Armareth's Tower

The night was a perfect cover for what they wanted to do, but Frank had suggested they didn’t have to hide. David agreed. He was tired of hiding, of scurrying like rats in fear of large snakes. He felt different after what Frank had called The Baptism. Almost as if there was a hidden well of power within him and he simply needed to push through a veil to get to it. The veil was thin but difficult to push through for now. And he had many other things to worry about. One of which was why they walked the street of Zur-Del, moving toward the holdings of two of the tower’s rankers.

“You are sure they will be here?” David asked. They’d spent two days searching for the specific place the brothers were keeping his siblings. Frank had used his meager network, but it was Zeno who found them. Frank confirmed the location. He was thorough. He hated working for nothing. And that was fine with David. He had found the man tolerable since their duel, even with his eccentricities. Now, he wore the mask of a horned demon, only his eyes showing through the slits on the mask.

“Yes,” Frank muttered, guiding David to what looked like a large warehouse. Most of the rankers had integrated into the society, gathering properties and wealth. The brothers, however, dealt in underground business with nobles. David had heard of most of their dealings, and the more he listened, the hotter his fears grew.

“You should know,” Frank said, turning to David as if he couldn’t see the guards clustering to check the two intruders. “They were roughed up. I don’t know how badly, but these bastards went crazy with them.”

David felt a small flicker of anger surge in him and he snuffed it away. He didn’t have the time to get angry and go wild. For now, they had to move fast.

Frank watched him for a brief moment and nodded. “You can break their legs when you see them, but these are mere sheep. They have been herded the wrong way. You don’t have to rough them up too much.”

David looked from Frank to the guards and nodded. It was almost midnight, but the property was lit up with touches and some kind of weird light. There were three buildings, all flat and wide. Frank had said it belonged to a noble woman. One of the city’s richest. And from the venom in Frank’s voice, David had a feeling there was history there.

“You all are brave and loyal,” Frank said to the guards as they assembled before them. David estimated there were about twenty or thirty of them. Frank’s voice pulled them out, reaching into the warehouses.

“I don’t know if you gained this quality because you respect your masters, or you fear them. I hope it is the former. But you don’t have to die for them. They are not worth it. They are weak, arrogant, and filth due for putting down. And alas! My friend and I have come to do you this generous favor. We have come to rid you of the dogs you serve.”

David stared at the back of Frank’s head incredulously. He had known Frank was crazy, but this was a different kind of madness. He sensed the rage of the gathered guards, their disgust. Then one of them pushed forward, torch held high as he peered at Frank. He was huge, taller than most of the other guards, and broad. His shoulders were like mounting hills and his face carried a dark sneer that made his intentions obvious.

He turned his head left and spat. “I thought I recognized your voice. You have found your spine again after your last defeat?” The guard asked. Frank scoffed, taking a step forward. The guard stayed, unmoved. Even when Frank stood before him, dwarfed by the guard’s size. Frank looked up at the guard and David saw a smile creep up the guard’s face.

“Yom, treacherous prick, I promised you a payback, didn’t I?” Frank turned to David, pointing at the guard. “David, I know I said we shouldn’t kill them but this—”

Yom’s torch fell and his fist came down on Frank. David moved to intercept it and stopped. Frank caught the fist on the flat of his palm. He exhaled, sounding exhausted by that one action. The guard retracted his fist, jumping back to create space between them. Frank nodded as though he just recalled something.

“That was how you attacked the other time, wasn’t it, Yom?” Frank asked, still no malice in his voice. “David, I am going to kill this man. I know it goes against what I just said, but he is beyond saving.”

David shrugged. He didn’t care one way or the other. “Let’s get this over with, Frank. I don’t have the time.”

“Kill them both,” Yom commanded and swords hissed out of sheaths. Spells roared to life and there was even one summon which David marveled at. It reminded him of a dragon, but it was mostly serpentine, flowing in the air as if swimming in invisible waters. It was made completely of essence, which David thought must be tasking, but the conjurer looked calm. David’s sword appeared in his grip. The new crack on the sword made it look sinister and fragile at the same time until David let a bit of Ignis’s aura leak out. It was cold, gripping and destructive. David shuddered and the dragon chuckled in his head.

