The paladin had her wish. The ghouls were tentative in their attack and the entire group was dispatched fairly easily. Fergus did get splashed in the eye with some ghoulish blood, but Miriam checked and pronounced it both safe and gross at the same time.
“Yeah and it smells disgusting too,” Kate told Fergus.
“Thanks a lot,” he replied as he wiped a handkerchief over his face again and again. “I can't get the stench off; it's like it's seeped into my pores. Ugh, revolting.”
The rest of the fifth floor was cleared out in a more orderly fashion. Hallic kept a close eye out for resting ghouls and brought no more than four back to the group at once for the remaining encounters.
Finally he returned to the party, grinned widely and announced that the way was clear.
“Not a single monster is left between us and the next ramp,” he told Tamara. “And may I suggest that the group rest for a few minutes, have some water and food if they want it? There's a long way to go.”
The mage agreed, but wanted them all to move across the distance to the other side of the floor first. Once they had, everyone relaxed while Hallic headed upstairs to scout out the next floor. Aeris joined him.
Simon sat down with his back against the cool stone wall and sipped from his canteen. The ramp rose to his left into darkness and he glanced at it every now and then.
“Are you worried, master?” Kronk asked.
The little guy stood to Simon's right.
“In here? Always. We have a long way to go, Kronk, and who knows what nasty surprises await us.”
He looked over at Barnaby, who was speaking animatedly to Sebastian, and he leaned toward the earthen.
“I'm concerned that some of us,” he said under his breath, “are taking this too lightly, now that all of those ghouls are dead. They were too easy, and maybe a few people now have a false sense of security. That sort of mind set can lead to mistakes.”
The little guy looked over at the two mages and nodded his understanding.
“This is Barnaby's first experience in combat, is it not, master?”
“I didn't ask but I assume so. He seems fairly close to Bastian though, so that's good. Sebastian definitely has a lot of battle experience and he's level-headed. Hopefully he'll be able to keep Barnaby in hand.”
Kronk's head jerked upward as he looked past Simon and the wizard turned to see what had startled him. He sighed and pushed himself up with a grunt. Break time was over; Hallic and Aeris were coming back.
“What did you find?” Tamara asked. She raised her voice enough for them to hear her as she walked forward.
The rogue looked puzzled and Aeris appeared to share that feeling.
“I believe that we've been duped, my friends,” the rogue replied reluctantly.
Everyone became still and tense. Simon narrowed his eyes and looked at Aeris.
“Meaning?” he asked.
“The tower is hollow, my dear wizard,” the air elemental called out as the pair descended, sounding a little dazed. “Absolutely hollow. It's nothing more than an empty shell.”
“Wait. Wait!” Tamara said sharply over a sudden babble of conversation.
She raised her hands and barked, “Silence!”
Everyone quieted down and she turned to stare at Hallic.
“Tell us what you saw up there,” she said.
“Nothing, lady mage,” Hallic replied as he reached the bottom of the ramp. “Absolutely nothing. The entire floor is unlit but it is empty of anything. No rooms, walls, barriers or guards. It's as if someone built it and just forgot about it. But that is not the strangest part of it. It has no ceiling. Instead, the tower extends upwards for hundreds of feet until it reaches the roof. I assume that the head of the necromancers has his lodgings up there, but since none of us can fly, except for Aeris of course, there is no way for us to reach him. We've been effectively neutralized before even getting a chance to face him.”
Tamara growled and pushed past him.
“I want to see this for myself,” she said angrily as she hurried up the ramp.
Everyone seemed to be frozen in surprise, but Simon was quick to follow the mage, with Kronk tip-tapping along behind him.
At the top of the ramp, they stumbled to a halt in the sudden darkness. The floor here was bumpy and covered in debris that they couldn't see. Both the wizard and the mage stared upward silently, straining to see something.
The outer wall of the tower wasn't difficult to make out; windows had been cut in the stone and the stars gleaming in the night sky peered in at them. On several levels above them, the same type of burning red globes had been hung in some of these openings, pulsing brightly enough to catch the eye.
“So that's what we saw from the outside,” Tamara murmured. “Those globes. And here we thought that they were torches inside of living quarters or offices.”
“Exactly what our opponent wanted us to think, I'd say,” Simon replied.
She nodded, barely visible in the gloom.
“Do we dare summon a light?” she asked him.
The wizard looked quizzically at Aeris, who had followed him up, as had Hallic. The elemental shrugged and the rogue did the same.
“It is your call, sir wizard,” the dwarf said. “Frankly, I doubt that it matters at this point. The undead can see in total darkness and none of us can become invisible except for your air elemental friend here. If it helps you to find your footing and see more details, then feel free.”
“Let's do it then, Tamara,” Simon told her. “If we have to fight, we'll need to see the enemy anyway.”
She hesitated a moment and then agreed. They both summoned a glowing orb to hover above their heads; enough to light the immediate area.
The shuffle of many feet told Simon that the rest of the party had climbed to ramp to join them, but he was focused on the area around them that could now be seen in the magical light.
