The Thief of Pertis
Roye had once been the capital of Pertis. What had previously been a bustling cultured city, that had been filled with different races, was now little more than settlement filled with humans, where the divide between the rich and the poor became more obvious each passing day. Viola had been born in dingy slums on the outskirts the city and had survived in its harsh conditions for 17 year cycles so far. She and her brother were raised within the thieves guild after their losing their parents to the city guards when she was a child. They gave her lessons on to beg in a way she could maximise the amount of money she would get, how to move without noise, lock picking and the best ways to evade the guards that she hated. It was her way of surviving the situation she was in. When her brother falls deathly sick, she began to step up her targets, and take more expensive and elaborate items to pay for his treatments and medicine, and each trip out became riskier and more dangerous for her each time. One night, Viola targets the citys newest resident; a strange, rich man that was often found drunk in the local tavern. She manages to snatch a few items of intrigue from him. Then she finds herself in the middle of a battle between mages and Lords which is centuries old and has to journey to reactivate the mysterious Gates which were lost to humans times ago. With a strange man known only as Leo at her side, Viola discovers the truth to the vanished Gates, and battles her way through the lands of Pertis.
Roye had once been the capital of Pertis. What had previously been a bustling cultured city, that had been filled with different races, was now little more than settlement filled with humans, where the divide between the rich and the poor became more obvious each passing day.
Viola had been born in dingy slums on the outskirts the city and had survived in its harsh conditions for 17 year cycles so far. She and her brother were raised within the thieves guild after their losing their parents to the city guards when she was a child. They gave her lessons on to beg in a way she could maximise the amount of money she would get, how to move without noise, lock picking and the best ways to evade the guards that she hated. It was her way of surviving the situation she was in.
When her brother falls deathly sick, she began to step up her targets, and take more expensive and elaborate items to pay for his treatments and medicine, and each trip out became riskier and more dangerous for her each time.
One night, Viola targets the citys newest resident; a strange, rich man that was often found drunk in the local tavern. She manages to snatch a few items of intrigue from him. Then she finds herself in the middle of a battle between mages and Lords which is centuries old and has to journey to reactivate the mysterious Gates which were lost to humans times ago. With a strange man known only as Leo at her side, Viola discovers the truth to the vanished Gates, and battles her way through the lands of Pertis.
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BRYONY WARREN
The Thief of Pertis
BRYONY WARREN
The Thief of Pertis
Copyright © 2019 by Bryony Warren
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the
publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or
distribute it by any other means without permission.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters
and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s
imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
First edition
This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy.
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For my Mother, Sister and family,
thank you for being my biggest fans.
Contents
Prologue | The Bygone City 1
Chapter I | Home 3
1
Prologue | The Bygone City
Once known as the heart and pride of the country of Pertis:
Roye claimed to be the city of all cities. It’s sprawling cobbled
streets were lined with towering brick townhouses, its
marketplaces littered the shopping district with different stalls
selling exotic items, and strangers came from far and wide
to explore its history and culture. It was widely known as, a
marvel. It stretched for miles across the land; from the ports in
the north to the vegetable fields in the south, an expansive place
wherein all could come, and all were welcome. Elves would
come from far countries in the west, bringing their silver and
crafted armours, which were widely agreed on to be the finest
in the whole world; their beauty was recognisable and adored.
Orcs would rumble from the volcanic territories in the east and
bring their game, foreign delicacies which everyone could dine
on for fair price, they often would be seen with tankards and
roaring laughter in the local taverns and guild-shops.
It was a peaceful time, in which all races lived together in
a balance, the Gates were open to all, but only if they had
1
THE THIEF OF PERTIS
enough coin for the passage. Where these Gates came from
was unknown; historians thought it was mages from Long Ago
who created them and infused them with a magic that lasted for
eternity, but one day they and the mages vanished, and the Gates
became lost; only echoes and stories that were told to children
at night and fantasies written in books remained. No one could
confirm if they were fact or fiction. Orcs and Elves were things
of fairy tales, and Roye slowly fell into ruin; the vegetable fields
encroached by a slum, the townhouses crumbling away and a
clear distinction between the rich and the poor. The flourishing
city was no longer the heart of Pertis, but instead the shame of
the country.
2
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