The undead reached out a clawed hand toward Alyra.

  It passed straight through her as she sprinted past, and the half-rotted creature crumbled into a swirl of violet smoke.

  Faela followed close behind, silent as a ghost.

  Horns blared from the windows, their sharp notes cutting through the night as the alarm rose. Soldiers poured out of the main gate, forming a tight line shoulder to shoulder. Shields of luminous blue energy flared around them, and heavy tower shields locked into place with a metallic snap.

  Officers barked orders while a row of Orbisar Ascendants, draped in ceremonial robes and gripping long, tapered staves, took position behind the front line.

  Alyra froze at the sight.

  They didn’t even glance her way. Their attention was fixed on the enemy, ready to meet the vile, unnatural assault head-on.

  Chaotic ranks of corpses shambled toward the gate. Torn robes, rusted armor fragments, and corroded weapons caught the flicker of blue light. No screams, no breath, only the brittle clatter of bone and steel as they advanced in eerie silence, a dark tide rolling forward.

  Soon the Sacred Guard and the other Ascendants would unleash a storm of ice, fire, and lightning, and Sierelith’s deception would be revealed.

  They had to move. Now.

  The spy had spoken of stairs. Alyra scanned the courtyard, panic rising with every second.

  “There!” Faela hissed beside her, pointing toward a narrow, shadowed gap behind a rough brick wall.

  No other stairs in sight. Where were they?

  They couldn’t stay out here. Alyra bolted toward the shadowed gap, her heartbeat thudding against her ribs.

  Behind the wall, a narrow stone staircase plunged into the dark.

  Nothing but blackness below, but turning back wasn’t an option.

  Explosions thundered overhead, bright flashes slicing through the stairwell for a heartbeat at a time.

  Not that deep. Hopefully. Maybe there’d be light below. Alyra took the steps two at a time.

  Faela swept past her, hair flying in the rush. More shadow than flesh, gliding instead of running.

  “Faela! Wait!”

  The girl’s spectral outline dissolved into the dark at the bottom.

  Alyra clenched her jaw and pushed on, sinking deeper into the dark. The steps disappeared beneath her feet; one wrong move and she’d break her neck. How could Faela move that fast in this black pit?

  Then a faint light. A soft yellow flicker from below. The stairs came alive again, and Alyra broke into a run.

  Faela stood at the base, a yellow crystal glowing in her hand. The light painted her face gold as she motioned for Alyra to follow.

  Alyra leapt down the last steps, landing hard beside her. Before she could speak, Faela had already vanished into the tunnel ahead.

  She bit back her words and sprinted after her, unwilling to lose the only light in that passage.

  The explosions and shouts above faded as they pushed deeper into the brick-and-stone tunnels.

  At the first junction, Faela stopped and turned toward her, eyes questioning.

  Alyra shrugged. “I have no idea where we’re supposed to go.”

  “Follow me,” said a voice behind them.

  Sierelith stepped out of the shadows, her calm stride at odds with the chaos above. That same mocking smile curved her lips.

  “And you know where to go… how?” Alyra asked.

  The spy’s green eyes caught the faint light, gleaming above her sharp cheekbones. “I’ve been tracking the Cashnar for a while now. Let’s just say I’ve learned how not to lose him.”

  She brushed past them and took the left corridor. They followed close behind.

  Faint crystals glimmered along the walls, shedding a weak, steady glow, just enough to trace the turns and dead ends ahead. Faela slipped through the darkness without effort, while Alyra kept catching her shoulder on the rough stone, half running, half stumbling to keep up.

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  “Nice trick back there,” Faela said. “Even I almost believed it for a moment.”

  Sierelith glanced over her shoulder with a grin. “Coming from a Cultist of Death like you, that’s twice the compliment.”

  “Are we close?” Alyra asked.

  The spy shook her head. “Don’t think so. But we’re getting there.” Her gaze shifted to Alyra. “Either of you know what the hell the Cashnar’s doing down here?”

  “He didn’t tell me. Just said it was important. That he was going to uncover some long-lost secret… or something like that. I think it’s tied to the Orbisar spheres.”

  Sierelith raised an eyebrow. “Something like that? Can’t you be a little more precise?”

