Chapter 25: A Vault, or a Tomb.

  When I was twelve, my primary school took us on a three day excursion to see Sydney.

  The sight never left me.

  A crater so massive that I couldn’t see the far side.

  Its walls like black glass from the heat of the explosion.

  The land dead for miles around, even decades later.

  Just one of the 13 places that had paid the price for our peace.

  ***

  My words hung in the air. Ebonrage was heavy in my fist, the predator pulse flashing slowly, tempting me.

  “You mean the recycled corpses?” asked Ariel, moving in beside me.

  I put an arm out to hold her back, eyes darting about the terrain. Were the glowing nodules brighter than before? What did their colour changes mean? I had no idea how much danger we were in.

  This fucking world.

  “Yeah.” I muttered back. “They’re all gone.”

  She elbowed me in the side with one of her bony little arms. “Christ Allan, you scared me.”

  Tammy snickered and withdrew another beer.

  “They went the same place all of the corpses do. Wherever Priorita takes them. She explained this, don’t you listen to her briefings?” said Ariel.

  “Yeah, Allan,” came Priorita’s waspish whisper, making me jump.

  “Uh, yeah I do listen to them. I like, listen to all of them. They’re great. But, maybe I missed that one?” I said.

  Everyone laughed, me along with them. But it hammered in a fact that I was all too familiar with—everyone was so much more knowledgeable about this place, this game and its rules.

  “Anyway guys, we’re burning light here. Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to do us any good, isn’t going to help us survive. We need whatever is in this Vault.”

  “Oui, and we need what the leadership back on Earth has sent us. It’s one of the rewards for defeating it.”

  I eyed the kid, and she gave me a very slight nod. Yeah, that cinched it—there was something important in there.

  We delved into the tangled jungle that had fringed the flatlands, making good time despite the overgrowth. The trees, though very different from those on the surface above, were still soft, wet, fragile things. We chopped a path, but I almost thought I could run right through them.

  The earth was soggy beneath our feet, and we let Tyler take the lead. One of his abilities was perfect for this.

  Inflatable Instinct

  “Even in mortal peril, you know where the shallow end is.”

  ? Reduces fall damage by 75% when holding or wearing any buoyant item.

  ? Inflatable objects now count as armour (albeit terrible armour).

  ? Passive danger detection within muddy, aquatic, or jungle terrain.

  ? 20% chance to detect hidden enemies via “gut feeling.”

  Almost all the enemies were ambush predators. Strange insects that camouflaged into the trees. Wart-covered worm things that hid beneath the ground. Six legged monkey devils with membranous crests—they reminded me uncomfortably of Gabe.

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  Tyler pointed them out, before they even knew we were there.

  We minced the bloody things—dozens of them—as we crossed the jungle and gained two levels in the process. I felt unstoppable.

  Despite being soaked to the skin with water, tree sap and the unmentionable fluids of the uncountable dead, my mood was high.

  An ancient, frayed rope, strung with the skulls of animals, aliens and humans barred our passage. It arced through the jungle, rattling in the humid breeze.

  I sliced through it with Ebonrage, and stepped into the clearing beyond.

  A structure rose before us, heavy stone blocks overgrown with vines and lit by the first hints of red from the vines that hung from the cavern ceiling. I hadn’t realised it had taken so long to cross the jungle, and eyed my blackened arm. The memory of it crawling like a caterpillar the night before was still fresh.

  It remained still.

  “Well shit. I reckon that’s cheatin’. What do you reckon little bro?” Asked Tammy.

  “I mean it’s in better condition than the real thing. Does that mean it’s different? replied Tyler.

  I turned from the step pyramid to look at them.

  Tammy saw my look and explained. “They’ve copied it from our world. It’s this famous Aztec pyramid called Chichén Itzá. We went there for a holiday once.”

  “Mayan,” grunted Tyler.

  “Nuh, dumbass. Aztec.”

  I turned back to the pyramid as the twins started bickering. Ariel came up beside me, taking softly.

  “We need to get the reward from the Vault.”

  “Yeah no shit. I don’t fancy having that Gosporian giant thing kicking down the gate.”

