David froze. The world had changed, switched from Zur_Del’s night to the cold of an ice wasteland. He shivered. There was no essence here. The sky was clear white puffs of cloud. Snow descended, falling in small soft clumps. David stretched his hand up, feeling it. It was soft, dry, fake. He crouched to touch the ground. There was no feel to it, not hot or cold. Then where is the cold coming from? There wasn’t any wind but he felt his cloak flutter. The light from the sky felt sharp. There was nothing right about the space.

That is because this place is not real, Ignis said. It is an incomplete world. Most of the natural phenomena are skewed here.

“I am in an illusion?” David asked, still dazed by the sudden transformation. He felt the biting cold like he was in a frozen lake, and yet there was sun in the sky or something that looked like it.

No, David, Ignis said, sounding disappointed. David walked forward, but as he moved he had the sense that there was no displacement of space, as though he was walking on the spot.

What you are in is a complex world, like the towers. But this world has no anchor to the real world. And the power employed in crafting something like this is not even significant compared to what Amareth worked with when he created his tower.

“How do I get out of it?” The cold was getting to his bones. His breath came out in hard huffs. David crouched. He wanted to fold on the floor, but that felt like he was giving up. There had to be a place to break through this. If it was an incomplete world, there had to be edges and imperfections he could exploit.

You don’t have to think that hard about it. The tower is ruled by one ultimate law. And what is that, David?

“Power,” David whispered, his teeth chattering. That was it, but how in hell was he going to do that? He couldn’t crush the world now, could he? He didn’t have a world-shattering sword to tear through the fabric of this false reality. He decided to lay down. Ignis was silent, leaving him to his thoughts. He closed his eyes, willing himself not to sleep, but to remember. There had to be a way.

His thoughts stopped when a new presence joined his own. It radiated warmth and light, but it didn’t touch him. David opened his eyes to find the mediator. She was sunlight blossoming at the peak of a mountain. Her red hair was strands of wildfire. She grinned at him. She crouched in front of him, her dress covering her legs completely. Nothing of this world touched her, not even the invisible wind. She was completely still and at peace.

David sat up with some effort. His throat hurt and the thought of speaking made him hurt in his head and chest.

“You have always needed your hands held, but this time we can’t help you,” she said. David frowned. “I am merely here to watch you thrive or die. Although it would be sad since I didn’t get to enjoy being your mediator for long.” She frowned, her eyes more mocking than sad. David grinned. His lips split and the blood froze. The mediator shook her head. When she spoke again, it was with biting contempt.

“You were supposed to be smarter, stronger,” the mediator said, her face marred by a sneer. The familiar cheerfulness was replaced by searing anger. David’s face was stuck in his grin. He couldn’t answer her and he was dying. He rolled Ignis’s question in his head like a wheel, considering how he’d asked it and the wording.

The mediator’s voice filled the background of his thoughts. Her berating and expression of disappointment spurred him on. And when the answer came to him, she seemed to know too because she stopped talking and smiled. David scoffed as best as he could manage. He couldn’t speak but he knew she could tell he was grateful. She bowed as though she’d given some elaborate performance and faded into the light.

David let his mantle flicker into life as he unleashed his own authority as the master of all. World Tilter wrapped around him, soothing his freezing bones and restoring life to him. David took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been holding his breath, but it was blissful. He staggered to his feet as he probed and pushed against the world. He scolded himself for not thinking about this before. His mantle enlarged above him, humming with power. Something pushed against it, but David’s authority clamped on it, devouring it completely. It vanished and so did the world. The sky crackled, reflecting a thousand copies of David for a moment and then it splintered again. The world vanished and David found himself in a tropical forest. Immediately he opened his eyes, he felt the spike of essence behind him and ran. He didn’t need the heavy thuds to tell him he was being chased by a monster.

Spell: Left hand of Chaos

The gauntlet appeared, and David lifted his hand up and triggered its ability. He felt a huge storm of essence rush into and through him. The power was tangible, almost completely solid. David stared at it as coalesced in front of him, then he saw the message. It was exactly what he’d thought.

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Chaos has been tamed!

The forest world shattered like the first, confirming what David had thought. If it was just his consciousness that had been pulled into this world, then the gauntlet wouldn’t have worked. But he’d been thrown into the world completely. He was wholly here, which meant Frank was alone. He let himself be pulled into the next world. This one was an endless dune. Sand storms raged in the distance, the wind sharp as scythes. David held his gauntlet out toward the approaching nightmare.

Chaos has been tamed!

