Jax's attention was drawn past the duo of repairmen to the contents of the room. The space was large and dark, but the object in the center of the room glowed with its own light as well as reflecting the light Thera directed towards it.

Jax was looking at a box lying on one of its smaller sides, with another small side and its wide face towards the entrance. It was made of some strange dark material that glowed wherever it was scratched; he could tell that by all of the speckles and marks that covered its surface and did not seem deliberate. A design that was deliberate covered both of the sides he could see. Both sides had what looked like a frame scratched into the material, but it was what was inside them that was really interesting.

The glyph on the large side looked almost like a pair of eyes superimposed on top of each other, one horizontal and one vertical. The eye-cross was inside a diamond surrounded by fancy spikes, one at each corner and four per side of the diamond. The design on the smaller side was even more stylized; it looked like it was based on the same eye symbol, but only the vertical part, with extra lines on the sides and a pair of V-shaped end caps instead of the diamond. A pair of unfamiliar circular glyphs sat above and below the sideways eye.

The box sat on a support made of the same material that it was, but it looked somehow rougher and more damaged, with light leaking from cracks rather than scuff marks. That sat on a block of dark stone that was raised above the stone surface of the floor, almost like it was being lifted for easier access, or perhaps to be seen more easily.

The one thing Jax expected to see but did not was any connection to anything else. They were following conduits; shouldn't there have been one of those odd spiderweb-like structures here?

Maybe it was under the cracked block. That would make sense, as much as enchanted things ever made sense.

Jax shook his head and moved forward. How the thing worked wasn't his job, but he really should make sure there weren't any threats in the room before Sorleh and Thera entered. He didn't really expect anything to be in the room, not if it was important; you wouldn't want a fight to wreck your artifacts. On top of that, none of the conduit nooks had traps nearby, even though quite a few other corridors were trapped.

Kizru was ahead of Jax; in fact, he was ahead of everyone. Jax expected him to check the room, the same way Jax planned, but that wasn't what he did. Instead, he walked up to the glowing box and set his hand against it.

Jax didn't know what Kizru expected, but he was fairly certain it wasn't what he got. A message from the Guide appeared before Jax's eyes almost instantly; he was certain Kizru and everyone else in the group got one as well.

You have Entered a Controlled Nexus!

Declare yourself or your presence will initiate a Nexus Challenge!

This wasn't a Nexus; this was a ruin outside Mazehold. Mazehold had a Nexus, even if it wasn't a safe city; Jax had helped defend it against monsters that escaped from the Maze. A Nexus was always at the surface, too, not deep underground like …

… like maybe a reason for a ruin that could return people who died to life as long as the death was recent enough, or restore injuries almost immediately after they were taken through some means that didn't even leave a scar. Oh, it required that you be close enough as well. Jax had always assumed that meant close enough to the ruin, but what if it meant you had to be within a protected Nexus boundary?

"That was not what was supposed to happen," Thera Sandelf declared. She slipped past Jax into the room with the glowing box and walked up next to Kizru. "I thought you were senior enough to open anything in here? If you aren't, what about him?" She waved towards Jax.

"He has a Vocation," Kizru said dismissively. "Nothing that will help us here. I don't know why that didn't work; it should have. You try, it might need one of the maintenance imprints."

Thera snorted but set her hand against the glowing box anyway.

Authorization Rejected!

Leave or your presence will initiate a Nexus Challenge!

"What the Tower does it need, the Broken Blade herself?" Kizru Venan swore, then turned and looked back the way he'd come. His eyes flitted from one person to the next. "Enough of this. Kill the outsiders. Qua'helu…"

"I know my job," Qua'helu Mistwalker interrupted Kizru.

Qua'helu was entirely too close to Jax for Jax's comfort, now that it was clear that he was not, in fact, here on Jax's behalf. A misty-looking ax shimmered into existence in Qua'helu's hands. Jax had a barrier in place to block it before he realized it was the blade Qua'helu used on the ruins apparitions. A metal barrier wouldn't stop it.

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Jax frantically dove to the side just as he saw his barrier halt the axhead. It made no sense, but he'd take any advantage he could get right now.

Qua'helu looked even more surprised than Jax felt. "The hells is that? Just stand there and take it, you fool. It won't harm you, it'll just knock you out."

That was not really any better. He couldn't think of any reason they'd knock him out while he was on an expedition into the ruins that didn't end badly for him. If they'd decided that "Jaxucet Willowbloom" knew too much, the only time he'd have a chance to get out of it was now, even if it cost him his Mask. He wasn't certain he could manage both Qua'helu and Kizru at the same time, but with the help of Zarth and Tia, it might be possible.

Jax's eyes flicked over towards Zarth just in time to see Sorleh bury a dagger in his chest. Zarth clearly hadn't expected to be attacked by one of the people he protected and he was probably low on Shield after the long descent. Jax could feel bad about that later; right now, what he felt bad about was the fact that Zarth wasn't going to be any help, even if he wasn't dead.

