by Skyler Grant
Given what we had seen of Elvish magic I expected some sort of shield to spring into being, but nothing of the sort was happening.
"Is this some kind of trap luring us in?" I asked Lea. She had continued to scry, completely unbothered by our discussion of sex lives and murder.
Lea frowned. "Probably. They'll have had time and warning that we're coming. Keep in mind most of the shield and battle mages are with the army though. Whatever magic those in this place practice, it's probably of some less-combative variety."
"They tore a world apart," I said. It seemed to me they were pretty badass in the offensive spells.
"They tore a pocket universe apart. That is something quite different," Lea said.
I began to float a few inches above deck and had to grab for a railing. The others quickly did the same.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We're having our local gravity field negated," Lea said, more than a little impressed. "It's a good trick. Give Riggs a minute."
It took only about twenty seconds. Gravity returned and we thudded back onto the deck.
"So, they're what, levitation mages?" Ashley asked.
"That isn't actually a thing. My guess is negative magic—they subtract forces from the world. They pulled our gravity away," Lea said.
The airship docked at the top of the tower. We continued to move closer.
"What does that mean for fighting them?" Ashley asked.
Lea said, "It means keep it variable. If fire stops working, stab them. If stabbing doesn't work, try something like a poison cloud."
I could do that. I didn't have very many tricks, but I did at least have a few that I could rely on.
We had been steadily drifting closer, then came to a complete standstill.
"Damn it," Lea said. "They neutralized our forward velocity."
"Does Riggs have a counter for that?" I asked.
Lea was gesturing sharply. "I don't think so. And now they've level-capped the tower."
I didn't know that was possible, or that it was magic that did it.
"What level?"
"Fifteen. No scaling in place. Even if the engines were working, most people on this ship can't get through," Lea said, as her fingers flicked with increasing agitation.
"We can," Ashley said. "We scrape just under that." Ashley moved towards the hatch to below decks and called out, "Walt, we need you up here."
"You'll be cut off," Lea said in frustration. "If this is a trap, it's for you. There is no other reason to draw that line where they did. They're welcoming you in to the slaughter."
Walt came from below decks. He'd changed back into robes and with a grunt he put several clanking bags at our feet. Our gear, no doubt.
I wasn't going to get shy now. I stripped out of my other world attire and into my armor. I admired Ashley doing the same.
"Cobalt and Maria will be able to get through, if they work at it," I said. I was confident they would. Whatever those two were, it was something bigger than this world.
"Probably," Lea said, reluctantly.
"We'll hit the top of the tower. Send them in from the bottom and we'll meet in the middle."
"You realize the most powerful encounter is usually at the top of a tower?" Walt said.
"Ashley needs a kill. Let's make it a good one," I said.
Ashley grinned at me. Walt reached out for us and invoked a teleport. The world flickered around us. We were off to see the wizards.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
We materialized on the top of the stone tower. Walt let go of our hands and readied his staff, but no attack was forthcoming. The airship was docked nearby and we could see movement on the deck, but nobody was on the roof.
"Think they're scared?" Ashley asked.
"They didn't run for nothing. They are leaving us to whoever or whatever is in the tower," I said. A heavy door guarded the way down. It swung open easily.
A winding set of stairs led downward, the walls lined with glowing magical orbs that lit things with a cool, white light.
I drew Intemperance , readied my shield and led the way down. The stairs ended in a large magical observatory. Arcane equipment littered the walls, gleaming brass and glass mingled with scroll racks filled with parchments.
A figure was seated in a chair, puffing on a pipe. The elf was the oldest I'd ever seen. He looked absolutely ancient. I pulled his stats.
Alimor the Wise
Legendary
Level 15: Type: Elf HP: 750/750
Alimor is an Archmage. Having survived for over three thousand years he is one of the oldest beings alive. While the years have had some impact on his faculties, the knowledge he brings to any encounter makes him a foe best avoided.
