Towns and Towers: A New Land

by Shawn Kass

  “Like I said,” began Kat, “These aren’t the normal conditions we’re used to encountering. I think Anna was right when she said the Tower is actively increasing the difficulty against us due to the size of our group.”

  Looking down, the young man suggested, “Well, I don’t want to sound inconsiderate or anything, but maybe it would be best if a few more of us left. I mean, maybe the Tower will lighten up if there’s only a smaller group remaining.”

  Shaking her head, Anna said, “I don’t think it will work that way. When we came into this room, there were three of those giant beger things, and we had already reduced the number in our group.”

  Still keeping a calm tone, the young man argued, “True, but we have no idea if there would have been just three with more people. I mean the Tower could have just as easily made four or five of them, couldn’t it?”

  “I guess, but we don’t know. Maybe that would have been it.”

  Not wanting to continue wasting any more time, Sam cut in and said, “Look, obviously things have changed from before, but the goal is still the same. We have to keep moving, and frankly, since no one knows what’s beyond those openings or how this place is responding to us, I say we might as well follow the Reckoners like we said we would. If they’re going through the middle door, then so am I. We can fight our way through whatever we find on the other side. It’s the only way we’re going to save their clan member, Raven.”

  After a bit of grumbling amongst the crowd, it became clear that no one else had any better suggestions. As people began to come to terms with the situation, Kat gave Sam a nod of thanks and finally said, “Okay then. Onward.”

  As the group passed through the doorway into a new corridor, everyone fell in line where they had been before with Kat in the front, Sam, Anna, and Tezukayoshi in the middle behind roughly half the people, and in the far back, Mace brought up the rear. Not knowing what to expect, everyone was running on heightened awareness, and it was that which probably saved the group a considerable amount of trouble.

  When the entire party was fully a good thirty feet into the corridor, Kat raised her hand in a tight fist calling for a full stop. Then with a single finger she called forward the closest archer and pointed out a squab at the far end of their view, hovering nearly twenty feet above the ground. Not knowing if they were in an echo zone again, Kat and the first archer soundlessly communicated their thoughts and called forth two more archers which included Anna and a man Sam didn’t know yet. After a quick scan of the surrounding area to see if there were any more squabs, Kat, Anna and the other two archers nocked their bows, took aim, and after a moment of concentration, released their arrows in almost perfect unison causing the squab to fall almost soundlessly to the ground.

  Signaling with her hands that the other archers should stay in the front, Kat led the group cautiously up the corridor for twenty more feet until they spotted another squab hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat. Using the same technique as before, they shot it down and moving forward. This time they only made it a few feet when they spotted two more of the creatures hanging like the last one.

  Holding up a hand, Kat signaled for the others to stay as she eased herself forward another ten feet. When she returned, her wide-eyed look confirmed Sam’s suspicion that she had found another nest. Pointing to the remaining archers and the mages, Sam included with the latter group due to his fireballs, Kat called them all forward and in a whisper explained her plan.

  “We aren’t in an echo field this time, I think that’s something the scouts do because the echo field was shut down after we killed the first one back near the entrance. From what I can see, there are at least twelve in view within the next ten feet, and I suspect many more after that. If we advance slowly, we might be able to take them out in twos and threes without alerting the rest of them. I want the archers to set up on the right and the mages on the left. We’ll take this slowly, hitting them as we see them, and if we’re lucky, we will avoid a mass fight like last time.”

  Raising her hand, one of the younger archers asked, “Why don’t you just go ahead and use that Heaven’s Rain attack again and clear them all out?”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” explained Kat. “The arrows won’t split enough on the way up, and they only hit once they’re on their way back down.”

  Sheepishly, the young archer said, “Sorry, it was just an idea.”

  “It’s fine. I’m open to any ideas here.”

  “I think taking it slow is our best bet,” said Anna. “Let’s go with that.”

  “All right,” said Kat with a nod. “Then on my mark, let’s hit the first two.”

