The Pyrenees mountains serve as a natural border between Spain and France. Stretching for more than 600 kilometres, from the Atlantic all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, they create a significant physical and cultural divide between the two countries.

  But the Seredums sensed that this border was radiating an arcane presence at certain areas along its peaks. Both Faris and the sisters ruled out some of it as either naturally dense spots of magical energy or known Cultist areas. But one location caught their attention – the triangle between Plateau de Beille, Grotte de Lombrives or the Cave of Lombrives, and Vicdessos Valley.

  The plateau was high, foggy, and isolated, and the valley was remote, rugged, and dotted. But there was more. The Cave was one of Europe’s largest and always a hot spot for demon worshippers once continuously monitored by the Outsiders. The Valley had networks of abandoned tunnels and mines many a time used by Cultists and arcane wrongdoers.

  Ki flow of the entire area felt disturbed and tampered with. But according to the Eye’s records, there should have been no Cults in this particular area at the particular time.

  “Feels a bit too odd,” Faris mused. The Seredums had led them to just outside Vicdessos village, up a narrow winding road with a dead-end in the dark. “Ki networks are blurred. This is some complicated interference.”

  Upon the senior Mystic’s advice, everyone suppressed and masked their Ki.

  “What could be causing it?” Erina asked. She knew Faris was more experienced. He had dealt with Cults all his life, had worked with the likes of Mustaqeem, Ambris, and even Warren, and understood the many intricacies of Ki better than most.

  “I have a few theories,” he replied, “but we’ll have to go deeper to be sure.”

  The village below was mostly dark. Only a handful of street lamps were visible. Faris moved ahead and noticed a faded skiing poster on an information board. Another board next to an old abandoned stone building up the trail had a schematic of old mining paths.

  Reading the signs, Faris said, “I can sense Ki residue all over this region. But it seems to be coming from under the ground.”

  “Exactly,” Eila responded. “That’s exactly what we read as well. The plateau and the cave up ahead, and this valley… they’re all the same. It’s an odd triangle of Ki disturbances that shouldn’t be here.”

  “Master Naji.” Ella moved a step closer.

  Faris finally looked back. “Yes, Ella?”

  “What should we do now?”

  He thought for a moment. “Divide and conquer…” He sighed. “Let’s split up. That way, we’ll cover more ground and save some time.” Pointing at her, he said, “You and me, we’ll go deeper into the valley.” Looking at the sisters, he added, “You ladies should move on to look at the cave. I think you’d be better suited to go there then us…”

  Erina nodded. “Understood.”

  Avoiding the village, the Mystic duo moved down to the Valley floor. They followed a narrow forest path with old mining rails half-buried in moss. It was tough to follow the blurred trails of Ki and even tougher to follow an abandoned path in the dark of the night. But the deeper they went, the stronger the signals became. They could sense the Ki pulsating stronger and stronger.

  Along the path, they found small, barred tunnel mouths some of which had been sealed shut with chains and locks. Rest of the tunnels had old dusty signage indicating that they had caved in. Some rusted cart frames were also lying around with broken tools.

  Eventually, Faris stopped at one tunnel mouth and asked Ella to wait. He moved closer. There were chains blocking the path.

  “Hey, Ella,” he said. “Come over here…”

  Ella walked over.

  “Can you sense it?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “What is that? Ki?”

  Unlike usual Ki which flowed in natural random patterns, they could feel a subtle hum pulsating like vibration – mechanical, patterned.

  She looked at him. “That’s too regular to be Ki… isn’t it?”

  Faris brought out a dagger and in one swipe cut the chains down. They brought out torches from their umro bags and entered the tunnel. At first glance, the place felt abandoned. But then they started seeing signs indicating otherwise.

  “Look at that…” Faris pointed at a trail of footsteps. “Those look fresh to me.”

  Ella leaned closer. “I agree.”

  A little deeper and they noticed light coming from around the corner. They switched off their torches and approached cautiously.

  “Do you hear that?” Faris whispered. Ella nodded.

  They could hear a sound now. Its pattern resembled the humming they felt outside.

  Faris peeked around the corner – a few bulbs were hung from the wall lighting the path inward. He waited and observed for a few moments. He could feel no Ki signature inside except for the pulsating odd energy.

  ‘A deep tunnel like this creates a Ki pocket anyway,’ he thought. ‘There’s natural Ki all around. And then that damned hum is making it even tougher.’

  He slowly moved in, Ella followed close behind. They kept going in and the noise kept getting louder. Eventually, they reached the end of the tunnel and found a large diesel generator there.

  Stunned, the duo observed for a few moments before looking around. They could find nothing else. It was a dead end. A few wires from the generator were going into the ground and the walls on the side of it, but there was no room, no control unit, nothing.

