I ascended the right spiral staircase quickly, grabbing onto the railing to keep steady as I took the stairs three at a time. Three-quarters of the way up, shooting pains erupted from my legs, disrupting the movement of my muscles and nearly throwing me to the ground. As I grabbed my thigh with my free left hand, I felt sharp pinpricks in my palm and remembered that I still had shards of glass stuck inside me. The healing magic sealed them in, I realized, I need to get them out, but I can’t take the time to do it here. Maybe if I just get the surface ones, it’ll be enough.

Forcing my muscles to work, I ran up the rest of the stairs and found myself in an empty, square room with a number of exit doors. Recalling the diagrams, I knew that this room connected to the residences, and after remembering which direction I had entered the building from I drew a mental path to the high priest’s room. Then I knelt down and placed my palm on my thigh. Using force magic, I grabbed some of the shards with exposed ends, then withdrew them. Oddly, there was no pain when I did so, hardly even a sensation at all.

Approximately forty glass shards, slick with blood, sat in a small pile in front of me two minutes later. Standing back up, I could feel the mobility in my legs had increased, but I knew from the aches and pressure that there were still more shards beneath the skin. In the torso too, I thought, I should try not to contort it too much until we get out of here and I can figure out how to remove them. I walked over to the door on my planned route, a simple wooden design stained black with gold trim, and placed my ear against it.

Hearing nothing on the other side, I opted for a quick entry and kicked the door from its hinges, then rushed inside with my weapon ready. What met me was a larger, also empty room, home to nothing but several tables scattered around its center and books lining every wall. So this is what they meant by ‘information depository’ , I thought, it’s just an ancient-style library. While I could have searched the room if I had more time, instead I began jogging across it to get to the living quarters’ main hallway. As I passed by one of the tables I glanced at some papers strewn about on it, then stopped in place for a moment.

The pages I could see weren’t in Uwrish, but they also weren’t in a language I recognized. Unlike Uwrish, the script was very obviously alphabetical with far fewer extraneous characters. In fact, each character had a distinct boundary and did not touch the preceding or following ones, Unlike Uwrish which sometimes used connecting lines as part of its intonation symbology. It’s all ninety and forty-five-degree angles too, I noted, it’s designed to be printed with ease, and it would render on a digital display quite well. I grabbed one of the papers and stuffed it into my frayed gambeson for later analysis, then jogged the rest of the distance to the door.

Listening at the door, instead of silence I heard the sounds of humans on the other side, muttering and trying to be quiet. If they’re hiding, they’re probably not fighters, I thought. My hand twisted the handle slowly to make as little noise as possible, but as the door unlatched it let out a small click that silenced the speech on the other side. I waited for a few seconds, hearing nothing but my heartbeat, then I detected a footstep. Another footstep followed, then a third just in front of me.

Smashing the door open, I burst into the hallway and swung my sword at what I thought was below shoulder level for an average Uwrish man, lopping off a head before my eyes had even fully registered what was happening. I briefly panicked, but then relaxed as I saw that the face on the head was that of a young man and not the high priest. I should have thought that through better, I criticized myself, for the next one, I’ll forego the sword at first to be sure. The other human in the room, a young woman, broke into a run and then ducked into one of the side doors, locking it behind her. Perfect, I thought, someone who has information.

Making no effort to be subtle, I walked to the locked door and kicked it open, sparking some new pains in my torso and legs from the glass shards as I did so. The interior of the room was sparse, with a simple bed and what looked to be an altar of some kind at the far end, a rug with an ant figure on the floor, and a hanging brazier overhead instead of a lantern. The woman, who was kneeling at the altar, flinched as I approached but continued to mutter something under her breath.

“Give me the strength to face what comes with the steadfast knowledge that-” she prayed rapidly.

“I need information,” I said, loudly enough that I knew she heard me. “Give it to me, and you live.” The latter part was a lie, of course, but she didn’t know that.

“-there is no death but only life that grows and shifts its form through-” the woman continued, completely ignoring me. I walked up to her, placed my hand on her shoulder, then pulled away immediately as I felt the familiar tingle of electrical magic try to shock me. That skill would be far more dangerous if it could activate instantly, I thought as an aside, storing the idea for later. Using my boot, which was more than enough of an insulator for the task, I kicked the woman in the back and sent her sprawling into the altar head-first.

“Don’t try to shock me again,” I warned her. “Information, now: Is the high priest in his room? How many guards, if any, does he have?” Turning her head around, the woman finally looked at me, then spat a single tooth out.

“I know nothing,” she declared.

“Wrong answer,” I replied, then I stomped the woman’s right calf, shattering the bone inside and bringing out a pained scream from her. “I know you know something, and you will tell me.” Torture wasn’t the best way to get information, but I was willing to give it a chance for the sake of saving time.

