Melinda Stronghold led the Earth Mages forward through Specter Dungeon. The largest dungeon below the Tower of Metris was a maze of traps, undead and spirits that could make the bravest of Adventurers shake in their boots. Melinda was no different but she was given the task of leading the massive raid’s Earth Mages and she would not abandon her duties from such a trivial thing like fear.
Melinda and most of the raid had fought in these twisting catacombs for years. Though she had never personally been a part of any group that faced this dungeon’s Boss, she was well aware of the dangers. Besides, they were not here to fight the Dungeon Boss, but to stop the betrayers from taking the dungeon’s core.
“Hold!” Melinda called out.
The Earth Mages came to a halt. Several pressed their hands to the ground, feeling for vibrations up ahead while the rest watched for any signs of life. Mattis, Melinda’s younger brother called over his sister as his magic flowed through the rock.
“What did you find?” Melinda asked.
Mattis answered but his eyes were distant, still in the wake of his spell.
“Forty to fifty ahead. Heavy steps, has to be more of the rogue guards. Two tunnels lead to the cavern they’re in.”
Melinda called a runner to report.
“Pincer attack on cavern.” Melinda said. “Forty to fifty, two tunnels. Human.”
The runner left quickly leaving the Earth Mages to wait until proper teams could be sent in. The Specter Dungeon was dangerous but any heavy steps would mean that humans were nearby. Skeletons and spirits were dangerous but they didn’t cause the noise that humans did. She waited all of ten minutes before two teams of fifty started marching forth. Melinda sent two Earth Mages for each group to scout for them. Now all she could do was wait.
“Mel.” Whispered Mattis who was looking towards her.
“What Matty?” Melinda said as she took a knee next to her brother.
“How many of these rogue guards were confirmed entry?” Mattis asked.
The tower was very strict on who entered what dungeon. Days and times were filed and numbers were tallied when any group entered and left a dungeon. Luckily for them, they had known how many of rogue guards had entered.
“Four Hundred.” Melinda said. “We have killed one hundred and fifteen so far. Most likely the stragglers who were left behind from the main group.”
Mattis nodded to his sister. “Think we will survive this time?”
Malinda looked at her brother. He had followed in her footsteps. Somehow, had even become an Earth Mage like her. She had taken him under her wing when he entered the Guild just two years after her. That was five years ago, time seemed to fly by since then. She had kept meaning to quit the Guild, move on with her life, but she never did. By this rate, she wondered if she would die in these very tunnels. Her brother wasn’t going to be like her though. He had plans. He wanted to become a farmer. Some type of mineral and soil expert. She could only hope that he would have that chance to live a nice, boring life.
“You are definitely going to survive.” Melinda said with a grin. “But you have to break the news to mom and dad if I die.”
Mattis rolled his eyes at his sister’s dark humor.
The sounds of battle sounded ahead. Melinda’s turned her attention ahead as she waited for one of her Earth Mages to sound the reserves or retreat. Minutes passed slowly as steel on steel echoed through the tunnels. Explosions sounded and distant cries of pain could be heard. Her adrenaline was surging but she forced herself to remain calm. Earth Mages had a need to defend people. It went against their very nature to sit back while their comrades fought. She knew the tunnels and cavern up ahead couldn’t fit the whole raid but that logic didn’t stop her and the other Earth Mages to shift in anticipation.
Mattis yelled out when he felt the signal. A code of vibrations sent through the rock worked well for silent communication if you were an Earth Mage.
“The enemy has been taken out. Life Mages needed.”
Melinda sent the runner to inform the raid leaders. Then she turned to her brother.
“Did they get any prisoners this time?” She asked.
Mattis hadn’t lifted his hand as he listened to the tapping from the far cavern. He smiled letting Melinda know that they had.
After the cavern was cleared and the injured and dead seen to, Melinda and her group moved forward to secure and stand watch as the interrogation could begin. The betrayers or rogue guards had been extremely difficult to capture, usually fighting till death took them. The prisoners they had now were the first they had caught.
Five men and women were tied up in the middle of the cavern. Special enchanted chains covered them, nullifying their ability to cast. They sat quietly as the cavern was cleared.
