Armareth's Tower

David leaned heavily on Zoey. He was not injured, but he felt like something heavy had settled into him. The throbbing had ebbed to a dull ache and he thought he would throw up if he moved too quickly. Tara gave him a look before walking past them to stand by Edgar’s corpse. During the fight, his head had been stepped on, shattering the skull. David looked away as she crouched before the mass of bones, flesh and splatter of blood. He focused on the man in front of him.

“Ho…how did you… what are you?” Galan asked, glaring at David. No, David thought. It wasn’t arrogance that he saw in Galan’s eyes. It was confusion. Fear. The old man scooted back when David took a step closer, pulling away from Zoey.

“Don’t kill hi…” David waved at Zoey's words. He lowered himself in front of Galan, body trembling slightly. He couldn’t kill him even if he wanted. And he didn’t. Galan was important for something else.

“You have…” David swallowed, his throat itched. “You have moved past the floor before, haven’t you?”

Galan frowned. “How did you break through my hidden world?” He asked, regaining composure. Blood soaked his shirt, spreading from his shoulder where Tara shot him with a crack of lightning. He was still in shock, or perhaps he had something to numb the pain. David frowned. There was still a lot about the old man he didn’t know yet.

David summoned his sword and pushed the tip against Galan’s throat. He tried to move away, but the sword nicked him. He froze in place, eyes wide as he stared at David.

“You won’t kill me,” Galan said, sighing tiredly. “You need me. You want to get out of here without having to deal with Balek’s minions? Then I am your best bet. I can take you to the fourth floor, where you will surely die. But that is your bargain.”

An arrow hissed past David’s face and sliced open Galan’s right shoulder. The old man fell back, wailing in pain. David turned to see Zoey brimming with fury. He waved for her to stop. Galan cursed, calling on unfortunate things for Zoey. They watched him cry. To David’s right, the orc’s corpse had become a silent mound of burnt flesh, but the fire burned still.

“We might as well kill him,” Tara said, walking forward, but David put a hand up. “What? You want to keep him alive? We don’t need him. We don’t need his help. We should do away with him now and get to the battle raging outside.”

David nodded, his face wet with sweat. He needed to rest. Whatever essence that boy had used, it hadn’t been completely his. David groaned, standing up. He couldn’t feel Ignis’ presence either, even though he was holding the sword. Yet, he wasn’t worried. He would turn to that problem in time. At the moment, he had Galan to deal with.

He pulled the man by the leg, dragging his flailing body with some difficulty. The closer they got to the orc’s body, the clearer his intention was and the harder Galan fought. But David held him tightly, dragging until a pop from the corpse stopped them.

“Wa…wait!” Galan screamed. David stopped, breathing hard. His chest felt hot, like blunt knives grazing the inside of his chest. It rattled him a bit, but he focused on Galan. The monster who had caused the death of so many. The one man he really wanted to kill, yet couldn’t.

“Speak,” David said, still holding his foot by the lean ankle. “I don’t have time to waste on you.”

“Swear that you will let me go,” Galan said. “Swear it and I will tell you everything. I will show you how to escape this city.”

David scowled at the man. Sometime ago, perhaps when they were in the dungeon, he would have rushed at that with glee. Now it disgusted him that Galan would even try to bargain. He let the old man see his disappointment before giving him a threatening shove.

“You don’t have the right to ask for anything, old man. You speak and if I feel like you will be useful, you will live. If not, you met your minion over there,” David said, nodding at the pile of orc flesh burning. “Or Tara takes you.”

Tara and Zoey were standing some distance away, careful of the dancing flame. There was a sinister quality to it, not just in how bright it was, but it also didn’t give off much heat. It burned with quiet fury. David waited for the man to make his decision, and before long Galan did.

“We have a gate,” Galan said quietly, head bowed in shame. “Some years ago, a mage came down from the fifth floor. Not an outworlder…not like us. They called him Krak. One of the apostles of Balek. He created the gate. Giving those who wish to serve Balek a path to and fro. People like me and Han and Cory were given access because we sent outworlders to Krak.”

“Why?” David asked, frowning. Galan scoffed and David tightened his hold on his ankle. Galan winced. “Why does he need outworlders?”

“Politics,” Galan said, rushing the word out. “Some kind of strife for power. I don’t know.” Galan said, obviously exhausted. “I was one of the few who willingly agreed to the deal. I wasn’t strong. I’d been a part of a party and all my friends were dead. I was alone with a stupid ability to create hidden worlds.” He shrugged.

“You killed others to save your skin?” Zoey asked. She turned to Tara. “You too?”

“Stop acting like you don’t see what is in front of you, darling. This is the new world. You try to save yourself or you will die fast. To survive, you have to cling to those with power.”

David couldn’t deny the logic in what the old man said, yet he could make himself rationalize what he’d done. He shook his head, dropping Galan’s foot. He tried to hide the trembling of his feet by pacing slowly. After this he would have to sleep through a few days and eat like a starving beast.

“So you know what the fourth and fifth floors are?” David asked. Galan shook his head.

“All I can tell you is that the fourth floor is where the chaos starts. There you will find that monsters and outworlders are not so different. There Balek and many others hold more sway. You think you want to go there? Believe me son, you do…argh!”

Another arrow plunged into his shoulder, going straight through. He gritted his teeth, glaring at Zoey.

“He is not your son and I am not your darling, you sniveling piece of ash,” Zoey hissed, pulling her bowstring back again. David quickly put his hand up for her to stop.

