The Wandering Spire

Jeze scrambled up the steps as fast as she could. The stone floor was hot, and smoke filled the room. Jeze had tears streaming down her face.

"You stupid Old Goat! Why?" She cried.

Through the thick smoke and remaining fires, she saw Raynor's ax and a charred arm. That was too much for her to take in, and she ran. Jeze ran so fast that Ziplocke barely held on, his legs flailing like a cape behind her. Where could she go? Jeze wondered as she ran. She just kept running. Not only was she in danger, but anybody else she talked to. Like Raynor, she reflected with anguish. Jeze wiped the tears from her eyes with steely determination and continued on at a fast pace. Was her brother murdered? What did Daverius stir up that would make the Emperor send someone all the way to the outskirts of the Golden Empire to question his teenage sister?

"Where are you going?" Ziplocke shrieked.

Jeze headed southwest toward the Iron Kingdom, where the Wandering Spire was set to appear in two months. Luckily, it was only a week's travel by foot for someone in shape. This was it, and Jeze had trained hard for years for his moment.

"To the Iron Fist Kingdom for the next Spire," Jeze replied.

"What about food? My paste?" The Goblin whined.

"I can hunt, and I'm sure there are villages along the way," Jeze said.

She had never traveled outside of Narcadia, and she heard stories about how it was so distant from the core of the Golden Empire that it was almost like a different kingdom.

"You have money?" Ziplocke asked.

Jeze kept a steady pace, but she hadn't planned this far. She figured she would have more time to prepare. To get a map and stock up on supplies. Her calculations did not factor in an attempted assassination.

"I can't go back to the Old Crones school. It's too risky," Jeze stated.

Ziplocke pondered and agreed. "When Drake does not report back in time, the Empire will send another, and they will question everyone. Anyone who has seen you recently will be in danger."

The Goblin cackled with glee over Jeze's predicament. She wondered if she could break their Contract and summon someone kinder, like a fairy dragon. Jeze shook that thought out of her head. Getting a contract with a Goblin was a rare occurrence, and she was fortunate.

"There! Follow the main road. It should lead to a village," Ziplocke exclaimed and pointed.

Through the tree line, they saw a traveled dirt road. Jeze recognized this road. It was the one that led to Narcadia to the Northeast and the one that Raynor took to trade his furs. What was the name of the town he would go to? Angston was a town larger than Narcidia, she recalled as anguish gripped her heart when she thought about the Old Hunter. She should have listened to him more, she reflected.

"For money, you can work Rune magic and make potions. Those always sell in towns," Ziplocke stated.

"How do you know this?" Jeze asked, glad to have something to keep her mind away from her grief.

"You are not my first contract, knucklehead," Ziplocke teased.

Jeze ran faster, and the Goblin yelped as he held on tighter or fell off. She wondered after she took the physical test if they would promote her to Adventurer rank. Jeze heard that Adventurer Ranks could run for days for dozens of miles while carrying a full pack. Adepts could go for hundreds of miles. She couldn't imagine what an Elite or Hero could accomplish.

"I have traveled with teams before, and they often would work in towns for money when they ran low on funds," Ziplocke said.

"What type of jobs?" Jeze asked.

Ziplocke smirked, "Mercenary work, thievery, one lady sang at taverns. If the town has a cemetery, a priest is always willing to spend gold to end an undead problem."

"That's a thing?" Jeze asked. She heard her parents talk about fighting zombies and skeletons, and she always thought they were just sharing tall tales.

"Yep."

After several hours, Jeze slowed down to a brisk walk just outside a patch of woods. The Farmsteads appeared less, and she knew she needed to be more cautious as she entered the less inhabited areas between the Deep Wood and Angston. Bandits and criminals were known to hide in such areas, and they preyed upon unsuspecting travelers. Plus, she was getting hungry and needed to find water.

For the next hour, she stalked the woods as Raynor had trained her. Her sharp ears picked up the sound of a creek, and she discovered a small game trail. If she was lucky, she would be able to make some rabbit stew. After she filled her waterskin, Jeze waited, silent like night, and hid amongst the bushes by the game trail. Ziplocke fidgeted, and she elbowed the demon.

"Be still," she hissed.

The Goblin growled and summoned shadows around him to disappear into. Despite his lack of patience, Ziplocke was extremely stealthy. Jeze figured he had to be in order to survive in the Abyssal plane. With patience that rivaled an ancient tree, Jeze waited and eventually saw a rabbit hop over to the stream for a drink. With a well-aimed throw, she was successful with her hunt.

Later, Jeze and Ziplocke sat by a small campfire with a small pot of stew boiling over it. Jeze foraged for herbs and mixed in some of the spicy paste. The stew smelled good, and Ziplocke agreed that it met the terms of their Contract. They had enough to satiate their hunger, and with the extra, she brewed more of her recovery potion with the necessary herbs she foraged.

"Can we make camp?" Ziplocke suggested.