  Taking their positions, the archers and mages focused their attacks on the two squabs and took them out, but when they moved forward to sight themselves on the next ones, Sam felt Tezukayoshi’s warning and halted in mid step.

  Catching the look on his face, Anna asked, “What’s up?” which brought him to the attention of everyone in the group.

  Taking a second to hear out his familiar through their mental link, Sam quietly whispered, “We’re being watched.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Anna and Kat

  simultaneously.

  Recalling the image Tezukayoshi had sent him, Sam was thankful the lizard had better eyesight than they did, and he pointed forward into the darkness. “There are a pair of eyes watching us from up ahead. I don’t know what kind of monster it is, but it’s watching us right now.”

  “I don’t see it,” said Kat.

  “Trust me, it’s there,” said Sam.

  “Okay, what’s it look like?” asked one of the other mages.

  “It’s got jaws like an alligator, but it’s standing upright like a man.”

  “Croc-men,” said the mage with disgust. “My clan has run into them before. They like to attack alongside other monsters.”

  “What kind of attacks are we talking about?” asked Sam.

  “Teeth and claws, mostly, but they don’t have to stay on the ground.”

  “They can fly?” asked Anna with fear in her voice.

  “No,” answered the mage, “But they’re damn quick and can climb the walls.”

  Calling Mace forward, Kat explained what Sam had seen and suggested that the others advance with them in case a ground attack came. Grunting, the big guy hefted his War Axe back onto his shoulder and said in his rough gravelly voice, “Good. We don’t like waiting. We like action,” and then stomped back to the group of knights, barbarians, and other fighters to tell them of the plan.

  “Sam, since you can see it, how about you take the lead?” suggested Kat. “We’ll continue as planned, but once it makes its move, we’ll have to step back so the fighters can take it out.”

  “Okay,” agreed Sam, “But I want my familiar up here with me.”

  “Sure thing,” agreed Kat.

  When Tezukayoshi stepped up to his side, Sam took a second to confirm that he had heard the plan. Looking at him almost quizzically, the lizard responded, ‘Yes, but I do not think we will get far. I have already spotted two more of these creatures.’

  “Then I guess you’ll be getting something new to taste soon.”

  Letting his teeth show in something between a grin and snarl, Tezukayoshi sent him a one word reply. ‘Yes.’

  Behind the two of them, the archers and mages focused on the first pair of squabs hanging from the ceiling, and after a moment, let loose with their volley. As if it were an attack cue, the croc-men shot forward to try to take advantage of the group’s vulnerability.

  With a swipe of his sword, Sam cut the neck of the first monster and then parried the blow coming in from the second. Unable to bring his sword back around to deflect the next attack, Sam lifted his hand and screamed, “America,” emulating the attacking monster with a blast of fire magic.

  The two people closest to him were surprised to see the ease in which Sam used his fire magic and sword skills almost in chorus, and their pause gave a third c
roc-man just enough time to drop down from the ceiling unnoticed. Landing in a crouching stance, the creature sprinted forward and raked its massive claws across their chests, leaving three claw marks in its wake. Figuring that they would bleed out, the monster continued forward and slammed its weight into Sam’s shoulder.

  Knocked down, Sam gritted his teeth in anger and scrabbled back up to his feet, intent on driving his sword through the croc-man and cutting it in half. As he stood up, however, the thing pointed its right arm, the one with some sort of bony protrusion at the end, towards Sam and hissed, “Die,” through a mouthful of yellow teeth.

  So shocked was he that it could speak, Sam had no time to react as it launched itself forward. It was only by the intervention of a greenish blue blur streaking across the air that Sam didn’t receive a nasty wound himself. The blur which had slammed into the thing sent it flying into the stone wall. As the monster’s body crumpled to the floor, a collection of small rocks broke free and covered it in pebbles and dust.

