Dawn Walker

The man shook his head quickly. His face had become pale, and sweat gathered along his forehead even though the morning air was cool.

"I do not know what it is."

"What did you see?"

"A box."

The answer came out weakly. The servant glanced toward the mansion entrance as if he feared Dickoff might somehow hear him from inside. His fingers kept rubbing against the side of his trousers, trying to wipe away sweat that immediately returned.

Sekhmet’s attention sharpened.

"What kind of box?"

"Black wood. Old wood. I did not touch it. Lord Dickoff would not allow anyone near it."

"Was it large?"

"No, lord. Small enough to hold with both hands."

The servant raised his hands slightly to show the size, but lowered them again when he noticed Vera and Vela watching him. Mira’s expression became more serious. A small box did not require an entire treasury unless the thing inside it was far more dangerous than its appearance suggested. Lily looked toward Sekhmet. She did not understand artifacts as well as Mira, but she could feel that the information had changed the situation.

The servant continued because fear had already broken his remaining loyalty.

"There were many chaos stones brought into the hall. Storage cases and storage rings. Lord Dickoff ordered the entire treasury emptied. He even opened the emergency reserves that the previous Iron House master had sealed. The steward tried to question him, but Lord Dickoff shouted at everyone and ordered them to continue."

Sekhmet became still.

Vera and Vela both looked toward the mansion entrance. They had expected hidden guards, formations, or perhaps another group sent by Mihos. They had not expected Dickoff to gather the remaining wealth of his house in one room.

"How many chaos stones?" Sekhmet asked.

The servant swallowed.

"All of them."

"That is not a number."

The man tried to remember. His eyes moved slightly as he repeated the words he had overheard during the counting.

"The steward said more than one hundred million low-grade chaos stones when converted by energy value. There were a few stronger stones among them too, but I do not know their exact number."

The courtyard became silent again.

Mira’s eyes widened slightly before she controlled her reaction.

"One hundred million."

She understood exactly what that amount represented. It was enough to operate a powerful merchant house for years, hire a large number of guards, restock several warehouses, or begin rebuilding everything Iron House had lost. Dickoff had chosen not to rebuild. He had placed all of it inside one room.

Lily looked confused by the purpose rather than the number. "Why would he bring all of it into one room?"

"To power something," Mira answered. "Something that his own chaos energy cannot activate."

That was the obvious conclusion.

A black wooden box had entered Iron House after Dickoff returned from outside the city. He had emptied the entire remaining treasury and prepared more than one hundred million low-grade chaos stones around the central hall. No ordinary weapon required that much energy. Even many powerful artifacts could be activated by their owner without destroying an entire house’s wealth.

Mihos had given him something.

Something expensive enough that the full remaining wealth of Iron House was only fuel for it.

Sekhmet looked toward the closed doors. He could not feel the object from this distance, but his instincts had already begun warning him. The strange feeling from earlier now had a shape.

Dickoff was not waiting because he had found courage.

He was waiting because someone had placed a weapon in his hands.

The servant took another small step away.

"May I leave, lord?"

Sekhmet did not look at him.

"Yes."

The man immediately hurried toward the side of the courtyard, relieved enough that he nearly stumbled over the edge of the stone path. However, Mira spoke before he could go far.

"Do not leave the estate."

He stopped so suddenly that his shoulders jerked.

"You can hide somewhere else inside," she continued. "If you try to leave, the people outside may think you are escaping."

The servant looked toward the open gate. He could not see Raka’s vampires from there, but he understood the warning. The empty streets beyond the estate suddenly appeared more dangerous than the mansion behind him.

He bowed and hurried toward one of the side buildings instead.

Sekhmet looked at the four women.

"We are not entering together."

Vela frowned. "You are not going alone."

"No."

He pointed toward the upper section of the mansion. The building had several connected wings, balconies, and servant corridors that could lead toward the central hall from different directions.

"Vera and Vela, circle to the right. Find another entrance to the central hall. Do not enter until you hear fighting."

Both twins nodded. Vera placed one hand on her sword while Vela studied the windows above, already selecting the quickest path.

"Mira and Lily, go left. Stay outside the hall and watch the side rooms."

Mira studied him. "And you?"

"I will enter through the front."

Lily immediately objected.

"He prepared the front for you."

"Yes."

"That is why you should not use it."

Sekhmet looked at her calmly. Her concern was reasonable, but avoiding the obvious path would not remove the danger waiting inside.

"If we all avoid the front, Dickoff may activate whatever he has before we know what it does. I need him looking at me. As long as he believes I entered alone, his attention will remain in one place."

Mira understood his reasoning.

"You want his attention fixed in one direction while we surround the hall."

"Yes."

Lily still disliked it. That was clear on her face. She glanced toward the entrance and then back at Sekhmet as if measuring how quickly she could reach him if the entire mansion collapsed.

Sekhmet continued, "If anything happens that I cannot stop, I will open the Void Land."

That reminded them of the hidden strength he carried.

Sofia and Natasha.

Their Half-God powers.

Bat Bat, Auri, the six new Bat Harpies, Leaf, and her ten spirits were also waiting inside. Sekhmet was not truly entering with only the four women around him. He was carrying an entire hidden force through the connection to the Void Land.

Lily looked at him for another moment before nodding reluctantly.

"Do not wait too long."

"I will not."

The group separated at the base of the mansion steps.

Vera and Vela moved toward the right side of the building. They walked normally until the central entrance blocked the guards’ view, then disappeared between two stone wings of the mansion. Their steps made almost no sound after they left the open courtyard.

Mira and Lily went left. Mira kept one hand near her weapon while studying every window above them. Lily followed close beside her, ready to transform if needed. The red inside her eyes became slightly brighter before she passed around the corner.

Sekhmet remained alone in front of the main doors.

He opened the communication stone once more.

"Raka."

"Young master?"

"There is a dangerous artifact or object inside. Keep everyone outside the walls for now."

Raka became silent for a moment. The sounds of quiet movement could be heard behind his voice as the lesser vampires continued taking their positions.

"Should we retreat farther?"

"No. Hold the circle. If anyone leaves, capture them. Do not enter unless I call. Whatever happens inside may affect the entire mansion."

"Yes, young master."

Sekhmet put the stone away.

Then he placed one hand against the main door.

The wood was thick and reinforced with iron. It opened before he pushed, as though the people inside had been watching and waiting for his hand to touch it.

Two servants stood on the other side.

They immediately moved away from him. Neither spoke. One lowered his head so deeply that his chin nearly touched his chest, while the other pressed himself against the wall.

The entrance hall beyond was empty.

Sekhmet walked inside.

His footsteps moved across the polished stone floor. Each step echoed farther than it should have because the corridors held almost no normal movement. The mansion smelled of old wood, dust, lamp oil, and nervous sweat. Several doors stood open along the corridor, but no one watched openly from them. Sekhmet could hear soft breathing behind one doorway and the quick movement of someone retreating behind another.

The people inside Iron House were hiding.

He followed the direct path toward the centre of the mansion.

No guard stopped him.

The few guards he saw lowered their weapons or moved aside before he reached them. They were obeying Dickoff’s order, but their faces showed that none of them believed this plan would end well for them.

At the end of the corridor stood another pair of large doors.

The central receiving hall.

One door was partly open.

Light came through the gap.

Sekhmet could feel chaos energy inside.

A great amount of it.

Not released energy.

Stored energy.

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