“No, give me a moment,” Frank said, waving for David to stay out of it. David contemplated disagreeing but stood back in the end. He’d fought the man and he could tell Frank was not weak, but this many people would be too heavy a task for him.

“Frank,” Yom called. “I will take your he—”

Frank moved like a silent wind. Everything about him seemed to fade for a moment, the essence he used almost impossible to track. David chuckled when he realized Frank had worked on his weaving, refining it to make it even more inconspicuous.

Frank appeared in front of Yom a moment later. There was no effect of his movement, making it feel like he’d teleported. But David had sensed it. The essence weave had worked on the surroundings as it carried Frank. It harmonized Frank with the ambient essence. It was precise and beautiful. David envied the man’s skill. It was as though he was staring at a different man. Not the man he’d won a duel against.

Technically, you didn’t win, Ignis said. David ignored him, instead focusing on Frank’s punches as they landed on Yom. The guard was a tanker. He took all the punches, trying to get his own attack out, but Frank weaved away while keeping close to Yom so the others couldn’t attack. Each punch did little damage to Yom though, which was surprising because David knew Frank could give a serious punch. He looked closer before Ignis could point it out, using more of his other senses than just his eyes. Is Frank toying with him?

No, Ignis said. This weaver is interested. He has a high level of concentration. He is not just weaving spells, but he is weaving them into that big idiot who can’t even tell when he is being injected with essence. Some people are just daft.

David couldn’t see what Ignis was talking about, but if that was really what Frank was doing, then there was a chance that Frank would win if they fought again. A small grin teased David’s lips. And Ignis gave a disappointed groan. David didn’t indulge the dragon. Instead, he watched with rapt attention as Frank continued demolishing the guard, until he leaped back, away from Yom. The large guard grinned.

“Your fists are so light, Frank. Are you sick again? Is old age catching up to you? Or were you always this weak?” He chuckled, wiping blood from his lips where Frank had smashed his mouth earlier.

“You are just too stupid to be left alive, Yom,” Frank said. They were surrounded now. “You can’t see the pit right in front of you, because you can’t think for yourself. Brute strength is all you’ve known. And that is why you will never be a ranker. You have no sense of self, no idea of your own, and you are weak. All of you.”

He placed his hands together, as if in prayer. Golden light shone in them, making the strand of essence he’d attacked to Yom visible. It extended from the big guard, pulsing strong with life. David grinned. He’d never imagined he would find something like this. Every punch Frank gave Yom had been a weave, wrapping strands of essence around Yom’s vital organs. And now, with a simple tug, he could end the man’s life.

Yom stared at the thread of essence, reality dawning on him like a loud crash.

David couldn’t see Frank’s face, but he would bet the man was smiling. It was a beautiful spell. A mix of magic and physical attacks. And a dash of psychological manipulation.

“Please, wait!” Yom wailed, his eyes large with fear all the courage and arrogance had been drained out of him in so short a moment. “I can take you to Kalan! I can take you straight to what you are looking for. Trust me, Frank. I can do this.”

“You are worthless, Yom,” Frank drawled, his voice lazy. “You are worth less than a beggar’s fart and your word means nothing. You are insignificant, even in the narrowest of perspectives. Your betrayal did nothing severe to me, but it showed me how weak I was. For that, I will send you to your death quickly.”

Yom made to plead some more, but Frank yanked the thread. The guard gasped. His mouth was open but soundless. He stayed still, on his feet, for only a moment, and then fell back. Blood slid out of the edges of his eyes and mouth. The golden thread of light vanished and the night was silent. Frank stood among many more enemies, his shoulder held high. David felt the tension wash over the guards. They were faced with a choice. They’d been warned, and they had seen what disregarding the warning could bring. They each contemplated their next decisions. The moment stretched until David was sure someone was going to rush at them out of boiling despair. But they all moved back, one after the other. The circle widened.

