Chapter 10: The Ghostlight Tower

Eldritch cries drifted ephemerally upon a scattered and freezing breeze that seemed to come from everywhere as glowing orbs peered from shadows in reds, purples, and yellows, portending menace.

“I do not like this forest,” Riley complained within.

“Nor I, but it feels like we’re climbing. The air is getting thinner; maybe that’s a good sign?” Tobias whispered back, his words carrying with them all the comfort and support that Riley could now feel, wrapping around her like a warm blanket against the cold.

“Ranger Central was up, Timbergarde was up, the Castle of Ashes was up, you Calarians like up it seems, so... Stands to reason?” She hoped.

“Up makes sense; it’s a good defensive position, hard to assail, even with a winged mount, which is rare in Calaria. There haven’t been war dragons for a thousand years, after all,” As Tobias spoke, the general stopped, peering out into the night.

“I think we might be there,” Riley whispered within.

“You don’t need to whisper; you’re only talking to me,” Tobias joked.

“Should I scream?” She yelled in projection, only for him to wince and glower down at her.

“Sorry,” her ears wilted as she ducked her head.

“I had enough of that the day you learned you could talk,” Tobias shook his head as they both drew up alongside the general, cresting a strangely hidden ridge.

“And I haven’t shut up since!” Riley bounced on her front paws.

“I know,” Tobias groaned, only for his face to break into a grin.

“Someone’s got jokes,” Riley’s tone dripped dourly.

As they both looked back, it didn’t seem as if the path sloped at all; rather, it meandered to the left and right, curving gently before disappearing into the night.

“This place is odd,” Tobias said before turning back around and

Riley dropped her cloak spell.

A vast and empty plain stretched out before them, full of frosted sand dunes. Chasing across the middle distance was a ruined wall that reflected the night sky like a mirror.

Centered behind it was a vast stone tower that seemed akin to an oil derrick, save that it was made from the same reflective stone. A bright white light like a lighthouse pulsed gently in the night from its apex, casting a luminous glow that reached toward the ridge line.

Beyond the borders of its soft luminescence in every direction was the same oppressive darkness they had just come through, waiting patiently at its borders as if it had a will of its own.

“Keep up, we’ve almost arrived,” the general, without further word, set out again, but this time did not crouch, instead picking up speed while his head turned to the left and right, ever scanning for threats.

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“Big tower,” Riley remarked like a tourist.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Not even the castle is that tall,” Tobias added.

“Keep up, pets, we’re almost to the gate,” General Ecbert set out again, sounding calmer yet still finding a way to be insulting. Sheathing his sword, he walked warily forward, ever scanning the horizon, but no longer on high alert.

Riley and Tobias regarded each other for half a moment before setting out after him, following him down until finally, they came to the wall before the tower.

“These Ghostlights are the only way one can navigate in Avalon. If you can spot their light and follow it, you’ll always find your way to safety, eventually,” he explained, looking up towards its light.

“Ghostlights?” Tobias wondered.

“It is said they are powered by ancient captured souls. The Avamari left them behind for us,” his words softened further as he reached out and touched the wall with an air of gratitude and reverence.

“The Avamari? The first kingdom!?!” Tobias gasped.

“My kingdom for an expositional narrator,” Riley snarked.

Tobias looked down at her and let his mind drift to the legends that Darius would share by the fire as he grew up.

Slowly, her eyes grew wider as she began to look up at the tower.

“That’s so cool,” she whispered out to the night.

“Is the wall one of their constructions, too?” Tobias asked, sounding excited as Riley reached out towards the tower with her magic.

“It doesn’t feel like a soul; it feels like a machine, something they built to concentrate the mana. There’s no identity, no container to the power. Its structure is concentrating the ambient power of the realm in the glowing crystal up top, from what I can tell,” Riley muttered, her eyes half-lidded as her spirit sussed out the magical currents that were swirling all about her.

Ecbert only grunted and moved through the archway, seeming to head for the tower but never emerged from the other side.

Instead, it appeared as if he were in a long tunnel.

Distantly, his voice rang out in a familiar refrain, “Keep up, pets!”

Riley and Tobias both glowered in stereo before moving in after him through the archway, only for the entryway to contract as they stepped through, emerging into a long, smooth stone tunnel weathered with age.

Familiar blue crystal torches glowed on the wall, all as a welcome warmth chased the last bits of cold away.

“Another portal?” Riley wondered as they moved along.

“More surprises, but that was no skip or portal that I know. There was no transition, no motion, almost like...” Tobias’Tobias’ brain ground to a halt, trying to work out the variables.

“Like we penetrated a stealth bubble,” Riley reasoned.

“A stealth bubble?” Tobias rubbed at his chin, pondering her idea.

Riley cocked her head, scanning the tunnel as if she were looking for hardpoint, before glancing to her side, looking behind her.

Vague motes of power flickered in her vision like an afterimage, but they moved unnaturally, like dust motes in an air conditioned room.

“Such an occurrence would require a huge concentration of mana and an advanced type of spell work beyond imagination... ” Tobias’ words trailed off within her mind before quickly catching up, “like the Ghostlight tower!”

“This place is spooky and weird but fun too!” Riley skipped a bit on her paws, reveling in the feelings of comfort and safety the tunnel brought.

Just ahead were two guards in grey cloaks. Upon sight of Ecbert, they straightened.

“General, sir!” The one on the right called out as the left one threw open a mythril-banded door.

An explosion of sounds and smells poured down the tunnel as Riley and Tobias followed closely behind, emerging into the courtyard of a massive castle.

A wide parade field that spanned at least a mile yawned out before them, defined at its edges by two sets of towering walls reaching a hundred feet high or more. Bridges set at equidistant points bridged long gaps, showing it to be heavily patrolled.

All of their crenellations were weathered and rounded with age and, in marked contrast to the fortresses of Calaria, bore the scars of countless battles. Claw marks and evidence of prior impacts added a particular accent to the towers that reached up and stood like sentries over the vast parade ground.

Set into the back, seemingly carved whole from a mountain, was a strangely medieval art deco keep, with six spires that were attached closely to it, of varying heights, the tallest disappearing into mists that obscured their tops as they disappeared into clouds.

“This makes the Ashenvale look like a trailer park,” Riley exclaimed as Ecbert grunted and set off again.