Armareth's Tower

The spirit twisted mid-air, her hair whipping through the air. David ran, leaping out of the way just as the hair-spikes pierced where he’d been before. There was no pattern to how she moved, and her hair was used as both defense and projectiles. He needed to find a way to her…and then what?

“I still…” he groaned, swinging his flaming sword at the gush of pure essence the spirit launched at him. He split the attack in two, running through the middle only to jump back as black spikes shot toward him. There was just no way of getting close to it. He pushed essence into his sword, feeling the sword overload and then he swung it hard. An arch of fire flew off only to be torn through by the spirit’s spikes.

You keep doing the same thing again and again, Ignis said. His irritation flooding David’s mind. David ignored the mild annoyance building up in him. He didn’t have the time for pride. You are not using the techniques properly. You keep making up for what you can’t recall… or understand.

“Then help me,” David pleaded, dodging another blast of pure essence. The spirit seemed to have a deep well to draw from. Which made sense since she was being fed from Ziel’s vast, perhaps endless supply of essence. He decided to damn it all and ran for the spirit, trusting his instinct to lead his feet. He whipped left, banking harder left when the spirit continued her assault. It was overwhelming, but he kept his fear in check, reminding himself that he just had to get close to her.

Yes, you just have to touch her and push your pure essence into her, clogging her essence pathways. Quite simple, yeah? David ignored the dragon, hoping he understood that he was too focused on trying not to run into an incoming spray of spikes. He wasn’t even sure how much damage those tiny things would do, but he didn’t want to check. Ziel was angry, she would take any excuse to kill him.

The spirit’s hair stretched and then shot out. A burst of fire under him pushed him out of the way, just clear of her attacks. He counted how many steps it would probably take to reach her, cursed because it was still too much, too far.

So he jumped. He regretted it immediately he heard Ignis’ chuckle in his head and cursed the dragon too.

The spirit turned, but she was too slow. But David was too late. He could touch her, he wouldn’t get enough time to try what Ignis told him. So, instead he sliced her in two again, the top half fell, hitting the ground in a splash, then it stretched to the standing bottom half and grew completely regenerated.

David swore. It was like a never-ending cycle. If he couldn’t kill her soon, she would tire him out and he’d end up dying.

She grinned, light dancing on her liquid skin. It was like staring at a human-sized doll made of water. Only her hair seemed real. He sighed, frustrated by how pointless it all seemed.

What do you think you lack? Ignis asked him as the spirit did something that curdled the blood in David. She reached into her belly, digging through and then slowly pulled out a sword. Hers wide, narrow and long.

“Power?” David asked.

Ignis snorted. You are weak, but what you lack in this battle is speed. And how can you make yourself faster while conserving essence?

The answer came to David immediately. He parried the spirit’s sword and quickly dodged the blast of pure essence she shot with her left hand. David shoved her back, sparked a burst of compressed heat, propelling him away. He couldn’t gain ground immediately so he rolled a bit before coming to his feet.

The spirit came after him immediately with a quick stab that he swatted up, twirled on his kneel to make a rotating cut. His sword went through her and then she stitched back together again. He groaned, his frustration climbing.

Use Fiery Slash, Ignis suggested and David spread his legs, putting force in the front foot. Then saw the surprise on the spirit’s face when the burst pushed him forward, not sideways. The distance between them closed immediately and David’s sword came down in a slant slash that went through her. She was about to attach herself together again, but David wasn’t done.

His sword chopped into her again and again. She tried to use the sword, but David sliced her hands, the sword fell away. He didn’t stop until he was breathing hard. He placed the tip of his sword to the parts trying to latch together again and used another skill Ignis suggested and a small blaze ignited, burning through the essence. It wasn’t enough to break them down completely, but it bought David some time to touch a large clot of essence torn from the spirit.

Good, now just push mana through. It doesn’t have to be much. Just enough to—move!

David jumped, moving away from a spear like the one that pierced him before. The spear whirled, spinning above the spirit as it reformed.

Ignis chuckled. Of course she wouldn’t let you win fair and square.

David frowned, feeling cheated. He’d almost won, and Ziel had cheated. He wanted to say some awful things, but he remembered that spear shooting out of nowhere and plunging straight through him. He didn’t want to experience that again.

I guess that means you might never win this, Ignis said, his voice carrying pity. You should never anger dragons like Ziel. She doesn’t forget and almost never forgives.

David nodded. He watched the spirit fully form and then caught the spear as it spun. It was different this time, made in the form of a man. And he could tell the essence weaved to make the spirit was denser, which meant it was going to be super strong. The spirit’s form grew some kind of definition—muscles rippling out as more essence was fed to it.