We'd seen champions of around our level, but never a Legendary. That sort of rating upgraded power level enormously. The stats might say that he was only level fifteen, but he'd be capable of fighting at a level well beyond that.
Chairs were pulled into a circle and teacups had been set out.
"Join me," Alimor said, motioning with a pipe towards the empty seats.
"Think we'd rather be killing you," Ashley said, ever diplomatic.
"I'd like to talk to him," Walt said, putting his staff away and moving towards one of the seats to pour himself a cup of tea.
"Really?" Ashley asked, plaintive.
"If you'd like, you can try to kill me when we're done, dear," Alimor said, letting out a puff of smoke.
Right. I guess we had that option. Besides, with Cobalt and Maria hitting the bottom of the tower, every moment we spent stalling was a good thing. I took a seat as well and with a glare Ashley did the same.
"So, you've come to my tower to slaughter me and my students, why?" Alimor asked.
"You tore apart a reality that we were hiding in and we hold grudges," Ashley said.
"There is also the not inconsiderable matter of your war with Galea," I said.
Alimor gave a grandfatherly chuckle, "I'm not at war with anyone, youngster. A fact that you should be pleased about. Those in this tower did help to clear up a dimensional disturbance, something that you appear to have escaped from unharmed."
"Why are we still talking to this guy?" Ashley asked.
"Because he's a legendary mage and he wants to talk to us," Walt said disbelievingly. "He has wise right in his description. You listen to people that are wise."
Alimor puffed a smoke ring in Walt's direction. "You should listen to the boy. You three are quite the mess, your auras all tangled with the divine. Are you experiencing side effects?"
"Liam sleeps with every girl that will have him, Walt wants to blow up the world, and I really want to spend a few hours carving on you with my knives," Ashley said, with a dangerous grin.
Alinor peered at her for a long moment and then at the rest of us in turn. "I see. It is an old danger. Mortal and the divine mingle at great peril to both."
"Do you have a solution?" Walt asked.
"Moderation," Alinor said, leaning forward to take a sip of his tea. "It's a boring answer, but the truthful one. When extremes of your own personality brush against similar traits in your deity, what is born is something terrible in both you and them."
"I'd rather just kill something," Ashley said. "It's a stupid problem, if you can't fix it by killing something."
"The best solutions rarely involve murder," Alinor said.
I wasn't really buying it. I'd had a few problems fixed nicely by the right bit of killing. Things only got complicated when they came back from the dead.
Walt said, "Can't magic fix it? I have these things in my head. Memories. Terrible memories that don't belong there."
Alinor pulled a monocle from deep in his robes and peered at Walt, squinting. "I didn't catch those on my first pass. Those don't belong."
"No, sir," Walt said.
Alinor turned the monocle on me and Ashley, frowning. "You, there may be a fix for. These others are suffering from their own weaknesses, their own drives.
They must find a way to fix themselves and seek the high road." He turned back to Walt. "You, you simply need to forget that which you should have never remembered."
"Can you help?" Walt asked.
"You know he's not going to get the chance, right? You're perfectly clear on the fact that I'm going to fling myself across the table any second now and drive a pair of poisoned daggers into his throat?" Ashley asked.
"I can help," Alinor said, and he blew a smoke circle towards me and Ashley now. Around us the world shimmered and we found ourselves elsewhere.
It must have been somewhere within the tower; the tiny chamber was tastefully appointed with chairs and even a basket of fruit. Our arms and armor didn't travel with us. What was it with this world and the sudden unexpected bits of nudity? I took my usual moment to appreciate Ashley before trying the solid-looking door. Locked, of course.
"The fucker teleported us," Ashley said. "Naked. Why did he teleport us naked? No, never mind that, I know. He probably didn't want us breaking out."
"I'm kind of an old hand at going through hostile territory naked. I don't suppose you can do anything to that lock without lock picks?" I asked.
