Corpses occasionally lay in the hallway or were leaned against the floor.

None were recognizable as their skin was pulled taunt against the skull, and every ounce of hair was no more. The corpses were a reminder of what Kaen was about to face.

Running, his steps pounding against the floor, he came to the spot in the hallway where the hidden wall was no longer hidden.

Half of it lay tossed to the side in the hallway, and the other half had been pushed into the wall.

How strong is he? Can I do that?

Fighting the fear and the memory of a sword through his chest, Kaen pressed ahead, moving through the stone tunnel and toward the stairs that led down.

The hallway twisted and turned, and occasionally, Kaen got lost as he searched for a clue, trying to find which way they had gone. He had chosen wrong twice, running into a dead end, and finally found the hallway where, after a few turns and twists, two bodies lay near the open doorway that was missing some of its stones. The hole wasn’t as big as the first door, and it was apparent from the broken pieces on the floor that it had put up a fight.

The problem was he wouldn’t be able to fit through that hole.

Sliding his sword into its scabbard, Kaen grabbed one of the pieces of stone that jutted out. Pulling with all his might, it felt like an impossible task as the stone slowly shifted in his gloves.

Getting set, he put his feet against the partially broken door and began to jerk back over and over. After about ten attempts, the brick shifted, and another five later, it came loose, sending Kaen and it into the wall behind him.

Jumping up and shrugging off the impact, Kaen began again on another brick, each one taking fifteen or twenty-five tugs before it finally broke free.

With one stone left before he knew he could fit through, another massive explosion came from under him, and the building shook again.

You need to hurry… Stein’s heart has quickened considerably.

Fueled by the fear of his son being in trouble, Kaen grabbed the last stone and yanked with everything he had. It began to budge, and with a groan, Kaen pulled harder, and it came loose, sending him once again into the wall behind.

Driven by fear of what Pammon had said, Kaen began to push himself through the opening, twisting and turning as he made his way through. Even though it only took ten seconds for Kaen to squirm through the opening, falling onto the stone floor on the other side, each second felt like minutes. Panic was fighting to overwhelm him, as Kaen could sense Pammon’s concern through their bond.

Yanking his sword from his scabbard, Kaen took off running, coming to the first three-way passage. His mind raced, and he realized then where he was. He knew exactly where Herb had to have gone.

Turning to the right, Kaen sprinted down the hallway and saw the open stairs leading down.

They're at my father's vault!

He threw caution to the wind and used his shoulder to absorb the speed at which he descended the stairs, slamming into the wall and sprinting to the left.

Another body lay dead by a broken door, and Kaen winced at what it had to be.

Stioks has used the adventurer members to lead him this way!

Pammon said nothing in reply, and Kaen stopped trying to communicate with his dragon.

The door was gone, blasted off the wall.

He knows I’m inside and is trying to hurry this up…

It could only mean one thing if Stioks was that desperate to get down to his father's vault.

Stioks knows about my children.

Racing down this hall, Kaen turned left, heading to the stairs he knew were open and waiting for him.

If he was correct, there would only be two more doors before his father's vault.

BOOOM!

The explosion this time was louder and closer. It was almost directly underneath him.

Stone walls blurred past as he ran down the stairs, went right and then straight, finding a door still slightly smoking that was blown open. A body lay there, but this time, he could see that it was decaying. Unlike the others, it hadn’t reached the same level yet, and as he passed by the corpse, he winced, recognizing the face as it began to vanish from the rot.

“Mandy,” he whispered as he tore through the tunnel. A clerk he knew from long ago dead because of a man he despised more than anything.

Turning left at the fork, Kaen ran to the stairs and flew down them, holding his shield out to his left as he slammed into the wall.

Another dead body was there as he glanced over the top, and the door that had just been destroyed had a black mist rising from it.

No time was left as Kaen heard pounding through the tunnels. The man had reached the floor of his father’s vault.

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His lifestone roared with power, and Kaen moved at a speed that defied all odds. He ran through the door and turned to the right, using the shield to absorb the impact. He saw Stioks standing outside his father's door thirty yards away.

The man looked haggard, and when Stioks turned toward him, Kaen could see a green glow in his eyes. Whatever power he had built up to launch toward the door was cut early and pointed at him.

Pushing off the wall, Kaen dove back into the hallway he had come from and felt the magic power of whatever spell it had been going past him and down the hallway until it detonated against the wall.

The sound of it made his ears ring.

“Stioks! It’s time to settle this!” Kaen shouted as he held his shield up and quickly looked back into the hallway.

The man he hated hadn’t moved. He was still standing before the door that led to where Kaen assumed his family had to be. He wasn't sure how they had gotten in, as the door was only attuned to Hoste, Hess, Ava, and himself.

There was no time to worry about that right now, though. Stioks had pulled out his sword and had a shield off his back.

It was made from green dragon scales, and Kaen now knew what had happened to one of the females Juthom had supposedly had.

“I had hoped to kill your children before I could face you,” Stioks hissed, twirling his sword slightly as he spun his wrist. “It appears you figured out my plan much sooner than anticipated.”

The man’s snarl looked like his skin was about to break. A black section of skin was cracked and bleeding near his eyes, nose, and lips, and the skin on the other half of his face looked like it was beginning to rot.