A giant of a man in full plate armor walked forward. His armor gleamed red and silver and his face plate was open, allowing the prisoners to see the tan and scarred face with steel colored eyes staring down at them. A smaller and more attractive Life Mage followed behind him. Her robes were silver and red as well. Her yellow colored eyes looked over them, pausing at their injuries, even though most couldn’t be seen past the blood and dirt that caked their skin. The prisoners shuddered under her gaze.
“Good day, betrayers of the tower.” The Steel Mage said, his voice surprisingly pleasant and not matching at all with his battle worn face. “I am Terroth Gladus and this lovely Mage with me is Lindress Gladus. We will be your interrogators. If you wish to live, I suggest you cooperate.”
The prisoners looked down; one of the men had even started to cry. Terroth Gladus was a prominent Adventurer and any Mage living in the Tower of Metris knew of him. He was the Third ranked Adventurer in the Guild. His wife, Lindress, was also part of his team. She was almost a decade younger than the man but her exploits were well known. The best tank and healer combo were going to interrogate them. Little did either party know that it would never come to that.
The cavern was cleared, leaving the prisoners, the Gladus husband and wife and a few of their guards behind. Interrogation was a messy business but Terroth and Lindress understood the necessity in this case. Their home was on the line and they would serve the tower.
Terroth dragged one of the prisoners toward the center of the cavern. Spikes were set in the ground and he attached the chains, pulling tightly so that the prisoner’s limbs were stretched out like a giant X. Terroth knelt down near the head of the man, he could see the tears running down his face and it twisted Terroth’s stomach.
“Listen.” Terroth said evenly. “We need information. Who sent you here? Where were you taking the core once you had it? How many altogether are trying to take over the tower? Answer truthfully and we will see that you and your comrades get out of this dungeon.”
The man convulsed on the ground. He was still bleeding from several wounds but none were life threatening yet. He had already been relieved of his armor, his thick undershirt had rips and tears, exposing several scars on his chest.
Terroth sighed. “It will be painful if you don’t cooperate. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Terroth detested these measures. He looked towards his wife and she nodded, pulling several tools out of her storage ring. Hopefully the sight of these devices would loosen the man’s tongue. As Lindress handed over a particular savage looking blade, her eyes went wide causing Terroth to turn around in panic.
The prisoner was shaking violently, his eyes rolled back in his head and foam was pouring from his mouth. Terroth first thought it was poison, possibly a false tooth that the prisoner had bit down on but before he could call out to the guards to secure the other prisoners, a flash of light caught his eye.
It was small, barely noticeable and if the prisoner’s heavy undershirt wasn’t torn up so bad, he would never have noticed but it was there. The prisoner convulsed once more and then his body lay limp, head turned to the side, eyes open showing the pain he must have suffered from his last moments.
Terroth looked down, studying the corpse. “Lindress, did you see that light on his chest?”
She knelt down next to him. “I did, but it wasn’t on his chest, it was under the skin.”
Terroth nodded and pulled his dagger out, his steel magic sharpening the edge finer than would ever be possible with a wet stone or grinder. With steady hands, he sliced open the chest, pulling back the skin to reveal muscle and bone. He scooted over and his wife placed her hands directly onto the rib cage. The warmth from the body not bothering her whatsoever as she searched for whatever caused this man’s death. After a moment, her eyes opened and she pointed out scarring over the muscle covering the center of the man’s chest.
Terroth moved quickly, cutting through the muscle to reveal the bone underneath. When the muscle was cleared away, what they found left them speechless. They looked to one another, not sure what to say.
Screaming erupted in the cavern as the four other prisoners were convulsing on the ground as well. It only took a moment for the cave to fall back into silence. Terroth hadn’t even attempted to stop them from dying, knowing he wouldn’t be able to change their fate.
Terroth turned to his wife again, looking into her eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked back to him.
“Lindress.” Terroth said quietly. “This is a slavery enchantment, correct?”
She tried to answer but when her voice failed her, she nodded.
“Well, now we know why we haven’t been able to get any prisoners yet.” Terroth said quietly as he covered the body and walked over to a small stream, washing off the blood. Lindress joined him.
“How?” She asked. “How is that even possible? Slavery enchantments in their very bones. It’s, it’s wrong.”
Terroth nodded. “Yes, love. Wrong indeed. We need to tell the Guild Master and the Council immediately. We also need a damn Enchanter and a good one to study these bodies. I have seen slavery enchantments on collars before but those looked… different.”