  “What on earth is this all about?” Ella asked, frustrated. “It’s just a generator.”

  Faris shook his head. “Something’s going on here that we don’t fully understand.”

  “Maybe the humming vibration and sound from this generator is what’s keeping us from sensing any Ki.”

  “These are physical vibrations, Ella. They don’t interact directly with Ki.”

  “Evidence to the contrary…”

  “It’s not possible. There must be something else.”

  Thereafter, they headed back out. Before they could get to the exit however, Faris stopped Ella. His senses were sharper, she could not tell, there were two men standing at the tunnel mouth observing the broken chains.

  The senior Mystic tried but could not establish a stable telepathic link between them. So, he got close and whispered, “Two men at the entrance… We have to take them out but not before we understand what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.”

  Ella nodded. “I’ll phase through and attack from behind…”

  “No.” Faris shook his head. “The Ki here is unstable. I don’t want you getting sealed inside the walls…”

  “So?”

  “Turn off the light, follow me, and let’s just observe.”

  They moved slowly, torches off, and stopped a safe distance away. They saw the two men wearing black cloaks. They had held the broken chains in their hands. Faris noticed something else – one of the two had a walkie-talkie with him.

  Before he could radio for help or report the broken chains, Faris shot a dagger straight at the walkie-talkie. And before the broken device could even hit the ground, he rushed at the cloaked men. They noticed too late and could not avoid. He came jumping out of the tunnel entrance with legs stretched wide and kicked them both in the face simultaneously.

  As he then proceeded to knocking one of them out with a swift hit on the head, the other one attempted to get back up. But before he could, Ella came rushing at him and gave him a swift hit in the back of his neck knocking him out cold as well.

  Faris nodded, smiling. “Nice.”

  Now that they were outside, Ella could sense the elements in the surrounding a lot better. There was distortion still, but she noticed something unusual.

  “Hey, Master Naji,” she said as she stopped and looked down at the ground. “I can sense an underlying energy here.”

  Faris dragged the cloaked men to the edge of the tunnel and began wiping their memory clean.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “Could you describe what you’re feeling?”

  “It’s… I don’t know…” She took a deep breath then looked around. “It’s eerily similar…”

  “Similar to what?” Memories had been wiped. Faris threw both men into the tunnel and then began tying the chains back on the mouth of the tunnel.

  Ella looked at him. “We visited a Keeper’s Post with Master Baylis. I felt a presence like this over there.”

  Faris smiled as he looked over. “Dig deeper. It is similar, but dig deeper. With all this distortion it’s tough to tell, but there’s a difference between this and that.” Looking back at the chains, he said, “There’s something here deep underground… or at least there used to be…”

  The senior Mystic got done with the chains and began moving on. Ella followed him once again.

  As they walked through the valley, they found more tunnels. Some of them hosted similar generators, some had old ritualistic carvings on the walls and altars with demonic symbols, while some were stretching and expanding deep underground. There were crates of supplies: food, fuel, medical stuff – enough to suggest a sizable settlement deeper in.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The Mystics kept their distance. The moment they saw guards or other defences, they stopped, tried to send Ki markers inward to understand the scope of the settlements, and then quietly left. This was just a reconnaissance mission. All they needed was information and they were gathering plenty of it.

  Eventually, stepping out of one of these deeper tunnels, Ella stopped. “Polarity… that’s the best word I can come up with.”

  Faris nodded, smiling. “Good. You’re perceptive. A natural Mystic…”

  “What?”

  “Tell me more…”

  Faris began moving again. Ella took a few seconds, but then rushed and caught up with him.

  “The Ki I sensed at the Post and the weird energy here both have a different feeling,” Ella explained.

  “How?” Faris asked.

  “Tch! I don’t know!”

  “Articulate… you can feel it. Explain it.”

  “It’s like… it’s like this Ki is repelling my senses… or from my senses. That one was not doing anything like this.”

  “Brilliant!” Faris smiled and looked at her. “What you felt at the post was Universal Ki – a concept your people believe in but don’t bother exploring. And what you’re sensing here, kiddo, is pure and unfiltered Demonic Ki.”

  “What?!”

  “The Lombrives Cave, the one the Seredums are checking out right now, it sits atop a tectonic fault line.” He looked at her. “It has a spiritual side as well this fault line. It used to be a gateway to the Demonium, shut down by the masters of the Sanctum thousands of years ago.”

  “That’s what the demonic symbols in the caves were for!”

  “Yup… demon worshipping Cults always find there way to these parts to try and extract some spiritual benefits or what not… filthy bastards.”

  Ella was left dumbfounded and quietly followed Faris as they kept exploring and kept finding similar tunnels throughout the Vicdessos Valley.

