The destination wasn’t far from the hotel. Both Kacyn and Ayela were dressed in all black, from their pants and hoodies to the shoes on their feet. She took a deep breath and looked over at her newfound friend, who offered a reassuring smile. “I’m ready whenever you are, Majjai,” she encouraged. Ayela took a deep breath and watched the entrance to the building Asher claimed was the location of the vault. On cue, a woman carefully checked her surroundings and quickly disappeared into the entrance.

  That was their chance.

  She started to twirl her thumb around in a circular motion while her hands were in her hoodie pocket, and with the slightest flex of her divine logic, she was sure they were completely invisible to both person and camera alike. They ran quickly, careful to avoid the cars that couldn’t see them, and approached the door as they slipped through the crowd unnoticed.

  Kacyn opened the door carefully, sure that no one was paying attention, and the two of them quickly and quietly caught up to the woman that entered earlier. Ayela didn’t need to concentrate too hard, but their sounds were only barely muffled, and if they were to interact with anyone, the person they touched would be alerted to their presence. Everything needed to go off without a hitch.

  The inside of the building seemed simple enough at first; stained walls and dusty floors with a front desk that an older woman sat behind. A security personnel stood off to the side at the entrance that was armed with an assault rifle. The one they were following, though, was waiting patiently in front of an elevator. They snuck up as quietly as they could, but one unlucky step that Ayela took caused one of the wooden planks in the floor to creak loudly, stealing the attention of the others at their location.

  Ayela’s body went numb, but when Kacyn grabbed her hand, she remembered they couldn’t see them. She kept her thumb twisting robotically, and they remained invisible. After a few moments, both the other women returned to their activities, and they continued to quietly tiptoe towards their target. The guard kept staring at the location of the sound, but didn’t notice when they moved away from it.

  Once they caught up, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Inside, it was elegant and entirely too intricately designed for the slums of D’Vnora, confirming that they were in the right place. They mirrored the woman’s clacking steps to mask their own, and followed her onto the platform as the doors closed behind them.

  Dread overcame Ayela when she saw how many floors they needed to descend, but as her friend had done before, Kacyn calmed her anxious thoughts with a gentle smile and softly grabbing her hand. Ayela sighed quietly, and acknowledge her friend when she held up her pointer finger. Floor 1. How convenient. She thought to herself. It almost seemed too convenient, but she didn’t question their luck.

  After a long, 5 minute commute, the elevator abruptly stopped and the doors opened once more. They slipped out as quickly as they could and made sure to stay out of the woman’s way, and remarked the long, dimly lit hall that seemed to stretch on for kilometers and kilometers in either direction. They let their unknowing friend vanish down the hall as the clacking of her heels continued to echo long after she was gone.

  Ayela made sure there wasn’t anyone else around before letting out a sigh of relief. “Did she have a layout of this place in her head?” She asked. Kacyn nodded with a beaming smile.

  “Indeed. Follow me. There are servers on this level that have access to many of the secrets we’d need to incriminate the empire. The lower levels are too risky for us, and even if we made it to them, we’d never make it out. This is our best bet,” she answered.

  Kacyn led her in the opposite direction the woman went, and they hastened their steps the further away they got. It seemed like they were in an endless loop, but eventually, they started to come across doors on either side of the hall, and they made more of an effort to soften the sounds their running.

  “We’re close,” Kacyn whispered, pointing to a door that was only a little farther down the hall. They quickly made their way over, but when they arrived, Ayela noticed a hand-scanner beside the doorway.

  “Shit!” She swore. “There’s no way we can get in without a hand-print.”

  “Wait patiently. Someone will come when at the right time.”

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  So they did.

  They waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Ayela wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it certainly felt like too much. She alternated between fingers she used to keep her power flowing, but eventually she would grow tired if they didn’t find a quicker way of entry.

  Then, she heared the clacking of heels that had grown all-too familiar. They looked back the way they came to find the same blonde-haired woman from earlier casually approaching from down the hall. Kacyn wore a beaming smile.

  “Our someone has come,” she whispered. They silently slid to either side of the door as the woman pressed her hand against the sensor, and then it obediently slid open. The girls followed her in as closely as they could, careful not to touch her or brush up against her, and nearly blew their cover in awe at the technological beauty of the airlock that led to the server room.

