A haze hung over Tepei-Kuon, and the sky was shrouded in gray drapes of clouds. Only the breathing of those asleep in the cave could be heard. Rising, Kairu cast a brief glance at Atgard’s calm face—he was sound asleep, one hand resting on the hilt of his claymore lying beside him, his hood pulled over his eyes. The journey had exhausted them all.

  Tying a rope around himself, Kairu silently slipped out of the cave. He knew: if anyone saw him leaving, they’d tie him up and leave him in the cave until the operation. But he also knew in detail what he intended to do and where he had to go. Far beyond the trees, the towers of the Citadel loomed.

  From the webs stretched between tree trunks came the stench of rot. Kairu moved cautiously, hand on the hilt of Alaskrit, his heart stopping with every rustle. The massive stone buildings of the abandoned warehouses emerged from the darkness suddenly, tangled with vines and ivy. In the gloom, they looked like crypts with ten-foot-high windows and no doors, just gaping black holes behind which dusty murk lurked.

  Kairu approached the base of one structure. High above, the jagged edge of a half-collapsed wall seemed to prop up the sky with sparse crystal stars. He carefully slipped through one of the archways, climbed a stone staircase into a small hall with narrow windows beneath the ceiling. Then he looked around. Crates and barrels lined the walls, some pipes stretched off into the darkness, and near a collapsed wall he spotted a dusty hatch cover on the floor. Kairu approached slowly. Stones from the fallen wall had buried the barely visible hatch, recognizable only by its brass handle.

  With great effort, he managed to move the huge stones, clearing the hatch carefully so that not a single rock would fall again, dragging down a pile of rubble. The lock was old and rusted, and after a single sharp strike from Alaskrit, the shackle shattered with a loud clang. Kairu flinched, frozen. But there was only silence around him, with echoes ringing faintly through the tower ruins.

  He heaved the hatch open with a loud creak; it slid aside on special panels to reveal a metal ladder leading down into darkness. He stepped onto the first trembling rung, then climbed more confidently until he reached the basement. Taking a breath, he took a torch from his belt, lit it with flint, and pulled the outlines of walls, thick rusted pipes, and a winding corridor from the gloom.

  Kairu walked forward. He could clearly hear the murmur of water behind a wall. The corridor was cluttered with empty crates and lidless barrels, and torch brackets hung from the walls. Iron doors were embedded in the walls, locked from the inside, but Kairu didn’t attempt to open them, even though he had Anzerrat’s lockpicks with him. He was only interested in the corridor, which twisted left and right before finally bringing him to a completely dark room. Somewhere nearby, a rat squeaked. The torch illuminated a small damp chamber with wet ceilings and partially collapsed walls. In some places, huge stones were missing, revealing dark passages leading to other branches of the dungeon. A small door in the wall, behind some pipes, had once been sealed with clever locks; now, only a latch and a rusted, damp shackle remained, which gave way after two blows from Alaskrit.

  Kairu pulled the door toward him, slowly slid it open, and stepped into another corridor leading deep into darkness. He walked for a long time and only realized he was on the right track when the corridor suddenly veered sharply, and he found himself facing another door, locked. He swung his sword again, flinched, hunched his shoulders, and listened to the metallic echo before carefully opening the door inward.

  He found himself in a small niche, hidden from view by stacks of crates. Stepping out slowly, he saw a long, wide corridor lined with containers against the walls, with rails running down the center, likely leading toward the Citadel. Kairu hurried forward, heart pounding with fear. He felt like a boy sneaking into someone’s orchard for apples…

  The tunnel brought him to a staircase, next to which glass lanterns were already lit, so Kairu extinguished his torch and hid it behind a crate. Inside the lidless crate, he noticed neatly stacked ingots of shining metal. Climbing up, he emerged into a room lit by bright lamps. Lidless containers lined the walls, filled with stacked rifles of various models, and boxes of bullets and gunpowder.

  Kairu shook his head. This warehouse could arm an entire division with firearms. Saelin clearly wasn’t cutting corners, he was using the diamond’s energy to the fullest... Voices came from the next room. Peeking cautiously through the door, Kairu spotted two guards playing cards at a table next to a staircase leading upward.