  Elsewhere, the Seredums arrived at the Sainte Germaine thermal baths building which served as a landmark for accessing the nearby Lombrives Cave. Standing at the deserted roadside with the enormous dark silhouette of the ruined thermal building behind them, the sisters felt the Demonium leak like a cold draft bleeding from the direction of the cave mouth.

  Sensing odd anomalies, blurred Ki, and shivering Demonium residue, they decided to move into the cave. They got off the official trail and went into the tree covering beside it. Avoiding the subtle magic wards and the odd wizard sleeping in the shade of a tree, they made their way inside.

  In the dark, the trio relied on their metaphysical senses to show them the path. They noticed huge stone cathedrals, cold and echoing, long galleries with ancient graffiti, rare still pools, and occasional manmade walkways along the way. No trees, no plants, and no grass meadows – it was a dark, rock-and-water world.

  They found a lake inside. It appeared turquoise in colour – a striking luminous, mineral-heavy cave-water shade. Erina stopped and observed for a few moments. The still water was quiet but the Ki within was contaminated.

  “It reeks of demonic Ki from the fault underneath,” she commented. A few lines appeared on her forehead. “The Eye is supposed to keep such sites out of the reach of wizards at all costs!”

  Eila nodded. “Those wizards must have formed settlements here bathing in this vile water to strengthen their magic.”

  They felt movement on the other side of the lake. So, they decided to check. Quietly blending into the dark surroundings, they circled around the lake and found a huge chamber on the other side. It was more than 20 meters high. They peeked in. It was exactly as they feared – there was a small settlement of wizards inside.

  Stuck to a rock, Erina shook her head. “Look at those pentagrams.” She pointed at inverted pentagrams drawn on the ground up ahead. “They are siphoning the energy from the leak.”

  “This is bad,” Eira commented. “And these people must have spent quite some time here by now.”

  “Someone has to answer for this…”

  Eila asked, “Should we move deeper in?”

  Erina looked back at her. “I’m not sure. Should we not move to the rendezvous point and discuss with Master Naji first?”

  “I agree,” Eira said, nodding. “Master Naji has more field experience than any of us. He will know what’s the best course of action here. And what’s more unsettling is that there may be many more such settlements inside this cave. If we are spotted, we won’t be able to fight off all these wizards.”

  “But there is one thing…” Erina turned around and took a look at the town inside from over the rock once more. Sitting back down she said, “I can’t sense anyone in there who is as strong as the wizards the Zeta Squad faced in the forest.”

  The other sisters closed their eyes and tried sensing again.

  “There is a lot of disturbance, Demonium and otherwise,” said Eila.

  Eira added, “True, but we can’t be sure… can we?”

  “Then let’s go meet Master Naji and Ella and see what they have to say…”

  They moved swiftly, teleporting in short bursts to use less Ki and remain undetected, and soon arrived at the rendezvous point – the huge empty parking lot of the Beille station, Plateau de Beille. With dark silhouettes of ski lifts and signs advertising cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sledding in the background, they waited for Ella and Faris. Erina hugged herself. The breeze felt cooler than at the cave. Temperature here was only 10 degrees Celsius.

  Standing next to an empty cabin, the sisters waited until the Mystics arrived. They waved and they rushed over.

  Erina smiled, saying, “Judging by your expressions, you found exactly what we did as well…”

  Faris shook his head. “Entire settlements of the Hearth?”

  “Yes.”

  “What else?”

  “They’re siphoning energy from the Demonium fault.”

  “Obviously.”

  Faris kicked the ground as he clutched his hair with both hands.

  “This is exactly what happens,” he said, grinding his teeth. He spoke quietly, but his anger was evident in his tone. “Ambris killed the last of the Seekers and these idiots demolished the Outsiders. There’s no one left to take notice! The Eye no longer has eyes to see!”

  Seekers were never the strongest Martial Artists but their senses were sharper than many Zaatsus and Mystics. And as such it was their duty to do regular sweeps of the entire globe, monthly or sometimes weekly, to make sure no area was recording more or less arcane activity than usual. They would match their findings with older records and keep arcane activity in check.

  Erina nodded. “This is exactly the kind of activity that the Outsiders used to act against.”

  “And they always acted swiftly,” Eira added. “This would’ve never happened on their watch.”

  The Outsiders used the Eye’s outposts as bases of operation but their operatives were always spread around the globe. A family in a city, employees of a company in another state, farm owners in a certain province, shop-keepers in a particular town – the Outsiders had their people living among the population and watching for arcane activity from within.

  “What about the humming and the generators?” Ella asked.

  Erina looked at her with a narrowed gaze. “Generators?”

  The young Mystic hesitated and looked at Faris. He waited. So, she looked back at the Seredum and said, “That weird energy we felt, like a humming vibration, well… we found large diesel generators running inside tunnels in the Valley and… ah… the sound they were making… it resembles the humming we’ve been feeling here.”

