Armareth's Tower

They appeared at the top of a bare hill. It looked over a small town with a high round wall. There was no one out, not even on the path to the town’s gate. David let Chloe down, ruffled her hair and crouched so he could look at her directly.

“We are safe now, Chloe,” he muttered. He didn’t want to look at Zoey and Elisha, they were probably in worse conditions. He would have to find a way to cheer them up, or they’d be dead.

Welcome to the second floor—Uthzar!

Uthzar is a small town. You will find kin and like-minds here. It is a small farming town, filled with folks who have known peace for years. The town prospered under the guidance of the Jalan Kresh. Until the Stone-Sniffers rolled down the hills with their magic and wickedness. The people of Uthzar have prayed to their gods, and you are the vengeance of heaven, come to slay these vermin.

Floor Task: Eradicate the Stone-Sniffers.

“I guess we know what we have been brought here for then,” Zoey said darkly. David nodded, holding Chloe’s hand in his. He could still feel her tremble slightly. He hoped that would ease with time. They’d be stupid to go into fighting like this. Elisha was silent, but his swirling shadows were gone. David stared at him for a moment and decided not to say anything.

“First, we need to find something to eat,” David said, pulling Chloe along as they walked down the hill. The field spread out before the town’s gate was flat and grassy. They walked into the path, walking at an even pace in case someone was watching them from the gate tower.

“There are no guards,” Zoey said. “That is weird, for a town plagued by bandits, right?”

David nodded. Yet, there was nothing they could do about that. He tucked that little information aside. There was someone at the gate but he wore no armor and carried no weapon. He stared at them as if watching thieves.

“What brings you to Uthzar?” He asked, looking at Chloe’s lute and the Vjognir perching on top of Zoey’s head.

“We are traveling through, it is almost dark and we would like a place to stay for the night,” David said, hoping that was a good enough lie. “We heard Uthzar has the best wine too!” He added quickly. The man snorted and shook his head.

“I doubt you will find any of that anymore,” he said. “Those swine farts took everything, and they will be coming for more. You can try The Uncrowned. Ban sometimes hides away a barrel, but he sells them for three times the price.”

David smiled, giving the man a knowing smile. The man sighed, shaking his head again before whistling. The gate groaned and then lifted up slowly. David watched it get high enough for them to walk through and then nudged Chloe to move.

“A small piece of advice? If you are one of those war hungry runts who come in hope to liberate this town, I suggest you lay low and run when you can. The Stone faces are still in town. You will find them if you walk around with no sense. They are quick to draw their blades and they have the power of evil. I warn you because the bodies of dead folks are getting too annoying to bury.”

David nodded again, walking past him.

Uthzar was near silent, dreary, as if someone had splashed water on a canvas and washed all the colors away. The farther in they walked, the harder it was to believe this town had ever been prosperous. The homes were small, spaced with stone fitted roads stretching and twisting almost everywhere.

“Will you buy this stone dust?” A woman asked, slipping out the shade of an empty alley. Her eyes were sunken, her lips split where someone had hit her hard, the wound now scabbed. She stared at them with a hungry gaze that terrified David.

“It is one of the finest, believe me. It will give you the—”

David pulled Chloe away, leaving the woman behind. She didn’t chase after them. David watched, catching the eyes of others standing in dark places. Men, women. They looked like they’d been dragged out of a dungeon.

“We can’t keep walking around,” Zoey said.

“An inn,” David said, taking a left turn that made him swear. He turned around quickly, hoping the busy man and woman in there hadn’t noticed them. They got back on the main road. He stood for a moment, contemplating asking someone the way.

“There,” Zoey said, pointing down the road. There was a slaughter house sign and after that was a tavern. David nodded. That would do.

“How do we get food though?” Zoey said. “We have no money.”

David had an idea, but he wasn’t sure Chloe would like it. He didn’t like the idea either. They walked faster, passing a shop that sold trinkets, dull gemstones and claimed they could tell your fortunes. An old man peeked from a small window. David could feel him watch them as they walked to the tavern.

