As we entered through the gates, some nearby torches in the entry hall lit up to illuminate the entrance. The torches appeared to float near the walls rather than hand from them. Several columns carved with ancient magic runes shot upward into an unseen ceiling. A shroud of darkness covered the back of the hall. The castle gates slammed shut behind us, leaving us in a semi-dark room.
"This hall is much larger than the one back at home," I said.
"Something tells me we're expected," Vegance said while pointing to a coat hanger beside the door.
"But we don't wear coats," I replied.
"It's Necril's idea of a joke, and his way of saying he's waiting for us," Rona said.
"I think he's trying to be hospitalious," Ryth said.
"Is that even a word?" Keia asked.
"Don't answer that question… Necril's never nice," Rona replied. "Let's finish this." Rona stepped forward a bit, causing more torches to light up. The rest of us followed after, and the torches behind us went out.
With some of the darkness dispelled now, we could see the end of the hall. A noticeably smaller door stood at the end. Dark iron knobs adorned the doors. Rona grabbed the knobs, twisted, and thrust the doors open violently. The doors flew open to reveal a rather large room with a towering circular pillar in the center. The sound of the doors slamming against the obsidian walls echoed throughout the room. Around the room, soft torchlights emerged to light our way. Rona led us in cautiously.
Upon further examination, I noticed an open doorway in the central pillar. Rona pointed to it and said, "That entrance leads up into the main turret. Well, to the base of it anyways…" I looked around even further and noticed extra doorways leading off into the darkness. Then, something, occurred to me.
"How come we haven't been attacked yet?" I asked. "I was expecting heavy opposition…"
"Necril's expecting us, that's why. Besides, he probably figured the gate defenses would be more than enough."
"He's underestimated us then."
"Before we head up, there's something I want to check first," Rona said.
"Um, okay." Rona led us to the left to one of the other doorways. This one was open, as though inviting us in. It led to another dark hall; however, this one lacked lighting.
"I need to check the Darkling storage," Rona said. "It's where Necril kept his unused prototypes and unfinished projects… I need to see if indeed he was working on another superweapon, and destroy it."
"Why no lights?" Ceae asked.
"Darkling storage… Most of the more powerful experiments can't stand the light." Rona stopped some way down the hallway and threw open a door. Rows upon rows of tanks containing green liquid and several black masses filled the room. Typical of a common Necromancer, I would say. The tanks were enough to cause the room to glow with an eerie green light. I walked up to one of the nearby tanks and took a look inside: it seemed as though Necril did a little bit of work here and there on the body because a finished arm, part of a shoulder, the start of a leg, and a torso filled with holes were all that existed. No parts were even attached.
"This room is constantly being expanded to fit all of Necril's experiments, whether they are finished, in progress, or failed. He keeps at least one of every idea in here."
"How many are there?" I asked.
"Look at the size of this room… Hundreds. I need to see if there are any more attempts like me."
"Where would that be found?" Ryth asked.
Rona pointed down the aisle. "Way in the back, with the newer experiments." Rona squeezed in between two of the tanks and started shuffling towards the back of the room. I allowed everyone else to go ahead of me because I wanted to take my time and examine the tanks. I filed in behind everyone else, but stopped every now and then to look through the glass.
One case held a Spawn, seemingly lifeless as it floated in the green liquid. There were several tubes and wires attached to it to monitor its health. In a tank across from it was another creature that resembled a Spawn, but this one was not attached: its arms and legs drifted aimlessly because it was unfinished. It was a failed experiment in my eyes.
Further down, there were higher classes of Darklings. In one tank, there was a Darkling with a heavily built body and wings with webbing. Drilled into its shoulders were large guns, rusted from age. An image came to mind of a group of these creatures flying through the sky and raining terror upon their targets.
I moved to the next tank, one of the largest in the room. This tank contained one of the most muscular Darklings I had ever seen. It had to have been at least seven feet of pure muscle. I noticed a sort of device on its back, possibly a mortar launcher or jetpack of some design.
While moving from tank to tank, I heard a quiet gasp in the back of the room. I also heard someone say "By Rysta…" I hurried to the back and towards the others.
"What happened?" I asked. Rona pointed into a tank everyone was gathered around. It had not occurred to me earlier, but inside was a being that closely resembled Rona. Looking down the row, every tank was filled with a similar copy of Rona.
"Whoa… Looks like Necril's been busy," I pointed out.
"Yes… It looks like he's been building clones of me to create an unstoppable army," Rona said.
"I have a feeling he can't release them until the cloud cover is stretched all the way to the CentraCity," Ryth said.
"He can't release them… Ever." Rona drew his sword and smashed the glass on the first tank. The liquid inside poured out all over the floor. Much to my distaste, Rona cut all the wires from the Darkling's body and proceeded to slide the body into small pieces. These pieces slid out onto the floor, in which Rona promptly lit them on fire. The tank itself lost its greenish glow and became dark. I backed up a bit.
"Um, wow," I mumbled. "Is the overkill necessary?"
"I'd rather the bodies not get back up." Rona glared at the next tank. "I'll destroy them all…"
"Rona…" Vegance put her hand on Rona's shoulder. "Just leave them… Necril can't release them if he's dead."
"Can't be too careful…"
"Rona!" Vegance shouted. Her eyes were filled with anger. "Just let it go! Please… You need to learn to control yourself."
Rona's eyes were wide. He was silent for awhile and then put his sword away. "Yeah… Okay… Whatever you want."
'That's a shock… Rona, giving in to a girl?' I thought to myself. I had imagined Rona would be the last to change for anyone.
"Okay, so we've found what you were looking for… Can we finish what we were here for?" Ceae asked. "I really wanna go home."
"Sure." Rona took us out of the room, down the dark hallway, and back into the large room with the circular pillar. Instinctively, he drew us to the front of the pillar and then stopped.
