196: The Vault (Patreon)

The pained mewling of an injured wolf drifted through the 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.

The Yaksha rose, bounding through the darkness.

Vir paled. It was targeting the other wolves.

No!

Vir popped his head out next to the remaining wolves. “Get out of here!” he roared. “Run!”

They must have sensed the panic in his voice, for they Blinked away.

The Yaksha halted its pursuit, and Vir breathed more easily. Now he only had to worry about himself.

His relief was short-lived.

The Yaksha’s paws left the ground. It rose higher and higher, floating in midair. Then it morphed.

Its torso straightened and its legs expanded grotesquely, lengthening, then growing into humanoid limbs. Far too many limbs.

Instead of two arms, it sported six, and instead of legs, it sat atop a pyramidal base. The Yaksha had no hands—its arms ended in curved blades. Like talwars embedded into its golden skin. All glowing blue and buzzing with the promise of death.

Vir could tell their color because, like its skin, it glowed.

Golden light illuminated the room, and for the first time, Vir saw the intricate gold leaf inscriptions that snaked all over the walls, ceiling, and even the floor. The gold was complemented by blue accents to create a grand design.

In any other situation, he’d have been awed by its beauty. Now, it only served to complement the Yaksha Guardian’s horrific visage.

The wolf head transformed into a human one, with a hungry smile plastered on its face. Two additional faces protruded from the sides of the same head, each with their own slightly different, unmoving expression.

The smiling Yaksha floated a pace above the ground, absolutely still. Then it disappeared.

Vir cursed, swimming through the shadows to rejoin the fleeing wolves. They made good time, but the Yaksha moved fast. Vir threw a chakram at the six armed guardian, augmenting it with Chakram Launch . The Yaksha stopped it in its tracks.

Its head swiveled, observing Vir.

He didn’t wait, sinking immediately back into the shadows.

I need to run, he thought frantically. But to where?

If he followed the wolves, the Yaksha would, too. He needed to buy time for the wolves to flee to safety, but only if it meant he would survive as well. He refused to use them as bait to save himself. Not unless he absolutely had to.

Vir fled from the beast, plotting a course directly opposite the wolves’ escape path. If he kept going, he’d eventually reach the other side of the gargantuan building. And then he’d be out.

Thanks to Dance of the Shadow Demon, the Yaksha wouldn’t be able to follow easily.

Vir trusted the Iksana ability, bounding through shadows, entering dark rooms, most of which had little-to-no prana, before exiting them immediately. He couldn’t tell where he was; the Shadow Realm’s exits were only generally arranged by distance, and the darkness made it difficult to know exactly what course he was taking.

After a half dozen invocations, Vir paused, sinking all the way into the Shadow Realm, freezing time.

He studied each exit and confirmed that the guardian was nowhere in sight. Which left him with a dilemma. Did he go back to the vault? Or did he abort the mission to rejoin the wolves?

I’m safe in the Shadow Realm, Vir thought. Even if it can track me, it can’t hurt me here.

As much as the thought terrified him, the vault was worth returning to. Ashani had said the orbs would be there. Even if the preservation inscriptions had failed, it was possible the cores would be in good shape, regardless.

Assuming I can find it… Vir thought.

He backtracked as best he could. Every moment that passed without a Yaksha sighting bolstered Vir’s confidence.

I can do this.

The building was vast, but the vault was thankfully one of the few rooms with its lights on. Vir found a shadow inside and, after ensuring no Ash prana signatures were nearby, he emerged.

His fear, which he’d only just quelled, snuck back. Outside, he was vulnerable. But much of the room wasn’t within reach of any sufficiently large shadows, forcing Vir to leave them to explore.

Unfortunately, his hope waned rapidly. The preservation inscriptions covering the room had been disrupted, and most of its contents had crumbled to dust long ago.

Vir had searched the room twice when he came across a cubic container the size of a small crate. He’d missed it before, with the amount of rubble it had been under.

Vir swept away the debris, revealing intricate prana inscriptions running over the white box.

It’s sealed! Vir thought with excitement. His excitement redoubled when Prana Vision caught the faint lines of the preservation inscription running all over it, like a ribbon composed of infinitely complex characters.

It was very weak, almost as if it had been about to fail.

That the box was intact was well and good, but Vir saw no obvious way to open it. In fact, it didn’t even have a lid—the container was one seamless piece of Imperium metal. Which, of course, meant Prana Vision failed to see inside.

