Armareth's Tower

“It’s been too silent,” Andrea said as they walked through the third tunnel. The walls here were darker, and unlike the drop space, this part of the cave was darker, illuminated only by Andrea’s burning white light. She’d stolen some of David’s fire and transformed it into a piercing orb of light. She split the orb into three smaller orbs, reducing their glare enough for them to light up their path and not blind their eyes. It was extraordinary. David stared at the light now, turning the orb around to see if there was any way to assess it.

He could feel essence from it, but it felt solid, as if he held glass something burning in the hollow center. He wanted to ask, but Andrea didn’t seem like the type to give her secrets away. Also, the absence of heat was shocking. Even Sam had been cautious of that when Andre tossed him one of the orbs.

“You want the monsters leaping already, darling?” Sam asked with a smile that got a scoff from Andrea. She turned to David, eyed him briefly, and continued leading the group. The tunnels were wide enough to have three of them walk abreast, except with Sam who took the space for two.

“No, darling,” Andrea said, getting a laugh from Liam. “I just don’t understand, I thought this was an evil lair or something.”

“No,” David said. “Eternals are higher beings. They are not quite gods, and not quite ordinary either. They are immortal, and they rule over their realms.” He finished and realized Andrea was staring at him. David shrugged.

“You have seen one of them before?” She asked. David hesitated and shook his head. He shrugged again when her stare stayed on him and he cursed himself for walking into that. “You should share everything you know, David.”

“I don’t think they are the same,” David said. He’d been thinking about it and the more he turned it over in his mind, the harder it was to figure out. “Ifyr was an eternal, but she was corrupted already. This is different.”

“Yet, there might be something about that task that might help us tackle this one, my friend,” Sam said from the front. His axe was gone, but the man was no less imposing. He’d summoned a helm. Made of iron but in the form of a wolf, eyes glittering. It was some kind of enchanted artifact, he said. Not much for protection, but he wouldn’t share what it did. Butcher held David’s eyes for a moment and nodded. David sighed and told them the story. He left out the part of it being a dungeon but instead made it look like it was part of a task for the second floor. They didn’t seem like they believed him, but they didn’t ask further. They all had secrets of their own, he imagined.

When he finished, Laim’s eyes were wet with tears. “Your family is gone, and you are all alone. They might be dead,” he said. Soft, as if attempting kindness. But there was that manic grin on his face, even as he sniffled.

“Liam, don’t be a grueling idiot,” Andrea said and Liam flashed a glare at her that she held, fearlessly. And whatever rage Liam felt evaporated and he was smiling again, kind hurtful words with such softness that David couldn’t even bring himself to be angry.

Butcher was talking about his own first-floor task when they heard the patter of water dropping on the hard floor, and then hissing and snarling up ahead. They all froze. Cain took a step back, bow drawn. The hissing stopped, but it was replaced by footsteps. One or two at first, then it grew to a frenzy as if many were running toward them.

“What could those be?” Sam asked, turning to David. He shrugged. This place was so different, compared to Ifyr’s realm. Their light only illuminated a few paces beyond them, so whatever was coming moved in the dark for a moment, golden eyes puncturing the darkness, and then snarls, terrible and thunderous.

Liam pushed through them to stay at the front. He gave David a giggle as he passed him.

His staff appeared in his arm just as essence gathered around him. For a moment, David couldn’t breathe. It was as if all life had whooshed out of him. When he opened his eyes, Andrea was leaning on the wall, breathing hard. Her eyes found David and she shook her head, pointing to Liam. The mage was whispering something, in a language David hadn’t heard before, punctuating it with bouts of guffaws. A streak of lightning sizzled and sparked, illuminating the tunnel briefly, but enough for David to see what was coming for them.

They were many, like small, hairless beasts with long bodies and snapping large teeth in small heads. Liam’s lightning came again and a spark of orange filled the air. The smell of citrus washed over David and his body shivered. Something was coming, David thought, and he knew he was going to like it.

That damn maniac, Ignis said with what felt like a thrill to David. You might all die here, and it will not be from Olam. You need a— David could already see it. The sparks were everywhere and they were vibrating, like little overcharged particles. David cursed. He couldn’t tell what kind of spell Liam was casting, but it was unstable.

