"My sister's heart is just beyond this door. I can feel it," Viel said.

The tall man touched the double steel doors at the opposite end of the chamber as Jeze studied the pillars. Each pillar could be rotated. The first and third pillars were images, and the middle pillar was colors. Jeze had searched the room for traps.

"We choose a combination and press the pressure plate. Something nasty comes out of those pipes if we choose the wrong combination," she surmised.

"And if we choose the right one?" Viel asked.

Jeze arched an eyebrow and answered, "Isn't it obvious? The door opens."

The tall man nodded. He sniffed the door, and after a moment, he turned around to study the room.

"Alright then. Where should we start?" Viel asked.

"Search the room for clues," Jeze replied.

The two walked the chamber and discovered nothing along the walls and corners. The only things were the three pillars, the pressure plate, and the giant metal door. They returned to the center and examined the pillars.

"Why don't you have a team now?" Jeze asked.

Viel glanced up from studying the pillars and asked, "What?"

"Why are you traveling alone?"

The tall man scowled and mumbled, "More bloody questions." He looked up, "Because I know where to go now, and I can't be bothered with a team."

"How? The Spire always changes," Jeze replied.

"Yes, but some things don't. Like these tunnels, what did you call em again? The Core Tunnels? The last time, with your brother, we found one of these, and it had a library that talked about a Dragon in the Swamp. When I heard that the third floor was a Swamp, I came here and knocked around some of em Demons and found this place.

"You talked with the Swamp Demons?" Jeze asked, her voice incredulous.

"It was not pleasant, but yeah, I did," Viel answered.

Jeze didn't think that they could talk with the Demons. That made sense though, Ziplocke could talk. Probably not the Thralls, but the Imps?

"Where did you find the library?" Jeze asked.

Viel shrugged, "I couldn't tell you. I don't remember."

"What did the floor look like?" Jeze said.

"A volcano. No more questions!" Viel stated.

Jeze made a mental note to see if they could explore the lava floor some more. Assuming she was able to survive and find her team. The two returned to examine the pillars. The middle of each one rotated with an audible click. The one on the left had dozens of symbols that Viel did not recognize. The middle were all colors, and the third had images of beasts and animals.

"Why do the Fiends want your sister's heart?" Jeze asked.

Viel looked up and rubbed his face. "You are an endless pit of questions! Your brother believed it was used to create a core or something."

Jeze's heart sank, and she asked, "A Hold Core?"

"Yeah, whatever that is," Viel replied and returned to spinning the pillar in front of him.

She walked over to Viel and asked, "Why do you want to eat your sister's heart?"

Viel stood up from kneeling and towered over the young girl. "I hope to get her memories."

Jeze crossed her arms and asked, "Why?"

Viel snorted and shook his head. He looked tired. After a moment, he answered, "I don't know why I have to be in human form. Something happened to me and my sister a long time ago that restricted us from using our true forms. Maybe she might have known."

Jeze's face scrunched up, and she asked, "How would eating her heart give you that? That does not make any sense!"

She really didn't want to give up the Hold Core, but a promise was a promise. She reflected to herself. Assuming they would be able to find it. Oh, and not to mention that they survive the Guardian. This was a lesson, really, Jeze figured to herself. To not make promises without knowing as much as possible. In the end, she did not want to be one that betrayed others and besides, she kind of liked Viel. He was like a grumpy uncle, a grumpy uncle that could transform into a terrifying Dragon…What mess did I get myself into? Jeze wondered.

"Did you hear me?" Viel asked and snapped Jeze out of her internal thoughts.

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She blinked and said, "Oh, uh, what did you say?"

"You alright girl?"

"I'm fine. Why does eating her heart give you back memories?" Jeze asked.

Viel arched an eyebrow and shrugged. "I don't know for certain, but hearts are magical things. Especially Dragon Hearts. They are powerful enough to break curses."

Jeze blinked and asked, "Wait, you are cursed?"

"I'm stuck in this weak form!" Viel cried.

"I thought shape-shifting was a power that Dragons have," Jeze stated.

Viel blinked, "Bloody hell! Why would we want to assume this puny form?" After a moment, the tall man quietly added, "No offense, of course."

"Wait, can you turn into your true form? Your sister did," Jeze asked.

"Of course, I can, but like I told you, it consumes a lot of energy. I can maintain my form for maybe an hour before I'm completely exhausted," Viel growled.

"And you need to sleep for a thousand years," Jeze recalled.

Viel snorted and muttered, "Not that long, but a few years for sure. I tell you this, I don't want to do that again. I was fortunate I was not killed in my sleep."

