The Wandering Spire

Jeze crept forward into the clearing. The area was bathed in a mixture of pale silver light from the full moon and the odd blue glow from the sides of the cave. The entrance was jagged and filled with ominous shadows where any number of beasts lurked.

"We can turn back," Ziplocke suggested in a high-pitched whisper.

The Goblin was wrapped in shadows and nearly invisible. Jeze took the reminder and tapped her ring to summon shadows around her from the Darkness aspect. She studied the ground and recognized Howler tracks that exited the cave mouth. Without a doubt, this was the source, but what was inside? Jeze wondered. The teenager circled to avoid being directly in front of the entrance and arrived at its sides.

"It's a building?" Jeze realized.

"Old, and this can't be good," Ziplocke observed.

What she initially thought to be a cave was actually an old building covered in dirt and roots. A remnant from an ancient time that was forgotten by humanity and swallowed by nature. Jeze scraped away some of the dirt and saw that the stone was pale blue and unlike anything she had seen before. It gave off a faint pulsing glow as if it were alive and breathed.

"Should we go inside, then?" Jeze asked.

"No," Ziplocke replied.

The Goblin was ignored, and the teenager crept closer to peek inside the gaping maw. She discovered that it was a cracked side of the building, an unnatural entrance, with the floor littered with rubble as if the wall was struck by a hammer from the gods. It was dark deeper inside, with the moonlight only going halfway in.

From the limited illumination, Jeze could make out several details. The inside walls were angular, which gave Jeze the impression that the building was a pyramid and the ground was littered with the skeletal remains of Howlers. She counted ten, and several of the remains were bones crushed to powder, and others appeared to be cut to pieces. This had the clear markings of a sword and Earth aspect specialist, and Jeze envisioned that this was her brother's doing. She was on the right path! But where did he go?

From what Jeze could see, there were no obvious exits from within the triangular chamber. She needed more light but was afraid of springing an ambush. One thing Jeze learned from traveling the Deep Wood with Raynor was that light gave away your presence. From their talks, Jeze learned that the Old Hunter was designated as an Adventurer-ranked Scout with the secondary role of Striker. That was before his retirement. She had asked Raynor why he never attempted the Spire, and he answered that he never got around to it.

"There are buried ruins and dungeons a plenty in this world, why bother with one that just appears out of nowhere? If you want to be a scout, you have to be comfortable in the dark," the Old Hunter told her one evening.

Jeze recalled Raynor's words and sensed his presence in the trees behind her. He would help her if she was in trouble. But, eventually, she will need to step into the dark, dangerous places of the world if she was committed to this path. Daverius did it, she reminded herself. Gathering her courage, Jeze crept into the chamber, and a detail that she hadn't noticed before came into focus. Embedded in the centers of the three remaining walls that slanted upwards several meters to meet at the point of the pyramid were three sconces. Two sconces held globes of what Jeze guessed to be made out of polished stone. The sconce closest to the cracked wall she entered through was empty.

"Ziplocke, can you grab one of the globes?" Jeze asked, and she readied a spoon of paste.

The Goblin snorted his reply. "I strictly serve as a consultant."

"What do you advise then?"

"Go back out," Ziplocke answered with a nervous giggle that sounded like a calf calling for milk.

Well, it was worth a try. Jeze thought to herself as she crept over to one of the globes that rested in a metal sconce. It was above her head, and she stood on her toes and studied the area around the globe. It was difficult with only the faint moonlight that came through the large cracked wall. This was it, she decided. Her brother took one of the globes, so it had to be safe. Ziplocke scampered off of Jeze's shoulder as she reached for one of the spheres. When she touched it, nothing happened. She was able to remove it from the sconce.

"You were lucky it was not trapped," Ziplocke observed.

"What does it do?" Jeze asked. She could feel runes engraved into its glossy surface. From her touch, she felt she recognized them.

"Feels like the Fire aspect," Ziplocke said as he ran his tiny hand across the surface.

Jeze agreed and she needed more light to confirm. The Initiate removed her pack and retrieved her wand for the Fire aspect. With it, she summoned and quickly shaped a small flame that produced enough light for Jeze to see the strange glyphs. Ziplocke wrinkled his nose as if he smelt something terrible.

"Holy and Light aspects," the Goblin said and backed away.

The polar opposites of the Abyssal aspects.

