by Ivan Kal
But then the attack made him lose his balance and he toppled down. Morgan nearly stopped and went back for him, but then a giant roared in at the monsters heading toward Grav. Urull, the second giant from Fjordstar, swiped his double-headed axe and cleaved through several monsters. He grabbed Grav and raised him to his shoulder. Grav grabbed hold and started firing his launcher at the monsters around them as Urull retreated.
Morgan turned his attention forward and saw in horror that ahead there were only Ves and Nesseya remaining. There was no signs of their other tanks. Ragnor Raam was flashing around their formation, helping where he could. Up in the air Morgan saw Ta’elara sending fire down around them as Lucius fought to keep her safe; he saw no sign of their other fliers.
And then something whizzed over his head, followed by a sound of armor and flesh rending.
Morgan turned and saw a large black spear impaling Urull through his chest. The giant toppled and Grav fell with him. The dwarf tried to get to his feet and run, but his feet were too short and his equipment too heavy.
“Grav!” Morgan yelled as he changed his hand form to his bow.
The dwarf saw him, his eyes wide and filled with fear. The monsters were closing in and Morgan stopped, firing arrows at them. He activated Greater Speed and started sending arrows at any monster that was close to his friend. He downed them quickly, but Grav was too slow.
“Lose the cannon!” Morgan yelled as the main group got away from him, as monsters started to fill in the hole and surround him.
Grav tried to drop his back-mounted cannon, but he was fumbling with the straps. Morgan fired his wooden arrows, using his Phytokinesis to grow them and create traps around Grav. But then one of the four-legged variants leapt, and Morgan’s arrow missed. The monster’s maw closed over the dwarf’s head and bit down.
Morgan felt his breath leave him. He had been too slow, too weak. A bright light fell around him and he startled, looking around to see monsters snapping at the shield of light. Back in the distance he saw Clara, her staff raised high above her head as she cast the spell on him. Her eyes were open wide with fear, and Morgan saw that the main group was too far away, and monsters had surrounded him.
Clara, his best friend paused, and then he saw her take a step forward to come and help him. Morgan wanted to yell at her to run, but he didn’t get a chance. Borodar grabbed her and picked her up on his shoulder as he ran forward, the formation almost reaching the base of the hill. Her eyes followed Morgan as she was being carried away. A flying form dove and picked someone up—Morgan watched, horrified, as he recognized it as Jelara. A gargoyle-type monster had was carrying her away, and he saw Hexna send a blast of fire in their direction. She missed, and a second gargoyle dove down and grabbed her, the two monsters fighting over her, pulling in different directions. Morgan saw her mouth open wide as she was ripped into two. He turned around, unable to look. A crack brought his attention up, and he saw that the dome of light around him was cracking. A massive shape was barreling toward him—the monster that had thrown the spear that had killed Urull.
It smashed into the barrier, the light around him winking out, and then time slowed down. The monsters flying toward him looked as if they were flying toward him in slow motion. The big monster looked like a twisted version of a giant, with two horns and bulging muscles, and its arms were swinging for his head.
Morgan’s mind was working at increased speed as he activated his ability, Mind Space—an ability that affected his perception of time. He saw that he couldn’t escape; he couldn’t move out of the way, and his energy had nearly been depleted. He couldn’t turn his head, couldn’t look around and get a better sense of the situation he was in. His ability granted him time, but he couldn’t turn around while it was active. He wasn’t that fast.
I’m going to die, he thought to himself. He had seen friends die, people who he had been close with for years, his family. He had known that the Tower was going to claim lives, but this? This wasn’t a test—this was just a slaughter. He had always known that the being who was his father was cruel, but this was beyond that. This was evil.
He was mortal, and in this moment he knew that he would die. He felt a fire sprang inside of him, a heat that spread through him. He didn’t want to die—he still had things that he wanted to do. He couldn’t abandon his friends. He pushed through every ounce of his body’s power, his core, his energy, looking for anything that could help him survive. He felt something pulling inside of him, his core and his body trembling in response. And then a feeling like when he ascended washed over him, only somehow less. His core, the source of his energy, filled up—not by much, but enough that he could use a few of his abilities.
His Mind Space slowly ran out, and the monsters started to speed up. Morgan didn’t know what had happened, but he saw notifications flash in the corner of his eyes. He dismissed them and focused on the monsters around him as time returned to normal.
As the giant’s arm swiped at Morgan’s head, he used an ability.
Everything went black as his Phased Gravitic St0mp plunged him into darkness without senses. A long moment passed and the ability cut off. The world returned and Morgan stood at the center of a group of dead monsters. The ground was cracked in a circle around him, and pulverized monsters lined the floor. The giant was on its knees and arms, hurt but still alive.
Morgan ignored it as he turned and ran after the main group. Seeing them in the distance climbing up the hill toward the portal, the front line had already reached it and was clearing the monsters for the others to go through.