“Continue,” David muttered. Galan groaned as the arrow shattered, green essence fading in the air. Galan adjusted.

“The floors from here shift and change. Very few people know what triggers it, but three times I have gone there to meet three different sprawling cities—worlds. And other times it is a wasteland of monsters and backstabbers and fanatics looking to populate the city with their belief.”

“How are there more gods in Amareth’s tower?” Zoey asked, pulling all their attention to her. David had figured it out once Galan mentioned politics.

“Amareth is the weakest, isn’t he?” David asked.

“He, she, they…I don’t know,” Galan said. “Not the weakest, no…not from what I have heard.”

David nodded. He couldn’t imagine how strong the other tower gods were if Amareth was weak. After all, the god had subdued Ziel who David felt was like a storm of chaos.

“What are you two talking about?” Tara asked.

“Tower gods,” Zoey said before David could respond. “The bastards who created this damn palace of torture.”

“Amareth? The guy who blesses us with skills and weapons?” Tara asked, confused. David nodded.

“There are more of them. I guess this Balek is one of them. If I am right, they try to own one another’s domain. Some kind of game.” The more he thought about it the clearer it got. Yet, he couldn’t understand how they would decide it. David put that out of his mind first. What was important was that they had to get out of the third floor.

“We need to go out,” David said, pulling Galan up. The man let himself be dragged. He wasn’t heavy, David thought. Then he realized that the trembling had stopped. He was regaining essence already. He sighed, relief feeling as sweet as a cold drink as a long toil. “You will tell your army to stop.”

“And then you will have your new butcher kill me?” Galan asked, turning to look at Tara. Her hands sparked, but David put a finger up for her to stop. Galan grinned. “Losing one master for another, Tara? And this time a boy?”

David smacked him in the face and Galan’s head lulled back.

“We need him for now, Tara,” David said walking for the exit. Once in the hallway, he could hear the fighting. It had ebbed, but there were still clangs and cried. People dying still. The thought haunted him. Galan mumbled as David dragged him.

“So that was his power? A world maker?” Zoey asked. David shrugged awkwardly.

“I guess that explains why his authority over the orc was absolute. My guess is that whatever goes in there becomes his property completely. Some kind of compulsion enforced with essence?”

“Then why didn’t that happen to you?”

“I didn’t get in. He killed me.” David said and Zoey stumbled into Tara who had been just as stunned as her. They stood for a moment, watching David drag Galan toward the main door. On the other side, the bodies in the courtyard had tripled.

David stared in shock as he took in the scale of casualties. Death was everywhere.

“This…” Galan said, rising to his knees. “This is your fault.”

“Yes,” David said with misty eyes. “And yours. Now end it!”

Galan hesitated, but stood up when he saw how serious David was. David sensed the essence in him surge and then the old man’s voice boomed across the courtyard, stopping everyone. They all turned to find David’s blade against his throat.

David saw Hammond’s ice armor was shattered and he was bleeding. But he was fighting Jeremy, not Varg. Seeing Elisha was shocking, but not as surprising as seeing Clair helping him fight Vin. He searched for Hanna, but she wasn’t there. His heart started racing, but then he heard someone called his name and then Chloe ran out of the darkness to his left, from behind a pillar. Behind her Hanna staggered out, left hand limp by her side.

Vin grinned, even though he was covered in blood. Jeremy looked a lot better.

“What’s happening, Chief? Tara?” Vin asked.

The other soldiers in Galan’s employ looked similarly confused. David pushed Galan forward, pushing the tip of his sword against the old man’s back.

“I guess you can start telling them the story of how you have been a coward and that you are selling outworlders to Balek to strengthen their numbers?”

Galan was silent, then he turned to David and shook his head miserably. “You think you have won, but you have just set things in motion. What will come for this city will be worse than the Long Slumber.”

He turned back to those who had followed him for years and gave them the truth he’d hidden from them for years. David saw how Jeremy’s eyes went from confused to betrayed. Vin showed no difference at all. He hadn’t known, but he didn’t care either.

When Galan finished, David knew what would come next. He’d felt it, expected it… and even though Galan deserved it, David dreaded it. He moved slightly to the side, giving the consent he wished he didn’t give and a moment later, a white streak of light lit up the night. It was brief. Almost the span of a blink. But when the darkness returned, Galan’s head was gone and his neck had a burnt stump. His body staggered blindly and fell with a thud.

“A fitting end for one so heinous,” Claire said. Vin disappeared, his speed dizzying. He almost caught Claire but Elisha quickly shrouded her with a shadow as black as tar. It wrapped around her, pulling her away into a darkness so endless and then they were back out under the night, beside Tara.

Vin sneered. “Big mistake, Tara.”

“Of course you want to die with your master,” Tara scoffed. She gave Jeremy the slightest nod and then the man swayed left for Vin. Vin was quick to respond, but Jeremy’s sword was like swans gliding on water. The blade went through Vin and then tore out through his left side.

Vin’s eyes widened, and then a bloody smile settled on his lips. David looked away, tired of the pointless deaths. He hadn’t gotten everything out of Galan but he knew who could tell him more.

“Sweet, Jer,” Tara cooed, walking up to the blonde man. She reached up for his face as he sheathed his sword. Then she stretched up and kissed him. Chloe made a face and Hanna hissed. David watched them with a mix of emotions and then looked away, back at his family.

“Must hurt,” Zoey quipped at him, and David ignored her. Instead he walked over to Chloe, roughed her hair and pulled Elisha in for a hug. He was happy to see they were safe. But he knew they had a rougher fight ahead of them.