…
The next hours turned into a series of stealth.
They stuck to the high paths when possible - vaulting between balconies, following the tops of archways, sprinting across beams. Sometimes, when the only way forward was through a building, they ducked inside.
One such building, a tall tower near the inner ring, almost broke under them.
They'd reached its upper floor via an external stair, the stone steps cracked but holding. Inside, the floor was a wide ring with a hole in the middle that opened all the way down through several levels. A spiral of broken stairs hugged the inner wall.
"We can use this to gain height," Ajit said, looking up at the intact levels above. "We might find a safer bridge across to the palace ring from there."
They began to cross the ring floor toward the next set of stairs.
But, the stone beneath him felt… wrong. He was suspicious, shifting his weight back.
The ring floor cracked. "Move!" Gold snapped.
He sprang forward, putting all his strength into the leap. The slab split behind him, the fracture spreading out beneath Ferra and Kavi.
Ferra threw herself toward the inner rim, slamming her zweihander down into the floor and using it like a hook to drag herself onto slightly more stable stone. Kavi wasn't as quick. The ground under his feet dropped, taking him with it.
He fell through the hole.
"Ajit!" Gold shouted.
"I've got him!" Ajit's map and tools crashed to the floor as he sprinted to the edge of the hole and dropped to his stomach. His hand flung out blindly.
Kavi's arm shot up from the darkness, fingers catching Ajit's wrist in a desperate grip.
The weight almost pulled Ajit in with him. His shoulders strained, boots skidding close to the edge. Steadily jumping down, Gold grabbed the back of Ajit's belt from behind, anchoring him.
"Hold," Gold said.
Together, they hauled Kavi up, inch by inch, until he could hook an elbow over the edge and scramble out. His breathing came in sharp, terrified laughs.
"Thank you," he panted, sprawled on the stone.
"Don't thank me yet," Ajit said, voice shaking. "We're going to have to go back down. That floor's not taking us any higher."
They backtracked carefully, choosing another route that didn't rely on suspiciously intact floors.
…
Golems appeared more frequently, not just as statues in lines, but in niches, melts into walls, half-buried in collapsed plazas. Some didn't fully wake, eyes faintly glowing before dimming again as the party slipped past.
Others did.
One particularly narrow bridge became a running fight.
The bridge was a long stone span arcing over a flooded avenue, its railing broken away on both sides. Halfway across, four stone figures stood along its length, looking outward like sentries. They stayed dormant as the first half of the group passed.
It was Gold's threads that did it.
The threads in his chest thrummed louder as they approached the palace. As he set foot on the bridge, all four constructs lit up.
"Run!" he snapped. They sprinted.
The bridge was too narrow for them to spread out. If they tried to fight in the middle, one wrong step would send someone into the water below. The problem was that the golems were trying to surround them.
Gold made a decision.
"Keep going," he barked. "I'll grab their attention!"
He veered to the right, aiming not for the golems but for the broken edge of the bridge. He launched himself over the side.
"Gold!" Ferra shouted, reaching for him as he disappeared.
He hit the water like a stone.
The bone and muscle density of a Restrani dragged him down immediately. The cold punched into his skin, seeping even through his heat.
Dark.
His eyes adjusted, the golden hue in his gaze picking up the faintest traces of pylon light. Below the bridge, half-submerged structures jutted from the flooded street. Doorframes, rubble piles, the arch of a collapsed walkway.
Within his sight, the golems also began making their way, slowly as they stepped through the currents in the water - travelling the exact same way as him, walking at the bottom of the flood.
He could see golems dropping down from above, slowly submerging in an attempt to grab him.
Rushing through a building as fast as the water allowed him, he ran up a set of stairs, climbing the top of a building until he finally could reach the roof.
Gasping for air as he finally found a point that was high enough to be above the flood. He couldn't take a break though, everyone was running past the Golems that were chasing him, but he needed to get back to higher ground.
He began jumping from roof to roof, until he heard Kavi's shout, "Gold!" He turned around and saw Kavi and Ajit dropping down a rope for him near the higher plateaus.
He continued leaping from one roof to another, but the Golems were relentlessly chasing him, smashing their limbs through the roof whilst other golems climbed from the sides.
Eventually reaching the rope, Gold climbed with haste, Kavi and Ajit pulling him up as well.
Gold finally reached solid ground and slowed, breath coming heavy but controlled. He wiped water from his eyes, hair slicked back.
Fritt slapped his shoulder. "You are absolutely insane," he said, grinning wide.