She nodded. “I will contact Lucinda; you handle the Council.”
Terroth nodded and stood calling for a runner.
“Tell all raid leaders we are stopping here for now. Get me the two most experienced Enchanters over here right now. Set the perimeter in the tunnels.”
The runner nodded and ran off. Terroth looked back to the bodies of the five ex-prisoners.
“Essence, if your listening, we could use some answers here.”
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Dante’s muscles screamed as he pulled himself up the rope. He was short of breath and covered in sweat but he reached up with his left hand and pulled himself farther up. Then his right, then his left again. Being a Mage didn’t make you all powerful. Dante and the rest of the team worked their bodies as well as their magic. On the days that Kelsi came back to the Guild, they all conditioned themselves physically. It wasn’t a secret that to build muscle you had to tear it first. With Kelsi there to heal them and a special drink supplied by their trainer Everette, they pushed themselves harder than they ever imagined they could.
Dante reached the top and then slowly lowered himself, one hand at a time. Reaching the floor, Ferris stepped aside and watched as Gretta climbed the rope, making sure she wouldn’t fall. Dante was handed a cup by Kelsi who grinned at him when his face twisted in distaste.
“This stuff taste horrible.” Dante grumbled before downing its contents. “Yuck. Do I even want to know what’s in that?”
Kelsi took the cup from him. “Probably not.” She said as she handed him his canteen. “But it is working. I always wondered how some Adventurers became so muscular.”
Dante had to agree with that. He had noticed a good deal of change to his body compared to just a few day ago. He wasn’t a wall of meat like some of the Adventures he had seen but he felt stronger and faster than he had ever been before.
“So.” Dante said after a few sips from his canteen. “How’s the hospital? I don’t want to imagine how difficult it would be seeing it day after day.”
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Kelsi nodded, looking up as Gretta climbed the rope. “The first few days were hard to deal with but I had a little encouragement. I have learned a lot, especially with my Perception ability. Plus using my magic so much has increased my capacity to convert and store Essence.”
Dante nodded. He didn’t have to store or convert any Essence which would make any Mage jealous but he was still short on spells. He hadn’t tried to turn back into Essence since his first attempt and he didn’t see himself trying anytime soon. Besides, Historian Louis was right, he needed to practice what he knew now.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Kelsi said something he didn’t catch. He looked over to see her looking at Ferris climbing the rope. He couldn’t help but grin.
“Got something in your eye, Kelsi?” Dante said, startling her.”
“What? In my eye?” Kelsi said, somewhat flustered.
Dante let out a quiet laugh as Gretta walked over. Kelsi quickly handed her a cup which she downed.
“Yuck!” Gretta said handing the cup back. “So, what are you two talking about?”
Dante started pointing towards Ferris when Kelsi elbowed him in the ribs.
“Nothing!” Kelsi said quickly.
Gretta looked up at Ferris and then back to Kelsi.
“Big.” She said happily as she raised her eyebrows up and down.
Dante smiled again and Kelsi started turning red. The door to the training room opened revealing Everette and Jasmi. Jasmi carried a number of weird looking harnesses while Everette carried a staff.
Ferris came down the rope and received his cup from Kelsi while Everette started talking.
“Alright everyone.” Everette said while lifting one of the harnesses up. “This is a weighted harness. You are going to strap this on and run.”
Jasmi set down the other harnesses with a grunt.
“Why are there only four harnesses?” Jasmi asked.
Everette looked towards Kelsi. “Kelsi and I will work on her staff techniques. Once you all return, she will heal your muscles and clear out all the acid build up in your muscles.”
“Where are we running?” Dante asked, lifting up the harness. It weighed at least twenty pounds.
Everette thought for a moment then smiled. “Let’s start with the Tenth District main road today.”
Dante did some quick math. There were several roads that ran a complete circle around each floor. The main road where the Guild was located was two miles in diameter meaning they would be running about six and a quarter miles. Dante’s suddenly looked back at the harnesses and then to the rest of the group. From the look on their faces, it seemed they had done the math as well.