  Looking back at the spot where the croc-man had just been, Sam found Tezukayoshi standing there staring back at him with what appeared to be the monster’s right arm in his mouth. As he watched, Tezukayoshi tossed the creature’s arm into the air and then with jaws wide, caught it and swallowed it whole. When his familiar looked back at him, Sam heard Tezukayoshi through their mental link say in a mocking tone, ‘You need to be quicker than that, human.’ Sam wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw a smile cross the lizard’s face at that point, but before he could confirm it, Tezukayoshi turned right and darted back into the shadows to hunt for his next meal.

  From that point on, all of the group’s attempt at stealth was cast aside, and the front line fighters rushed forward to take their positions. As they did so, squabs continued to drop from the ceiling, croc-men sprang out of the shadows, and everyone in their group began swinging, shooting, and casting whatever spells they could. The corridor became a war zone, and nowhere was safe.

  Spotting a croc-man just six or seven feet away, Sam readied his sword and prepared to rush forward for what he thought would be an easy kill. To his surprise, however, there was a light thump on the stone surface of the floor, and in the next instant, the creature vanished.

  “Where the…,” began Sam, but before he could finish, the thing appeared just in front of him and slashed down towards his face with its claws extended. Blocking at that point was pure reflex, and Sam was thankful for the skills he had picked up in the game so far. In extreme close quarters combat like this with a monster whose agility and speed must be maxed out, it was the only thing which saved him from getting hit.

  Parrying the blow aside, Sam saw the creature’s next attack coming in right behind it, and for a second, it seemed like time stopped. There was no way he was going to be able to bring his sword back to protect himself, and he had no idea if his cloak could take the hit. Opting for the only move he had left, Sam forced himself to follow his sword around and went into an accelerated spin.

  With a jolt, Sam found himself twisting around faster than time seemed to allow and he whirled to face the creature again and again as he spun like a cyclone. It wasn’t something he was ready for, nor did he know he was even capable of it, and so he forced himself to stop before he completely lost control. To his astonishment, when Sam looked down, he found that his sword was lodged halfway through the crocman’s abdomen. As time came back to him, the croc-man’s attack stopped, and the thing slumped to the floor in front of him, threatening to pull the sword from his hand. Taking a second to clear his head, he concluded that he must have developed a new skill, some sort of spinning attack, and like the last time, it had saved his life right when it was needed most.

  Placing a foot on the dead creature, Sam pulled his sword free and took a fighting stance as he readied himself for the next attack.

  Nearby, a croc-man jumped back out of the range of Mace’s War Axe, but the big man stubbornly stepped through towards it with another swing. The two of them continued fighting, and Sam saw sparks fly as Mace’s axe cleaved through the monster’s sharp teeth. Panicked screams came from somewhere behind him, and the sound of claws on metal amped up the fear factor for everyone around.

  “They’re too fast!” yelled Anna. “I can’t get a shot off. All I see are after images as they drop from the ceilings and leap off the walls. It’s impossible to keep up with them.”

  Unable to take the time to talk her through things, Sam stepped forward to catch a monster’s raking claws with his sword before they could hit her. The effect instantly cleaved the croc-man’s arm from its body, and with another long slash, he dispatched the thing to the ground. Glancing around, Sam saw swords, spears, and shields being used to fight other crocmen while archers and mages continued to fend off the squabs. So he said to Anna, “I’ll take care of them, just keep the squabs off me.”

  “Okay,” responded Anna, even as two more of the crocmen raced in to attack, and despite not having any room to dodge, Sam began to swing his sword. The series of quick motions started to look like a dance as he blocked their attacks. As he did this, he alternated his counterattacks between stabs and slashes every time he saw an opening. Remarkably, despite the speed and aggression of the croc-men, Sam’s attacks found the monsters’ flesh more often than not.