"Was this a temple?" Jeze wondered.

Ziplocke gagged with disgust. That made sense for the minor Demon to dislike this place.

Jeze had not trained with the Holy and Light aspects. Those were primarily studied by priests, but she saw clearly that it had the Fire aspect as well. Those Runes began to glow when she held her flame near them. She had an idea and tapped the summoned flame to the Fire aspect. The small sphere emitted a yellow light brighter than any torch. The sudden glare blinded her momentarily, but now she was able to see the room more clearly, and she put away her wand.

"How do I turn it off?" She wondered.

"Try tapping it?" Ziplocke suggested.

The Goblin's curiosity overcame his disgust as he climbed back onto Jeze's shoulder and looked with interest at the globe. Jeze tapped the orb once, and the light dimmed. She tapped it twice, and they were plunged into darkness. Jeze tapped it again, and the bright light came back on, and the globe gave off no heat.

"This is fascinating! Where is it getting the energy from?" Jeze wondered.

"It was powered by your flame. Advanced Magic items can be charged with summoned aspects," Ziplocke commented.

Channeling tools, like her rods and rings, were etched with Runes and required both Will and precise shaping of the final glyphs. Magic items like the globe were more complex and didn't require Will or movements, but for one to last this long was unheard of. This was the most advanced magic item Jeze had seen. The teenage Initiate figured that Daverius discovered this pyramid before he set out for the Wandering Spire. Why didn't he show her the globe he took? What else did he discover in this small ruin? What other secrets he hid from her?

"How old is this place?" Jeze wondered.

Ziplocke sniffed the air and looked around with red eyes.

"A thousand years old. Oh, look at that," Ziplocke guessed and pointed up.

Jeze glanced up and saw a globe similar to the one in her hand but massive. It fitted in the peak of the pyramid and probably continued outside. She considered how bright her small globe was and reflected that the larger one would make her go completely blind. If it was turned on, the light could be seen for miles around.

"Is that a beacon?" Jeze wondered.

"No, it's a weapon. We were lucky your summoned flame was not close enough, or we both would have been toast," Ziplocke said softly.

Jeze used the light to study the giant globe. She couldn't tell what the Holy aspect Runes did, but the Fire ones were for Summoning, Shaping and Controlling. She nodded and appreciated her luck. If that globe activated, it would have filled the room with roaring flames and beyond. Why was there a weapon in such a small edifice? She wondered.

"What did my brother find here?" Jeze mumbled out loud as she crouched to study the dust-covered floor.

"Who knows?" Ziplocke stated.

Jeze used the skills Raynor had taught her about tracking. It was clear that there was a fight here years ago based on the skeletal remains. But there were tracks leading outside. A flurry of clawed feet that disrupted the dusty surface of the floor indicated dozens, if not hundreds, of Howlers.

"The Howlers attacked the villages from here, but where did they come from?" Jeze asked.

"A portal?" Ziplocke wondered.

Jeze shook her head. She didn't see any Runes on the floor, plus the amount of Will needed to summon this many demons would be enormous. A thought occurred to her.

"There has to be a hidden door!" She cried.

Ziplocke grumbled, "There are always hidden doors and bigger dungeons."

"This is what you signed up for when you agreed to the contract," Jeze admonished.

"Truthfully, I was hoping to run away from you and live free on this plane for two years," Ziplocke said softly.

Jeze chuckled and patted his head. She handed him a jar of paste, and the Goblin perked up. The teenage Initiate searched the floor and discovered that the tracks originated from the center. That was odd, she thought.

"There must be a trap door here," she concluded.

"Look for a lever. It's always a lever or a button," Ziplocke replied with his mouth full of chili paste.

Jeze scanned the room and didn't see any stones that could be pushed in. In fact, the walls and floor were all solid smooth stone. For it to remain unblemished, this long spoke to the advanced skill of the builders, especially for the magic glow stones to still work. That was assuming that Ziplocke was correct that this ruin was a thousand years old. She suspected the Goblin guessed the number. Maybe a lever? She wondered, and the only things that fit that description were the steel sconces. The first one she tested moved down, and the chamber rumbled. The center of the floor twirled opened like a whirlpool and revealed a spiral set of smooth steps going down several meters into darkness that was beyond the glow of Jeze's globe.

"Great, more danger awaits us," Ziplocke moaned.