by Andrew Rowe
My dueling tunic protected me from the worst of it. None of the icy shards were pushed free with sufficient force to pierce through it.
But the water was cold, and it hit me with sufficient force to push me to the ground.
The statue turned toward me again, raising a hand, but Vera stepped in and slashed the arm with the dueling cane’s blade. The sword arm went limp, a visible gash where the mana-charged blade had cut deep into it.
That bought me a moment before it threw another sword at me with a different arm.
I didn’t have time to dodge.
Instead, I raised the still-sheathed sword, which had flowed out of the water right next to me, and deflected the thrown blade out of the way.
“Nice!” Vera shouted.
I grinned, standing and drawing the weapon.
It looked like a rusted piece of junk.
That, I considered, is just what happens when I rely on hoping for the best.
But, rusted junk or not, it was a weapon. I ran the statue anyway.
The statue didn’t deign to give me its attention this time. Vera had been forced all the way to the back wall and she blasted it with mana in between parries.
I hit the statue in the back. There was a loud clang and my arm rattled from the impact, but it didn’t do any visible damage.
I did succeed in making it angry.
The statue turned to face me, lashing out at me with three different swords.
Fortunately, this was a game I knew how to play.
I stepped left, deflecting one of the blades into the other two, then kicked the statue in the knee.
As I expected, it wasn’t very well balanced.
The statue stumbled backward, and I lashed out, landing a glancing blow across its face.
Still no damage.
It responded with a slash across my abdomen. I stepped back, failing to avoid it entirely, but my dueling tunic repelled the glancing blow.
Then the blade of Vera’s dueling cane burst through the back of its head, and the statue collapsed to the floor.
I took a step back, breathing a sigh of relief. “Whew.”
Vera leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. “You can say that again, kid. I haven’t had a fight like that in ages, and I don’t care to have one again.”
I nodded, sheathing the sword and lifting it to show it to her. “You mind if I hold onto this thing?”
“Nah,” she dragged the word out into an exhale, still trying to get her breath back. “Think you earned it. Think you can carry the kid over here, though?”
I set the sword down. “Yeah, you handled a lot more of the fighting. Only fair.”
“Thanks.” She grinned at me. “You did pretty well yourself, though.”
I returned the grin, heading back to the other side of the room. I picked up the child gingerly — his condition seemed unchanged — and then carried him over to Vera, next to the door.
As I returned, the monsters shimmered and vanished as one, leaving tiny colorful crystals behind in their wake.
“Ooh, nice.” Vera picked up the largest crystal, the one that had been left behind by the statue, and shoved it into a pouch at her side. “May as well grab a few of these.”
“I don’t think we have that much time.” I still knelt and snatched a single crystal from the remains of a barghensi as I crossed the room. It was on my way, but I wasn’t willing to deviate from the safe path to collect any others. The monsters might have been dead, but I still was worried about triggering a harder to see trap.
Vera shrugged. “Suit yourself, kid.” She walked to the door. The crystal on it was clear, and she touched it with her free hand. The door opened, displaying a round room with a single pillar at the center. A stone one this time, not another ice pillar. A shame — in spite of being doused with freezing water, I could have lived with more pillars that had treasure inside them.
There were a few more obvious trap tiles on the floor and one particularly foreboding iron chain leading to something on the opposite side of the pillar.
I could see a large wooden door on the opposite side. “Looks like this is it.”
I recognized the double doors; they were the same design as the ones I had used to enter the tower. An exit.
I allowed myself to take a breath of relief as I inched toward the door.
“Looks like you’re struggling there. Hand the kid back to me, yeah?”
I nodded gratefully, arriving next to Vera and handing the unconscious boy back into her arms.
I was sufficiently distracted with that motion that I just barely noticed when she pointed the dueling cane at my chest.
“Don’t move.”
My eyes narrowed.
I strongly considered trying to grab the cane from her hand. My vest could probably take one more shot, and people had a tendency to miss charging targets at short range.
But I’d never seen Vera miss.
I opened my hands and stretched them out to my sides, a gesture of surrender. “Why?”
“It’s nothing personal. I don’t know you, kid. But I’ve gotta make sure my friend here is safe.”
Vera paused, grimacing. “I’m taking this way out. You can find your own way.” Vera made a gesture with her head toward the door where we had entered the room. It was still there. “Maybe you can explain things to the visage.”
I gave her a look that was heavy with skepticism. “That sounds real plausible.”
“Sorry. Hate to do this, but I will fire if you follow me. This is bigger than you know.”
I shrugged. “Do what you’ve got to do.”
She nodded. “Don’t take this exit, even after I leave. I hope, for your sake, that we never meet again, Corin.”
Not likely.
When I get out of here, you’re going toward the top of my “figure this resh out” list.
Vera inched her way out of the room, the kid still slung over one shoulder, the dueling cane always pointing at me.
