Angela was still wondering how that little piece of metal had such effects on her, making her feel the way she did. She was pretty brave and sometimes even reckless, but from the moment she put the snake-shaped ring on her finger, everything had taken a different dimension. Her fighting skills were at another level. And she loved it. But she wanted to be that good even without the ring, so she practiced every day at least a few hours in the forest, close to the hunting cabin. She practiced with an old rusty sword against imaginary foes and she also practiced with her bow, shooting at the small birds on the sky first. Then, as she got better, she started to practice on thebeetles she sawon the trees. But as even those proved easy targets for her new skills, she started firing her arrows at flying insects and to her surprise, she never missed. It was as if she had become one with the weapon she had in her hands, no matter what that weapon was.
Angela felt that she had a responsibility now, she felt it wasn’t fair to just enjoy her powers. She had to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, and there were plenty who needed help, any help. But she couldn’t just roam the streets like that, she needed to protect her identity. So she needed a costume, something to help her stay safe. But she only had some rags, nothing good enough to make a costume of. Never mind, she thought, she would appeal to another one of her skills, stealing. But it was for a good purpose this time, not just for her benefit. She wanted to protect the helpless but at the same time she wanted to be able to remain under cover. And she knew the perfect place in town to get what she wanted, the shop owned by the greedy and most wealthy man in town, an old local merchant named Caspar Kerdory.
Caspar was old, but he wasn't stupid. He had guards protecting his shop, his merchandise. His goods were of the highest quality, brought from Asia, and he sold them for a high price to the richest ladies of the kingdom. All the respectable ladies in the kingdom bought their dresses from him. He was so renowned that ladies from the neighboring kingdoms also came to buy from him. So his merchandise needed protection and paying the guards was only a small monthly fee that was worth it in comparison to the risk he would take otherwise. This way, he could sleep like a baby at night, knowing that his goods were protected. It was where he got his money from, so it was what mattered most to him.
He had been married a few times, but he had no children. Now, at his old age, he was sorry he had nobody to leave his fortune to when he would be no more. He had been a selfish person all his life and now he realized that probably that was why all his wives left him. But he was too old and it was too late now.
So Angela decided that his shop was the perfect place to find something nice and useful. She also knew that the place had two or three guards protecting it. But that never stopped her before. So why would it stop her now, especially as she was stronger than ever and she had a higher purpose!? Nope, nothing would stand in her way. Now it wasn't just about stealing some scraps to eat, not anymore. Not since the ring. Now she had to do something more with her life, not just steal to survive. No, now she was going to help others.
She approached the street silently. The street lights were all on already, especially here where the most expensive shops in town were. Caspar's shop was well illuminated and there were three guards patrolling the perimeter. She reckoned he probably sold more than just clothes, probably jewellery too. But she didn’t care about that, she just wanted a nice costume, worthy of a heroine. If she was going to help people, then she would be a heroine….she liked how that sounded. But she still had to steal to survive. Well, she was a different kind of a heroine, that was all, she told herself.
She hid in a nook of a building opposite Caspar's shop to observe the guards and try to find a flaw in their patrolling ritual. She stood there and waited. She didn’t want to fight them if she could avoid it. Not because she was afraid but because she knew they were only doing their jobs. There was no point in hurting them if she could avoid it. Because she was sure they would be hurt if engaged in a fight and not her, even if she was alone and they were three. They were no match for her, especially with the ring on. So she stood there and studied their moves and habits.
“Hey, John”, she could hear one of the guards say, “I need to take a dump, can you cover for me?”
“Sure, take your time”, another guard answered and instead of being more attentive to patrol the first guard's spot too, he sat down on a stump of a tree and lit a cigarette as the other was going to his business. The third guard was patrolling the back of the building. So now was Angela's chance, before the first guard returned and while the second was quietly enjoying his cigar. But she had to be fast. He was only a few paces away from the main entrance, which was of course locked. She crept in the shadows with stealth and reached the door. She had to move fast as it was well lit, before the guard finished his cigar. She took out a pick lock and started to pick the lock. She moved it like usual, left and right and so on but then she glanced at the guard as he was smoking. His cigar was almost finished. She panicked and her lock pick got jammed.
“Damn it!”, Angela whispered to herself. “Come on, come on”, she was almost pleading it. Then just as the guard was extinguishing his cigar butt she heard the familiar click of the lock and she was inside. She closed the door behind her and took a look around: she was in heaven…so many pretty dresses.
But she didn’t want a dress. She had no use for it. Where would she wear it? In her small dank room at the orphanage? No, she needed something different. Something nice but at the same time to be able to move in it and fight in it. She looked everywhere but all she could see were dresses…all sizes, shapes and colors. Until she thought she would puke. She saw enough dresses to last her a lifetime. Then, disappointed, she sat on a stool in a corner of the shop.
“All this effort for nothing!”, she told herself and looked up as if to ask the heavens why she was so unlucky. Then she saw a small trap door in the ceiling and decided to check it out. She put the stool right under it and climbed it. She tried to push it open but, guess what, it was locked.
“Go figure!”, she whispered in a low voice. She took her lock pick again and started doing her magic until she could hear the familiar click. Then she opened it and was up in the attic. She fumbled in the dark and then she remembered she had a match in her pocket. She struck the match hoping to find a candle. As the match was already dying she took a quick glance and there it was, a candle. She lit it and looked around. There were spider webs everywhere and nothing valuable drew her attention. Then she saw a trunk on the right side of the attic. It looked old and was covered in dust, like everything else in the attic. And of course, it was locked. But the lock was old and she only had to hit it with her foot to break it.
“What do we have here? Could good old Caspar have locked anything of use here and forgot about it?” Angela was thinking as she opened the trunk. She brought the candle closer to inspect the inside of the trunk. A few spiders crawled out in a hurry. They were as black as the darkness surrounding her. But there was something inside, something just as black. She touched it to see what it was. It felt like a leather material. She took it out to inspect it better.
“Woooow!”, was all she could say. She dropped the rags she was wearing and put it on. It matched her perfectly, thin black leather trousers and a leather vest. It was awesome! She also found an opening in the roof and decided to exit the building that way than the way she had come and she was gone.