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Edna and Ames were well known Enchanters and some of the highest paid Enchanters as well. As they looked over the corpses, what they saw had both intrigued and sickened them. The sternum and ribs had been carved into and gold had filled the grooves. The work was beautiful in its craftmanship but horrendous in its affect. The slavery enchantment was used on those who were condemned of crimes and sentenced to servitude. The enchantment would be placed in a collar that would cause excruciating pain if orders were not followed. This enchantment was worse. The enchantment made the person unable to think freely. Once an order was given, the person would believe that order was the right thing to do. What’s more, any person who was restrained to where the person couldn’t accomplish their task, would die.
Edna turned around, unable to look at it anymore as Ames looked on with contempt written on his face.
“Whoever did this should suffer the same fate.” Ames spat, turning and joining his Edna.
“Completely agree.” Edna said as she sipped water. Her hands shook unsteadily which was very unlike the Master Enchanter. “This amount of work on a full Army would have taken a long while. And what’s worse, these poor bastards wouldn’t have noticed anything was different.”
Ames nodded. “And the enchantment didn’t need to be activated until they were sent down here, meaning even their families wouldn’t have noticed them acting differently.”
The Enchanters reported to Terroth who took the news as well as could be expected. His magic raged and every sword, dagger, spear and axe within a hundred feet glowed as their edges sharpened. Thankfully Lindress was there to help calm him down.
“Send the reports and the bodies to the Council. A full detail. We are moving forward.” Terroth almost growled. The runners ran quickly.
Melinda received word that they were going to start moving again and readied her Earth Mages. She didn’t like staying in one place too long when outside the safety of the caverns but she understood the reasons. Her Mages were ready to move long before the order to move was finally given.
Traps were one of the biggest headaches that came with older dungeons. The older a dungeon was, the more deadly and devious a trap could be. Technically all of the dungeons below the Tower were old. Even the Kobal dungeon, which was the smallest of the five dungeons was considered old. The trap in Kobal’s boss room had been the cause of hundreds of deaths but any seasoned Adventurer could spot it and avoid it. Traps in Specter dungeon however required Earth Mages to detect and disarm. Melinda had heard of even more advanced traps, ones that even an Earth Mage couldn’t detect, but none had ever been found in her lifetime thankfully.
These traps were slowing down the raid significantly. A maze-like dungeon of this size usually took time to clear. Even with the detailed maps they possessed, delays were expected. The traps, however, were a large factor. The larger traps would normally regenerate and re-arm, but they stayed in place. Smaller traps though, such as the occasional poisonous darts and smaller pitfalls onto sharpened spikes were moved around constantly and the Earth Mages had to give their full concentration to this task. Which meant that fewer Mages were on the lookout for monsters or the rogue guards.
A shiver ran up Melinda’s spine, which was the only warning she had before a shriek blasted her and a few of her fellow Earth Mages from their feet. She looked up in time to see a half-formed spirit with tight grey skin and black holes where its eyes and mouth would be. She shuddered as ice began to form over her prone body, trapping her weakened limbs.
“Banshee!” Was shouted out in alarm and Melinda could hear the Earth Mages preparing to fight. She knew it wouldn’t help. Earth Magic was weak against any spirit. Fire and Water magic could hold it back and Death, Light and Life magic could destroy it but they probably wouldn’t get to her in time. She closed her eyes as the spirit closed in on her. She didn’t watch as her life was sucked away.
She felt the pull on her as the Banshee began to feed. The little remaining warmth in her extremities vanished and her mind raced to remember if her brother Mattis had been far enough back to avoid its scream. Her breathing slowed as she found it harder to take in air, or maybe she just didn’t care to breathe anymore. She couldn’t remember. The sounds turned distant and all she wanted to do was fall asleep. She was very tired after all.
Sudden warmth flooded her body almost sending her into shock. Even with her eyes closed, light filled the tunnel and she couldn’t block out the painful glare. She felt people breaking the ice that covered her arms and legs and was picked up, being carried somewhere in a hurry. Once she felt enough strength return, she opened her eyes and saw that she was covered in blankets and a Life Mage was hovering over her.
“Did anyone die?” She asked weakly. She was worried about her brother but she had several other Mages under her command.
The Life Mage smiled at her. “The only person that almost died was you Mage Stronghold. Took the full brunt of that Banshee’s attack and still had enough fight in you to hold out.”
Melinda was thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about? It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes.”
The Life Mage stared at her in what looked like shock.