Its eyes fell on David and it roared like a beast. From the size of it, David wondered if that was what the dragon modeled it as.

That spear will attack your soul, will is supported by man.

David nodded, understanding the warning. He’d suffered it before, there was no way he was going to let it touch him, and he was finally seeing a way to win. Ziel had finally made a small mistake, David thought. He charged, watching what part of the spirit’s body moved first and once he caught it, a burst pushed him to the opposite. He made a feint, the spirit’s spear blocked; David caught the spear with his right hand, shifting the sword to his left. The swing was fast and sloppy, but it did the trick. The spirit’s head fell off David wrapped his fist with flames, blasting the spirit’s chest open with a fist.

That won’t wo—

David let the basic flame spell go, and started his rough attempt to channel pure essence into him. The head reformed, but David had already done what he wanted. He leapt back, watching to see what would happen. The spirit made to attack and then stopped. He staggered back a step, eyes wild as it began to expand. David frowned, not sure how to react to what he was seeing.

“You vile old bones!’ Ziel cursed as her spirit stretched, hands fighting to push in the parts swelling. Then the hands blew up, tearing off. The torn hand continued to swell and then the spirit’s torso exploded and it continued until there was only the blue motes of essence in the air.

Ignis laughed then, even though he knew that Ziel couldn’t hear him. David wondered if the dragon was happy about beating Ziel, or was mocking him. He decided not to ask. Instead he focused on the sparkling stretch of water in front of him. His body ached, as if he’d be ganged on by the fangs. He wanted to sit down, but he caught a movement in the horizon and then realized the world was tearing apart.

“Welcome,” Ziel growled when David opened his eyes. The dragon laid in front of him, hot molten gold eyes were large and fixed on him. She was huge, many times the size David had expected. Her wings were folded behind her, and David wished she would leave them folded. He looked to his left, finding his siblings in the same sitting position as he was. Their eyes were closed, deep in whatever world Ziel had pulled them into.

“You came out, but the others don’t seem to be doing as well as you did,” Ziel said. None of the anger of before in her voice. She snorted, steam filling the air for a moment. The space they were in was wide and round. There were too many dancing wisps above to know how high it was, but the air was cool, which meant there probably wasn’t any ceiling.

“I can save them,” Ziel said, her eyes moving from David to his siblings. Chloe whimpered, and David saw the bead of sweat on Zoey’s face. “I can bring them out and grant you passage to the next floor where you will probably die too.”

David waited, knowing she wanted something. He couldn’t imagine what someone like her would want from him. She was a dragon. A being of near-absolute power. Yet, she did.

“You just have to do one thing for me,” Ziel said. “I have judged you worthy of taking this burden and for that I will spare the lives of these other weaklings.”

David wished Ignis would speak at that moment, but the old dragon was silent, as if he’d been pushed into a deep slumber.

“What is it you require of me?” David asked, hoping that his desperation was not obvious. He spied Chloe, saw her shudder and turned back to Ziel.

“If you get to the fifth floor, you will find a cult of depraved humans. They stole something from me, I want it back.”

“A cult?” David asked. “What is it you want me to retrieve?”

“Your questions are annoying. Will you do this task or watch your siblings perish under the weight of this trial?”

David gave a moment and then nodded. She knew she had him. He couldn’t watch his family die after all. She closed her eyes, the frightening liquid gold that seemed to glow ever so brightly. He heard Zoey sigh and then Chloe screamed, crying. David stood up and walked over to his sister, cradling her shaking body so she would feel safe. A glance at Elisha made David flinch. Elisha sobbed quietly, shadow covering himself. Yet, David could see him shake.

“Remember your pledge, human. If you don’t, I will hunt you all until every last piece of you is nothing but ash.”

“I know,” David muttered. He lifted Chloe as he stood up. His arm ached a little, but he knew she couldn’t walk herself. The dragon’s eyes opened again and David’s chest squeezed taut. He hated himself for being so scared, but he knew what would happen if he wasn’t. What would happen to them all?

“Farewell, then. I hope the next time we see you have your promise in hand. I wish you good luck until we meet again. Beware of Ignis, he is powerful, but he is also corruption. You will be consumed by his will, but I believe you know this already.”

David said nothing. He was too aware of her eyes, and the haze of essence gushing out of her. Ziel growled and David closed his, sighing as warm light enshrouded them all.

You have passed the trials of Ziel.

The Dragon has found you worthy to travel the tower of Amareth!