Gravetower

by Kell Inkston

  “W- Poppi! I’m literally your strongest minion! You brought me so I could kick ass at the very end!”

  Chaos hums as he continues waving his hands about in a wizardly fashion. “Hrmmm… So serving tea, and justice!”

  “Poppi, stop it!” She shouts back as Aoline chuckles with Dark Arts Minion.

  “Oh no,” Dark Arts Minion says with faux concern. “Is our little star getting grumpy again? Time for bed?”

  “Shut up, Dark Farts Minion!”

  Dark Arts Minion prudishly places her hands atop her hips. “Wh- Well I never! And after I’ve been so polite this entire time!”

  “I can’t hear you!” Scout Minion rebuts.

  “What do you mean you ca-”

  “Pbbbbbt!” Scout Minion mimics in the most mature manner imaginable.

  “Lock it up,” Ranger Minion says with a sigh as he strikes up a cig real quick while they’re occupied with floating across the chasm.

  “Wh-She’s dumb and mean!” Scout Minion says, just in time for Dark Arts Minion to kick playfully at Scout Minion.

  Aoline tunes out of the argument and turns to Love. Her face isn’t as calm as she remembers it.

  “Is something wrong?” Aoline asks.

  Love, not fighting or controlling the pulling influence in the least, shakes her head gently. “I suppose all is going rather well. I just hope we can get this done quickly and not have to worry about… extra problems popping up, if that makes sense.”

  Aoline blinks in thought as she glances down to the hot lights below of the necromancer’s great workshop. “What is it that would happen? You’re pretty far ahead of the game, aren’t you? You have some sort of idea of what’s going on?”

  And here, Love turns to smile. Aoline’s just a kid, but she thinks it’s the most desperately put-on face she’s ever seen on a person, let alone one of the ancient knights. “Just… keep your wits about you, okay?”

  A little spooked, Aoline comes to a slow nod. “Okay, but whatever happens, we’ll have each other, and Chaos!”

  Love’s smile ridges up even more. “Y-yes, of course!”

  Seconds later, the group safely arrives over the deep chasm, each landing gently into the grass, and Ranger Minion, especially relaxed, softly drags his cigarette through the grass as he regains his normal gravitational balance.

  “Easy enough,” Chaos says with a gentle, certain nod, turning toward the great fortress and the enormity of blackness behind it. “Now onward to…” Chaos squints. “That’s… peculiar.”

  “What is it, my lord?” Love asks with a smile — she already knows how this one works.

  Chaos crosses his arms, and peers over to her, noting her certain expression. “There’s a magic darkness placed in the area behind that keep. I can’t quite see the Mountain— rather, it's just looking like an enormous… jumble, of souls. I take it your novel examines this solution?”

  Love pulls out her copy of Gravetower from her little hip-pack, and peeks inside.

  Damn, did I really O.K. that cover? I’m going to have to fix that with this edition...

  “I bookmarked it; we break into the keep, threaten the humans to direct us… get in a fight with the knights who are on our tail, and we… run out into the dark as a tactic to get the jump on them.”

  Everyone’s quiet as they envision a life that they’ll never live, but would have.

  “And I suppose that doesn’t work out too well.”

  Love shakes her head. “We need to talk to these people in the keep, because they do know— but we need someone to hold the knights off so we can find the right person and have them direct us. They should be happy to help if we were to come right out at the gates and say we want to kill necromancers.”

  Scout Minion yawns. “So, like, didn’t we turn them around, though?”

  Love and Chaos both share a look of admiration for Scout Minion’s odd naivete; Chaos has his moments where he’s strangely “with it” Meeo’s found.

  “This is true, dear Scout Minion of mine— however, there’s something in my essence that tells me Glory’s words will fall on deaf ears.”

  Meeo nods. “We hope that’s not the case, but Order and Redemption both are committed to this, and we’d have to fight them at the towers if not out here anyway.”

  Aoline hums. “So time is of the essence, then?”

  Meeo nods. “Absolutely right. Let’s get to it.”

