Valerius knew he could not stay in the Undercity forever. To truly hurt Master Corvus, he needed to get to the upper spires. That was where Corvus lived, where he worked, and where all his secrets were kept. But traveling between the city levels was almost impossible for someone like Valerius. Large, guarded checkpoints stood at every entrance to the Aether-Lifts, the giant elevators that connected the different parts of Aethelburg. Only citizens with special identity papers could pass. Valerius was a hollow man; he had no papers, no identity.
This was where Elara's knowledge was essential. She did not know how to pass the guards, but she knew other ways. "The people-lifts are impossible," she explained, her voice a low whisper. They were hiding in an old, abandoned subway tunnel. "But there are other lifts. The cargo lifts. They carry supplies from our factories to the rich people up top."
She led him to a massive, dark shaft that went straight up into the city's sky. At the bottom was a huge platform, big enough to hold ten cargo containers. This was a cargo Aether-Lift. It was guarded not by people, but by a complex Magitek security system. Glowing blue lines of energy covered the entrance like a spider's web. If anything touched them without the right code, alarms would ring through the whole sector.
"This is our way up," Valerius said, looking at the energy web. Elara looked at him, confused. "But how? We can't get past the energy field."
Valerius just smiled a little. "We don't need to get past it. We need to turn it off." His plan was dangerous. He could not touch the energy field directly. But the field was powered by a main control panel on the other side of the room. He pointed to it. "That panel controls everything. If I can corrupt it, I can create a short shutdown. Maybe just for a few seconds. It will be enough time for us to run onto the lift before it goes up."
They waited. Soon, a loud horn sounded. A group of containers filled with luxury goods was loaded onto the platform by giant clockwork cranes. The lift was preparing to ascend. This was their only chance. Valerius found a metal water pipe that ran along the wall and passed close to the security panel. He placed his hand on the cold, wet pipe. He closed his eyes and focused, sending his corrupting energy through the metal.
The blue energy web flickered. For a second, nothing happened. Then, with a loud buzz, the entire web of light disappeared. "Now!" Valerius yelled. He and Elara ran as fast as they could. They sprinted across the floor and jumped onto the cargo platform, hiding between two large crates. Just as they found a hiding spot, the energy field buzzed back to life. A moment later, with a deep hum, the giant lift began to move, carrying them up, up, up towards the world that had forgotten them. They were ghosts, rising from the grave.