I considered rushing her right up until the point where she reached the pillar in the center of the next room and the door slammed shut.
Resh.
Only one thing to do now.
I looted the room.
Five more small crystals from the remaining destroyed monsters. They weren’t much, but they probably had some value. I picked the sheathed sword back up too. Rusted or not, it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, the sheath wasn’t built with a loop to attach to a belt, so I had to carry it by hand for the moment.
If Vera knew that the way she’d gone was an exit, can I just wait a bit longer and follow her?
I knew that different exits led to different locations — was she going to be lying in wait for me out there? Did she have contacts outside the tower that would cover her retreat?
The latter was slightly more likely, but I didn’t think either of them was going to happen.
I still didn’t take the exit, though.
I had unfinished business.
I found a clear spot near the exit door and unslung my backpack, finding the book.
As I flipped open the pages, the room trembled. I dropped the book as the floor beneath me shifted, but I managed to maintain my footing.
After a few more seconds, the shaking stopped, and I picked up the book. Fortunately, nothing had fallen from the ceiling, but I could see cracks in the walls.
Was that an earthquake?
No, ordinary earthquakes don’t happen here.
That was something moving — something big.
...can the god serpent move outside of that room?
I felt a momentary surge of terror, clenching my hands into fists as I pictured the god beast smashing through one of the nearby walls. But quivering wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
And it certainly wasn’t going to get Tristan the help he needed.
I took a deep breath, unclenched my fists, and picked up the book.
I wasn’t done here.
I found the last line I had
written, and I found the reply.
I will try. It is not my way, but I will try.
I frowned, uncertain, and lifted the quill to the page. I noted the distinct lack of a description for this room. Was the entity still watching me?
Are you there?
Seconds passed. No reply.
I lifted my head from the book, frowning, to find that I was no longer alone.
A hooded robe floated in front of me, with a pattern of white stars sewn into the blue cloth. The sleeves were outstretched, giving the impression of arms within, but there were no arms. No face was visible within the hood; just empty air.
“You have made things very difficult for me, Corin.”
I wasn’t sure if the voice was coming from within the cloak or inside my head. It seemed to come from everywhere at once.
But I was pretty sure I knew who I was talking to.
“Sorry about that.” I put the book and quill away. “Mysterious book entity, I take it?”
“In a manner of speaking. This is not my true form, merely a manifestation of convenience. There is no time for deeper discussion. Come.”
I stood, ready to draw the sword, but holding it downward in a non-threatening position.
The hooded figure moved to a wall toward the middle of the room. I followed, avoiding the traps on the floor.
“Press here.”
I searched the wall, finding a small tile that stood out from the rest of the stone. A switch.
Of course, most of the switches in the room triggered traps.
I really didn’t like this.
I pressed the switch.
I heard a click, followed by a grinding noise. A door-sized section of the wall slid into the floor.
I nodded to the hooded figure. “Thanks.”
“Do not thank me. This favor will cost us both.”
Well, that was ominous.
The room ahead was circular, similar to the one with the pillar. Instead of a pillar at the center, however, it had a basin filled with clear blue. There were exit doors on the opposite side of the room.
“Enter the room.”
I stepped in, glancing around cautiously. The robes floated in beside me.
“This is a Room of Attunement.”
I felt my heart pound in my chest.
“Drink from the water to be anointed and complete your test.”
I didn’t hesitate. This was one of my two goals for entering the tower, and I had already made as much progress as I could have hoped for on finding Tristan.
Maybe this would give me the strength to do more.
I laid my sword down next to the basin and dipped my hands into the water. It was cool, almost freezing, as I brought it to my lips and drank.
My mind went blank.
I saw only blackness at first, but I felt no panic, only calm.
A woman manifested slowly in front of me. She glowed with a soft blue light. It was a cold light, colder than the water that flowed within me now, and it chilled me to my core.
Her wings were brilliant white, reminding me of the soft glow on the blade of the sword that Keras wielded.
Her expression was full of sadness as she reached for me, brushing her fingers across my forehead.
“Awaken.”
I was back in the chamber. My forehead felt cold, the touch of her fingertips still lingering on my skin.
I had no doubt as to what I had seen, what I had experienced.
I was attuned.
The robed figure remained next to me. It leaned down, lifting the sheathed sword in an invisible grip.
I blinked, taking a step back.
It paused. “I am not going to strike you. I am merely retrieving a tool.”
The cloaked figure unsheathed the rusted sword with an invisible hand, then thrust it into the pool of water. The entire blade and hilt sunk in, deeper than should have been possible from the visible fluid. When the cloaked figure pulled its hand out, the weapon had transformed. It was an elegant saber, a blue gem shimmering in the pommel, the handguard a weave of silvery vines.
The cloaked figure turned the sword to the side, offering it in two invisible hands. I accepted it with a mixture of confusion and awe, then re-sheathed it.