“Good,” Frank said. “If you live now, I promise I won’t come after you when the night’s done. I might have a few openings for some of you in my group of friends. But if you stay, I will assume you have decided.”

They left. Slowly at first, not turning their backs, and then they fled. Not all of them ran. The conjurer stayed, his snake hissing, cloaking him in essence. David moved for him first, pushing essence to his fist, using a deviated version of Frank’s weaving to make the essence denser in his fist. The wyrm roared and a huge rush of essence blasted against David, but it was nothing like Amtaz’s power. The force was heavy, but his spirit had advanced. He carried the weight, screaming as his fist crashed against the conjured wyrm’s ragged head. It exploded, the force poured forward and the conjurer tried to protect himself with a wall of something opaque. The power in the clash shattered it, and tore through the man, shredding him to nothing.

That was enough incentive for the rest to run.

“And there were two,” Frank said

David had noticed them immediately when they appeared. Unlike Frank, they let their aura flood the surroundings, drawing whoever was around them. They were either sloppy or they preferred to show their power for all to tremble.

“Five rings?” David asked. Frank shook his head. He had more experience with the rankers. David looked up at the roof of the largest warehouse in the compound. They merged against the night, like sinister silhouettes. They stood straight, staring down at them. The night was still again, quiet in the absence of the guards.

“I guess you had to take your time, New Ranker?” One of them asked. He stepped casually into space and drifted down as if carried by invisible hands. He looked older, at least mid-fifties. With stony eyes and a smoldering gaze.

“You don’t love your siblings enough? Or you were too weak to come alone?”

“Poor taunts, Kalan,” Frank said. “But then, you have never been the bright one of the two.” He looked away from the balding man to the shadow that still watched them from up high. “Are you going to let this idiot do all the talking?”

“Frank!” Kalan growled, moving to launch himself at Frank but the other brother appeared in front of him suddenly, pushing him back. They looked almost identical, except this one had a cropped mass of blonde hair, full, unlike the face. He looked older too, broody.

“Frank, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“Yeah, nice to see you too Jackson,” Frank said and David saw the other man wince. Frank chuckled. “You still don’t like the name? You all think this world has remade you? People call that buffoon Kalan as a mockery. Sincerely I’d rather call him Greg, but whatever.”

“Still as defiant as ever,” Jackson said, grinning. There was no mirth in his eyes though. “At least we’d have the tower ranking re-adjusted today.”

“You don’t still think like a boy, do you?” Frank sounded disappointed. “The tower doesn’t need us to fight to know who is stronger, Jackson. We are being evaluated by gods. The same gods that gave us these powers. Think for yourself, old man.”

“I grow tired of your rambles,” Jackson said. Frank had been right. He gave off a strange, indelicate pressure, pushing against David like a bull. David watched them talk with a stoic expression. He could tell Kalan was not as weak as Frank had described, but he was nowhere near the strength his brother had.

“Why did you join him?” Jackson asked. “Or did he defeat you?”

“He did,” Frank said, as though prideful of his loss. “But I am here because I am tired of hiding away in the Sun Burst, wishing this whole world would dissolve in some kind of deadly flame. From my hovel, I can smell the rank filth that you and the others have spread through the city.”

“Careful, Frank,” Jackson said, a seed of worry in his voice

“Ah! So you fear that they will hear my voice? And they will smite me?” Frank chuckled, as if amused and sickened by Jackson’s anxiety. He turned, looking up at the sky. “Eileen, Victor, Cam, Cassandra, Lewis, aren’t you bored? Doesn’t this game of rulers tire you?”

There was a stretch of silence as they all waited for what never came. Frank turned back to Jackson and shrugged. “You are afraid of people who don’t care about you. That was the true name of the top five rankers, and yet nothing. You have convinced yourself that you are better in this world, but you are not. You are the same losers I assume you were outside this tower. Your powers are supposed to bring out the real side of you, and if this is what you really are, then let me cut you down.”

David wasn’t expecting the attack, but one moment Frank was talking to Jackson, and the next, Kalan was blown away by one of his earth-based constructs. David’s sword filled his grip and he went for Jackson.