  Chaos grins. “You seem to be the one versed in this personal-book situation, and I have a sneaking suspicion the locals of the keep wouldn’t appreciate my… personality quite as much as they would yours.”

  Meeo coos thoughtfully. “Are you confident that you could hold them off?”

  The overlord’s grin ranges wide to jack-o-lantern degrees of size. “For you all, I could do it for an eternity.”

  “Alright— and one of your minions will let you know when it’s time to pull back.”

  Chaos scratches his chin in thought as Ranger Minion raises his hand. “I’ll do it.”

  “Wonderful,” Chaos says. “But of course, I do not feel as though I should do it alone.”

  Love raises a brow. “Who did you have in mind?”

  “Why, none other than our tournament winner, of course,” Chaos says, looking over to his minions.

  Aoline nods her head to the side. “But isn’t Ranger Minion going to stay with us so he can send you the message when we’re ready to… to go… w-what’s wrong?” she asks, stopped up by all the weird looks she’s getting.

  “Ranger Minion wasn’t the tournament winner, sweetie,” Love says with an awkward smile.

  Aoline has a full failure in perception for a few seconds, steadily turning her head to look toward Scout Minion. The winner of the tournament was really small, after all.

  “No way.”

  The second she lays eyes on Scout, she can already see that paper-white smile, smug as hell and endlessly prideful. “You bet your buns it was me!”

  Aoline whips over to Chaos, as if expecting him to have an explanation, and then she looks to Ranger Minion, and then back to Scout Minion. “Wh- you are the strongest minion?”

  Scout Minion crosses her dainty ink-black arms. “You seem to be surprised. Perhaps no one told you that my pre-minion state was a dragon.”

  Aoline spits out air in disbelief. “You’re a dragon?! But you’re like… this!” She motions out a small object, obviously referring to Scout Minion's… uncompetitive demeanor of size.

  She doesn’t much like that, and scoffs as she shoos Aoline away. “If you have a problem with this you can have it over at that keep where you can stand around and look pretty. You best leave the real work to us real minions.” Scout Minion spins a perfect 180 and begins trotting to the ravine to wait for the knights. “Ciao, nerdo.”

  Aoline inhales sharply to deliver one of her more curated insults, when Love tugs her gently by the collar to come to the keep.

  “I wish you the best, my overlord,” Love says with a long smile.

  Chaos grins back and nods. “And you, dear Friendion. We’ll return with the blood of knights upon us.”

  This doesn’t exactly make Love feel any better, but she at least appreciates the sentiment.

  The four on the diplomacy team rush off to the keep as Chaos and Scout Minion stand next to one another, overlooking the vast treeline past the ravine.

  “Should not be long,” Chaos notes, a soft breeze whistling past their slick bodies.

  Scout looks over to survey his regal tallness. “Do you think they’ll attack right away, Poppi?”

  He shrugs. “They are a troublesome, often unpredictable bunch… but I suppose I’m the same way.”

  She squints as she glances over to the four, tearing for the keep at mounted speeds. She looks back with a confidant, childish smile. “Thanks, Poppi.”

  “What for, my dear minion?”

  “For making me a minion… duh!”

  “You did not enjoy being a dragon?”

/>   “Dragon-kin, Poppi, and I was only a hatchling, but I like this way better… besides, I wouldn’t’ve made it if it weren’t for you.”

  Chaos strokes his chin in an attempt to remember. “Ahh, yes… yes that’s right. You were a rather pitiful thing when I saw you first.” Chaos squints into the treeline. “They are near. We have at most a pair of minutes… how unfortunate they could not be deterred through reason.”

  She nods as the heavy breezes shear across the two. “Alrighty… do ya’ got anything planned? To hit ‘em with, I mean?”

  At once Chaos remembers all his minions in this towers, all fighting right this very moment. His grin becomes excited, violent. “I always have something planned. Worry not, my little one. My presence is a promise of your safety and of our victory, no matter who the opponent.”

  There’s a pause, and Scout Minion rests her little head against Chaos’ long, powerful frame for a wandering moment. “I like that about you, Poppi. You’re a good person, but you’re strong, too. Not many people are like that.”