  “’Fraid not. Sometimes when Derek starts talking, I kinda lose the thread.”

  The spy rolled her eyes.

  “I like this place,” Faela murmured. “Feels like an ancient tomb.”

  “Likely is,” Sierelith said. “And if we’re not careful, we’ll end up keeping the dead company.”

  Faela gave one of her rare smiles, just a faint curve of her lips.

  Cold crept up Alyra’s back. She was starting to understand what kind of mental cracks the cult’s death magic carved into its followers.

  Sierelith turned sharply at the next intersection, straight into the looming shape of a massive metal figure half-swallowed by the dark. Two red, coal-like eyes burned to life, glowing with a demonic light.

  All three froze, breath caught in their throats.

  The statue spoke, its voice echoing down the corridor. “Hey, girls. Fancy meeting you here. What brings you this way?”

  “Vanda?” Alyra squinted, taking a step closer.

  Faela lifted the yellow crystal, its glow spilling over the figure.

  The NOVA stood motionless, towering over them.

  “Derek?” Alyra called.

  “Derek’s not here,” Vanda replied. “He went down that hole with Erasmus.”

  At the suit’s feet, a square opening gaped in the floor, so dark Alyra wouldn’t have noticed it if Vanda hadn’t spoken. “You’re not going after him?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Vanda said. “The tunnels below are narrow and unstable. Bringing the NOVA would risk collapsing tons of rock and soil on top of them.”

  “There’s really no way you can go down?”

  “No, Alyra. If Derek locates a non–load-bearing wall that connects to the surface, I could attempt to break through. Until then, my presence here ensures his potential extraction point remains secure.”

  “I see…” Alyra murmured.

  Faela turned toward her, a sharp gleam in her eyes and a grin too wide to be reassuring. “Then we proceed.”

  Since they’d entered these tunnels, the cultist had changed, more focused, more alive. The restless twitch in her fingers was gone. She almost looked… happy.

  “My job ends here,” Sierelith said.

  Alyra blinked. “You’re not coming with us?”

  “No thanks. Humidity’s murder on my hair.”

  “But Derek’s down there. I thought you wanted to see the Messiah in action.”

  The spy smirked, folding her arms. “I still do. But I want to see him do something worthy of the Cashnar.” She wrinkled her nose and gestured at the hole. “Watching him dig through a sewer doesn’t qualify.”

  Alyra nodded, though disappointment sank in her chest. Having Sierelith along would’ve made things easier and the idea of being alone with that unnervingly cheerful cultist didn’t help.

  “We should move,” Faela said, eyes glinting.

  Alyra let out a slow breath. “All right.”

  “Open the front compartment,” Vanda said.

  Both girls turned toward the NOVA.

  “Here,” Vanda said. “See the small red button on the chest? Press it. A compartment will open.”

  Alyra stepped closer and did as told. A sharp click, a hiss, then the NOVA’s front armor unfolded like a metallic flower.

  “Good. Inside the black case you’ll find two small cylinders. Take one each and put it in your ear.”

  Alyra hesitated before reaching inside the mech. Her fingers brushed something hard and cold. A black box, smooth yet oddly pliant beneath her touch.

  “Open it,” Vanda instructed.

  She pried the casing apart until it snapped open.

  Inside, two tiny metal cylinders rested in a bed of soft gel. Alyra pinched one between her fingers and pulled it free.

  “Put it in your ear,” Vanda said.

  She obeyed.

  “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” The voice slammed through her head like thunder, making her flinch.

  “Better now?” Vanda’s tone returned to normal. “Sorry. Derek keeps it that loud when he’s working on the NOVA and blasting music.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Alyra muttered. “I hear you fine.”

  Faela plucked the second cylinder and slipped it into her ear. “Done. Shall we go?”

  “Yes,” Vanda replied. “Now I can guide you to Derek, if that’s where you’re headed. But you still haven’t told me what you’re doing down there. It’s dangerous.”

  “I must give my life to save Derek,” Faela said with a bright smile, then turned and started down the steep steps without a moment’s pause.

  Vanda’s voice crackled. “She’s serious?”