"This is our way up… The teleporter. You may experience some uncomfortable feelings, but that should clear before long." I looked into the hollow pillar. There was a small pad with a Necromantic Pentagram etched into it. I looked up above it to notice there was no ceiling, but an endless shadow instead.
"How does it work?" I asked.
"Just stand on it." I nodded and put one foot on the teleporter. I half-turned to face everyone, and then put the other foot down. I felt a rush of wind, and then a perpetual darkness covered me. With my eyes open, it was as though they were closed. I tried blinking, but that did not clear my vision. Then, I felt an upward lurch (as though on one of those elevators) and everything came back to me. I was now alone in a small square room. I could see a dark carpet leading off into an unseen hallway. I stepped off the pad and into the room itself. Two torches lit up the entire room. I whipped around as a hissing sound came from the teleporter. Keia was now standing on the teleporter pad. She stepped off and greeted me with a friendly smile.
"This is amazing!" I proclaimed.
"What is?" Keia asked.
"Teleporters… I never though they could be built… I mean, fox spirits have the natural ability to teleport… But machines using magic, to relocate people? With something like this, we may be able to finally search the outside boundaries of Draconia!"
"You get too excited sometimes… You're such a nerd, Cryos…"
"But just think about it… We could explore new lands! Imagine all the possibilities…"
"It would be great, but… How do you plan to accomplish that?"
"I'll build one myself… Perhaps a portable one, so that two-way teleportation will be available anywhere! I'll need an assistant, though…"
"You could try Ryth… He's pretty smart, and he has previous experience." Another hissing sound was heard from the teleporter. Ceae came through, followed by Vegance.
"Well, this is it… Climb this tower to the top, and Necril will be there for us," Vegance said.
"Guys, I have a bad feeling," Ceae said.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Keia asked.
"I have a feeling that something very bad is going to happen…"
"A lot of bad things are going to happen," I said, "but don't let the thought hold you back." Another hissing noise was heard as Ryth stepped off the pad.
"That's gotta be the first time I have ever teleported without effort," Ryth said. "That gives me a great idea…"
"If it has anything to do with building a teleporter, Cryos already has that covered," Keia said.
"Really?" Ryth glanced over at me.
"Yeah… I could use some help with it… We can discuss this after the job's done."
"Okay." Rona appeared from nowhere behind Ryth.
"Alright, let's move," he said. Ryth jumped up in the air and did a 180-spin.
"What, no teleporter?"
"Why bother? I'm perfectly capable of teleporting myself." Rona walked past us all and stopped in front of the hallway shrouded in darkness. "There is a variety of rooms beyond here leading up to the peak… Put your game faces on because this may be the most challenging venture yet."
I nodded. "Let's finish this." I ran ahead of Rona and into the darkness. I did not give anyone else a chance to agree or disagree because I just wanted to be done with this…
The hall was surprisingly long. There was a short flight of stairs leading up to the next floor, and then a door leading into the center. I threw open the door hurriedly and almost rushed into the room. I stopped myself and grabbed the doorway when I saw there was no floor!
"What's the holdup?" Keia asked me from behind.
"T-there's no floor!" I told her. I stared down into the bottomless abyss, my heart pounding wildly as that may have easily been my death. I looked across the room to see a door suspended in air on the other side. Keia walked beside me and stood on her toes to see down into the endless shadow.
"Wow… What to do?"
"Rona, how—" Rona walked up behind me and pushed me through the doorway! I screamed as I fell through into the room. So many things flashed through my head, especially images of falling, dying, hitting the bottom… I continued shouting for dear life, until Rona grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me to my feet. I looked around in shock and confusion. I was standing, but I could not see on what. The abyss was just below my feet.
"The floor's unseen… Meant to deter people who've made it this far," Rona said. Keia, Vegance, Ceae, and Ryth were already crowded around. "Look." Rona pointed to a plaque on the wall. There was a diagram depicting several squares and a certain "path" hanging from the wall. "Now you have to worry about falling. Each square represents one step. Be careful not to overstep."
"Yeah, not to worry… Nothing can scare me more than almost plummeting to my death," I retorted.
"Just pay attention to the diagram, and you should be fine." I glanced over at the mural on the wall. From the start, there were eight squares forward, then a left turn and four squares to the wall. I followed this path carefully, watching my feet and counting out my steps. I looked at the diagram again and read to turn right and follow the wall for five steps, then turn right again and head three steps towards the far wall. I almost lost count before the right turn, but I recovered and continued. I stopped to look at the diagram again.
"Left turn, three steps, right turn, seven." I looked up at the far wall. The diagram was asking that I head to that wall. I stopped, took the right turn, and ran to the wall. The final steps were easy: follow the wall to the corner, turn left, and follow the wall to the door.
When I reached the door, I immediately opened it and leapt onto solid ground. I sighed a breath of relief and took a moment to recollect myself. Much of the time in that room, I was holding my breath.
Rona entered after me and gave me a hard pat on the back. "Good work."
"Yeah… That was easier than I thought," I gasped. Ryth, Vegance, and Keia stepped out into the hallway as well. Ceae was last, however, just when he got to the door, it snapped shut! The door slammed shut right in his face.
"Ceae!" I flew to the door and tried to open it. It had locked itself! I banged on the door, hoping to get a response from Ceae. "Ceae!" I shouted again. There was silence. I turned to face everyone who had made it through. "Why? How do we help him?"
"We don't," Rona said. "This isn't just the tower… It's the Tower of Sacrifice. Every room leading upwards is meant to take away someone… It's meant to turn everyone against each other, by having us all join for a common goal and then splitting us up…"
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I shouted with rage. I turned back to face the door. "You kept it from us, for a reason, didn't you?"