“You will kill me regardless,” the woman groaned. “It is your nature to kill everything you touch, and so you do. It is my nature to be faithful, and so I am. Every moment you waste here brings your annihilation ever closer.”

“And the suffering means nothing to you then?” I asked, squeezing the still-healing section of her leg painfully. No good, I thought, she’s not afraid to die, I can see it, she won’t give me anything. “Fine, have it your way,” I relented.

“All is life, death lasts but a single moment, the glory of existence cannot be stripped by such petty violence as yours,” the woman declared, pulling herself back into a kneeling position at the altar. Without another word, I cut her head off, then wiped my sword on her robes and left the room. Waste of time, I grumbled, should have just kept going. Stupid.

Back out in the hallway, I took a moment to orient myself then began jogging in the direction of the high priest’s room. A few people, startled by the sounds of my killing the cultist woman, came out of their rooms to investigate. I killed each of them in much the same way as I had the woman since each saw my face at some point. Few fought back at all, and those who did were pitifully inept with their chosen weapons. Weren’t these people supposed to be magic experts? I wondered, They’re weaker than the villagers of Suwlahtk.

I knew I had reached the high priest’s room when I saw the double doors at the end of the hallway. Every square centimeter of them was covered in engravings of the same angular text as I had seen on the papers in the library, and every engraving was filled with gold. Is gold just not that rare here? I wondered, it’s extremely puzzling that they would use a valuable material like this instead of keeping it for trade since they don't have electronics to use it in. I listened at the doors like I had at the previous ones, hearing nothing inside, then drew my weapon and kicked them open.

The opulent bedroom inside was something to behold. Fine rugs covered the floor, an ornate wooden double bed sat against the right wall, a study desk and padded chair sat against the left, and a chandelier made of gold hung from the ceiling, illuminating everything. Each wall itself was padded with the same velvet-like fabric that was used in high-quality Uwrish clothing, upon which various figures and scenes were painted. The sheer amount of wealth that had gone into creating the room gave me pause for a moment as I reflexively tried and failed to assign it a value.

“You took slightly longer than expected,” the high priest declared, standing in the center of the room in his robes, totally unarmed. Not even a guard, I thought, looking around and seeing nothing as I cautiously entered. “Come now, Rehv knows what is to happen, and he has told me. There is no need for pretense here.” Something about his speech made me think he was drawing me into a trap.

“If that’s the case, then why were you surprised when Vaozey arrived?” I asked, trying to buy time to figure out his scheme. Then suddenly, a hand was on my right shoulder, and my whole body was racked with pain from electric shocks. Where? I thought, There was nobody else here.

“We all play our parts,” the high priest said with a knowing smile. “The notion that one can truly do anything else is nothing but an illusion. Your part is to die, though not before we remove some useful items from you.” My mind raced, and I tried every muscle in every limb of my body, barely being able to move more than the fingers on my left side. I tried to burn the hand on my shoulder, but the magic wouldn’t activate, just like the last time I had been held in place with electric magic. Out of the corner of my vision, I saw a knife being brought into my line of sight, pointing at my eye.

Think! I yelled at myself, biting my cheeks by accident. The knife began to sink into my right eye, blurring as it passed by the iris and turned into a black smear. Sparks of rapid healing in my left cheek stung me, even as my right cheek failed to heal properly. Wait, I thought, magic is working on my left side. As I felt the knife beginning to hit my retina, I summoned up force magic to move my left arm and threw it over my right shoulder. Though it was numb, I felt it hit a face, and my fingers gripped it. Then, familiar heat magic activated beneath them.

Whoever was holding me, a man presumably by the tone of voice, screamed. The knife in my eye jerked deeper into my skull, but the electric magic decreased in intensity as well, allowing me to twist my head slightly to avoid the knife hitting my brain. The man’s hand fell off his weapon and it fell to the floor, but my left hand stayed in position, and I forced yet more magic out to cook him. A moment later, I was free, and I turned around to see a cultist dead on the floor behind me. Not in the same robes as the one downstairs, I thought, he wasn’t even a warrior, he was just like one of the ones from the hallway.

“This is not-” the high priest began, and I met his gaze. Fear, I thought, as it should be. Let's see this “Rehv” protect you now.

“I have questions, you will answer them,” I declared, the knife falling from my eye as it healed itself.

“You do not scare me jhaoyeyl,” the high priest replied. Then, he hung his head low and began muttering prayers, relaxing his entire body. Another meditative trance like the woman, I scowled, walking over to the priest and kicking him in the chest. He slid across the rug, then opened his eyes and looked at me. Blue eyes, I noted, I didn’t think much of it before since they’re somewhat common on Earth, but that really is unusual for this place.

“The noypeyyoyjh, where is its exact location?” I demanded. “How many guards are there at the site? What is the best point of entry? How can I enter without starting a fight?”

