Vir returned to his senses—the factory as dead as it had been just moments before.
What was that? Vir thought, shaking. It was almost like I was remembering something I’d experienced ages ago… No. Not me. Her.
Vir could only think back to the knowledge transfer Ashani had performed when they’d first met. She’d used it to more easily communicate concepts, but there were memories there, too. Faint ones. Did these surroundings trigger them?
Was this where she was made?
Vir looked around, seeing the factory in a new light. These creations would have no chance to experience life. No opportunity to see the world as Ashani did.
Another, darker part of him felt it might’ve been for the better. What life was there to be had in this dead city? These Automatons would never open their eyes, but perhaps in their stead, Ashani might.
Vir’s fingers still rested on the backplate of the Automaton. No compartment had revealed itself, so he pressed around the edges until something clicked.
The Automaton’s back opened with a hiss, revealing a cavity similar to Ashani’s.
Empty.
He should’ve guessed, but he didn’t lose hope. There were still several other Automatons to check.
Vir continued on, working his way around the room. The second one was a bust, as was the third. The fourth, he couldn’t even find where its core was supposed to go, but the fifth…
Got it!
Vir pocketed the empty orb, placing it in a pouch along his waistbelt. That had been the last Automaton in the factory, and his hope had been low.
Vir let out a long breath. This was a win, but it was too early to get excited yet. A single orb was no good. It’d take at least a couple to understand what he did that caused them to crack. If he broke the core and learned he needed to return…
A single glance at his surroundings told him he wouldn’t dare come all this way again.
He had to press deeper.
Vir Danced back to the wolves to find them yipping and whimpering, moving around restlessly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with a frown.
It was only a moment later that he realized one of them was gone.
Vir broke out in a cold sweat. Had it fought an enemy? Was it the Yaksha guardian? Did the guardian kill it? Then Vir spotted an Ash prana signature, and the wolf loped into sight from the darkness ahead.
“Don’t scare us like that,” Vir said as the wolf rejoined the others, who ranged several paces ahead.
“Alright, let’s go.” Vir walked ahead, but the others reacted slowly, as if keeping an eye on the one who’d just returned.
They’re so loyal to each other… Or is it hurt?
Vir looked the beast over, but couldn’t spot any injuries, so he pressed on. The wolves soon followed.
They continued deeper into the hall, penetrating into the inky blackness.
The dark tunnels on their approach had been bad enough, but now, Vir truly felt like he was in the belly of an enormous Ash Beast. The distant rumblings and ticking sounds didn’t help any.
The runt took the lead, guiding Vir through the dark halls. Unlike the Automaton lab, the rest of the building was empty, indicating that it had likely been destroyed and reformed in the blast. Whatever surrounded the lab must have been constructed of sturdier stuff.
Vir pressed deeper with the wolves, though four of the five opted to follow behind rather than scout up front with their leader.
He could hardly blame them. The mental strain increased with each step. His only solace lay in knowing that Dance of the Shadow Demon would save him from any threats, and Prana Vision would see them coming in advance.
But even that knowledge was only barely enough to allow him to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
When Vir thought he’d break under the tension, it got worse.
The wolves led him into a tiny horizontal shaft embedded into a wall. While big enough for the wolves, Vir had to crawl on all fours. He didn’t know why such a thing existed, but it weaved and descended for what felt like forever.
Growing tired of that, Vir began swimming through the shadows, and their pace quickened significantly.
All around him were shadow exits, and all dark. Some showed faint prana signatures, but most were empty. Where did they all lead? What were those rooms once used for? He would never know. He only hoped the Yaksha guardian wasn’t anywhere nearby.
The wolves dropped out of the shaft. They had finally reached the vault.
Vir expected a grand entrance, not the normal-sized door before him. If the darkness wasn’t so absolute, Vir might have seen its overbuilt nature, along with the engravings on it.
As it was, he only saw the prana. A great mass of Ash prana concentrated in the door and ran outward like tendrils around the room behind.
A sizable room. If Vir was correct in assuming the inscriptions were related to preservation, then the vault was easily three stories in height and extended for at least a hundred paces.
Vir tried the door, but even if it was unlocked, he wouldn’t have been able to open it. Its surface was flush, lacking a handle of any kind.
Using Prana Vision again, Vir searched for any other entrances.
Instead, what he found made his stomach fall.
Oh, no…
The prana inscriptions ended abruptly at one corner. Like it had been cut off.
“Stay here,” Vir whispered to the wolves.
Activating Dance of the Shadow Demon, Vir slipped into the vault, blinded momentarily by the brightness of the lights.
The lights should have been cause for celebration, as they drove off the darkness that had weighed heavily on his mind.
They didn’t.
Because there, at the back corner along the ceiling, the roof had caved in.
And the contents of the vault had crumbled to dust.
C’mon. There has to be something here! Before Vir could rummage around the room, the wolves started howling madly.
Vir Danced back immediately… And found only four.
He scanned the surroundings for enemies.
The wolves’ howls suddenly diminished. There was a brief silence. Then whimpering.
When he turned back, there were just three.
Vir’s blood ran cold.
41THE VAULT
The pained mewling of an injured wolf drifted through the otherwise silent, pitch-dark halls.
Vir Blinked directly at it to find a pile of rubble.
Did the wolf get caught in a collapse? Vir dug through the rubble, unsure of how the wolf could have gotten into this predicament. Had a portion of the room caved in? Vir hadn’t heard a thing, though he’d been in the vault. He could very well have missed it.
Its prana signature was hidden by the Imperium metal covering it, so Vir worked blindly, throwing pieces away with Empower while keeping a keen eye out for the enemy.
Prana Vision functioned even better in the dark. Few things could sneak up on Vir… At least, that was what he told himself to ward off the creeping terror.
With one final heave, he lobbed the last boulder away to reveal the wolf.
Except there was something wrong. Prana Vision didn’t see the same as regular sight did. It saw the centers of prana in the body, as well as the general shape of the creature.
The wolf was almost identical to the others. But not quite. Instead of a single beating heart, it had two.
Few things could sneak up on Vir… Unless they took the form of a friend.
“Run!” Vir roared as he slipped into shadow. He could almost hear his beating heart pumping madly, despite time having stopped.
It took several counts for the primal fear to wash over him. Only then did he extend an arm from the farthest shadow he could find.