Armareth's Tower

Run.

Fear, David thought as he ran for his life. Fear was the subtle serpent, the feral but patient predator. It slithered slowly, quietly, as if harmless. It permeated the skin, the veins, the heart, and the mind. Fear was an otherworldly thing–pitch black with tentacles and stingers, catching its game like a hawk swiping tiny, powerless quarry. Fear had him in its clutches now, its talon was digging into him, crushing him. His legs felt weak and his eyes stung as sweat rolled into them. His vision came in and out of focus. There was nothing in front of him; no respite, no salvation.

They were all going to die. He could see it now, in his head, as if his mind was whispering to him in moving pictures.

“Don’t look back, Chloe!” Elisha screamed. David cursed. He would have preferred if his younger sister had slept through this. He defied the order himself, taking a glance at what was behind them and his breath caught again, and not for the first time. What the hell? What is this? It was a nightmare. The desert sand sparkled like billions of small jewels reflecting the sun, gleaming with brilliance. The monsters shrieked, sounding like a long, train whistle that made David want to stand and accept his fate. And the damn sand wasn’t helping.

“What are those damn things?” Hanna asked. She was bloody from the fight before but she wasn’t slowing down. Yet, David could see that she was in pain. He almost fell over, his legs sank into the sand, but Zoey pulled him roughly as she ran past.

Sand snakes? David hadn’t heard anything about them before and the message they got from the tower called them Anirat. God worms, Ignis had said, translating. They were huge and sand-colored with thin tentacles that thankfully didn’t extend. And there were five of them slithering close, chasing on their heels.

“Can we fight them?” Elisha asked. He wasn’t slowing down though. His shadow had completely vanished in the light. He had tried vanishing forward but there was something in the desert negating that, or perhaps there was nowhere to go. The only thing in front of them was the endless spread of golden sand. There were no juts of mountains, no caves, and no possible way to escape the claws of certain death.

David looked back just in time to see one of the snakes burrow into the sand and come back up like a dolphin, large head shining as the spray of sand slid down its smooth, chitinous skin. If seen from afar, where there was no sense of danger, David would have thought it beautiful. Now, it was only monstrous.

Chloe cried. She screamed, holding tightly to Elisha. David cursed. He couldn’t think through this one. He knew, deep within himself, that they’d die if they tried to fight these monsters. There were beasts to slay and creatures to run from. These were the latter. They sped through the desert, raising dust in their wake. This was the worst hand they’d been given so far. He could understand, now, why Galan had chosen to stay on the third floor.

“Maybe that is the test?” Zoey asked. She was in front, her Vjognir floating beside her. The animal looked at peace as if its master wasn’t about to be consumed by a giant desert snake.

“What?” Hanna asked, shouting over the explosion of sand behind them. “I don’t think so. That weird guy said to run. I think…” she crashed and David could have sworn that something came out of the ground to trip her. Then he saw its large glass-like eyes as it reared its head. A large crustacean head and thin antennae that swayed from left to right. Hanna screamed, shocked by the small shrilling creature. A lance of shadow impaled the creature through the eye, lifted it as it leaked blue gooey, and then flung it at the snakes. David pulled Hannah up, cursing as something else tried to pry out through the hole the first monster had created.

“There!” Zoey shouted. David and Hanna had started running again. Hanna’s eyes were half-closed. Perhaps because of the dust, or maybe she was just too tired. David couldn’t tell. He wasn’t sure why that worried him. He reminded himself that he had to focus on his family. He was still far behind to see what Zoey was pointing at clearly, but he could see the outline of it, and it was like a dark spot in a world of glitter and light.

“What is that?” David asked. “Be careful!”He screamed. He turned to Hanna who was gradually slowing and pulled her hand in his, making sure she didn’t give up. Again, you did it. Trying to save her even though you know she will most likely die?

David ignored the dragon. He didn’t have to die for her, but he’d do anything he could to save any of them. That was what his father would have done. Hanna groaned, her face folded in one of pain and then she hid it. Something was wrong with her. Something David couldn’t see. Damn Miron! They would have rested some more before coming to this hell. What kind of blessing was this?

“It’s a door!” Zoey said. “I think that is how we get out of this place!”

