Thresh reminds a colleague that in the Vault, it is important to be aware of your surroundings. Chapter contains violence.

A Well Deserved Tenure

Out of sight and out of mind of most that dwell on the Isles, the Vaults of Helia are where I dwell. I stride through the cold, sunless hallways of the Vaults. Flameless torches, glowing with a light that does not burn, cast icy shadows across the bone white marble. Here and there, the few other Wardens capable enough to work on this level slink along the walls or duck into cells as they see the white light of the torches washed away by the pale green glow that emanates from the lantern atop my staff. A few offer polite greetings, but say little more than that. They usually wish to interact with me as little as possible.

Today however, that has not been the case. Today I must escort a visitor from the higher, brighter, and less daunting levels of the Vaults. It is a task I loathe.

"I know I have complained about my solitude before but, oh, I would kill to be rid of this fool's chatter."

I glance at the man standing next to me; my colleague, though I detest thinking of him like that. Every so often, others of the order send someone down to inspect the containment of some of the lower vault's deadlier artifacts. They say that this is to check for mistakes, look for errors that the eyes of someone who stares at the same things day after day would miss.

"As if I would be so lax as to make a mistake like that?"

But if allowing this intrusion every other month is all it takes to keep them satisfied and out of my way, so be it. It does not however, make it any less irritating when I have to pause my personal work and move pieces of it to different sections of the vaults to avoid disapproving eyes. Eyes like those of the careless fool walking beside me.

"Warden Halle."

About my height but far more gangly and unkempt, Warden Halle ambles alongside me. We had been initiated into the order at the same time, though the only reason I believe he was allowed in at all was because his father, grandmother, uncle, and great aunt had all been Wardens before him. Halle himself was a dull man, content to follow after his superiors and never dare think that things could be improved. For the first week of our tenure, he would not cease chattering about the importance of upholding the traditions of our position and preserving the legacy of the Wardens who came before him.

"I know for a fact that there are trees on this island that have more personality than him."

It was Wardens like him, those content to keep things as they were, that allow the order to steadily fall to degradation through laziness. Wardens like him that could never see the value in my work.

"But that is why I was promoted to be Warden in charge of an entire section of the Vaults and his promotion, which must be a mistake to begin with, was only to advance up one rank in the hierarchy of those overseeing the higher levels."

I can sense through Halle's tone that he is approaching the end of his complaining and that he will likely want a response. Reluctantly, I force myself to pay more attention.

". . . so I understand why that scroll was locked away with that many binding runes, but that cursed hairbrush? Keeping it with the minor cursed objects I understand, but why add all those extra enchantments? It only turns your hair dull and gray like you have aged decades. Locking it so tightly away from others seems excessive, if you want my opinion."

"I never want his opinion."

"If this item intrigues you so," I reply, "why not petition to have it studied more? Perhaps it saps the years from the users' lives, not just the youth from hair? You should volunteer to have it tested on yourself."

"On myself?"

"Or if not you, perhaps another. I am sure you could produce a candidate."

The thought of using a cursed item of unknown strength on himself has made him turn a shade paler.

"No, I think we should continue studying it with oracle magic, even if what we learn is limited," he says, "testing on another human is unsettling. If we do not know what it does, how could we heal them afterwards? No, nothing so monstrous."

"If that is how you feel."

"Anyhow," Halle says, eager to shift the conversation to anything else, "can you believe how beautiful the sun has been the last few days?"

"Of all the mundane nonsense he could bring up. . . "

"I wouldn't know," I state bluntly, "I don't leave the Vaults much these days."

"Ah, right. Well, that's a shame. Warm sun and that soft breeze of the ocean, you could not ask for better weather."

There is something about the tone in which he says this that I don't like. It almost sounds like he's smirking.

"Is he mocking me?"

"How fortunate for you that you have enough idle time to enjoy it," I say, "regrettably I have responsibilities to our order that must be tended to."

"The grape harvest has begun as well," he continues as if he didn't hear me, "even if you can't get out to enjoy the sunshine, maybe I could have someone bring down a bunch of fresh grapes for you. Maybe. It's the least we could do for such a diligent worker."

"He can attempt to mock me all he wants; he won't get a rise out of me."

"How kind," I comment dryly.

