Unbound

Exploration is level 80!

The Vault of Nine Kings more than dominated the top of the Undermount.

It was the top of the Undermount.

The Serpent’s Coil terminated there, twisting upon itself at the very last landing. The ground was made of orichalcum polished to a mirror finish, so that it looked like they walked atop a perfectly still, red-gold pond. To complete the illusion, strange, whiskered fish swam just beneath the surface of the metal, made of silver-green scales and possessing deep, haunting blue eyes. Plants and flowers abounded, organized into ornate pots and vases or grown across knotwork trellises. The path beyond the Coil was a series of squared stones, each one twenty feet in diameter and as dull as the metal was shiny.

“Bones of the mountain,” Tzfell said in a voice of quiet reverence. “We walk this way to reach the entrance.”

She pushed to the fore, leading their group swiftly across the strange terrain. Before long, they came to a structure that looked half palace and half mountain, with polished metal towers and walls that wove in and out of the craggy peak. A door, huge and circular, loomed ahead. On its face was carved an enormous, many-headed monstrosity, bordered by a series of large Dwarvish sigils. It, too, was made of orichalcum as well as mithril and veilstone, the red, silver, and black coloration working to almost bring the beast to life.

“Is that—?” Beef asked.

Evie whistled. “Noctis’ tits.”

Archie said nothing, but sweat visibly beaded across his forehead. Tzfell and Laur flanked him, prepared in case the guy bolted, but even they were distracted by the sheer presence of the Vault of Nine Kings.

“The Dwarves call it the biggest storehouse for treasure in all the Continent,” Tzfell said, voice quiet. Reverent. “It contains the riches of Ages.”

“Stolen riches,” Yintarion said.

“The wages of war,” the Chanter shot back. “But yes. Most of it was claimed during the Dwarven conquests. Centuries of fighting over the Rimefang range and beyond.”

“Big door,” Harn said. “How do we get in?”

“Laur?” Felix asked.

“Oh! Yes. Right.” The Elven Chanter hustled forward, crossing the short distance to the viscerally real bas-relief sculpture. He stopped short of the dais before the door proper and ran his hands through the air. A rainbow of colors dragged through his fingers. “It is…quite complicated, as you can imagine. Already I’ve sensed four—no, five—seven! Seven layers of wards.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And that is just on the outside.”

Felix flexed his hands, and his Hunger rumbled. “What if we tear the wards off?”

“You mean…eat them? That wouldn’t work. Or it would, but the result would be that this door’s security measures would activate. The vault would seal itself…permanently.”

“It’s an enshrouded shield,” Archie said. Everyone turned to look at the guy, and he puffed up his chest. “Studied up on this. I know how to break through.” He looked pointedly at Tzfell. “You just gotta let me walk more than ten feet away from you.”

“The last time we tried that, you ran away,” the Chanter said.

“Through the fireplace,” Beef added.

“After you sucker punched us,” Evie said, gesturing to her eye.

“Okay, that’s…fair. But this is what I came here to do. To get in there. I need this.” He licked his lips. “I’m not gonna run.”

Felix nodded. “Do it.”

Archie walked up to the massive door, his heart hammering loud enough that Felix barely had to strain to hear its thudding. Archie stepped forward onto the segmented dais right before the vault door and shook out his hands. Felix watched the guy closely, but not because he was worried he’d run away. It was the door itself.

That monster carving is way too realistic, he sent to Pit.

Hm. Its necks look weird.

Oh? Felix focused on that part of the beast. The thing was crafted with such incredible detail that he could make out individual scales along the thing’s necks…and just as Pit said, there was a point where they didn’t quite meet up properly. They’re misaligned. Like they can move—!

Between one second and the next, the vault came to life.

Archie stumbled, the segmented floor giving way beneath him as hidden sigaldry activated. The stone softened, sucking in his feet before hardening again, while above, the bas-relief beast pivoted. Its many heads struck like vipers, jaws somehow pulling free entirely from the surface of the vault to close around the would-be thief. Archie screamed, but the mouths were too fast even for Felix’s ridiculous Agility.

The beastly jaws crashed to the floor, utterly burying the Delven Unbound.

“No!” Felix rushed forward, but it was no use. Six of the enormous, angular heads were fully emerged from the vault and piled around where Archie once stood. Horror welled up in him, and guilt.

“I couldn’t have missed that,” Laur was saying. “It wasn’t there before!”

“The sigaldry moved?” Beef asked, eyes wide. His hands shook on his hammer. “A–a moving trap? That’s OP.”

Faintly, like an echo down a mine shaft, Felix heard something. “Wait. Shut up!” he told everyone. Felix stepped closer.

“Felix,” Vess warned.

He held up a hand and put his head up against the now-immobile statue monster…and jerked back.

“Holy shit, he’s still in there.” Felix reached forward and slammed his hands into the metal beast. A sound like the loudest gong in the world went off. His hands stung from the force of the blow…and the metal was unmarred.

Wild Threnody!

Ferric Shaping!

Hand of Calamity!

Cardinal Flame!

