by Jakob Tanner
The tower had first appeared forty years ago in 2045. It emerged in the middle of nowhere on the northeastern coast of the United States, between Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts.
A decade later, a city with walls and rules had been erected around the tower, and that city came to be known as Zestiris.
The reasons for the tower’s appearance remained a mystery to this day.
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” said Sarah, pushing him along. “But how are you going to find your sister in the tower? Even people in the outer-rim can’t enter the tower-zone?”
“You mean most people,” said Max. “Some people can enter. The mayor. Politicians. Scholars. Archaeologists. People do get access to the tower. So that’s my goal. Study as hard as I can so I can get a job like that and get my way one step closer to the tower.”
“But what about all the monsters that exist in the tower-zone and the tower itself?” said Sarah. “Only climbers who can wield magic can survive in such a dangerous area. That’s why they have the walls in the first place.”
Two walls surrounded the city of Zestiris. There was the wall that surrounded the tower-zone and its inhabitants and then a greater second wall that encompassed both the tower-zone and the outer-rim.
“I’m not afraid of any of that,” said Max. “If Elle needs my help. I’ll go wherever I have to.”
Sarah went quiet behind him.
“That’s amazing, Max, really,” she said. “I wish I had a goal like that. A dream to pursue. All I think about is growing up and getting out of our orphanage. Away from Mr. Grimes.”
“Is he still looking at you weirdly?” said Max.
Sarah shuddered behind him. “He never stops.”
Their conversation soon moved onto lighter topics such as homework and random gossip from the students in Sarah’s year. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived back at the orphanage.
Sarah sighed. “Home sweet home.”
They were back in the foyer of the orphanage for less than thirty seconds when a horrible voice emerged.
“Look who’s come home? Useless,” said the voice.
That was Mr. Grime’s nickname for Max. Useless.
The group home manager appeared in the hallway. He was a slimy man with nostrils full of prickly nose hairs.
Mr. Grimes resented Max because his disability meant more paperwork and regulations to follow for the running of the group home.
The man came over and grabbed Max by the arm. He squeezed down right on Max’s bruises. The boy winced in pain.
“I received a phone call from your school today. You were bringing up the tower in class!? Talking about outer-rim citizens entering the tower-zone!?”
Max shrugged. He had asked a question during history class. He hadn’t thought it was a big deal.
“Are you crazy? If you weren’t in high school, the government would arrest you for that kind of talk.”
“I guess I’m lucky that I’m in high school then,” said Max. “Why aren’t we allowed to talk about the tower? It’s right in front of all of us. It’s crazy that we don’t talk about it.”
“Useless, Useless, Useless,” said Mr. Grimes, wiping his sweaty forehead with an already damp handkerchief. “I can’t talk to you any more. There’s work for you in the kitchen. Go.”
Max turned to wave goodbye to Sarah and made his way to the kitchen. When he got there, he found loads of dirty pots and pans to wash.
Mr. Grimes always gave Max work to do. “You have to work for your privilege to live here,” he always said.
There was no arguing with him. Mr. Grimes had power over his whole life. He could send him back to one of the larger orphanages, which were even more horrible. Or make a false claim of assault and have him sent to a juvenile center, which was no worse than a jail for teenagers.
So Max had to do Mr. Grimes’ bidding, unless he wanted to trade his crappy life for an even crappier one.
Max sighed and got to work on the dishes.
Two hours later when he finished all the chores, he could hear stomping sounds in another part of the group home.
“Sarah...” slurred a voice.
Uh oh.
It was Mr. Grimes. He was drunk and stumbling around the group home.
All the residents knew to avoid Mr. Grimes when he got intoxicated like this, and Max probably would have done the same, if it weren’t for the fact that the man was slurring the name of his only friend.
Max made his way to the end of one hall to get a better idea of what Mr. Grimes was up to.
The older sweaty man was leaning against a door, knocking against it.
It was the door to Sarah’s room.
“Sarah...” slurred Mr. Grimes. “I need to speak with you...”
Max did not like what he was seeing.
He accepted the blackmail Mr. Grimes lorded over him and the horrible tasks he made him do. A pile of dirty dishes was not something worth fighting over, but what if the group home manager made a similar threat to Sarah? But instead of dishes, he forced her to do something far worse...
Max had to stop this before it went even further.
“Hey!” he said, rolling into the hallway. “Leave Sarah alone!”
Mr. Grimes’ tilted his head slowly towards Max. His eyes were bloodshot. His whole face was slimy with sweat.
“Are you speaking to me, Useless?” slurred Mr. Grimes.
This was it. Max was distracting him. He needed to lure him away from Sarah’s door.
“That’s right,” said Max.
Mr. Grimes snickered and then did something Max wasn’t expecting.
The man simply ignored him.
He returned to the door, knocking on it.
“Come out, Sarah...”
So the man was just going to ignore him. He’d have to distract him further.