“Andrea!” She turned to him, weak from Liam siphoning essence from all of them. Ignis was wrong; Liam was a powerful mage, but he wasn’t a good one. “We need a shield!” David screamed at her. The sparks were clumping now, rapidly. Liam’s spell was a three-stage one. Igniting, materializing, and gathering, David intuited. That meant they didn’t have much time. Andrea cursed, pushed off the wall, and pulled all the light globes to her. For a moment she let the lights merge and sink into her hand. David dragged Sam and Cain back. Butcher was passed out behind him. Andrea stood in front of them all and began to craft the shield of light.

It was thin, too thin, but it covered them, stretching up, arching back to form a dome over them. She stole a bit more from Liam’s spell, transforming it into light, and then added it to the shield, making it thicker. She turned to David, her roguish smile gone, only fear remained. It was almost funny. They were going to die because of a madman’s spell. David nodded to Andrea, hoping that would give her enough assurance to put her full weight against the shield. We are not going to die, not here…not yet. David wanted to believe the dragon, but he’d learned long ago that death came randomly to all. There was no planning it, and no running from it when it was your time.

Liam screamed just as the monsters came into full view. The fire exploded and stretched, flowing like liquid death washing away whatever life lay in front of it. The whining and cries of the beasts filled the tunnel. Some of the flames whooshed backward, over Liam’s feet and robes, and slammed into the shield. Wherever it touched, the shield melted slowly with a hiss. But up in front, it was a destruction. The spell ate at beasts and stones, eroding everything in its path. It flowed for a while, chasing some of the beasts at the back of the ranks and then overrunning them. Nothing remained as it flowed past, not even bones. Only blackened stone.

And just as it came in a flash of brilliance, it vanished. Rendering them back into complete darkness. David cursed, letting himself fall back, hands spread. His heart was racing so hard he couldn’t breathe. Andrea’s light split again, illuminating all of them.

David tried to stand up and gave up. The smell of burnt flesh filled the passage, almost choking. Andrea turned away and threw up while Liam laughed raucously. David wanted to punch the man, wanted to smack him until his teeth were all out and his brain was made whole again. He stretched instead, cursing as he stood up, realizing that his legs were still shaking from exhaustion. He checked on Sam and Butcher. Sam was snoring lightly, deep in sleep.

“What was that?” Butcher asked. “What were those things? What happened?” David pointed to Liam.

The man was jumping in celebration. Then he saw Cain staggering toward him, summoning his bow and pulling it back to shoot. Andrae tackled him but Cain shrugged her off easily. Butcher rushed forward but he was too slow. David caught up with Cain and pulled him by the shoulder. Cain whirled, and his bow swung for David’s head, but David blocked the strike and shoved the archer against the left wall.

“Stop!” David yelled. He cursed, his legs were going to give out. He put a hand up, gesturing for Cain to stay back. Liam’s staff was in his hand again, his eyes wild with confusion. “Cain, you need to stop.”

“He could have killed all of us,” Cain said, his voice low and calm; a sharp wire. “He is mad and powerful. You know the danger he poses to us? He could have killed us without even knowing and he would have laughed about it because his mind wouldn’t have been able to fathom what he’d done. Is that who you want to beat this damn dungeon with? A crazy man who steals your very essence for his crazy spells? We need to end him.”

There it was, David thought, staring at the man. His hair covered most of his face, but David could see his eyes and he could tell Cain meant everything he said. David wasn’t sure he was wrong, but he couldn’t shake the dread that filled him at that moment. Cain would put any of them down if they inconvenienced him.

Sam woke up, looking about as if he’d just woke up in his room. He seemed to realize something had happened quickly and scrambled to pick up his axe where he’d dropped it when he passed out.

“I saved you,” Liam whispered, still confused. “I killed all those sniveling vermin. I killed them for you. You want to kill me, again? I saved you!” He yelled and Andrea took a step back. Liam shook his head, his staff fell to the ground and he staggered away from the others. “I saved you and you want to kill me?” He asked, hurt in his voice. Butcher stood up, cursing.

“You almost killed us, you nut case,” Cain said. “You pulled essence from all of us when you didn’t have to. You don’t know how to control your own power. You are crazy and with all that power, you are worth–” Butcher’s fist connected with Cain’s jaw, throwing the archer back a couple of steps. The blow stunned everyone.

