I stared at it for a second before recognition dawned on me.
That’s like the key we found last time we visited the tower. It’s slightly different in shape, but it’s a serpentine and made of crystal.
Does that mean the other key would have allowed for a secret entrance into the spire, too?
I wished I’d kept it, but Orden had taken the key and never given it back to us. Maybe she knew.
A section of the wall glimmered and vanished.
There was a glowing magical barrier behind that section of wall. Beyond that, I could see only darkness.
“Servants of the Spire, I beseech you to open the way. I am Elora, of the House of Theas, bound by my pact to serve.”
She reached forward and touched the barrier with a bare hand. It vanished.
Then there was just blackness ahead of us.
Elora turned to the group. “I wish you luck and safety. If things don’t go as planned, I recommend you leave immediately. There are still other options.”
We exchanged a few goodbyes.
And with that taken care of, the six of us entered the tower.
There was the usual moment of disorientation as I stepped through the gate, then the dysphoria of seeing entirely new surroundings.
And when I say entirely new, I mean that in the literal sense.
We’d gone through the same entrance as last time, but this was far from the same destination.
I knew, even at a glance, that something had gone wrong. Or, at least, not quite the way I’d expected.
We were not on the first floor.
And worse than that?
We weren’t all in the same place.
Four of us stood in a square chamber wrought from brown stone. Massive tree roots broke through the floors in several locations, and overgrowth of vines covered the walls to my left and behind me. I mentally labeled those directions “east” and “south”, because I didn’t have any way of determining actual directions while inside the spire.
More jarring than the appearance of the chamber, however, was the distinct lack of Keras and Researcher.
I glanced around twice, wondering if they’d somehow ended up elsewhere in the same room, but there was no sign of either of them.
“Well,” Sheridan searched the room with their eyes, much as I had, “This is an auspicious start.”
“Where are we?” Patrick asked.
“From the look of it, I’d say somewhere around the twentieth floor,” I offered.
Marissa blinked. “How can you tell?”
“The spire is always changing, but every set of ten floors has a general theme,” Sheridan offered. “Corin is right. The twenty first through thirtieth floors are wood and nature themed. If we’re in the first half, it will be similar to the other spires — lots of small rooms with individual challenges. If we’re in the upper half, each floor will have a single harder challenge.”
I frowned, reaching up to my necklace. “Message. Keras. Can you hear me?”
I heard Keras reply almost immediately. “Yes. Are you safe?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least the necklaces worked. “Yes. I’m with Marissa, Patrick, and Sheridan. We seem to be around the twentieth floor. Is Researcher with you?”
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately?”
“We’re in prison cells. Almost identical to where you first found me.”
I raised a hand to cover my eyes. Ugh. “Okay. Can you get out?”
There was a pause. “Same problem as when I was first in one. If I break out, it could trigger traps to incinerate the other cells. The runes are different, so I don’t know how bad it would be. Researcher might not survive.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “We’ll see if we can figure out how to come to you.”
“Hold on.”
Keras went silent for a few moments, while I relayed everything we’d discussed to the others.
“Researcher says she can identify the runes and figure out an order that we can safely disable them, but it’s going to take a while. Probably hours, at least. Once we’re out, she should be able to locate you, and we can fight our way there. Don’t bother trying to come to us — we’re probably below the first floor like before. It would take you ages to get here.”
I nodded, then I realized he couldn’t actually see me. “Okay. You may just want to use your return bell once you get out of the cells.”
“If we can get out, I can handle twenty floors. We’ll have to be careful, but Researcher should be able to guide me to you. Best guess is that it will take at least four or five days, though. Maybe a week.”
That wasn’t great news, but at least they’d be able to catch up to us eventually. “Any idea why you’re in there?”
“Researcher says that the teleportation effect on the entrance was probably set up to route non-human entities to a different location than humans. Non-humans probably weren’t supposed to take that door. Either that, or someone changed it specifically as a trap for people like me.”
Or creatures like Children of the Tyrant, I realized.
It was a sensible precaution, but inconvenient.
I turned to the others and explained the situation.
“Should we just camp here until they catch up?” Patrick asked.
Mara frowned. “That sounds really boring.”
“Boring or not, Patrick has a point,” Sheridan replied. “People are expected to be at least Sunstone level to clear this floor. And that’s with six people, not four.”
“The longer we’re idle, the more likely that Mizuchi frees herself from wherever she’s banished. Moreover, people from Tristan’s organization are probably aware that we’re here. If we just sit here, they could make a move — either against us, or outside the spire.”
“How would we even find Tristan without Researcher?” Patrick asked.
That was a good question.
I did have a way, but I’d been hesitant to show it around everyone.
Bah. It was far too late for this kind of secret.
“Retrieve: Trials of Judgment.”
I showed everyone the book. “I can communicate with Tristan with this. Provided he’s actually paying attention.”
Sheridan’s eyes narrowed. “How very interesting.”
I grabbed a pen and flipped the book open, planning to write Tristan that I was inside the tower.
I didn’t need to. There was already a new message.
Corin,
While I am pleased to see that you are alive, I am disappointed you did not follow my instructions.
You should not be in the spire right now.
You should leave.
I’m not the only one who knows you’re here.
You are in tremendous danger as long as you remain, and I am not in any position to help you.
-Mysterious Brother Entity
I wrote back.
Tristan,
I’m coming for you.
Please tell me where you are.
I’d hoped he would give me directions, but based on our previous interactions, I didn’t think he would.
So, carefully, I pried apart the pages of the book. I could see the runes inside the binding. I might have done some damage to the book in the process, but I told myself it was necessary.