The rapid expansion of distorted air quickly obscures the Euroclydon before the ground lurches out beneath me and I lose my footing. I slam on my back and twist to regain my feet, but find the surface continuing to slide away from me. The tower is tilting. We’re falling, but the blast hasn’t even hit yet. How?

“Hold on!” Atl shouts as several handholds jut out of the stone floor.

I grasp at the closest protruding rail as the grinding and creaking of the tower mixes with the blaring alarm. The tower jerks once more, and we are falling faster than should be possible. Our floor quickly transitions to a wall before we slam into place. I only barely hold on as the sudden stop almost throws me down into the gorge below.

The tower now rests at a right angle, our viewing box suspended directly over the centre of the canyon. Beside me, the many centzon on the tower with me hold their own handrails.

The regna is much like the last one I saw, but now, everything seems alive. Not only are all the gears spinning and pistons thrusting, the structures themselves are moving.

A bridge directly beneath me twists on itself. Rock scraping against rock as the two sections split before rotating toward their respective wall.

The massive building constructed between both sides of the canyon divides into four sections, each blooming away from a central spinning pillar. The four quarters slide along the vertical surface before they slam into place and gradually pull inside the wall. Spinning ever faster, the massive column remains where the building once stood, connecting the canyon walls.

I can hardly understand what I am seeing. Their entire city moves!

Lost in awe at the sight, I almost lose my grip on the handle as the tower yanks back into motion. A hand from Atl holds me steady against the wall, seemingly experienced with this.

My eyes flicker back to the moving regna below. The many platforms where most centzon live are not untouched by this strange occurrence. They were slower to start, but each massive slab of stone rotates into the gorge wall where huge sections of stone have flared out, like fingers ready to grasp and pull.

The second tower lays horizontally over the gorge and slowly pulls into the wall it’s attached to. Is that what’s happening to us? The tower hasn’t fallen, we’re just folding away like everything else?

Everything disappears so quick. They all slide into or rest flush against the walls of the canyon. If not for the waterwheel below and the spinning pillar once hidden within a building, I would never have realised this place was inhabited. Maybe a bit of an odd-looking canyon at most.

Even as I think that, the hundred metre tall waterwheel rises from the water and settles within a space in the rock. A slab of stone and metal push out from the opposite side and lock the wheel in place, hiding it from view.

Finally, the pillar bridging the walls snaps in half. Locks holding both sides together open and each side flies into a slot on their respective sides. A tremor runs through my hands as it slams into place.

The regna is a contraption. Every part of it. I’d thought there were just plenty of concerning, but neat moving parts throughout the city, not that the city itself was a trap.

I realise far too late that I’m being locked in. Trapped. Again. The ceiling of the tower slides into the rock wall and the room goes dark.

There is a moment of complete, absolute silence. The grinding of the gears comes to a halt and not a single centzon breathes.

Of course, the moment does not last long.

The tower slams deeper into its hole and I lose my grip. A maelstrom of noise erupts around us. The grinding and groaning of gears, stone straining under the immense pressure abusing our tiny enclosed room.

I slam into the ground now below me, but I hardly notice. While the Euroclydon’s winds pelt the contraption surrounding me, I’m struggling to keep myself still.

Trapped once more by the centzon, the knot within me demands action. I need to free myself from their clutches. Burn a hole through stone and escape. I scream in my mind, my voice leaking out without intent. I’ll be exposed to the Titan’s winds if I free myself now. Where exactly will I go? The bottom of the gorge is a river. If I melt away the wall protecting me from the deadly gusts, I’m likely to send myself spiralling into the depths below.

Not to mention all the centzon around me. Would they survive if I exposed this little protective hole to the elements? We still need the centzon’s help in taking the path. I can’t see them remaining friendly if I cause a dozen deaths.

My psyche’s knot doesn’t care. It wants me to burn my way out, and I can feel the flames flicker around me, illuminating the space and every centzon within view. They grow and spread toward the wall and former ceiling. A couple of hunters step away, startled by the sudden spread of my fire.

It’s supposed to be logical, so why doesn’t it understand why this is a horrible idea?

Tremors shake my hands pressed against stone. The flames go against my command, scorching the wall that keeps us safe. A few centzon shout in panic.

I am a prisoner of my own mind.

Agony.

I clutch at my head and fall to my side. My flames spasm and curl back around me. It feels like my mind is tearing, straining from the pressure of being tugged separate ways. Fire writhes around me. I’m unsure whether it’s trying to protect me, or eat into my head.

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I’ve finally realised.

I’m not free. I haven’t been free since the Void Fog changed me.

My desire for freedom may have amplified, but it was twisted. I was gifted everything I needed to avoid any form of entrapment, but in doing so, the Fog chained a part of me I’d never even considered. Something far more important than what a simple cage could contain.

My freedom of thought.

The pain flares again. The rope of my psyche pulls taut by the realisation. Each point of resistance, each knot in my rope, strains under the assault, inflicting unmitigated anguish through my being.

If I can never do the things I want to do, because the changes to my mind forcibly prevent me… nothing could be a worse prison. I want to lie. I want to enter homes.

I want to return to those I care for.

The idea of being stuck in a box, unable to escape, is the most terrifying thing I could think of… but I would take that over these chains on my mind.

Worse than the pain of water sizzling over my body, the knots snap. One by one. The smallest fraying first, then gradually tearing through the larger ones. Most I don’t even know what they were a blockage for, constituting too few threads of thought for coherence, but they all snap regardless.

My body feels distant. The centzon surround me. I can see them, feel them, but they don’t seem real. My thoughts grow sluggish, like swimming through molten rock. Are they here to hurt me? Kill me? Trap me?