David hoped so. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. His chest was tight and hot and his legs were not any better. He could flood himself with essence to ease the cramps and pain–that was probably what Hanna was doing–but he had a feeling there was something worse waiting for them. He had to endure it somehow.

“Go for the door,” David said, his voice barely traveling the space between them. Zoey went a slight right, curving for the door. Now that they were closer, David could see it clearer. It was dark, almost black. It was a simple door-like portal and the middle shone like glass. Atop it was something he couldn’t understand, scribbled in the air. It shimmered and changed, the white of it fading slowly.

“Ignis,” David called, his heart racing with worry. There was something about those shimmering letters that made him want to lurch forward, leaping for the door. And at the same time, he wanted to stay away from it. “Ignis!”

It’s a countdown in the old tongue, the dragon said, annoyed. You have much to learn. Whoever created this world, this floor was cruel. I see why it's called the Floor of Dead Hope.

“What do you mean?” David asked. They were close to the door now. Zoey was, at least. Her hand was going for the door. Immediately she touched the door, the words above it flared and vanished. David cursed.

“Stop!” He screamed before Zoey could rush in. Elisha adjusted Chloe and pulled Zoey back just as the door winked and vanished. Zoey turned furious eyes at him and then turned to David but her eyes went past him, finding the snake behind him and the sandstorm. David couldn’t tell if the dust cloud was just the snakes or if it was hiding something worse.

“What the hell was that?” Zoey asked, running again. But David saw another door flare into form. Then another and another. Five doors in all. Two had the burning white letters and the other three had glazed blue surfaces. They emitted a dull glow and David thought he could feel essence pouring out in trickles.

“Any help, Ignis?” David asked aloud. He was sure there was something they were missing, but he couldn’t figure it out. There was too much pressure to think clearly. All he could form into thought was that they needed to survive.

There is no winning this floor, David. It was designed to thin your numbers or destroy you completely. It was created to see your weakness and pull you into the decision of cutting it out or dying to it. You will lose, or you will escape.

“Great help, O’ mighty dragon!” David said, his eyes grim. He had to figure out how the doors worked, or if they were safe at all. Five doors. Any of these would save them. He could already feel the sigh of relief from the others. He didn’t like it. The tower never tried to save anyone and this was feeling too altruistic. What am I missing, David wondered. He couldn’t figure out what those letters meant and Ignis wasn’t helping, which meant the dragon either didn’t know or couldn’t help. That meant the floor came with some limitations. Dammit!

“So someone is going to die?” David asked, feeling sick. They were close to the door now. He had to make a choice and he had no idea what decision would get them killed.

This much I can say, there will be a dea–

Hanna pushed forward, leaving David and the others behind. David stared, confused. She seemed nimble all of a sudden. So, she’d been faking her wounds or she was being desperate. She went for the door in the middle. One of the dark ones. David’s heart quickened, that terrible feeling crept up his spine and Hanna touched the surface of the door.

Ripple shook the surface and just as Hanna dove into it, something came out. Its maws open to bare rows of tiny teeth in a mouth that looked depthless. There was no end, only teeth, and death. It slammed down on Hanna crushing the top half, and crushed her in two. Her legs hit the sand with a muted thud and the monster’s head sank back into the door. The ripples settled.

Chloe screamed and Elisha rushed to cover her eyes, but the damage was done. Not just to Chloe but to them all. The middle door shimmered and shattered like smashed glass before being swallowed by the sand. Only four doors were left. And they knew one or all of these doors had monsters behind them. David turned to see how long they had. The snakes were not very fast but they were resilient. Ignis had mentioned that they were olfactory monsters. They could hold a prey’s scent for years, returning to their hunt whenever they find that prey again.

And they were coming, dragging ever near with the dust storm behind them.

“What if killing the snakes is the test?” Zoey asked, already moving from Hanna’s death. David couldn’t blame her. They had to survive first and mourn later. He shook his head though. Those things didn’t look like they’d easily die and something was coming behind them, David could feel it. He wasn’t sure it was a monster, but there was something there.

“I don’t think so,” David said. He turned what Ignis said over in his head. He couldn’t afford to lose any of them, and they were not weakness to him. They all had their strengths and they supported him. That meant they weren’t the weakness he was supposed to shed. But what? He cursed, moving his eyes from the snakes to the doors.

