Mona knew one incantation: push. While pitiful for a Demon, it would suffice for tonight. She watched the guard from behind the stone wall. He stood in front of the main door, but the window Mona had opened earlier sat just within his field of view. With a push, the lamp next to the guard fell off the wall and shattered, lighting the ground on fire. He cursed and began stomping the flames out. Mona dashed to the window and peeked in to see an empty hallway. She climbed through the window.
Her target sat on a shelf three rooms over. Mona slinked down the hall and peeked around the corner. No guards. She continued to the first room, a dining hall, and peeked in. Guards. Many guards. Way too many guards. She panicked. What am I doing? This is ridiculous! But she couldn't quit. Mona breathed deep and pushed against a glass placed on the edge of the table. Crash. She leapt across the doorway, not daring to look into the room, and continued on.
The next room, a bedroom, had no guards. She started towards the next room, but a patrol turned the corner. Without thinking, Mona scrambled into the room and threw herself under the bed. The patrol passed by. And closed the door. Huh? She tried the doorknob. Locked. From the outside?! Pushing on the door did nothing. Breaking it down would make too much noise. She rummaged through the room but found no key. Even the window was locked.
There was a vent. Mona pried the vent off the ceiling then pushed against the floor to help her jump. It didn't do much, but the extra 10cm let her grab a hold. She pulled herself into the cramped crawl space and fixed the vent back in place. The ducting went in two directions, and Mona guessed the side with more noise lead to the dining room. She went the opposite direction.
She peeked down into the room, a library. No guards. Just a man reading a book. The book she wanted. Shit. She couldn't push anything in the room to create a distraction. Even if she could, that would only draw attention to the room. Mona silently detached the vent and pulled it into the ducting. He flipped to the next page. She took off her shoes. He flipped the page. She dropped to the ground, pushing hard against the ground, landing without making a sound. Mona slid behind the man's chair.
What do I do now? How did I even get here? This is so stupid. She sat there for nearly an hour before the man set the book down and left. Mona snatched the book when he stepped foot outside the room, and she bolted towards the window. With two latches unlocked, she threw it open and leapt outside. After closing it, Mona pushed on the latches from their opposite sides to lock them in place. Book in hand, no trace left behind, she ran.
For about ten meters.
The man who was reading the book stood in front of her, holding a pair of shoes. Shit. He shook his head, and the illusion wore off to reveal her master, Cain.
"I'm disappointed." He said. "I thought by now you'd given up your bad habit of ditching your footwear."
"How did you know?"
He laughed. "Do you know how easy it is to sense your pushes? Not only that, but you also left the vent in the library detached. That's not as noticeable, but the maids will notice when they're dusting."
Mona shrunk back. She failed…again. Nearly two months of training, and she couldn't even steal a book from an old man.
"Bah, don't worry about it." Cain tossed the book to her. "You did well enough that none of the guards noticed you, and you even kept your shoes on for most of it. I call that a win."
He patted her on the back and flashed a warm smile. Mona smiled back and nodded. She could do this. It'd take time, but her master believed in her.
"Next time, instead of a manor, we'll have you break into a real monarch's castle." He said.
"Wait, what?!"