The rings of blood Lucius once controlled fell apart, drizzling down as rain and spooling out in puddles and streams. A twang rang through the air as a steel blade caught the trident before it could run through the vampyr’s chest.

Lucius winced, backing into the wall.

Hwan glanced at Ali, who had dashed between him and his prey, his saber locking the trident in place mid-air.

“You, my friend, need to listen.” Ali stared back at Hwan as blood rain fell upon their clothes.

Silence drew between the two men. Hwan moved first.

“So be it.” He withdrew his trident then looked at Lucius. “You are lucky blood-fiend.”

The vampyr in response lunged toward them, his mouth wide with a set of fangs.

His effort was cut short as Ali’s saber moved in a blur, pinning Lucius’ outstretched hand to the wall.

Lucius let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Ugh.” Ali shook his head and wiped the blood streaming down his face and hair. “Some people never do learn.”

He then raised a stone shield, using it to block the rain.

“This one deserves far worse.” Hwan slammed the trident into the floor, watching the vampyr clutch his shredded hand, black blood glistening out the rupture in its pale skin.

“Good to know at least our moral compasses are aligned,” said Ali. “Somewhat.”

Nick relaxed, relieved that things didn’t escalate.

[Warning: Unit Energy capacity reaching critical levels.]

The moment he saw the message, he buckled, losing control of his legs. Then his remaining arm. He started to feel his consciousness shift as the broken droid fell to pieces.

Nick withdrew, his mind shifting and retreating to a unit with four functional limbs.

“You good there?” Ali looked over to where the droid had collapsed.

“I’m fine!” said Nick from his new body.

“Do us a favor and warn us the next time you do that!” said Ali. “This body swapping business is creepy enough as is.”

Hwan, if he noticed or cared, didn’t let it show on his face. Instead, he stood as still as a statue, regarding them with a stony gaze.

Nick ignored Ali’s comment, trudging across the floor in his new body, walking past the deceased. He noticed cuts, burns, and twisted joints along the corpses but the overwhelming majority had earthen arrows sticking out of them.

And all dead center between their foreheads.

Nick wondered if that was how things would have looked if their confrontation above had escalated. Needless to say, he revised his assessment of Hwan. He was probably the most dangerous one out of their entire bunch.

“I can’t believe he caught it.” Ali fished his dagger from the floor as Nick moved towards them. “Getting rusty.”

As Nick drew close, he noticed the proud and smug expression on Lucius was replaced with outrage, pain, and anger. His eyes twitched and swiveled among each of his three captors.

“Thank you,” he said to Hwan, who didn’t reply.

Nick knelt down next to Lucius, just out of arm’s reach.

“It appears the situation has not ended in your favor,” said Nick.

“I won’t contrive myself with chattel,” Lucius spat. “Lady Civoly will not stand for this treatment of her own coven.”

“I don’t see her here,” Ali played with his dagger as the vampyr continued to squirm against the saber sticking into his palm. “Or anywhere nearby to intervene in that matter.”

“You’re going to tell us everything you know,” said Nick.

“I’d rather burn in the fires of Tartarus than talk!” said Lucius, who spat at his face.

Ali sighed, waving his dagger at the vampyr. “You aren’t going to get anything out of him that way. If I may make a suggestion?”

“And what do you have in mind?” said Nick while standing up.

“A few things. For starters, one’s clothes, which would have been ruined had the easterner had his way. Which are often places where…”

He threw the dagger, pinning the vampyr’s other hand to the wall. Lucius howled in pain as Ali moved forward, reaching into the man’s velvet undercoat and pulling out a set of bound parchment.

“They carry things on their person.”

“How did you...?” said Nick.

“I have an eye for these things.” Ali tossed the contents to him.

Nick began unfolding the letters, ignoring Lucius’ curses and screams.

“Amazing what people do when they think you are below notice.” Ali wagged a finger at Lucius, who bared his fangs at him. “To think nobody else noticed the pigeons sneaking into the camp with parcels tied to them. Tsk… tsk...”

Nick skimmed the contents, and realized it was correspondence between Lucius and Civoly, the same vampyr he saw at Sevola. The flowery wording and adjectives dripping servitude made him want to blanch. The content within however was exactly what he was looking for. Plans, goals, and of most notable importance, mention of a Rathenian trading post to the distant north, used by the lady and her coven to procure goods.

