by Adam Witcher
“Let’s pick up the pace, shall we?” I charged up the staircase, keeping an eye on the horrible things and awaiting their strike.
A gargoyle with a massive pig’s snout flew over and flung a battle axe toward us. Camilla barely managed to dodge it. It crashed into the wall and knocked a brick loose. The thing laughed hysterically before charging at us and picking it back up. I fired one arrow, but it missed. Luckily, it shot off into the middle of the chamber and hit another one of the gargoyles right in the neck. Blood the color of ash spurted out, and it spiraled all the way to the ground hundreds of feet below. The echo of the crash reached us a few moments later.
“At least we know we can kill them,” I said.
With one dead, the gargoyles didn’t seem interested in toying with us anymore. Their laughter turned to wild war cries and their flight patterns became more frenzied. A few of them gathered together and waved around long daggers. They flung these at us too. Lily jumped out in front of Camilla and I then formed a thick ice wall. The points of the daggers stuck out at us through the ice after they crashed into it, but we were safe.
“We have to move quickly,” Lily said. “I’ll run out of mana if I have to keep doing that.”
We sprinted up the stairs. I was glad that all the days I’d spent working out in the fields and training were paying off. Lily and Camilla managed to stay close. I was impressed.
We were cut off when two gargoyles landed directly in front of me. Both of them had full swords. I blocked the first blow with my bow and withdrew my dagger. I extended it and blocked the other gargoyle’s strike with it. The gargoyle’s blade barely grazed my armor. They were vicious creatures, but their techniques were impulsive and unrefined.
I lunged forward, aiming for the first one’s belly. He jumped back and dodged the blow, cackling to himself. His companion laughed too, so I took advantage of this and redirected my attack. The gargoyle never saw it coming. I slashed his belly open and he collapsed. Enraged, the first one jumped up and flew over me, trying to scratch at my head and neck with its razor-sharp talons. I ducked just in time. When he came back around for another attack, I jumped up and feigned an attack toward his stomach. He thrust his wings out to jerk backward, and I turned and sliced a massive chunk out of his wing. He went spiraling down to the bottom of the tower, screaming.
I turned to see Lily burying an ice spear into the neck of one that was coming up the stairs. She pulled it out just as another gargoyle flanked her from the side. It slowed its wings, preparing to land on the step just in front of her. Before it could, Lily made a small ice ramp on the top of the step that sloped downward toward the middle. The thing stepped on it and immediately slid down it. Its head smacked on a step and dissolved into a grey cloud. The rest of its body plummeted downward.
Camilla dual wielded ice daggers. She swiped at oncoming gargoyles with fierce determination. Her eyes were calm and calculating. The herb was kicking in. She was predicting their movements.
We had bested at least a dozen gargoyles, but perhaps fifty more were still circling the room and making horrific sounds. They were weak individually, but I shuddered at the thought of getting swarmed. A group of ten of them seemed to be communicating in a garbled tongue while hovering in the air. They all turned to look at us in unison. With a bloodthirsty look in their stony eyes, they charged us.
“Lily,” I shouted, “Ice wall!”
Lily and Camilla huddled up close to me, and, with a wave of her glowing hand, we were cocooned. Even in the midst of such danger, I enjoyed the sensation of two voluptuous bodies pressed against mine.
“There are way too many,” I said. “And we must still be quite a way from the top. Anyone have any ideas?”
“If only we could fly up there…” Camilla said.
“Feel like sprouting some wings?” I said.
“Wait,” Lily said, putting her hands up. “What about the gargoyles?”
“What about them?” I asked.
“What if you could raise them?” She asked. “We could ride three of them up to the top of the tower.”
Outside our ice shell, the gargoyles swiped furiously. Lily had to shout over the sound of the ice chipping away.
“I can’t,” I said. “I’m a necrodruid. Emphasis on the druid part. I can only raise plants and animals. And even then, it has to serve the purpose of natural balance. These things are about as unnatural as they come.”