He makes another sound that could be a smirk or could simply be a grunt of acknowledgement, and we keep walking.

We pause before an imposing door sealed shut with four locks; three to be opened with keys and one to be opened with an incantation. Tucked beneath my coat, several rings of keys are chained to my belt. There are thirty-eight keys between all the rings, but it only takes me a second to select the correct one; the reward for always remaining organized. This single key is all that is needed for all three locks, but they must be unlocked in a specific order, otherwise an alarm will sound.

"Second lock, first lock, third lock."

The soft sound of shifting mechanisms inside the door reaffirms the correct turning of the locks, leaving just the magical lock to remove. I place my finger to the circle of glyphs that surround the door handle. Quietly, I recite the release incantation for the ward and run my finger over the glyphs. Silvery magic wisps away from the handle with a sound like a sigh. It is now safe to open the door.

The heavy door scrapes over the stone floor as I pull it open. A rush of cold air fills the hall as Halle takes a cautious peek into the dark. I have to suppress an urge to shove him down the whole flight.

In this next level lower, there is even less light. Flameless torches illuminate the first few stairs of the downward spiral, and another can be seen further down, but between the safe glow of the torches there are several unseen steps.

"Afraid of the dark, Warden Halle?"

"No," he responds instantly, "it is just difficult to see. That is all."

"That is what the lantern is for. Go on."

I motion for him to step through the doorway and, with reluctance, he goes. The door is closed behind us and I lock it once more, sealing us off from the rest of the order. Halle jumps at the sound of it. He presses himself against the wall to allow me to pass so that my lantern can illuminate the dark descent.

"I don't believe I have ever been this deep," Halle comments.

"Few have."

"Dark, claustrophobic, cold, miserable –"

"Yes," I cut him off, "I know the condition of this place."

"And does it bother you? Don't you get lonely?"

"What does it matter? Do you suggest that we make the artifacts feel comfortable by wasting resources to make sure each room and cell is well lit and perfumed with fresh flowers?"

"Of course not. I simply feel bad that you have to spend most of your day toiling down here in this miserable place."

He gives me a false smile as he says this.

"Now I know, without any doubt, he is mocking me."

"Do not lie," I say sharply, "you have never cared for me."

"True," he says with a shrug, "but I can still find the situation in which you find yourself to be a pitiful one. All alone, with nothing but cursed objects to keep you company, whispering horrid things to you as, from every direction, silence closes in."

"Hah," I bark out a laugh, "no, it is not as silent here as you think it is."

I stop before a hallway of cells that are, as far as the Wardens above believe, are completely empty. I take a loop of chained keys from my belt and slam them against the wall. The metallic sound echoes down the hall and I know that someone at the end can hear it.

"Quite a few places down here have a terrific echo," I say loud enough so that my words bounce back to me.

Loud enough so that that poor, bound sod at the end knows that there is someone else close by. So close to help, but still so far. Halle will never suspect that the last cell in the hall is occupied.

"I can have an entire conversation with myself down here if I felt like it," I continue to speak, giving my own false smile as I do so, "I am the best company available down here."

I force a laugh and the sound of it booms down the hall. Halle looks nervous at this sudden burst of mirth. A weak smile forms on his face, accompanied by an even weaker laugh.

"Mock me all you want, Halle. Your words are weak and will not affect me."

A rough clap on the shoulder is what I give Halle before pushing him to continue to further into the Vault.

"Let us go," I say, "and finish your inspection. I believe you said that there were only three down here you needed to check."

Halle scowls back at me and I return the ill-tempered look with a spurious smile.

"Let's take care of this as quickly as we can so that you do not have to spend another moment here in this dark, claustrophobic, cold, and miserable place."

I quicken my pace, taking the lantern's light with me.

"I control the light. I have that power."

Behind me, I can hear Halle's rapid steps catching up to my longer strides.

"Grael, wait."

"Warden Grael," I correct, "Do not be so informal. Address me with my title."

"Warden Grael," he huffs.

Though I do not turn to look, I can imagine his eyes rolling as he says this.

"Wait, please."

I slow my pace the smallest amount, but it is enough to let Halle catch up.

"I do not understand your obsession with titles," he grumbles, "We are all Wardens here. Why do you care?"