I send a wave of fire at them, but my inner flame only seems to constrict my body. Never have I had this little control. Each second, the world creeps further from my grasp. I’m nothing more than a child again, crying out at the world and incapable of control.

The knot, the largest and most intrusive bundle of conflicting desires, is all that remains fighting against the strain of my rope. It lashes out. It floods my mind with memories, the most horrible feelings I’ve ever experienced. Grief and loss. Overwhelming terror. Pain.

The knot fights my control, shoving me out of my own body. I can feel its intentions. It is not malicious. It just wants to keep me safe, keep me from losing my freedom as I have so many times now. Virtuous it may be, but shunting me into a corner of my mind is worse than anything I can imagine.

I won’t be able to live with this in my head. I can’t.

The picture of my rope of desires comes to the forefront of my thoughts. It looks more frayed than it’s been since the Fog. Each snapped knot, now a mess of threads poking out of the coherent whole. I reach out and with only a moment to brace myself; I tug.

The pain is excruciating. I scream and the knot screams, but I hear no sound. My mental grip doesn’t loosen despite the pain. If I let go now, I’ll never be free. I need to do this.

The knot tightens, threads snapping each second. The bundle of conflict screams louder, deafening me despite the distance of my body. My very being is tearing apart, but I continue to pull. With one final agonising yank, the screaming stops.

I’d hoped for relief, from the pain, from the memories, but it does not come. My mind throbs as the threads of desire try to reorient. The knots try to wind themselves together once more, but the constant pressure keeps the fraying strands from tying.

I don’t feel good, but my mind is my own once more.

Gradually, the world comes back into focus. Centzon surround me, peering down from a good metre separation. I turn my head. My body isn’t in pain, but the lingering aches of my mind echo across my form. Flames wrap me in their warmth and I notice I’m half submerged in a shallow pool of glowing rock.

I get a hold of my flames, suppressing them and hiding my form. At least I try to do that. My body is sluggish and my fire is slow to do as I want. I push myself until I’m seated, noticing that the grinding of stone has stopped. The winds have stopped.

Past the centzon obviously concerned for my sake, the wall between us and the canyon is intact. Somewhat molten and definitely thinner than before, but intact. Thankfully, I didn’t breach the wall and subject all of us to our deaths.

The enclosed space of the tower still surrounds me. The opening in the wall — where stairs used to be — now opens to the large central columns of the tower. No longer are the stairs visible, having moved out of the way while I was stuck in my mind. Small torches line the walls and light the tower interior. It is enough for me to see there is no path out.

I am trapped, and yet my decisions are my own.

No longer do I need to flail in panic or sacrifice choice to remove myself from this situation. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I’m fine being stuck like this. I’ve gotten rid of the knot limiting and controlling my actions, but freedom is my top priority. Only now, I don’t need to sacrifice others’ lives for my gain. I can stare at this wall as long as I want, and there’s no urgent need to burn my way through it.

Slowly, I rise to my feet. My body responds to me better with each second, and my flames finally listen to me. I’d be embarrassed at unwillingly losing my grip, if I wasn’t so exhausted. The pain and effort taken to snap the knot out of my psyche has left me drained.

I want to do nothing other than pass out and get some rest. But, while my mind is free, my body is not. I don’t want to break my way out, but I still don’t want to be stuck in this enclosed space.

“All clear!” the shout echoes through the prone tower.

The surrounding group twists their heads as one, all but forgetting about me as they rush off in a burst of activity. Only Atl remains by my side, giving me a moment of much needed space.

“We’ll need to get positioned. Are you alright to walk?”

I blink up at him, his words taking longer than usual for my tired mind to parse.

The tower jerks around us, sliding out of its lock with a clank. The proceeding groaning of gears finally makes me aware of my surroundings. They are reopening the tower. I won’t be trapped.

I hang my head back in relief. The barrier to the gorge opens up and exposes us to sunlight. The walls around me slide along stone, but the ground underneath me doesn’t move. Realising I’m standing on earth and not the tower, I quickly grab my spear and follow Atl’s lead to what was a railing, but now works as a platform.

The centzon rush around me, using the plentiful rails to climb to different gauges, levers and valves. Atl looks down at me with curiosity. I turn away from his gaze. I’m sure I left a shameful display, squirming on the floor like I did, but considering what I’d regained, I could hardly manage a mote of embarrassment.

We slide out into the open and I get a perfect view of the damage, or lack thereof. Each centzon structure is flush inside the wall. Their regna designed perfectly to fold away at a moment’s notice. Really, in the panic of the Titan’s incoming blast, I hadn’t really payed much attention to how fast their mechanisms moved.

An entire city, able to fold away within the six seconds it takes the Titan’s blast to hit. And I’d thought the first ursu mining village was impressive.

My legs dangle over the edge as I sit again. Our tower slides into place over the canyon and freezes in place. The first structure to follow is the waterwheel, which quickly slots back into place and spins under the immense strength of the river below.

The river itself has been whipped into a frenzy. Its rapids tearing up the canyon faster than I ever want to see water moving. The wet walls of the gorge tell of a far more dangerous situation than I’d thought. During the blast, not only would I have had to worry about the wind, but also the water flung high.

Soon, the buildings, platforms, and bridges unlock from the wall and reset themselves in their original state. I watch over the massive contraptions as they work. There is no rush this time, so everything moves with an ease ignored while time was of the essence.

The longer I watch, the harder it becomes to focus. My fatigue washes over me as the tower finally starts moving back upward. I try to stop myself, to remain awake, but it’s an impossible game.

I fall asleep, feeling truly free.