  Erina leaned ahead. “Beg your pardon…”

  “The sound of the generators and the humming energy,” said Faris. “The two are quite similar.”

  As everyone paused and thought about the possibilities, the Mystic crossed his arms and leaned against the cabin wall. “Weird hum blocking senses, blurring Ki, demonic leak causing further distortion, and then weird generators and Cult settlements…” He shook his head and whispered, “This is messed up.”

  Erina smiled. “You will have to add a few more to that list.”

  “Go right ahead…”

  “Demonic Cult, Alchemist leader, stolen remnants, and dead Keeper.”

  “What could a demonic Cult want with the Xoitique Diamond anyway?” asked Ella. “They like Demonic energy, but the stone is Celestial Ki, right?”

  Faris nodded. “Yup.”

  “So, what’s their plan here?”

  “Demonic Ki and Celestial Ki usually cancel each other out. You’re right. It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Erina opined, “Could they break open the barrier and open a door to the Demonium?”

  “Oh, no, no.” Faris chuckled. “That was an actual threat with someone like Ambris. The best these guys can do is become vessels for demonic spirits to occupy… become demi-demons… vessels for pure demonic filth!”

  The senior Mystic looked at his younger counterpart and his smile quickly faded. “One word of advice, kiddo… don’t tell anyone, and I do mean anyone, about this.”

  “What?” She looked at him wide-eyed. “Why?”

  “Because all the Eye will do is dig up the whole place and blow it to smithereens!” After a slight pause, he said, “I’ll tell Hugo. You can talk to him about it. You can talk to Camille as well, but no one else. This needs to be investigated properly.”

  Pushing himself off the wall, he sighed. “We have to move on now.” He looked at Erina. “There’s a tunnel at the corner of the Valley. We felt a Celestial Ki residue there. And I’m sure you sisters can track it better than us. That’s our best bet right now at locating the Alchemist.”

  “Agreed.” The Seredum nodded. “We must find Derek. He has all the answers.”

  Half-smiling, Faris shook his head. “Nah. That guy doesn’t know jack-shit…”

  The Seredums looked at each other then back at Faris. “How do you figure?” asked Erina.

  “Think about it. If Derek had metaphysical abilities so strong that he could kill a Keeper, do you really think he would’ve had trouble defeating Hugo? Are you really going to believe that a guy who couldn’t defeat Hugo could kill a Keeper, blur your metaphysical senses and our spiritual ones, and orchestrate the building of this nest of demonic filth?” He shook his head. “I’m not buying it…”

  “What are you getting at, Master Naji?”

  “There’s something else at play here… I can’t lay a finger on it but there’s definitely something we’re missing.”

  The group went silent after that. A few moments later, Ella looked at Faris. Wide-eyed, she asked, “What about that bounty hunter – the White Bolt?”

  “What about him?” he reciprocated.

  “What’s his role in all this?”

  “I’m not sure.” The freelance Mystic shook his head. “No matter which way you look at it, he’s a variable that’s just not fitting in the equation.”

  Erina took a deep breath. “Who is he do you think?”

  “I don’t know.” Faris shook his head. “Hugo has his theories, but I’m not…”

  The Mystic went silent mid-sentence. He kept staring at Erina with wide open eyes.

  “What is it Master Naji?” she asked.

  Everyone’s heartbeats quickened. The Master Mystic was on to something. He had known legends, he had seen wars, he had seen betrayals, and he had spent time with men who had shaped the future. However, he was having a hard time speaking. All of it was connected. But how could it be? No one could have pulled it off. No one had the ability, no one in the world could even hope to effectively attempt it. He had known the best of the best. Yet even he could not think of anyone. An amalgamation of the worlds, an extension of wishful yet dangerous philosophies, and an inspiration… the kind that could jolt the world or usher it into a utopia.

  ‘Could it be?’ he thought. ‘Did we miss it? Was it really that simple? Did he…?’

  Ella stepped closer. “Master Naji?”

  “Master Vincent Von Bergen…” Faris murmured.

  “What?”

  He looked at her. “Master Vincent Von Bergen, the last chief Seeker… he once said that we are all standing at a junction in this post-modern era where the past is taking over the future while the present is getting erased.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  He shook his head as his expression changed. Lines appeared on his forehead, nostrils flared up, and he balled his fists. “Things we had buried are no longer dead. He’s being used just like the rest of us. We must find that Alchemist son of a bitch fast!”

  In the Moving Bazaar, Camille finally found Samir Haddad. She gave him three small coins and one large coin and asked him about the Devil’s Hearth.

  He looked around for a bit and then looked over his shoulders to make sure no one was watching.

  Then, the man moved ahead and leaned closer to Camille.

  In her ear, he whispered, “They are where the dead lay alive…”