Growing worried about wasting more time, Vir tried to pick it up—perhaps he could take it back with him—but was unable to. Either it was far heavier than it looked, or it was secured to the ground somehow.

At his wits’ end, Vir jabbed his katar into it, activating Prana Blade.

But of course, Imperium metal was not so easily overcome.

Vir scanned the room… and froze.

There, on the other side of the vault wall, stood the Yaksha, blazing brightly to Prana Vision.

What is it doing? Vir thought as chills spread through his body. It was only then Vir understood how lucky he was—if the vault’s preservation inscriptions had been active, it’d have masked the guardian’s signature from his eyes.

Which begged the question: why didn’t it pursue?

The Yaksha stood with its six talwar-arms poised. Unmoving.

Vir took a few steps back, toward a shadow. The Yaksha didn’t respond, but when Vir moved across the room, the guardian turned its body to reorient itself to him.

It can see me. It knows I’m in here. So why… Is it unable to enter the vault?

That made little sense. The preservation inscription on the room had worn off. Even with its overbuilt walls and doors, surely such a thing wouldn’t pose an impediment to the Yaksha?

That left only one conclusion. It wasn’t allowed to enter. Its role was to guard the vault, not to enter it.

Perhaps the Imperium feared damaging any valuables they’d stored here if the Yaksha were ever to attack?

It was merely conjecture, but Vir could think of no other explanation. Whatever it was, it had saved his life.

What now, though?

He couldn’t stay inside forever. But would he be able to escape the guardian?

Vir forced himself to calm down. He’d survived until now. He would overcome this as well.

Hesitantly, Vir walked back to the box, keeping a wary eye on the Yaksha.

Prana Blade had failed to break through, so Vir activated Blade Launch. The disc of prana hit the box… and disappeared harmlessly.

Vir ground his teeth, tension rising.

The Yaksha continued to watch.

Its signature blazed far more brightly than before, when it had been in the form of the wolf. Had it been hiding its power to disguise its prana signature?

Its two hearts blazed dazzlingly brightly to Vir’s eyes.

Two hearts. Two… energy cores? Vir wondered. Maybe…

He killed the thought before it’d even formed. Even if they were prana cores, he didn’t even think about fighting it. Vir didn’t even know if he could flee from the Yaksha. Killing it was out of the question.

Vir refocused on the container. It was immoveable and impervious to damage. There was just one trick he could try.

Vir reasserted Prana Dam, which he hadn’t had to use recently thanks to Parai’s Barrier pattern, which repulsed prana and was generally superior.

Except in this instance, he didn’t want to repel prana, he wanted to suck it in at a very specific point.

Activating Blade Launch, Vir purged his body of prana. He then opened a small hole in the dam, on his palm, which he placed on the box.

The inscription running around the box used Ash prana just like he did. Which meant he could drain it.

The trickle immediately flowed into his hand. It wasn’t much—the inscription was on its last legs—but it was enough.

The inscription flashed a few times, then winked out of existence. The box hissed as its top lifted, then vanished into thin air.

Vir watched as rust developed on the metal in seconds. Whatever material the Imperium used for its buildings and roads couldn’t survive without preservation inscriptions.

Initially, Vir had thought that the materials had simply aged rapidly, but now he wondered if the metal itself was designed to function with the inscription. It would explain why the fallen spire had degraded while the orb inside the half-built automaton had not.

Vir waited a moment longer for the metal to weaken, eyes darting between the box and the Yaksha who lurked just beyond the wall on the other side.

This better be worth it.

With bated breath, Vir peered inside… and found a flat ribbon an inch wide.

He reached in and picked it up.

The ribbon was coiled around a spool, and it glowed blue. Its surface was covered with a maze of tiny straight lines that formed a beautiful pattern. The lines zigzagged across the ribbon, never crossing one another.

It was beautiful, but right now, it did him little good. While he couldn’t tell if it was a functioning Artifact, he pocketed it regardless. It was the only piece of Imperium magic he’d come across in the whole city.

Vir reached into the box once again and pulled out the insert the ribbon had been set on.

Underneath was a tray with two semicircular indentations. Orb receptacles. And they were empty.

Vir roared in frustration.

Why? Why can’t they have been there? Why can’t things just… Wait.

Two core slots.

What are the chances…

Vir looked up. The Yaksha was gone.

He whirled and screamed out in terror.

The Yaksha floated just inches away. Smiling.