I felt an aura of frost emanate from the weapon as I took it in my hands, but it was a soothing cold. The chill fought back the pain in my right hand from the overuse of my cane.
“Thank you,” I breathed.
“It is a meager gift, but the best I can prepare with limited time. You will need far more than this to survive the days to come.”
“Because I opposed Katashi?” I might have expected as much.
The creature’s hood twisted, giving the impression of an attempt to shake a head that wasn’t there. “Because of what you have seen. You are one of several who have been pulled into a conflict with the potential for vast devastation. Seek the woman called Lyras Orden. Tell her that the Voice of the Tower must speak with her. You may tell her what you have seen, but speak to no one else of the prisoners. That will be the first of your tasks to repay what you owe.”
I nodded. “I take it you’re this Voice?”
“Yes. I know you wish for more information, but I must leave. A battle still rages and even moments may make a difference.”
I thought of Keras and Katashi. Was this Voice going to go help one of them?
I really wanted to know more, but I didn’t know enough to question the Voice’s decision, and I believed that moments might be relevant.
“One last question. My brother entered this tower and never returned. His name is Tristan. Do you know where I can find him?”
The Voice hovered in silence for a moment. The hood shifted downward just enough for me to notice. “I am sorry. Thousands come and go each year. I cannot help you.”
Another chance lost.
The tower shook, jarring me out of my thoughts. “I understand. Thank you again for everything.”
The hooded robe vanished. I heard a voice in the air as it disappeared. “Leave quickly, while you still can.”
I stared for a moment at where it had been.
Quickly was somewhat ambiguous, at least. I could take a few minutes.
I knew that people were supposed to lose some of their memories of the tower when they left. I also knew they kept what they had found inside.
I had a book and a quill. I hoped the Voice wouldn’t be too irritated if I used them for a more conventional purpose.
The tower shook as I wrote the most important notes I could think of.
Found prisoners and freed them. Tristan was not among them. One of them, Vera, betrayed me and fled with an unconscious child. Not sure why.
Another, Keras, is currently fighting with the Visage of Valor. Yes, seriously. He is doing surprisingly well, but from the shaking in the tower, I don’t know how long he’ll last.
This book is connected to an entity called the Voice of the Tower. The Voice has instructed me to find Lyras Orden and tell her to talk to him. It? Anyway, that’s a thing I need to do. Also, I shouldn’t tell others about the prisoners.
Katashi may want to kill me because of what I know and/or because I helped Keras a little. This could prove inconvenient.
The Voice doesn’t know where Tristan is, but if there are prisoners here, there’s hope. It’s much more likely the goddess will return him if he’s still alive.
I finished taking my notes. I’d originally planned to record everything I’d seen in the tower, but the shaking was getting worse. I saw cracks forming in the walls of my room. The Voice didn’t reply to my writing. Presumably, it was busy.
More shaking. Tiny pieces of masonry fell from the ceiling.
Was there anything else I needed to do before I left the tower?
I looked at the font where I’d gained my attunement, where the Voice had procured a magic weapon by trading in a terrible one. I really, really wanted to pour everything from my backpack in there. Somehow I doubted the goddess
would appreciate that, though.
I settled for emptying out my flask of water on the floor of the room and dipping it into the pool. I filled it to the brim.
Would the goddess be offended by such a small thing? I hoped not.
The room shook again, a fist-sized chunk of stone falling from above and landing inches from where I stood.
I’m going to hope that was a coincidence. Either way, it’s time to go.
I stoppered the water flask, put it in my bag, and moved with purpose out the tower doors.
***
I was out of the tower.
I took a minute to just close my eyes and breathe.
I survived.
It felt good to be alive. It felt even better to finally have some tangible progress toward getting Tristan back.
It was going to be a long journey, but I’d finally taken a step closer to reuniting my family.
Standing here isn’t going to get you any closer, though.
I opened my eyes.
The sky was dark overhead, and I could see clouds gathering. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about rain on the way home. The environmental shield that covered the city was barely visible from my vantage point, but I could see the telltale shimmer a few hundred feet up.
I knew what rain and snow were intellectually, but I’d never felt them. Maybe I’d get a chance someday. For the moment, I had more important things to concentrate on.
There were no guards next to my particular exit, which was a bit of a surprise. I knew I’d probably taken a non-standard route through the tower, but I still expected to be escorted by guards to a nearby celebration area as soon as I finished. That was standard procedure, as I understood it.
I could see the tall celebration tents in the distance and a couple people gradually approaching them.
I took another minute, gathering my thoughts and checking the contents of my pack. At a glance, everything was still there. I still had the sword with me, too.
The book’s writing remained intact. Good.
It took me a moment to realize that I remembered writing in the book, and I knew why I was checking it.
My memories hadn’t been erased. Not yet, at least.
Was it because I had taken a non-standard exit? Or perhaps because the Voice had helped me somehow? I wasn’t sure. And I certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone. Not yet, at least.