by Adam Witcher
“I admire your confidence, necrodruid, but whatever awaits you at the tower is likely a greater threat than you have ever faced before. I only wish there was some way that I could assist you.”
I thought about it for a moment.
“Maybe you can,” I said. “You said you can travel through this in-between world, right?”
“It is true, I can.”
“Well, maybe you can spread the word that we’re doing this,” I said. “Surely we aren’t the only ones worried about the state of Iggoroth. If you can spread the word that I made it through the tower’s barrier, you can prepare an attack force. Just wait outside the barrier, and I’ll bring it down any way that I can. Once it’s down, we can all fight together.”
“But what if you cannot bring down the barrier?” she asked.
“Then they can all watch me die horribly from afar,” I shrugged and tried to laugh.
“Interesting,” she said, stroking her chin. “I will see what I can do, necrodruid.”
Swirls of color began to twist and tear apart her form, as if draining her image.
“It appears our conversation must come to an end, Rahm.” Her voice grew distant. “I want to give you one last thing before you go.”
She approached me and put her mouth on mine. I felt a pulse of warmth and pleasure when she pressed her lips against mine and traced her tongue across mine. And that was it. She was gone. I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or excited.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Once I lost track of Izmira, I became disoriented again. It felt like floating in a great sea of space where nothing existed outside of myself. It didn’t last long, though. Soon I was back on solid ground, with Camilla and Lily at my side, and when I looked around, the severity of our situation came screaming back into view.
The tower loomed in front of us, so close that I couldn’t even make out the features at the top. It stood wider than any building in Gragos or Finnsbruck, and taller than perhaps anything else in Iggoroth or beyond the seas. Even though it had been built so recently, it looked like an ancient monolith or some monument to old gods. The bricks were the shade of charcoal, the grout lining them a deeper black than the space around stars.
The grounds around the tower were a desolate wasteland. We still stood a fair distance from the tower, yet nothing stood between it and us. There was only solid, flat soil.
Off in the distance, I saw the outskirts of Gragos. It looked like another world from some far away memory. Now that we stood before the tower, past the magical barrier that had kept everyone out until now, it hardly felt like we were still in the realm of Iggoroth.
We started cautiously approaching the tower when something curious happened. It seemed that no matter how much we moved toward it, the tower never became closer. On and on we went, and I thought I was going insane, but when I looked at the girls, their faces betrayed the same feeling. It was as if somehow the tower and the land around it were retreating into the landscape.
“There must be some sort of illusion,” I said after ten minutes with no progress. “It’s impossible.”
“How can it be right there, and not be there at all?” Lily said.
“Neptos must have cast some spell on it,” I said. “Maybe he knows we made it through the portal.”
“Or maybe there’s no tower at all…” Camilla said, her eyes glued to the structure.
“There must be something,” I said. “Neptos has to be in some physical place, right?”
We stopped our fruitless pursuit to think.
“The portal led us here,” I said. “So even if the tower is just an illusion, there must be something here. Otherwise, why would it exist?”
I squinted and looked around at the landscape again. On one of the horizons, I spotted something that I couldn’t make out. It was far, just a dot in the distance. But it was something. I pointed it out to the girls.
“It’s worth a try,” Lily said. “Maybe we can at least reach something.”
We changed our direction, and I was relieved when the dot grew. Soon, corner spires were visible on a light grey building. It appeared to be some sort of temple. Old, but not in poor condition. Some of the bricks had eroded, but it wasn’t in great need of repair.
The temple was a strange sight in such desolation. The dirt around it was stirred ever so slightly, as if there had once been a garden here, now lost to time. Strange markings covered the bricks. Some appeared to be words, but I didn’t recognize the alphabet, let alone the language that was represented. We walked up a small stone staircase and through an archway that led to a courtyard.
