The man made of metal stood a few steps into the marble-laden room, the group giving him his space as they looked him over.

All of his body apart from his hands, feet and head were covered in baggy, red and black robes. He had a black hood to keep off the snow and the robes looked quite new in comparison to the being that wore them. The robes bulged at random places and Jadon could see the edge of what looked like a missing chunk of metal, as if it had been torn off and warped the rest of the metal as a result. The man looked like a mess, but carried himself with perfect posture.

“Do not make me ask a third time, it has been a long time since I taught someone manners,” the metal man said. His jaw did not move as he spoke, and the eye sockets held tiny pinpricks of glowing red light, reminiscent of a red form of everflame. The head and lights did not move, yet everyone felt his eyes on them.

“We are on a pilgrimage,” Beth said, leaning forward without taking a step. She imagined standing in front of a dragon would feel similar to the apprehension she felt at that moment.

“It is not the right time of year for pilgrimages, neither are you dressed for such an occasion.”

One of the doors fell open, and the man strode backwards to make sure it was securely closed this time. He did not turn his back to anyone in the room.

“I am not one for games. Perhaps once, but not now. Not here.”

“We aren’t really sure what we are doing here,” Ephin said, “and that’s the truth.”

“It’s a long way to go to not be sure.”

“We’re looking for answers,” Ephin continued.

“You won’t find any here. Only dead ends. Do you see what I did there?”

“I thought you said you didn’t do games,” Jadon said.

“A joke is not a game,” the man said calmly.

“I’m having a hard time getting a read on you,” Guy said, “are you going to try and kill us?”

“Why would I do that?” The man replied.

“This place,” Beth said, “the people. How much do you know about them?”

“I take the pilgrimage every year.”

“It isn’t pilgrimage season.”

“And yet I’m here. Ask away girl and if I can answer, I will.”

“We have been having trouble with ruptures,” Beth began, the metal man waiting silently. “And because of it, we are stuck in the wrong continent. But we might be close by to someone who is deliberately tampering with these ruptures, so we were wondering if we could find any answers around here, considering this is a Rupture War hero.”

“Yes, they are, but unfortunately they won’t be answering any questions any time soon. Where did you go when you traveled from one continent to the next? Ruptures don’t transfer to the same realm.”

“At first we appeared in this old temple to the Unaging One?”

“The Unaged Eye,” Jadon corrected.

“Yes, that. But I’m not sure if it was a temple or a prison as we got promptly attacked whilst there. But also someone else ran out of there with serious injuries, possibly also from whoever was attacking us,” Beth said, “then we-”

“And you’re sure it said Unaging Eye?” The metal man closed the distance between he and Beth faster than any of them had seen someone move. Not even Jadon could properly register the speed the man moved at.

“Yes,” Beth said, “there were murals of this Kin and the other heroes lining the temple walls.”

“There was someone running out? Were they holding anything?”

“A sword,” Iarkspur chimed in.

“That changes everything,” the man said, turning from Beth and walking to the back of the building and the marbled log cabin pattern, “all of you with me. Now.”

The man gripped one marble log and twisted it, pulled a second and kicked in a third, all at the same time. The logs all began to spin on the spot and an opening formed as the logs separated, revealing stairs leading down into the mountain.

“I will not wait for you. If what you are saying is true, then the answers you seek are down here.” The man turned and walked down the stairs, so smoothly he was almost gliding.

The group looked at each other and quickly followed before the logs started to move back into place.

Unlike most of the underground staircases and tunnels the group had traversed over the past couple days, this staircase was well kept and clean. Everflames lit the way down, deep into the mountain.

Every few minutes, the metal man pointed out a specific step, or pressure plate on the step, or a thin wire, each rigged to deal with intruders. Jadon made a sarcastic comment about the traps after the tenth one was avoided by everyone and the metal man deliberately kicked the wire anyway, grabbing the two spears that shot out from the wall before they pierced him.

“Point made,” Jadon mumbled and they continued on.

“Who keeps this place clean?” Iarkspur asked as they walked.

“Who do you think?” The man replied.

“And what is your connection to this place?” Beth said.

“Like I said, I take the pilgrimage.”

“I’m willing to bet no other pilgrims are routinely going down here.”

“True. I’m a friend of sorts, of the deceased.”

“Of the heroes? You knew Kin?” Ephin asked.

