Seth let his Sister lead the way, stopping briefly at a wardrobe to grab a well-fitting Jerkin jacket and a pair of boots. The hallway leading out of their room was just as frilly and tasteful, with paintings, plants, and vases sitting between doors. A stone platform waited for them at the very end with glowing earthy-yellow Runes scratched on it.
Seth could not help gape and study the rune with a childlike wonder. When the platform jerked into motion, his heart nearly leaped out of him from the excitement. He spotted runes for Elevation, Attraction, and Repulsion, as well as dozen runes he did not understand, but by the time they reached the ground floor, he thought he’d nearly figured it out until he spotted another rune he’d never seen before. Ellie chuckled at the display.
The ground floor of the inn was a reception hall populated with dozens of nobles and attendants shuffling around. The walls were marble, with glowing runes inset into them, and tall tapestries of vibrant landscapes covering entire sections. A long teal rug led from the double door entrances to the elevator platform itself and sprinkled through the expansive room were guards dressed in azure and gold.
Seth whistled. “Is this really still an inn?” he asked his Sister, looking around.
“One of the best in the city,” she said back with an amused smile. “You’ve seen nothing yet.”
When they approached the door, they heard a strange man call out behind them, “So he finally woke up.” Turning back, Seth found in front of a fair-skinned man dressed in a tight-fitting olive green robe with a smile on his face. He clapped his hand on Seth with a familiarity and strength that rattled him, though he did his best to hide it.
“Atar!” Ellie said, her voice almost musical. “This is my brother, Seth.”
“Great to meet you, Seth,” he said with a flashing white smile. “I’m glad you’re up, and not a moment too soon. Some of the help on the top floor were making a raucous over who got to wash and dress you today.”
Seth shot his sister a confused look,
“Atar is the manager of the Azure Geese, one of the finest hospitality establishments in Upper Brightmont,” she explained, and the man offered a bow.
“You are too kind. I am yet to get the awards this year, but it’s coming,” he said, rather smugly.
“It’s an honor to meet you Atar,” Seth managed to say. “Thank your staff for taking care of me when I was asleep.”
“Ah, please. That is what they’re paid for,” he waved, then added with a wink, “Though if you ask me, I think they didn’t mind regardless. It’s not every day you serve a hero of the Blackfire ruins.”
“Blackfire ruins?” Seth asked, looking to his Sister.
“You must have not heard,” Atar said before Ellie could get a word in. “I won’t spoil anything,” he said, sounding rather pleased with himself. “I will see you around, Hero.” He offered Ellie and Seth a nod before he moved on and disappeared behind a large door to the side.
“What is he talking about?” Seth asked as they exited the goose and joined the burgeoning streets. Important people with severe faces, young Lords and Ladies too comfortable in their wealth, and scrambling attendants walked up and down terraced paths large enough for two carriages to pass. Upper Brightmont was spacious, with too many listening ears.
“Not here,” Ellie said, eyeing the seemingly unconcerned crowd. “The place I talked about is a park and it is just up ahead.”
Seth nodded, and they made their way through the streets at a leisurely pace. They passed several fully armed guards squads posted at road forks, restaurants, shops, and bookstores, who fixed them with lingering stares. Seth’s ears even picked up on the occasional whisper, pointing or mumbles, and found his mind spinning at the possibilities. It can’t be anything bad, right?
He got his answer when they arrived at a set of wrought iron gates, burgeoning what looked to be an enclosed forest in the middle of Brightmont with varicolored flora. His mouth was partly opened as they passed the guards, wandered some way in, and settled at a bench behind a tree with leaves three shades of orange.
“The General released a statement detailing what happened in the Foglands,” Ellie said.
“What!” Seth said
“I thought the whole point of the mission was to keep his mistake a secret.”
“His son’s mistake, you mean,” she corrected. “He was the one that didn’t investigate well enough like he was supposed to,” she added, her voice nearly scathing. Seth recalled her distaste of Harkness but stayed on the conversation.
“As far as the Emperor or the court are concerned, it all happened on his watch,” Seth said. “Which is why I question why he would choose to reveal it in the first place,” Seth added with a whisper.
“Harkeness’s big mouth is to blame. That and the Emperor apparently had spies in our army,” she said. “General Roko had no choice but to release a statement ahead of us. According to it, we volunteered for a mission to thwart a cultist ring trying to summon demons from the Dark Continent.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Volunteered, really!” Seth scoffed. They were practically ordered to their deaths and bribed with runes that put them at odds with the church and gods. And as far as excuses go, he thought a ritual to resurrect a blood god was ridiculous enough.
“And what is this nonsense about the Dark Continent?” he muttered. “Isn’t demonic summoning a bit played out,” A few years back, it was all people raved about
Demonic beasts trapped on a desolate continent surrounded by an Everstorm were apparently communicating with vampires to escape their prisons and burn Mormon to the ground. Seth thought it’d been a bit ridiculous when he’d heard about it. The Dark Continent had been cut off from the rest of the world as far as most could remember. No one’s ever left the continent, entered or made contact, at least according to every book he’d read.
“It gets even more ridiculous,” Ellie went on. “Apparently Harkness, Hanson, and another team of knights joined us, and lost their lives during the fight.”