Morgan ran, and the monsters around him leapt at him. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver, one of his most powerful ones, and fired it forward as he activated his Phase Dash. The darkness enveloped him again for a moment as he floated through the air carried by his momentum. And then he was out, and the monsters around him were clawing at their eyes, the blinding arrow’s light turning out to be too much for them. He saw people entering the portal up ahead—Ta’elara unleashing a powerful barrage of fire and death all around the hill as she and Lucius dove into the portal. Ves, still on her bear, looked over in his direction seeing him running far behind them. He reached the edge of the hill just as the last person other than Ves and Nesseya entered.
He tried to wave at her to go through, but he saw that she wanted to come help him. He saw Nesseya pull her from her bear and struggle to pull her into the portal. And then something slammed into him, taking him to the ground. A monster bit down and he moved his head. It latched at his shoulder and its teeth punched through his skin. He screamed and then activated his cloak’s Glittering Light. He closed his eyes as it flashed with an intense light, not as intense as his arrow but enough. The monsters around him roared and moved away, the one on his shoulder let go and Morgan changed his hand to a sword, cutting upward and through its throat.
He got up to his knees and saw the monsters recovered and leaping at him. Quickly he used his last defensive ability, the barrier from his ring set. A pale light covered his body and as the first monster hit his back, it shattered and pushed him forward. He rolled and got up, swiping his sword as he stumbled forward. A gargoyle was diving at his head and he knew that he wasn’t going to be fast enough to evade.
But then something roared, and a white abomination of a bear grabbed the monster out of the air. It nearly trampled Morgan, but he was glad to see it as it ripped into the monsters around him. He looked ahead and saw the portal with no one around it but a few monsters.
Somehow knowing that Ves was already through made him feel better. He pulled himself up as the bear rampaged around him and dragged himself forward. He grabbed hold of his satchel and twisted, letting all of its contents spill onto the ground—explosive grenades, smoke grenades, vine canisters—and then he reached to the plants with his Phytokinesis as he ran forward. He could hear the battle behind him as the bear fought to give him time. But he needed more; his vines exploded out of the canisters and stabbed into the other w
ooden orbs that had spilled with them. Dark poisonous smoke exploded at his back and monsters that followed him gagged and tried to get away instead of going after him.
Reaching the top of the hill, he saw three monsters running at him.
He was almost out of energy, his body exhausted. He couldn’t even lift his sword. But as the first monster came he raised his other arm and touched it. With the last of his energy he used Momentum Shift as he touched the monster’s chest piece and it flew backward into its friends. Morgan threw himself over them and at the portal. Something stabbed into his lower back, but he hit the portal and his entire world became light.
He appeared in a dark and dry place, dropping to the ground in front of line of weapons and spells pointed at him.
“Stop!” a voice yelled out. “It’s Morgan.”
People rushed over and he groaned as he was picked up and turned over. But then he saw Ves’s tear-stained face looking down at him.
“Hey, you,” Morgan said as he tried to grin.
“Thank the Great Lord, Morgan. I…I need a potion!” she yelled as she noticed his wounds.
He didn’t have a chance to say anything before someone poured a vial of health potion down his throat, spilling half of it over his chin.
Quickly his body healed, his sight sharpened and his hearing cleared. He heard Ragnor shouting.
“Get him away from there! The monsters could be coming after us—secure the area!”
Others were yelling as well, but he couldn’t make anything else out from so many voices.
He was being dragged away, but as the health potion did its work he raised a hand and then stood up himself. He looked around, seeing that they were in a desert, standing on a rocky ground that was surrounded by sand dunes. Two moons shone up above them, and he could feel a cold breeze chilling his bones.
“Morgan, are you okay?” Ves said as she turned him around, looking him over.
“I’m fine,” Morgan said as he pulled her in for a hug.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered in his shoulder.
Morgan closed his eyes and fought hard not to let his own tears flow. He opened his eyes after a while and looked around. Ragnor Raam had people positioned around an area of empty space, probably the place where Morgan had appeared, where the portal put them. But nothing arrived after them. Others were standing around the small rock plateau, looking for other threats. A few were on the ground, their knees bent and their heads covered with their hands.
Notifications were flashing in the corner of his eyes but Morgan ignored them and looked around. He saw how few of them there were… And then he began to count.
INTERLUDE I
Vin watched as the last of the ascended shuffled through the portal, the army of monsters immediately halting their attacks and dissolving into particles that dropped into the ground. Many had died in the fight, as always. It saddened him, and made him remember things from his own past that he would rather forget. But he knew why such things were necessary: fighting against impossible odds, facing your own mortality and realizing that you could die at any moment was a truth that all ascended had to learn if they were to advance further, if they were to have breakthroughs and attach all seven gates.
The two former ascended next to him gazed at the hill in silence. Their children had managed to survive; Vin knew that the two had been close to trying to help them, but their fear of Vin had held them back. It was fortunate for them all that they had not tried to. They had made an oath to the Tower and to him, and Vin took such things very seriously.
He turned around and looked at them. They stiffened beneath his look, which he could understand. They had fought against him for a long time. They knew how powerful he was, and they hadn’t even seen his full power. Still, he couldn’t really have them fear him, or at least not much, if they were to serve him and the Tower, and he hoped that would abate with time.