Kaen began to slowly edge toward Stioks. If he sent any spells, there was nowhere to dodge, but with the armor he wore, and his shield, Kaen anticipated being able to deal with anything that didn’t require a massive buildup of power.

“Are you ready to die this time?” Stioks asked as he began to mirror Kaen’s movement. “Even with that armor, no dragon will save you this time, grandson.”

His lifestone pulsed at that word.

“We’re not family, no matter what you want to believe.”

Kaen was trying to formulate a plan. The halfway point was large enough for two and a half men to stand shoulder to shoulder. It was only about nine feet high, so jumping and other maneuvers were going to be limited. Everything that happened here would be close and a brawl.

Stioks moved as Kaen’s eyes twitched slightly as he took in the room. Just as fast as before, Stioks came at him.

They collided against each other, each man's sword hitting the other’s shield.

Pressing together, Kaen knew what Stioks was doing. He was measuring his strength to determine what might have changed in the last seven months.

He allowed Stioks to slowly push him backward, giving the man some notion that he still held an advantage. Kaen had been tempted to go all out from the start, but Stioks was too dangerous. He would be behind if he had failed to win that initial rush, and Kaen knew Stioks would whittle him down.

The older man drove into Kaen and kicked his leg forward, aiming for Kaen’s knee.

Sensing and seeing the attack, Kaen moved back and watched as Stioks began the fight for real.

Their swords collided, parrying and blocking with weapons and shields. Sparks flew as their blades connected, and the magic within each of them clashed.

Stioks launched combo attack after combo attack, pushing Kaen backward with every strike. He knew the hallway would eventually end, but he wanted to see what he might learn from the man’s attacks. Last time, it had ended so fast, and he hadn’t gotten a chance to learn a thing.

A feint caught Kaen off guard, and Stioks’s blade slipped past his shield and glanced off his leg, the dragon armor chipping slightly but not breaking under the attack.

Taking a step back, Stioks glared as he stared at the armor Kaen had on. “What is that, and where did you get it?”

Kaen ignored the question and the man’s gaze. Instead, it was his turn to take advantage of Stioks’s frustration with a fight that wasn’t so one-sided.

Kaen lunged forward, his shield out, and shouted, “Shield Bash.“

Stioks held up his shield, and it flashed green as Kaen smiled, instead slashing at the leg that wasn’t protected by his shield.

His blade only cut about a quarter inch, right where a small gap in the man's knee protection was. Stioks had recovered fast enough when he realized Kaen hadn’t used a skill but instead made him use one.

The cut wouldn’t kill him, but it would eventually slow him down. Kaen watched as the shield flashed green again; the skill Stioks had used was gone.

The moment it faded, Kaen lunged forward again and shouted, “Flurry!”

[ Flurry ]

Stioks didn’t react until it was too late. The first two thrusts slid past his defenses, one of them piercing the armor on his side by an inch. It hadn’t been where Kaen wanted it, but it had required Stioks to use another defensive skill as his sword flashed green and easily parried each of the other three attacks.

The man’s eyes looked like they were on fire, a green glow surrounding them and blood running from the red one on the burnt side of his face.

Stioks stumbled back, shaking his head and trying to deal with the pain in his side.

Kaen kept advancing, and Stioks continued to retreat. Each thrust, shield bash, or kick was countered or dodged, but Kaen realized that he was finally stronger and faster than Stioks in every category.

Stiok’s sword flashed green as Kaen attacked, and he felt the tip land against his leg, side, and arm before he could bound back and take any more attacks from the skill he knew Stioks had used.

“Two can play this game,” Stioks hissed as he lunged forward, his shield flashing green.

Kaen smiled and planted his feet as Stioks slammed into his shield. His eyes widened, cracking his blackened skin and causing more blood to flow, while he scowled in frustration at his grandson not being moved or injured from the attack.

A hiss escaped Stioks’s lips as Kaen’s sword caught the counterpart of Stiok’s left leg, slicing through the man’s armor again.

Stioks bounded back a few steps, looking like a rabbit as he made room, and Kaen waited for whatever curse or snide remark Stioks was about to say.

No words were uttered, but Kaen cursed himself as Stioks’s hand with his sword glowed green. Rushing toward the man, Stioks continued to bound backward, aware of how much room was left, and the energy surrounding his fist began to get larger.

A devilish grin appeared on Stioks face as he finished whatever the spell was, and a cloud of green and yellow gas filled the hallway.

Immediately, Kaen knew what it was. His skin began to itch and burn, and his eyes and nose were worse.

Even with all the resistance provided by his armor and items, he found himself blinking. The spell impeded his vision.

The glint of metal slid along the inside of Kaen’s shield, thrusting into the massive red dragon scale on his chest. It almost knocked the wind out of him from the blow, but the scale held up against the attack, knocking him backward a step.

“You’re going to die!” Stioks shouted at the sound of a sword hitting a wall in the hallway near him.

Kaen started back peddling, knowing Stioks was going to come for him, and fought to suppress the anxiety growing inside.

He couldn’t see through the mist, which burned as he tried to blink it out.

Closing his eyes, Kaen ignored the burning in his lungs and settled himself, ignoring the laughter coming closer toward him.

“Stupid boy, I’m going to bleed you to death,” Stioks hissed before he began cackling at his own words.