Inside the area was dotted with statues. However, they were posed like no other statues I’d ever seen. Instead of being poised in classic positions depicting athleticism or deep thought, they seemed to be experiencing something horrific. There were perhaps twenty men and women, all in scholarly robes. Some were frozen mid-sprint, others while crouched and trying to crawl away. All of them shared the contorted expressions of someone in mortal terror.
“I have a feeling these weren’t always statues,” Lily said as I touched the hard, cold hand of a statue. I was thinking the same thing.
“He can turn people to stone?” I said. “I’ve never heard of a magic like that.”
“I have,” Lily said. “At least I think I have. It was in a book I read a long time ago. Not a spellbook, though. This was a storybook about two gods. Brothers, I think, named Lombok and Cyrus. Cyrus was the younger brother, and he was jealous. Lombok had many more followers than him and was a more honorable god. Cyrus’ worshippers were dishonorable and deceitful, much like Cyrus himself. He managed to trick many of Lombok’s followers into entering one of his own temples one night by disguising it, and when they were all gathered there, he turned them into stone. Just like this.”
“I think I remember that story too,” Camilla said. “My parents used to read it to me, I guess as a cautionary tale. Pretty dark for a children’s story.”
“Maybe there’s more truth to it than you thought,” I said. “Do either of you recognize this temple? What God it’s dedicated to?”
“It looks…” Lily put her hand on her chin but trailed off.
“Yeah?”
“Those markings.” She pointed at a symbol that was elaborately carved into the stone. It depicted what looked like a three-looped infinity symbol, but with a spiral that spread outward. “I feel like I’ve it somewhere.” I gasped once I spotted it.
“I know where you’ve seen it,” I said. I pulled the pendant from under my shirt and showed it to Camilla and Lily. I had noticed the pattern when Izmira gave it to me but didn’t think much of it. It just seemed like a pretty design.
“Izmira gave this to you, right?” Lily asked. “Then this must be the symbol of Terriah, the life goddess. That’s where I know this from. You should probably know this, too, necroduid.” She winked at me, but I didn’t understand. “This is on the cover of The Book of Druids. Rahm, Camilla, this is a druid temple.”
I stared at the symbol in awe. There was so much that I hadn’t learned yet. I could raise the dead, yes, so long as it was in support of the balance of nature, but did I really know what it meant to be a druid? Terriah, I thought. Izmira had never mentioned the name, but if what Lily said was true, that suggested that Izmira was a servant of this goddess. How could I not know? I wondered if Terriah could hear my thoughts now. It was too much to consider.
“So why is there a druid temple here?” Camilla asked. I shrugged.
Unsure how else to proceed, I made my way through another stone archway and into the temple. To my surprise, candles lit the interior. A few carved wooden pews lined the path leading to the altar, but it was not an ornate temple. More of Terriah’s symbols adorned the four corners of the room, and a few simple wood carvings of mountains and trees were on display, but little else. The altar consisted of a stone dais carved in the shape of a wide blossoming rose, and atop it stood the statue of who I could only su
ppose was Terriah. She wore a long gown that separated right at her upper thigh and draped over her feet. Her hair fell in gentle waves. A flower adorned it. Her face was perfectly symmetrical, and it cast a steadfast, noble look upon anyone who kneeled at her altar.
When I approached the statue, a chill went through me. Her eyes were blacked out by a pitch-dark substance. I noticed, too, that giant gashes had been made at her symbol above her head. At her feet sat a large bowl full of some thick purple goop. It swirled lazily, and I could see strange shimmering deep within it. There was a piece of parchment beside it which read
Have a look, necrodruid. The answers await you.
“Well I guess that answers the question of whether or not Neptos is here,” Lily said, reading over my shoulder. “But why the hell would he think you’d be dumb enough to fall for this?”
“I’d say he’s underestimating us,” I said, staring deep into the bowl. It was inexplicably enticing. I was drawn toward it. “But, how could he? We had to defeat his right-hand man to get here.”