“You will not sully the verteyzeyr’rehv,” the priest spat. He got back to his knees, entered a praying position just like the woman had, and closed his eyes once more. I suppose a bit of honesty might work, I thought, not that he’ll believe me, most likely.

“I was sent here to fix it,” I told him. The praying paused for a moment, then began again. “I was told by the one who sent me that the site was malfunctioning and required repair.”

“Your lies mean nothing,” the priest muttered. “All a being such as you can do is lie and kill, do not think me a fool.” I kicked the priest once again, my boot connecting with his jaw and smashing his teeth to fragments. He fell back, coughing, but did not cease his prayer. Instead, while still muttering, he got back to his knees and slowly began spitting out broken teeth as new ones began to grow in slowly.

“What do you know about me?” I demanded. “How did you know I would be here?”

“Rehv knows all that happens in the world,” the priest replied, slurring some of his words because his teeth hadn’t yet grown back. “Your every move is known to him, and all life dances to his whims.” Fine then, I thought as I sheathed my sword, let’s see how he responds to this. With a mental flex, I summoned an orb of light in my right hand, then brightened it until I knew the priest could see it even through his eyelids.

“Rehv told you about me?” I asked. “Who is he? What method did he use? What technology is involved?” Though I didn't do it intentionally, the orb of light increased in brightness as I spoke.

“Your shayahmoyteyv miracles do not scare me, jhaoyeyl,” the priest replied. “You sully Rehv’s gift to the world with your hands. If I am to die, I will die, it is but a momentary inconvenience. You have no power to inconvenience me beyond that.”

“Open your eyes and answer my questions,” I ordered. The priest ignored me, instead increasing the speed and volume at which he was praying. With his words reaching my ears more clearly, I could make out some words. It sounds like Uwrish, but different, I thought, it’s almost like it’s a sister language. What was that one I heard about? Old Dahmpiyahn? Maybe it's that.

“O wvehpaoeyz Rehv, hhael will be done by the naazeyzh of time itself, and hhael hand sculpts sihm itself,” the priest murmured. “Spare not this neyfahmoyt creature from your will, but grant him the peace of leroydh that your wpihz is with him.” I wasn’t quite sure about the details, but once I accounted for syllabic drift I could get some meaning from the priest’s speech.

“I will not ask you again,” I warned. “If you comply, this can be over quickly.”

“Every moment that you exist is an affront to the world,” the priest said, his tone serene. “You are lost without Rehv’s guidance, jhaoyeyl. You know nothing. You will learn nothing. You will truly die, if it is even possible to consider one so far from Rehv to be alive in the first place, and you will not prevent Rehv’s word from-” I grabbed the priest’s right hand, yanking it upwards, then drew my sword. In a single swing, I severed his upper arm just below the shoulder, then tossed the limb away into the corner of the room.

“I only need your tongue, lungs, and brain intact,” I told him. “Any part of you that does not support the function of those organs is optional.” The priest winced as his aged regeneration closed the broken skin of his new stump, then went back to praying. “Fine then, I’ll take the other one as well,” I shrugged, pulling his left arm up and lopping it off.

“The physical form is just a container,” the priest said, hiding the pain in his voice. “You are a fool, denying your own knowledge to act out a habit, as you are accustomed to ignorance. If your petty tricks were turned on you they would not work, so why would they work on me? Pain is nothing, the mind cannot be harmed.”

“You should speak to an associate of mine about that,” I scoffed. “I’m pretty sure he’d disagree with you. Do I need to move onto the legs next?”

“Do as you will,” the priest replied, then he closed his eyes again and resumed his prayer.

After making the high priest small enough to transport, I ensured he had his identifier and documentation in his robes then wrapped his unconscious body in one of the sheets from his bed, making a crude bag. Vaozey probably has just as much interest in what he knows as I do, I thought, I'm sure she has some place in that sewer we can hide him even someone comes looking. Hoisting the bag and throwing it over my shoulder, I walked back out into the hallway to see a familiar, masked face with a similarly improvised bag made of blankets staring back at me.

“Where have you been?” I asked. Koyl winced, looking away from my gaze.

“I was just looking for valuables,” he replied. He shifted his bag, and I heard the sound of metal clanking together.

“Have minutes at most before the fire in the lobby goes out,” I said. “Once it does, Rehvites might start escaping.”

“What!?” Koyl yelled in shock. “I was only up here for…” his voice trailed off, and his eyes scanned side to side for a moment. “Shit,” he swore. The guards could have seen the fire as well, I thought, There weren’t any on the street when we arrived though, and that oil is smokeless, so we might get lucky.

“Can you run with that?” I asked, gesturing to Koyl’s bag.

“Yeah, but-” he began to protest.

“I suggest you follow me downstairs,” I said. “We need to get Vaozey and leave before we are found out.”

“Wait, don’t tell me your bag has the-” Koyl began, looking horrified.

“We don’t have time for this,” I snapped. “Shut up and follow me, now.”