(Strive 14:2)

Artem’s words echoed in our heads as we sat by the entrance to the fifteenth floor. She hoped to see us on the other side. She had something to show us.

“I don’t know how much more obvious it could be that this is a trap,” I said, “with a capital T.”

“That much seems clear,” said Artem, sharpening another knife.

“Are there ever multiple ways to get to the next floor?” I asked.

“Not that we know of.”

There was an ear-splitting crash and the whole forest shook, sending us sprawling to the ground. A second jolt of the tower dislodged a flurry of flower petals, adding to the carpet already surrounding us. Selene’s cast was interrupted once again, and she snatched a leaf out of her hair, crushing it in frustration.

“Ignore the quakes,” Artem advised. “We are in no danger of falling here—”

“Be quiet,” said Selene in a controlled voice. “I need to concentrate. Better yet, leave me alone for a minute. Or an hour.”

Artem motioned to El and me, and we stepped a few paces away from Selene, leaving her to her signing, but still keeping her within our field of view.

“The pressure is starting to affect her,” rumbled Artem in a low tone. “A measly shaking would never have rattled the Selene I knew before.”

I stayed silent, but El jumped in. “You think it’s not getting to all of us? All this and for what?”

“The law,” said Artem. “The law must be upheld.”

“How could I forget?” El muttered.

“The people may not know,” continued Artem. “They may not thank us, but we will know that we acted rightly to protect them. For me, that’s reason enough to do the hard thing. What about you two?” He glared at us, almost an accusation.

“Noble of you,” El said. “That type doesn’t last long where I’m from.”

“Suburban California?” I asked.

“I don’t remember asking—”

“Enough.” Artem raised his voice a notch, but not so loudly as to disturb Selene. “I am worried,” he said, and it was beyond odd to hear him say those words. I had thought of him as a man chiseled from stone for so long. “You should talk to her.” He looked at me.

“Me?” I said, bewildered. “Why—”

Another quake struck, and we all ducked down. Selene uttered a short sharp word that I didn’t need my translator for as her spell was foiled again. This time, though, when the shaking cleared, there was another figure standing with us by the portal, a being made of light that exuded waves of pressure.

He looked exactly as he had so many floors ago when he’d saved us from Death. The golden outline of a male in peak physical condition, but with all the features washed out by light. This time, close as he was, I noticed hovering bands of rings around each of his arms, each lit up with power. I Examined him again, to be sure. As before, ornate serifed characters bloomed into view:

First Sender of the Tower Strive. Creator of the kada-udjat system, and the high authority of this tower.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Selene and Artem immediately knelt in respect. It wasn’t hard, since we were all on the ground already, and after a moment, I moved to copy them. Only El demurred.

“Climbers,” said Sender, and his voice was again less intimidating than I expected, neither especially loud or authoritative. “It’s a shame to see the most promising of you stymied here.”

“Didn’t expect you to get involved,” said El, approaching the figure. “You gonna help us out here?”

Sender shrugged, the gesture oddly casual. “I would like to, as much as I can. But there’s certain rules that come into play where other towers are involved. My domain is Strive only.” He looked into the clock face portal as if peering through it to the other side, and sighed. “What a mess. The interference from the Tower Eramai has wreaked havoc on these floors. To be honest, I grow tired of this constant drumbeat against my walls that keeps everyone pinned down on the tenth floor, afraid to come out. And that girl, the interloper, she’s the worst of it.”

My blood ran cold. “Interloper?”

“Ah,” said Sender, “but I thought you all were aware. I forget that they all look the same to your eyes. The girl you are following, the one known as Mia, is not from Strive.”

“None of us are from here,” El pointed out.

“That’s not what I mean,” Sender said. “She crossed over from Eramai, the Tower of the Flayed Heart.”

There was a deep silence before I said, “Can’t you lock her out? The way you did with Death?” I expected Selene to protest, to say that she wanted satisfaction, but she didn’t even make a sound of dissent. Her head remained bowed to the floor.

“What did I just say?” Sender demanded. “There are rules when it comes to other towers. To use an analogy you’d understand, Death is a free agent, but the girl is sponsored. I can’t touch her. Even when she had penetrated to the tenth floor, there was little I could do other than suppress her native powers. And now that she waits at the far side of the bridge, I’m unable to do even that.”

Another tidbit of information, another chill down my spine. She was already there, waiting for us in the place where her power was strongest. And she’d been no slouch in the forest by Shinar.

“Please instruct this clumsy one on the proper path forward,” Selene said suddenly, without raising her head.

The whole world rumbled again, but it stopped as Sender waved his hand at the walls. “I don’t mind what you do to the girl. Arrest her, kill her, exile her. It all works for me. But this connection must be closed. I’ll do what I can to minimize the disruptive effects of Eramai until you get to the portal. But after that, you four are on your own. Your kadas and udjats may start to act oddly as well. Be wary of relying on them. Same thing with restoratives. They’ll fall off inversely proportional to the distance from Strive.

“Eramai’s system is purely an internal, intuitive one. It’s arguably incorrect to even describe it as a system at all. They don’t use kada bracers or udjats. If you come into conflict with one of them, you won’t be able to rely on reading their hand movements, since they won’t have any.”

“Sounds like we might be well fucked,” said Artem. “Any good news?”

Sender held up two fingers. “Firstly, their system has fewer direct offensive capabilities. Of course, that won’t necessarily help you, since Mia has helped herself to not one, but two kada bracelets which give her ample firepower. However, it’s possible you could do the converse, using the powers of Eramai, especially because their system is more ambient. It does not require equipment, and it’s possible that, with time, you will each be able to develop a measure of skill in it. But I wouldn’t count on it. Their kind of power is terribly fickle.”

While he spoke, I slowly removed my ear translator, out of curiosity. “Could you bestow any sort of rewards on us?” I asked. “Might make it easier for us to take that bridge out.”

“Sorry,” Sender said. “That’s part of the non-interference agreement. And besides, I don’t believe in handouts.”

Huh, I thought. The god of the tower speaks Standard American English.

Selene said something I didn’t understand, and Sender turned to her as I refitted my earpiece.

“That’s up to you. I don’t begrudge you wanting to chase her down first and break the bridge afterwards. That seems well and good to me. And it’s only apropos that you’re the one to do it, Mingyue. Am I right?”

He had knelt down to stare at the top of Selene’s head until she looked up at him. Whatever she saw, she averted her eyes quickly, like she’d been burned. I felt more confused than ever as the being made of light stood upright. “Once the bridge is closed, the climb can continue,” he said, almost to himself, before a kaleidoscopic flash announced his departure.

“What was that about?” Artem sounded as bewildered as I was.

Selene was trembling slightly as she slumped into a sitting position. “It was me,” she said. “It was my fault.” She drew a deep breath, then said dully:

“The one who built the bridge to Eramai was me.”