The Old Man’s Cup. The name would have made David laugh if he wasn’t feeling like the whole town was watching them. They walked in, finding the place near empty. He pointed at a table at the back for Zoey to take Elisha and Chloe, then he walked over to the woman cleaning cups at the bar. The napkin she used had seen better days, but what she lacked in hygiene, she made up for with being extremely thorough.

“We don’t open until the evening rush,” she said before he began. David was stunned, unable to begin the speech he’d plan in his head. The woman lifted her head from the cup she was wiping for what might be the third time. Sweat made her hair cling to her face. She was larger than he thought when he first saw her. Her cheeks were plump and her eyes were tired.

“You want food? You will have to wait. I can serve you some of the wine we have left, but that will cost you a cut of silver now.”

David stared, unsure how to begin. She stared at him, waiting for him to speak. Soon her curiosity became annoyance.

“I would like to volunteer our skills for food,” David blurted out and he saw how her eyes closed to slits, staring at him like he was wool headed, or he’d been dropped at birth. Then she grinned, yellow teeth bared in a scathing laughter.

“Valery!” The woman called, turning toward the door behind her. “Valery, I think you need to hear this!”

Valery was an older woman with a severe face. Her stare was disturbing because of her eyes were a painted orb. It stayed on David even when the other moved. She came out, her sleeves folded to her elbow and her hands wet with water.

“What, you damn waste of bones.”

“Our friend here would like to exchange skills for food,” The first woman said. The older woman snorted, shaking her head. She regarded David again, and this time David couldn’t tell if it was pity or irritation he saw in that one good eye.

“My little sister can play her lute, she plays beautifully! And the rest of us can help in anything else you want.”

“Boy, if that was how easy it is to get food, this damn town would be filled with musicians, scribes and wanderers who can juggle flame balls and play stupid tricks with snakes.” She smacked her old lips in impatience. “And what this town needs is not music, boy. We need men with swords, men who can protect us from the tyranny of Balran and his stone-sniffers.”

She was angry now, annoyed by David and the oppression they were suffering. David stared at them, wondering if he should tell them that was why he was in Uthzar. That would only make things more complicated.

She stopped talking, shaking visibly.

“It is not your fault,” Valery said, her hands waving an apology. “You are new in Uthzar.” She looked passed him, at Zoey and the others waiting for David. Then she looked at him again and nodded. “You are just trying to provide for your family.”

She smiled.

“I will give you food, but only if you help Bertha here carry our supplies from Rahil. She can’t do all the work. And maybe your sister can play when the night crowd comes. I warn you though, some Stone Sniffers will join the crowd, mind your heads.”

David nodded. He looked at Bertha who was staring wide-eyed at Valery as the woman walked away. Then she gestured for David to wait while she walked through the door, following the older woman. David walked back to Zoey and sat down, sighing.

“I think we will get food for now,” David said. “Chloe, you will have to play your lute for them later.”

“I don—” She caught David’s eyes and her words vanished. He wasn’t angry, just tired.

“We will have to find a place to sleep,” David said. “Be careful, some of the Stone Sniffers will be here later. We don’t want to fight them now. Not until we know what they are like and who leads them.”

“We have to fight to know them,” Elisha muttered. David glanced at him and then at Zoey who looked just as shocked. “They are unknowns to us right now. We have to know what kind of a force they are. And why are they called Stone Sniffers?”

“I will find out what I can,” David said, standing up to meet Bertha as she walked toward them. There was a frown on her face, as if she’d been scolded. David shuddered at the thought of being told off by Valery. She’d seemed like she could curse a demon to submission. Berth moved toward the door, stretching once she stood outside the tavern.

They walked in silence, which was better for David. It was getting dark already. Bertha waved to some of the traders still out or getting ready to go home. The market was almost as quiet as the rest of the town. David wondered if that meant people were leaving, or hiding.

“Why are they called Stone Sniffers?” David whispered, hoping no one else had heard. Bertha snorted.

“You don’t have to worry, they are proud of it,” She said. “Their gifts are enhanced by the stone dust,” Bertha said. ‘That was why they were able to hold the town hostage. We pay for their stone dust and pay tribute to Balran whenever he likes.”