"No… I figured you'd figure it out yourself."
"Yeah? Well now, Ceae's gone!" I hung my head. "He's not going to die, is he?"
"He shouldn't… He should be released when we defeat Necril."
I stood silent for a moment. Then, I sighed. "We have no choice but to move forward, do we?"
"After the first chamber, you can't go back… We have to finish this."
For another moment, I was silent. "Then we do it for Ceae."
"For Ceae!" everyone but Rona shouted.
I began up the stairs. "Let's finish what we started."
I was thankful the next chamber had a floor. Surprisingly, this room was white instead of obsidian like the other rooms we had been in. A row of mirrors covered one wall, and another row of mirrors was on the other wall. The single light in the center of the room reflected off of the many mirrors.
"What's up with this room?" Keia asked.
"In this room, you'll be able to see into your soul, but will you be able to face your inner self?" Rona asked.
"Is that supposed to be a riddle?" Vegance asked Rona.
"It's supposed to be the truth," Rona replied.
"Is Necril full of himself?" I asked. "He sure has a lot of mirrors…"
"Cryos, it's another room of sacrifice," Rona said. "Only one person should step into the mirror chamber at a time. And, only that person can face their inner fears…"
"Let me go first," I volunteered. I stepped into the middle of the room. There were no reflections in the mirrors at first. Then, all of the mirrors tilted to face me. My reflection appeared in every mirror, an image of my back turned. I looked from one mirror to another, until the figure in the mirrors turned around. In one hand, he held a dagger, and in the other was a diagram of Draconia's physical map.
"Draconia? In my hands?" I thought for a second. "Why a dagger? Is that how I really think?" The image of me developed an evil grin. He looked to the map and then reared his dagger back and thrust it through the map. With the dagger sticking through the map, blood started to pour from the hole that had been made. I gasped and tried to back away from the images of me killing Draconia. I backed up until I hit one of the mirrors behind me. An arm emerged from behind and grabbed me around the neck. I struggled and twisted my head to the side to face the others; instead, an expanse of white had replaced them.
The arm around my neck pulled tighter and another hand pushed me out into the center of the room. The arm was black and white and held a dagger. The image of me had become real!
"Can't you see what you're doing?" The shadow had my voice. "Your actions are like thrusting a knife into the heart of Draconia… You aren't saving the world, only destroying it from the inside out."
"Ngg… No!" I fought to get the word out. I bent over quickly and threw all the weight I had into my back. I flipped my shadow over me and onto the ground. I backed away and drew my sword. My shadow rose slowly up off the floor. He smiled and let out a terrifying laugh.
"You're blind… Many others have had this feeling as well… You are destroying your home!" The shadow drew his own sword. "I will do the world a favor by taking away the demon that plagues it!" My shadow charged at me with his sword in front of him. I rolled out of the way and swung at him as I leapt to my feet. He knocked away my sword with his and punched me in the mouth with his other hand. I stumbled backwards into another mirror. Again he charged at me. This time, I grabbed his sword by the blade and, fighting against the pain it caused me, lifted him up and threw him into one of the mirrors. Strangely enough, he went through the mirror to become a reflection again. I watched him roll along the ground before standing back up. He ran towards the mirror (which seemed to act as a portal at this point) and returned to our battlefield. He swung at me and I locked my sword with his. He was stronger, however, and he pushed me up against a wall.
"Face it, Cryos… You can't hide what's inside…"
"Yes, but I can fight against it and do what I feel is right!" A sudden burst of strength ran through my arms and I pushed my shadow near one of the mirrors. I pulled away and kicked him in the stomach. He flew back into the mirror-world, and then I smashed the mirror with a kick. I waited for a second, but nothing happened. I looked into the mirror next to the one that I had smashed, and the only reflection was of the real me. I smiled, and so too did my reflection. A small black section of floor appeared at the point where I imagined was the hallway to the next floor. I stepped into the circle. The world started to fade away, and as it did, I could hear the others cheering.
"That was awesome!" Ryth shouted. He was standing on the other side of the room with the others.
"Okay, just wait there until everyone else finishes," Rona instructed. I nodded.
"I'll go next," Vegance offered. She stepped into the mirror chamber, and again the world faded. I could watch as she confronted herself. The mirrors tilted to focus on her. She looked around for a bit and then an image appeared in the mirrors. It was of the Draconian Plains at night. Soldiers of the DPF were fighting Spawns and other Darklings across the battlefield. I saw one glimpse of Rona before a wave of black, and then I saw Vegance in her Darkling form. She mercilessly cut down a few soldiers and bathed in the shower of blood created from their corpses. I was mesmerized by the sight, just one of those things that bothers you to watch it but you just can not look away. Darkling Vegance ripped one man's arms off and tossed them aside. Then, she turned to face Vegance and stepped out of the mirror. Vegance wore an expression of shock and horror.
"This isn't me… This was nearly twenty years ago," Vegance pleaded.
"No… This is as recent as it gets," Darkling Vegance told her. "Every moment, you subconsciously dream of gore and bloodshed and death… Because it is you. Because it is who you are…"
"No," Vegance stated calmly. "That is what I used to be… But I have changed myself… I'm for what is right…"
"You can't deny what you feel. Violence for 'what is right' is still gore and bloodshed and death to you… You haven't changed yourself… Only changed the direction you assert your anger."
"I'm not angry!" Vegance shouted. "I'm not angry… For twenty years, I ran and hid to avoid violence… Only to be brought back into it… But instead of meaningless killing, I'm doing it now to protect the innocent… Now, I have found love… I have changed…"
Darkling Vegance circled around Vegance. "But deep down inside, your fire is still alight… When properly stoked, that fire will rise up again and lead to death and violence… How much can you take?" Vegance stood very still. Darkling Vegance ran one claw down Vegance's cheek, producing a small stream of blood. "Vegance… Your name is 'Vengeance' without the 'N' and the 'A…' It is what you live by."