“Shut your damn mouth,” Butcher said. Then he turned to Andrea and David, still breathing hard. “I propose we split up. We can’t move together anyway. I’d always be worried that this bastard would stab me in the back.”

David frowned. He could see the truth in what Cain said, but the man was too cold to trust. He wasn’t reliable either. He wasn’t much different from Liam, just a different spice of crazy. Andrea sighed audibly.

“Oi! I don’t think it is that serious. We can settle this like a–”

“He will kill us, Sam,” Cain said, his voice was so calm it was eerie. Sam sighed and shrugged. “You will stay with them? You don’t even know them.”

“True, but who knows who in the tower, Cain? I would rather get through this with those who have a better chance, you get me? Alone, we will certainly die. Also, that was a good nap I just ha–”

You have awakened Olam the Eternal

Your paths have been decided!

Each may follow or perish!

Amareth be with you

David swore. The tunnel trembled as stones groaned and shifted. The walls of the cave moved, unmaking and reforming as if cleared and replaced by a single brushstroke. The air changed from warm, to cold and then to freezing and hot. Something shrieked as if dying and the sound vanished in the throes of the process. Up became down, throwing them off and they fell, it reversed. David groaned, pain flaring from his ankles. Liam laughed as if in defiance. The transformation took all of two minutes, but it felt like it was stretched endlessly. Then it stopped.

“You said the Eternals are not gods?” Butcher asked, standing up with some effort. Liam was already up, a large grin on his face. He pointed to the six tunnels that lay in front of them, chortling with glee. David sighed. This was bad, very bad. If the Eternal was splitting them up, that meant they each had to go through some kind of hurdle to get to the nest. He could already tell that some of them were going to die.

“Six paths for six bastards,” Liam said and chuckled. When he found David’s eyes, he looked…sad. No, scared. Something fell into place immediately. Liam couldn’t manipulate essence like everyone else. Perhaps it wasn’t that he didn’t know how, maybe he needed a source, a life source. That seemed cruel, but the tower was wicked. This would be the last time any of them would see Liam. The thought settled in David with worrying ease.

Perhaps it is better? Ignis asked. David couldn’t argue with that. May he find rest.

They walked over to stand in front of their respective paths. David let the others choose first. He couldn’t sense the essence within, it was difficult to tell which would be most difficult, or if they were made specifically for each of them.

“Some of us are going to die,” Sam said. Then he grinned. “Won’t be me.” He laughed and walked into the darkness of his tunnel. Cain walked away without a word. He stopped just before he vanished into the darkness and turned to the others.

“You should have killed him, now he will survive and be forced on other people. Whoever dies because of him will be on you. All that blood, on y–”

“Shut up and leave,” Butcher cut in, eyes narrowed. Liam laughed, shocking everyone. Then he skipped into his, humming a song David found distantly familiar. It was just the three of them left.

“I don’t think I will meet any of you anymore,” Andrea said, staring at her half-hand. “So, I’d like to tell you something. Being a Light Knight makes us some kind of religious element. We get visions, and prophecies from our respective gods. I follow Ira, goddess of mornings. She doesn’t get involved unless we earn special privileges. She is a lesser god, so she doesn’t have much power. But she can be helpful with information.”

“What do you have?” Butcher asked with doubt on his face. Not a religious man, David noted.

“You can skip two floors if you fight in the arena of gods.”

“We have to fight with gods?” David asked. Andrea shook her head.

“You fight with other champions. You win enough for your god and you will be granted safe passage. I don’t know how it works, but you can apply on the sixth floor.”

“That means through to the ninth floor,” Butcher said. He shook his head. “How come no one has reached the ninth floor since then?

“The sixth floor,” David guessed. Andrea nodded.

“If you don’t meet the requirement, you are devoured.” She shrugged as if to say that was all she knew. Butcher shook his head, not believing.

As David walked into his tunnel, he wondered how easy it would be to get into that tournament and why Ignis had never mentioned something like this. Then he heard footsteps beside him and when he turned, there was an old man, curved forward with hands clasped behind him. His flaming sword lit up the man’s smiling wrinkled face.

“So, child, you killed Ifyr?”