The university was quiet. Yes, there was was the quiet pitter-patter of the rain on the roof but it was still too quiet. The guards wore large chain mail suits, yet the thief’s trained ears detected no movement. The guards talked and gossiped, but there was none now. The thief moved, the small creak of his boots seeming unnaturally loud compared to the perfect silence of the building.

The thief worked his way up the stairs slowly and carefully. Why would someone owning the dragons eye gem not have any guards in the house to guard it? The thief knew the man was rich enough to hire enough guards to constitute a small army. The thief just couldn’t get past the silence. It was too absolute. He could here no breathing save his own.

As the thief rounded the corner he stepped in something and he heard a familiar crunching sound. He pulled his boot out, this time hearing the sound of his boot pulling out of something sticky. The thief looked down at what he had stepped in and whispered to himself: “My gods.”