After the first few traps on the stairwell leading down from the roof to the top floor of the administrative building, Raith double-checked his arrow. Indeed, it pointed straight down at a slight angle, indicating that while they were perhaps not directly above it, they would definitely find the artifact somewhere in the floors below. Raith had been worried this place would be an endless stream of traps with every step, but so far there were thankfully few in the hallway. Much of this top floor seemed to resemble offices, with massive quills, inkwells, and other various implements indicating matters of bureaucratic importance had once taken place in these halls.

  While exploring one of the rooms, checking carefully for traps each time he so much as breathed, Raith found a particularly colorful feathered quill that was nearly as tall as he was, with an oversized inkwell to match on top of a massive desk. On a whim, he stuffed it in his pouch of holding, purely for the novelty of having such an absurdly large writing implement. The quill’s weight almost pulled him sideways, which only made it funnier. He noticed a scroll holder with gold clasps in the top corners for holding it open, which he also struggled into his bag. Although only a small portion of the item was made of gold, the object was so large there was still more than enough to be extremely valuable. But even without the gold he found the novelty of these items amusing.

  He turned to see Nyhm and Thea staring at him. He shrugged.

  “It seemed like it would be a fun thing to have.”

  Nyhm just shook his head, one corner of his mouth turned down. But Thea’s eyes lit, and she smiled as she immediately began searching subsequent offices for her own silly oversized items to bring home. She soon found an enormous wax seal, hefting it with a grin.

  “I’m going to use this as a doorstop. Can you imagine?”

  Raith laughed, and even Nyhm cracked a smile.

  And so they went through the upper floor rifling through the ancient remnants of a bureaucratic office of long ago. Raith idly wondered how many species had come and gone and how many kingdoms had risen and fallen, yet somehow throughout these long millennia bureaucracy survived. Tolliver returned from another scouting run just as they approached the next stairwell down, which was also laden with several traps that Raith carefully disarmed.

  “The formor are taking this one much more slowly, but it isn’t as big of a building.”Raith gave him a nod of appreciation. They might not have much longer to get this done.

  The next floor was similar to the top, although the offices were much smaller and more numerous. Again, they found little of true value, perhaps with the exception of a massive crystal that had presumably been used as a paperweight, which Thea gleefully placed in her pouch. Throughout their explorations, Tolliver periodically came and went to report on the progress of the giants.

  The ground floor was a massive lobby with a mosaic floor depicting a symbol Raith didn’t recognize and his [Skill] could not decipher. He took a moment to sketch it in his library out of curiosity, perhaps to look up later. A peek out the window caused him to quickly duck as a passing patrol of bone horrors tromped by. Thank the Weavers none of them gave a glance toward the window.

  He wasn't clear what rules the dungeon was playing by at this point, but he was grateful that whatever they were, the monsters weren't entering this particular building. It was a welcome reprieve from their anxiety-ridden vigilance, giving him space to address the traps here. Even so, he resolved to remain alert. The dungeon had proved its rules could change at a moment’s notice, and with no warning.

  The door to the basement was found in a back room behind a complicated lock that Raith struggled with for some time while standing atop a massive chair the others had helped him drag over to access the mechanism. When he finally got it unlatched, he was thankful to find that these massive doors were either engineered or enchanted to open with virtually no effort.

  The stairs below were ominously untrapped. That alone made his skin crawl. Raith took extra time to examine each step, nook, and cranny on the way down, constantly imagining the tiniest misstep ending with one of his friends dead. His hands trembled by the third landing, not from fatigue but from the pressure of absolute certainty at the consequences of his failure.

  They finally reached the bottom to find three rooms: one ahead with a closed door, and two more to either side of a large foyer. His arrow pointed unerringly left, but a glimmer from the other side caught their attention. To the right was a room with seven pedestals, each holding a piece of armor composed of shining purple scales that glowed faintly in the absolute darkness of this basement within a dungeon. Accompanying the five pieces of armor was a marvelous sword and a great bow, all of which were sized for giants. Even Nyhm stood in awe of these massive artifacts of the ancient past, trying to imagine the might of whichever warrior would have wielded such magnificent weapons.

  Raith examined the enchantments woven through them and was almost blinded by the strength of the rune-phrases etched within each one.They paused at the entrance, and Raith held out a hand.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “There are traps with almost every step going into that room. I can count at least a dozen just at a glance.”

  Nyhm looked at him consideringly.

  “Are they all on the floor? Give me one of your bags and I can walk in and grab the items.”Raith was about to agree when he noticed the pedestals themselves were also trapped. He shook his head. “No, that won’t work. The pedestals are trapped too. Let me see how long it’ll take to disarm these.”

  He knelt to examine the first one, just in time for Tolliver to appear, panting heavily from exertion. “They’ve left the bank,” he said between breaths. “They left the bank and they’re headed this way.”

