Vir’s greatest regret upon entering the marvelous Prime Imperium city of Alt Ashani was how little time he’d ever had to truly explore it. He’d visited a handful of times over the years, of course, but always on official business. Meetings to discuss governance, trade, or to appease the Altani Council.

  Working with Maiya, Ira, and Ashani, Vir had brokered an agreement with the Altani to allow a local to rule Hiranya as regent in their stead, and Riyan had gladly taken the mantle of leadership after Prince Annabar’s death. In this way, the Altani obtained a massive vassal state, while Hiranya more or less got to maintain its autonomy.

  As for Sai, Queen Ekta and her daughters ruled their homeland jointly—a situation both Vir and Maiya had been only too happy to broker after the chaos of the wars that had ousted them.

  And now, Vir found himself in Alt Ashani, not on political duty, but at the precipice of a great journey.

  As he gazed up at the floating upper city and the vast Vimana that hovered high above it, he couldn’t deny the flicker of excitement stirring within him. The floating fortresses of the gods had always fascinated him, and he would be the first person in this Age to finally behold their secrets.

  That said, it wasn’t as though he could simply pass through the city unnoticed. Given the rank and stature of Vir, Maiya, and Ashani, certain customs had to be observed. One of them, apparently, was a public procession through the city.

  Hastily arranged at the last minute and with barely any warning, the parade drew smaller crowds than it would otherwise have. Many of the locals weren’t even aware, to say nothing of those who would have traveled across the realm to behold this rarest of spectacles.

  Even so, the citizens lined the pristine streets in awe, bowing and dropping to their knees in prayer as Vir and his entourage passed. The council members of the Altani followed deferentially behind. All were S Rank mejai, though one would not have guessed it by looking at them.

  Vir had to admit that his opinion of the Altani had changed over the years. Once secretive and withdrawn, their motives completely hidden, the Council had been persuaded—largely through Ashani’s urging—to become more open and more involved in the affairs of the realms. And though they remained shadowy in their ways, they were far better understood than before.

  He respected the way they governed. Where Andros had been a warmonger bent on expanding Kin’jal’s territory at all cost, the Altani High Council was measured, deliberate, and fair. They lent aid to other nations as needed, and now, with Hiranya as a vassal and thanks to Vir’s promises of ending the blight of the Ash Tears, their desperation to expand away from the Ash boundary had abated. They had been eager to support him in every way they could.

  As ever, Ashani drew the bulk of attention from the fawning masses. Though it was of little wonder considering how the Altani had named the city after her, Vir felt a pang of guilt for the Automaton. She had never cared for worship or praise, but Vir could do little other than let her stand in the limelight. Furthermore, it gave him a rare moment to breathe and actually take in his surroundings.

  Calling Alt Ashani a “garden city” would have been a disservice to its reality.

  The entire metropolis gleamed in hues of white and green in what was a breathtaking fusion of nature and architecture. It was a place where magical vines climbed marble spires, where trees grew from crystal terraces, and where waterfalls flowed upward into the air. Its streets were spotless, sustained by some ancient Imperium magic, and the usual afflictions of mortal civilization—poverty, hunger, and crime—seemed nonexistent here.

  Of course, Vir knew this wasn’t at all a natural occurrence. The Altani were extremely selective in their immigration policy, admitting only those they deemed valuable enough . It was a curated paradise and an illusion of perfection—yet even knowing that, Vir couldn’t help but admire its beauty.

  Fountains flowed against gravity. Towering spires shimmered with boundless mana. Doorways rippled in and out of existence like the spires of Mahādi, and its people knew neither the bite of cold nor sweltering heat. The Altani truly lived in a world apart from the rest of humanity.

  And beneath it all lay their archives. Vaults full of ancient tomes and relics containing knowledge from the Prime Imperium era.

  Most of it was indecipherable even to their brightest mejai, of course, but the fragments they had understood had already reshaped civilization. It was here that the first orbs had been developed, swiftly becoming the basis of modern magic.

  How would they feel, Vir wondered, if they knew their precious orbs were nothing but toys to the ones who initially created them?

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  When they finally reached the end of the lower tier, they boarded a sleek airship that carried them upward—to the floating upper city.

  The upper city was like another world entirely. Suspended walkways crisscrossed the sky, gardens hovered seemingly in midair, and glasslike abodes hung off the ends of bridges strung from the massive central spire that anchored the island.

  This was a true marvel of Imperium design, and Vir couldn’t help but stare in wonder. It had been so long since he’d felt genuine excitement at anything—too long since the inner child in him had cried out in glee, and for a brief moment, the monumental weight on his shoulders seemed to lift just a little.

  As was the case with all good things, however, their little tour ended far too soon.

  With polite farewells to the council, Vir, Maiya, and Ashani boarded a fast attack airship the Altani had prepared for them, along with the wolves. As the craft lifted off, Vir gazed upward—toward their true destination.

