(Fey’s point of view)

“He’s still passed out. How many days has it been?”

“Four days… but he still has a pulse, so maybe—”

“A pulse doesn’t mean shit if his mind is gone! Do you have any idea how important the architect is?”

“I do sir, but you asked us to—”

“—figure out a way to make the boy talk. That’s what I said. Not push his mind to the brink of collapse! What am I gonna do with a dead fucking body?”

“Oomph.” I grunted when one of the men kicked me. I hadn’t intended to make a sound. If they realized I was awake, they’d just bring me back to the “chamber” so a telepath could dig around in my head again.

It wouldn’t matter how hard they searched, X was inside me physically, but our minds weren’t connected. As long as he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t. I hadn’t even heard his voice since arriving here.

“He’s awake.” Gunther said cheerfully. My mistake had likely saved his life.

Liam knelt on my back, grabbed my hair and pulled my head up. “Welcome back, boy! Did you enjoy your rest?”

“It doesn’t matter how many times you try to get in my head, I’ve already told you everything I can. Your mind mages confirmed that, didn’t they?”

“Aye, but there’s one thing we haven’t tried yet.” He released my head and stood up. “Bring him to the soul eater.”

My time outside of my cell and the “chamber” was limited only to trips between the two, but I’d gathered enough information to know that the soul eater did exactly as the name implied.

If I hadn’t given myself away, Gunther would likely have been today’s meal instead of me.

I didn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for Gunther. He was one of the reapers that had ambushed me and Mai, though over the course of my time here I’d learned they called themselves Ghost reapers and apparently didn’t get along with spirit reapers. In either case, they were all the same to me.

What really bothered me about Gunther was that during his attempts to get X to show himself, he detailed to me how he’d raped Mai over and over again. He called her the silver-haired bitch, since he figured I was probably inexperienced and wouldn’t understand with just words, he had the telepaths implant images of everything he described.

I hadn’t been allowed to see her, but they promised we’d be reunited as soon as I opened the legacy for them. Only problem was, I couldn’t do it. According to all their research and ancient texts, only an architect could open the door.

Gunther dragged me from the floor, lifted his panther mask just enough to show me his crooked smile. “There’s only one thing I like more than fucking that bitch,” he whispered in my ear. “It’s watching souls get devoured.”

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The path to the soul eater was different from the route to the “chamber.” Following Liam, we took a left instead of a right at the end of the rune carved hall.

“I know this place,” X spoke for the first time in days. “These fools… desecrating a holy place.”

We were passing a room filled with metal orbs, each covered with circuits. They looked like X’s core, only they were all dead. None showed signs of life or energy.

What difference does it make? We’re about to be fed to a soil eater, whatever that is.

“…that might be a bit inconvenient.”

Then do something about it! They’ve been demanding you open the—

“Tell them I’ll open the door.” Xander’s voice came like a weak whisper in the back of my mind. There was a hint of hesitation, but I wasn’t going to let him back out.

After all, it seemed his goal aligned with theirs anyway—at least as far as opening the legacy.

“The architect, he said he’ll open your door.”

Liam stopped. “Really? Have him tell me directly and I’ll believe you.”

“Don’t blame me if it hurts.” I shrugged.

Liam laughed. He must’ve thought I was joking, or maybe he was a powerful telepath and thought himself beyond things like mental pain.

Speaking audibly, X's voice scratched through the hall. Like a blade splitting my skull his words forced themselves into my head. “You petty mortals trifle with things you don’t understand. I take pity on you, for you’ve made a foolish request.”

All of us lost our balance and covered our ears.

Can’t you at least spare me? For a moment, the pain subsided.

“I could, if I had a proper body. Which I will soon.”

Then X spoke aloud again. “Take my vessel to the legacy’s door.”

When the pain faded, Liam, still holding his head, started down the hall again. He turned into the next door on the right which led into a large open space. There were no runes in this place, only a single door at the other end of a three hundred yard path.

Embedded in the top of a podium next to the door was a glowing green tablet. As we made our way across the room, more ghost reapers poured in behind us.

“Did you hear that voice?”

“Was that the architect?”

“What’s going on?”

“Liam!”

The only voice I recognized was the last. When I woke up, I was brought to her first. She wasn’t a ghost reaper, but their teacher. Unlike the reapers, she didn’t wear a mask to hide her face. She was a fox girl, but not like the beastkin in the ruined village.

Her three tails made me think of the fox from dreams and I wondered if the two had any relation. If so, I was glad I hadn’t freed her.