He flipped to the last letter which didn’t detail any words, but instead a drawing. An intricate symbol carved in lines and geometric shapes.

“What is this?” Nick pointed at it.

“Eh, something this one has been looking for,” said Ali. “Some old trove of the First Civilization. He’s been asking probing questions around late night dice sessions about it. Isn’t that right?”

Lucius glared at them but said nothing.

Nick glanced at the symbol again, and noticed a familiar pattern on its shape, similar to the one engraved on the palm of his human body. Rigid lines. Triangles. Circles.

“And I’d say that’s about all we’ll get out of this one,” said Ali. “Not unless we resort to more compulsory methods. If we do, I guarantee most of things he spews out will be nonsensical drivel.”

“You’ll never get a word out of me,” Lucius spat. “It doesn’t matter where you go, what you do, or how far you fly. You’ve raised hands against a member of the coven, and my lady will hunt you down and bleed you dry like the animals you are.”

“Right…” Ali raised a brow then looked to Nick. “What say you Nezra?”

Nick thought about it for a moment. He was strong and powerful at that, although he was weak and vulnerable at the moment. Any means of torturing more information out of him would likely be meaningless, given they had no way of verifying said information. As long as he was alive he would be a threat. One with motive and the ability to cause them harm.

“Then I guess we have everything we need from him,” said Nick. “Hwan he’s yours.”

Before the vampyr could utter another word, a bowstring twanged and an earthen rod jutted into his neck. Lucius’ eyes widened. Black blood dribbled down from his lips as he choked and gasped.

Another rod slammed into his forehead, ending the vampyr’s life once and for all.

“You really dislike them, don’t you?” Ali eyed the attacker.

Hwan re-slung his bow.

“I merely enforce the dictates of heaven,” he said. “This one has broken over twenty.”

“And now you talk,” said Ali. “Out of curiosity how many of these dictates are there?”

“5487,” said Hwan.

Ali whistled. “And I take it you know every single one by heart?”

“Yes,” said Hwan.

“You seemed like the type.” Ali shook his head. “Maybe you should write them all down later. For my sake, I don’t want to wind up with a misunderstanding.”

“It will be a long time,” said Hwan.

“I did not mean it literally,” said Ali.

“What the devil happened here?” said a familiar gravelly voice.

Osman appeared above them, peering down from the hallway that was blasted to pieces earlier by a fireball.

“Missed out on the fun Osman.” Ali gestured. “No worries, everything is safe now.”

“Haven’t seen this much carnage since the border wars.” Osman shook his head before climbing down the wrecked slope to the group. “No other survivors?”

Ali shook his head.

“Feh.” Osman looked at Cumberlane’s corpse on the floor a few paces away. “I’ll sleep easy knowing these lot are facing the judgment of the Divines.”

“And you have your companion to thank for that.” Ali leaned down and picked up a sword. “There is an awful lot of valuable things strewn about. Be a bit of a waste to just leave it here don’t you think?”

“Stolen,” said Hwan.

“Don’t tell me that’s one of your dictates,” said Ali. “Besides, considering their current owners are dead and their previous owners probably are as well we might as well use them to further our cause.”

“I agree,” said Nick. There were a decent number of gemstones strewn about that could provide more resources.

“Rest easy Hwan,” said Osman. “I have a tinge on how you feel about this but we have people who could use it.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of putting them to use for ourselves,” said Ali.

“And you need to shut up.” Osman glared at Ali then turned back to Hwan. “Did you not say that there is good to seize an opportunity for the welfare of the whole?

A flicker of awareness appeared in Hwan’s eyes. He looked at the goods then nodded.

“Very well then,” he said.

“That one of his 5487 dictates, old man?” asked Ali.

“Aye,” said Osman. “Foreign but they are all good rules to follow. You should listen to a few. Good life advice in general.”

“Uh-huh…” Ali rolled his eyes then started shuffling through the corpses.

Osman paused, catching something with his eyes on the floor.

“Nezra,” he said. “You might want to come here.”

“What did you find?” said Nick.

“The Vislander I mentioned,” he said. “I found him.”