Vegance slowly reached into her jacket. "If that is the case… May my vengeance be to protect the ones I love!" Vegance whipped her hands outward, producing both of her daggers, and pinned Darkling Vegance to the wall. Vegance jammed one dagger through her shadow's head and into the wall, and then used the other to cut open her shadow's stomach. She sliced another wound next to that one, creating a V-shaped mark. "I am willing to kill what I used to be to become what I want to be…" With one more motion, Vegance sliced through the neck of her squirming shadow. Darkling Vegance fell limp and hung from the wall where Vegance had stuck her. Vegance pulled her dagger from the wall and put both of them away. She then came over to join me.
"Wow… I think Rona will be proud of you," I said to her as she stepped into the circle with me. The scenery faded and we were returned to the white room.
"I'm not just fighting for me anymore… I'm fighting for the world," Vegance said. Across the room, the other three were deciding who to go next. Finally, Ryth separated himself from the others. He walked into the center of the room and stood before the mirrors. They tilted to focus on him, and for awhile, nothing happened. Then, an image finally appeared. Ryth held Rysta's staff and stood watch over the Heaven-Realm from Rysta's palace. A puzzled look came over Ryth's face as he examined the images of him. His reflection, whose back had been turned, turned around to look at Ryth. A voice echoed throughout the room.
"You say you selflessly help others… How you don't expect anything in return… But secretly, you want so much… You're tired of being led around… You desire power…"
"No I don't," Ryth said.
"Don't deny it… You don't care about others because they don't give you what you want… You help and you help and you help… What's in it for you? Nothing!" The image of Ryth stepped out of its mirror. "As a ruler, a god… You will have everything you want… If so desired, you could help everyone… But that's not what you want. What you really want is all control… So you can do as you please, and lead…"
"No… No… I want to help, yes, but… If I had power, I could never help anyone but myself… That's not my goal in life…"
"How can you say that, with images like these in front of you?"
"Because I know it's true."
Ryth's shadow pushed Ryth lightly. "Show me." He pushed Ryth again, but this time it was harder. "Show me that you don't desire power!"
Ryth pushed his shadow back. "I don't want power!" His shadow slammed against a wall. He smiled an evil smile and pushed himself away from the wall.
"Do you feel that? The anger, the adrenaline rush… It feels great, doesn't it? That is power… By fighting me, you are asserting your dominance, showing how much you want your own way…"
"Shut up."
"Oh? Anger? Ryth, control your temper…"
"No! I won't let you take me from the light!" Ryth drew his katana and ripped through his shadow. His shadow dissipated and reappeared behind him.
"You're like everyone here… Letting anger get the best of you, and taking it out on yourself…" Ryth's shadow faded away. Ryth put away his katana and stepped over to join Vegance and I.
"I'm right… I'm no different than people who take the path of darkness because I still let my anger take hold, and I always let it out on myself," Ryth said.
"Not true," Vegance said. "You fight for what's right… You've demonstrated so many characteristics of a hero."
"Yeah… Without you keeping Rona on track, he'd still be lost," I pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right… But that desire for power…"
"Every Hero goes through that at some point in time… It's normal, especially when everyone holds you in high regards…"
"Then I'll just learn to control myself." Ryth smiled.
Now, only Rona and Keia remained. I saw Rona try to push Keia into the room, but she pulled back and refused to move. Instead, they talked about it and Rona went in her stead. Rona placed himself in the center of the room. He looked around as though in a courtroom being judged for a crime. The mirrors tilted and focused on Rona. In an instant, the entire room went dark. A voice much darker than Rona's echoed before there were any images.
"Rona… Your deepest desire is easy… You want to return to the old days of killing, massacre, and destruction…"
"I can't lie… I've thought about it on several occasions, but I've never had the chance to really kill that part of me…" Rona lowered his head and closed his eyes. The image of Rona in his Darkling armor appeared before Rona. The figure was in full color and glowed with dark energy.
"Then what keeps you from destroying everything? Your 'brother?' He has no control over you unless you give it to him."
"Power was my weakness," Rona said. "Sometimes, it's right to give up things for your friends… Sacrifices need to be made sometimes."
"What do you care about sacrifices? You killed innocent people… Killed for fun… Were they sacrifices? I think not…"
"Do you really want to do this? You know I've changed enough to more than overcome my past… I know what's right, so to me, you are nothing but a ghost of my past."
"In that, you are correct… What do you feel is right?"
"Living with both the past and the present… So long as I don't forget my past, I can never relive it."
"You are a hard one to break sometimes… No one can do more damage to you than yourself. I refuse to fight you because you just aren't worth my time." Darkling Rona disappeared, and the darkness went with him. Rona walked over to join us.
"You make it look easy," I said.
"What can you expect?" Rona asked. "You, Ryth, and Vegance have all changed me… I owe you all."
"No problem," I said.
"So, what's Keia's problem?" Vegance asked.
"We're about to find out…"
Keia stepped into the center of the mirror chamber. The mirrors all focused on her. For awhile, a long while, the room was silent. There were no reflections either. Finally, an image appeared in each mirror, but not of Keia. There was an image of me hanging my head in sadness. Ceae too, as well as Vegance, Ryth, and Rona. We all hung our heads and stared away from Keia. One by one, we turned our backs on her. Then, a female voice echoed around the chamber.
"What you're becoming will tear you from your friends," the voice said. "You're worthless… Shameful… Nothing more than a castle slave. You won't get anywhere with Cryos… He's royalty!"
"Don't say that!" Keia shouted out. "I know he loves me…"
"Him? Who seeks to destroy the world you live in? He doesn't care."