Her name was Kyouka, and she was the one who really seemed to be in control here.

Liam stopped walking and turned to the woman, though he didn’t look directly at her. “Lady Kyouka, you heard it as well?”

“I did. You weren’t actually thinking of opening the door without me, were you?”

“No, of course not! But that voice… I just felt compelled to obey.”

The girl paused for a moment as if she was considering something.

“Take him back to the cell.”

“Wait, but… isn’t this what we want?”

“Something doesn’t feel right. Lock him up. From now on, I’m the only one who sees him.”

“Fey, give me control now. We have to be quick or we may not get another chance.”

A chance for what?

“Now, Fey!”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s talking to you isn’t it?” Kyouka said with a penetrating gaze.

X was right, and I didn’t want to go back to the cell. I didn’t have time to consider the consequences. I closed my eyes and then I was floating behind my body again.

Two energy blades appeared and spun around me, slicing Gunther in half before he could react. Then X teleported the rest of the way to the legacy.

The ghost reapers. Sprinted to catch up as quickly as they could, but even Kyouka only made it halfway before X plunged my hand through the green tablet.

I expected to feel pain, but instead, there was a warm sensation enveloping my arm. The screen was actually a liquid of some kind and it reacted instantly when X pushed my arm through its surface.

Lines of green rushed up my arm like thin vines. Some of them stopped and pierced through my skin at the curve of my elbow, while others climbed up to my shoulder before burying themselves in my flesh. Still there was no pain, only a probing sensation like when the telepaths filtered through my thoughts.

“Welcome to The designer’s Legacy.” An automated voice said.

I thought it was the architects legacy?

"Same thing." X replied.

The room went still. Many of the reapers exchanged glances, but Kyouka kept her focus on me and the door.

A wave of pain washed over my body as I slammed back into it.

The cords of green liquid turned red and violently ripped out of my arm, shredding it in the process. I didn’t have much time to worry about that as Kyouka was rapidly closing the distance between us.

“X.” I shouted, “what happened?”

“Alteri not detected. Designer identity not verified. System lock out, initiating. Elimination protocol, initiating. Goodbye.” The automated voice recited as the podium receded into the ground.

The entire area lit up to reveal a magnificent facility that had been hidden in the darkness. The previously hidden roof began closing with a grating screech.

“X, get me out of here!”

There were many doors connected to the room, but I couldn’t get to them without going through an army of angry Ghost reapers, and even if I could, I had no idea where any of them led.

X was there, but he was… sleeping, or I don’t know, but I knew asking him for help proved pointless.

More concerning than how I would leave this place was the “elimination protocol” whatever that meant. A lockout was daunting enough, but I imagined it must’ve been less restrictive than a lockdown and would likely be more geared towards keeping things out than keeping them locked in.

The elimination protocol was significantly more ominous. Perhaps the room would flood with molten liquid, or maybe once the facility was sealed it would purge all oxygen. I could only guess, but I knew I needed to leave, and quickly.

A mechanic door to the right opened to allow several androids into the chamber. All armed with what looked like advanced CAD devices.

“Shit!” I swore as I rushed towards the closest door hoping there was nothing dangerous waiting on the other side.

A chorus of screams rose as the androids opened fire on the Ghost reapers. I imagined some fought back, but I wasn’t wasting time trying to look and see.

My hopes were dashed when the door opened and another squad of androids filed into the room. The machines quickly encircled me, firing flaming bullets to block my path and prevent me escaping their formation as they closed in.

I tried making an energy blade, but failed. It wasn’t that I couldn’t sense the energy. I could, and there was more of it here than any place I’d been except for when X first gave me the ability.

It should’ve been easy to summon a blade, but when I exerted my will, there was no response. I figured it must’ve been something to do with whatever was wrong with X.

“Plasma burst!” I shouted. The spell worked, a ball of plasma shot from my hand growing in size and vaporizing one of the androids. It wasn’t enough and using that one spell made my chest ache. I’d never experienced overload before, but I considered that might’ve been due to X. If something happened to him, there was no telling how that might affect me.

To make matters worse, more of the doors opened, all allowing more androids into the chamber. There was no path out. No escape. Kyouka was ripping through androids at a terrifying pace, but she couldn’t destroy them faster than they were being replaced and she had no incentive to help me.

Once the circle was tight enough that the androids could reach out and touch each other, they stopped advancing.

“Intruder contained; cellular destruction commencing.” One of the androids declared.

“This is overkill don’t you think?!” I yelled at the machines.

“Total destruction must be ensured.”

“What sense does that make?”