Nick moved, needing no other justification. He stepped across and came across the figure Osman knelt over.

A young man just around his age wearing plain-clothes muddied with grime and blood. Beneath the outfit, he recognized the striped undershirt issued to members of the Innatum guard. A tuft of yellow hair and a face he had last seen in the winding alleys of Sevola. A face he recalled many times in his past, often in a jeer or in disgust.

He stared into the dead-eyes of Belric. One of his three chief childhood tormentors.

“Good man,” said Osman. “He helped the weak all throughout the escape. I’d never met a Vislander, but I’d be damn impressed if he represents the whole lot of you.”

“You knew him?” said Osman.

“I did,” said Nick. “We… We grew up together.”

Osman shook his head. “Damn shame then. You shouldn’t have to see your friends in such a state.”

Nick didn’t say anything. He was aware of his own feelings, but he didn’t give them voice.

“It’s fine,” said Nick. “He died a warrior’s death. That is enough for most Vislandans. A life that ends well was lived well.”

Regardless of what he felt, what Osman said confirmed it. He was a bully to Nick but a hero to the people here. That itself settled his thoughts on the matter. His personal feelings were just that, personal feelings.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” said Osman. “It’s tradition to utter a few words for the deceased.”

Nick nodded.

“Rest in peace young one.” Osman knelt, closing Belric’s eyes. “May you find eternal tranquility with the Divines.”

At the end of Osman’s prayer, Nick noticed a shawl wrapped around Belric’s neck. A personal item from the looks of it. He pulled it free, wrapping it around his wrist to be stored later. Belric had family outside of Sevola, they’d want to know what happened to him.

Once Nick settled his accounts here.

As he stood up, he noticed something flare with blue light.

Nick squinted, and realized that the far side of the wall was flickering, unnoticed during the chaos of the battle. He stepped towards it.

“Hey!” said Ali. “Where are you going?”

“Look,” said Nick. “Do you see?”

“I don’t see nothing,” said Osman.

Nick got closer, and a blue screen suddenly flickered in front of him.

[“Warning, contamination detected… Facility lockdown measures engaged.”]

[Override?]

Nick floated a finger over the button, hesitating at first, but resolving himself to push it at the end.

The screen vanished, and violet lines flared along the wall’s surface. The ground began to rumble.

“Hey!” said Ali’s distant voice.

Nick was ready to bolt, when the wall slid back then sideways to reveal a corridor beyond.

“Never seen that happen in all the time I’ve been here,” said Osman, the old man scratching his beard. “This entire place dates back to the ancients. Whatever you did got their machinations working. For a minute there it looked like you were touching something. What did you do?”

“I’m… not too sure.” Nick looked ahead into the hallway. “I’m going to take a look.”

“Maybe we should hold off on exploring dark passages for now,” said Ali. “We got what we came here for didn’t we?”

“I’m going to take a look,” said Nick.

“Suit yourself then.” Ali picked up a cutlass from a dead pirate, inspecting the slope of its blade. “Not my fault if you get ground up in there!”

Nick ignored him and called a few droids over. Two tanks stepped beside him and together they crossed into the corridor.

As soon as he stepped on the floor lines along the walls flickered with blue light, revealing the area within.

A few paces ahead was a separate chamber about the size of the Duke’s concierge room. Two stories high and enough to fit a decent number of people. Dust coated the entire area, along with items vaguely resembling crates and boxes from one end of the room to another. All of them were shattered or broken, their contents having long disappeared.

His foot tipped the side of one. He knelt and swept a finger against the material which had the roughness of rubber while sharing the texture of wood. Nick also made out letters strewn across the surface. Undecipherable at first, then the words literally began to untangle in front of him.

[Self-Contained Survival Pack]

“What do we have here?” Osman sniffed then sneezed. “Damn place hasn’t seen a spring cleaning in ages from the looks of it.”

“Probably not since the great catastrophe.” Nick stood up. “Whoever left was in a hurry.”

He glanced at the fine dust coating the floor, when he noticed a set of footprints that wasn’t his, the droids, or Osman’s.

“Wait.” Nick put a hand in front of Osman. “Someone else is here.”

“Huh?” said Osman.

Nick nodded to the footprints on the floor.

