Snow. Really, more of a blizzard, as far as the eye could see. That’s what I saw, just for a moment. The image of the cavern from before flickered over my vision and remained there; everything went back to normal.

I held up my fist, stopping suddenly just inside the threshold of the cave mouth. I queried my armour’s logs which returned a list of innocuous status codes followed by a single, decidedly odd one. The amber-coloured line stood out to me like a flare in the night sky.

Alert: Sensory Data Anomaly

“No shit.” I muttered. “Proc, what the hell was that? What kind of sensor anomaly?”

“Conflicting sensory data streams. Secondary visual data stream have been replaced by primary data stream.”

“Clarify.” I ordered. “What data streams?”

“Suit sensor data and data gathered through the user’s visual organs are designated as primary and secondary visual data streams, respectively.”

“Visual organs? You mean my eyes aren’t matching up with the suit’s sensors?”

“Affirmative.”

“Could’ve just said so.” I made a disgusted noise, then switched my outgoing audio on.

“Larsen, are you getting this sensor mismatch? This is definitely the right place.”

“Yeah.” She confirmed. “My proc’s ignoring my eyes for now. Not sure I like the fact that it had to, though.”

I grunted. “Stay sharp, both of you. Larsen, go active with your night vision. Illuminators and IR.”

I brought up the rear sensors of my HUD to look at Eric, flicking my own infrared and infrared illuminators on. Invisible to the naked eye, but providing incredible amounts of light for my infrared night vision systems, it was one advantage I hoped to maintain for a long time.

He was standing with his arms slightly raised, knees bent, much the same as I was. “Eric. Can you see in the dark?”

“In complete darkness? Not for long. I need some amount of light to work with or else the drain is significant. Don’t worry, I believe there will be light inside.”

“What about other mages? And what makes you sure there’s lighting inside? If it’s dark I can use that, if it’s not, well, at least you’ll be able to see.”

“It is not a spell normally used very often, only by the most powerful mages with energy to spare. I may be powerful, but I’m not that powerful. Are you saying you can see in the dark?”

“Yes, and without that ‘drain’ you mentioned.” I replied simply.

“Incredible.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Do you expect to find someone waiting for us in there?” He asked.

“To be perfectly honest, I’ve been ambushed more in the last few days than in the last five months put together. I’d rather not bet against a streak. See anything… I don’t know, magical, from out here?” I asked Eric.

“I sense something inside. I’m not sure what, but it’s definitely no bauble or trinket. It’s quite powerful if I can sense it from here. A gateway would be the most likely explanation.”

“There’s a gate here? There would have to be, wouldn’t there? I wonder…” I trailed off.

“Sweep the area?” Larsen asked me, a moment later.

“No. Splitting up to do it is too risky and it’ll take too long otherwise. Best to just find that gate. I don’t want to step on a mine or get picked off one by one as we sweep the place.

“Paranoid, much?”

I snorted. “Sure, but can you blame me? This is basically a horror movie for me. Stranded on another planet without any sign of chocolate, no bullets… let’s just agree to stick together so no one dies off camera, okay?”

I heard a brief bout of snickering from Larsen but it quickly subsided.

“Agreed.”

“Good. Let’s find this gate.” I said. “I’m not about to let Davian slam the door on us, not when we’re this close.” I punctuated my words by inching myself forward into the cave. I took my fourth step and the light level shifted dramatically.

The walls had looked bare and empty from the outside, but between one step and the next, everything changed. The cavern’s walls became covered in so much glowing silver that it acted almost like a form of lighting. Not enough to walk around comfortably unaided, but it was enough for my suit to take the small amount of light and amplify it. The runes ran across the rock and continued deeper inside, seemingly leading the way forward. I found that both convenient and suspicious.

My guess was all the runes were a sign of very intricate magic, a lot of it, or something very powerful. Possibly all three. I supposed a teleporter qualified as a lot of powerful, intricate magic.

“Whoa… what the fuck?” Larsen murmured.

