Armareth's Tower

The Sun Burnt was a small building on the edge of Zur-Del. It was in the center of one of the shittiest parts of the city. Here the roofs of houses had half caved in. The street was filled with beggars and thieves and whores. No one was to be trusted. The alleys smelled of piss and blood and the wrong step in an unintended direction could leave anyone losing more than just valuables. And this was the part of the city The Vulcans ruled.

David hated the name, but he couldn’t deny that they looked like rabid dogs ready to tear into whatever they didn’t like. He stared at one of them, a younger man with blue eyes and the lower half of a skull mask covering half his face. A large blade strapped to his back and daggers on his waist. Every one of them was armed with more than one weapon. And they all exposed their arms, showing their tower rings as if to show superiority and fearlessness.

“Zeno,” the masked man sitting opposite them said with a sigh. A cloud of smoke hung in the air, trailing out of the mask and from the end of a long pipe. Whatever he smoked smelled like it shouldn’t be in a human, but the man seemed relaxed with his lazy eyes and calm voice. He leaned back on the creaking chair, one hand resting on the table.

“Frank.” Zeno’s voice carried a little tremor. David had since learned that his new friend was one of the underdogs of Zur-Del. He had a small team of losers and they tried to stay out of the bigger fishes in the city. Now, in front of the Vulcan leader, Zeno sounded like a schoolboy in front of an imposing bully. David hated every second of it, but this was the first step to getting his siblings back. He had to trust Zeno and had to put the possibility of getting his family back in the hands of a small time thief. His helplessness grated him.

“And David,” Frank said, dragging his eyes from Zeno. David met his gaze. The man was lean, tall, and completely ordinary-looking. But there was something in the way he moved. Slow, as if there was no threat to hasten him. He had some kind of armband covering his tower rings, but David guessed it was either five or six.

“Frank,” David said, nodding. He sensed a sudden movement beside and he lifted his hand, casually blocking a fast kick. he turned his face to one of Frank’s minions, hoping a glare would put the man in his place. Frank chuckled, sitting up so he could lean forward close enough to talk softly.

He seemed lazy, but David wasn’t fooled. He knew that sometimes power hid under unfamiliar masks. He squeezed on the leg he caught, heard the man groan in pain, and let him go. The man staggered away from the tavern, face red with shame. David knew that could be a problem some days so he bowed slightly, trying to apologize. Frank waved it away.

“Only the weak bows after winning a fight,” the masked man said, his pipe pushed to the corner of his lips. David shrugged. He had suggested that they go directly to The Brothers instead of coming here. He’d wanted to find his family immediately, but Zeno believed they needed an army and Frank was the best he could think of to ask. After Zeno was done explaining what was needed, Frank grunted his understanding. He placed his pipe down and leaned forward.

“Do you know where the brothers are in the tower ranking?” He asked. Through the mask, his eyes were fiery green. They danced as he moved his gaze from Zeno to David and then settled on Zeno again.

“Fifty-six and thirty-one,” Zeno said, head bowed slightly while David stared directly at Frank. The masked man nodded. He took the long cup of sweet-smelling wine they’d been served early and slurped a drink. Wine rolled down his chin, falling to his robe as he made to speak again. Someone entered the tavern, but David couldn’t see who it was. He kept his eyes on the masked man.

“Do you think you can beat Kalan?” Frank asked, scratching his neck with dark fingernails. Zeno shook his head. There was a clear show of authority, and David could tell this was not the first time. Frank had beaten Zeno before. Perhaps not even Frank himself. David scanned the others. If the tower rings were to be used as a measurement of strength, then they would all be at the same weight as Zeno. Yet, David watched his friend bow. It was unnerving how easily power made others bow. But David stayed silent. It was not time to play his hand. If they only understood power, then he’d show them a taste of it.

Easy, Ignis warned. David was surprised, but he understood. He’d been worried about Zeno too until he figured out his plan. He couldn’t just rush into a fight with these folks.

“You can’t, and you think David here can?” Frank asked, his voice a slow blade, slicing through Zeno’s confidence. “You think the tower ranking is a simple list?” Zeno shook his head. “Then why did you bring this crap to my door?”

Silence reigned heavy as the question settled on Zeno’s bowed head. David waited still. Zeno had warned him and prepared him for what would happen. Yet, it felt wrong. He wanted to speak, but the truth was he still couldn’t see the angle to use. He could challenge Frannk, break this little group up, and use them to rescue his sibling, but that would bring most of the others to him faster. They were already catching up on him. Zeni had told him about the bounty placed on him. No one knew where the bounty came from, but David could guess. Only the temple of Balek was the known enemy for now.

He pushed that away, focusing instead on what was in front of him. What to do? He let his racing thoughts settle.

“What is your rank?” David asked suddenly, cutting through the silence. Zeno’s head snapped up. He turned to look at David, his eyes pleading. David knew what he feared, but it didn’t matter anymore. He’d tried to calm himself, but the longer he listened to the conversation, the clearer it became that they wouldn’t help unless he showed them he was capable.

Frank scoffed, emptied his pipe, and from the fold of his robe, he probed a small pouch of some strange substance he poured into his pipe. He snapped his finger and a tongue of fire came alive with a spark. He lit his pipe and smoke billowed everywhere, feeling the already rancid air with the foul smell. He inhaled deeply and blew the smoke out and when he looked at David again, his eyes were dull but stony.

“Frank is —” Zeno stopped when David put a finger up for him to keep shut. He kept his eyes on Frank, waiting for the man to give him an answer. Frank chuckled.

“I see you have picked up the ways of Zur-Del,” Frank said. “Not surprising. The blood in the city air teaches every new comert what they have to know. You prove yourself or you die. Or you follow someone stronger.”

David smiled, this was a better chance to see what the tower’s ranking was about. He could fight one of the rankers, move up on the ranking, and maybe get to the top ten before he found whatever the cult of Balek stole from Ziel.

“You still haven’t answered my question, Frank,” David said. His hands itched for his sword, but he didn’t summon it. He needed the next man to make the first move. Not for any reason except the fact that he wanted to see how far Frank would bend when threatened.

“Thirty,” Frank said with a tight grin. David hissed. He had hoped the man was higher on the ranking. But he couldn’t help it. He placed his hand on the table beside the cup of wine he’d been served, thinking how best to offer Frank the gamble they had originally planned for him. He summoned his sword in a flash, shocking the others in the Sun Burst. Frank sat up, eyes moving hungrily over the sword.

“Would you like a gamble, Frank?” David asked. The masked man peeled his eyes from the sword and brought them up to look at David. “You know what this sword is, don’t you?”

“I can feel its power,” Frank said, greed winning him over. David almost laughed. The problem with the powerful was that they hungered for more. “What are the terms?”

“It is simple,” David said, standing up. “You are stronger than me. I am not ranked yet, and–” he pulled his sleeves up to show them his tower rings. “You can see that you have more essence power too.”

“You want a duel though,” Frank said, understanding what David was driving at. “Why?”

“I think you all have settled here because you think you have some kind of power, but you don’t. And I really need to get my siblings if I am going to leave Zur-Del.”

“I beat you, I take your sword?” Frank asked. David nodded.

“And if I beat you, you follow me to war with The Brothers.”

Frank looked down at the sword again. David could understand the allure. Ignis was a great dragon, and there was power in the sword. Frank would rise in the tower ranking and that would translate to other things in a city like this. David grinned when the man nodded.

“Don’t die to quickly,” Frank told him and they all laughed.