Jeze nodded, they had ran for hours and never had a moment's rest since before they explored the pyramid. Exhaustion had caught up to her. The Goblin was reaching for the pot for a second serving when Jeze slapped his wrist.

"Hey!" The Goblin exclaimed.

"You can have more, but first you must teach me some of the Affliction aspect," Jeze stated.

Ziplocke scowled but agreed to the terms. "What would you like to learn, Master?"

Jeze rolled her eyes and said, "I want to set a protective script around us. I've seen you make Drake sneeze and the two-headed Howler cough."

The Goblin cackled and clapped his tiny hands. "Those are fun!"

Ziplocke instructed Jeze on the Affliction aspect and the teenager's solid base knowledge of Runes allowed for her to quickly learn them. It was after a dozen tries that she was able to etch the glyphs onto another ring and Summon curses from the dark planes. A malevolent red energy formed around her hands.

"You have to be careful with Affliction. If you do not shape it, it will stay with you," Ziplocke said with glee.

"What? How do I shape it?" Jeze cried.

"I will teach you that next," Ziplocke replied as he took his stew.

Jeze felt the energy grow heavier, and it itched. It felt oily, like a stained rag, and it repulsed her. In moments, it faded, and she sneezed uncontrollably. They were loud sneezes that wracked her chest and caused her nose to itch. After a moment, they subsided, and Jeze glared at the Goblin.

Ziplocke rolled on his back and laughed hard with his feet up in the air. "The look on your face!" He exclaimed.

Jeze fought back the urge to strangle her familiar. She served the Goblin a spoonful of stew, per their Contract, and waited for Ziplocke to teach her how to Shape the Affliction aspect. The Goblin showed her the necessary Runes for one to take control of the Summoned negative energy.

"Anything else I should know before I attempt this?" Jeze asked.

Ziplocke fidgeted as if ants had swarmed up his body. He squeaked, giggled, and danced about. Finally, he answered as if he was coming up for air.

"You still need to Control it!" Ziplocke gasped and then scowled.

"What happens if I don't Control it?" Jeze asked with an arch eyebrow and gave the Goblin a spoonful of broth.

"It would have afflicted you again!" Ziplocke said with a cackle.

Jeze handed the Goblin another spoonful of broth and growled, "Show me how to Control the Affliction aspect."

The Goblin sulked and looked disappointed. He instructed, with minimal enthusiasm, on how to Control the negative energy. Jeze tapped an Onyx ring that she had Summoned to be red and summoned the Affliction aspect. Her hands glowed red with the oily and repulsive energy. She shaped it with the next set of glyphs, and the energy formed into a rippling ball. Jeze shaped the glyphs to Control the spell, and she felt the energy grow taut. She looked at Ziplocke.

"Oh no," the Goblin said and frantically tried to flee.

Jeze had lots of practice with aiming her spells, and she easily struck the Goblin with the ball of Affliction energy in his back. She saw a faint twitch from the Goblin, but nothing happened.

"Where did I go wrong?" Jeze asked.

"You didn't. My Will resisted the curse," Ziplocke hissed, a scowl on his face.

Ideas sprung up in Jeze's mind. So many that she sat down and pondered them. For one thing, Controlling the Affliction spells were nearly identical to the Earth and Fire aspects. She could practice her aim on Ziplocke, and the fact that she was able to cast that spell on him meant that it did not breach their Contract to not harm each other. The other tidbit of information was that Will could be used to resist Affliction spells and curses. She could train her Will by having Ziplocke target her. The utility of this information was enormous for Jeze. She could enhance her Will to improve her Rune magic and strengthen her ability to resist being cursed. Jeze recalled hearing about the downfall of many adventurer groups due to not being able to withstand curses and Afflictions.

"Hit me with the coughing curse," Jeze said.

Ziplocke did not hesitate and flung a ball of red negative energy to strike Jeze in the chest. She belched so loud that she wondered if her parents heard her back in Narcadia. Ziplocke laughed maniacally. Jeze scowled at the Goblin but was not surprised that he would hit her with a different Affliction.

"Again," she said.

Ziplocke happily complied, and this time, she felt that the Affliction took hold but was still not able to resist. She coughed so hard that it pained her chest. The Goblin cackled with mischievous glee. Jeze summoned up a ball of Affliction energy and struck Ziplocke in the chest.

"Achoo!" The Goblin sneezed.

Ziplocke growled, "That's not fair."

Jeze's eyes went wide, and she dove behind a tree as a ball of negative energy flew toward her. The two battled each other, with Jeze taking more hits than Ziplocke. She was frustrated but felt that this was excellent practice. The Goblin was a harder target to hit due to his size, but also he was much better at hiding and using the Darkness aspect. Their magical sparring session honed Jeze's reflexes, spell aiming, and skill with the Affliction and Darkness aspects.

"That's enough," Jeze said after a bout of coughing that wracked her chest.

She was happy to see that Ziplcoke was also exhausted from the expenditure of Will and mental fatigue from focusing on Runes. This exercise also helped Jeze to get better at casting while under pressure.