“Excuse me, Mage Stronghold.” The Life Mage replied. “But it took several hours to kill that Banshee. You have been out for nearly five hours.”
Melinda’s look of alarm skyrocketed, along with her eyebrows. She started throwing off her blankets.
“I need to get back to the front.” Melinda yelled as she searched for her weapon, not realizing she wasn’t wearing her armor either, or clothes. A new voice sounded from behind her while she was busy making a mess of the tent.
“Melinda, perhaps some clothes would be helpful as well.”
That caught her attention as she looked down and realized she was definitely naked. She picked up a blanket, covering herself and turned around to see Lindress Gladus standing there with a hint of a smile on her lips.
“Dammit Lindress.” Melinda said. “You scared the pants off of me.” She paused and looked down at her blanket. “Literally.”
Lindress laughed as she tossed her friend her clothes. “Here, and don’t bother running out of here. We are stopped for the night. You will be with your Earth Mages when we move.”
Melinda caught the clothes. “Thanks, Lindress. How’s Matty and the rest of my Mages?”
“Oh, they are all fine.” Lindress answered. “Though your brother wouldn’t leave the tent until we threatened him with undressing you. That got him moving.”
Melinda laughed along with Lindress. She was armed and armored within the hour and was back at the front lines soon after. The Earth Mages greeted her with nods and the occasional cheer. Her brother tried to berate her but she just wrapped in a hug and threatened to tell everyone he tried to see his sis naked which made him shut up quick.
The next few days, they moved forward at a steady pace. They had a quick response team close by to deal with any spirits that decided to show up but mostly they only dealt with hordes of skeletons that Earth Mages had no trouble with. Earth Mages did very well with blunt force, hammering dozens of skeletons to dust and with the amount of Earth Mages she had, she didn’t need to worry about their magic running low.
They caught up with a sizeable force of rogue guards in an open cavern. They still weren’t halfway through the dungeon and when the first scouts detected them, they realized that they were going to have to assault an entrenched enemy. The rogue guards had put up walls in a large cavern and Mages walked along the wall, keeping watch. Runners were sent while Melinda and her Mages tried to scout the outpost with their magic.
“As far as I can tell, there are at least a hundred Mages there.” Mattis told Melinda.
“Walls are only a few feet thick.” Another Mage chimed in. “Twelve feet high.”
Melinda was creating a model of the outpost from stone as she received the information.
“Why would they have stopped?” Melinda asked aloud. “One hundred guards is a decent size of their remaining force but it couldn’t be all of them.”
“Maybe the dungeon killed the rest.” Mattis said.
Melinda shook her head. “Possible, but I rather not count on it. Are there any other tunnels connected to the cavern?”
“Just one leading in and one out.” Mattis said again.
Melinda didn’t like it. Something was off with this. She gave Mattis command and ran back to meet with the raid leaders herself. It didn’t take her long to see a group surrounding a war table. Terroth was easy to spot considering how tall the man was.
“Melinda.” Terroth said as she stepped up to the table. “You have more to share?”
“Yes.” She said quickly, creating another model of the outpost and placing on the table. “Something feels off.”
She quickly shared her concerns as well as the layout of the fortifications. The raid leaders listened closely, asking questions and making suggestions. She really did appreciate working with seasoned veterans. Every bit of information was more valuable than gold.
“From what we know of these new slavery enchantments, they need to keep progressing to obey their orders or they will die. If the guards are still alive, it must mean they have some type of plan in the works. Or maybe their orders are to stop us.” Terroth said.
“Their remaining numbers can’t be much greater than two hundred.” Melinda said. “So, why would they leave half of their group behind just to stop us?”
“Trap?” Terroth asked.
Everyone else at the table nodded.
“How big is the tunnel?” Lindress asked.
“Ten feet wide.” Melinda answered. “Not very big to get our raid in their fast. We will be bottle necked for a good portion of the fight.”
Kent Wei stood silently by the table, taking in the information. His sapphire eyes inspected the model that Melinda had created and his mind ran through several scenarios over the past few minutes. Kent was supposedly retired but came at the behest of Lucinda, the Guild Master. He had developed a rare ability called Tactical Genius. It allowed him to work through raids such as this one, allowing the best options for success. When he raised his hand, everyone silenced.