“Sure, I did, although I can’t remember much. My memory is a little hit and miss after a few millennia.”

“What was the connection between you and the Unaged Eye?” Beth asked.

“An old friend. Long, long dead. Much like everything around here. Unfortunately, the items don’t die as easily as the people.”

“Is that what we’re going down here for? Items?” Jadon asked.

“One item, yes. It would be insanity to keep more than one in any one place.”

“What item?” Ephin asked.

“You’ll see, hopefully.”

“Hopefully?” Ephin said.

“Well, if they have the sword, they’re likely going to be here soon, if they haven’t already.”

The staircase continued straight down with no turns or even slight deviations, only traps that the metal man guided the group past. Ephin, at the back of the group, figured he must have accidentally triggered one as nearly as soon as he had stepped past a wire, a curved blade came swinging up in between two steps. Three swipes and the blade retracted once more and the group carried on.

They reached the base of the stairs and found a corridor, lined with heavy, metal doors. Whilst the decoration of the corridor was smarter than Jadon expected, with a soft red carpet lining the floor and everflame chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, the metal man took no notice and strode down the corridor, that was too long for any of them to see the other end. It simply continued with door after door.

None of the doors were marked, so Beth found it impressive that the man knew exactly which one to stop at and unlock. He produced a set of keys, pressed a button on the key-ring and the keys began to change shapes.

Jadon could hear the man counting quietly before quickly inserting one of the key in one of the numerous keyholes dotted across the front of the door. He unlocked it and began counting again, doing this eight more times. As he clicked open the final lock, the door whirred slightly as gears spun and allowed the door to be opened. Beth’s jaw dropped as she saw the door get pulled open and could see the mass of moving machinery inside the door, many of the cogs working as extra locks, interlocking with cogs in the door frame.

“In we go,” the man said, leaving the door open for the others to follow before pulling it shut once more.

Considering how close each door was to the next, Beth figured some of the doors were fake. The room they stood in was large, domed and lit a light blue. It was circular and in the center was a pedestal, holding a paintbrush. The paintbrush looked as if it was pure silver, although as the man pointed out, it was in fact solid platinum. The handle was shaped like a small featureless man, standing upright with their hands at their sides and the bristles were also platinum.

“The material alone would keep someone off the streets for years,” Ephin said.

“A lifetime,” the man corrected, “but thankfully it is still here, otherwise we may all not be able to live out those lifetimes.”

“What does it do? You’ve been hammering in the ominous part but haven’t actually answered anything useful,” Jadon said.

“I think I might have a little bit of an idea,” Ephin said, “I’ve seen this.”

“There is no chance that you’ve seen this,” the man laughed.

“In a dream. People were fighting this monster, Kin was there with a trident and someone else, with this brush. In the dream, the brush and a sword, along with a few other items, were glowing. Is this part of a set that the sword you’re worried about is in?”

“Yes and no. There is no set. There are a handful of extremely powerful objects that, when brought together, have the ability to create and seal ruptures, along with other possible wishes.”

“What sort of other wishes?” Jadon asked, his greed beginning to get the better of him. Looking at the brush, it looked like it was nearly floating, like it wanted him to pick it up.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” a voice near the brush said.

The brush floated up faster and a hand appeared around it, rapidly followed by the body of a smug Douglas Davistone, holding up the brush to get a better look at it.

The metal man didn’t skip a second, not allowing the new person to begin their gloating speech. He ran across at a speed that almost didn’t register with the rest of the people in the room. Everyone else retreated to the outer walls of the circular room, giving the two space by the pedestal. Whilst the metal person was fast in comparison to everyone else, to Davistone, he was evenly matched. Davistone laughed as he traded blows with the metal man, almost teasing him with the brush that was always just out of reach.

Davistone’s form of fighting was closer to a dance and contrasted his opponent’s relentless anger.

“You’re slower than you used to be,” Davistone chuckled as he avoided another fist.

“Lucky. For. You.” The man said, punctuating each word with another punch.

“When I realized the A.D.A.M. was still alive and kicking, or rather alive and rusting, I just couldn’t stop myself from seeing if I can compare.”

“And?” The man called A.D.A.M. pivoted, landing a sharp kick to Davistone’s stomach.

“Good one,” Davistone said, “although I must confess, I am underwhelmed.”

