Lady Briziit had given instructions to follow and only step on every third flagstone. They walked around the edge of the foyer, and Viky obeyed with no real concept of immediate danger. Her shorter legs found the task arduous, but within her capabilities. Speculating if the exercise was intended to tire her, she was alert for traps but thought they would come from Lady Briziit herself. Not an inanimate or outside source.

They headed to an archway leading from the room with a short, stepped passage that terminated at another arch at the foot of the stairs.

Lady Briziit lifted a small section of decorative inlay at the entry of the arch, turned the knob hidden underneath, and gestured for her to follow. Intrigued, Viky made sure to observe the exact procedure once they had traversed the short space and were standing under the second arch.

“Where are we going?” Viky asked, her footfall sounding loud in the stillness.

“Oh, don't you know? We're in a bank dear child, nothing like a bank vault for keeping something precious safe. And the makers of this establishment were very clever. Set up all sorts of traps to catch unwary thieves. I thought the irony was rather stirring and invested way too much effort and energy discovering its secrets not take advantage of the facility. I'm sure the original owners never intended for a thief to secure stolen goods within the structure.” She grinned, pleased at her own cleverness.

They walked the passage in silence for a while. Musty air tickled her nose, but for a deserted building there was not a lot of dust.

“I consider thievery to be a form of flattery. After all, if one person possesses an item valuable enough for another person to risk their life and liberty to obtain it, that’s quite complementary. Shows the owner had good taste.” Lady Briziit said.

Was she trying to justify herself? “That is a very warped point of view. I don't think the people you steal from would agree.”

“Oh, dear simple child, our beloved Coalition constantly takes what they want, from whoever they want. This bank for example, once it belonged to the Xianees people. Most of the gems decorating this City, embellishing clothing, and enhancing jewellery, come from that region. When those in authority got sick of paying the Xianees for them, they took their mines and killed, enslaved, or ran the people off. Of course, the Xianees are not real people, not like you and me.”

“What, you mean they don’t feel pain, have families, or love their children?”

“I guess they do those things, but they are morally inferior.” Lady Briziit twittered.

“Oh, you mean they are thieves and liars?”

Lady Briziit’s back stiffened.

Viky wasn't surprised, she had heard the same things said about the people of the Rifts. And they had been treated no better, only they had nothing the Coalition considered worth stealing. Except for the yearly contribution of second-born daughters. The best sort of thieving was stealing from the Coalition, but it was only viable if they remained oblivious to what you had done.

Three hallways diverged. The one on the right was selected. Lady Briziit counted off four sections of wainscoting.

“A little help here please. I need you to push, quite hard on these two boards.”

“And what are you going to do?” Viky asked.

“Opening this doorway takes two people. I’ll be pushing as well. Originally there may have been some sort of mechanism to assist with this opening, but the place is hundreds of rotations old, and nobody's been down to do maintenance.”

Viky hesitated, “If hardly anyone has been down for ages, how come the luminescent bryophyte is still alive and glowing? It needs people to thrive.”

Lady Briziit twitted, but Viky caught a steely gleam in her eyes that was anything but friendly. “Oh, you are a clever girl. I've had one of my servants, and before that one of my sons, stay down here from time to time.”

“One of your sons? One of your sons that died?”

The words had an instant effect.

“That's none of your business.” Lady Briziit snapped; all pretext of congeniality gone. “The Body Chains are through this way, if you want them, you press on this panelling.”

Viky did, but remained cantered, alert, and wary. Tapping both Speed and Strength, ready for flight or fight.

It was just as well. They pushed together, but once confident Viky was committed, the older woman gave a sudden Strength enhanced push. The doorway, hinged at the base fell inward, revealing a gaping void.

***

The company waited for Dereniik to hobble to the archway.

“Xianees banks have multiple snares or devices set up to protect the vaults. Lady Briziit would have to negate this as well, so hopefully she hasn’t gone too far inside. Some passages are ruses, leading nowhere. Doorways can be locked, hidden or in some physical way difficult to access. We don’t need to explore, just need to find Viky. The Body Chains may be a bonus, but our priority is to get Viky out of here alive. Make no mistake about it, many of the traps are life threatening. But bank employees still had to access all areas. Somewhere around the entry there will be a button, lever, or mechanism that will deactivate the trap. Lady Briziit had not deactivated the traps in the foyer, so we need to be on guard. Presume no area is safe until we discover a way to neutralize any threats.”