“Exactly what I was thinking. Eric, how long will it take to find this gate?”

“Not long. The difficult part will be undoing the damage he’s done. Do you have a plan for once we get there, assuming I can fix the damage?”

I smiled. “I always have a plan. ” I lied.

Naturally, I was full of shit, at least, in part. I didn’t always have the answer, I just had enough of one to bullshit the rest of the way. This time I did actually have a plan, even if it was pretty simple.

I glanced around at the lifeless rock walls, damp with moisture. The runes seemed unnatural, as if they were painted on, thin but clearly not paint.

“These runes will lead somewhere, right?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” Eric questioned.

“I don’t know much about magic but this all seems a little much for one teleportation device.” I eyed the glowing walls dubiously. I suspected that much silver meant something elaborate, powerful, or both.

“It likely is. I expect that the gateway—when we find it—will be guarded.” Eric said.

“Guarded by what?” Larsen asked.

“Runic constructs. That’s the usual standard. If we’re unlucky, a couple of mages instead. If we’re really unlucky… something worse.”

“Worse? What, like a pack of those vampire dogs?” I asked.

“No.” Eric grimaced, but refused to elaborate further.

We advanced through winding tunnels for a few minutes, cautiously and slowly. It wouldn’t do to go rushing in and get ourselves buried under several tons of rock. I had sonar, LIDAR, and infrared guiding the way. I could’ve added in some other sensors for an increase in clarity, but the power drain wasn’t necessary.

Everything about my surroundings looked normal, surprisingly, minus the silver runes everywhere. I was becoming more and more convinced that this wasn’t a hideout, or even really a safehouse but just a deserted cave used as a fallback position where Davian could spirit himself away.

The walls morphed into a large chamber more than once. All of them were conspicuously empty, so we ended up moving relatively quickly. Just as we were about to enter another chamber, I stopped.

“Halt.” I ordered softly.

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With each passing second, the cave was mapped out with ever-increasing certainty. I wasn’t stopping because the map was being built, that had already happened when I switched on the sonar. I was stopping because of what I saw on the map.

Through the chamber ahead, I saw a tunnel that connected to another even larger chamber. Three large statues stood along the back wall. I wasn’t completely sure.

“Eric. I see three large statues, I think, carrying weapons. Recognise them?”

“What colour are they? Do they have any runes?”

“No idea. I think they have runes, though.” I replied. My map didn’t have colour, unfortunately. I examined it a little closer.

“They’re probably some form of security. There is always the chance they’re decorative, though.” He offered.

Larsen snorted. “Not likely. Let’s go and say hello, shall we?”

“Can’t hide forever.” I agreed.

I unsheathed my knife and rose into a standing position, striding into the next chamber and then down the tunnel.

When I arrived at the final chamber, a dead end, an irrational chill went through me. The statues here reminded me viscerally of a VR game I had once tried, where the goal was to be the last person standing as your group got picked off one-by-one. In the game, the statues would spring to life and try to choke you to death. I had enough people trying to kill me when I was on duty—I didn't need to spend my free time . But the experience had stuck with me. I kept my eye on the statues, just in case.

It was actually remarkably small, when you factored in the size of the statues. The three of them stood abreast, the two on the outside standing with their hands gripping their swords to plant the point of each blade by their feet. Silver runes wrapped over every part of them, including their weapons.

“Runes.” I said, examining the statues from a safe distance. “These are definitely guards. Are they… dead?”

“No.” Eric said. “They’re dormant, guarding the gate.”

“What gate?” Larsen asked.

She had a point. Even standing in the same chamber, I only saw three statues. No gate of any kind, still almost no light either, just three ominous statues.

Eric sounded leery of these statues and I shared his distaste. Nothing good could come from magic statues in caves holding swords. “I’m guessing that the gate is somewhere here, but protected by magic and slaved to these guards.”

“So in other words, if they don’t let us in, we have to make a way in?” Larsen asked.

“Essentially, yes.” He replied.

“Can you find it?”

