The sky over Varn was a bleeding wound smeared in rust red clouds and dying stars. Smoke drifted from the city's upper tiers curling through towers like whispers from dead gods. Even in the night the air was hot and it reeked of scorched metal and the sharp tang of magic.
Kael crouched beneath the shadow of a broken statue just outside the walls of House Veyren one of the oldest Core Lord estates in the capital. He sucked in a breath and tried not to choke on the city's rot.
"Still think this is a bad idea?" he whispered.
Above him perched on the lip of a ruined balcony Rei rolled her eyes and dropped down beside him without a sound. She landed like a cat her short black blade already unsheathed.
"Worse than bad" she muttered "It's suicidal."
"But worth it."
"That's what you said last time. You almost lost your arm."
Kael grinned tugging his hood tighter over his ash blond hair. "Still have it."
Rei didn't return the smile. Her eyes sharp silver and far too serious for someone their age scanned the courtyard ahead. It was ringed with statues and glowing runes. Wards. Motion sigils. Even at this hour two armored guards circled the front gate in a lazy practiced rhythm.
Kael reached into his satchel and pulled out a small brass device shaped like a coin.
"Disruptor?" Rei asked.
"Third gen." He flipped it. "Courtesy of our friends in the south tunnels."
"You mean the smugglers who tried to kill you last week?"
"We made up."
Rei looked like she wanted to slap him. Instead she flicked her blade and nodded. "Alright. You trip the wards. I'll deal with the lock."
Kael grinned again this time with real fire behind it. Moments like this the edge of danger the promise of something forbidden made his blood sing. They weren't just stealing. They were breaking the rules of the gods.
He tossed the coin.
The disruptor hit the stone with a soft thunk. For a second nothing happened.
Then the runes went dark.
Rei darted forward. Kael followed close behind.
They crossed the courtyard like shadows weaving between sculptures of long dead lords frozen in poses of imagined glory. One statue had a veined crystal growing from its chest carved to resemble a living core. Kael spat on it as he passed.
At the main door Rei knelt beside the lock a glowing wheel of sigils set into the iron.
"Five symbols. Runes switch every three seconds," she muttered. "You remember the sequence?"
"I've got the last three," Kael said already pulling a thin metal rod from his sleeve. "You get the first two?"
"Always do."
Together they worked in silence fingers dancing over ancient glyphs that pulsed with residual magic. The lock was old but not dead. It bit back. Kael felt a jolt run through his wrist as the fourth symbol flared too early. He hissed but didn't stop.
"Almost" Rei whispered.
Click.
The door creaked open.
Darkness spilled out like water.
Inside the air was colder than it had any right to be. Not just cold. Heavy. Like the air inside a tomb.
They stepped into a corridor lined with stone walls and crystal lanterns. Most were dead. A few flickered casting long shadows. At the end of the hall a spiral staircase descended into the earth.
"Vault's below," Kael said. "Three levels."
"Wait," Rei said grabbing his sleeve. "We grab relics. Trinkets. Stuff we can sell."
"That was the plan."
"No vein cores. I mean it Kael."
He hesitated. "I know."
She held his gaze. Then nodded.
They descended.
The staircase twisted down like a drill into the bones of the city. The walls grew damp. The air thickened. By the time they reached the third level Kael's shirt was soaked with sweat and Rei's breath came short.
The vault was a massive circular chamber lit only by a single blue flame in the ceiling. Rows of shelves and glass cases lined the walls. Weapons. Crowns. Tomes. Trinkets glowing faintly under preservation spells.
Rei's eyes lit up. "Jackpot."
Kael moved toward a shelf stacked with golden rings and ornate knives. His fingers hovered over a chain inlaid with sapphire when something tugged at him.
Not physically. Not even magically. Emotionally.
A pull. A whisper. A heartbeat just beneath hearing.
He turned.
At the back of the vault behind a fallen pillar and a cracked mirror sat a stone box the size of a coffin. Dust coated its surface. It had no hinges no locks. Just a single symbol carved into its lid a glyph Kael didn't recognize.
He moved toward it.
Rei looked up from stuffing a pouch full of rings. "Kael?"
He didn't answer.
The moment his fingers touched the stone the glyph flared gold.
The lid slid open.
Inside floating inches above the velvet lined interior was a vein core unlike anything he had ever seen.
Most cores were clear or silver polished like gems. This one was black cracked through with glowing red veins like it had been struck by lightning and sealed itself shut with blood and fire.
It pulsed.
Not with light. With intent.
Rei was beside him in an instant. "What the hell is that?"
Kael couldn't speak. His breath caught. The core was alive. It was looking at him.
"Put it back," Rei whispered. "Kael listen to me. That's not normal. That's not safe."
He reached in.
"Kael!"
His fingers wrapped around it.
The heat was instant.
It wasn't burning. It was knowing. The core knew him. His memories. His name. His pain. He felt it rushing through his mind like a flood of stars and ash. He tried to drop it but it was already inside him.
The glow spread from his palm to his wrist.
Then to his chest.
Then to his eyes.
He collapsed.
Rei screamed his name.
The last thing he saw was her face above him not angry not even scared. Broken.
Then the vault shook.
And everything went black.