This enraged A.D.A.M. further, his speed increasing to the point where the bulges underneath his robes began to cut through, tearing portions of his robes to shreds. The metal body underneath was torn to bits, all sharp and angular as if ripped apart by a vengeful demon and put back together by someone that didn’t know basic anatomy.

In his anger, A.D.A.M. began to land more successive blows, pushing Davistone back. Davistone’s back hit the curved wall and he smiled. A thin strand of light was pulsing from the end of the paintbrush and wrapping around A.D.A.M. Before A.D.A.M. could jump out of the way, Davistone flicked the brush and the light snapped into heavy chains, linking around A.D.A.M. and pulling tight, forcing his limbs together. Davistone spun the brush once more and a small hole appeared in between the two men, he punched through the hole and his fist, as large AS A.D.A.M. appeared from the ceiling, slamming down and knocking the metal man out cold. He reached back to swing again and was hit hard by a vine to the face as Iarkspur had snapped out of the shock before the others. Guy charged in with a sword but swung at empty air, Davistone hopping through a separate hole he had drawn and appearing out of thin air at the other side of the room by the door.

“Now,” he said, “I could leave now and none of you could stop me, but I feel like you’re going to be a thorn in my side, so I might as well kill you sooner rather than later.”

Everyone charged in, with Ephin staying back to try and check on A.D.A.M., which was hard to do as he had never tried to help a robot before.

As the others tried to attack Davistone at once, he drew circles in the air, redirecting their efforts against themselves. Iarkspur’s vines slammed into Beth, appearing behind her shield and knocking her to the floor.

Jadon, trying to get in close, tripped through a larger hole and ran headfirst into Guy, sending them both sprawling.

Davistone formed a barbed whip from the brush and began to harry Iarkspur, whilst also keeping the others at bay. Iarkspur, well-practiced with vines, kept his attempts back, but was not expecting the blast of energy from his other hand, which had dipped into his pocket to retrieve some more blue dust. He landed a barbed hit to the temple of Iarkspur, right after the arcane energy hit her square in the chest. She skidded across the floor, stopping close to A.D.A.M.

The whip shifted into a large hammer, which swung and cracked into the temple of Guy, putting him down immediately too. If not for his helmet, cheap as it was, he would have been killed instantly by the blow.

Beth was back on her feet and advancing once more, the shield apparently useless to his miniature ruptures, she slapped her hands together, starting a charge that covered her gloves. She held up her hands as if to attempt a punch, and then held them out, firing off multiple small electric charges.

Davistone, unsurprised, ducked and weaved past the projectiles swinging out with the hammer, which Beth jumped back to avoid, allowing Jadon to take the blow directly to the ribs, putting him out of action too, although not unconscious.

Beth jumped forwards, trying to electrocute Davistone as he turned back from making sure Jadon was down. Her gloves clasped onto his wrist and he seized up, yelling out in pain. His grip tightened on the brush, which reverted back to its normal state, although Davistone did not. Beth watched as Davistone seemed to jerk around without moving, his eyes rolling and rotating between black, gold, red, blue. His hairstyle and skin tone shifted dramatically, his height switched and the tone of his pained yelps changed too. He backhanded Beth and wrenched himself free of her, however the damage was done.

“You aren’t Douglas Davistone,” Beth said, backing up from the wild-eyed man still in Davistone’s form.

“Perhaps not, but none of you are going to live to tell anyone, so why should I worry?” The being snarled and slashed out with the paintbrush. As it curved down towards Beth, shifting into a sword, another blade came to meet it.

“You have something of mine,” the man from the temple ruins of the Unaged Eye said quietly, standing between Beth and Davistone. His grey skin and now close-cropped beard were a welcome sight for those still conscious, although Jadon still instinctively tried to drag himself further away across the floor, despite his broken ribs.

Davistone tried to aim a strike at the man, but his sword was blocked and almost knocked free from his grasp. For once he was not smiling, he looked terrified. The sword shifted back into a paintbrush.

“Two down,” Davistone said, attempting to look proud and not scared. He spun on the spot, falling through the floor into the rupture he had created. The newcomer tried to grab at him but was too slow. In Davistone’s place, a floating translucent hand bounced in the air, waving goodbye. The man looked over the people in the room and saw A.D.A.M.

“We have much to discuss,” he said walking and kneeling down beside the broken metal man, “for now, the name’s Jackson. Please help my friend.”