Chapter 35 – The Tower of Babel

Day 99 –

"Everybody strap yourselves in! We're coming in for a landing!" Neil shouted as they approached the sandy beach. Will, Mike, and Kara moved in off the wing and into the tight cockpit, normally reserved for just three people. They swooped down at a furious pace over the trees before making a hard turn to the left. They now traveled right over the beach. The plane touched down near the surf, hardly without any turbulence at all. Within a few minutes, the plane had come to a complete stop. It was an expert landing, one through which they had all held their breaths.

They feasted on fresh supplies of mushrooms and other vegetables, to go with their rations of bread and water that they had brought from Dao. The sun set in the west, and then the stars emerged amid a dark backdrop without a cloud in sight. It was a pretty sight, but amid the stars they had seen for the past ninety plus nights, there was a new piece of light, the light of the comet. Its light obscured that of the other stars in its path as it streaked across the sky. It was a grim reminder of what was coming their way.

Will was lying on the soft sand, looking to get some rest, when Kara leaned over to him. Everybody else was fast asleep.

"Will, if this is the end of the world, I'm glad to be spending my last days with you." She said.

"Don't speak like that." Will said. "We're going to be fine."

Kara nodded. "Thank you for saving me. Twice. No…three times."

"Actually it was only two. I can't take credit for the one at the Natives' Village. That was all Erik." Will said.

The words hung in the air, and they both laughed. "You think he would ever go into ruins on his own?" Kara asked sarcastically. They laughed again. Truthfully, even though Erik had taken a lot of abuse for his lack of courage, it was all in good fun. When push came to shove, Will knew that Erik always had his back. After all, along with Will and Kara, he had made it the entire journey from South Cape, something that no one else in the group could say. To make it through ninety nine days of hardship took a lot of guts.

That being said, it was doubtful that Erik would get closer to the Tower of Babel than viewing it from an airplane. Kara on the other hand, would be right by his side, the entire way. And for once, he was truly grateful for her presence. In many ways, she had shaped him and changed his life just as much as he had changed her. That night, Will had a dream about him and Kara on a tropical island somewhere, just having the time of their lives. They splashed around in the sea and lay out on the warm sand. When he woke up, Will vowed to make his dream a reality.

Day 100 –

"Are you ready to see your father again?" Anne and Mike asked from the cockpit.

"Yes. I just hope he's okay, wherever he is. That is all that matters now, that I get to see him alive and well. I'd do anything; give anything to see my father in good spirits."

"Neil, are we ready to go?" Kara asked. "Yes." Neil responded as he fired up the motor. The propeller began to spin, and before long they took off down the runway, before long they were airborne, and Neil turned the plane to the left out over the ocean. They were officially on their way toward Babel Island.

"What does the Tower of Babel look like?" Erik asked Will.

"It is a structure taller than anything ever created." Will said. It is literally hundreds, possibly thousands of feet high. You have to see it just to appreciate its massive size."

"Who was responsible for building it?" Anne asked.

"Legend has it that thousands of years ago, the ancient Babylonians attempted to build a tower high enough to reach into the heavens. They wanted to reach the heavens in order to form a connection between heaven and earth. According to legend, the Christian God saw what they were doing, and commanded them to cease building the structure. But his decree only strengthened the Babylonians' resolve, and they continued to build the tower. Eventually, the tower was nearing completion, but just as they were about to finish the top floor, God struck the tower with a vicious bolt of lightning. The people were scattered all about the Earth, and as a result of the lightning, spoke different tongues once they were scattered. The area around the tower was broken off from the main land of Babylonia and drifted southward, eventually settling in the middle of the ocean where it sits today."

"So by doing this, the Christian God made sure that the people would not come back together and complete the tower." Mike said.

"Something like that." Will said. He looked over to the left and noticed something in the distance. Neil saw it too, and called out from behind the wheel. "Tower of Babel, ahead on the left!"

The five other adventurers looked from the plane to the left, and indeed, approaching them was a gigantic stone tower, a solid cylinder stretching upward right out of the ocean. Neil put the plane into a dive, then turned it hard to the left. He leveled off below the tower's top height, and circled it in order to give everybody a bird's eye view of the spectacle of Babylonian might.

"There's really nowhere to land the plane on that little island." Neil said to Will. It's too rocky and there isn't enough space to land or take off. You'll have to parachute in."

Will turned to Kara as he grabbed two parachutes. Are you ready?" he asked. "Strap this on. After thirty seconds, press the red button, and the chute will open."

