Isaac opened the way through the snow at the head of the column where a leader ought to be, doubly so for a Wardenfel. His heavy warhorse, decked in its powered armour, plowed through the waist-deep accumulation as if it were nothing but tall grass. He himself wore a similar suit, keeping him safe and warm. A marvel of modern magitechnology, and a mark of personal shame. He hadn't been born with enough mana reserves to receive Azure Guard imbuements, unlike his brother; just another one of life's injustices.

  He spotted one of his scouts up ahead, making his way back toward the column, before walking alongside his lord and giving his report.

  “My Lord, we've found their tracks, as you've guessed we would.”

  Isaac nodded. “Good job, Vincent. I take it they're headed in the same direction as us?”

  “Yes, my Lord. Do you want us scouts to race ahead and intercept them?”

  An interesting proposition, but...

  The noble shook his armoured head. “No, keep ahead of the main column, but only to look for dangers. We are going to pick up the pace.”

  The scout saluted and dashed back further ahead, making use of his movement imbuements to walk on top of the snow, barely disturbing it in the process.

  Isaac motioned for the Guard Captain to get closer. Once the man reached up next to him, he gave his instructions.

  “We'll be going at a beat and a half. I want to narrow my brother's lead, catch him by surprise.”

  “Yes, my Lord.” The captain saluted before returning to his position and barking orders. The unit's march drummer began playing along the rhythm of the marching troops, before upping the tempo, the guards speeding up to stay in step.

  Isaac nodded. With his mount opening the way, his troops would barely feel the extra strain, and, Saints willing, they'd reach their destination in two days instead of three.

  They had lost a few hours in locating the entrance to the underground vault, but no matter. His brother's tracks were still fresh, leading directly in, maybe a few hours old. The unit's combat engineers emerged out of the small mound that hid the access shaft, presenting their report.

  A seemingly bottomless pit, with only a single ladder to descend along. Such an obstacle might confound more mundane troops, but these were the Azure Guards.

  Isaac eyed the man and woman. “What are our options?”

  The engineers looked at each other, nodding, before returning their attention to Isaac.

  The woman spoke first. “My Lord, the easiest would be a system of ropes, pulleys and counterweight, to attach to and rappel up or down, but if it's much deeper than 200 metres, I fear our ropes will be over-strained.”

  The man followed. “It will take longer, but the best would be to drive spikes into the walls and install small platforms every 150 metres, then start a new length of rappelling rope each time, my Lord.”

  Isaac gazed at the doorway into the mound before looking at the engineers. “Install the platforms, but send troops down the ladder to start installing them simultaneously. I want to be at the bottom of that pit within three bells.”

  The engineers stood at attention and saluted, turning and going to fetch several guards to help with the process.

  Isaac then went to confer with the unit's medics. The reports had mentioned a lethal disease within the tunnels. He would remind all his troops and ensure they understood that not wearing a filtering mask would see them assigned latrine duty.

  As a small camp sprang up around the vault's entrance, and supplies were unloaded, secured, and distributed. Three bells passed, and the engineers reported that the way down was finally open, with a small squad having secured the shaft's landing.

  Isaac called for the fifty guards who would accompany him down and turned towards the shaft descending into the earth.

  The Mayor's full report had said that this place's grandeur was beyond definition, but that still seemed understated from where Isaac stood.

  He and his troops were arrayed along the observation bay, stunned into silence by the vista before them.

  A voice broke the spell. “It's a whole pittin' hidden world... how in the saint's arses are we going to find a corrupted hiding down there?”

  Isaac's mouth twitched. He wanted to find out who had spoken out of turn and tear them a new one, but... they'd just said what everyone was thinking. Still, swearing was too much.

  He looked at the captain, who returned his gaze. “Captain, find who spoke out of turn, and give them kitchen duty.”

  Isaac then turned around and walked back toward the shaft and bellowed. “Everyone! The task might be more formidable than we thought, but the Azure Guard breathes formidable tasks! On me!”

  A cheer of acknowledgement punctuated his small speech. He allowed himself a smirk within the confines of his helmet.

  They were soon down at ground level and setting up a small base camp inside the storage room, a few steps away from the entrance into the vault proper.

  From there, Isaac dispatched small teams, each led by a scout and equipped with a corruption detector, primarily tasked with finding traces of Fel corruption. He also gave them a second order: to report on his brother's location.

  With both hunts underway, he settled to wait.

  David and company

  Niala's voice filtered through the trees. “I found more over here!”

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  David looked up, spotting her a fair distance away as she waved at him, with Leandro right next to her.

  He waved back and finished harvesting his patch of herbs before stepping toward Niala's position.

  They were making great progress in finding the ingredients they needed, with two out of the five herbs already stored in David's cargo cloths, and were currently harvesting the third type.

  Niala might still claim that these weren't weeds, but they sure did grow like weeds, being everywhere in their natural habitats, if in small patches.

  Still, he figured that they wouldn't need much more than a day and a half, although that depended on finding enough of the one non-weed plant they sought.

  And, truth be told, as beautiful and awe-inspiring as the vault was, he couldn't put off the feeling of wrongness he felt. Spending as little time as they could here seemed like the smart choice.