“Come,” Vin said and walked away, raising his wrist and causing a list to appear above it. He placed a finger on one of the destinations and a portal sprang into place in front of him. Without looking back, he stepped through. A moment after, the two followed.
They had reached the fifth floor, a vast desert world, a ruin of an ancient people. They appeared near a cave opening, and Vin headed inside, the two following closely behind. Once inside, they headed deeper and soon enough entered the top floor of a massive underground cavern. The scale of it was so massive that it was hard to even compare with anything. It stretched as far as the eye could see, so far even that the edges of the cavern hid behind the horizon. On the ceilings of the cavern were massive crystal clusters that shone brightly, illuminating everything in a pale blue light. Beneath them was a sprawling city, built with several levels, some of which reached all the way to the top with massive towers that had bridges connecting them. Beneath them, pyramids and temples with large statues filled the bottom, and Vin knew that the city stretched further beneath.
“By the Great Lord,” Voralla whispered.
Vin led them to the side and a wall opened up as he approached. They entered a small chamber and the doors closed. A moment later, the teleporter activated and sent them somewhere else.
He walked out into an empty hallway and turned right. They were now deep beneath the city, in the underground chambers directly beneath its center. They reached a dead end, but Vin didn’t stop walking. He reached the wall and passed through it. He felt at the two behind him, seeing them pause before doing the same. They passed through the illusion easily, which was only because of their new status as Guardians of the Tower.
They found themselves inside a large room, with screens covering one side of the wall. A being stood in the center, looking at the screens. It turned and looked at them as they walked over.
“Master Kai Zhao.” The Krashinar guardian bowed its draconic head as it spoke with its mind.
“Dawn’s Light,” Vin greeted back out loud.
“I was not aware of your arrival?” it asked, tilting its head and gesturing with its flippers.
“I am observing the latest group to climb the Tower. They’ve just reached this floor,” Vin replied.
“Ah, yes. I have just been notified.”
Vin took in the massive being—its long, sinuous body without legs, resting on a long and muscular tail, the flippers and two holes in its sides where its secondary arms hid inside its body, the large wings folded on its back. The Krashinar were a terrifying race, but one extremely loyal to the Great Lord, even more so than the Children of the Mountain. Vin didn’t know much about them, only that they enjoyed more of the Great Lord’s trust than any other race. That they had been with him for a long time. They were more than just blind followers, as well; many of them were his confidants, the first ones the Great Lord turned to when he needed real help. They made up the bulk of his armies and fleets.
Vin had always wondered what they had done to earn such a privilege.
“If you do not mind, I would like to take advantage of your center to watch over them,” Vin said.
“Of course, Great Hunter. I would be honored by your company,” the Guardian sent to Vin’s mind.
Vin nodded his head and then turned toward the screens, looking at the small group that had survived the gauntlet of the fourth floor.
“Perhaps you would like to take note of this?” the Guardian said. “The system flagged several breakthroughs among the group.”
Vin blinked but then walked over and looked. He saw what the guardian meant, and his eyebrows raised. What he was reading was exactly what they were looking for, what the battlefield floor was meant to force. Not all of the survivors had gone through it, but some had. Of course, this had happened before, but Vin knew that this was a good sign. Perhaps some among them would have the will to reach further.
He settled in next to the guardian and watched. His two subordinates did the same, except that their eyes followed only two of the survivors.
CHAPTER FOUR
&n
bsp; The raid group—or at least what was left of it—made camp at their arrival spot. Morgan was sitting near a fire, Ves next to him and her shoulders touching his. Lucius and Vall were to their right, Clara on their left. Across from them were Borodar and Hexna. There was one more fire, occupied by another six people. Out of the thirty-two people who had entered the fourth floor, twelve of them survived. Only twelve.
Morgan was still in shock. Seeing people that he had been friends with for so long die in gruesome ways was horrible, and he couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Grav getting his head bit off or Jelara torn in half.
So many had died, people who had been so powerful, who had lived for hundreds of years. Dying in an instant, overwhelmed by monsters. It wasn’t fair; it was evil. Morgan couldn’t think of anything that justified putting people through this. The world outside of the Tower had been cruel, but there you could choose not to fight, not to go after monsters. This was without any reason. It had been a grinder, and they had been pushed through it. They hadn’t survived because they had been better than the others—they survived because they had been lucky.
Morgan glanced at the other group, seeing them sitting with their heads bowed down as well. Ragnor Raam had a hollow look in his eyes, a guilt that Morgan recognized. Ta’elara was staring in the fire, her silver eyes reflecting the flames in an eerie display. Nesseya had her hands leaned on her shield, which had nearly been cleaved in half. Gandiir, the wolf-like Úlfriir and the leader of Fjordstar, sat next to Sumion, the only remaining member of his team. Evermou was the only one who was looking at the sky, but Morgan could see that his mind was elsewhere. All members of the Erthirium Guild teams died, and only Evermou survived. Morgan couldn’t even imagine what the elf was thinking.