Four Skills rang out within him, each one vying for his attention, but Felix had enough to go around. Affinity sang through their patterns and his Intent shaped them to his Will, as metal, acid, and flame came to call. His hands were subsumed in a swirling haze of light that clung to him like viscous oil, and Felix pressed them carefully into the sculpted skull.

Metal screamed, as if the beast itself were howling in agony, and steam erupted into the air. The surface began to melt, but the area was no bigger than the tip of his pinky finger. Felix flared his nostrils and bore down, pushing more and more of his Mana into the mix of spells he was casting. Power pulsed through him, heating up his channels until his skin started to faintly glow from beneath, traceries of magic shining through his forearm scales and biceps, like LED lights under cloudy resin.

A frantic knocking came from within.

“Get back!” Felix shouted and began to shove with all his might. The metal groaned, its screams turned deep and hoarse, and the molten metal dripped onto his fingers and palms like streamers of pure agony. Regardless, Felix did not stop. He pulled and pried back, widening a hole into the sculpted beast as if he were digging in mud.

Wild Threnody is level 90!

…

Wild Threnody is level 93!

Ferric Shaping is level 38!

…

Ferric Shaping is level 55!

Journeyman Tier!

You Gain:

+15 WIL

+15 INT

+15 MIG

Hand of Calamity is level 76!

…

Hand of Calamity is level 81!

Cardinal Flame is level 96!

With a final burst of Strength, Felix wrenched the thick sides of the false head open…to reveal a stunned Delven man, pinned between teeth the size of swords. Most had missed, perhaps due to his size, but two of them had run Archie through.

“Are you hurt?” Felix asked frantically, then answered his own question by running his Voracious Eye over him. He sagged in relief. “You're fine…How?”

“Stoneswim, baby,” Archie said through his teeth, patting the fangs that passed fully through his chest.

“Then how are you pinned down?”

“The metal…I can’t, ugh, move through it easily.” Archie pushed at the giant, silver-green teeth and slowly passed one trapped hand through its length. As he did, his limb took on the metal’s color and luster. “Mithril’s about the toughest stuff I can affect, but it takes too long.”

“I can’t try to eat the metal, or I might set off the wards. Can you get through this opening?”

“Y-yeah. Gimme a sec.”

It took almost three minutes, but Archie slowly phased through the rest of the mithril teeth holding him down, including the two in his chest. Other than looking tired, he was none the worse for the experience, and Felix helped him climb out of the melted opening and back to safety.

“Impressive,” Evie said, clapping. “I really liked how slow it was. Glad we don’t have a murderous crazy lady after us.”

“Yeah. Right.” Archie squared his shoulders and walked around the descended heads of the vault beast. “Second attempt.”

“You sure about this?” Felix asked.

“I was just surprised. That wasn’t in the plans I stole…but if I can make this jump, then I can bypass it entirely.”

Laur stepped up, holding out his hands. “I will disrupt as many wards as I can.”

Felix patted the Elf on the back. “Good man.”

They tried again. This time, with Laur playing interference, Archie got to the vault without issue. Felix sensed a few sigils start to engage, but Laur was on top of them, holding them at bay. For his part, Archie removed his goggles for the first time. Eyes like faceted rubies glanced at Felix nervously before honing in on the job ahead of him. He pressed his hands against the largely mithril vault door, as if feeling for something. After a handful of seconds, he nodded to himself.

“Here we go. Easy peasy.”

With agonizing slowness, his hands and forearms sank into it. Then his feet and legs up to his knees. Last was his torso, and most horrifying, his face. Magic or not, it was awful to watch the man slowly press himself into solid metal, and Felix found himself holding his breath more than once. Eventually, the last trace of him vanished into the vault door, leaving the rest of them standing.

Waiting.

“Takin’ him a while,” Harn said.

“How thick is this door?” Beef asked. He rubbed his chest, making Hallow shift across his torso. “Does he…is he holding his breath?”

“Never asked. Laur? How’re you holding up?”

“Just fine, Lord Autarch. But…I do wish Archibald would move faster. He is slipping through most of the wards, but there are several that I am holding back from engaging.” The Elf licked his lips, and sweat dripped off his nose. “They are swiftly becoming too much for me.”

Yet there was nothing they could do. Felix could only watch as Laur began to shake, his hands trailing rainbow afterimages as he wove his magic. A song of long pauses and tumbling refrains. An abeyance to hold the flow of wards aside…one that failed, note after note, as seconds stretched to three minutes. To five. Ten.

“I cannot hold this much longer,” Laur gasped.

“Another minute,” Felix urged.

“A what?”

“Another—portion of a glass. Just hold!”

“I—” the Elf’s magic burst from around him, a corruscating aura of shimmering colors. “I cannot!”

Dammit! Felix let his Hunger roil, feeling its—her—immense emptiness as he traced the patterns of Chthonic Tribute. Chthonic Trib—!

A deep bell tolled, bright and cheery, and the beast heads lifted on their sinuous necks until they had retreated back into the vault door. At the same time, the massive ring of sigaldry around the edges began to rotate. The grinding sound of stone on stone outstripped the noise of the bell, and a great resounding click boomed through it all.

The vault door swung open to reveal a small man with his arms akimbo and head held high. “See? Easy.”

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