“Vjognir,” David said suddenly. Somehow he’d forgotten the beast was from one of the oldest dragon families. “Can you read that?” David pointed to the flickering letters atop one of the doors. The bird turned its rotund mass of feathery head, the colors vibrant.

“Of course.” the Vjognir said, its voice heavy as a forger’s hammer. “But the rules of this floor does not permit any external help.”

“External?” Zoey said. “You are a part of me!” The Vjognir wasted a couple of seconds thinking about this and then lifted off Zoey’s shoulder. Ignis chuckled and David ignored the dragon. He needed help, not derision.

“I am a part of you, indeed mistress,” the Vjognir muttered. Then its liquid green eyes seemed to glimmer.

“These doors carry different probability, the letters change because the place within changes from time to time. The symbols indic–” something roared in the distance behind them and they all turned. David waved for the Vjognir to continue. “They indicate different obstacles that you will have to face from simple golems to titan monsters. And it can only take three.”

“And the other ones?” David asked, gesturing to the three other portals. They looked better than the darker ones. The Vjognir teetered. “I don’t see anything to indicate, but the essence I sense from it makes it even worse. I am almost certain you will all–”

“Go!” David screamed. He could suddenly see it, the test. He could see what Ignis had meant by his weakness. His need to always protect them would lead all of them to their death. He had to let them go. “Go quickly.”

“Are you crazy?” Zoey asked, her eyes large from the shock. “You will die here. And what if we don–”

David looked up at the Vjognir, hoping it understood what he wanted to know. He saw the delight in his eyes and heard it in his head. It turned to the shimmering letters, waited a second… and screamed, “Now!”

David cursed himself, but he did it anyway. It was easy. He pushed Zoey first. Watched the surprise in her eyes turn to anger as she staggered and then vanished into the portal. Elisha’s eyes hardened, but he didn’t fight. He adjusted Chloe in his arm and walked to the portal.

“She will hate you forever for that,” Elisha said and the portal swallowed him too. The Vjognir vanished and David felt a crushing loneliness. That, too, disappeared when he saw that the snakes were upon him already. No, not him. They were fighting something else that had come out of the sandstorm. David watched in horror as they were torn and gnawed on by a…dragon?

He couldn’t see much in the dust mist that was spreading now. Only the outlines and wings and the roar of pain and dying. He wanted to see, but then he knew there would be no other time to escape. He fled just as another whine tore the air and a stark streak of lightning pierced down from the clear sky. Power, David thought, his heart rattling in his chest. Whatever had joined them in the desert was stronger than the snakes, than anything else he’d ever seen.

Davi…

David only realized why Ignis had been alarmed when his legs found emptiness and he fell forward. There was a large yawning hole, a mouth into darkness. It swallowed David, pulling him into an endless fall. David tried to stop his racing heart. He couldn’t breathe. And with a feral dread, he noticed that he couldn’t feel anything. He held on to the established knowledge that he was falling.

“Ignis, what is this?”

The endless descent, the dragon said. You are in Oarc’s realm now. He will judge your spirit and either deliver you to your death or set you back on your path. Oarc is neither good nor bad. He is not a god, but he isn’t an ordinary spirit either. Why is he here? You must make sure he doesn’t see me.

“Another one of your enemies?” David asked, suddenly feeling a small measure of calm. Ignis snorted and David knew it was the pride thing. No one was good enough to be his enemy unless they beat him. Damn dragons. He waited, knowing that at the end of his fall, he wouldn’t die.

As suddenly as the dread vanished, it returned when a large eye blinked open in the endless darkness. Its iris flared a brilliant amethyst, ringed by flecks of vengeful red. It was resplendent, captivating, and powerful.

“So Amareth’s pawn has found its way to Oarc,” a voice said in the empty darkness. “For a pawn, you have a solid soul. Froth with doubt, but poised for power. You deserve a swift death for the chaos you will bring, but like burnt steel, you will forge great things from it. Ahh! Ignis. Traitor. Brother. Vagrant. You have found one worthy. Be on your way then. You deserve your fate. My vengeance will hold for today.”

And David dropped hard, slamming on the stone floor of what turned out to be a cavern.

And someone laughed.