Aronia was just able to see Sonder emerge from the wall into Vault Twenty.
She stepped through solid stone as naturally as someone passing through a curtain.
The wardens at the end of the corridor froze.
For perhaps half a second.
Then training took over.
"Contain the intruder!" one shouted.
The alarm bell rang.
A deep metallic note echoed through the lower vaults.
More wardens came running from adjoining corridors.
Aronia didn't leave in search of safety.
"She's going for Vault Seventeen," she told them.
The nearest pair moved first.
Neither drew a weapon.
The Archives discouraged unnecessary violence around dangerous artifacts.
Instead, they carried enchanted restraint poles designed to pin magical creatures without killing them.
In an instant, Vault Twenty was opened, and the first pair of wardens began their assault on Sonder.
They targeted her arms and legs, especially her right arm, which held the staff. But nothing connected.
Sonder pivoted with surprising grace.
The first pole slid harmlessly past her shoulder.
She caught the second with one hand.
A quiet pulse of magic ran through the wood of her staff.
The restraint pole simply stopped glowing. Deprived of its enchantment, it was nothing more than wood. Sonder snapped it in half.
With a gentle push against his chest, Sonder sent the warden stumbling back into his companion.
Both crashed harmlessly onto the floor.
She hadn't struck either of them.
She hadn't even looked particularly interested in fighting.
She merely continued walking.
More wardens arrived, but Sonder was already halfway through another wall. Another vault had to be opened in haste.
Two wardens attempted to stop her in the next vault.
One cast a containment net woven from shimmering bands of enchanted silver.
He threw it, but Sonder simply phased through the net.
The net wrapped around one of the vault's support pillars instead.
The stone cracked but, luckily, the pillar remained standing.
Another warden charged.
Sonder lifted her staff, and he was thrown across the floor before coming to a stop against the opposite wall.
Alive, but unconscious.
The sorceress had disabled every opponent with the minimum force necessary. None of them had slowed her.
But that didn't stop the wardens who still could from getting back to their feet. More were already arriving.
Wardens were stubborn. It was part of the job.
Sonder reached Vault Seventeen. Because she approached from the opposite side of the corridor, she couldn't simply phase through the doors as she had the walls.
She stopped before the gates.
The six locks remained engaged. The runes glowed steadily. The containment seals were intact.
Aronia felt the briefest flicker of hope.
Then Sonder placed one hand against the iron.
The metal rippled before splitting apart like softened wax.
Like there was an invisible hand, the gates opened and then Sonder walked into the vault.