Armareth's Tower

The monsters came like a climbing wave of destruction, wild and feral, as if they were a plague sent to cleanse the town with fire and death. Chaos spread before them, wide and consuming like dragon's breath. People scattered in terror, their screams echoing through the narrow cobblestone streets.

Those who couldn't move fast enough were ripped apart and devoured by the ravenous creatures. Their mangled bodies were left strewn across the marketplace, a gruesome testament to the monsters' savage hunger.

The town's watch, Scepter, a valiant band of armored warriors, tried to protect those they could, but they were not built for this kind of attack. They had trained for it, they had prepared for the possibility of a tower's wave, but this was different. This was nothing like the simulations. Reality was far more terrifying, far more visceral.

The monsters were a grotesque spectacle, their bodies a patchwork of mismatched limbs and gnarled flesh. They moved with unnatural speed, their claws raking across the cobblestones as they closed in on their prey. The once peaceful evening was shattered by the blaring of alarms and the screams of the dying. The warning had come too late. The monsters were already here, falling from the sky like a macabre rain of flesh and bone. They hit the ground, unfurled their twisted limbs, and roared their defiance at the heavens.

“You have to take the car and go,” Will said to David, his oldest son. He tossed the key to him just before he caught the sword his wife threw to him. It felt right in hand, the hilt fitting perfectly in his grip. He nodded his thanks and turned to the kids, blinking away the fear the wrestled with anger in his head.

“Why can’t you come with s—” A scream jarred the family and everyone turned to the door. Chloe, the youngest, ran to David, holding his hand tight.

“No one is going to make it out of this, dad…” Zoey said, turning to her mum who was already fitted in Scepter camo. She was pulling a short sword out of her sheath to check that it was the right steel. “Mom!”

Crystal’s head turned to her daughter. She stared at them for a moment, in them she could see the fear she was pushing away in herself. The fear that would consume her if she let it. The wave would spread to their part of town soon. Will sighed beside her.

“We swore to fight, Zoey,” Will said. “And have faith in Scepter. We have trained for this. We are ready. We will hold those monsters back briefly and then we’ll be coming for you.”

“Then at least let us help while Zoey and Chloe escape,” David said with his face pinched in a frown. His brown eyes were intense orbs as they moved from his parents to his siblings. They each had a backpack prepared for something like this, filled with what they’d need just in case the wave pushed them away from town.

“You need the help,” Elisha said but his father was already shaking his head. Elisha cursed. He’d always hated how bullheaded his father was and now he could see that nothing they said would convince his parents.

“You kids should go now,” Crystal muttered. She was staring at the window, through the opening in the curtains. She wasn’t sure, but she could swear she saw something move out there. She turned to Will, but her husband’s face had reverted to that calm confidence that she’d always loved.

“Stay here,” he said to her and to the kids he said, “Take the back door. I will make sure nothing blocks your path. You take the car and drive hard.”

“How will you find us?” Chloe asked. Crystal went to her last child and smiled at her. She touched the bracelet on her arm. It was a simple thing she made when Chloe was ten. There was a small locket woven into a knot. She’d given all of them one at one point of their lives.

“You don’t take this off and I can find you wherever you are in the world,” she said, unable to stop her mask of confidence from cracking a little. “I will come for you baby, soon. Trust me. Trust us.”

They were silent for a moment, emotions holding them in place. David and Elisha picked their bags and Crystal looked up at Zoey and nodded as if that alone was enough to confer what she couldn’t say out loud. There was a screech outside and then a loud crash that shook them all. David made to go toward the sound but his mother pulled him back.

“Be the eldest, David,” Crystal said, looking him in the eye. David groaned.

“As if being the firstborn didn’t make me that already,” he said turning away from the door as a glance. He paused before his mother, leaned down to kiss her cheek and then whispered, “You don’t have to be cold to be strong, mum.”

He was gone before she could respond. He wasn’t sure why he said that but he wasn’t beginning to hate her acting. She didn’t have to be strong at all. She didn’t have to act like she wasn’t scared. They were all terrified. It would be insane to not be frightened.

Outside the din of screaming merged with roars and howls of monsters. Elisha opened the trunk and tossed their bags in while telling the girls to get in the car. David got in behind the wheel, twisted the key and pushed on the horn. He spared the door they’d just ran out a glance. If wishes came true, he would see his parents running out to join them.

“Go!” Elisha said once he was outside, but David couldn’t get himself to drive off. “Go, David!”

David counted to ten quickly, cursed and pushed the car forward a little and making a rash turn into the driveway. A big bellied orc turned on them, its eyes sunken. It snarled, heaving the great axe to swing at the car. David braked hard and thought of reversing, but that was the only way out.

