Corin and Mathos picked clothing from the dead. They could hear the occasional scream as the frenzied found a new victim. The both of them occasionally snacked on what was available until they were both able to assemble uniforms that didn’t look too bad. They knew the family had a lead. Mathos was a little concerned due to the fact that the underside of the city and the mountain were riddled with holes. Corin had access to some of the man’s memories and knew that they were headed to the next closest city. Corin was confident that they would be able to meet the group in the desert.

Corin looked around the city before they headed back toward the tunnel entrance. The inside of the city had not been as affected by the fires, but there were still corpses strewn around. Corin’s mercenary band was noticeable only due to the fact there hadn’t been a standard uniform. They had grown far faster than it would have been possible to equip everyone in standard colors. They occasionally passed one of their kind eating their way through a collapsed corpse. Corin and Mathos would get a nod of recognition and then the individual would get back to eating.

When they entered the tunnel once again it was just a straight walk. Mathos would spend a little time exploring some branching tunnels. He eventually stopped as they only found signs of disuse. It was a long hallway. Some portions of the tunnels walls and ceiling were finished with brickwork and a supporting frame. Others were just the naked rock walls as they would have been when first dug out. They walked in near silence, neither was happy about the fact.

Corin was riding the feeling of pride from his accomplishment. His idea worked. The city was ruined. He wasn’t so concerned about the state of his men, but he was proud of their collective achievement. He had yet to drop the smile from his face.

“This isn’t as entertaining as I expected it to be.” noted Mathos.

Corin laughed, “Don’t like tunnels?”

“Before I joined the guard, I would explore the tunnels for fun.”

“Alright, so do you want to race?”

“Race? Here?” Mathos asked, with a grin.

Corin was feeling good. His body had never felt as fit as he did in this moment.

“Yes,” Corin burst into a run, “Go!”

Mathos slammed Corin into one of the walls. Corin felt the wind get knocked out of him.

“Lets have a rule, no claws!” Mathos said as he continued down the tunnel.

Corin pulled himself to his feet and recovered. He started running back down the hallway, slowly gaining on Mathos. The other man looked behind and saw Corin back on his feet. He cursed and tried to push himself a little more. Corin got into tackling distance and toppled the man onto the floor. Mathos grunted as he felt the air rush out of him.

“Not fun when someone else does it, is it?” Corin said as he started running again.

The two fought continuously as they made it toward the end. They both stuck to the no claws rule, opting to trade heavy blows just to get ahead. They made it to the end, no clear victor. The end was blocked. Corin punched a wall and cursed.

“The dwarves liked to build secrets into the stone,” Mathos said as he examined the rock walls.

Corin forced his anger down and watched Mathos poke at protruding bumps of rock.

“Oh I see it now,” Mathos said as he slid something.

The wall in front of them started to slide down into the floor. There had been no seams. Sunlight cut into the darkness, temporarily blinding the pair. They both cursed as they covered their eyes with a hand. As their vision began to clear they walked out of the mountain. There had been a small village that a small spring fed. If Corin had to guess he would say that there were at most only fifty residents. They had hastily left. The readily accessible supplies had been picked clean and the stables had been empty.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I think we’re going to have to walk the sands,” Coin said as he met Mathos back at the spring.

Mathos was laden with a few bags. They were bulky but he had managed to handle them with ease, unburdened by their weight. He threw a couple down at the feet of Corin.

“Where are we headed?” asked Mathos.

“Nesu.”

Mathos sat down on a stone.

“I don’t want to have to worry about the hunger.”

Corin nodded, he could feel the unfillable hole at the core of his being. It was there, ever present. When had that happened?

“Lets go,” Corin said.

Mathos nodded. It hadn’t taken too long to go through the town. Corin only found a few coins here and there. His side hadn’t been filled with much. Mathos had only been lucky on the last house he searched. It was mostly untouched. They would probably run out of food on the way. Corin had cut their supply of water down to a quarter of that they would need if they had still been human. Mathos was skeptical at first and continued with his supply. He only abandoned the rations when he noticed his own usage was far less than what he had expected.

