The Ruby Magician

“Are we there yet?” John asked. He was getting impatient and rushing the trail towards the final area. They were back on track following the clues from the little girl, their current goal for completing the first floor of tower Alistair.

“Gods, I don’t know,” Tasha said. “I’m so ready to be out of these dark woods. It’s creepy!” She was still holding her staff that was giving the group light. She had to recast it not long ago, though she was grateful it was a basic spell that didn’t cost too much of her mana.

“We’re almost there,” Cedric said. He was towards the back of the group walking with Marcy. “And we’ve only been in here for a couple of hours. It took us longer than that to map it out and clear it today.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that,” Wyn said. “All of the veterans that are leading the groups cleared it this morning? The entire floor?”

Cedric smiled. “Yes.”

“But it couldn’t have been too difficult for all of you. I’m sure you’ve cleared much higher floors.”

“Sort of,” Marcy answered. “It depends on what you consider much higher.”

“The 10th floor?” Lionel asked.

“Almost,” Cedric said. “We’re working on the 9th floor right now.”

“Which isn’t bad for our group,” Marcy added. “We’ve only been together for a season and don’t even have a guild yet.”

“Hmph,” Lionel grunted. “I’ve heard of better.” His interest left as quickly as it came.

“That’s pretty good,” John said. “Most new groups take a few months to make it that far! And those that move past the 10th floor are usually only in guilds.”

“Why is that?” Wyn asked.

“The resources needed to finish it safely,” Cedric answered. “Those floors are larger and deadlier. More people means more skills, talents, and ability to bring in items and money. Not to mention sponsors and backers, too.”

Wyn stopped walking. “You’re kidding. People sponsor guilds? Like actually pay them to climb?”

“Well, yes. For clout and respect in their social circles, but also for special items from the higher floors. You’d be surprised.”

“That’s… believable, actually. I just never thought about it.”

“The guilds that are sponsored are the guilds that last. As long as they keep producing quality climbs.”

“Who cares,” Tasha said. She threw her free hand up and sighed with great exaggeration. “We can talk about all of this back in the city. What’s going to be at the end of the floor so we can get back?”

“It can be several different things,” John said. “But it’s a major obstacle that separates one floor from the next. A difficult puzzle, a monster boss, even just finding it is sometimes the challenge.”

“Or a combination of those,” Marcy said. “As you’ll find out here.”

Tasha bumped into Lionel who had stopped walking. She was listening to the conversation and not fully paying attention to where she was going.

“I think this it,” Lionel said. He looked out of the woods into a clearing. It was strangely lit as a series of dim lights were scattered around the edge of a wide, curving tree line. They couldn’t tell exactly what they were, but the lights made the area visible enough to where Tasha felt comfortable stopping the light spell from her staff.

The clearing was a large open area set in front of the mouth of a cave. There was short, almost manicured grass with large rocks scattered about, and a strange red magical shimmer covered the mouth of the cave.

“What is that red aura?” Lionel asked.

“It’s the entrance to the second floor,” Cedric replied.

“Why is it red?”

“It’s closed until the first floor’s final challenge is complete. Then it will turn white and open, allowing you to enter.”

“But the floors are open to all groups. What’s to stop a guild from powering through the floors and rushing a rookie group with them?”

“Don’t forget your parchment,” Marcy said. “We’re in a party. Unless our party faces and defeats the challenge it won’t open for us. The tower will continue to provide a final test as long as there is a party willing to challenge it, so there could be an endless amount of final tests.”

“At least at higher levels,” Cedric added. “We’re doing that in a way, now, by guiding all of you through the first floor. But if you don’t grow with your experience and skills you’ll eventually become a liability to yourself and your group.”

Some groups of other Climbers stepped out from the edge of the forest. They all appeared battered and worn, having faced other paths through the first floor to come to this ending. They were standing and waiting.

“Maybe we should go out, too,” Wyn said.

“Already ahead of you,” John said, as he stepped out into the clearing. “I want to be a part of the group to clear the challenge! So even if you guys hang back I’ll get us through. That’s how it works, right?”

“It can, yes,” Cedric said. “As long as someone in your party helps overcome it. But you all should pitch in. It’ll make this go smoother and hopefully with less injuries.”

The rookies all stepped out, with Lionel and Wyn walking further into the clearing beside John. Tasha stayed behind them to offer support but didn’t want to be directly in the fray.

Wyn noticed Lionel wasn’t his usual confident self. He was changing his gaze between the other groups and the portal constantly. He played with the axe on his belt nervously with his fingers, like he was itching to use it. That wouldn’t have seemed too odd considering their situation, but Lionel seemed to have kept his nerves in check the whole time. Something was off but Wyn couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

“What now?” Lionel said. He drew his axe and began to spin it in his hand. He rocked back and forth between each foot.

He looked… paranoid. Wyn was thinking about asking him what was bothering him but was distracted. He was eager about what would happen next, too.

“We wait for the challenge to present itself,” John said. He drew his sword.