Eric walked off to the side of the chamber, surveying it for a few seconds. “I can try.” He declared.

He threw a light into the room, providing a brighter source of illumination than the softly glowing runes around us. I looked around the room, nothing catching my eye except the three statues and Eric. Larsen moved back a few steps into the connecting tunnel, no doubt watching for anything trying to sneak up on us. I appreciated it, since it left me the ability to focus entirely on the chamber, rather than that and watching for knives in the dark.

Eric pressed his hands against the rough, bare rock, walking his way around the perimeter of the room. When he neared the guards—statues, whatever they were— he was careful not to touch them, slipping by them with measured movements. There wasn’t a lot of room between them and the rock wall, but there was enough for Eric to fit through.

For all I knew the guards were touch-activated, so I was glad for Eric’s caution. I was mildly surprised they hadn’t sensed our presence and tried to kill us already.

“What are you looking for? Hidden compartments?” Larsen asked.

“Something like that. I can feel the magic, but it works better if I’m touching it. I assume that somewhere here there’s an illusion spell I can break.”

I hadn’t even considered that possibility, but then I realised that my suit’s sensors were showing reality, so I was seeing what was there, not what some illusion wanted me to see.

“Eric, no need for that. There’s no illusion.”

“There’s not?” Larsen asked, preempting Eric.

“Nope. Think about it. Your suit’s already showing you the real thing. Illusions don’t work on us, well, not while we’re in armour. That’s probably what that sensor hiccup was at the entrance.”

She considered my point for a moment. “Probably, yeah. I think Edward’s right. No illusion.”

Eric removed his hands from the walls, scowling as he turned to face us. “I guess we have to get the truth from these guards.”

“They don’t talk, do they?” Larsen asked.

“Some can.” Eric admitted. “Brace yourselves. This may be… violent.”

“Violent?” I asked.

Without reply, he went and stood in front of the statues and looked over at me. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll need you to go for the legs.”

“Got it.” I said.

Eric reached out and put his palms on either side of the central statue’s torso where its ribs would have been, if it wasn’t made of stone.

Nothing happened, not to my senses anyway. I registered a slight thermal bloom around Eric’s hands, but then nothing. He stepped away.

“We got lucky.” He declared. “I managed to rewrite their runes. The guards won’t wake up.”

“If it’s so easy to get past the guards, why even have them?” Larsen asked. Even a pair of boot recruits would’ve been a better defense if all it took was ten seconds to make the perimeter defenses completely impotent.

“Because the strain of doing that and keeping them from waking up has nearly drained me of magic.” Eric laughed, suddenly stumbling to lean on the statue in front of him. My heart jolted as he placed one hand on the crossguard of its sword.

“What the hell did you do that for? We’ll need you before this is over, you know that right?” I glared at him.

“Well, these things won’t wake up, but Davian also won’t know we’re coming. I just bought you the element of surprise.”

My mood shifted dramatically. That could be very useful. “How likely is he to believe he got away clean?”

“Very likely. No one I know could’ve tracked him out of that mess. No one. I doubt he felt the need to keep the guards awake.”

“So you’re saying the reason I’m not being smacked with a sword is because I’m an amazing tracker?” My lips quirked up in a smile.

“I… suppose that’s possible.” He allowed.

“So where’s the gate?” Larsen asked.

I looked around and I didn’t see it.

“Bloodthorn.” Eric said slowly, his voice carrying in the confines of the cavern.

A grinding sound above me had me springing back as I raised my knife to defend myself.

“Relax.” He said. “There’s your gateway.”

I watched as a solid slab of rock lowered into the space in front of the statues. I made sure to keep clear. The gateway looked almost identical to the one I’d seen in the city, except it was made of the same rock as the cave. I saw exposed runes, weaving in some kind of pattern, the characters overlapping and joining in different ways. I let my suit record and worry about it.

“Huh. Why didn’t the other gateway have these on them?” I asked.