  Chaos isn’t set back by the display of affection in the slightest, and reaches over to scratch her just below her antennae. “I would rather be twice as good as I was strong.”

  “But you are that good, Poppi.”

  Chaos smiles. “Perhaps. I was told I was human once. I don’t quite remember by whom, but the thought has captivated me.”

  She rubs her head along the side of his leg. “Well if you were a human, you’d be a good example for the others.”

  He pauses as he mulls over the compliment. “Thank you. Perhaps I would be… Ahh, now ready yourself. I’ll file you the tactics from afar through antennae.”

  She nods, separating from the embrace. “Where will you be, Poppi?”

  He grins cruelly. “Everywhere.”

  Chapter Nine: A Good Example for the Others, and Daybreak Takes the Forge

  Order reaches the treeline, epic sword Monument ready on the draw. Her gaze is cast out past the depths of the ravine, and to the great keep in front of them, where a faint light betrays the opening and closing a of a gate.

  “I beg of you,” Clarn says with a grievous tone, “we don’t need to be here.”

  “I swear,” Redemption starts with a sigh. “Run off to take him on by yourself in a suicide mission, end up having a chat with the enemy, and suddenly you’re all for just giving up but not like last time; you want to be friends now. He’s been our mark for millennia I've had to fight you every waking second to wait for the perfect moment to attack—and now you just want us to give up?” Redemption sets down Caefern and Nias, neither of whom could keep up with their mad pace from the moment Order sensed Chaos’ movement.

  Clarn gulps, as if nervous, but his face is indignant— shocked by the others' reactions and the sudden turning of the tables. “He let me live because we don’t have to die! Don’t you see? He’s sparing us! He’s letting us live our lives!”

  “The group that needs mercy now is them,” Redemption says as he peeks along the ravine, light of industry and magic humming up to the gray cloud cover above. “We’ve been hunting him all this time, and our task is to follow him— just as it has been every other time we knew where he was.”

  Glory’s expression betrays his disgust. “How… I…” He turns into himself, breathing heavily. As the others watch for Chaos, he simply shakes his head in shame. “… Alright.” He looks up, the making of tears in his eyes hidden by his helmet visor. “I guess we’re really going to do this, eh?”

  “We always were, Clarn,” Ranalie says with an even tone, her face having been hidden for quite some time now. “No matter how many of us die, it’s our duty to report his movements. That doesn’t change, no matter what your rank is or who you've lost… but we’re going to make it.”

  “No, no we’re not,” Glory claims, surveying the ravine’s edges for any sign of instant, blacker-than-pitch death preparing to strike. “… I can’t believe I got my hopes up. I almost thought I was going to be with her for her last years, kiss my son one more time, visit with my descendants again.”

  “Spare me,” Daniel snaps. “If you care about your fortieth family so much, then you'll fight for them.”

  “But— for the last time, you insolent son of a bitch, we don’t have to fi-”

  “There.” On that single word from Order, everyone turns to look her direction.

  Across the ravine and sitting upon an outcropping of slick black stone, sits Chaos— peering across at them as he has been for the past several minutes. He’s so still, it’s no wonder it took so long for them to spot that grinning shape.

  Nias and Caefern both become short for breath, matching Glory’s level of unease. Order and Redemption, however, know this feeling well enough.

  “Oh… oh Goddess,” Caefern says, watching the overlord watch them right back. “That’s… that’s really him.”

  “You seemed so calm before,” Nias jokes with a nervous squeak. “It's almost as though you expected him to be a fake or something.”

  Redemption scoffs. “What’s he doing? I expected an ambush.”

  Order sighs. “Really?”

  Daniel glances over, not sparing much time looking away from Chaos to make sure he doesn’t move. “What?”

  “Chaos always announces his presence before a fight. Its like his one constant,” Order says simply, joined in with a nod by Nias.

  Daniel never really noticed; he was always too busy saying his prayers whenever he was around. “Hmph, some semblance of honor there, I suppose.”