“Elisha take the wheel,” David said as he made to get out, but then stopped. His father rushed out, his shirt and sword slick with blood. The orc turned, shocked to see another human. David started the car again. The orc snarled at their father.

David watched him slide under the orc’s wide swing and slashed at the left leg and then the right from behind. The orc roared in pain, staggered and came to its knees and Will’s sword slid through its throat. He pulled the sword out and quickly slashed through the orc’s face.

They all stared wide eyed as their father staggered away from the monster’s corpse. He turned to them, swinging his arm for them to leave. David nodded and drove away. Chloe stared at him through the windshield and when the car turned, cutting away the view, she turned folded into Zoey and wept.

The siblings were silent as David drove toward town. He had to drive through town to get onto the freeway. He looked at Zoey and Chloe in the rearview. Zoey stared back at him and then she looked away. Elisha had his hand out the car window. All of them, except Chloe, were trying to not think about the possibility of their parent’s death.

“They will be alright, yeah?” Chloe asked, sitting up.

No one answered, because they didn’t know. Their parents were members of Scepter, a pro-hunter group. They were not adventurers, but they hunted stray monsters and were the first line of defense against waves. There were many groups like Scepter spread over the country, created when the government realized the tower’s waves were a greater and more immediate danger than clearing the towers.

“They are strong,” Elisha said finally. “You saw dad ki…defeat that monster, didn’t you? They will be alright.”

“How do we get through…oh my god!” Zoey screamed as they got into town. A group of orcs were feasting on the dead. They looked up at the car. David thought about slowing down, but decided against that. The town would be infested with monsters, he had to get through one way or the other.

“Hold on,” he said, shifting gears automatically and the car lurched forward and sped through. The orcs tried to hastily pick their weapons but the car raced past them before they could attack. David slowed enough to take the next turn and cursed when he slammed into a ghoul. The monster hissed in pain, but stood up to peer at them. Its face ghostly like a wraith. Its tongue stretched out when it hissed and its tattered robe fluttered unnaturally.

“Ghoul, don’t look!” David said as he pushed the car forward. An orc crashed out a building and rolled to a stop in the road. David caught movement from the corner of his eyes, but he couldn’t be sure until Elisha told him that was a Scepter.

He veered away from the orc, and then sped on, wishing to leave the town behind.

The screaming had died down, but fire gnawed at building. Corpses filled the road, carpeting the asphalt. David tried as much as he could to avoid the bodies, but in the end he had to drive over them.

Out of town, silence enveloped them again. Not the calming kind, but one filled with the anxiety of impending doom. The evening was getting darker. The headlights were on, but David knew they would only attract the monsters to them. And he wasn’t sure where he was driving. He had planned to find help in the next town if there was any.

Chloe fell asleep in the back and Elisha was beginning to nod off. They were exhausted. David looked at the rear-mirror and caught Zoey’s eyes.

“You hungry?” He asked.

“No.”

David sighed. He adjusted in his seat. He was relieved they escaped the town, but he wondered what was out there. What were they running toward? He was going to ask Zoey where she thought they should go when something appeared in front of him.

Welcome to the tower of Amareth!

You have been found worthy!

Your path has been drawn. The struggles before you are many, but you will be granted strength. You will face the trial of Amareth. You will be reformed in magic and steel. Curse on those who fail, woe on those who flee. You are brave, you have survived, and you will find glory in the battles before you.

“What the he… can you see this?” Elisha asked just before an orb appeared in the car. In it a liquid golden light brightened as if it was being enhanced by something or someone none of them could see. David stopped the car abruptly, pushing Zoey and Chloe forward.

“Get out!” He yelled, but even as he opened the door he knew it was too late. Something had come for them, and in his bones he had a grim feeling that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good. Chloe’s scream froze and Elisha was half out of the car when his body paused mid-motion.

The light was blinding now. It illuminated the space around the car like a small portion of the sun pulled down to earth. There was no heat from it, but in there was something else happening. David could feel himself moving in bits. As if he was being spliced and transported in small chunks. Apprehension filled him when he realized what was happening. He almost laughed at how incredibly stupid his parents had been. They had tried to save him and his sibling from danger, and yet that same act had pushed them into the heat of it. He tried to move his head, but he knew immediately that he couldn’t.

Commencing summoning…

Summon completed!

Amareth blessings be upon you!

The last thing David saw before he vanished was a pale worm-like creature slithering toward him. It looked to be the size of a small bus, and it would have easily swallowed him whole. He tried to remember what it was but the thought faded as he was transported away.

There was no pain, no motion, not even the slightest sense of displacement. Only the frightening knowledge that he was going into the bowel of the darkness. The very place adventurers who survived called the Mirror of Hell. And once his feet touched the hard floor, he trembled, a shiver snaked through him, and the message confirming his fears appeared in front of him.

You have entered the dungeon!

Welcome to Amareth’s gate.