Ashley crouched down and began to fiddle with it. "Give me a few seconds. The lock picks are a huge bonus, but at this point my Dexterity is so insane we should be able to get through anyway."
"Yvera? You still with me?" I thought.
"I'm here. Just enjoying the view. I'm a Goddess, not a lock pick. If we have to, we can try melting the hinges on the door, but Ashley is the better choice."
"Yvera has faith in you," I said.
"Great. The faith of a crazy, fiery bitch Goddess," Ashley said.
"I thought you two were getting along better now."
"Having Atlantia in my head hasn't made me like Yvera any more. It's just given me my own set of problems I'd rather bitch about."
The door clicked and Ashley made a motion to silence me. Her figure faded to an outline as she engaged her stealth and slipped from the room.
I heard a struggle on the other side, but not calls for help. I hoped that meant she hadn't found herself in more trouble than she could deal with.
A few minutes later a cheerful Ashley opened the door. "Sorry about that. No knives. I had to strangle him and it took a while."
There was a corpse in one corner of the room. An apprentice mage, his throat showing finger marks. Well, I guess she'd gotten some relief at least and I wasn't going to feel too much sympathy for someone helping to hold us prisoner.
"I don't suppose he has any gear we can use?" I asked.
"Mages," Ashley said with a shrug. "You can put on the robe for the sake of modesty, but the armor isn't going to do shit for you. Do you even know what to do with a wand?" She picked one up from the floor.
"Not a clue. You?"
"I can use the simple ones," Ashley said, holding the stick of carved wood thoughtfully. "If nothing else I could maybe poke an eye out with it."
"I really don't think you could," I said. Ashley promptly proved me wrong by stabbing out the eyes of the corpse. Right. I was a little squeamish—when had I started to get squeamish?
"Point made. You can stop now," I said.
"Up or down?" Ashley asked.
It was a moot question. The room appeared to be some sort of lounge and was empty apart from the corpse.
"Let's explore and see what we can find," I said. "Up is the Archmage, down is Maria and Cobalt. Do you think he's really going to try to help Walt?"
I led the way out into a hall. The usual ornate stonework was everywhere and there was a complete lack of signs.
"You know, he could have just started a fight," Ashley said, annoyed. "He probably could have teleported us somewhere a lot worse than that room, too."
Even a small group of mages could have made our lives very miserable right now. I wondered if Alimor knew that we'd killed one of his students. There was nothing to be done about it now.
"Have Ashley check the walls," Yvera said in my head.
"Yvera says there is something here," I said. Ashley nodded and began to pace up and down the hall, searching.
It took two circuits before she finally reached out to a section of stone that looked much like any other and gave a sharp twist with her fingers. The stonework shimmered and vanished, revealing a stairway leading down into pitch black.
"We need a light," I thought.
"I am not a torch."
"Love you. Worship you. You kind of are."
Yvera appeared in a puff of flames, and giving me a dark look led the way down the steps. Her aura of flames easily illuminated the walls.
It was a long trip down.
"Are we going all the way to the base of the tower?" I asked.
"Lower," Yvera said. "I'm not even sure what it is. Just that it's very magical. I need to get your eyes on it."
"It does make me think better of your crazy bitch when she guides us to treasure," Ashley said.
Yvera shot a look back at her. "You just got done killing an elf. You get a pass for that one, but the next one I'll take offense at."
It was good that those around me got along so well.
The stairs came to an end in a simple stone chamber. A complex contraption held a small hourglass of multicolored sand.
"Not what I was expecting," I said. "What is this?"
"A treasure, if we can get it out of there," Ashley said, staring at the hourglass.
"Temporal magic," Yvera said, leaning in for a better look. "I think it's a safeguard for the tower. If things get bad enough, it gives them the ability to turn back time and get a second chance."
"Do we need that?" I asked.
"Are you kidding?" Ashley asked. "Just think of all the things we can do in a fight, if we can back up our mistakes. I want this."