  The battle waged on for nearly ten more minutes before the end was in sight, but to Sam, it was just a series of continuous actions completed with both sword and fire magic as he defended both Anna and himself from the onslaught of monsters. In the end, when there was but one monster left near the door at the end of the corridor, Sam was surprised to find that it was not one of the clan members fighting, nor was it Anna who now stood with her bow by her side. In fact, to everyone’s surprise, the croc-man was being held back by Sam’s familiar, Tezukayoshi, and despite the obvious size difference, Sam watched as the little guy chomped down on one of the creature’s legs and ripped it clean off.

  Dragging it away, Tezukayoshi kept an eye on the monster as it hopped about on its one remaining foot, and he sent Sam the message, ‘Finish him.’

  Extending his right arm, Sam targeted the monster between his fingers and focused on the magic in his palm. After a brief second of concentration, he yelled, “Fire in the hole,” and let loose with a string of five successive blasts. In less time than it took to blink, the five separate balls of flaming plasma incinerated the beast and left little more than a black sooted outline on the wall where it last stood.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Anna. “I could feel the heat from back here.”

  Still chewing through the flesh on the leg he had ripped off, Tezukayoshi good naturedly commented, ‘Show off.’

  Ignoring his familiar, Sam admitted, “Yeah, I guess I overdid it a bit,” and then with a nod towards the rest of the group, he suggested, “We should go check on the rest of the group.”

  Agreeing, the two of them headed over to Kat and the others and listened as she asked, “How many do we have injured?”

  “Just a few, ma’am,” reported the young archer from before. “The paladin, Casavir, and Sherri are both working on them now.”

  Masking the relief she felt as the anxiety washed through her, Kat said, “All right, fine. Let me know when they’re ready to go.” Then turning to face Sam and Anna, she asked, “What about you two? Things looked a little rough up there.”

  “We’re good.”

  Stepping off to the side, Kat pulled Sam in close and asked in a whispered voice “Okay, then can you tell me how it is that you’re able to do all of that?”

  Confused, Sam lowered his voice as well and asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “Sam, I thought the rumors about you were made up at first, and then after I saw some of your fight in that first hall with the squabs, I thought maybe half of them were true. Now I have no idea what’s going on. There was a lull in the battle for a second, not long mind you, but when I glanced in your direction, you had six monsters coming at you, and you
handled four of them as easy as breathing.”

  Stuttering, Sam groped uselessly for an answer and said, “I…I got lucky, I guess.”

  “Lucky, my foot. These mages with us, including Sherri whom you know is part of the Reckoners, each take several seconds to focus and cast their spells, and you’re over there slinging them out just as fast as you swing that sword of yours, a sword, I might remind you, which is just as unusual as the rest of you.”

  Not able to tell her about his world or that she was just a part of a game, Sam said, “I got the sword from the blacksmith, and as for the magic, I only have one spell where as your mages probably know lots of them. I bet if they practiced one of their spells at the exclusion of all of their others, they would be able to do it a lot faster, too.”

  Shaking her head, Kat said, “That’s not all of it. There is something more. I know it. Tell me, did you have another reason for coming in here with us?”

  “Not exactly,” said Sam. “I mean, I heard about the Tower and thought it would be cool if we could make it to the top, but I had no idea what was in here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Grunting as if she didn’t believe him, she tried one more approach and asked, “What about that familiar of yours? Most beast trainers can raise a pet, some of them can even have a mount, but none of them can get their animals to fight alongside them in a battle like that. I’ve seen how you two act towards one another, and I got to tell you, at times it seems like you two are talking to each other.”

  Crossing his arms, tired of what seemed like the third degree, Sam said, “I’ll admit, I talk to him all the time. Most people who own familiars do, but I’m not saying he

  understands me. As for the fight, he had just as much to lose out there as the rest of us, so I’m thankful he joined in and helped.”

  Squinting at him as if she might have been able to read something in his expression or his eyes which would give her the answers she sought, Kat finally relaxed and said, “Well, whatever it is, it’s strange. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, but I want you to keep doing it. Maybe with your help we might just make it out of here alive.”