  “Non. I mean, Oui.” She ran her fingers through her hair, obviously frustrated and cast a furtive glance around. “Of course we need the points, we need to build our city and protect our flag. But we need the other reward too. The one our planet sent us. But—” she cast me a sidelong glance. “The reward isn’t for you. It needs to go to Victor.”

  Damn this dodgy kid.

  I gave her the kind of incredulous look that needed no translation and she laughed. “He is an arse, oui. But this is bigger than us—it’s about the survival of our planet.”

  I sighed and started for the pyramid. It had to be a hundred meters tall, maybe more—and at least twice that wide on each of its four sides. My team fell in behind me. “You’re telling me this thing really exists, back home on earth?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty much how I remember it,” said Tammy, falling in beside me.

  “No,” said Ariel, her eyes flashing. “It looks the same. But the real one is much smaller, maybe a quarter its size.”

  “What are you an expert now, kid?” muttered Tammy.

  “Sis, we were kids when we visited. Everything looks bigger when you’re a little-un,” said Tyler.

  I cast a gaze over the overgrown block-work as we reached the base of the step pyramid, my eyes walking up to the temple at the peak. The cavern roof above was blushing from purple to red and I felt a tingle in my black veined arm. A chill ran down my spine as one of my fingers wriggled.

  I had to get in, out of the light.

  The back of my neck itched, like I was being watched—and I guess I was. I wondered how many millions, or billions were tuned in to watch us die.

  A scuff of mud and blood at the edge of a block caught my eye. It told me that we weren’t the first team to reach the vault. Would it matter if we weren’t the ones to conquer this place and take the rewards?

  Would we even know if the place had already been cleared out?

  “Let’s get on with it, then.” I muttered, and took my first step onto the base of the pyramid.

  Music blared, a faux South American remix of the WARGAMES! Theme I was so familiar with.

  “Welcome, welcome!” Priorita gushed. “To the Stepped Tomb of Tlek'Vohr!”

  The name appeared in my HUD with a confetti explosion and what sounded like the scream of a thousand aztec death whistles.

  “Based on an ancient Mayan temple on their home-world, this is the first Human civilisation Wargame Vault to be challenged!”

  “Mayan,” grunted Tyler. “Told ya.”

  Tammy spat and threw a mostly empty can of beer up the slope. It rattled and rolled back down, step by step.

  I trudged upwards, heading for the temple at the top.

  “What an amazing example of their civilisation’s ingenuity,” burbled Priorita. “These humans really are some smarty pants! Look at them, putting one rock atop another, and then another rock atop that! Not even a hint of mortar!” She giggled like a toddler on meth.

  I tuned the bitch out.

  The caverns red blush was now deepening to baleful crimson, and I had to clench my fist to tame my writhing fingers.

  Ariel moved in beside me, the stairs were high and she had to jump to keep up with me. “If it’s like the one from earth, this won’t be just one pyramid, but several pyramids built atop one another. Each successive structure has its own interior chambers and passages. It will be a maze within a maze.”

  Well that sounded just bloody great.

  Something Priorita said caught my ear as we ascended.

  “His bones are the stairs. His teeth, the traps.”

  It just kept getting better, didn’t it.

  It took what felt like an age to summit the vault, but finally the temple’s entrance yawned ahead. A golden blocked portal, carved with skulls and ancient symbols, flanked by flaming braziers—I had to admit it was damn impressive, and more than a bit intimidating.

  I didn’t slow down—just walked straight toward the opening, Pre-Columbian EDM blaring with every step until everything changed, from one step to the next.

  No sight, no sound. A nothingness so profound that it was as though I had died, again.

  And then I blinked, and I was back.

  Entering The Stepped Tomb of Tlek’Vohr.

  We were inside the temple, rough stone lit by flickering flame. The obsidian floor reflected the dancing lights as though we stood in a lake of fire. I turned to look back the way we had come, but there was nothing but darkness through the golden doorway.

  I could hear my heartbeat in my head, drumming its own rhythm.

  A jade doorway on the far wall led deeper.

  A notification popped up as I approached.

  Warning! Crossing this threshold will begin your challenge.

  Challengers may not leave, until they succeed—or die trying.

  I summoned Ebonrage and hovered my mental finger over Predator Perk.

  Nodded to my team, and stepped through the doorway.