Leaving my father's lifeless form behind on the elevator platform, Gideon and I bypassed the shattered lift, descending the dark utility stairs at a breakneck sprint. We burst through the reinforced vault doors straight into the subterranean heart of the mountain.
The sight before us made my blood run ice cold.
The subterranean Vault chamber was vast, framed by jagged obsidian arches that hummed with destabilized energy.
Standing over the shattered central altar was Chancellor Vance. The high-yield industrial lasers he had deployed lay smoking nearby, having sliced clean through the ancient locking wards. Vance stood bathed in a pillar of violent, dark violet light, his eyes completely pitch-black as he absorbed the ancient power pouring from the rift.
Before our eyes, his body expande