Max made his way so that he was right beside the man. He lifted his arms and grabbed Mr. Grimes’ wrist.
“Leave her alone,” said Max.
“What’s this...” said Mr. Grimes, continuing to slur his words. “Assault? I guess I’ll just have to send you to juvenile hall.”
Max gulped. If protecting Sarah meant going to a juvenile center, so be it.
“You’ll have a record though, Useless,” said Mr. Grimes. “And you know what that means? No way in hell would you ever get documents to enter the tower-zone.”
He laughed, spit flying into Max’s face.
If he couldn’t enter the tower-zone, he’d never be able to find his sister. He’d never be able to fulfill the promise he made to her.
“Now remove your hand from my wrist, Useless,” spat Mr. Grimes.
Max ignored him. He just kept thinking about never seeing his sister again. Failing at his promise.
“Let go of me,” shouted Mr. Grimes. “Can you not hear me? Are you an idiot and a cripple?”
Max wasn’t hearing the man. He saw his sister in his mind. They were much younger, playing in a field.
“As your big brother,” he had said. “I promise to always protect you.”
SMACK!
Mr. Grimes slapped Max across the face.
The pain scorched across his cheek.
“If you send me to a juvenile center,” said Max. “I’ll tell everyone about you. All the evil things you’ve done. You’ll be finished. And guess what—you won’t be able to do anything about it. Make me do the dishes? Clean the showers? You won’t be able to make me do anything because I’ll be far away.”
The man perked up at that.
“Don’t you threaten me, Useless,” said Mr. Grimes. “I’ll take you at your word.”
“Leave me and my friend alone and you got a deal,” said Max.
“Nope,” smiled Mr. Grimes. “You’re a loose end now and do you know what I do to loose ends? I snip them away.”
Mr. Grimes reached out and grabbed Max by the hair and slammed his head against the wall.
Max blacked out.
Max woke
up in darkness.
He lifted up his hand and felt a metal surface above him.
Where am I?
He heard the thrum of a car engine. The crackle of a wheel rolling over a stone.
Was he in the trunk of a car?
The car came to a stop and the engine cut out.
He heard a murmur of voices.
What the heck was going on?
The last thing Max remembered was yelling at Mr. Grimes before the man hit him. Had he blacked out after that? So it seemed logical that the only place he could be was in the back of Mr. Grimes’ car.
But what was he planning on doing with him?
Max pushed himself so his ear was against the metal surface. He could make out the voices outside.
“Remember that favor you owe me,” said Mr. Grimes.
“You couldn’t have picked better timing,” said the other voice. “A monster wave has just started. The kid will get torn apart. No evidence, no problem.”
Mr. Grimes popped open the trunk and grinned maliciously at Max.
“Wake up, Useless,” said Mr. Grimes.
The group manager turned to the other figure. It was a soldier, but the uniform he was wearing wasn’t a normal military outfit.
He must be a tower-zone guard. What was he doing interacting with Mr. Grimes?
The two men picked Max up by either side.
“Let me go,” said Max, squirming between them. “Where are you taking me!?”
They carried him over to a gateway.
Mr. Grimes snickered. “You wanted to enter the tower-zone so badly, well, here you go, Useless.”
With that, they swung him forward into the dangerous world beyond the wall.
3
Max watched as a metal door slid shut in front of him.
His whole body ached. For the second time that day he could taste blood in his mouth. He spat it out, then coughed.
Holy smokes.
They’d just thrown him beyond the wall. He was no longer in the outer-rim of Zestiris, but the tower-zone. Since receiving his sister’s mysterious letter a year ago, all he had wanted was to enter the tower-zone.
But never like this.
And what had that guard meant when he said, monster wave? That didn’t sound good.
Max blinked. He had to make a plan and make one fast.
He tilted his head and took in his surroundings.
He was on a paved road. Across the street was a park—lots of green trees, grass, benches, and lampposts.
Okay new plan, thought Max. Get off this road. Head to the park. Find someone to help him and then go get Mr. Grimes arrested.
Max dragged himself forward across the road. His whole body ached as he did so. He gritted his teeth and winced at the pain.
He stretched his arms and chest then dragged his lower body forward.
He gasped in exhaustion when he finally got his body fully on the grass of the park.
He looked around and contemplated screaming for help. No one was in sight though and he needed to conserve his energy.
He was slightly perplexed by the park he was in. It was like any normal park in the outer-rim. He wasn’t expecting something so, normal.
KABOOM!
A massive force of energy rippled across the park and shot Max’s hair back.
What the heck was that?
It sounded like an explosion from deeper in the city. No wonder no one was around in the park. It sounded like there was a city wide emergency going on.
Max had to rethink his plan. He would have to drag himself through this park and get to the nearest tower-zone police station.
He dragged himself forward.
His body slid across the grass, his clothing getting tainted and damp with dirt.
Rustle, rustle.
Max stopped.
What was that?
Were there animals in this park? Could that be someone walking their dog?