“I don’t suppose Terriah could make an exception,” Camilla said. “For a good cause.”
“I don’t think it works that way,” I said.
“Maybe it really could work,” Lily said. “They were originally flesh and blood, after all. Rahm, I don’t think you realize just how far your abilities have come. You started by reanimating a grape vine, and since then you managed to resurrect ancient dinosaurs and battalions of insects. Listen, druid powers are drawn from nature, and seek to restore order and balance, right? What could restore balance to Iggoroth more than bringing down this tower, and Neptos with it?”
“But everything else I’ve raised has been willing,” I protested. “On my side. These things want to kill us, not give us a ride.”
She thought about that for a moment.
“Their willingness has been important, Rahm, it’s true.” Lily put a hand on my shoulder. “But I think this could work. You just might need a bit more mana to do it. But I believe in you. I know you can do it.”
She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Our eyes met, and despite her disheveled hair and tattered clothing, she was a vision of beauty unlike before. Even Camilla seemed charmed. She grabbed my other hand and nodded to Lily. Then the two of them leaned forward and kissed me on the cheeks. I took a deep breath.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
I thought about the gargoyles we had already killed. Some of the corpses had been mutilated or tossed off the side of the staircase, but at least a few were left with wings intact. I closed my eyes to try and focus. I pictured their bodies and tried to feel some sort of energy emanating from them. Their spirits came to me like sludge. Unlike the pure, cleansing feeling that I got when I connected with spirits in the past, this was an ugly, malevolent sensation. But the connection was there.
The gargoyles had almost chipped through the ice. Lily raised her hands to reinforce it.
I focused even harder, and I could sense the bodies twitching to life. They were resisting heavily, but I was starting to overpower them. Yet no matter how hard I focused, I couldn’t quite seem to will them to life. We were mere seconds from being exposed.
“Rahm,” Camilla said suddenly. “The pendant.”
I turned to see the cloudy look in Camilla’s eyes. I was invigorated with a surge of confidence. This was possible. She’d seen it. But the pendant? I pulled it out from underneath my armor. It glowed faintly. I’d only ever used it to communicate with Izmira, but perhaps there was more magic than I realized at play here. I clutched it in my hand, and it started to heat up. When I focused, I could feel power bursting from it. It shot through my entire body and I suddenly felt like I was channeling something, like I was no longer fully in control of what I was doing.
Then one of the gargoyles busted through the ice wall and stuck his hideous nose through. He raised an axe but was cut off by the blinding light. A yellow-green cloud built up around us and spread throughout the tower.
“By the power of Terriah!” I felt the words leave my mouth, but I was not willing myself to save them. “I cleanse your souls!”
What remained of the ice cocoon shattered into a million pieces. The attacking gargoyles recoiled at the explosion of light. And three dead ones raised their heads up, a sober look in their eyes. I was filled with ecstatic joy.
“Rahm, you did it!” I couldn’t even tell if it was Lily or Camilla that said it.
“Come on,” I said. “Before they get a chance to recover.”
The three resurrected gargoyles turned their backs to us, and one by one, we jumped ont
o them. Then we were flying upward toward the top of the tower.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The three of us soared upward through the tower on our devilish steeds. My gargoyle had a long, slender body and a reptilian face, and his stone jaw came to a rounded point like that of a snake. He bared his jagged teeth at his brethren when we passed them. To my left, Lily rode a stocky, barrel-chested cretin with the head of a bear. Camilla rounded us out atop a gargoyle with cat ears and a long tail.
I held my extended dagger at the ready, but any monsters that dared to attack were easily brought down by my mount’s claws. The living gargoyles still seemed a little stunned by Terriah’s light. Once they got their bearings, they chased us toward the top. We zoomed upward so quickly that the endless spirals of the staircase blended together into a hypnotizing whirl. I began to get dizzy and had to clutch onto my gargoyles neck. I couldn’t imagine having to climb so many.
Our mounts began to slow as we neared the top. Soon we reached the section of the tower that held the stained-glass windows. I marveled at the intricate details depicted on the glass.