  "A thief’s best friend is a crossbow that fires inch-and-a-half bolts using good old string," Anzerrat used to say, and that was why Roger had procured such weapons for him, Yuf, and Kairu. Now Kairu was glad he’d brought the iron thing with him. His only fear was missing. He carefully loaded the crossbow, peeked around the corner, and raised it to his shoulder. The first guard dropped under the table with a bolt through the back of his head, not making a sound, just a faint gasp. The second gave a short cry, jumped up, and dropped his cards, but it took him too long to reach his rifle. The crossbow could fire with barely any delay. Kairu squeezed the trigger, and then lowered his arm, watching the guard topple a stool and slowly slide down the wall with a pierced throat, a dark stream trickling from the wound.

  Everything went almost silent. Kairu froze, listening, but it seemed no one in the yard had heard the brief fight. He ran to the stairs and quickly climbed out through a small hatch in the Citadel’s backyard, opposite the stables and barns. No soldiers were in sight, only two sentries pacing along a distant wall. Kairu waited until they vanished around the corner. He saw no guards on the walls, counted to ten just in case, then slipped out, gently closed the hatch, and darted to the wall, hiding behind the only halfway decent cover—a deserted cart.

  From there, he could see the edge of the gate through which they had entered the fortress last time. It was now closing, having let a patrol out. That meant it was already ten… And there was the exit from the back tunnel, from where he had carried Rita out last time. The barns, burned down two months ago during the fire, had already been rebuilt, as had the stables, the guardhouse, barracks, and servant quarters. Saelin’s workers were astonishingly efficient.

  The walls and windows were silent, the courtyard quiet, broken only by the occasional neigh from the stables. Kairu crouched in his flimsy hiding spot, covered with a gray cloak. He looked around, searching for the specific corner window of Ogralm the lackey. On Demetra’s sketch and Anzerrat’s plan, everything looked brilliantly simple. But now, sitting under the donjon wall, trembling with fear and about to break in, the plan didn’t seem so simple anymore.

  He waited. He had to sit here for another hour or so before the windows opened. Four guards passed by several times—silent, marching precisely, not exchanging a single word. They scanned the area carefully, but Kairu must have picked a good hiding spot after all, crawling under the empty cart.

  He had already uncoiled the rope with an iron hook tied around his waist and now waited patiently. Time dragged unbearably slowly, and after a long day in the saddle, he was desperately sleepy. He glanced toward the high windows of the laboratory adjoining the tower on the right. The window Yuf had broken was already repaired with a new stained glass panel. How had Yuf managed to climb up there? With a rope too, maybe?.. Yet even through the tightly shut windows, the sounds of machinery were audible.

  Suddenly, there was a knock, and Kairu saw the topmost window at the corner of the tower open. The guards marched by again. As soon as they disappeared, Kairu rushed to the tower’s corner and crouched there, heart pounding…

  No one.

  Now or never!

  Swinging the rope, he threw the hook upward and managed to catch the windowsill with its iron claws on the first try. He gave it a tug to make sure it held. Grabbing the rope with his gloved hands and pushing off the wall with his feet, he hurriedly climbed upward. His muscles ached immediately. Kairu clenched his teeth, scrambling higher, scraping his fingers, fearing every second that he might lose his grip and fall… The window approached catastrophically slowly. He was completely exhausted, tired to death, and nearly let go of the rope when the windowsill was just within reach — but then he managed to grab the edge, hauled himself up, and tumbled into the room.

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  It took a few seconds before his strength returned and he managed to get to his feet, steadying himself against the wall with his palms. Peeking out the window and hurriedly coiling the rope, he saw the inner courtyard below. He glanced around — the room’s door was only slightly ajar, with bright light streaming from the hallway through the crack. The room itself was dimly lit by wall lamps; there was a cabinet by the wall, next to it a nightstand, a chest of drawers, a writing desk, a stool, and a small crudely assembled bed with neatly made sheets. The floor was carefully painted and scrubbed until it shone.

