Midnight bells echoed across the Academy grounds as Ethan waited in the shadow of the armory until the last chime faded. His heart hammered against his ribs, thoughts drifting.
Maya appeared from smoke between the buildings. Her face was pale, but determined. "You sure about this?"
"No," Ethan said. "But the dreams won't stop. And if we don't get there first..."
"Someone else will." Maya's golden eyes caught moonlight. "Lydia."
They moved through courtyards like ghosts, quiet and quick. Ethan knew every guard patrol after monitoring them for two days. Left at the fountain, wait thirty seconds behind the statue and slip through the gap in the hedge when the tower bell rang once.
The entrance to the vault lay beneath the Academy's oldest building. Stone steps descended into darkness that surrounded their glowing lantern.
"How do you know about this place?" Maya whispered.
Another lie balanced on his tongue.
Because I have lived this life before or because I was told when they moved the artifacts underground in my first life or because I remember things I shouldn't.
"Lucky guess," he said.
The first barrier was magical. A ward that would scream if touched by anyone without proper authorization. Ethan pulled out a small vial filled with something that looked like liquid starlight.
"What is that?" Maya asked.
"Essence neutralizer. Found the recipe in one of those old books." He poured three drops on his fingers and pressed them to specific points on the door-frame.
The ward flickered and died.
Thank you, Master Aldric. Even dead, you still save lives.
They descended deeper. The walls here were different. Older. Built from stone that predated the Academy front buildings by decades. Strange symbols were carved into the rock - not decoration, but warnings in languages that no one alive could read.
The second barrier was physical. A door made from adamantine that prevents both physical and magical attacks. It had no keyhole, no handle, no obvious way to open it.
Ethan placed his hand flat against the surface. The metal was warm, almost alive.
"Ignis perpetua, umbra eterna," he whispered.
Eternal fire, Everlasting shadow.
The door recognized the keywords. Ancient mechanisms clicked and turned. The massive slab of metal swung inward on hinges that hadn't moved in decades.
"How did you know that?" Maya's voice was tight with suspicion.
"Read it somewhere." The lies were getting harder to tell. "Old Academy texts from the underground library."
They stepped into the vault.
Weapon racks lined the walls, each holding artifacts that hummed with power. Swords that glowed along the edges. Bows that gleamed too bright in the dark chamber. Armor that shifted color to match the flames of the torch.
At the center of the chamber stood seven pedestals. Each held a fragment of something greater. Pieces of weapons that had once shaped the world.
Ethan's eyes found the Kingmaker Blade immediately.
Not the complete weapon from his memories, but part of it. The crossguard and six inches of blade, gleaming with silver light that had nothing to do with their lantern. It called to him with wordless hunger.
Take me up.
His feet carried him forward without conscious thought. Around him, the vault held its breath.
"Ethan." Maya's voice sounded far away. "Look at this."
He turned. She stood before another pedestal, staring at a staff fragment topped with crystal that burned like a captured star. Her hands shook as she reached toward it.
"Don't," Ethan said. But his own hand was already moving toward the blade fragment.
Complete what was begun.
His fingers touched metal. The world exploded into a bright light.
He saw the first Kingmaker. A young woman who lifted the blade to save her dying kingdom. Watched her age thirty years in as many days. Saw her final battle against things that crawled from the cracks in the ground.
He saw the second wielder. A man who tried to use the blade's power to bring his dead daughter back to life. The weapon consumed him from within, leaving only burnt crisp of human flesh.
Dozens more. They were all chosen, destroyed. All failures in the end.
And through it all, a voice that whispered the same promise: Power to change everything. For the small cost of everything you are.
Ethan jerked his hand back. The fragment's hums grew louder, more insistent.
Beside him, Maya had touched her staff fragment. Light poured from her skin like she'd swallowed the sun. Her eyes were now glinting pure gold no whites.
"I see them," she whispered. "All the ones who came before. All the ones who tried to bear this burden."
The staff fragment sang in harmony with the blade. Two voices becoming one. Two destinies intertwining.
Together, the weapons whispered. Stronger together.
Alarms began to wail.
Red glyphs appear in the chambers, glowing. Somewhere above, doors slammed shut. Feet pounded down stone stairs.
"Time to go," Ethan said.
But Maya was still lost in the fragment's vision. Light poured from her like water from a bucket. The staff piece lifted from its pedestal, floating toward her outstretched hand.
"Maya!"
She blinked. The light faded to embers. The staff fragment settled into her palm with a thunder like sound.
Ethan grabbed the blade fragment. Fire raced through his veins. His vision sharpened until he could see dust motes dancing in the darkness. Power beyond measure filled every cell of his body.
And somewhere deep inside, he felt years of his life crumble to ash.
The price. Always the price.
Voices echoed from the stairwell. Getting closer.
"This way," Ethan said.
He led Maya to the chamber's far wall where old drainage channels connected to the Academy's sewers.
They crawled through passages that stank of centuries and desperation. Behind them, shouts filled the vault. Someone had discovered the theft.
They emerged in the old cemetery behind the Academy's chapel. Dawn light touched the horizon, turning the sky the color of a gleaming fire.
"We did it," Maya breathed. The staff fragment glowed softly in her hand. "We actually did it."
Ethan looked at the blade piece. Already he could feel it working changes in his body. He could feel the physical changes in his bones.
How long do I have? Months? Weeks?
"Yeah," he said. "We did it."
But as they walked back toward the dormitories, Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that they'd just started something they had no hope of finishing.
The fragments were theirs now. Along with all the power, all the burden, and all the death that came with them.
In the distance, Academy bells began to ring. Not the normal morning chimes, but the harsh bronze clanging that meant emergency.
Someone would pay for the theft. Questions would be asked and the suspicions would grow.
And somewhere in the shadows, Lydia Hayes was probably smiling.
The game just changed, Ethan thought. And I'm not sure we're winning anymore.