It was obvious that we had reached a tribute to Cyrus. From panel to panel, each depicted a trial or achievement in the god’s lore. The god stood imposing and threatening in the foreground of every window. His skin was ashen, and a haze clouded around him that resembled smoke. Cyrus had a dark grey beard that reached past his waist. He was completely nude in each piece, but the beard was so thick that it covered him. His skin was segmented in an odd way that looked a little like scales. Long locks of grey hair framed his head so that his face was nearly lost. He had bright red eyes that contrasted his sullen appearance.
In one scene, Cyrus knelt before a forest, tossing trees into his gaping maw. In another, he trudged through a town, knocking down buildings and tormenting villagers. Another was an ocean scene. Cyrus burst out of the water and descended upon a helpless fishing vessel. In each scene, only Cyrus was grey. The rest of the scenes employed the full spectrum of color and created a stunning display of light all the way down the tower walls.
The ceiling of the tower was stained glass as well, but much simpler. It was a giant symbol, a red serpent that circled around the edges of the round ceiling and opened its mouth to devour its own tail. Inside the serpent, black script spiraled unintelligibly down its back.
“Must be Cyrus’ emblem,” Camilla called out when she saw me looking.
We circled around for a moment and gazed in awe. The artistry was exquisite. Despite the evil that it celebrated, there was no denying the beauty. Unfortunately, we were cut short by the approach of the gargoyles. I prepared myself to fight them, but Lily stopped me.
“Look.” She pointed to a small corner of the ceiling where the glass was missing. It appeared to be an entrance to an upper chamber.
“Let’s check it out,” I said. They nodded.
We sped to the opening, the gargoyles in tow. When we passed through it, though, they did not follow. But something much more sinister greeted us.
Neptos faced away from us. He was kneeling over a portion of the glass floor. Instead of the image of Cyrus’ symbol, it appeared to pan over Finnsbruck in real time, shifting slowly, as if it were scanning everything. Other sections of the floor displayed other parts of the realm: the bustling streets of Gragos, the beaches of the far south, my grandparents’ farm in Fellrock. The sorcerer didn’t move, even when we landed our gargoyles and dismounted.
Despite this voyeuristic display, my eye was drawn upward and to the center of the chamber, where the glass led to a glowing purple orb. It was the one from Neptos’ memory. Beams of purple light shot out from it and met mirrors on the walls that reflected them down deep into the tower. Neptos stood up, but he didn’t turn to us.
“I’m a god up here, you know.” His voice was quiet and drained of passion. “All-seeing. All powerful. I watched you from this tower. I watched you slay those hobgoblins. Those orcs and the other cretins. The gargoyles, my foot soldiers.” He frowned when we turned to see our mounts.
“It was my pleasure,” I said.
He grimaced. His face looked even paler than it had before.
“A druid that delights in killing,” he said. “How original. I daresay that school of magic has lost its way since I attempted it. The irony is that perhaps now I would excel.”
“You really don’t get it, do you?” I said. “I’m only killing and destroying what would kill and destroy innocent people and the lands of Iggoroth. That’s why the power of Terriah is with me. I’m nothing like you.”
“Good gods,” he said. “Enough with the hero act. You’d make a fine follower of Cyrus if you would drop it.”
“I can’t help it, Neptos.” I said. “Call me crazy, but I’m just a sucker for living in a world without all of the life sucked out of it.”
He stared at me, disappointment on his face.
“Life,” He said. “Life is what you make it. You say that Cyrus and I suck the life from the world, I say that we transform it. Cyrus transforms life into whatever he wants it to be. Whatever suits him. And I am fortunate enough to be his vessel.”
“Why krokum, Neptos?” I asked. “Why ruin so many lives with that shit?”
He chuckled.
“You say that I ruin lives,” he continued, enjoying the sound of his own voice, “but what I really do is create desire. Desire is what people live for, necrodruid. Krokum is only a tool I picked up from the family business. It is made from that which I seek to transform, and I give it to those who might oppose me. Let’s just say that it… helps my potential enemies come around to my way of thinking.”