"Not true!" I shouted. I tried to run into the chamber, but an invisible wall stopped me.
"I have faith in him…" Keia whispered.
"You need faith in yourself before you'll have faith in anyone." A copy of Keia appeared, only similar in body shape. She wore black and dark eye makeup. Her hair was black as midnight, only made so in contrast to her pale skin. "Unlike anyone else, your enemy is you, but something different entirely… My name is Drusilla, your dark side, and I have always been with you."
Keia remained where she was. "Drusilla? I've never heard of you before…"
"Because I reside within you," Drusilla said. "I am you, like it or not. Your selfish dreams from childhood led to my existence. All because you couldn't take being beneath the world…"
"But I've found out that being a prince wasn't so great either…"
"Yet, you stick close to just ending it now to release yourself from everything that's going on. You realize that'll kill me too? You can't take innocent lives, can you?"
"No…" Keia whimpered.
"What is she talking about?" I whispered. Ryth shrugged.
"Perhaps I should give you your wish for you then," Drusilla said in a dark tone.
"No!" Keia shouted. "I'm past that now! I want to live!" Keia pulled back her arm and delivered a blow to Drusilla's face. The thump was loud and echoed throughout the silent room. Drusilla took the hit without moving. She looked up, her eyes dark, but a smile crossed her face.
"The more you fight back, the more you feed your anger… The stronger I become. I was born of your hatred, Keia, and I will continue to feed from it…"
Keia clenched her fists. Was it possible for her to fight back? Every act of violence would only play against her. "Just go away… Let me live my life…"
"This, coming from the same girl who lived off me for much of her childhood? I am one of the reasons you still live…" Drusilla laughed. "Do you possibly think you stand chance? You never had a fighting spirit… Only the will for someone to fight for you…"
"Just leave me alone…" A tear rolled down Keia's cheek. "Let me live… I'm through with anger…"
"Now you're upset because this is the truth… You're upset to be here… Upset to have to face all of this… Bitter, because so long as there is darkness, Cryos is in danger…"
"I said leave me alone whore!" Keia shouted. She took the role of Drusilla by grabbing her clone by the hair and throwing her to the ground. Before Drusilla had a chance to get up, Keia was by her side. Keia crammed her foot into Drusilla's stomach in an attempt to silence her. However, Drusilla caught Keia's leg and pulled her to the ground. Keia's head hit against the wall and left her sitting on the ground in a daze.
"I'll give you what you wanted for so long," Drusilla mumbled and pulled out a twisted dagger. Immediately, I desperately tried to get into the chamber. Rona grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back.
"Cryos, it's an illusion!" Rona shouted. "Nobody really gets hurt… But this is her sacrifice! She'll return when Necril's been defeated!"
"No!" I struggled to get free, but Rona was stronger than I. "I have to help her!"
"Cryos!" Drusilla knelt down beside Keia and brushed the dagger down Keia's body. I continued to struggle, reaching for the wall or something to hold on to and pull free. Rona was dragging me back out of the chamber. In her final moments, Keia turned her head to me and moved her lips to say something. I took it as "I'm sorry." Drusilla reared her arm and violently plunged the dagger through Keia's chest. Keia's eyes widened and she let out a powerful scream with the last of her energy. A chill ran down my spine and all throughout my body. My heart leapt two or three times. I stopped struggling and let myself go. Rona pulled me away effortlessly. I caught one last glimpse of Drusilla's evil smile as I was pulled out into the dark hallway. She had won…
When Rona let go of me, I slumped down on the ground. I could not stand because my legs had become too wobbly. I did not feel like trying either. Actually, I just wanted to stay here until I died myself…
"Cryos… Remember where we are… The Tower of Sacrifice," Vegance said. "You were bound to lose her somewhere along the way…" She knelt down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. "She'll be back… Hurry, and you can defeat Necril and get everything under control…"
"It looked real… It felt real… The words, the anger, the emotions… Even the blood and pain… That can't be an illusion." I stared at the floor.
"Necril has taken your greatest fear and used it against you to discourage you from moving forward… If you give up now, you'll never get her back… He'll have won."
I fell silent and continued staring at the floor. Then, a burst of hope ran through me and empowered me. I imagined a future with Keia, but if that were to happen, I needed to act now. I used this power of hope to raise myself up off the floor and back to my feet. For dramatic effect, I popped my neck and stretched. A desire for revenge burned in my eyes.
"Let's get this down… For Draconia!" I shouted.
"For Draconia!" Rona, Ryth, and Vegance repeated together. I ran headfirst into the dark hallway… Not just for Draconia, but for Keia as well…
The next room was basic: square, dark like the rest (minus the mirror chamber), but fairly large. There was a ledge around the outer perimeter of the room with a metal staircase leading up to a platform suspended by chains above the center of the room. I glanced up at that platform for only a second. Something moved, and I pointed up.
"There… Something moved," I said. The other three looked up at the platform.
"I don't see anything," Ryth said.
"I do," Rona stated. While we were staring up at the ceiling, the door slammed shut behind us. I was used to this by now, so it did not bother me. What did bother me, however, was the fact that several black shadows formed in the dim light of the room. Many were Spawns, which was alright. The four of us drew our weapons and split off. The room was cleared quickly… I stood with a triumphant smile on my face. My smile faded in a second, though, as a blinding pain shot through my arm. The pain was enough to cause me to drop my sword, clutch my shoulder, and fall to my knees. I pulled my hand from my shoulder for a second. My blood was all over my hand. A black shard of something was sticking out of my arm. I looked up at the platform: a pair of glowing white eyes met mine.
"They're acting as snipers!" I shouted. Ryth moved over to me.
"Cryos! Are you alright?" he asked me.