  “She thinks she can draw the Death magic inside Derek into herself. It might stop that thing from killing him, but we have to hurry.”

  “All right. I’ll try to contact him, tell him to come back toward you.”

  Alyra’s pulse jumped. “You can do that? If he came back up, this would be way easier.”

  “Uh…” Vanda paused. “Something’s wrong. I’ve lost connection.”

  “Lost connection? What do you mean?”

  “I’m not picking up anything. Some kind of interference… I’ll try to isolate it and trace his signal. You two keep moving.”

  “I don’t get a word of that, but if Derek’s in trouble, I’m going.” Alyra hurried toward the opening. The steps were narrow, slick, barely visible. This descent wouldn’t be fast or safe.

  “Alyra!” Vanda’s voice crackled in her ear.

  She froze. “What?”

  “If something happens to you and Derek finds out I sent you after him… that might finally be the day he uninstalls me. Be careful, okay?”

  Alyra blinked. “Uh… okay.” No time to ask what the hell uninstall meant. Probably some kind of tech magic from their world.

  She kept moving, one cautious step at a time.

  The NOVA’s spotlight cut through the dark, but even that beam barely reached her feet.

  Faela was already gone, a shadow swallowed by deeper shadows.

  Then a gray flame flickered ahead. Faela’s pale face emerged above it, the light painting her features in ghostly silver.

  “Take my hand,” she said. “Let me guide you.”

  “What’s that fire?”

  “It’s energy from my chakras. A flame of Death energy.”

  Alyra took her hand, stepping carefully to match her pace. “How can you see so well in the dark?”

  “We of the Cult do not fear the darkness. When you begin to use your Death energy, it will happen to you as well.”

  Alyra nodded, though cold prickled down her back. In the rush of everything, she’d almost forgotten her promise: if Faela saved Derek, she’d have to join the Death Cult.

  But only when she was ready.

  Maybe she’d never be.

  “Here. Last step,” Faela said.

  Alyra stepped down—and cold, damp stone swallowed her boot. “It’s wet down here.”

  “Yes. The water seeps from the rocks. Just puddles. It’s not dangerous.”

  Faela tugged her forward, and Alyra let herself be led. Their footsteps splashed softly, echoes bouncing off a high cavern ceiling. The walls seemed to close in as the tunnel funneled them deeper into the dark.

  Faela stopped without warning, and Alyra bumped straight into her.

  “Ow! What’s wrong? Why’d you stop?”

  “There… that.” Faela lifted the gray flame.

  The dim light revealed a metallic shape blocking the path few meters ahead. A mass of fused spheres, stacked and locked together. It filled nearly the entire passage, but maybe, with effort, they could squeeze past.

  “So what?” Alyra said. “We can get through. Why’d you—”

  The thing moved.

  Only then did she realize it had a shape, a crude humanoid form. It knelt, one knee pressed to the ground, its head of interlocked orbs turning toward them.

  Faela stepped back, bumping into her again.

  Alyra edged forward, pulse hammering. The construct loomed temple-high, an enormous golem made entirely of linked metal spheres. One stomp from those feet and they’d be paste.

  Derek was nowhere in sight. Whatever this thing was, he must’ve made it past somehow. But how?

  “I have to pass! Move!” Alyra shouted, her heart pounding so hard she felt it in her throat. In a place this tight, if it attacked, she was finished.

  The golem’s reply grated like a sword dragged across rusted iron. “You do not repair. You cannot pass.” It straightened, metal joints grinding, and slammed its feet into the ground. The impact shook the tunnel like an earthquake.

  Faela stared, wide-eyed. “What do we do now?”

  Alyra swallowed hard. “Looks like… we fight.”

  “But Death power doesn’t work on golems. It doesn’t work on machine creatures.”

  The thing remained still, silent, unmoving. It didn’t attack, yet its presence weighed on her like a mountain.

  For now.

  The metal giant towered above, patient as stone.

  Alyra took a step forward, fists rising. Derek was out there—beyond this thing—and he needed her. No true Warden would turn back now.

  This was the path she’d chosen.

  She drew a deep breath to steady her racing heart and braced herself to unleash a Second-Level Fulcrum Strike.