“Sounds like he’s using you,” Lily said. Neptos seemed startled to hear her speak.
“The Wolfgang girl,” he said flatly. “You made it all the way here, did you? Your family proved to be quite useless. Thanks for nothing.”
“Well, you’re right about that,” she said. “But you’re wrong about pretty much everything else. It sounds like Cyrus has all of the power, and he’s just got you fooled into thinking you’re in charge.”
“Nice try, child.” He blinked at her. “One does not compare himself to a god.”
He looked over to Camilla.
“And who are you?” He asked. “I’ve seen you following these two around.”
“Me?” Camilla pointed to herself. “You ruined my life with krokum. Not to mention Zantho’s.”
“Stupid girl.” Neptos sighed to himself. “I really must get better gargoyles.”
“You know you don’t have to do this, Neptos,” I said. “You can stop now. We’ll help you fight Cyrus. You’re in over your head, I know it.” It was worth a try.
For a moment, he seemed to really consider this.
“I’ve tried to show you,” he said. His hands began to glow that familiar deep purple. “You are so powerful that you made it all the way here, and yet you still cannot see the bigger picture. It’s tragic really.”
I drew my bow.
“Go cry to Cyrus about it then,” I said. “Maybe he can transform your tears into something useful.”
That did it. Neptos was no longer melancholy and contemplative. Rage clouded his eyes. I strung my bow and Lily twisted her hands in preparation. Yet Neptos did not attack immediately. His eyes darted around at the glass walls and floor.
“I think he’s afraid to destroy the glass,” Lily said quietly.
“Maybe we should help him conquer his fear,” I said.
I checked my quiver. Only about twenty arrows left. I couldn’t resist using one more for show. I shot one at a mirror, cutting off one of its reflected purple beams. It shattered into pieces, and Neptos’ face went red. Meanwhile, Lily created a giant ice hammer, she ran over to the glass wall where the streets of Gragos were on display. In a great display of strength, she swung it as hard as she could. The glass didn’t shatter, but a spider web of cracks shot through it and distorted the town.
“Enough!” Neptos’ rage was back
in full force. He lowered his hood. His face was flushed red, and his hands glowed purple, bolts of electricity emanating from them.
“Get down!” Camilla shouted. I didn’t have to see her eyes to know that the Druella was at play again.
We barely dropped down in time. Bolts of electric energy shot out in every direction. They snaked out and covered everything but the floors. I looked over at the girls, but we all had narrowly avoided the blow. In the center of the room, the orb pulsed more brightly than ever. I could sense its growing power.
“We have to get that orb!” I shouted over the sound of the crackling, withering bolts.
Neptos rose above the ground. His eyes glowed the same hue as his hands. There looked to be very little humanity left in him. Slowly, he floated to the direct center of the upper chamber, right above the orb. A beam of light shot up out of it and directly into Neptos’ body. The glass under our feet began to tremble.
“Get on the gargoyles!” Camilla shouted.
We barely made it. Our obedient mounts were waiting patiently, and they took flight just as we leaped onto their backs. The glass shattered beneath us and plunged into the tower’s abyss. Only a few red jagged edges, the last of Cyrus’ snake, remained. If the orb fell, there would be nothing to catch it for a long way down. I glanced downward from the back of my reptilian gargoyle and was struck with vertigo at the depths. Far below, the living gargoyles raining glass. I wondered if they were too afraid of Neptos’ electrical power to get closer.
I was grateful for our gargoyles’ agility. We zoomed around, spreading apart to confuse our foe. Neptos looked to be waiting for the right moment to strike. I didn’t intend to give it to him. When I was behind him, I fired an arrow at his back. It struck him, but then exploded in another electrical charge. He turned to me and pointed. A jolt of energy shot out directly from his fingertip and narrowly missed me. It grazed my cheek and I felt a sting and smelled a hint of burned flesh.