Chapter 5 - The Night of Black Glass
The moon was hidden behind thick, dark storm clouds as rain lashed against the granite walls of the Royal Citadel. Water gushed through the stone gargoyles, masking the sounds of iron grappling hooks catching onto the high parapets of the western wing.
Leo, Lyra, and a small strike team of five elite rebels climbed the sheer cliff face, using the raging thunderstorm as cover.
"The vault is three levels below the throne room," Lyra whispered, her voice muffled by her wet leather collar as they slipped through an upper stained-glass window. "Guarded by the King's personal shadow-guard. They do not sleep, and they do not feel pain."
"Then we don't fight them," Leo said, checking his daggers. "We move past them."
They navigated the dark, silent hallways of the palace. Leo moved with ghost-like precision—a skill honed through years of surviving in the cutthroat alleys of the lower slums. He knew every loose floorboard and shadow instinctively, guided by faint memories of a childhood spent in these very corridors.
They reached the grand descent—a massive spiral staircase carved from black obsidian, leading deep into the bedrock beneath the castle. Two towering shadow-guards, clad in midnight-black plate armor and wielding double-headed halberds, stood motionless before the heavy iron vault door.
Lyra reached for her bow, but Leo laid a hand on her shoulder. "Watch," he whispered.
He pulled a small vial of highly flammable alchemical oil from his pouch—a trick learned from street thieves—and tossed it silently toward a decorative suit of armor forty yards down the adjacent corridor. A second later, he flicked a tiny flint stone.
THUMP.
A sudden burst of localized fire exploded down the hall, knocking over the heavy suit of armor with a deafening metallic crash.
The two shadow-guards turned instantly, their heavy boots clanking rhythmically as they moved to investigate the disturbance.
"Now," Leo hissed.
They darted forward. Leo reached the massive vault door, which had no keyhole—only a sunken, sword-shaped indentation in the center of the solid steel plate.
Leo hesitated for a fraction of a second. He pulled his sleeve back, pressed his left shoulder directly into the cold metal slot, and closed his eyes.
For a moment, nothing happened.
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Then, a low, ancient hum resonated through the stone floor. The sword mark on Leo's skin began to glow with a blinding, golden light. Lines of fiery red runes lit up across the iron vault door as the ancient mechanisms unlocked with a series of heavy, thundering clicks.
The vault swung open.