  “Please enter identification,” a robotic voice ordered over speakers as they continued forward.

  “Ynsigna Lorrin,” she called out. Not once did she look up. Not once did she break her stride.

  “Confirmed. Welcome, Ynsigna Lorrin Aberthost. Rank priority level affirmed. Ynsigna access granted. Tread carefully and apply safety protocols around equipment. Have a wonderful day,” the auto-voice declared.

  The doors to the server room opened, and the girls were stunned when they stepped through. The Ynsigna had already vanished in a forest of cabling and towering servers arranged strategically in the dome-shaped chamber. A massive cooling fan spun atop, offering a wintery chill and filling their ears with noise they weren’t expecting to be so loud.

  “We must act quickly. The Ynsigna is needed to exit this room. Come with me,” Kacyn said before dashing through the servers. She was a little more careless with how loud they were, considering they could easily mask their steps with the fan.

  She followed the Ebony elf to a server in the center of the room, and looked around cautiously while Kacyn inserted the device’s jack into the port. A green light beside it shifted red, and the screen on the device lit up, and Kacyn navigated through its interface flawlessly. Before they knew it, data was being copied onto its hard drive.

  “No matter what happens, don’t panic,” She warned. Ayela’s heartrate kicked up a little. Why would she need to panic?

  Then, the Ynsigna walked past them, nearly bumping into Kacyn. Her heart jumped into her throat, and she nearly forgot to keep her fingers moving. Slowly, the worst possible situation seemed to be coming to fruition, and she cursed their ill-fated luck.

  Just when she thought they were safe, though, Lorrin stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. Even with as far away as she was, her confusion was an evidenced expression on her face, and it was a signal of fear for Ayela. “Don’t panic,” Kacyn cooed. How can you stay so calm?! We’re about to be caught! She thought to herself.

  “Don’t. Panic.”

  Closer.

  Lorrin slowed her pace, nervous that something was wrong, and looked around. Paranoia set in: their situation was getting worse.

  Closer.

  The imperial officer took another step and twisted around, as if to get a better angle.

  Closer.

  The meter on the device was millimeters away from completion, and the percentage read ninety-nine.

  Then the device flashed its screen and Kacyn quickly pulled the jack from the port. The light on the server immediately shifted green, and the farseer smoothly slid out of the way as Lorrin reached her hand out to feel around the light, as if to make sure the tower wasn’t overheating in anyway. Satisfied that nothing was wrong, she shrugged and made her way to the entrance.

  Ayela sighed in relief, and the two of them followed the officer out of the room and back into the hall. Lorrin predictably retraced her steps towards the elevator, and the dancer realized they were going to escape from the vaults with the treasure trove of data that Asher promised. It almost seemed too perfect. She was expecting something to go wrong at any moment.

  When they arrived at the hidden entrance to the vault, having followed Lorrin all the way out, they dashed back across the street, and Ayela released them from their invisibility with a relieved sigh. She squealed excitedly and pulled Kacyn in for a tight hug, still in disbelief that they pulled it off without anything going wrong.

  The farseer returned the embrace with a warm smile, and they relished in their victory despite the awkward looks they received from passerby’s. “I can’t believe that worked! Gods, I could kiss you right now!”

  “While I certainly am flattered, I wouldn’t want to put you in a compromising position-”

  “Not like that, silly!” Ayela chuckled as she pulled away. Her heart was pounding in her throat from all the adrenaline, and she couldn’t wait to get back and tell the others. Before she could say anything else, though, Kacyn’s smile suddenly faded from her face, and fear filled her expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “I sense a dark presence… So dark… So cold… It’s a presence that feels as though the stars of the universe themselves had died, and brought that death to thaerv,” she explained. The blood drained from Ayela’s face.

  …Tallie.

  “Let’s get out back to the others,” she said, grabbing Kacyn’s hand and walking faster than she’d ever walked before. She kept her head on a swivel, and with anxiety watched every blonde-haired woman they passed by.

  Not here.

  Not now.

  They couldn’t have found her so quickly.

  She refused to believe the Kult of Salom’Sileyu had found her again so quickly…