"I'd rather use it to blow up the tower," Yvera said, and reached out a hand to cup the hourglass. Flames rippled and pulsed, and the sand in the glass began to glow.
"We're standing right here," I reminded her.
"I'll aim it up," Yvera said.
"Walt is up there," Ashley said.
"So?" Yvera asked, unconcerned. She never did like Walt. The sands began to burn brilliantly and the walls of the hourglass warped. Nausea overcame me. I was used to space distorting around me, but this was something else entirety. Time was breaking down.
Ashley was giving Yvera a look that made me certain that, if she had her daggers, she might have tried some stabbing. Fortunately, even murderous Ashley knew better than to go after Yvera bare-handed.
"Did she just destroy time and space?" Ashley asked.
Everything around us was flickering at blinding speed. Yvera was there, then she wasn't. Sometimes she was the only light, then we were in total darkness, next magical orbs lined the walls. Perhaps these were all different time frames going past us?
When things finally stabilized, unfortunately it was in total darkness again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
It wasn't the first time I'd been naked in pitch black, in enemy territory. It didn't mean it was easier this time, and I feared it might be even more of a challenge.
"Yvera?" I thought. Silence greeted me.
"Did she just run off and leave us here?" Ashley asked. "Fuck!"
"She's not answering when I call her. Are you getting anything from Atlantia?"
"Sort of. She's there and answering, but I can't really understand anything she is saying. It's like there is some kind of distortion."
I turned to find the stairs, stubbing my toe on them. "Let's get back upstairs then. We aren't going to figure out anything while we're here in the dark."
It was a long and awkward trek back up those winding stairs with many more painfully stubbed toes and awkward, colliding bodies. When the stairway ended there was what felt like a wall with no way to open it.
"Ashley?" I asked
"Working on it. Just because my eyes can't see doesn't mean the secret door trigger won't have a b
it of a glow to it."
There was little to do but wait. From nearby were the sounds of combat, the sizzle of air as spells discharged, and the thud of bodies hitting the floor.
"Sounds like Maria and Cobalt found a way through," I said.
"You expected them to," Ashley said, after making a sound of triumph.
Light lit the stairs as the wall dissolved revealing the hall. It was occupied—and it wasn't Cobalt and Maria who greeted us.
There were three of them. A handsome man in chainmail with a war-hammer in hand, a hot redhead in leather of the same color, and a shifty-looking gnome in black. I pulled stats on them.
Tilmor the Cleric of Zaos
Level 13: Type: Human HP: 170/170
Tilmor is a Cleric of the Zaos, God of the Hunt. He embodies those virtues, respecting the struggle of worthy prey while forever seeking to refine himself and become one with nature. With a mixture of divine and natural magic he is a flexible fighter.
Yve the Bard
Level 13: Type: Human HP: 130/130
Yve is a graduate of the Lorelliar School for the Arts and a skilled practitioner of the divine melody. Skillful in glamour magics with powerful charisma-based abilities, she is never to be underestimated.
Gob the Thief
Level 13: Type: Halfling HP: 90/90
Gob is a thief wanted on three continents, which is to say he really isn't a very good one. Great at breaking into places, he is terrible at getting out unnoticed. Fortunately, he is formidable in a fight, something that has kept him alive when stealth fails.
The redhead got a second look. Could it be Yvera? She didn't look quite like Yvera did now, or even the human version that I'd known in the other world. Still, the more I looked at her, the more I knew. This was her.
"Ambush! Prepare to die, elves!" Gob shouted, brandishing a dagger.
"They're not very Elvish, for elves," Tilmor said in a quiet and urbane voice.
"Naked though. Maybe they're a peace offering?" Yve said in a seductive purr.
That wasn't what I needed.
"Really? You're going to get turned on now?" Ashley asked me.
I really needed pants. There were several Elvish corpses nearby, these three must be invading the tower. Yvera never said she'd been here before, but this must be her. She'd adventured in this world with the others shortly after gaining self-awareness. This must be them.