old in an alley. They were horrible large dogs with large sharp tusks coming out from the front of their wide jaws filled with thick jagged teeth. They had no tails, pointed ears and muscular legs and chest and their coats were usually black, gray, or brown if not mixed. They were also extremely aggressive and Ange would know, they could break a person’s bones with a single bite, she had been lucky to get away from it with just a scratch on her leg.
    Vera sighed and shrugged. “I have not the slightest idea either,” she admitted, she glanced back suspiciously. “Actually, this whole mission…has been a little too easy,” she allowed cautiously.
    Garrett blinked surprised, his shoulders tensing as he surveyed the other thieves as they pushed carts out into the yard.
    Ange couldn’t help breath in relief that she wasn’t the only one paranoid over the situation. She glanced back feeling nervous and realized in shock that Daren was nowhere to be seen. They usually never separated, then she regretfully recalled how harshly she had been treating him today.
    “Isn’t it good that things went this smoothly?” Garrett asked firmly yet there was a note of unease in his voice.
    Vera’s lips crumpled tightly together as she looked at the other thieves thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” she acknowledged quietly and turned her gaze to Ange. “What do you think, Fox?”
    Ange couldn’t feel surprise that Vera was asking her for her opinion, instead she felt disquiet. “I have a bad feeling,” she accepted in an uneven tone. “Ever since this afternoon and it’s only been growing.”
    Vera nodded. “I didn’t feel suspicious till we entered the mines, though,” she glanced at Ange with a baleful frown. “A thief usually follows their gut, but it seems only you and I are feeling apprehensive.”
    Ange swallowed and nodded in agreement.
    Vera sighed. “Well, enough worrying, we need to get these carts out. Maven, Sera, Derik, and Leo already went down the four main tunnels to set the bombs, the cave will collapse in on itself,” Vera smiled expectantly at Ange as she pulled something out of her pouch. “This is your assignment Fox, the last bomb goes down this tunnel,” she pointed behind them down the largest tunnel, “it’s a bit deep, so just find a weak spot somewhere fifty feet in, alright?”
    Ange smiled as she grabbed the bomb and looked at the small one foot wide and tall device with six sticks of explosives filled with sol sand no doubt, a small simple cog device was in place with an already wound timer mechanism connected to a sparker and the wires. A circular handle pin was in place to release the timer. Ange blinked and wondered why it looked familiar.
    “This doesn’t look like your usual work Garrett,” she noted surprised.
    “It isn’t,” Garrett replied flatly. “Daren made these bombs, and quite effectively,” he added with envy in his voice.
    Ange blinked surprised then smiled feeling proud, then a cloud of ill-humor took her as she considered this might be the last night they have together and all she had been doing was clashing with him.
    She contemplatively took the bomb and walked