“There’s got to be something else here,” Camilla said. “Some other clue. Let’s just keep looking.”
“Yes,” I said, unable to take my eyes off the bowl. My mouth hung open, and I was salivating. “Let’s just… keep looking. Looking very closely.”
“Rahm,” Lily said. “Are you okay?”
There were secrets in the bowl. Secrets that I craved. Answers I needed. And something else too, something animal and subconscious drew me to it. It was a primal need, like sex or hunger. I walked closer, and the girls called my name out cautiously. But I knew not to touch it. I knew not to dip into it, no matter how badly I wanted to. No matter how much I ached to just graze it with my fingertips.
My hand was inches above the purple substance when I snapped out of it. The girls had grabbed me and were trying to pull me away. I shook them off and took another step back, wiping sweat from my brow.
“What the hell just happened to me?” I said. The girls didn’t answer. “I… I didn’t feel like me. I feel like I almost…”
I was cut off as a hand burst out of the bowl at the altar. It dripped that deep purple goo, but those same shimmers seemed to swim within it. Before I could stop it, it gripped me by the neck, and I was sucked in.
Yet I was still in the temple. Camilla and Lily, however, were gone. The place seemed more alive than it had before, but it looked much the same. Perhaps a little less dark and dusty, the candles newly lit.
I heard footsteps in the courtyard and prepared myself to fight. When I reached back for my bow, though, I couldn’t grasp it. I turned to look and saw it there, but it was translucent. My hands looked much the same. I could see right through myself to the stone floors, my body nothing more than a pale blue tint.
Two men entered the temple, both enshrouded by robes. The taller one walked in front.
“The decision is final, Nephrum,” he said, his voice thick with disgust. “You need to be out of here tonight.”
“This isn’t right, Leon,” the man named Nephrum said. “I am the most powerful mage in this temple. I can do things that these other peons couldn’t dream of.”
“You’ve missed the point, entirely.” Leon turned and glared at him. “Your—talents—do not belong in this temple. You are no druid.”
Nephrum had to look upward to meet his gaze. When he did, I got a better look. I recognized the blank face that had appeared from underneath the cloak at the Wolfgang estate. Nephrum, I thought to myself. As if Neptos wasn’t ugly enough already. Somehow, the change of name didn’t surprise me terribly. There was something very different about this version of the man, something more raw and human. His stare was still cold and severe, but this time it also revealed rage.
“Balance, Nephrum,” Leon bellowed. “It’s what I’ve been trying to teach you from the start, as Terriah teaches us.”
“Terriah is a weak goddess.” Nephrum nearly spat the words. “Pitiful and unambitious. There is so much unbridled power at her fingertips, at our fingertips. Yet she ignores it in favor of balance. Do you know what balance is, Leon? Balance is when you accept that your enemies are as powerful as you. Balance is failure. I’ll show them balance by yanking the scale in my favor.”
“Who is them, Nephrum?” Leon threw his hands out in exasperation and raised his voice. “Who is it that you perceive you must overpower? There must be some misunderstanding, some misplaced rage. Where did you learn this? Terriah does not teach it.”
“You know your greatest weakness, Leon?” Nephrum’s tone was icy and low. He took a step back and revealed his hand from under his cloak. It glowed vibrant purple. “It’s your undying devotion to her. There are gods far more powerful than she could ever be.”
Leon started to answer when he was cut off.
“By the power of Cyrus!” Nephrum screamed. A bolt of purple shot from Nephrum’s fingertips. Leon held his hands out to cast a spell to block him, but nothing happened. Leon’s face betrayed his shock and horror as light enveloped him in a flashing orb. Once it faded away, only a statue remained. Leon was frozen in a look of terror. Nephrum laughed maniacally for a moment, before turning back to the yard. His hands glowed brighter as he passed through the archway. I followed him. It was hard to watch, but it felt important to do it anyway. As he charged around, turning everyone in sight into stone, I saw something break behind his eyes. They screamed and cowered, and then they were stuck in their horrified poses permanently.
