Ashani touched the square table at the center of the room and frowned. “I’ve searched through our records.”
Vir’s brows shot up. “All of them?” Ashani couldn’t have touched the table for longer than a second.
“Yes. There are precious few that are not my own, I’m afraid. All the data before the fall has been wiped.”
“Probably by Janak,” Vir said, biting his lip. That was a downer, but if nothing else, it at least proved the vision he saw was grounded in reality, and not some delusion.
“Nothing, then?” he asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
Vir’s shoulders slouched, but when Ashani brought up a map—identical to the one he’d seen in Janak’s vision—all negative emotions were immediately forgotten.
“This is what I saw! In the vision! It’s the same map. Or, similar,” Vir said, frowning. It only showed Mahādi, for one. “The location of the chamber is missing.”
“I see,” Ashani said, scrutinizing the map. “You said you had transcribed the locations, yes? May I see it?”
Vir hurriedly produced the folded-up map from a pocket and unfurled it. “You can ignore all of these other ones. As far as I could tell, only one lies within Mahādi.”
“The one at the center, yes?” Ashani asked, pointing to the location Vir had marked.
“Right. I tried to jot down as many landmarks as I could…” He looked away. Now that he was actually showing the scribbled mess to someone else, it looked little better than the drawings of a child.
“I… was not entirely in control of my body at the time,” Vir said with a cough. “It was the best I could do, given the circumstances.”
Ashani gave him a wry smile. “But of course.”
She stared at the sheet for a moment, and then, without warning, a blue pillar of light appeared on top of the map.
“As best I can tell, it ought to be in this area,” she said.
“It’s deep,” Vir commented grimly. “Quite deep.”
“Indeed,” Ashani replied. “’Tis deeper than I’ve ever delved. I’m afraid such prana density poses a real danger to my circuitry.”
“Sorry? Your what?” Vir asked.
“My body,” Ashani said with a small smile. “I’m not designed to withstand such environments.”
“Neither am I,” Vir muttered. He couldn’t be sure just how much denser the prana there was, but it grew dramatically the closer one ventured to the core spire of the city. Ordinarily, the prospect of expanding his body’s capacity to cope with that density would make Vir giddy—if he had the time. He couldn’t afford to spend weeks meditating to grow that.
“I’ll have to minimize my exposure, then,” Vir said. “Go in fast and quick. And pray that I find it.”
Ashani frowned. “I dislike this. What if you run into danger?”
“I’ll be safe,” Vir said, giving the goddess a reassuring smile, understanding the meaning behind her words. “I’m not going to leave you here alone, Ashani. Not again. I promise.”
With a nod, Ashani moved her hands through the air, manipulating the map to focus on the area in question. It rotated slowly, giving them a birds-eye view of the location.
“I don’t understand,” Vir said, gesturing to the map. “This looks like a spire?”
“So it seems,” Ashani replied. The inside of the spire populated, showing floor upon floor of empty rooms. “As far as I am aware, there is nothing of the sort of door or wall that you mentioned here. Nor do I see how Janak could have altered the structure to insert his own room. Not after the fall. He would’ve lacked the means to bypass the preservation inscriptions, or his work would have been undone.”
Vir walked around the table, arms folded in thought. “It could just be that I jotted it down wrong. Can you try searching a wider area for possible matches?”
“Of course, though this area of the city is dense with spires and buildings. I fear Janak would have been unable to construct anything of the sort you mention… Unless. Could it be that the wall you touched was not created by Janak, but rather repurposed?”
Vir stopped walking. “I honestly hadn’t considered that. Though if true, who would have built them? And how would the Imperium not have known about it?”
“A fair point. Nothing of that sort could exist within the city. But perhaps… What about under it?”
Vir’s eyes widened as Ashani moved the map, focusing on the area directly below the spire. A maze of halls and tunnels crisscrossed within the ground under the city, and it just so happened that one tunnel intersected exactly where the blue light shone.
“It’s possible,” Vir said. “Unlikely, but possible.”
“Will you go?”
Vir stared at the map, but the answer was clear. He’d spent far too long in the dark. He needed answers.
“Yes. Yes, I think I must.”
110JANAK’S TABLET
The wolves’ timing was as impeccable as ever. Just as Vir was about to leave Ashani’s home, the entire pack—led by none other than Shan—arrived, and by now, Vir knew the wolf enough to know that it was judging him.
“Oh, please. I wasn’t going to abandon you,” Vir said. “Just that you won’t be able to follow me this deep. It’s for your own safety.”
Shan replied by sitting on his haunches and howling up at the sky, which in turn caused the half dozen wolves behind him to howl as well. Soon, the whole area was drowned in wolf howls.
“It seems they disagree with your decision,” Ashani said, smiling softly. “He’s become quite independent in the time he’s been gone. Your doing?”
“Shan’s always only ever done what he wanted.”
“A master must always be firm, but loving,” Ashani said.
Vir scoffed. “Master? Pretty soon, he’s going to give me orders. Fine,” he said, addressing the wolves. “If that’s what you lot want, you can come as far as is safe. Not one step further, you hear?”
Shan barked, and the matter was settled.
Together, they set out, bounding across the terrain at speeds most living beings couldn’t hope to match.
They sailed over entire hordes of Ash Beasts and pummeled right into others, barely slowing. Here, in this realm, Vir needn’t ration his prana. In fact, he had to burn through prana if he wished to avoid oversaturating his blood. Even so, Vir was not the naïve boy he’d once been. With both him and Ashani scanning for significant threats, they made sure to avoid anything that could even potentially harm the party.
They were increasingly surrounded by taller and taller spires, and soon the prana levels became so great the even Vir started to struggle. The others only fared worse. Shan seemed to be alright, but while the wolves put up a brave front, it was clear they were hurting.
As for Ashani, she displayed no outward signs of pain, though Vir could see the prana entering her incredibly complicated body, interfering with whatever arcane mechanisms allowed her to function.
“This is as far as you all go,” Vir said, coming to rest on a half-destroyed road. “I’ll allow you to set watch here and wait for me, but you’ll go no further.”
Shan was about to bark in disagreement when Ashani raised her voice, “I agree. To venture any deeper would be detrimental for all of us.”
She looked at Shan when she spoke, causing the wolf to hesitate. He looked from Vir to Ashani, and then back at his pack, and with a grumble, lowered his head and skulked away.
At least they listen to her… Vir thought.
“If I’m not back in an hour, head home. I’ll return when I’m able.”
“We’ll wait as long as it takes,” Ashani replied. “Godspeed.”
Vir chuckled. “A goddess wishes me Godspeed, eh? I feel so much better already.”
“If you’d rather I curse you…”
Vir’s eyes bulged. “Anything but that! I’ll take your blessing, o mighty Goddess.”