  “It’s not murder if it’s a duel,” Caefern notes with a morbid, exasperated scoff. “I guess he’s going to challenge us all, isn’t he?”

  The group feels a gust of air. Chaos is intentionally inhaling to speak. Considering he doesn’t much need air to breathe, he finds it’s often only helpful for intimidating speeches. “I suppose you are not partial to a parlay?”

  Order lifts her visor up. As if by magnetism, their eyes meet from across the ravine. As always, the connection of the two is deep, almost romantic in its closeness. The thousands of years and torrents of blood spilled between the two have formed something resembling a covenant— not quite a rivalry, not quite a friendship, but easily one of the strangest relationships ever owned by anyone or anything. “You know our code, overlord,” Order says with a just tone, the light seriousness of her voice carrying across the chasm as if she were screaming, although she sounds as calm as always.

  Chaos stares on a moment. “And this code is worth your lives? I would tend to disagree.”

  Ranalie and the overlord share gazes a moment more; like every fight, they don’t quite finish talking it all out. They both pride themselves with being patient, but not always when it comes to their specific, beloved nemesis: Order to Chaos, and Chaos to Order.

  From across the ravine, the group sees Chaos slide forth the Kingdom Slayer from his gullet — the sword has been drawn.

  “Oh sweet Goddess above this is it,” Caefern whimpers, horrified back into his place once again as he instantly comes to terms with his situation.

  Order reaches down to her dimensional sheath, only the great hilt of Monument poking out of its nothingness, and she draws in response. A great, golden arc of stellar etheriae pulsates from the blade’s immense, undeniable power— greater than an electric tower in its brightness; Starlendic runes curl across her blade, translating to “BY WIZARD’S EYE, YE GUILTY NOT FOR BLOOD.”

  “We have nothing to speak on, overlord. We free our land this day,” Order says with her typical put-on poise.

  Chaos points the Kingdom Slayer across to her. “Very well. You will speak to beg for your life in but moments. I’ll have you witness but a fraction of my prowess as I send you into the ground.”

  Order smiles as the others in her group finish arming. “Just how could an animal like you b- shit.” Order slips her speech, watching Chaos simply jump into the ravine feet first. “That… that ingenious bastard.”

 
“Did you really expect anything else?” Nias asks, almost bemusedly.

  Redemption clears his throat. “Did he… reall-”

  “Yes,” Order says, “He did.”

  Caefern shrugs. “Well this is great! Now we can just cross over and track do-… oh.” He crosses his arms. “Yeah, okay so you guys aren’t actuall-”

  “Yes, I suppose we are,” Order says, looking deep into the lighted abyss of the necromancer’s forges.

  “That said,” Redemption starts, “he’s given us the opportunity to battle him without the full aid of his party— but it’s obviously to buy time for them.”

  “To do what?” Caefern asks.

  “Kill Oa,” Glory says bluntly.

  There’s a pause as everyone begins to really consider the possibility.

  “N-nonsense,” Redemption says. “And even if he were out here for Oa, we have our quest, our laws.”

  “Couldn’t we just let them do something good for us for once?” Glory asks.

  Order shakes her head as she continues to peer down for any sign of Chaos. “We’ve been over this. It won’t work because Chaos can just jump home any time he wants to. I don’t know why he’s staying back, especially because he should know by now that we’re attacking his tower network, but it has to be important. We can’t lose his trail. If we do, and he counter attacks our headquarters, it’s done.” She pauses as she leans over the ravine, almost certain she saw a dark figure pass through the glowing lights below into a hiding place. “Every knight there will be dead.”

  Even Nias has trouble believing it as Caefern chuckles nervously. “You seem to have a whole lot of confidence in him.”

  Order arches Monument over her back as she readies to jump. “History is a perfect teacher, Librarian. I suppose you’ll soon see first-hand why he’s so hated.”

  Redemption hums as he looks into the depths with her. “So we’re taking them with us?”

  Order’s quiet a moment. “You know, it will be challenging for any of us to get them out afterwards.”