Lightning flashed overhead briefly illuminating the horizon. The three enemy ships hunting us had gotten a little closer. They would not be like the others we’d fought. Not when we’re on the brink of escaping with the map. No, this was the other pirate captains led by Jason, who were coming to collect what they felt was theirs. They would bring every tower climber they had to bear to either kill us or make us submit. We were outnumbered and outgunned. Staying here toepet fight would be a slaughter.

The ships were about 2 miles away, but I had no idea how much time that would give us to get ready.  

“How long till they’re in range?” I asked Pete, our sailing expert.

He looked out the window and waited for another flash of lightning before grunting. “Maybe ten minutes?”

My eyebrows rose. “That long?”

“These things aren’t speed boats. They’re heavy and they’re moving through rough seas with this storm.”

“So we can leave, then?” I asked, my hopes rising. “If we lose them now, then they’ll never find us and we can complete the quest without interruptions.”

Elise loudly thumped the bottom of her staff on the floor. “No, we should stay and fight,” she declared.

“A third of our group have already exhausted themselves magically,” I pointed out while trying to stay civil. “You, me, and Daisy only make three, and three fighters won’t be enough.”

Pete wasn’t a tower climber, so he couldn’t fight. Daisy was content to see which way the wind blowed and wasn’t going to voice any opinion any time soon. Sebastian, who I’d forgotten was even here since he’d been sat in the corner drinking, jumped to his feet.

“Heyyy!” he slurred in outrage.

“Okay, three and a half fighters,” I amended.

“The ship’s not ready yet for either,” said Pete. “Ideally, we’d need a crew of triple our current size to operate it. We need to prepare for both. Lucas, you and Sebastian come with me to ready the cannons,” he said, taking command of the situation. His life was in danger and the running of a ship was something he knew well. It gave him the confidence to speak up amongst a superhuman group.

“What about me?” asked Elise.

“You and…,” Pete frowned at Daisy. “I don’t know your name.”

“It’s Daisy.”

“You and Daisy get on the deck and watch for threats. The ships could be a diversion and they have their own forms of flying.”

She begrudgingly nodded, though she couldn’t help but feel sidelined.

Pete told us to follow him. I glanced back at Hugo, who was fast asleep. He’d exhausted himself. There was nothing that he could do now. It was better to let him sleep unless it was time to jump overboard and swim.

I shuddered. Remembering what was in that water made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A last last resort for sure.

Sebastian and I followed Pete down below deck. Hemi had passed out in one of the nearby hammocks. I tried to wake him, but he would not stir. Just like Hugo.

Pete led us to a storeroom and handed us several crates with cannonballs and gunpowder. The cannons were locked onto these iron rail tracks to prevent them from rolling around while sailing. Pete showed us how to load and fire one, though he hesitated in handing over the supplies.

“Is this even going to work?” he asked. “I mean, there’s three of them and this is a cargo vessel. There’s no way we can take out all three ships and even if, by some miracle, we pull that off, there’s no way our ship isn’t sunk alongside them. Couldn’t you guys use your powers instead?”

Sebastian and I glanced at each other. “Pete, using the cannons is actually us being restrained. You saw Elise when she burned those other ships. She didn’t have a ship to lose then. If we start throwing magic out now, then they’ll throw it right back at us. We use the cannons to avoid that and hope that they do the same.”

Pete nodded, accepting the information but looking more troubled. “So we should focus on running?”

“Yes,” I replied. “The most likely outcome of a fight is some of us dead and the rest swimming back to shore and losing precious time in solving the door quest.”

Pete handed over the supplies. As Sebastian and I were preloading the cannons, Pete worked up the nerve to ask the real question that was on his mind.

“What’s it like being a tower climber and getting those powers?”

“Awesome and terrifying,” I grunted while working on the last cannon.

“Don’t listen to him,” Sebastian said. “As long as you avoid getting attached to anyone, being a tower climber can be an incredible experience.”

“When we first met, you were getting beaten up by a pig,” I reminded him.

Sebastian scowled and took another swig from his flask when he thought Pete and I weren’t looking.

I told Pete to stay out of sight below deck while Sebastian and I went topside to find Elise and Daisy at the edge of the deck, staring at the ships. They had stopped moving, but now the center ship was emitting a pulsating white light.

“What is it? Some kind of attack spell?” I asked.

“Is it getting bigger?” Sebastian asked.

We looked closer and saw that was growing larger by the second.

Curious for a better look, I ran up to the mainmast and climbed it to get into the crow’s nest. From there, I realized the truth.

The light wasn’t getting bigger, and it wasn’t some kind of weapon. It was a constantly rotating hexagonal tunnel made of white and crystal shards. But the four human shaped figures inside of it didn’t move. They merely waited as the tunnel extended from their ship to ours.

I warned the others via party chat and returned to the deck.

The tunnel was long enough that they could’ve fit their entire crew inside and used it to storm our ship. The fact that their number was so small suggested that they wanted to talk.

Elise tightened the grip on her staff.

“Let’s see what they have to say first,” I cautioned.