They returned to studying the pillars, and Jeze wondered, "What are these symbols?"

Viel shrugged and replied, "Maybe one of them matches the symbol you drew from the Thralls."

Jeze's head snapped up, and her eyes widened. "That's right!"

She rummaged through her pack for the journal. In moments she saw that one of the symbols matched the one that she drew. Jeze aligned the spinning pillar to the image with a click.

"What do these mean?" She asked.

"If I were to guess. I would say each one represents a clan, for one of them blasted Fiends," Viel replied.

"They have clans?"

Viel nodded.

"How do you know this?" Jeze asked.

The tall man blinked several times and then shrugged. "Not sure. That's why I need to eat my sister's heart. I got these memories like loose puzzle pieces floating around in my head."

"What color?" Viel asked.

“Gold,” Jeze answered.

"Why is that?"

"It was the color of the breastplates on the Thralls we fought," Jeze replied.

Viel shrugged and turned the pillar to click on the golden color. The two studied the final pillar. It was images of beasts.

"The dragon," Jeze pointed.

Viel snorted, "We don't look like that."

The two spun the pillar so that the dragon image clicked into place. They both turned to look at the pressure plate. The tubes of the trap loomed ominously overhead.

Viel scratched his head and said, "That seemed too bloody simple. Are you sure we got it right?"

"What else could it be?" Jeze responded.

"Why even bother with a door mechanism?" Viel wondered.

"Maybe it was made simple so that even the Thralls could open the door?" Jeze said.

"Again, why even bother?" Viel asked.

Jeze couldn't think of a reason, so she just shrugged.

Viel's amber eyes glanced around the chamber, and he observed, "Nothing about this place makes a lick of sense."

"The Core Tunnels?" Jeze asked.

"Everything, the whole blasted Spire," Viel responded.

"Its real name is the Stronghold. The Fiends used it to invade different realms," Jeze said.

Viel nodded and then shrugged. "That could be. But why levels? Why these stupid puzzles?"

Jeze tapped her chin and explained how a long time ago, the Ones from Before, with the aid of the Celestials, sabotaged the Spire so that it was trapped in levels and that it allowed it to be infiltrated by small teams of Adventurers.

"And you believe that?" Viel asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Makes sense to me," she replied.

"No, it bloody doesn't! Girl, have you ever been in a war?" The tall man asked.

Jeze shook her head.

"War is all about terrain, supply lines, and troop movements. You don't create a tower for it! Unless it's a siege tower," Viel answered.

"Maybe that is for the mortal realms. Wars in between realms could be different," Jeze pointed out.

"Perhaps, but I'm not convinced. I think it is something else," Viel said.

Jeze snorted and waved at the chamber that they were in. "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm not stepping on that plate. I don't trust any of this," Viel said.

"I'm not either," Jeze replied.

"Okay, then what?"

Jeze had an idea, and she Summoned Dirt and Shaped it into a boulder. She was getting good at the movements. Finally, she Controlled the large rock to launch in an arc, and it landed on the pressure plate with an echoing crash that resonated throughout the chamber. They heard the pressure plate click into place, and this was followed by a rumbling sound. The large metal door parted to the sides as it opened.

"Yes!" Viel exclaimed.

But the door they came in through slammed shut. They were trapped!

“Oh, that can’t be good,” the tall man stated.

The opening in front of them revealed a dimly lit circular chamber with a pedestal in its center. Floating just above the pedestal in a tube of pale silver light was a dark sphere the size of a fist. That has to be the Dungeon Core, Jeze thought to herself.

"What about the Guardian?" She wondered out loud.

Emerging from the shadows from within the chamber was an enormous figure. It was shaped like a man and nearly double Viel's height. Clutched in its dark blue hands was a heavy club lined with dark steel studs.

"You had to ask," Viel muttered.

"What is that?" Jeze exclaimed. It looked familiar, like something written in her brother's journal.

"That's an Ogre. Hope you are ready to fight a tier 6 monster," Viel said.

The Ogre let loose a roar from a mouth that had sharp incisors. Runes flared along the creature's arms as it formed glyphs with a giant hand, and the Ogre launched a ball of flame toward the two. Jeze and Viel dodged out of the way as the fireball exploded in between them. Jeze felt the intense heat wash over her boy as the fires subsided.

"They are big. Strong, skilled fighters, and also can cast Rune Magic," Viel said as he readied his blade.

There was no escape and they were forced to fight a formidable opponent. This was going to be very challenging, Jeze realized as she pulled out her axe and sword. A grin appeared upon her face. She was eager to test her abilities.