…
By the time they finally paused, the palace loomed large in front of them.
They chose their rest in a tower.
It was one of the few structures that reached almost to the cavern roof, a tall spire leaning slightly but still sound. They ascended via an internal staircase, testing each step. Unlike the other tower, this one's stones had been reinforced by thick strands of pylonic ore running through the walls.
At the top, they emerged into an open chamber with half-broken windows looking out over the city. From here, they could see the palace clearly, its layered terraces rising from the central island, lights pulsing faintly from within like a slow heartbeat.
"This will do," Eyviria said. "We can defend one staircase. If anything tries to climb, we'll hear it."
For a while, they simply breathed. The city was hectic ever since they started moving inwards.
Ajit sat by a window with his map, updating lines and making notes about golem positions. Kavi took stock of the samples they'd gathered, carefully arranging vials and crystal pieces. Ferra leaned against the wall, eyes half-lidded, but every so often glazing toward the palace with a faint, hungry curiosity.
Fritt laid on his back, hands behind his head, staring up at the cracked ceiling. "Man, when do you get to have fun like this," he said. "Might have to go on more adventures with you brother." He added as he chuckled.
"Don't worry, this is a first for me as well." Gold said with a tired expression.
Eyviria moved to sit near him, studying his face. Up close, she could see the tightness at the corners of his eyes, the way his hand drifted occasionally toward his temple.
"You need to learn to close it properly," she said.
He looked at her
"Your influence," she clarified. "You're letting it wash over everything non–stop. No wonder your head feels like it's splitting."
He exhaled slowly. "I've got no clue how."
"Your influence started from your breathing," she said. "You've been holding it out for too long, like exhaling and never letting yourself breathe back in. Imagine your influence as heat in a room. Right now it's pouring out of the door and windows."
Gold actually understood her quite well. He began imagining it in his head.
"Now," she continued, "close the shutters. One by one. Not all at once. Pull it back from your limbs first. Then from your skin. Let it sit just around your heart like before."
He focused. It was harder than drawing it out. Extending himself into the world had felt natural, like leaning into a strong wind. Pulling back felt… wrong, like retreat. But he tried.
He pictured golden threads curling back from his arms, his legs, his eyes. Folding inward. The migraine, which was immense and constant, slowly lessened.
"There," Eyviria said quietly. "You feel that?"
He nodded once. The world dulled slightly. Edges softened. He felt weaker, no longer brimming with power.
"You need to learn to toggle this state more naturally." Eyviria concluded her lesson.
Gold gave her a look of appreciation, "Thanks."
But Eyviria was tired beyond belief, she stole Kavi's bag and flopped on it like a pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.
But as he spread his gaze, he noticed a lot of people were already sleeping, only Kavi and Ajit weren't.
"You should rest Gold, we can watch for the first half of the night, after all you guys are doing the brunt of the dangerous work." Ajit reassured Gold.
He breathed out, leaning against the wall as he sat. Outside the broken window, the drowned city murmured, rivers running between its bones.
The palace waited.
…
When they set out again, the journey from the tower to the palace island felt shorter, though no less tense.
The inner ring was dominated by wide causeways and major bridges. Some were broken, but enough remained that they could hop from section to section, using stable surfaces to cross the water. Golems watched from their idle stances, but fewer woke now - perhaps the guardians closer to the heart were different.
Finally, they reached the last bridge.
It was broader than the others, wide enough for several carts. Massive statues lined its sides, these ones not golems.
The pylonic veins running through them were thicker, brighter, like arteries.
The bridge carried them over a still, dark ring of water that surrounded the palace island like a moat. The closer they came, the more the palace dwarfed everything around it.
Up close, it was almost absurd.
Steps rose in long, shallow flights, each one the height of a man's knee, forcing them to take their time ascending. Columns thicker than any tree they'd seen held up terraces that layered over one another in concentric patterns. Doors tall enough for giants sat shut along the lower levels.
Pylon veins webbed the walls and pillars, all of them converging somewhere deeper inside, out of sight.
Gold paused at the base of the main stair, lifting his gaze slowly up its length. The threads in his chest had gone from a raging tug to a steady, insistent pull.
"This place is so massive…," Ferra murmured, standing at his side.
Fritt cracked his knuckles. "Well, what do ya think," he said. "Surely there's a boss enemy for us to beat in there!"
Eyviria tightened the strap of her glove, her silver eyes reflecting the palace's faint glow. "Then let's go see," she said.
They started up the steps together, each footfall echoing softly against the stone of the buried throne.