Other parties that surrounded the clearing were similarly gearing up for their challenge. Whatever the challenge was going to be would have a difficult time with nearly every rookie present. It seemed like all of the Climbers from the guild hall just a few hours ago were standing here.

Wyn suddenly felt a rumble beneath his feet. The ground shook, the earth under them vibrating as the scattered rocks began to shift and move. He steadied himself to keep his balance.

In the middle of the clearing popped open a hole. It wasn’t big, but it was definitely noticeable. It started to grow bigger as the earth around it rose, pieces of rock and dirt falling over each other having no where to go. The energy rising from beneath then exploded above ground, and several shouts and yells came from the Climbers.

A large, hairy leg popped through the hole. Then another. And another. A bulbous, huge body followed, and a spider the size of a horse crawled out of the hole.

Then another followed behind it.

They dwarfed the spiders they’d killed so far. They began crawling out into the clearing, two identical arachnids moving slow but with obvious force. Their fangs looked to be the size of daggers, and their legs were long and thick like crooked, ugly, black trees. The only saving grace was that they appeared to move slow relative to their size, their legs working in an eerie tandem.

It would take them a minute or two to crawl to the closest group of Climbers, but some of them began rushing towards the spiders with a battle cry, eager to finish the floor. More groups quickly followed suit.

“Not again,” Tasha said. “I hate spiders!”

“At least there are only two of them,” Wyn said. “And look how many there are of us!”

Immediately two more spiders of identical size came out of the hole.

“You just had to say something, didn’t you?” Tasha said.

“Let’s go already,” Lionel said. He began to charge the spiders with the rest of the Climbers leaving John and Wyn behind.

“He’s brave, I’ll give him that,” John said.

“I guess,” Wyn replied. “Still, he’s not entirely wrong. You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Tasha, stay behind us. Make sure we don’t die, okay?”

“You’ll be fine,” Tasha said. “Plus, the veterans are watching over us. This is meant to be practice, remember?” She smiled, though nervousness came across more than confidence.

The three followed behind Lionel heading towards the fight. Several groups had already met the spiders, and the clash of weapons and arachnids began. Screams of horror and excitement came from all over, and the shrieks of the four spiders joined the symphony of battle. The many Climbers with their weapons, skills, and magic were able to overpower the spiders and their size and strength, working together to fight them with relative ease.

Wyn was joining his party attacking one of the monsters, a combination of distracting strikes and powerful blows hitting the enemy on all sides. When Climbers would be thrown back or hit they would be healed almost immediately, as both rookie and veteran mages were healing them to make sure they weren’t anywhere close to sustaining an actual threat of death.

Wyn stopped and pulled back, wanting to watch the spectacle around him. Another party had joined theirs to attack this spider, and he knew they were going to easily kill it. He noticed the veterans were also firing magic from the back lines, helping the rookies when possible. He took special notice to Cedric as he saw his staff flash, followed by vines from the earth grab hold of the legs of the spider they were facing. It held it in place long enough for the rookies to finish their onslaught and defeat it.

He remembered his time on the hill in a far away time in a far away land. Their company was outnumbered, running towards a guaranteed defeat that they didn’t know at the time. It was a slaughter, and his soldiers were on the receiving end.

For a brief moment he pitied the spiders and the tower’s attempt at defending itself against a small army of intruders.

Then he thought of what the tower was. It wasn’t an opposing country and army, with its own beliefs and clashing ideas fighting oppressors. It was a challenge, a means of proving oneself by climbing and showing their worth in a place that could never be truly conquered.

Wyn shook his head and snapped back to reality. Regardless of the means, he was still fighting and could get hurt or die. Shouts of victory rang out around him as four large bodies were cut and beaten and slain, and Climbers reveled in their quest’s end.

“What a rush!” John said. “That was incredible!”

“It doesn’t seem so bad after all,” Tasha said. “What do you think, Wyn?”

Wyn saw Marcy and Cedric walking down to meet them. The parties were all hugging and celebrating with each other, happy to finish their introduction to tower Alistair. Who knows what they met and found on their way here? It was all different, and tomorrow the path here would be different, too. It was an odd feeling.

“Wyn?” Tasha said.

Wyn caught a glimpse of Lionel staring at the portal to the second floor. It was now clear, though the aura that showed it was a portal was still there. It was enticing, a call to keep climbing and face another challenge. He felt it. It was magnetic, drawing him in to see what was behind it. He believed Lionel felt it, too.

Or so he thought.

“Wyn?” Tasha repeated. “Hello?” She waved her hand in front of his face.

Wyn blinked several times. “Sorry,” he said. “What did you say?”

“Never mind,” Tasha said. “I’m just glad we’re done. Now how do we leave?”

“Good question,” Marcy said. “There are magic keys that will return you to the base. Or, when you step through the portal to the next floor, you can choose to return to the base instead.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” John said.

“Yes. The tower will sense your will. If you want to stop and go back it’ll send you back. If you want to keep going it’ll take you to the next floor.”