“I know you are here.” Nick’s gaze followed the trail of prints to a pile of debris against the walls. “Show yourself.”

There was nothing but silence.

He pinpointed where the footprints stopped, then cricked his neck while giving a mental order to the droids flanking him.

The droids creaked over to the debris pile and used their shields to shuffle through. Something yelped.

A tiny figure scampered out of the debris, chased after by the hulking shadow of the droids. A mouse running away from a cat. It took Nick a moment to realize the mouse in this case was a little girl, garbed in the same plainclothes Osman and the other captives had.

“Halt!” he said. The droids stopped right as she tripped over a plank and skidded across the floor.

“Kid!” Osman rushed past him to the injured girl, who sobbed and clutched her foot.

The old man held her tight in his arms. ”Easy there. Easy.”

“One of the captives?” said Nick.

“Aye,” said Osman. “Was captured along with her four sisters. Only family she knows of now. No idea how she wound up in here. Probably got trapped when the walls closed in on us.”

The girl continued to sob while holding tight to the old man’s shoulders.

“Come on kid,” said Osman. “Let’s get you out of this dusky room.”

Nick watched them depart, feeling bad that he had set the droids on her like that. Hindsight could be a harsh mistress.

Not that he did so without good reason. The piles cleared out by his droids exposed two capsules in the corner that were seemingly intact. He stepped over, and as he drew close, he realized the front of the capsules was in fact glass, with a coat of dust masking what lay within.

Nick swept aside the dust with his hand.

Below the glass was a droid. He knew immediately based on the Triangles, rectangles, and lines coated the surface of its body. A slit ran along its face where eyes should have been. A droid. Far bulkier than a tank but sharing the sleek design of a skinny striker.

He swept the dust off the other capsule. Inside, what he saw was a set of seven hexagons with four legs, resembling metallic spiders.

[Analyzing… Non-trainee categorization detected… Warning, outside of training area… emergency protocols engaged… overriding…]

Then Nick wasn’t in the room anymore. Instead, he was in a hellscape smothered in smoke and everything tinged in black and gray. It was as if he was dreaming. Humanoid figures rushed across a series of broken plains. On the opposite end were a series of bulkier figures. On closer inspection and Nick realized they were the same shape as the droid he had found in the capsule.

The droids raised one arm, and broken streams of violet energy rattled out toward the charging figures, stopping in their tracks and burning holes through their bodies. The screams of the dying followed suit, growing louder and louder.

Nick lurched backwards, and appeared back in the room. The sight he had seen was more vivid than any others. What exactly were they? Dreams or something more? As he thought about it, he noticed several blue screens appeared above the capsules.

[Level 25. Kerberos Warframe.]

[Description: Standard issue front-line assault droid.]

[Insufficient unit capacity for integration. Unit Count: 41/50. 20 required.]

[Level 20. Kerberos Mobile Mine.]

[Description: Standard issue breacher droid.]

[Insufficient unit capacity for integration. Unit Count: 41/50. 10 required.]

New droids. Evidently available for his use as well, pending meeting the requirements. An unexpected find here. In one of the ruins of the First Civilization nonetheless.

Was there some tie between himself and those ancients? He parsed plenty of literature regarding the civilization and nothing mentioned anything closely resembling droids. Or a power such as his.

He revisited what his memories as he stepped back out, trying to recall if he forgot something which would answer his question. He put a hold on those thoughts as he reentered the larger chamber.

Hwan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. Sleeping, but not quite. Osman was carrying the girl in his arms, who most definitely was sleeping. Ali stared at the pietersite orb in his hand, prodding the shattered bits with a dagger.

“A vampyr orb.” Ali peered at the shattered gemstone. “Made of pietersite, a joining of ruby and sapphire. Two opposing gemstones and elements. An impossibility until the Voratians cracked it. Always wanted to examine one of these in-detail.”

He looked over to Nick.

“Did you find something in there?”

“I did,” said Nick. “We’ll need some help bringing it up though.”

“Excellent.” Ali waved at the scattered corpses and equipment lying about. “I take it your droids will be on their way then to assist? We could use the help to haul everything else.”

“Help will be coming shortly,” said Nick. “We take what we need and leave the dead to their graves.”