David frowned, finally understanding something. Everyone he’d seen in town so far looked like ordinary folks.

“Why is no one helping? Other towns?”

“Really?” Bertha asked. Then she stopped when she saw that he was serious. “You are one of them, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“The ones that call themselves adventurers.” David shook his head a little too quickly. “You will die. You should stay away, or Balran will kill you and your friends like he killed the others.” She left him standing there, walking briskly away.

David followed them to a shop. They didn’t go in. There was someone waiting for them outside. A man just as old as Valery, probably older. He sat on the front step, a long wood pipe in his hand. Something sweet smelling burned on the other end. He pointed at a cart with his pipe, not looking at David.

“Valery told you to stop smoking dream leaves, Rahil,” Bertha said, staring at the old man. He chuckled, waving for her to leave him be. “You dreams will kill you some day.”

“Death waits for everyone, Bertha,” Rahil said, smiling. “Even your Valery has as little time as I do.”

Bertha didn’t respond, instead she pointed to the cart for David to pull. It was old, almost stiff. The wheels were bad, but they rolled when he dragged it.

“Tell her she owes me a silver coin for all that. And I will not be taking silver pieces this time.”

“Greedy old man,” Bertha as they left.

The walk back was slow and tiresome, but David persisted. He’d never felt as hungry as he did in that moment. Bertha talked about the town, telling him about the chief and the first attack of the Stone Sniffers. The farther they walked, the more she talked.

They reached the tavern just as someone was tossed out. They hit the street and rolled on their back. David dropped the cart, running in to find Elisha and Zoey safe at the back of the common room. Zoey was pulling Chloe away from the fight while a girl fought three bald men. She used a whip that zipped through the air like a flexible blade.

David walked over to them, seeing how confused they were.

“What happened?”

“She attacked them,” Elisha said. “They called her the Mad Whip. She just appeared and started tearing through them.”

David watched the fight rage on, wondering if perhaps the woman they called Mad Whip was like them, ascending the towers of Amareth. That would mean she knew what she was doing and didn’t need their help. Her whip was lashing at the bald men, tearing flesh where it touched. It hissed and twisted at the flick of her wrist.

“Should we help her?” Elisha asked. Bertha and Valery were nowhere in sight. David was happy about that. He wasn’t sure anyone else would give them food if those two died.

“David!” Elisha called, snapping him out of his thoughts. One of the bald men tossed a table at the woman with the whip. She slid under, but that was a mistake. The first she’d made since David got into the tavern. One of the bald men swung his foot, almost catching her in the face. She brought her hand to block, but there was something different about the bald men now.

One of them snorted, and then sneezed, shaking his head violently. His body enlarged—first his right arm, then his shoulders and neck and the left arm.

His chest heaved with hard breaths as he transformed. The snapping of bones slowed down until he was completely reformed. The other men had changed too, but in different ways.

Essence, David realized.

“They are snorting essence,” He said to the others. “Chloe, you and Elisha to help the woman out the back of that door,” David said, pointing to the door he’d seen Valery go through.

“No! I can figh—”

“Go!” David yelled and Elisha shrank away from him, pulling Chloe away as they tried to skirt the battle raging. The woman was trying to outpace the enhanced men, but she was losing. Her advantage was gone now that they had essence.

“He is going to hate you now,” Zoey said standing beside David. He shrugged.

“We have to save her,” David said and Zoey scoffed before summoning her bow. “Nothing too strong,” David warned. “We don’t want the tavern to fall on us.”

Zoey pulled on the string and let the arrow go. It caught the thigh of the enlarged sniffer. He roared in pain but his cry was cut short when the whip wrapped around his throat and tightened. The Mad Whipper grunted as she pulled on it, choking the sniffer.

The others made to attack and then thought better of it, running away into the night.

“We are coming for you!” They yelled as they fled.

The bald man struggled for a moment, eyes wild with terror, and then slowly he went limp. The Mad Whipper stumbled back to lean on a table, her breathing labored. She looked at the dead Stone Sniffer and laughed.