The world shattered, and this time David fell down into a pool of lava. The world this time was smaller and less detailed. The lack of heat was deceiving but David crushed the world before he reached the pool. He slammed down on the peak of a mountain so high up it almost touched the clouds. The clouds darkened and gathered atop David. A groan of thunder rumbled and then a roar peeled and a flicker of silver light told David he had to hurry. He held the gauntlet up and felt the world push against his power. This time it was stronger, unlike the ones before. The lightning tore the sky and stretched down, vanishing only moments before it reached David.

“How many damn worlds did he make?” David yelled as he fell into another. He slammed into the mountainside, rolling down uncontrollably. His head hit stone and little bits of jagged mountain bit into him as he fell. He was bloody when he came to a stop. At some point, his World Tilter armor had vanished, leaving him to weather the latter part of the fall alone.

He groaned as he stood up, cursing at Jackson. Then he saw the giant out in front, sitting on a smooth boulder. It snorted and spat a large glob of green-grey phlegm and picked up a large club resting against the stone. David swore, staring at the giant’s one large eye spread over its forehead. He stepped back nervously.

“This is going to be hard,” he said as he tried to tame the world. He felt the drag against his power. It took longer, and the giant was gaining on him. David thought about praying but decided against it.

He summoned World Tilter and added his mantle’s icon to the piercing power of the gauntlet. He stood his ground even as the giant strutted for him. David had never felt the volume of essence flooding him before. It made him feel omnipotent. But instead of putting the giant down, he lifted his hand and tamed the world.

Chaos has been tamed!

A small portal opened before him, its edge flaring with power. David stepped out of it back into the city’s cool night. He saw what he’d expected. Frank was fending off the brothers. He was bloodied, his mask half broken. David took one step forward, the raw power still in him made the ground tremble. All three men stopped to look at him. Frank took the opportunity to step away from the brothers.

“Velen?” Jackson asked. David let the World Tilter’s armor vanish, so they could see who it was. Then he moved before Jackson could recover from the shock. His sword appeared in his hand and his speed drove him forward, only stopping when he felt his sword go through flesh.

He heard the labored breath before he saw Jackson’s bulging eyes. David pushed his sword to the left with all the force he could manage, half severing Jackson in two.

Kalan stood, inert and unsure what to do. But Frank didn’t let his options linger longer than a moment. The masked man appeared behind Kalan, wrapping his throat in threads of woven wind essence. He pulled, tightening it until the threads bit into his throat and blood flowed down his clothes. Kalan flailed, trying to shove off Frank, but Kalan was weak, and he was almost dying. His attempts were futile. Frank let the limp body down, staggering back, exhaustion heavy on him. David caught him before he fell.

“They got you,” David said. Frank nodded. He had a thousand tiny little cuts. “Can you sit up while I go search for them?” Frank nodded again.

David searched through the warehouses. He found the cage where they were locked up. Chloe was huddled up, folded into herself. She was mostly untouched, but she’d seen the others getting tortured. David was sure that would linger in her memories for a long time. Zoey had passed out, but she came to immediately after David opened her cage. She groaned, wincing when David pulled her out.

“We thought you wouldn’t come,” Zoey said. David grunted, heaving Elijah onto his shoulder. Chloe followed him silently. Zoey limped in front. They came out to meet Frank. He was on his feet. He gave Zoey a once-over and then nodded to David.

“I will send Zeno and some of the others to come loot this place. There is a lot we can get from them.”

“I thought this wasn’t their property?” David said, struggling to let the words out. Frank shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter.” He limped in front, leading them back into the city. In a distant part of David’s mind, he blamed himself. Whatever scar Chloe had suffered was on him, because he pushed them through that damn portal.

“Zeno will be happy about this,” Frank said, chuckling. “He’ll be bumped up the ranking. At least he’d get some real influence.”

A carriage rolled by, its wheel clattering on the stone floor of the city. The night wasn’t completely dark, but silence created something different. David felt hollow, even though he’d won. There was no winner. He’d lost even before he went there. Those brothers had made sure of it. David pushed the regret away. There was no need to worry about it now, he only had to move forward.

Elijah came to on the way. He tried to use his shadow to flee, but the sheet of darkness shimmered and shattered. Elijah almost fell, but Zoey rushed to him, holding him up. He turned to see David and shuddered. David took a step forward to reach him, but Elijah stepped back.

“We have to get cover,” Frank muttered. “And I am tired to my bones. I just want to fall off and put my feet up.”

“True,” David replied, forcing the words out. “We should go where it is safe.”

The others wordlessly followed.