  Kairu tied the rope around his waist and tiptoed to the door. First he listened: no footsteps. Then he cautiously peeked out. To his left, the hallway ended at a wall covered in dark red wallpaper, beside which stood a white marble statue of a girl in a chlamys, holding a wreath in her hands. To his right, the brightly lit corridor, illuminated by small glowing lamps, stretched ahead and turned left at the end. The parquet floor was covered with clean rugs embroidered in scarlet. Between the doors, mirrors and tapestries depicting landscapes hung on the walls. In the distant corner stood enormous golden wall clocks.

  The castle was filled with silence. Some doors were locked, others ajar — from behind them quiet voices could be heard. The Citadel was falling asleep. Kairu tiptoed to the corner and peeked around just in time to see bald Ogralm in a crimson livery, his wooden leg thudding against the floor, exiting one room and heading toward the next. Kairu had to wait until he rounded the corner before moving on.

  Finding Saelin’s bedroom wasn’t too difficult. Kairu had memorized the Citadel’s layout, and now he quickly emerged into the next corridor, which ended at a massive oak door with a golden handle and gilded arch overhead. Kairu took a deep breath. The sound of splashing water came from a nearby room. Ogralm had gone far enough, and Kairu, running up to the oak door, bent over the lock.

  Of course, it was locked. But over the past month, Anzerrat had trained Kairu and Yuf so well in lock-picking that it was no trouble for him to click the simple spring and shift the latch. Heart pounding, he raised his crossbow and opened the door with his left hand.

  The Lake of Aktida wasn’t here — that was the first thing he realized upon entering the bedroom. At its center stood an enormous canopy bed; the scarlet walls were adorned with tapestries depicting the landscapes of Nalvin, Mainor, Asternia, or faces of great people Kairu had never heard of. At one end of the room stood a large book-filled wardrobe; at the other, a desk and a shelf with clothes. The wall was decorated with the head of a strange beast, and beneath it hung a golden rifle and a sword adorned with emeralds and garnets. But Kairu didn’t even pause to examine them. Placing his loaded crossbow with cocked triggers on the nightstand, he began tearing through the room, opening every drawer, checking every possible hiding place for the diamond, even tried turning the beast’s mounted head — all in vain.

  Had he really left the diamond in the laboratory?

  Things were taking a bad turn. Kairu glanced at another door leading from the bedroom to an adjoining room. He rushed over, crouching as he calculated how much time he had left. About seven minutes, then Saelin would return…

  He inserted a lockpick into the keyhole, began to turn the mechanism in a practiced motion, and at that moment, the door to the hallway burst open with a crash.

  Kairu jumped like he’d been burned, dropping the pick. He reached for the crossbow, but a gunshot came first. The weapon flew from the nightstand, fell to the floor, the trigger shifted, and the bolt fired into the luxurious canopy above the professor’s bed. Kairu lunged to the side, taking advantage of the soldiers’ confusion in the powder smoke, and drew his sword. Another bullet whizzed past his head, shattering a glass panel in the bookshelf. Kairu leaped forward, instantly assessing the situation. No more hiding, he was in his element now: a fight.

  The guards threw aside their rifles, which needed reloading, and drew their swords. One of them stepped back to block the doorway, cutting off escape. A blade flashed, the strike was so fast and precise that Kairu barely managed to parry it. The other guard’s blade, now spinning in a flourish, sank deep into the flesh above his elbow, blood spraying onto his shirt and speckling the carpet.

  Calling on all his skill, Kairu attacked the guards. Alaskrit chewed through armor like butter. Spinning, leaping, striking with his left hand, Kairu jumped onto the bed, then retreated to a corner and suddenly switched from defense to offense. With a deafening clang, one sword snapped in half. The soldier froze in shock, staring at the broken piece in his hand — but that split second was enough. Kairu lunged with lightning speed, and the Tepei-Kuon guard shuddered, letting out a strangled sound as he collapsed onto the sword impaling him. Kairu yanked the blade free, deflected another blow with force, and kicked his opponent in the stomach, a favorite move taught to him by Rita…

  The soldier had only to lower his sword slightly as he doubled over, and his life ended. Kairu turned — another guard burst into the room, raising his rifle. Kairu ducked as the bullet struck the wall above his head, then charged, slashing downward. Only the raised weapon saved the guard: Alaskrit split the iron stock like a twig. The shooter staggered back, and Kairu, losing momentum in his right arm, did the only thing he could think of: reached out with his left and punched him in the face. The guard’s head hit the wall and he slumped to the floor. Somewhere deep in the castle, Kairu clearly heard the wail of a siren. Bad. Very bad. When had they seen him?..