Max’s heart suddenly started racing.
“HELP!” he screamed.
He pulled himself forward faster than before, hoping to get the attention of the dog walker.
He dragged himself across the grass. Stretch, pull, stretch, pull. Repeat.
He got closer to the rustling sound and then through the shadows of the trees, he saw glowing red eyes. Angry eyes. Demonic eyes. Eyes that did not belong to a dog or even the most zealous of dog walkers.
Words from before echoed in his mind.
A monster wave just started.
Could that thing in the distance be...a monster?
Okay, Max thought. New plan 2.0: get the heck away from whatever monstrous creature is stalking the park right now ASAP.
He pivoted around on the ground and started dragging himself back the way he came.
Stretch, pull, stretch, pull, stretch pull.
The monster was still moving behind Max. He could even hear the hissing breath of the unknown creature.
Max ran through every type of monster he’d ever read about: trolls, ogres, demons, orcs. The faces of angry mythological monsters helped him drag himself across the ground even faster than he had before.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
The monster was moving faster now.
Based on what he was hearing, Max didn’t think the monster was coming from directly behind him any more. The monster was changing its direction. It was going to sneak attack him.
Or was it toying with him?
How vindictive were monsters?
There was no way he could escape a monster that was hunting him. He looked around. There were a few fallen branches. Maybe he could use those as a weapon?
Who was he kidding?
There was no way he could fight back against a monster.
If he couldn’t escape, he needed to try and hide.
He turned around and that was when he came face to face with the glowing red eyes.
Stepping out from the shadows was an eight-foot tall minotaur with dark brown fur, horns, and massive clawed hands.
The monster stared at Max as it stepped out of the shadows.
Its eyes glowed with bloodlust.
4
Max trembled with fear.
He crawled backwards, hoping to get away from the monstrous minotaur looming over him.
The minotaur hissed and made more incomprehensible noises.
Max had no idea what to do next. His body and mind were telling him to get away, but he was dragging himself around like a snail—no way he’d be able to escape a fully-grown minotaur.
But fighting it was an even worse option.
“Please...leave...me...alone,” said Max, as he pulled himself backwards away from the monster.
The minotaur hissed and exhaled through his nose like a bull gearing up to charge.
More explosions echoed from deeper in the tower-zone.
Every blast and ripple of energy from afar was a message to Max. One simple message. No one was coming to help him.
The minotaur flared its nostrils once more.
“Please...” said Max.
The minotaur’s body began to glow with a yellow aura around it.
The monster then cocked its clawed fist back and then shot it forward at Max.
This was it...
There was no way he would survive a powerful hit from a minotaur...
He blinked.
His heart was still beating.
He was alive.
He didn’t even feel any pain.
He then opened his eyes and almost threw up at the horror.
The monster had torn through the flesh of his legs. Broken bones poked out from his bloodied skin.
And yet he wasn’t feeling anything because neurologically he had no response to anything below his waist.
It was like a messed-up form of invincibility, thought Max. Not really though, as he still stood a pretty good chance of dying from blood loss or shock.
The minotaur huffed and paced around him.
Why
didn’t it just rip me to shreds as fast as it could? Max thought to himself. The creature wasn’t expecting an opponent to not fight back. It kept expecting me to come back at it with something. It was going to kill me with caution.
Max trembled and dragged himself backwards, leaving a trail of blood.
The world around him was becoming blurry as he moved.
“HELP!” he screamed once more.
If he didn’t get help, he was dead. No doubt about it.
The minotaur stepped forward. It inhaled and exhaled deeply, readying itself in the same way it had attacked last time.
Its body began to glow yellow again and it cocked back its fist.
“Someone! Please! Help!” screamed Max with his last remaining energy.
Max didn’t see himself surviving another blow from the minotaur’s powerful smash attack.
The minotaur threw down its fist towards Max, before suddenly jerking back in pain.
A bright blade of energy appeared by the creature’s shoulder and ripped out a piece of its flesh.
The minotaur wailed in pain.
“What...the...” gasped Max.
That energy blade—where had it come from? It had saved him.
A blurry figure laid a bruising punch into the minotaur’s back and sent it hurling across the park.
Max was at a loss for words. He looked up to see the figure who had just damaged the minotaur so easily.
It was a woman. About twice his age. Early thirties.
She had long black hair and wore a dark green leather jacket over a black t-shirt and jeans. She had a ruby badge pinned to her jacket with the letter B on it.
Max looked up to her surprised.
Was this the power of a citizen of the tower-zone?
Sakura Sato held up her arms in a fighting stance and took in the situation.
The minotaur groaned and was picking itself up off the ground. Behind her was the kid with the torn up legs.
“Are you some kind of idiot?” she asked, not even turning around to face the boy, keeping her eyes focused on the minotaur. “What are you doing out in the middle of a monster wave? You should know better.”
“I...uhh...”
The boy was too shocked to reply properly.