  Most Vimanas hovered high above the cities that were built beneath them, but since Alt Ashani’s upper city already floated high in the sky, the distance between it and the Vimana above was surprisingly short.

  Within moments, they reached its shadow, where the air itself shimmered with prana and the secrets of the gods awaited.

  The Vimana’s defenses began to light up in preparation for an attack, causing several of their mejai to cry out in terror.

  “I know what this looks like, but I assure you there is nothing to fear!” Ashani announced to the mejai crewing the skyship. “For unlike all those who have failed before, we bring with us a key. The only key capable of unlocking these structures of the gods!”

  Had the words come from anyone else, the mejai would likely have ignored them. Seeing how it came from their dear goddess, however, their morale visibly improved, and they faced the threat with grim determination.

  Vimanas were the sort of places few had ever even tried to explore, and only those who wished for death would dare attempt to come close.

  And even if one was suicidal, the number who could ever attempt it was preciously few, considering that approaching required a skyship or an Acira, neither of which were accessible to the average person, or even the merely wealthy.

  The looks on the Altani magi’s faces said it all. The defenses surrounding these wondrous creations of the gods had proven quite impossible to breach. Capable of vaporizing anything and everything in a fraction of an instant, there was no defense against such a weapon. By the time it fired, one was already dead.

  Thankfully, Vir’s key came courtesy of Janak himself.

  Firing six bolts of prana at a half-dozen precise locations, in the exact right order, was the combination.

  While six may not have seemed like especially much, he was quite literally the only one in all the realms capable of opening the door to this great creation of the gods. Not even Ashani could manage that feat.

  He only prayed he hadn’t somehow misremembered the sequence.

  The moment he fired the last one, the massive lightning rods that composed the Vimana’s defenses dimmed. A moment later, a pair of massive hangar doors split open, revealing a triangular-shaped opening.

  “There,” Vir said, pointing. “Bring us in.”

  The Altani mejai obeyed without a word, too professional to say anything. Or too awed.

  Vir understood the feeling—he felt it himself, despite having lived within an Imperium-built tower deep within the ruins of their most glorious city.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Maiya muttered. “All our lives, we were taught that the Vimana were godly objects. To be witnessed from afar but never approached. And now…”

  “Not just our lives,” Vir said. “For all of history, people have wondered what was inside,” Vir said. “They’ve been around since the very beginning of the Age of the Realms, after all.”

  “I imagine they must have sparked quite the speculation,” Ashani said with a wry smile. “Though you’ll likely be disappointed by what you find inside. These served as research bases for my people. Certainly not worthy of worship.”

  “Mobile research bases that happened to be armed with weapons capable of destroying even the strongest Ash Beasts,” Vir said, giving Ashani a dubious look.

  “What can I say? My people were never ones to do things in half measures,” Ashani replied as the airship drew closer to the entrance.

  Everyone knew Vimanas were large—that much was obvious from the ground—yet seeing one up close, Vir could scarcely believe the scale of it.

  The vast contraption was easily as tall as the tallest spire in Mahādi and many times as wide and was large enough to house an entire city within.

  According to Ashani, it contained thousands of abodes, hundreds of research labs, and everything required for daily life. It seemed Imperium researchers often spent years aboard.

  The theme continued as they drew closer. From afar, the triangular opening seemed small, but as it swallowed their tiny skyship, Vir thought it could have fit every single ship in the Altani fleet. And Vir very much doubted this was the only hangar the Vimana possessed.

  The triangular opening led to a long corridor covered over with intricate and impossibly ornate carvings of white and gold.

  As with all Imperium workings, much of its beauty was only visible to him, as one who could see the beautiful interplay of prana and physical features. Affinities decorated and weaved through the stonework in patterns so beautiful they took Vir’s breath away.

  Vir knew, however, that the brilliantly white, lustrous material was no mere stone, but rather something far more exotic. Something lost to the world, created only by the Imperium.

  The corridor ended at long last, and Vir turned to the mejai accompanying them. “We will travel alone from here. Head back to Alt Ashani and tell your council that we’ve been delivered safely.”

  “Sir,” one of the Mejai of Realms said, “‘Tis not my place to ask, but…”

  Vir nodded for him to go on.

  “But how much of what we’ve witnessed here might we be allowed to share? The people will wish to know.”

  “Tell them what you wish,” Vir said, “but under no circumstances let anyone believe the Vimana are now safe to approach. I bypassed its defenses , but do not try this again without me. You will die, as those before you have.”

  “Noted,” the mejai replied, bowing deeply to Ashani. “Godspeed.”

  Vir couldn’t help but give the mejai a wry smile for choosing that word in present company. Ashani, however, only nodded in acknowledgment.

  “Well then,” Maiya said, turning toward a small door leading further into the hangar, “what do you say we explore what this wondrous creation of the gods has in store for us?”