“A trap and bait.” Kent said, a smile showing through his grey beard. “They have Earth Mages to raise walls, meaning they also can create ambush points in the wall.” Melinda was about to interrupt; her Mages had sensed no other tunnels but he continued on. “I know what you said Mage Stronghold, but what about higher up on the walls? You said it was a large cavern. I would put a walk way or tunnels high up on the walls to fire down at our armies back.”
Melinda took that in and ran back to her Mages to check. She returned quickly.
“My thanks Mage Wei. There are walkways above, another seventy or so from what we can tell but it’s a bit harder to be exact.”
Kent nodded to her and begun laying out their plan of attack. Melinda knew of Mage Wei’s reputation but seeing it was another thing all together. The raid would attack as a whole and the enslaved guards would be put out of their misery.
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Melinda and her Earth Mages were exhausted. They had been working as quickly as they could for hours without a break. Soon the battle would start and she needed her Mages in position.
In the tunnel leading into the cavern, walls started springing up from the floor. The walls were staggered and spaced apart far enough for groups of fifty to move together as a team. The first sounds of spells crashing against the newly made walls echoed throughout the cavern. Fireballs and Ice Spikes weakened the defenses as Earth Mages built them back up. The raid hadn’t entered the cavern yet but the outpost had a clear view into the tunnel and were trying to do as much damage as they could.
Above, the Mages waited quietly. They would not start their bombardment until they could inflict maximum damage upon their pursuers. They knew they were outnumbered but had chosen there battlefield well.
A few Mages from the tunnels tossed out spells, hurling them into the fortification and causing the Mages inside to duck for cover, allowing another wall to be built. What the rogue guards didn’t realize was that the main tunnel was the distraction.
Melinda and the rest of her Earth Mages had created tunnels leading up and behind the Mages waiting up high on the cavern walls. The walls being built below were made noisily, to distract any Earth Mages that were listening to their approach. Melinda signaled through the stone, a few faint pulses. Once she received confirmation, the Earth Mages knocked down the last remaining foot of stone, catching the rogue guards by surprise.
The Earth Mages ducked out of the way while several Mages behind them stepped forward, engaging them. Melinda was beat but she still had time to smile as the enemy was either pushed off the edge or killed where they stood. When the higher ground was secure, the raid sent spells down into the outpost, easily dealing with the remaining Mages. The main raid streamed out of the tunnel, surrounding the fortifications and Life Mages tossed over seeds that created plants that contained sleep spores. They were hoping that if the rogue guards were asleep, their enchantments couldn’t activate. They needed prisoners alive to get the information they sought.
After the battle, they retrieved what sleeping prisoners they could find. They only found twenty that were still alive. It wasn’t much but it was something. Alchemist went to work, setting up IV’s to keep them asleep and the dead rogue guards were piled up and set on fire. They couldn’t carry them all back through the dungeon and they still had their own dead to carry.
Melinda looked over her Mages. She sent a few to the Life Mages but they weren’t in danger of bleeding out. Terroth and Lindress found her talking to her brother.
“Melinda!” Lindress called out, giving her a hug. “That was great work! You and your Earth Mages did very well.”
Melinda smiled and hugged her friend back. “Well, don’t curse us now. We still need to get out of here.”
Terroth laughed. “Should be a lot faster at least. We will start heading back in a few hours. Make sure your Earth Mages get rest. No guard duty for you lot.”
Tired cheers rang out and they quickly ate and fell asleep. They were no doubt, exhausted.
“Mel.” Mattis called out, handing a bowl of stew to his sister.
“Thanks, Matty.” She said as she grabbed the bowl and started eating quickly.
“So, after we get out of here, are we going to go help out the other dungeons?” He asked.
Melinda glared at her brother. “I am. You are being put on reserve.”
Mattis glared right back. “If you’re going, so am I!”
Melinda couldn’t help but snort. She knew her brother was serious but he sounded just like he did when he was younger. Mattis started to respond but Melinda cut him off.
“If they need us, we go. Otherwise we will just be in the way.” She said. That seemed to calm him down.
“Think this whole thing is about that young Essence Mage?” He asked. “Heard about him but haven’t met him yet. He’s already in the Guild as well.”
Melinda just shrugged. She met Dante once. Boy had enough sense not to play Towers Dice with her so he didn’t seem too dense. Maybe their tower stood a chance after all.