She gave a stiff nod, and we waited for the world’s most seizure inducing escalator to reach our ship.

Rather than stop short of our ship, the tunnel continued. It melted part of the wooden railing and absorbed it into the tunnel, where brown shards now mixed with the white.

The tunnel stopped, and the front of it retracted to reveal our guests. Three of the figures who’d come to parlay did not surprise me. But as the light faded, and they stepped onto our deck, I spied a fourth person that was smaller than the others, with dark skin and a shaved head. She was sweating profusely, which suggested she was the one who’d created the tunnel. Notably, she did not step onto the deck with the others.

I wonder if she needs physical contact with the tunnel to maintain it?

Carina, Kristoff, and Jason stepped forward, and I refocused on them. Each of them carried such a different demeanor that I wondered how they’d agreed to work together in the first place.  Carina was an unarmed blank mask who refused to look at me. Kristoff wore a contemptuous sneer and held a spear that caused the air around it to crackle. While Jason was wearing his metal armor and his attempt at a disarming smile.

“Why are you here?” Elise snapped.

His smile faltered, but he quickly recovered and made his offer. “We want you to reconsider joining us. You can hold on to the map, but this infighting doesn’t help anyone.”

“The infighting is the whole point,” I said, while not condoning it. Working together would have been preferable if I truly thought the offer was genuine. But it wasn’t. The System wouldn’t allow for it.

“It doesn’t have to be,” he said. He then gave me a pointed look. “And you don’t have to live up to that reputation that they gave you, either.”

What the hell does that mean?

“You could end this too,” said Elise.

“How?”

“Get back in your magic tunnel and leave. We’ll solve the quest and unlock the elevators and stairs for everyone. Then we can all keep descending together and there doesn’t have to be anymore bloodshed.”

Jason took a moment to seriously consider it. “You could still fail,” he said finally. “I’ve heard that the journey will be dangerous.”

“Getting secret tips from your patron?” asked Elise.

He looked away. “Not as such.”

“Really? They seem to have handed you everything else,” she said, her voice getting louder. “Gave you my company, a fleet of ships, and made you leader of the group.”

The other reacted at that. “He is not our leader,” Kristoff said. “We make decisions together.”

“What are you going to do when you reach the door?” I asked them. “Because you can’t all claim the prize. Do we really have to keep playing this charade as if you’re not all planning to backstab each other as soon as you get there?”

Jason glanced at Daisy and Sebastian. “The same can be said to you.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Sebastian said cheerfully. “I’m just helping out a friend. You can do whatever you want to Lucas.”

He looked at Daisy, who shrugged. “I like being on the winning team,” she said and refused to elaborate further.

Jason flashed them another irritating smile that probably worked more often than not. “Rewards can be negotiated.”

My eyes widened. His patron god was planning to pay off the others to keep them in line. But surely the System would step in at that point?

“Why are you fighting this?” Jason asked, turning back to me. “These are all powerful beings countless centuries older than us. This is the best that we can hope for. If we make ourselves useful to them, we can come out of this tower stronger than ever, with minimal casualties.”

I thought about Roland plunging a dagger into his heart. About Hugo’s brand being burned into him by Roan when he stepped out of line. Jason has only seen the good side of these gods. He hasn’t seen the cruelty, the casual violence. We’re just potential soldiers and servants to them and entertainment for the others who might be watching.

“How did it happen?” Carina asked me, switching to the topic I’d been hoping to avoid.

Jason grimaced. “Is this really the time to…”

She raised her hand, and he fell silent.

Carina was asking me how her brother had died. It had happened in a place that had been cut off from the rest of the tower. No one, not even the other gods, knew what had happened except for Samara and Persephone. Admitting the entire truth of what had happened would be a death sentence for me. Yakeshi and Samara had both been clear with me about that. No matter what, no one could know that I’d drank the blood of a sapient lifeform to gain its power. But details like that weren’t what Carina was really asking me.

“We fought each other,” I said. “It was a close, brutal fight that I barely won and he died thinking that he’d protected his friend.”

“And did he?” she asked quietly.

“No.”

Carina nodded, relieved that Martin was dead, but was still conflicted about her brother.

Nobody was really sure what to say or do at this point. We were at an impasse. Some of them were thinking about fighting, anyway. All three of them were working hard not to look in my direction. All wondering if they could take the map from me.

“Oma,” said Jason, addressing the woman holding the tunnel open. “We should go.” He then addressed us. “We’ll follow behind you at a safe distance in case you fail to reach the door. But you won the map fair and square. It’s only right that—”

Boom!

Cannons opened fire from our ship and theirs at the same time.

Jason frowned with a faraway look that said he was in his party chat interface.  

Pete Tavers: There was some kind of orange fish torpedo in the water. We both panic fired at it, but it ignored us and kept swimming out to sea. It was a false alarm.

Jason likely saw a similar message and was about to call for calm when Kristoff yelled out, “it’s a trap!”

Lightning from the storm struck his spear, charging it with power, and then all hell broke loose.   

Book 1 available now on Kindle, Audible, and Paperback