"They're acting as snipers!" I repeated and nodded towards the platform above.
"Here." Ryth moved my hand from my shoulder and put his hand there in its place. The familiar burning sensation from before came back as the black shard was dislodged from my shoulder. My wound was healed, despite the pain it caused me.
The room had been cleared of Spawns again, but the door still did not open. Larger masses appeared this time. Three Nightmares soon surrounded us. Rona was quick to act.
"It would be best if the four of us focus on one Nightmare at a time," Rona said. "Splitting up will do no good."
"One at a time? We need a distraction for the other two," I said.
Ryth raised his hand. "I'll do it!" While Rona, Vegance, and I focused on one of the Nightmares together, Ryth ran off to bother the other two. Using his sword, he cut a notch into their legs to turn them away from us. I attacked our target first, just barely dodging a swing of its arm. The Nightmare's fist pounded into the ground. The impact left a small crater in the floor. I looked up into the Nightmare's eyes. I had never imagined a Darkling to be twice my size. Rona leapt up into the air and slashed his sword down the middle of the Nightmare's head as he flipped over it. The Nightmare, though its head split in two, was still capable of fighting.
"Do we have to dismember these things?" I asked.
"Very likely," Rona mumbled. Vegance sat back and fired bolts of electricity at the Nightmare. One struck, in with the Nightmare promptly fired back. Vegance, hit by her own magic, was flung backwards. Rona took the opportunity to lop off an arm. The Nightmare froze for a second and then knocked Rona way with the other arm. Rona hit a wall and his sword flew out of his hand. I caught it in midair. Rona looked up from the ground as though suspecting me to finish it. I nodded. I leapt up into the air, did a spin, and with my sword cut off the other arm. With Rona's sword, both of the legs were taken from the Nightmare, and its body fell to the ground. I ran over to return Rona's katana and help him up. Vegance was already on her feet.
"Nice," Rona said. Our moment of rest was short, however, as two more black masses formed.
"We kill one, and two come?" I asked in surprise.
"Guys, go!" Ryth shouted to us. "I'll distract them all!"
"Good luck Ryth!" I replied. "Rona, bust down the door!" Rona moved up to the door and pulled it from the wall.
"We're breaking a few rules here… Maybe Ryth can catch up," Rona said. "There's one more room ahead." I nodded and lead us down the hall. The sounds of Ryth battling in the previous room echoed throughout the hallway…
The final room was huge. Mostly empty space, this room reminded me of the first. The floor was non-existent except for a narrow walkway from one end of the room to the other. A pyramid-shaped structure rose up in the center of the room from the bottomless abyss. The narrow walkway ran through the center of the pyramid. Around the top of the pyramid was a square platform suspended by iron rods attached to the top of the pyramid. A round tube ran out of the top of the pyramid and into the bottom of the square platform.
"What is this room used for?" I asked.
Rona nodded towards the pyramid. "I don't know what the pyramid is for, but I remember this room…" Rona looked to Vegance. "This room is where Necril would artificially create a representation of Draconia's night sky… This was also the room where Vegance and I were introduced."
"Why would Necril have a room to create stars in, though?"
"Perhaps one way of studying the darkness… The stars influence us, especially the Darklings… By artificially creating them, he could study the effects of starlight on us… And better predict the future."
"I think the starlight helped to change Rona," Vegance said. "They say that the stars are the lights of Rysta's Angels and messengers… Perhaps one star glowed brighter for Rona.
"Ryth," I said.
"Exactly."
"So, how is this room a sacrifice chamber?" I asked.
"Someone needs to stay behind and shine the lights on top of the pyramid for us," Rona replied.
"Let it be me," Vegance said. "You and Cryos should go on ahead together."
Rona and I looked to each other. "No problem," I said. The three of us walked along the stone bridge to the center of the room, where the pyramid awaited us. Once inside the pyramid, I could see that the tube running out from the center was another elevator.
"I need to get an elevator installed in the CentraCity Castle," I said. "Climbing the castle stairs takes forever."
We took the elevator up to what Rona called the "Observation Deck." From up there, we could stare down into the bottomless black from the railing of the platform. Up above was just as devoid of light as the bottom. A small beacon light sat at each corner of the platform. At one railing was a master control for the lights.
"I know how to use this," I said as I laid my hands on the control panel. A few switches and sliding mechanisms adorned the surface. I flicked the switches that were used to control the beacon lights. Each one came on and shined into the darkness. The lights did not shine on anything in particular, however, so the light went on forever.
"We need the lights to shine overhead in the center of the platform," Rona said. "It's a simple trick… The illusions in this room make the darkness and the light reversed. Light will shine on light, believe it or not."
"Huh?"
"Just help us turn these lights," Vegance demanded. Rona and I took either side of the platform, two lights each, and turned them inward towards the center. Vegance worked the master switches to adjust them as was necessary. Soon, all four beacon lights struck each other in midair, forming a sphere of light in the air. Vegance worked the switches quickly to shut off the lights. The sphere of light remained where it was above us. Then, the light scattered and became stars all around us. Many twinkled and flashed, and others were too far off to be seen clearly. I stared in awe at the simulated night sky.
"These stars are like our Destinies," Rona said. "Each star represents an event or secret desire… The brighter ones are the dreams we hold closest to us, and the dimmer stars are those things we want to accomplish but just can't in a lifetime… In a way, they represent life itself… Everyone is a star, and the dim ones fade away with time…"
I turned to look at Rona. "That's pretty deep."
"This was the room I first met Vegance in… I saw a star that was so close, I could have grabbed it… Now, she's right here."
"Aww…" Vegance blushed. "That's very sweet…"
The sound of a door opening was heard. I looked to see that it was the way out. "Well, Vegance, you're going to stay behind, right?" I asked.