  Jordo and Anaakendi were on patrol duty, on the lookout for anything dangerous or Fel-like. They had already scared off a few big predators, but no sign of corrupted ones.

  There was one thing that perplexed him, however. There had been at least one Fel, the one they'd found, and from what he knew, Fels had an insatiable hunger for the living. How had it not exterminated every living creature within the vault? Had it been a recent arrival?

  Shaking his head, he resumed his path toward Niala. Herb gathering now, questions tomorrow.

  He had nearly reached her when the winds compressed to his side into Anaakendi's silhouette, before unveiling the old woman. The serious look in her eyes alerted David.

  “What is it?” He asked.

  The incarnation looked over her shoulder, as if trying to ascertain what she'd seen, before looking back at David.

  “A small group of soldiers are moving this way.”

  David grimaced. “Faster than I'd hoped. Doesn't change much. If they try to brush us off, I'll just go argue with my... with Lord Isaac, while you finish up the job.”

  Anaakendi crossed her arms, looking back over her shoulder, still perplexed.

  The courier quirked an eyebrow. “Something else?”

  “Yes. Other people.”

  “Other people? You saw people down here?”

  She turned to face him. “Yes. Tribals, very well hidden, using some sort of veiling cloaks. I only spotted them because of their smell.”

  “Were they coming this way?”

  “No, they were observing your golem.”

  David blinked. “Jordo?”

  She nodded.

  He scratched his head. “We should just ignore them if all they do is watch, but let's check with the others. Can you stay on the lookout?”

  “I can. Remember our deal.” She said, narrowing her eyes at David.

  “I know, David's tears. Still don't know what you want to do with them.”

  “Not for you to know.” She declared, before exploding into a small whirlwind, its streams fluttering in all directions.

  He watched her go and went to inform Niala and Leandro about the situation.

  They ended up agreeing with David; if these people didn't bother them, then they'd leave them alone.

  The plant harvesting progressed, with three out of five stored in acceptable numbers, and now on the hunt for the last two.

  It was a few bells later, nearing late afternoon, that Jordo intercepted them, with a few new friends in tow.

  David whistled for Niala and Leandro, who turned their heads toward him, and then to the Golem and the 4 humanoids trailing him.

  They were hard to see, wearing a cloak that seemed to bend light around them. The enchantment was imperfect, however, with several small spots that appeared to float in mid-air through which David could see their bodies, as if the cloaks had holes in them...

  As they approached, he realized that was exactly what it was.

  “Sir! I have contacted the natives! They speak a bastardized form of Luminan!” Jordo sounded out as he approached.

  David waited for the golem to reach him, though he noticed the strangers were staying back, several paces behind Jordo.

  “I'm guessing that's the Reign's official language?” He asked.

  “Indeed, Sir! They appear to be descendants of the Reign's people! A marvellous discovery!”

  Niala cut into the conversation as she arrived. “Really? From all the way back then!? That's thousands of years! And you can speak with them?”

  “Indeed, Madam, although with some difficulty. However, the more I converse, the better my linguistic logic should adapt. If expediency is required, I could always perform a neurological scan on one of them.” Jordo explained.

  David tilted his head. “Is that the thing you did to me when we met?”

  “Indeed it was, Sir!”

  “Then, no, just learn their language normally,” David said, looking around Jordo and to the natives, giving them a small wave, which the smallest of the bunch began returning, before having his hand slapped away by a taller one.

  The courier returned his eyes to Jordo. “What did they want?”

  The golem's eye pinned. “They sought me out, as my form reminds them of the great protector, as depicted in their story halls, and asked if I had returned to bring them to the land above the clouds.”

  Niala's ears wiggled as she looked up. “Above the clouds?” Her eyes drifted to the roaming thunderstorm. “Oh! Do they mean to the surface?”

  Jordo nodded. “I believe so, yes. They also brought me a warning.”

  Everyone tensed at those words. David levelled his gaze at Jordo. “What kind of warning?”

  The golem swept a hand to his side, toward the land in general. “They said that when the light dims, the demons come out. Anyone not within the safety of the hidden maze will be devoured.”

  David glanced at the natives. “And did they describe the demons?”

  Jordo's eye locked onto David. “They did, Sir. In no uncertain terms, they described the form of the lesser Fel.”

  “And how many demons are we talking about?” Leandro asked.

  Jordo blinked, swivelling his head around so it faced his followers, and spoke in a terse, broken tongue. The natives exchanged words back and forth with the Golem a few times before his head turned back toward Leandro.

  “They do not know exactly how many, as they do not stay out after dark, but they believe it to be at least a few dozen.”

  In the silence that followed, Anaakendi reformed close by, startling the natives, which she ignored, marching on David.

  “More soldiers have arrived, with your brother at their head, and they are coming this way.”

  David looked at Anaakendi, running a hand down his face. “Of course he is...” He looked at Leandro, “I'm betting a prince he won't listen to me about the Fels.”

  The knight shook his head. “I will not take that bet. I know Isaac even better than you, boy.”

  “And if you know him so well, do you think he'll listen to their warning?” David asked, pointing at the natives with his head.

  “No.”

  “I wish you'd said yes,” David said, sighing.