"Wow, we're going to jump! How exciting!" Kara shouted as she strapped on the parachute.

"Once you two are off, we'll head to South Cape to drop Erik, Anne, and Mike." Neil said as he turned the plane back around and they gained altitude. Will and Kara made their way to the end of the right wing. They approached the island again, and this time they were way above the top of the tower. It was time to go. "Good luck Will, good luck Kara," they all said as they jumped simultaneously. Kara let out a scream as they rocketed downward toward Babel Island.

Will dropped faster than did Kara, a result of air resistance. He was maybe about a thousand feet above the tower when he opened his chute. He looked upward and saw that Kara had already done the same, about a hundred feet or so above. They descended slowly and eventually landed on a rocky patch of moss and mixed vegetation.

"Now Kara, whatever you do, do not leave my sight." Will said sternly. "This place is the most dangerous ruin in the entire world. Let's go hand in hand."

Kara nodded. "Let's find Olman." She told Will.

They entered the tower. In the first room, they found a statue of Freedan, the Dark Knight. Further down the hallway was a passageway up to the second floor. But a strange bit of light blocked the doorway. Kara went toward it first and she walked right through it. Will followed, but he was immediately hit with a sharp pain in the stomach, and he was pushed backward onto the floor.

"Will, are you okay?" Kara asked. The blow was unexpected, and it certainly hurt. Will was a bit groggy as he got up. He had dropped his flute, and gingerly moved to retrieve it. That's when he noticed a blue crystal ring on the ground next to the flute. "Hey, what's this ring?" Will asked as he picked it up.

"I don't know." Kara asked. But I know it wasn't there before."

"It must have fallen from the flute." Will said. Then a thought rang into his head. "You don't suppose this is my father's crystal ring? The one that King Edward was looking for? Even Grandma Lola told me one time that it was dark blue."

"I think it is. And look at this." Kara said. "When I went through the light in the doorway a minute ago, I was wearing the light blue crystal ring I took from the Incan Gold Ship. I think that's why I was able to get through the doorway, it protected me. Here, watch." Kara took off her ring and put it on the floor. "Be careful Kara!" Will shouted. She reached her hand out toward the doorway, and once it hit the light, her hand recoiled.

Will put on the dark blue ring and reached out to the light. It no longer bothered him. And so it was, they were able to pass thanks to their jewelry. On the second floor was a jewel box, and inside it were two red jewels, giving Will the 49th and 50th of his journey. After putting them into his pack, he walked up to the third floor. There was a doorway there that appeared to lead into pitch darkness. Next to it was a spirit. Will moved forward and spoke to it. "Inside this room is the demon that you defeated previously. There are five of these rooms in all, and you must call on the Warrior of Light to defeat the demons. Once you are victorious, you may proceed to the next floor."

"I'll wait here." Kara said. Will entered the dark room. When he did so, he noticed that he was in a strange room, with darkness and stars of light flying around the room. In the center of the room was Castoth, the giant demon that he had defeated in the Incan Ruins. Before he could move a muscle, his consciousness began to fade. He transformed into Shadow, the Warrior of Light.

Fighting as Shadow, Castoth was an easier opponent than when he had fought him the first time. He attempted to attack with his monstrous hands and by shooting fireballs, but Shadow's long range wreaked havoc on the demon. Before long, Shadow had won the battle, and had transformed back. The whole room then appeared to get blurred and turned upside down.

The next thing Will knew, he was back in the Tower. "Very good." Kara said. "We can now move forward." And move forward they did, to the tower's fourth floor. On the fourth floor, there was another dark passageway. Will knew that a rematch with Viper was next.

He tried not to remember his first encounter with Viper, but when he looked into the eyes of the eagle demon, bad memories of hanging thousands of feet over the desert returned. This time though, there was no huge drop off a floating platform. Will, or more accurately, his new alter ego Shadow, would have the advantage. Viper opened up the battle by shooting needle-tipped feathers, but Shadow was able to dodge these and attack with his long arms. Viper flew up high and attempted to dive bomb the Warrior of Light, but Shadow turned into a puddle and avoided the attack. When he re-formed, he continued the attack. The eagle tried to counter by attacking with his razor-sharp talons, but Shadow was just too quick for Viper. A few more hits to the eagle's midsection and the battle was over. Shadow lost consciousness, and before he knew it, Will was standing back on the Tower's fourth floor. The next doorway was open.

When Will and Kara went through the doorway, they noticed it led them onto a balcony outside. They walked across the balcony, and after they turned the corner, Will noticed Viper again, perched on the railing.