“Goodbye!” The robotic voice chimed with synthetic enthusiasm.

Each of the androids’ CAD began gathering energy at the end of the gun barrel. The energy balls swelled in size, vibrating violently.

I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating their volley.

There was brightness beyond my eyelids, then a sense of weightlessness. The pain from my shredded arm was gone and I was at peace.

Is this what death feels like? It’s less unpleasant than I was expecting.

“You aren’t dead, yet.”

I opened my eyes. Standing before me was a fox girl that looked nearly identical to Kyouka. The only discernible difference was she had nine tails.

“I can save you, but only if you set me free.”

I nodded.

Then I was back in the circle of androids. They still hadn’t fired, but the energy they’d gathered looked ready to burst.

Taking the shield in hand, I crushed the gems one at a time. Then the shield crumbled in my palm. The metal fist dissolved into the air.

A pale hand with long black claws grabbed my shoulder from behind. An arm wrapped around my waist and the fox whispered in my ear. “Get ready.”

Kyouka shouted, “Kana!”

The androids released their fire, then we shot into the air. We slipped between the closing roof panels as they slid together.

With a series of leaps, the fox carried me to the top of a great chasm, then I thought of Mai. “We have to go back.”

Kana answered, “All that’s left below is a scene of carnage. Besides, we wouldn’t be able to get back inside.”

I looked down into the impossibly deep chasm. Light could only penetrate so far into the darkness—probably less than halfway to the bottom. Kana was right, with the space sealed up, those androids and the ghost reapers would surely continue to kill each other until one side had been eliminated, probably the reapers, hopefully the reapers.

Still, I couldn’t help worrying about Mai.

Kana was right, I knew that. If Mai was inside that dreadful place, then she was either dead or trapped somewhere I wouldn’t be able to reach. She probably also had a better shot at getting out on her own than I had at getting back in.

That didn’t change how I felt, though. Every time I looked toward the cut that split the mountain, I was filled with a deep sense of regret.

Mai had protected me, but I’d failed her. Tears rolled down my face and burst on my hands as I gripped the edge of the ledge and stared into the darkness. I don’t know what I expected to see.

Maybe I hoped she’d come climbing out after me. I imagined her escaping from a cell somewhere, creeping through chaotic halls, and eventually stumbling on an exit. It wasn’t likely, but I needed hope. I needed to believe there was some scenario in which she survived.

Kana’s warm hand on my back helped me feel less alone… less hopeless. Gently, she drew shapes on my back with a claw. A soothing energy wrapped around my injured arm. In a few moments my arm healed. Blood left on my shirt was the only remaining evidence of the injury.

In silence we stayed there until the sun chased the moon from the sky.

“You can’t stay here, Fey.” Kana said, pulling me back from the ledge.

“I know.” I sighed.

X still hadn’t recovered. When or if he did recover, I couldn’t be sure he’d still be able to lend me any strength, and I wasn’t sure what the limits of my magic were. If I stayed out here and a beast attacked me I might have to depend on Kana for defense, but she had no obligation to stay with me.

“Will you keep heading for the mantis?” Kana asked.

I nodded. “It’s the only choice. The others will probably do the same.” I looked around. From the peak of the mountain, I could see forests on the left face, stretching for miles into the horizon. On the right there were more mountains, and directly below me was a great valley, surrounded on three sides by mountains. The open end of the valley led into the forest.

There was nothing I could use to determine my location, but at least I’d be able to use the mountains as a reference and ensure I was traveling in one direction.

“As a reward for freeing me, I’ll share something with you. Because of that architect in your body, there are certain forces that will never stop hunting you. If you hope to survive you’ll need a lot more power than you currently have. Even the power of your heroes wouldn’t be enough.”

Having experienced Xander’s power for myself, I didn’t doubt the existence of stronger beings. I was struggling to imagine what something stronger than a hero might look like, maybe a bit like Kana…

“The mantis is a good place to start. But one day, when you find yourself facing an enemy you can’t overcome or escape from, say these words. kana mene uzmem”

“Kana—” she placed a finger over my lips.

“Only when the time is right. No need to practice. Trust me, you’ll remember.”

I nodded and she took her finger away.

“Alright then, I’ll see you again some day.” With those words she stepped back a few steps from the ledge and disappeared as if she’d never been there at all.

For the first time in a while, I was actually on my own. Seeing as I was in the wild lands with no idea of my actual location, I was a wanted fugitive in Vania, and I wasn’t sure what magic I could use safely, it didn’t take long for anxiety to set in.