Then I was surrounded by purple light again. It swirled around me like a great storm, and I was back in the temple, lying on my back and looking upward into the beautiful but worried faces of my companions.
“Rahm,” Lily shouted as I gained consciousness, “are you okay?”
“What happened?” Camillla asked. “You disappeared.”
“Neptos was a student here,” I coughed and sat up. “He was training to be a druid. He got corrupted somehow. He let me see… I don’t understand.”
“What do you think, necrodruid?” The monotone voice drifted in from the archway and the three of us wheeled to face it. “I want to know how another druid feels seeing his kind eliminated.”
Neptos’ eyes were concealed beneath his black hood, but I could see the emptiness in his face from his flat mouth. He stood motionless with his hands clasped under his robe. I didn’t know how to respond for a moment, but he didn’t lose his patience. He only waited.
“Why bother?” I said. “Why show me that if you just want to kill me?”
“I want you to see what I do to the followers of Terriah,” he said lightly. “I want you to see just how pathetic your goddess is. I want you to know the futility of balance and order.”
“You don’t want that.” The girls helped me to my feet, and I pointed and tried to match his empty, frigid tone. “You know it’s getting out of hand.”
His thin lips spread into a grimace.
“You are disappointing,” he said, his words a flat line. “I thought you must be a clever man to have defeated Tholen and his… creations.”
“See, you don’t even want to say what they were,” I said. “Hybrid mutants. Monsters. Just like Tholen himself.”
“Tholen was a genius, necrodruid. But he got carried away and lost his mind and eventually, his body. You will find that I am not so foolish.”
“Prove it, then.”
Neptos raised a hand to meet my challenge. He shot a beam of energy that hit the altar behind me and sent it crashing to the ground. Terriah’s stone figure shattered as it hit the floor. It’s a warning shot, I thought. He’s still toying with us. Good. The girls and I dove behind a pew to dodge the shrapnel.
“A piece of his mind is in that purple goop,” I said in a loud whisper. “We can travel there. I think we can find something useful.”
“You want us to go headfirst into his trap?” Lily said. “I don’t think so.”
“Look, I can see right through this guy,” I said, watching Neptos’ hands glowing ag
ain. “He’s testing me because he doubts himself. I think that’s why he wanted to show me what he did. If we go deeper, we can find out more. We can figure out how to defeat him.”
We had to dive apart as purple light exploded into the far side of the wooden pew, just inches to the right of Camilla. Neptos was ready for a true battle, and I could feel his unbridled power.
“You all have a better idea?” I yelled.
Apparently, they didn’t. I turned and ran for the purple goop and their footsteps rang out behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Neptos cast off his hood, revealing his bald head. Just before I reached the purple elixir, I turned and saw genuine surprise and fear in his eyes.
Good.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I half expected to see the temple materialize around me again, but it didn’t. I saw Camilla and Lily appear in the purple light, but there was nothing else there. We were suspended in an endless expanse. I wondered if, since Neptos had not prepared a second scene to be displayed, we were stuck in some sort of idle stage of this magical place as it awaited instructions.
Shining orbs appeared and began to float around us. I found I was able to move if I just mimicked swimming. I watched the orbs and saw intricate designs hiding deep within them. These shapes became silhouettes moving across tiny stages. I reached out to touch one, and it grew larger as I approached. I recognized the face of Neptos somewhere among the images.
“I think these are his memories,” I said. The girls also stared into them in fascination.
“Are we inside his mind?” Camilla asked.
“Maybe,” I said. “Or his mind is in here, wherever this is. Or an imprint of it.”
Across the expanse of purple space, something new began to form. Though it too had the shape of an orb, it didn’t share the deep imagery of the others. A pale pink hue filled it out. The thing pulsated.
“I think we might be getting company,” I said. “Let’s find one of these that looks promising and get the hell out of here.”