Maddie skipped to the side, running her hands over fading wallpaper. The Vorraal had been straining on her leash, River picked her up, muttering sweet soothing words in an undertone. Holding the animal appeared to give her some comfort. Sheeli and Shaar methodically inspected the columns either side of the arch. Flagsteen was still inspecting the counter speaking with the Jieleen who was breathing heavily.

“My lord,” The D’char Ly approached, head bowed. “This humble servant is impressed with your knowledge of the structure and wonders if you would like to avail yourself of another with knowledge on the subject? Your humble servant can fetch them for you. If that be your will.”

“You know of someone with knowledge of this specific bank?”

“My Lord, your most unworthy servant is not aware of all the knowledge the other servant possesses, but they have been in situations allowing them to accumulate understanding of this subject.”

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Dereniik sifted through the words. “Is this servant called Dai?”

Ly nodded. “Yes, my Lord.”

“And you think they will be able to help?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Dereniik weighed his options. Ly was elderly, and although spry and intelligent would be of little value to the team moving forward. Not a lost resource if they confronted Viky and Lady Briziit in the next hallway. If the women were deeper in the bank, Dai’s experience may come in handy.

“Thank you, Ly please fetch Dai for us.”

Ly took the required three back-steps and sprinted back across the foyer.

“Is this what you are looking for?” Sheeli lifted an insignificant segment of decorative pattern. “The wood next door to it is slightly worn, you can see where someone's lifted it regularly. And I'd say this knob twists, I have similar one to adjust the threads on one of my looms.”

“Excellent Lady Sheeli, well done.” Dereniik made sure he smiled, affecting a confidence he didn't feel.

He hoped whatever potential trap the small stairway was hiding was now deactivated but couldn't be sure until he ventured through the arch and down the short flight of steps.

Or not.

The Vorraal fluttered from Rivers arms.

In a heartbeat Maddie was down the first few steps, gathered the animals lead and passed it back to River.

With a smile.

The passage remained motionless and silent.

No unexpected, blades, clicks, switches or other extraneous developments.

Dereniik exhaled, and finding his mouth dry, swallowed.

The group tromped down the stairs.

They wasted an unnerving amount of time searching for a lever to deactivate the next section of hallway.

At least the group responded to his sternness. Believing the illusion that someone was in control and knew what they were doing.

Eventually, Jieleen Manipulated Dereniik over a section of floor and he increased pressure on it with his crutch until satisfied it would take the weight of a person without triggering a mechanism. It was nerve-wracking using this slow method down the passage.

Anticipating the next trap.

Dereniik hyper aware that many traps would not be activated by pressure plates on the floor.

When the hallway split into three the Vorraal chose the passage on the right.

It was the route Dereniik would have chosen. The place wasn't overly dusty, but the floor was scuffed indicating foot traffic. The scant luminescent bryophyte was also slightly thicker, an indication air breathing creatures had traveled its length within the last few nine-days.

Again, they attempted to locate a trigger or switch and were faced with the agony of deciding if they had missed the lever or this was not a dangerous hallway. Jieleen and Dereniik performed the Manipulation and Drifting duet before decided the section was safe.

Not far along the Vorraal stopped by a blank section of wainscoting.

***

Viky teetered on the brink of the abyss. Her failing arm struck the side of the opening, she clutched it and heaved herself back from the nothingness.

“You wanted me to fall.” Viky glared.

Lady Briziit floated a few hands-breadth in front of her. “I didn’t think you would, your talents make you very hard to kill.”

Viky scowled. Carrying out a plan you know has a limited chance of success doesn’t mean you don’t hope it will. And if you have enough of these plans in place eventually something will work.

It was a case of hurling ninety-nine sling stones, statistically one had to hit something. But implication had morphed into reality. Lady Briziit wanted her dead. Viky contemplated giving up, returning to wait for her sisters and tackling the problem together.

Another, more frightening thought took hold. Dereniik and her sisters were following. Only using every third flagstone and Lady Briziit turning knobs down the stairway took on ominous implications. Was she leading her unsuspecting friends into a series of traps? She had some time. They wouldn’t have arrived at the bank yet. Dereniik couldn’t move quickly, and her sisters would need to wait for him.

Getting back with the Body Chains before anyone else entered the bank would be the best option.

“Are you frightened little girl? Do you want to stop and not go on?” The voice was goading, Lady Briziit taking her silence as defeat.