"Because, Warden Halle," I answer, "the title this position grants was one that had to be acquired through years of study. It should be respected and it should be used. Furthermore, we may all be Wardens, but I outrank you. The very minimal you could do is speak to me with respect that is owed to this position I have earned."

"Earned it?"

"Yes. I earned this rank through diligent work and the recognition of my colleagues. I am the Warden of Thresholds for the lowest levels of the Vaults, where the most dangerous items are contained and where that one Warden has sole responsibility for their safekeeping and sole authority of what goes on here. You, you are but a Warden of Thresholds, class two, for the first level, scarcely trusted to look over even the most mundane of curses."

Laughter booms through the Vaults. Halle's laughter.

"Such arrogant talk, speaking as if Head Warden isn't a rank above even your lofty, or should I say lowly, position. Speaking of which, do you really believe that you were given it because you earned it?"

"Of course," I snap, "nobody else would be befitting of the position."

He laughs again.

"How dare he!"

"Oh, I disagree," Halle says with an undeniable smirk, "you are the most deserving of this position, but not for the reasons you think. There were others who were just as qualified, but nobody was as deserving as you, Warden Grael."

"And what do you mean by that?" I hiss.

"I think you know. You keep claiming to be so clever, after all."

I don't say anything. An unpleasant feeling pulses through me, making my heart skip a beat and my stomach feel like it is full of lead. Unwanted thoughts flit through me, suspicions I have held in my mind for months. I feel as though I should retort, say something, but words escape me. I stop walking.

Halle continues to speak.

"I don't' know how, but I know you are responsible for Head Warden Rastofir's death. And I am not the only one who thinks so. So, even if we can never prove that it was you, we will never allow you to have his position."

Like a hot poker in my chest, anger radiates through me.

"How dare he! How dare he say such things! How dare he, or anyone in the order, hold me back from what I deserve! His rank- He has no authority to criticize what I have done to improve this order, not while he has so many flaws of his own!"

I glare at his back as he continues to walk away from me.

"Carelessness, for example. Warden Halle, so smug that you are suddenly no longer concerned about what lurks in the dark. You should be more careful. If you believe me to be a threat, you should have never turned your back on me."

"So I suggest that you get comfortable with never being anything more than the Warden of Thresh-"

CRACK!

I cudgel the back of Halle's head with my staff. He crumples to the floor. Blood oozes from the laceration behind his ear. His arms are shaking as he tries to push himself back up and wheeze out a shocked question.

"Grael, what are you –"

CRACK!

Again, I bring down my staff on him, this time striking his shoulder in a way I know will dislocate it. There is an audible pop followed quickly by a sharp cry and a thud onto the cold floor.

CRACK!

Now the other shoulder is useless as well. Halle won't be going anywhere anytime soon. All he can do is gasp in pain. From my pocket I take out a cloth and clean the blood from my staff. It would be unfortunate for it to be stained with a fool's blood.

"Now what to do with you," I muse aloud, "I believe you have already realized that I can't let you leave these Vaults anymore.

"You, you can't," Halle blubbers, his words slow as his mind reels from being struck.

"I can, and I do not believe you will be able to stop me. Don't worry too much though. I will make sure the others find your body after several months or so. It's a labyrinth down here and it is so easy to get lost if you don't know the way. Oh, what a sad story I will tell, how you must have seen something and run off down the halls only to get lost and fall prey to some awful artifact. If only you had stayed in the lantern's light, but you didn't trust me. You wanted to inspect these items without me hovering over your shoulder so that your report would be genuine and untainted by my presence. What a shame."

I walk around to his side and kneel down on one knee beside him and pull his head up so I can watch his expression.

"What," he whimpers.

"What am I going to do? I'm just going to perform my duties as Warden of this level. If I am to be stuck in this position forever, I may as well perform them to the fullest, which means learning what each and every artifact in this Vault is capable of."

His eyes go wide with realization. It was a well-known fact among the Wardens that most of the deadlier curses only showed their full capabilities when given something to inflict them on.

"Horror, what a delightful expression."

"There is this one item that intrigues me so," I continue, "and now I can finally learn what it can do. Do not despair too much. You will be providing valuable knowledge to the order. Thank you for your sacrifice, Warden Halle."

THUD!

I slam his head against the stone with enough force to knock him out.

"Silence again at last."