They cut through the barren desert. Neither had a map, and only relied on their vague sense of direction. Corin used the connection to the rest of his kind as a method for navigation. It was pretty vague, but Nesu was close to a few large notable landmarks and getting lost wasn’t as much of a concern.

Their fortunes turned when Corin spotted a caravan in the distance. They buried a few of the supplies. Their clothing had been dirtied and scuffed by their month of walking. A couple of horses ran through the sand confirmed that the caravan saw them. All they had to do was accompany them to the city. Corin and Mathos shared a back story. There was no need to hide the fate of Fetahken, so they could just use that to build their half-truths.

—

Omar had been the first to see the plateau. The tower itself was visible from far away. It had been a beacon drawing the eye once it was in sight. Qinran was amazed by the sight. He had never seen something as amazing as the single tower piercing the sky. Qinran had seen mountains. He had seen other great constructions of magic. The tower was unique. The thought that there were three others in existence was now an amazing fact.

“I was the same way when I saw it the first time,” laughed Omar.

“You’ve been there before?” asked one of the hired guards.

“I lived there once, it was a long time ago,” Omar said.

The guard smirked to himself, and then looked at Qinran. A complicated look covered his face.

“I’m sorry to bring it up.”

Omar smiled, “It was a long time ago.”

The guard moved to a different position down the line.

“I think you embarrassed him,” said Qinran.

Omar shrugged, not sure what to say.

When they reached the outskirts of The Second Tower. Qinran was amazed by the various buildings surrounding the giant rock.

“Close your mouth, we’re almost there.”

Qinran did. He still tried to take it in. The buildings were all a strange mishmash of styles. It was also busy. He had never seen such a condensed population. The caravan took a head count and then that was that. They had officially traveled to The Second tower. Omar lead Qinran to an abandoned building. It was well furnished. And pretty well kept.

“I saw the date written on the the clipboard,” said Omar, “We should be fine here for a couple of days.”

“I need a rest after that trip,” said Qinran.

Omar nodded, “lets just rest here for the rest of today and tomorrow we’ll head to the tower.”

Qinran nodded. He found a room and claimed it. Omar did the same. The two rested. When the next day arrived they left. Omar wanted to arrive early to beat the rush. Qinran was put off on how close everyone stood by each other. It hadn’t been all just humans, like he had expected. He could even see a few of the different reptilian races within the lines. They reached the window with the clerk inside.

“How may I help you?” Asked the man.

Omar had walked Qinran through who they were looking for and coached him on what to say.

“We’re looking for Master Aloeus Errington.” Said Qinran.

The clerk frowned and looked at something. There was a sound of shifting papers.

“I don’t seem to have an appointment for him currently.” Said the clerk.

“It’s for an emergency qualified testing agreement?” Qinran said without any confidence.

The clerk eyed him suspiciously for a moment. After a short while a number appeared on the screen. Omar nudged Qinran.

“Oh! We’ll also need two week long passes,” Qinran said, “That is, two passes that are a week long.”

The clerk looked at Qinran with a blank expression and pushed something, the number that displayed changed. Omar passed a few bills to Qinran. Qinran grabbed them, his hands shaking a little, and pushed them through the slot in the window. The clerk slid two passes and sheet of paper that was outlined in red. Qinran thanked the man and they scurried off.

“I don’t like it here,” said Qinran, “There’s too many people.”

Omar snatched a pass and the paper from Qinran.

“Well, you won’t have to worry,” Omar said, “We have to go to the divinity section.”

“I thought we were looking for an elementalist.”

“I don’t know, it’s something different,” Omar said with a shrug.

“I don’t like the diviners,” said Qinran with a shiver.

“I don’t like them either,” said Omar.