"You dastardly demon!" Will shouted. "What do I have to do to defeat you?"

"You need not do any more." Viper said. "I have come to realize my transgressions. You are indeed the great warrior, the only one capable of saving this planet from certain destruction. Come, we must go to the top of the tower, before it is too late."

Will wasn't sure what to think. Viper was offering him and Kara a ride to the top, but he wasn't sure if it was a trap. After all, the eagle had twice attempted to kill him. He looked over to his left. The sun was starting to set. Knowing what Gaia had told him days earlier, he only had a few hours to climb the remainder of the tower. And they had a long way to go.

Will and Kara walked over to Viper, and the eagle took them in its talons. "You gave me your word, now do your best." He said. Viper took off and flew upward, past the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth floors. The eagle flapped hard but was clearly bristling with exertion. They reached the thirteenth level of the tower when Viper finally tired. He set them down on the floor and took off into the distance. "Good luck Will." The demon said as he flew away.

"Well, at least it got us this far." Kara said. Will was confused, but he let go of his thoughts.

Back inside the tower, Will came upon more darkness. A rematch with the Vampires loomed.

Shadow dodged a charged shot from the vampires. The fighting zone was cramped, unlike the first battle on the beaches of Mu. He had a difficult time dodging the attacks of his vampire attackers, most notably the shots of energy that seemed to fly in all directions. Worse yet, the vampires took to the air, making it difficult for Shadow to get close enough to attack.

The vampire man swiped at Shadow from short range, knocking him down. The vampire woman then came from behind and fired an energy shot that connected. Shadow was losing the battle and his stamina. Something had to be done. He took another energy shot from the vampire man, and became angered. He jumped high into the air and slammed him with his right arm. He then backed the vampire into the corner of the arena. Cornered, Shadow took swing after swing at him, rearranging his facial features. The vampire woman shot an energy blast at Shadow that missed, then came from behind and grabbed him in a sleeper hold. She then bared her fangs.

"Silvana! No!" The vampire man shouted. But it was too late. "Jack, this is for you!" The female vampire shouted as she took a bite of Shadow's pure comet-produced light. Instantly, the light poured into her insides, and she started to go crazy. Her body convulsed and fell to the ground, occasionally flopping around.

"What, how dare you do that to my wife! I'll never forgive you!" The vampire man shouted as he approached Shadow. They fought hard in close quarters, and both fighters dealt extreme damage to the other. Amid the punches, Shadow was able to push the vampire back, and was again able to corner him. This time, he did not fail to end the battle, driving his right arm repeatedly in the vampire's head to finish things. Shadow fell to his knees and blacked out.

Following the battle, Will and Kara moved farther up the tower. Noticing that his strength had been sapped to a large degree, Will nibbled on some medicinal herbs before heading into the fourth room of darkness. The sand fanger of China's Great Wall awaited, but Shadow had no trouble at all defeating the giant centipede. Following the battle, Will and Kara moved on to the fifteenth floor. On this floor there was a door leading into the inner core of the tower, and waiting for them were the two vampires, Jack and Silvana.

"You are a strong one." Jack said to Will.

"And so are you." Silvana said to Kara.

"A great evil threatens. Time is short, we must go to the top of the Tower of Babel." They both said in unison. Will and Kara did not have any time to react, and the vampires grabbed them at their waists. Ordinarily this would have caused them to panic, but after their encounter with Viper, they admired their former adversaries for burying the hatchet and helping them reach their goal. The vampires lifted off and carried them upward. Level after level zoomed by beneath them. Finally, at around level thirty-four or thirty-five, the vampires let them down on the floor.

"Ahead is your last adversary before reaching your goal. You're almost there." Jack said.

"Do not yield, and do not give up. We believe in you." Silvana said. Then they flew off into the distance of the tower's inner core.

Indeed one more matchup, this time with the Pyramid's mummified pharaoh, awaited Will. The battle was actually quite simple the second time around since he had fought as Shadow in the initial fight in the pyramid. Using many of the same tactics he employed in the pyramid, Shadow quickly disposed of the pharaoh and opened the way forward. Back in the tower, Will and Kara moved up to the Tower's thirty-sixth floor. Down the hallway, there was an entrance to a room on the right. They went into the room. It was a small room, with a very high ceiling. There was nothing in the room, except for a single skeleton. At this particular moment, Will heard a voice come from his flute.

"Will, it's me, Olman, your father." A white spirit came into view, hovering over the skeleton.