We carefully picked our way through the rocks around the tower’s entrance and ducked inside. Though the outside was mostly obscured by rockfall, the interior had held up surprisingly well. If I didn’t know any better, I would never have guessed its age or ruined state by how the walls looked on the inside. Other than a little wear and tear, they were pristine.

“Whereabouts do you think this tool might be?”

Tagath pointed upward. “The second or third floor, I believe. Assuming we can get there.”

Proceeding further inside we reached a stairwell and made our way up. The first room of the second floor showed far more signs of the disaster, with smashed glass and broken stone in ample evidence upon the ground. Tagath spent a few moments scanning the wreckage before shaking his head, and we carefully picked our way through the wreckage to the next room.

Finding it in a similar state of disarray and with my demon companion turning up nothing of value, we went back to the stairs. It didn’t make a great deal of difference to me if we retrieved the tool or not, but I hoped for Tagath’s sake that we’d find it intact. Though that was looking increasingly unlikely.

The next floor seemed much the same until we reached a wide square room that took up most of the level. Here there were ragged holes in the stone, as if chunks of it had been ripped free. Curiously most of the little wreckage present had melded with the stone, not unlike the creature we’d slain. There was no need to ask Tagath for confirmation; this had to be where it was created.

“I guess that’s it then; it’s not here.”

Tagath held up his hand to stop me. “I haven’t searched this room yet; it might still be in here.”

I could only shake my head. What little hadn’t been fused with the stone was shattered beyond recognition. Unless what he was looking for was a piece of tangled wreckage, then I highly doubted he was going to find it here. “If it’s in here, then it’s definitely broken.”

“You don’t know that. Just give me a chance, alright?”

“Fine.”

We weren’t in any particular hurry anyway. If he wanted to waste his time searching, then it was no skin off my nose. At least so long as he wasn’t asking me to get search through the wreckage. There was a chance it was still magical and would meld with my flesh the second I touched it. That didn’t seem to deter Tagath, who got down on his knees and dug through the debris with vigour.

I stared over his shoulder, wondering if the old demon had taken leave of his senses. Even assuming his tool had survived the catastrophe, would it really be that much help? If so, then surely he could make a new one or buy one. I was getting ready to strongly suggest we move on already, when he abruptly straightened and stood up.

He turned me to, clutching a metal rod to his chest. “I have it, at last.”

“Um, okay.” There was a note of deep desire in his voice that put me on edge. This was just tool to help him, right? “So, we’re done here then?”

“Not yet. There’s one last thing I must do.”

He held the rod above his head and a deep hum filled the room. Silver rays of light shot forth from the magical implement in all directions. I flinched, but none of them struck me; each one made contact with the tower’s interior then wandered across it.

“What’re you doing?”

“Putting an end to this place. It’s the least I can do after what we wrought here.”

The anguish in his voice sold it and I relaxed, at least a little. “Are you sure we should be in here while you do that?”

“Don’t worry, I’m simply weakening the foundation. We’ll have plenty of time to get out.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

A large chunk of the ceiling smashed into the ground between us and we both stared at it for a few moments, before scrambling for the stairs. Dodging a shard of wall that stabbed into the floor, I made it there in a few steps only to realize Tagath was already lagging behind. I went back and pulled him along as quickly as I could manage, while the room fell apart around us.

A piece of stone caught me while I was running down the stairs and I nearly stumbled. Catching myself on the wall sent a wave of agony through my bruised body, but I had to keep going. We reached the second floor to find that it too was collapsing. Clenching my teeth, I ran through the gauntlet of falling debris, earning myself some new bruises in the process.

Thankfully by the time we reached the ground floor, we were just ahead of the destruction and raced outside without suffering too much. Once Tagath and I were clear of the falling tower, we collapsed. We lay there, breathless and bleeding from our many cuts, for what felt like minutes before I’d rallied enough to speak.

“Couldn’t you have waited until we were outside?”

Tagath sucked in several more deep breaths before replying in a hoarse voice. “It had to be done from inside the tower. Admittedly I should have done it on the ground floor. It never occurred to me that the collapse might be so rapid, the magic holding the structure together must have decayed far more than I realized.”

“You don’t say. Also, if you could tell me before you do something like that, that would be great.”

“Noted. I will be sure not to make the same mistake twice.”

“You do that.”

I got up and offered Tagath my hand. Clutching his hip, the old demon climbed to his feet with a groan. “I don’t know if I could survive another such event.”

“Are you alright?”

He didn’t seem too hurt at a glance; he’d mostly suffered bruises and scrapes, but he might have internal injuries.

“I’ll be fine.” He took another deep breath. “Eventually.”

Lending him my shoulder, I helped him limp back over to Yuriel and her strange creation. It had grown considerably while were gone, with the highest portions about level with my head. “Is it nearly done?”

“Yeah, nearly.”

“Are you really going to call this a Yurielius?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t.”

She flew above it and turned to face me. “Instead, I shall officially name it the Yurielius.”

“I’m amazed you’re not embarrassed to call it that.”

“Why would I be? I made it; it’s only fitting.”

“Is Soarister okay with that sort of thing? He seems pretty fixated on ownership.”

“Oh he doesn’t care about things like this, it’ll be fine.”

That was a pity. Yuriel might not be embarrassed to call it that, but I was. It felt like a thoroughly ridiculous name.

“Where’s Elmidath, anyway?”

The demon lord wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“She wandered off while you guys were inside. I’m not sure where she’s gotten to.”

I was about to go after her when I stopped myself; there was no need to rush off in search of her. Instead I utilised our connection. “Elmidath? Where’d you go?”

There was a slight delay, followed by Elmidath’s strained voice. “I’ll be back shortly. Keep an eye on Yuriel and Tagath for me.”

With that the connection abruptly cut off. Given the timing I assumed it must have been on purpose and resolved to leave her be. Knowing that she was fine, and more importantly didn’t require my help, was a relief. I had more than enough on my hands already with these two. Hopefully whatever Yuriel, or Yurielius for that matter, did wouldn’t require another harrowing escape.

The chaos of greenery continued to grow before me, growing more threatening by the minute. Now the uncanny eyes, which were more than unpleasant enough on their own, were joined by another two strange additions.

The first was a complex web of leaves on the structure’s top. They grew in dense clusters with narrow channels between each cluster, preventing any of the leaves from overlapping. While that was odd, it was of little interest compared to the many mouths that covered most of the remaining surface area. Pointed needles grew in an interlocking pattern on the front of each, like teeth, and they glistened with a thick liquid that oozed through the gaps.

While they superficially resembled the mouth of a Venus fly trap, I was willing to bet they were a lot more dangerous. While I was in the process of inspecting them from a distance, a small seed dropped from one and dug into the ground.

Yuriel shot over, her leaves forming a grin once they’d settled. “And there we have it, the first new growth. This is now officially part of Soarister’s realm, and is therefore directly threatened by the Ortisfel.”

I still wasn’t quite sure how that worked, but I was hardly going to argue with her. “Great, where do we start?”

“Before I do anything, it is probably best that you coordinate with your allies. It will be a while before I can marshal Soarister’s full strength here. The Ortisfel will surely strike against us before then, so I suggest you bring whatever forces you can to defend Yurelius. This will all have been for nothing if they destroy it.”

She was right, this might be our only chance to secure Soarister’s aid. Which, in turn, might be our only hope of stopping the Ortisfel from ruling this land.

“Will you be okay here on your own?”

“I’ll manage as best I can, but please hurry; for both our sake.”

“Got it. Well, I’ll see you see later then. Hopefully.”

I explained the situation to Elmidath once she returned, and we set off for Biustarn.