“Holy hell,” Barnaby exclaimed. “It's like the biggest cathedral ever!”
The floor they were standing on stretched out to the other side of the tower and, as Hallic had reported, it was totally empty except for the piles of debris scattered all over the place.
“What are they?” Miriam wondered. “Garbage left over from when they built this place?”
Malcolm cautiously approached a pile of misshapen detritus and gave it a gentle kick. It broke apart and the maggoty remains of several small animals spilled out, along with a mass of flies and the thick stench of death.
“Oh damn, that's gross,” he said as he backed away and put a hand over his nose and mouth.
Simon looked at the remains clinically and then looked up at the distant pinnacle of the tower. He narrowed his eyes in thought.
“What is it, my friend?” Liliana asked as she moved closer to him. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just wondering what is living up there that eats these many animals and poops them out all at once.”
“Ew, that's excrement?” Miriam asked. She quickly moved even further back from the pile that Malcolm had kicked open.
“I think so. And whatever made it is huge. It wasn't any undead minion or a dracolich and it certainly wasn't our mysterious necromancer.”
“Another mystery,” Tamara said irritably. “To add to the pile. We can worry about it when the time comes. The question now is, how in the hell are we going to get up to the top of this tower? I'm guessing that the necromancer and the casters who follow him can Gate in and out, but it's warded against us doing the same thing, Hell, we can't even get close to it using the Magic Mirror spell. So the question now is, what do we do?”
She turned and looked at the others.
“If anyone has any ideas, now would be a good time.”
“Hallic, did you actually cross to the other side of the tower?” Simon asked.
Even with his glowing orb floating over their heads, the far side of the building couldn't be seen in any detail.
“Not all of the way, no. The
re didn't seem to be a point,” the dwarf replied. “Why?”
“Just curious. Aeris, could you zip over there and take a look around, please?”
“Of course. I'll be back in a minute.”
The air elemental shot off into the darkness and was quickly lost from sight.
“What are you hoping to find?” Liliana asked. “A staircase leading to the penthouse?”
She smiled as she said it and Simon grinned back.
“I'd prefer an elevator, actually. My feet are sore.”
The others laughed a bit and the tension eased slightly.
“Me too,” Tamara told him. “But I doubt if things will be that easy. They never are.”
“My sister has always been one to look on the dark side of life,” Sebastian told them all with a wink. “Always searching for a way to make a sunny day a little gloomier.”
Tamara opened her mouth to make a stinging retort, but Hallic cut her off with a sudden gesture.
“Be quiet, everyone. Listen: what is that sound?”
The party froze, everyone straining to hear what the dwarf heard.
A distant slow pulse of sound was approaching steadily, but not from within the tower.
“It's coming from outside,” Malcolm whispered, just loudly enough for them all to hear him.
“But we're on the sixth floor,” Aiden replied under his breath. “We couldn't hear something on the ground from here, especially from inside the tower.”
They listened closely and Simon's eyes widened as he recognized that steady beat.
“Wings!” he exclaimed. “It's the sound of flapping wings. Dragon!”
Everyone looked around wildly and Simon just had time to notice Aeris flying back to join them before an ear-splitting crash shook the entire tower, making it ring like the world's largest bell.
Chunks of masonry and clouds of thick, choking dust filled the air as the far wall of the tower burst inward and a massive winged creature shot through the gap and hovered above them, its enormous wings blasting gusts of wind over the party.
“At last,” a voice as deep and low as death said with satisfaction. “I have found you.”
Chapter 29
All around him, Simon heard people coughing and choking as dust was blown around them by the beating wings of the dragon over their heads. The wizard was coughing as well, but squinted upward through the fog trying to see the creature. That voice sounded familiar.
His globe of light was still shining and he sent it higher with a thought. As it approached the beast above them, Simon saw its glow reflected in scales as shiny as chrome plating and he gaped in surprise.
“Argentium?” he called out. “Is that you?”
The argent dragon's wings slowed their flapping and he landed almost gracefully on the floor a dozen yards away. On the ground, his true size was revealed and some of the others, who had never seen a real dragon up close, gasped in wonder.
Almost as large as a primal dragon, Argentium's gleaming body, with scales as bright as polished platinum, stretched out a good seventy feet in length from snout to tail. His enormous, sail-like wings were at least as wide but he folded them as soon as he landed to keep them from hitting the tower walls.
His heavy head was topped with spiral horns like those of a unicorn, wickedly sharp, and fangs as keen as razors filled his maw. Overall, the dragon looked fierce, dangerous and terrifying.
But his eyes belied that appearance. Huge and golden, they examined the party with warmth and humor and even the most frightened of the group was reassured when Argentium's gaze met theirs.
“Yes, sir wizard, it is I. Bide a moment while I change form.”
More gasps came from behind Simon as a silvery mist engulfed the dragon. Argentium's form vanished inside the mist and a moment later it coalesced and disappeared, leaving behind someone who was man-shaped but definitely not human.
Argentium walked over and joined the group, the shadow of a smile on his stern face. He towered over Malcolm and Aiden and his platinum armor, actually part of his own body, outshone even Liliana's.
