[Log 3.16.1]
[XVI — The Tower (Upright)]
[Part 1/5]
I was tired. Not just of running, but of always having to run. My hand still ached, but my sore muscles were worse. Golden highlights on marble fronts became the norm the closer we got to the palace, but they all blurred together after a point. Our rapid steps echoed on seamless cobbles as shadowy alleys watched our progress.
Occasionally, we would find a straggling citizen, and Zephyro would stop to pull them up and tell them to use the side streets, while we would stick to the main road to lure the enemy away. We hadn’t encountered any monsters during the last kilometer or so, but it at least made us feel like we were helping.
As I tried to balance my speed with my rising core temperature, I wondered where all the ferals had gone. We knew there were at least three rats, two different wolves, and a giant snake alive in the city, but they were nowhere to be seen. Only when I heard a lone, anguished scream swell and die with sudden finality did I realize what they had been up to.
I ran faster.
Out of breath and with sweat dripping even from Zephyro’s brow, we finally arrived at the palace gates. From afar, the white-and-golden building had looked like a large, square fortress with lavish ornaments, but now that I actually saw it up close, all my assumptions were set straight. It wasn’t just large, it was massive. White walls made of bricks higher than Zephyro was tall rose towards the sky. On either side of the gate the walls reached for the distance, going on for at least a kilometer before ending in circular towers.
The gates themselves were easily 20 meters tall and 10 meters wide. They were covered in highly detailed iconography, artistically organized around a beautiful Torch-insignia that dominated the metal surface. The artwork was incredibly elaborate, intricate enough to show each grain of wood on the handle. The artist had even cunningly set massive braziers into the surface of the gates to make it seem like the Torch was burning, shedding its golden light over the plaza.
A large crowd huddled in front of the gates, trying to press through a smaller portal on the side of the main doors, but it only fit one or two people at a time. Zephyro and I came to a stop as we reached the group, and while he immediately began to coral his subjects, I turned around and watched the thoroughfare for hostiles.
The main road opened into a large square that laid like a sprinkling carpet in front of the fortress. Millions of perfectly cut stones and even some gems were set into another mosaic of a torch radiating light. It was large enough to only be partially hidden by the hundreds of people crowding in front of the gate, and I doubted its ostentatious display of wealth would even have possible in real life. The gems… I had never seem so much onyx, opal and rubies in my life. The handle of the torch was covered in them, and it stretched all the way down to another arch at the entrance of the plaza. It was covered with enough gold to blind someone if the sun had been shining.
Instead, the elegant curves and radiant symbols of moons and stars and glory enshrined a burning city and pitch-black darkness. Down the road, far in the distance, the outer walls had already vanished into dark fog. The void covered more than half of the city. I looked up, and sure enough, only a tiny circle of stars remained right above us, winking out one by one. I was about to tell Zephyro to hurry up when I caught movement on a nearby rooftop, slightly different from the twitching of the fire.
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My head snapped up, but all I caught was a long, furry snout withdrawing. Could have either been a rat, or a wolf, but one thing was clear—
“We got incoming,” I yelled over my shoulder.
Zephyro cursed. He barked a few quick orders I did not understand, and seconds later I felt his presence to my left. His chainmail chimed and his sword sang out of his scabbard, composing a minuet promising violence.
“Where?” he asked and raised his sword above his head. The curved blade shone red, reflecting the surrounding inferno. It drew a slow arc across the sky and the sheen intensified, bursting upward from the steel to project a giant moon directly above us .An almost perfect silver sphere, pulsing gentle defiance against the void, it was so large I felt as if I could simply raise my hand and touch it.
As I gazed upward, awestruck, a tiny sliver of red appeared on the far side of the moon, claiming its surface inch by almost imperceptible inch.
Bathed in moonlight, breathing felt just a little easier. The heat surrounding us relented. The stench of burning plastic waned. And when I pulled my torch from my belt, it seemed lighter than before. I flicked its blue flame to life, and it shone brighter ever so slightly.
{NEW CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABLE: ZEPHYRO_MAINFRAME}
[>>Now load-balancing with ZEPHYRO_MAINFRAME]
“Holy shit Zephyro, why didn’t you— Zephyro?”
He stumbled forwards, and before I knew it, I stood in front of him, propping him up with my back. His form stuttered against my shoulders, and I heard the discordant screeching of one of his glitches. With a grunt, he straightened again and gently pushed me to the side. His hand flickered. He clenched it into a fist and the glitch was gone.
“Zephyro?” I asked again, but he just shook his head, not looking at me. His face bathed in writhing shadow, avoiding my eyes. I leaned forward a little, and even though he turned his head away, I caught blood running down his cheeks. It seemed that whatever he had done earlier with his Logic, it had run out. Or perhaps supporting all the people on the plaza on his mainframe had driven some piece of hardware or another past its breaking point.
“Do not worry about me, Sultana.”
“But—“
“I said, do not worry!” he snarled, and I jerked back. When he noticed my reaction he added “… Sultana. Please, I can do this.”
As I recovered form my shock, my brow furrowed. “What are you getting angry at me for? I only wanted to—“ Something scratched against the cobblestone behind me.
I whirled around, torch blazing, and hit the Rat mid-pounce. Pharus dug deep into its weirdly distorted stomach and from its mouth, bile erupted all over my chest before the momentum of my swing sent the creature tumbling backward. It flipped in the air and landed on its feet as I heard the green substance sizzle and pop on my padded coat.
{CPU Load: ▼ 88%}
{Core Temp: ▲ 72° C}
I only had a brief moment to notice the UI improvement before another rat joined the first one. And then another. They chittered, fur bristling.
“Three rats. One spits acid, no idea about the other two. Can you see them?”
“No Sultana,” Zephyro said. Blue light flashed behind me, and his breathing sounded less labored.
Damnit, I had thought the tracking was automatic! I took a step forward, spinning my weapon. The blue flame roared as it trailed through the hot night. I opened my stance a little, trying to coax them into giving me an opening.
Just as the one on my right twitched forward, I heard Zephyro curse behind me. I couldn’t lose focus, couldn’t check, had to wait for… there! The rat scurried forward, approaching rapidly until it reached pouncing distance. While the other two scrambled to keep up lest they miss out on the meal, the one that approached first tensed.
I got my mace ready.
The rat tensed, twitched.
My eyes narrowed. Patience… I had to hit it right at the apex, just like before…