"Yeah…"
"Enjoy your time with the stars," Rona said.
"You two be careful," Vegance told us.
"It should go well," I said.
"Good luck." Rona and I took the elevator back down into the pyramid. We crossed the rest of the way to the open door and headed into the next hallway…
This next hallway wound upwards in a long square spiral. It was mostly stairs leading upwards. At one point, Rona stopped us and put his hand on a metal door on the way up.
"This room was used as a training room for lesser Darklings, where they would battle each other either for dominance or to prove themselves in me and Vegance's eyes. Vegance and I practically headed this room… We broke many Darklings down and rebuilt them for our army…"
"Is it still in use?" I asked.
"I'm not sure… It would be best to avoid this room… We need to get up into the lab."
"Necril has a lab?"
"Yes. It's where I was created…" Rona and I continued up the stairs until the hallway ended at another metal door. Rona pushed it open and we stepped inside. Rona was careful to close the door behind us.
This room had a high ceiling and was made of shaped iron (much unlike the obsidian of the rest of the tower). Various contraptions and overhanging lights surrounded a center slab of metal. More overhanging lights gave the room a sort of eerie glow. There was a railing above on a second floor overlooking this room. A tinted glass window resided over the railing.
"This is Necril's laboratory," Rona told me. "It's small, but all he ever does is study the darkness."
I glared at the tinted window. "He watches this room? Doesn't he ever build Darklings himself?"
"Not usually… He built a few Darklings trained to do it for him… With more than one working on his experiments, the job gets done faster."
"What about with you?"
"I was built all by his hands… He couldn't risk failure."
I looked to a door on the opposite side of the room. "That leads to the top, doesn't it?" I asked while pointing to the door.
"Yes." Rona walked with me to the door. "This door leads to the top of the Keep… I can't come with you."
I bowed my head to the floor. "Then this is it… No turning back… We've come all this way to the end… What happens from now on…determines the future of our world." I lifted my head back up. "Thanks Rona, for your help… I couldn't have done it without you."
"No problem… You've helped me too." The sudden sound of a door opening on the other side of the room caused Rona and I to jump to defensive stance. "Cryos, go! Someone's coming! I'll deal with this…" Rona drew his katana. I opened the door and nearly tripped over the first step upwards. I ran up the stairs and through the darkness up and up and up…
I stopped when I came to a solid object. It was a set of humongous wood doors, the largest doorway since the opening gates. Two steel handles (rings attached to the doors) adorned the doors. I grabbed one of the handles, and with both hands I pulled one of the doors open. I stepped into a circular chamber with a high ceiling and a blood red circular rug on the floor. There was no furniture or devices: only the room, I, and a man with his back turned to me. The man was large and wore a black cape/robe. I could see that the man was bald. The heavy door behind me slammed shut with an echo that lasted for a few seconds. The man turned to face me. His eyes were dark with a scar running down his left eye. He had a full beard and moustache, and he did not smile.
"Prince Cryos, heir to the throne of Draconia… I welcome you to my home in the Dark Lands," the man said. "I don't have much, since I don't get many visitors… But please, make yourself at home." He reminded me of Dave in the way he spoke. His voice was neither deep nor high, but surprisingly very welcoming.
"You're Necril," I guessed.
"Correct."
"Then you know what I'm here for…"
"Yes… I know."
"Can we get to it?" I asked as I drew my sword. Necril drew a sword of his own.
"You don't want to hear my story?" Necril asked.
"I don't care about your story!" I ran forward and swung my sword at Necril. He thrust his sword upwards and contacted mine. The force sent me flying backwards and along the floor. When I stopped skidding along the floor, I got to my feet.
"You're not ready to face me," Necril told me. "You have doubt in your mind."
"Shut up!" I charged at Necril again. I did not have a chance to get close to him this time. I was lifted into the air by an unseen force and held there. I struggled in mid-air to get loose, but it was useless. Necril tossed me aside and into a wall. I slid down to the floor. Using the wall as a support, I pushed myself back to my feet.
"You…have plagued…my land….long enough," I breathed. I moved slowly towards Necril once more, dragging my sword along the ground.
"You're a prince… Not a warrior." When I was close enough, I raised my sword into the air. I brought it down weakly, and Necril sidestepped it. He grabbed me by the neck and carried me to the wall. Then, he slammed me into it with such strength as to cease my movements. I sat against the wall, unable to move, and he put his sword to my neck.
"Now… Listen…" Necril cleared his throat. I swallowed hard. "You don't know your parents' true intentions… You follow their intentions blindly without a thought as to why they ask this of you… How well do you know them?"
"I preferred to avoid them at home…"
"Then I probably know them better than you…" Necril pulled his sword away, turned around, and took a few steps away from me. "I used to work in the castle… I was their advisor…"
"We don't have advisors anymore…"
"For a good reason, too. I advised them in many situations… However, they always seemed to do the opposite of my suggestions…
"One day, I overheard your parents talking to someone… I was outside the royal chamber, but the man they spoke to was none I knew… They addressed him as Sen.
"I was confused… I saw a plot against Draconia unfolding… To help protect the land, I needed to learn powerful magic… I went so far as to learn Necromancy, proven to be the strongest form of magic, though outlawed by all of Nature… I wanted to use it for good.
"I wasn't thrown out because of Necromancy… I was thrown out because I was seen as a threat by your parents… Even worse, I was seen as a betrayer to society because your parents made me look like the evil one… I left and took over my own portion of Draconia.
"Now, the truth about why I am doing this… I care about Draconia… I'm the only one who knows that… My power is great, but it's not evil… I've been trying to amass an army of darkness to destroy the corruption of Draconia… You follow their orders without questioning…"
"But… I didn't know," I said. "I didn't know that what I was doing was wrong… I blindly followed orders, and I was this close to destroying my own homeland…"
"The cloud cover… It was a failed experiment that I can't take back. I wanted to cover Draconia in dark clouds to block out the sun and allow access by my Darkling army… But the clouds, artificially made with magic, had a side effect I never meant… It changes the environment and inhabitants into evil creatures… I intend to reverse this effect when everything's over."