  On the belt of the unconscious soldier, Kairu spotted a keyring. Without hesitation, he grabbed it, rushed to the mysterious locked door, and tried a key. It wouldn’t turn. Damn.

  The second key. Same result.

  The third — no…

  Footsteps and shouts sounded from behind the door. The fourth key clicked and turned. Kairu flung the door open.

  The Lake of Aktida wasn’t there. There were no other doors either. But two machines with metal tubes stood inside, and the moment the door opened, they came to life, moving as if staring at Kairu with glowing crimson eyes.

  "I need to get to the laboratory," Kairu thought. "If the diamond’s not here, it has to be there. And I’ll leave the same way I came in…" The end of the thought flashed through his mind as he ran, because the machines opened fire. Bullets roared, leaving clean holes in the walls, but Kairu had already fled back, glancing around urgently…

  He ran into the corridor, crouched low, and dashed forward, fleeing from the three soldiers trying to cut off his escape route. He knew the layout of the tower by heart and remembered exactly where the staircase leading down to the laboratory was located. He burst into a small vestibule and nearly collided head-on with two guards. Only his reflexes saved him. He managed to slash diagonally at the first soldier with his sword and shove him under the feet of the second just before the latter could squeeze the trigger of his rifle. The bullet flew somewhere upward, and Kairu spun into a pirouette and turned away just as Alaskrit’s blade whistled ominously through the air and severed the stumbling guard’s head. He felt warm blood droplets splash against his cheek.

  The staircase began just behind the door. Kairu ran out onto the hall balcony. Below, the doors were flung open, and soldiers were gathering in the vast room in response to the blaring siren. They hadn’t noticed him yet, and he darted toward the door that led to the laboratory, crouching and hiding behind the partition. Shouts and curses echoed, doors slammed, and horses neighed in the courtyard.

  He made it. He flung open the unlocked door and rushed down a short dark corridor, bursting onto the laboratory balcony. At once, he remembered how Rita had appeared in this very spot the last time. Now he saw the laboratory through her eyes, standing nearly at the ceiling and looking down on the newly rebuilt shelves filled with flasks and mechanisms. The pyramid of steel rods still stood in the corner, but the diamond was no longer there. It wasn’t in the laboratory at all—Kairu had known that the moment he entered and scanned the massive hall. But if the Lake of Aktida wasn’t here either… then Kairu had no idea where else to look.

  He couldn’t leave empty-handed. The siren was howling so loudly it made his ears ring. Surely by now, the camp had woken up and noticed his absence. It was very possible that by the next night, the soldiers would sweep the forests around the Citadel and inevitably stumble upon the cave. Right now, he had to find out where the diamond was, and find out fast.

  Kairu vaulted over the railing and jumped down. The impact jolted through his skull, and he instinctively crouched, feeling his heels sting with pain. He sprinted toward the hatch in the center of the hall, dodging monstrous machines that hummed or crackled with the sound of poorly greased gears… At that moment, the laboratory door flew open.

  Saelin ran in, still in his bathrobe, alone, with the soldiers staying outside. The professor carried no weapon; his hair was wet and disheveled, and his orange eyes, tinged faintly with madness, now blazed with wild fury… and triumph. Kairu ran as he had never run before. The siren shrieked in his ears, shattering his eardrums; Saelin was shouting something, as were the soldiers rushing inside… and suddenly, beyond all these sounds, he heard the booming of cannons and the clash of swords outside…

  He made it. He flung open the hatch lid, hesitating for just an instant. He looked up and saw Saelin, arms raised, blue light streaming from his hands. And then the sky and earth flipped, the floor rushed up to meet him, and there was only one brief flash of pain… and then came darkness.