  A chill ran down Raith’s spine. Thea stared longingly at the artifacts as they all realized they may not have time to recover them. Even Nyhm’s expression flickered with regret. Raith turned to Tolliver. “Are they coming here specifically? To this building?”

  Tolliver shook his head. “I don’t think so, but it’s hard to tell.”

  Raith cursed again. They turned away from the armor of the gods and moved toward the other room. Raith paused briefly by the closed door, but Thea touched his arm.

  “Don’t even open it. We don’t have the time, and knowing what’s back there will only make this harder.”

  She was right. They proceeded to the left where his arrow continued to point. This room was similar to the one on the right, but on these pedestals stood various artifacts rather than weapons of war. An ancient horn, twisted yet perfect, to which Raith’s arrow pointed. Another pedestal held a perfect glass sphere through which he could see an inverted version of the room beyond. A wand of blackened wood sat on one pedestal beside another of silvered bark. An intricately carved puzzle box and a simple golden ring occupied the last two pedestals.

  Thea gestured around at the magnificent items.

  “Besides, it’s not like we’re leaving empty-handed.”Raith grinned, and she returned it.

  He examined the traps, then puffed out his cheeks and let out a slow breath. This would take a while, and he’d better recover the key first.

  As he worked through each floor trap, Tolliver periodically returned to report on the progress of the giant-kin. Each update made Raith’s shoulders tighten. The giants were powerful, tireless, and closing in. With every click of a pin or shift of a pressure plate, he imagined heavy footsteps shaking the floor above them.

  They all breathed a silent sigh of relief when the [Mage] announced that the enemy group was heading toward the first location the Earl had indicated, which meant the formor’s intel was good…aside from the misdirection the Forgotten Ones had seeded into their ranks. It was a rare occasion to be thankful the enemy had good intelligence, but this was an exception.

  Raith worked slowly through the traps, hyper-aware of every minuscule click and shift.Examine the mechanism. Pause. Check his books. Return to the subtle manipulations of these ancient traps. Each minute that passed for his team was hours for him, and his brow poured with sweat from the strain.

  Raith glanced back to see Thea practicing with the dexterity of her root-fingers, or were they tentacles? She slowly unfurled them one at a time to place a seed on the ground and then delicately pick it back up. He smiled to see her improving so quickly thanks to Selene’s gift and her own fierce determination, then returned to his work.

  He retrieved the horn first, double-checking his arrow to ensure it was indeed the “key” they had sought. Raith resisted the urge to put it to his lips and blow it just to see what might happen. He quickly stuffed it into his satchel, causing the arrow in his mind’s eye to vanish, then turned to the other items.

  He shot a questioning glance at Tolliver before starting on the traps. Tolliver gave a hesitant nod.

  “I think we have time. They’re still at the second building.”

  Raith renewed his focus and methodically recovered each priceless item. As he claimed the last one, he turned back to his friends with a smile.

  “Maybe we have time for that other room.”

  Tolliver had just returned from another run and shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’re already heading this way.”

  With a curse, the team hurried back upstairs.

  “How much longer do we have on those potions?” Nyhm asked.

  “I’m pretty sure they’ve run out,” Raith said. “Tolliver, have the shrikes noticed you?”

  “No, but I’ve been avoiding them just in case.”

  “All right, let’s proceed as if the potions have worn off.”

  They paused before stepping back out onto the roof. Tolliver went first to ensure no flying patrols spotted them the moment they stepped free of the doorway. After declaring the coast clear, the team made their way outside and back down the building’s side, resuming their slow, stealthy darting through the city streets and buildings.

  As they made their way toward the giant pyramid that held the aethercore, Tolliver continued to monitor the formor's progress. He soon reported they were only a few blocks from the giant-kin, who were passing the other direction toward the building they had just left. The team froze at this news, straining their ears and sight, but the tall buildings kept the formor too far away to detect.

  “The second they see all those disarmed traps, they’re going to know we aren’t alone in here,” Raith said. “That’s going to change things.”

  Thea’s face tightened and she gave a subtle nod. “We don’t have to get the aethercore. We can down those haste potions and run for it.”

  Tolliver nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds like a splendid idea. The sooner we’re out of here, the better.”

  Raith looked at his brother, who wore a deep frown. Nyhm didn’t need to say a word for Raith to know the elfling’s opinion on abandoning Sabik to his imprisonment.

  “We need to at least try to get the core. There’s no reason to think the key will be there, so maybe the giant-kin won’t come looking.”

  Tolliver lifted his nose slightly.

  “For one, the formor will almost certainly wish to claim the aethercore for themselves. It would be foolish to leave it here, given that they assuredly have the power to claim it. Second, it is not the formor who concern me. You said the core guardians will be these creatures in their final stage of evolution. We can hardly defeat such foes.”

  “We won’t have to,” Raith said with far more confidence than he felt. “We’ll sneak in and snag that thing before they even know we’re there.”