“But once you’re there,” Cedric said, interrupting her, “you either have to have a key to return or finish the floor. It’s a risk if you’re unsure of what to do.”

“Do you have a key?” Wyn asked. “Maybe we should use that.” He thought of what he wanted. Did he want to go back? It was hard to tell. What if he went through and the tower accidentally took him to the next floor?

His heart skipped a beat. He decided he didn’t want to take any chances.

Marcy laughed. “I get it. You’re drawn to the next floor. We’ve all been there.”

“I agree with Wyn,” Lionel said. “You should use your key.” He kept eyeing the portal and the rest of the parties.

“I used mine earlier today,” Marcy said, “when we cleared it the first time. I didn’t bring a spare.”

“I have mine still,” Cedric said. “Here.” He took a large, almost ridiculously large, key out of his robes. He walked over to an open area and pushed it forward into nothing like he was pretending to open a door. When he turned it, though, a portal that was big enough to walk through opened in the space. It was the same color and appeared exactly like the portal that led to the next floor.

“Here you go,” Cedric said. “Easy as that.”

Wyn looked around. The other parties also had veterans who opened portals back to the base. It didn’t seem like any of the Climbers there wanted to step into the portal that could lead to the next floor. They steadily walked through them, all returning after their successful first trip into the tower.

“Thank the gods,” Tasha said. “I’m ready for a warm bath and dinner!”

Before they stepped through the portal Marcy’s ears perked and the hairs on her arm stood on end. A shiver ran down her spine, and she froze.

Wyn saw her and knew something was wrong. She looked the same as when the champions showed up not long ago. The final monsters were defeated, though - why was she sensing danger?

Cedric noticed her, too. He frantically looked around for another threat, another monster to fight and defeat. Nothing stood out, as though it was a false alarm.

They were wrong.

John had a sudden look of confusion and jerked forward with his chest. Lionel stood behind him and dropped his axe.

“John?” Wyn said.

John put a hand to his back and coughed. Blood spewed out of his mouth before he fell forward on his hands and knees. Lionel quickly grabbed John’s sword before he completely collapsed onto the ground.

There was a dagger embedded in John’s back nearly to the hilt.

Lionel started sprinting towards the portal to the next floor, John’s sword in his hand.

“NO!” Wyn yelled, and immediately ran after him. His mind started to return to the hill but he suppressed the memory in a fit of rage.

“Heal him!” Marcy yelled at Tasha. “And get him back to the base!”

Tasha stood, frozen. She was too shocked to move.

“NOW!” Marcy yelled. She was already running after Lionel though lagged behind Wyn. In a swift motion she nocked an arrow and fired it quickly while running. It was awkward and misplaced, but the situation wasn’t the best for firing arrows. It zipped beside Lionel, barely missing him but alerting him to an attack. He ducked in response, hoping to avoid another attack.

The arrow missed him but it slowed him down. He was almost at the portal, and Wyn and Marcy made up some of the distance. She drew another arrow but realized they wouldn’t reach him before he went into the portal. Instead, she redoubled her efforts into catching up to him, hoping her next shot would be on the other side when she could properly aim

Cedric, choosing not to run, already had a spell prepared and pointed his staff. Vines shot up from the ground, intending to capture Lionel or trip him or both, though he was a split second behind. The vines grabbed at his feet but he jumped over them and dove directly into the portal.

“Damnit,” Cedric said. He looked at Tasha and John. “Tasha, stabilize him before he dies!”

“I can’t,” Tasha said. She was staring at John on the ground. “I… I don’t have enough mana.”

Cedric bent over and held John. He was unconscious and barely breathing. Cedric pulled his hand away, now covered in blood. They were the only Climbers left in the tower, the others already back at the base. No one else could help him.

Tasha suddenly gasped. “Wait! I do have enough!” Her free hand shot to her belt and pulled out the mana potion she acquired earlier. She uncorked it immediately and drank it.

Pulling her staff up she spoke her spell - “Cure!” They both saw John’s body relax a bit. She repeated the spell again, hoping it would heal him further. She reached down for the dagger but Cedric grabbed her hand.

“No,” he said. “Let the medics handle it. Just keep him alive.”

“The bleeding stopped, at least,” Tasha said. “I can keep healing him.”

“Good. Then we will take care of Lionel.” Cedric looked towards the portal. The open area in front of them was empty except for the spider carcasses.

Cedric helped drag John towards the portal, Tasha holding onto John to the best of her ability. He pushed both rookies into it, and they vanished without a sound.

Cedric was running towards the floor portal without another thought. Marcy and Wyn would need his help. He couldn’t let Marcy and Wyn go by themselves. Whatever happened on the other side with Lionel wasn’t the final straw - they would still need to finish the floor since they didn’t have another portal key.

Two veteran Climbers and a rookie against a traitor and another floor of the tower.

His mind was already made up. He felt the pull of the portal as it whisked him to the second floor.