For a moment, I considered gesturing for Amber to land. This wouldn’t work, because my perch was barely large enough for a single person to occupy. I would essentially have to carry her if she landed. I had the physical capacity to do it, but it seemed too… convenient. It was bad enough that this artificial woman had been created for my own gratification. The fact that this situation had been orchestrated by GM was a bridge too far. Not even a man as dense and unaware as me would spring such an obvious trap. Instead, I began to climb down the tower.

The way down from the top of the Central Keep was much faster. I merely bent my knees to absorb the impact of falling as I hopped down the colossal staircase that I had recently ascended. With each landing, my feet left two small craters in the masonry.

I landed on the ground level with an echoing thunk. Curiously, I pressed the heel of my shoe against the cobblestone beneath me. I pulled my foot back and, with the smallest exertion of force, I struck my heel against the stone. It unceremoniously cracked in half like a piece of porcelain.

The deafening sound of wind approached, and I turned to see Amber land a few feet away from me. After a few seconds, the sound stopped.

As soon as she had regained her balance on solid ground, Amber actually bowed her head in contrition. A look of sadness so genuine that I thought she would burst into tears at any moment appeared on her face.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think I would interrupt your observation of the Castle with my actions. Please forgive me!”

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” I said, smiling at the girl’s earnestness. “There was no greater purpose behind my actions. It was merely a spontaneous act of curiosity.”

“Even so…” Amber began speaking, but I interrupted her.

“Hold on for a moment. I would like to deliver my first order as a Dark Apostle now. Listen closely…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Lighten up,” I commanded. “I’m just a guy; stop treating me like I’m some kind of demi-god.”

“But you are…”

“Bup.” I interrupted her with a wordless sound completely unbefitting of my position. “This is an order, remember?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now,” I said, changing the subject, “where’s the Door?”

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“What door?”

“The Door.” I deflated slightly when I thought about what the Door represented. I was reminded of the reality of my situation, and my previously playful mood disappeared. “I mean the Door to GM’s Domain.”

I gestured to the area just under my left collarbone, the area which held a key. “...the one with thirteen keys.”

“Oh, yes. I understand.” Amber seemed happy to speak of the Door. The thought didn’t fill her with dread like it did with me. “It’s just under the Great Hall.”

“Perfect,” I said, trying to exude a carefree air. Amber saw through it.

We stepped back inside the Central Keep and walked through several long, empty hallways. Despite being a place that was theoretically meant for habitation, ninety percent of the Castle was empty. There must have been acres of floorspace within the Central Keep, but the only furnished rooms I had seen at that time were the Great Hall and the lounge.

We reached the Great Hall and continued walking. Somehow, the stained-glass window of GM had been repaired after Dendrite had thrown a brick through it. A part of me wanted to re-shatter the window, but the smarter part vetoed that desire. It was probably a good idea to not piss off the sorcerers. We turned left at the huge table where the Dark Apostles had held our first meeting. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I looked at the scattered ash and splattered blood that provided evidence of our fight with GM. I could still feel the echoes of the fear I felt when I stood in GM’s presence. As strong as I was, GM was infinitely more powerful.

Amber pressed down on one of the thousands of bricks that girded the Great Hall, and a false wall slid away. On the other side of the false wall was a long, dark spiral staircase that went downward. As the door opened, gas lamps turned on, illuminating the staircase.

We began to descend the staircase. After several long minutes of steady progress, we reached the bottom. We rotated counterclockwise as we walked, indicating to me that the stairs were meant to be defended from below. I could imagine myself making my last stand in that staircase. They would be forced to attack me two-by-two, and I would defeat dozens of them before a single Hero managed to slay me and bring peace to Ferrum.

At the bottom, the staircase straightened out into a long corridor. Rather than the warm orange of the staircase, the corridor was lit in a faded light blue color. I stepped out into the corridor and saw that the light was coming from a line of glowing blue crystals embedded in the walls.

At the end of the long blue corridor was the Door. It must have been more than fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide. It was made of grey stone, and thirteen obsidian locks were built into its structure. The locks were arranged in an irregular hexagon that terminated into a single tail at the bottom. I was reminded strongly of the sefirot from Jewish mysticism.

In front of the Door stood a man I did not recognize. His black hair was in a crew cut, and his expression was one of solemn determination. The man’s build was powerful, and he wore the same type of outfit as me. By the process of elimination, I knew that this was CosmiCrow, the Seventh Dark Apostle.

“Who are you?” the man standing in front of the Door asked. His tone did not indicate hostility. Rather, it seemed that he was curious about my identity.

As he spoke, Amber frantically put her mask back on and flipped her hood back on her head. She was still not comfortable showing her face to the other Apostles.

I opened up my shirt and showed him the mark under my collarbone. “You can call me Enzo.”