A glance at Tia and Thera showed the two women fighting each other entirely too evenly for Jax's comfort. If Tia hadn't been surprised, she'd probably win, but Kizru was already headed that way.

That meant Sorleh was probably headed for Jax. Thera and Kizru would be as well as soon as they took care of Tia. Jax needed to do something and quickly.

Jax leapt out of the way of another strike from Qua'helu, giving up far more room than was needed as he backed into the room with the device. Both messages popped up when people touched it; maybe touching it again would start the Nexus Challenge. It was a pretty thin hope, but Jax didn't have many options left.

Having a monster appear in the room and disappearing into the shadows while it distracted the others was the best thing he could think of. He needed a moment to drop his Mask before he could do that, and it was far too obvious if anyone had their attention on him; they'd be able to figure out where to search. Kizru knew something of shadows, if nothing else. If they thought he ran away, he might have a chance.

For the first few steps, Qua'helu seemed happy enough to be pushing Jax back. He was even happy when Jax ducked behind the doorway for cover from a blow, then "had to" jump backwards when he "realized" that Qua'helu's ax went straight through the stone. It wasn't until a couple of strikes after that that he realized that he wasn't pushing Jax away from the exit; Jax was moving in the direction he wanted to.

By then, Jax was close enough that he could duck part way around the rock and set his hand against it.

Two things happened at almost exactly the same time. First, the glowing enchanted stone, the "distal recording node," was not insubstantial to Qua'helu's ax the way the wall was. The ping when the stone chipped was surprisingly high pitched.

Second, a pulse of mana met Jax's hand and dissipated nearly as quickly. It was followed by a message, just as he'd hoped.

Nexus Challenge Initiated!

Vassal Authorization Recognized!

Options are limited during a Nexus Challenge!

Available Options:

Cancel Nexus Challenge (Vassal Authorization Insufficient)

Claim Nexus (Requirement: Subdue Current Owner)

Join Current Nexus Defense

Remain Unaffiliated

(Mask Image)

You have a message from your Patron!

You're thinking on your feet. I like that.

I had to step in a little here, but it shouldn't be noticed. The Broken Lord is very distracted right now.

Accept the offer to join the defenders. It's the best chance I've seen for you to survive and prosper. They may be able to help you more than you'd think.

The message wasn't what Jax expected. The first part was, and he was fairly certain that it was triggered as much by Qua'helu as by Jax; after all, the message about the Nexus Challenge came before the note about Jax having authorization.

That had to be the interference Jax's Patron meant.

The options and message from Jax's Patron were a surprise, but a welcome one. Maybe he did have a chance to get out of this alive. Making it out without shedding his Mask still seemed unlikely, but it was worth it. He could figure out how to deal with that later.

Jax ignored the implications that his Patron could affect Nexuses and whispered "Join Defense" as he circled, keeping the impenetrable glowing stone between himself and Qua'helu.

Knowledge rushed into Jax's mind like a flood.

Qua'helu was a Spirit Blade, able to manifest a blade that could tear others' spirits, even inside their bodies. The only Blade he could manifest was an ax, but that didn't make it any weaker; if anything, it strengthened the power of his manifestation. The ax left no visible wounds and was far easier to heal, but it also bypassed Shield. He could make himself insubstantial if he chose to; when he did, the only thing he could attack with was his Spirit Blade. He had a number of other related Abilities, such as the ability to walk on air in his spirit form and see spirits, whether they were in a body or not, but very little of the rest of his kit was relevant in a fight. He was primarily a tracker, with the Ability to see the slight traces of spirit left when someone or something touched a space.

Qua'helu rounded the corner while Jax tried to recover from the unexpected overload of information.

Jax shoved the rest of the knowledge he'd gained to one side as he added a few things together.

Qua'helu's primary defense was that he wasn't there to be hit. It was a good defense, but it disabled his own Shield.

Jax's Mask's barriers somehow stopped Qua'helu's ax, even though they were made of metal. That meant the metal conjured by his Mask ought to be able to harm Qua'helu.

The thought was all he needed. Jax placed a barrier in front of Qua'helu's ax. It bounced and broke Qua'helu's form as Jax manifested a simple, straight-bladed sword. It was not patterned after the "broken" blade he carried; instead, it was patterned after the simple, double-edged sword with a sharp point he'd learned with. Jax lunged at his surprised opponent, a man who'd clearly expected him to stay on the defensive and wasn't worried about being hit anyway.

It wasn't like hitting a man; it felt more like hitting water. Despite that, Qua'helu seemed to be affected just like he'd been run through. It wasn't an instant death, but the man wasn't going to be attacking again any time soon. There was simply too much damage.

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