“Concealed beneath the floor for security. It makes charging the runes harder, but it also makes an escape harder. Rewriting runes through a material is difficult. Clearly, that wasn’t a concern here.” He gestured to the glowing silver runes on the statues.

I stepped forward onto the platform. “I’m about ready to kick this guy’s ass, just for making this take so long. Any advice?”

“Know when to duck.” Larsen interjected.

“Not bad advice.” Eric chuckled. “The best defense against magic is distance and mobility. There are few things that can protect against magic for a great amount of time, nothing cheap and easy to make, at least.”

“Mobility and distance. Makes sense.” I could draw my own parallels to military weaponry of various kinds.

“Can you send us through?” I asked, turning to face outwards. I didn’t want to be facing the wrong way when we went through. The thought of appearing somewhere else with my back turned only to get hit by a fireball amused me for a moment.

“If you’re both ready?” Eric asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Larsen said.

I ran through a quick mental checklist.

“Huh. Larsen, you know that contingency plan I was thinking of?” I asked.

“Yeah? Now’s not the greatest time. Or, I suppose now is the perfect time. Once we go through? Not so much.”

Eric sighed noisily, clearly aggrieved at how cryptic we were being. What could I say? It was fun to push his buttons.

“We have a way of alleviating the need for sleep, or at least, reducing it. Instead of taking days, it’ll take a few hours, but we’ll be completely useless during that time. Knocked out cold.” I explained.

“I see. Well, best we do that here and now then. I’d rather you were rested before we apprehend a mage. You’ll need your strength.” Eric said.

I nodded. “These statues… they’re kind of creepy. We don’t have to sleep here, do we?”

“Not here, specifically, but somewhere in this cave. I can keep watch for you.” Eric promised.

I paused. That was a lot of trust.

“You’re out of magic. For how long?”

“My strength will return again in five or six hours. Until then… I’m not as helpless as I appear, even without my magic.”

I looked him over. No sword, obviously no gun, just robes and bare hands. I frowned. “Are you sure you can keep us safe?”

“Rest.” He insisted firmly. “We cannot do what we came to do if we’re exhausted. Trust that I can see to your safety. I have a vested interest in keeping the both of you safe and staying in your good graces.”

“Alright… just so you know, we’ll be out cold for several hours. I doubt you could wake us with a thunderstorm or a battle going on outside. Larsen?” I motioned for her to follow me, then turned and walked back out into the last chamber I’d passed through. Sleeping in armour wasn’t comfortable, but it was possible. I’d endeavour to get as much rest as I could.

I stepped into the empty room, laying down as Larsen did the same across from me. Eric looked at us curiously, following behind.

“You really think this’ll work?” Larsen asked.

“Well, it worked in training.”

“That was basic, and it was over a decade ago now.”

“So? Trust in the magic rejuvenation juice, Vic. Or, at least trust in me.”

“Trust, my ass. This stuff has a shelf life, right? Is it still good?”

“Don’t know, but we’re about to find out. You worry too much.” I grinned, injecting some false cheer into my voice. I really had no idea if the chemical cocktail was going to work, or if it would make me ill. Still, it was a gamble I wanted to take.

“Ready?” I asked her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“Good luck.” I said, speaking to Eric, who was standing over us.

Then I triggered a one-time use syringe embedded in my armour’s medical systems. There were technically four syringes in my suit, one poised over each thigh muscle. Two for drawing blood, and two loaded with a combination energy booster and cleanser. The latter would remove most toxins and poisons and give my body actual energy, rather than just tricking it into ignoring my need to sleep. Given our supply situation, any kind of medical item wasn’t something I wanted to use without good cause, but I also didn’t want to see any of it go unused when it could be of use.

A sharp prick in my leg stole my attention for a brief moment before a huge wave of weakness washed over me.

“See you in the morning, Eric.” Was all I could get out before the chemicals running through my veins stole what remained of my strength. When I woke, I would be putting my training, experience and instincts up against Davian’s, as well as anyone else who dared to ally with him. I looked forward to the fight, it was sure to be an interesting one.