“Of course,” he sighed, leaning further back into his chair. He could not decide what he was more upset by, that the General diminished Hanson’s contributions or included Harkness just to save his skin. “How did he explain away the lack of extra bodies? I’m sure they must have done a sweep of the Foglands after the mess.”
“The General let the Foglands burn, and he tossed in the bodies of a few knights we knights in his guard that fell in the battle the day before. They were conveniently excluded from the records. Apparently, after we defeated most of the vampires, we found Blackfire bombs deposited in their temple, probably leftover from their former campaign, and chose to set fire to the temple to ensure they could never recapture the place and perform more rituals.”
“That is a very shit cover-up story if I ever heard one,” Seth said. “So that is why everyone thinks we are heroes.”
“More or less.”
He supposed they were right, in a fashion. He didn’t know how he’d feel about the attention in the days to come, but what peeved him the most was Harkness and how the story had chosen to treat Hanson. What about what the General said about taking care of his own?
“Where does Harkness fit into all of this? Don’t tell me the General just handed him more merit than he knew what to do with his son?” he stewed.
“Believe it or not, he was the one who struck the final blow,” she snorted.. “When he found you, you were collapsed, with most of your clothes torn, and the vampire was about to kill you. He activated his Rock crush rune before he could do that, saved you and the Empire in the process.”
“He saved me?” Seth said slowly. Another piece of the puzzle fit.
“That is what happened according to him,” Ellie stated.
Noting his Sister’s face, he added. “It still doesn’t make any less of an asshole.”
“On that, we can agree on,” Ellie said with a smile. He got up to her feet and gave her a hand to hold.
“Come on, let me show you around. I know you’re dying to check this place out.”
He flashed her a grin and took her hand, and she led him through the gardens. There must have been thousands of trees, some blooming luminescent flowers or fruits, others taller than the tallest trees he’d seen at the Borderland. Some plants were carnivorous and shielded behind layers upon layers of protective runes and a thick glass window. They weaved and bobbed unnaturally, and Seth could have sworn one of them licked its lips, but he didn’t mind too much.
Seth's eyes sparkled as he took everything in, almost wishing he had more eyes so he could see multiple things at once. Everything in the park was not exciting though. He came across grey trees with no leaves. They were tall and wiry monstrosities that would have passed for plinths rather than trees.
When they left the garden, the sky had turned purple and scarlet as the sun sank below rolling clouds to the east. They came to a small restaurant closer to the Outer Ring that served the best honey-baked meat Seth had ever had. He ate more than his fill and soaked up the wine provided. He felt he deserved it considering everything that had happened. Memories of the dream came back to him in glimpses, but he shelved it away as best he could, too drunk and lethargic to deal with nearly dying blood runes and an undead doppelganger.
But what about a famous one? he thought and asked the question he’d been a bit hesitant to ask since he learned of his fame.
“Has the general said anything about how this might affect our Judgment?”
Ellie paused from her dish to look at him and said, “He’s promised it will all go swimmingly. He said with being famous we’re all but guaranteed good runes. He also promised to protect us as best as he can from other houses, and factions. We should be more or less untouchable.”
“That’s great to hear;" he said meaning to smile, but a weak grin was all he could manage. The scars and dreams...they wouldn't be a problem at Judgement, could they?
“He also wants to see you tomorrow at his office by noon,” she said, pulling him back to their table. She'd cleared her dish and was dabbing her mouth dry with the napkin.
“Why?” he sputtered, his hand suddenly tightening around his fork. He felt the metal creak and bend.
“He’s talked to all of us at some point,” she supplied. “You’re just the last to wake.” Noting his tense face, she added. “Don’t worry it’s nothing too serious.”
“You won't mind telling what you talked about then?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say. You’ll understand when you meet him. There’ll be a carriage waiting in front of the hotel before noon.”
“Okay,” Seth mumbled, his grip slowly easing. The general probably didn't know then. He'd talked to all of them. It was probably a debrief, but Seth couldn’t help but feel uneasy about it still.
“You should join me at the park when you’re done,” she said as they left the restaurant. It was dark and the moon was out and the street was mostly deserted. It would be a great time as any to bring up his dreams, but he couldn't. He didn't trust her not to go overboard trying to get rid of it or solve its mystery. Remembering how far she went for the rune, Seth felt reluctant to share. Besides, they were just dreams. They might not mean anything. They could be residual damage from all the Mind mending magic they used.
It wasn't a big deal.
A little while later, they found their way back to the Golden Geese, and Seth tucked out the moment his head hit his bed.
When his eyes winked open, he was in the Dark Tower again, only this time the walls didn’t hair-raising or alarming. After some time, he found the open room with his wounded body laying there again. It did not speak this time, and Seth healed it with Curor, the rune spell he'd learned. Its eyes snapped open when the spell was done, and he suddenly felt lightheaded. When his eyes refocused, he was at the bottom of the tower again
He tried to force himself awake, but nothing worked-- not a hard slap, or a pinch, or yelling at the metal doors. After some time, he sighed and he resigned himself to climb the tower again, fully aware that he might have to repeat the process.