“It is good to see you again, Simon O'Toole,” the dragon said. “I have sought you out for several days now, only to find you in the heart of our enemy's lair. How extraordinary.”
“It's good to see you as well, Argentium. I know that we didn't part under the best of circumstances, but...”
“I understand why you were upset, sir wizard, I assure you. And I bear you no enmity. On the contrary, I am pleased that you are willing to speak with me after that...unpleasantness.”
“What's he talking about?” Simon heard Barnaby whisper to someone behind him.
“Shut up,” Sebastian hissed at him.
The wizard tried not to laugh as he spoke with the dragon.
“We need allies, Argentium, my people and I. And you and Esmiralla are the last two lawful dragons on Earth. Only a fool wouldn't recognize your value and I would hope that I am not quite that foolish.”
The dragon nodded, his long platinum hair rippling on his shoulders.
“Wise, my friend. Very wise for one so young. Now, we have a few moments of respite; those above did not see my approach; they are busy planning and scheming. So while we have the chance, would you introduce me to your companions?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
The next few minutes seemed surreal to Simon when he looked back on them. Introducing an ancient dragon in human form to the others was bizarre.
But Argentium was gracious with them and, even when Barnaby stuttered and stammered as he was presented, the dragon simply bowed a little and greeted him politely.
“This will be something to tell my kids, if I ever have any,” he muttered to Sebastian. “The day I met a dragon face to face. Crazy.”
Sebastian shushed him and everyone settled down. Simon gestured up at the darkness above them and looked at Argentium.
“Do you know what they are doing up there? And more importantly, is there a way for us to reach them?”
The platinum dragon folded his arms over his armored chest and frowned in thought.
“I do not know specifically what they are doing or planning, no. But there is activity up there and more than one human form, that much I do know. And the abominations that were once primal dragons still circle the tower's peak, waiting to attack anyone who approaches.”
“Why aren't there more undead troops here?” Tamara asked. “We've barely raised a sweat reaching this point and I know that the leader up there commands hundreds, possibly thousands of undead creatures, including more dracoliches. This place should be swarming with the vermin, and goblins as well.”
Argentium chuckled, surprising them.
“You have made a few mistaken assumptions, my friends. The goblins are not in league with the necromancers. Yes, some of their spell-casters and warriors have joined with your enemies, but that was their own choice and they are now considered traitors by their people. But the goblins hate all humans, whether they serve the lords of Chaos or the Light. They are now at war with this tower and its denizens. That is the explanation for the lack of undead troops.”
He looked around pensively at the darkness beyond the floating globes of light.
“The undead legions are spread thinly across the world, attacking the goblin settlements like mindless swarms of ants. Whoever the leader of the necromancers is, he is no battlefield genius. He is simply using his hordes to batter at the goblin strongholds, the same way he's used them to try to defeat the dwarves. Both outcomes are the same; a futile waste of troops.”
“He's losing?” Hallic asked hopefully.
Argentium looked at him and smiled ruefully.
“When you can simply resurrect your fallen troops as well as your dead foes, losing is not really a possibility. No, the only way to stop the attacks against your people, the goblins and what remains of humanity is to stop the one who dwells above us.”
He looked upward and frowned.
�
��That magic-user is powerful though; he controls the undead, gives them life of a sort, but they also feed power back to him. It is a twisted, symbiotic bond that won't be easily broken.”
“He's still human, isn't he?” Malcolm growled. “He can still bleed, can't he?”
“He can.”
“Then if he can bleed, he can die. We just need to reach him.”
“Hold on a moment,” Liliana said and stepped closer to Argentium. “What about those two undead primals up there. If we destroy the head necromancer, will they fall as well?”
“The undead troops and the lesser animated dragons will cease to exist, yes,” he told her gravely. “But the primals have achieved a sort of semi-sentience. They are almost self-aware and retain much of their power from their previous lives. They will have to be defeated individually.”
“Yes, I thought as much,” she said stoically. “Ah well, I enjoy a challenge.”
“How many casters are up there?” Simon asked.
“Six, I believe. No more than that. The two that were patrolling the outside perimeter of the tower, and their troops, have been dealt with.”
There were scattered exclamations of surprise.
“You destroyed the patrols?” Tamara asked him.
“Not I. The silver dragon, Esmiralla, took up that task. It was not a problem.”
Argentium looked at Simon as he spoke and the wizard nodded his understanding. Now wasn't the time to hold a grudge.
I just wish she hadn't stolen my kidney though, he thought fleetingly, and then let it go.
“Well, there's one less thing to worry about,” he said with some relief. “I was sure that there were a lot more necromancers than the handful that are here in this tower right now. I suppose their numbers were whittled down in their battles with the goblins. Good news for us. So now, the most important question is how can we reach the top of the tower and deal with the rest of them?”
Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to come up with some sort of solution. To Simon, the answer was obvious, but he wasn't going to be the one to suggest it; he had a feeling that, ally or not, the argent dragon would be offended.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 115