“Is this the place where you needed your life partner’s help?”

“Dear child if you want the Body Chains you will have to continue with me.”

“Or you could get them and come back to me?”

“Oh, I don’t think I want to do that.”

So, Lady Briziit had no intention of letting her walk away. Viky’s breathing became more rapid, it took conscious thought to take control.

“There's a ladder on the wall to your left, if you can't Drift it'll take you down the shaft.”

The apparatus was old and well-worn, but looked sturdy enough to take her weight. Once she had started to move downwards the light dimmed further as the hinged section of wall closed back up. Viky’s heart sank, Lady Briziit must have touched something, but Viky had been focusing on the ladder.

If Lady Briziit thought the ladder would present an obstacle, she was sorely disappointed.

Back at home the only access to water had been by ladders.

Zigzagged stairways gave a few of the bigger Clan’s access up and down the cliff face. Her parent had grown up in a clan with an internal staircase carved to a white-water subsidiary. A well provided drinking water for the clan her mother had grown up in. The Whip Makers Clan was small, unimportant and new. Her parent and a couple of his team mates had been in the process of excavating a rain fed reservoir before they died.

Checking each tread, using the rails and always maintaining three points of contact Viky made her was down. There were a few missing treads. A tricky loose one that spun freely in her hand.

A few anxious moments as the braces attaching the ladder to the wall pulled loose, swinging her out over open space. She rode the action, not much different to when high wind caught a rope ladder at home. Like a fulcrum, momentum returned her to the wall where she dropped to the next section. She watched in fascination as the loose section clipped back into place.

Lady Briziit followed, Drifting sedately to join her at the bottom with a shrug and face displaying mild surprise.

Viky narrowed her eyes. She had been expecting an attack.

Something. But, an accident, yeah, that would be better.

Lady Briziit could offer credible deniability if she was ever asked. Construct her sentences carefully and even someone with advanced Reading may judge her innocent.

The base of the shaft expanded into a circular room with a concave floor. Doorways, in various stages of collapse, were spaced at regular intervals around the circumference. A couple had been ripped by Phase Bolts or Ribbon Phasing. Some blasted inwards, others destroyed by outward energy bursts, the edge of the room was littered with forlorn crumpled stonework and shattered doors. Between each set of doorways, a niche had once housed decorations, a few still contained gleaming transparent bowls filled with colourful ornamental stones, but most had been broken and lay scattered among the other rubbish. Phase Whip marks scored the dish shaped floor. The centre of the room was clear.

Shouldn’t stones and rubbish cluster at the lower midpoint.

There had to be a reason for the anomaly.

Viky stayed at the foot of the ladder.

Lady Briziit gestured across the room. “We head that way.”

“I insist, after you, my lady.” Viky smirked.

Lady Briziit gave her a knowing smile, took a small stone from the closest bowl, and threw it.

It struck the wall opposite and clattered to the ground. Selecting another she repeated the process.

“We have to get one in that bowl opposite.” Lady Briziit told her as she tried again. “It’s weighted somehow, and the stone will trigger the next door.

Viky narrowed her eyes, just sighting one niche resembling a shrine. Once she'd noticed, it stood out like the first green shoots pushing through ash after the Months of Fire. Another stone clattered to the ground, knocking into companions with sharp clicks.

“You could help,” Lady Briziit offered, a touch too casually for Viky's liking.

“No, I'm right, you need the practice.”

Viky wasn't sure what would have happened if she had picked up a stone but the disappointment on Lady Briziit’s face indicated it was the right decision.

Lady Briziit turned and delicately select another stone.

Viky unclipped the catch on the ring Maddie had given her. Dropped the small charcoal taper and caught it under her slippered foot. Balancing on the other foot she wrote the glyph for ‘danger’ on the floor. Covering her actions and marks with her long skirt. While Lady Briziit worked on her marksmanship, Viky scripted the glyph for ‘throw’, ‘Stone’, ‘Bowl’, and most of the one for ‘Opposite’ before she ran out of charcoal and room under her dress.

The next projectile hit the rim of the bowl, clattering as it rolled inside. The ground gave a shudder, followed by a slight grating noise. The concave floor slid into a concentric spiral creating a ramp that descended deeper into the unknown. Lady Briziit crossed the floor and collected the stones she had shattered over the floor, returning them to the bowl.

“We only have sixty heartbeats until it will close, unless you want to get chopped in half follow me now.”