"So, who's the real enemy here?" I asked.
"Sen… The god of chaos… The point of your Heroes… You are born into this world as an answer to Sen's destruction… He hasn't made himself known yet, but he's working on it. Your job is to put Sen down, and bring peace to the world… There are eight Heroes… Two have died now."
"Two?"
"Ceae… Out of desperation to escape the first Sacrifice Chamber, he fell off the invisible bridge and to his death… Anhalai Kerynsha, a friend of mine, was mistakably killed by my Darklings when they attacked the town he was in… And I am considered the last Hero… I've been hiding out here for the rest of you to arrive…"
"So… When do we make our move?"
"We will make it—" Necril stopped when a banging on the door was heard. Another banging sound was heard, and then one of the doors flew from the wall and crashed against the back of the room. From where I sat, I saw a fox spirit, Rona maybe, and he was glowing white with a black aura as well. His eyes were red, and his fur was white and black upon further inspection. He immediately focused on Necril.
"You!" His voice was higher than Rona's, but deeper than Ryth's. He pointed a katana at Necril and held another in the other hand. "This is your end!"
"Wait! Rona, no!" I shouted.
"That's Ronyth to you, kid… I'm settling this," Ronyth said to me. "You run!"
"No! You don't understand!"
"I said go, Cryos!" I stared blankly for a second. My feet dared not to move. Was I was going to let Ronyth destroy the only man who knew exactly what was happening? I had no choice. Before I could move, the world around me faded away. For a second, everything was dark. I had the same feeling I had had when I was using the teleporter. When I came to, I was standing outside the Keep with Vegance and Keia. I was too confused to react.
"Cryos…" Keia looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "I have that bad feeling again…"
"I can explain it now," I said. "Necril talked to me… This mission wasn't to destroy evil, but to destroy one of the Heroes looking to save the world… The King and Queen, my parents of all people… They're working with Sen. By sending away the rest of the Heroes, they've given Sen a chance to strike…" As I spoke to Keia, Vegance watched the tower of the Keep.
"Cryos, something is about to happen," Vegance said. We three looked up to the tower as an explosion sounded out. A mix of light and dark magic burst up into the sky. The force caused the rotation of the cloud cover to switch and spin frantically. The sky started to reveal itself more as the clouds came down over the top of the Keep towards the ground. Then, Necril's Keep started to crumble from the top down. The tower I had just been in toppled sideways and fell apart in mid-air, raining bits of obsidian and stone down upon the ground. The first thing I thought was that Ryth and Rona were not here with us. That meant they were still in the tower! The tower landed with a deafening crash upon the ground, spraying up dust and smoke in every direction…
After the Keep had been torn to the ground entirely, the cloud cover was gone. The stars in the night sky shone above the wreckage of the Keep. I did not bother to dig through the debris… No one could have survived that fall. Vegance, Keia, and I all stood in shock and awe staring at the rubble. Finally, I turned to the two girls.
"Vegance, Keia… We've come a long way," I said and then paused. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "Where there were six of us, now, only three remain… There were supposed to be eight Heroes… Five are dead."
"Eight Heroes?" Vegance asked. "Who were the other two?"
"Necril was one… He definitely had that feeling about him… He mentioned a guy named 'Anhalai Kerynsha.' He also said that Anhalai was killed when Darklings attacked the town Anhalai was in."
"How can he be sure?" Keia asked. "Maybe he survived and escaped… Plenty of people survive things like that."
"Maybe… Maybe not. We wouldn't know where to search for him, so we're not going to give it too much worry. What is true, though, is that our battle is not over yet… Rona's recklessness cost us a potential ally… And lost us two of our strongest warriors…"
"It's not his fault!" Vegance shouted at me. "He didn't know! You didn't know either, until now! No one knew! You can't blame him!"
"Okay! Okay… I'm sorry." I was silent for awhile, but then something suddenly occurred to me. I turned to Keia. "Keia! You survived…"
"You're kinda late on that," Keia replied.
"I know… Too much information for me today… I thought you were gone, though…"
"I survived. I gave Drusilla a battle for her life…"
"You did?"
"Yeah. When I was stabbed… I thought I was dead too. The pain felt real… But when I fount out that I lived, Drusilla freaked out. I fought back… Drusilla, defeated, told me that I had learned how to defend myself rather than rely on everyone to protect me… When I was younger, I had thoughts of death, suicide… Caring for you was an honor, but it only worsened my thoughts… I never thought you'd accept me. But, I pushed Drusilla away… She's not coming back. I'm better now… I've won." Keia sighed. "This journey has been an honor."
"Like I said, it's not over yet… I don't know what's going to happen, but I think we should go back home," I said. "It's time I 'repaid' my parents for a happy birthday…"
"You said 'Sen,' right?" Vegance asked quickly.
"Yeah."
"This may not be so easy after all… Let's go back to the Travelers' Waypoint in the Plains and look for help," Vegance suggested.
"Even with help, we're going against a god's desires," Keia said.
"But Necril said that the job of us Heroes is to seal away Sen for the next generation… To create peace in the land," I said. "We have an unseen link with the other Heroes… And I feel that Anhalai is out there."
"Then we'll search for him like we did Rona… We will find him," Vegance said. "We're going to the Travelers' Waypoint. Everyone passes through there at some point in time…"
"Okay! …Let's go." I gave one last look at the remains of the Keep. With Ryth, Rona, and Ceae gone, this journey was destined to be a lot less fun…