"It's getting late. I want to create a protective Rune circle. Can you show me?" Jeze asked.

Ziplocke cleared his throat and nodded toward the stew. A small amount remained. The teenager rolled her eyes and allowed the Goblin to have a serving.

"No. I don't know how to create magical traps. I wish I learned!" Ziplocke answered while slurping the broth.

Jeze wanted to scream and throttle the Goblin. But reminded herself that it was in Ziplocke's nature to be deceptive.

"I could suggest that you look at the tomes you found from the pyramid. Especially around the workings of the globes," Ziplocke stated with a twinkle in his eye.

Jeze perked up. That was a good idea. She knew how to create Channeling tools, which allowed her to complete the long Rune chains needed to cast spells. What Jeze didn't know was how to make self-powered Rune chains. The Channeling tool required the caster to complete the final glyph and insert their Will into it. The Runic protections, like the ones in the pyramid and at the Old Crone's school, were self-powered and self-activated. The same for the globe she took. The magical sphere needed to be charged with the Fire aspect but was able to produce light without Will and the final activation glyphs.

"Rune Traps probably operate under the same principles as Magic items!" Jeze exclaimed.

"Bravo! Took you long enough, knucklehead," Ziplocke teased.

Under the light from her globe, Jeze studied the tome she took and fed Ziplocke the rest of their stew so that he would help translate. There were interlocking Runes from different aspects that created the ability for magic items and traps to self-activate. For the globe, it was the merging of Light and Fire aspects. Jeze recalled that the aspects can work together, and high-level magic users often did that. Like, in theory, Jeze could create stone fists that exploded in fire upon contact. Or a stone fist that damages and inflicts a coughing curse. Or an exploding stone fist that also cursed the targets in an area of effect. Jeze shook her head at the possibilities so that she remained focused on what she needed now. That was to create a protection script around her camp so that she could sleep without fear of being ambushed by brigands.

"You really think there are bandits in these woods?" Ziplocke asked and looked around nervously.

"I'm sure of it," Jeze replied.

Her nose was still in the tome as she read and looked over the possibilities. What other aspect could she overlap with Affliction to create the Rune Trap? Jeze tapped her chin and thought about how she was able to disarm the traps in the pyramid and at the Old Crone's school. In both cases, they were engraved into stone.

"That's right!" She exclaimed with realization.

"By the hells, knucklehead. You gave me a fright," Ziplocke whined.

"The Rune traps mixed Affliction and Earth because they were etched in stone!" Jeze continued.

"Okay, you have no stone here," Ziplocke pointed out.

Jeze's excitement drained out like water through a crack at the bottom of a bucket. What did she have to work with? Jeze wondered as she scanned her surroundings. There were trees, so she could merge the Affliction aspect with the Life aspect? No, that won't work. She decided that as she was not very good with the Life Aspect, and all she knew was how to mend flesh. She did not know the Runes to work on plants or trees. But, she imagined that the Rune patterns were similar, and she was confident she could learn.

"Focus!" Ziplocke snapped.

Jeze scowled at the Goblin. But she was glad that he recognized her when she was daydreaming. He was almost as good as the Old Crones. Then the idea came to her.

"I overlap Affliction with Fire!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, that is a good idea. If you expect the bandits to jump into the fire pit before murdering us in our sleep," Ziplocke muttered.

"Oh, good point," Jeze stated and sat back down to think.

"The Darkness aspect!" She rose back up and exclaimed.

"Ahh, now you are on to something." Ziplocke agreed.

It was late by the time Jeze felt comfortable with the protection script she crafted. She merged the Affliction curses into the Darkness aspect of the shadows that surrounded her campsite.

"Shadows tend to move, especially with light. The traps will disarm themselves when the sun rises," Ziplocke pointed out.

"That's fine. I just need the protection when I'm asleep in the middle of the night," Jeze said.

Using the knowledge she obtained from the tome, she charged the Rune Trap by Summoning a shadow from the Darkness aspect. She felt the energy snap into place and found it ironic how the feeling was the same as when she disarmed a Runic Trap. This was genius, Jeze reflected.

"It will be impossible to discover," she observed.

With the Runic Traps at the Old Crone's school and within the pyramid, she was able to find the traps because the Runes were etched into stone. In this case, they were hidden within the Darkness aspect.

"But very unstable," Ziplocke said.

The Goblin giggled to himself because he didn't tell Jeze that if the Shadows shifted and covered her, it might trigger the trap in theory. Jeze felt uncomfortable with the Goblin's snickering, but she was too tired to question him. She curled up in her bedroll and fell fast asleep.

In the twilight of the evening, when the sun was about to rise, Jeze was snapped out of her sleep by a loud sneeze. The teenage Initiate readied her ax in her right hand, and her left was prepared to complete Glyphs from her bracelet and rings. The sneeze came from a rugged-looking man dressed in dark clothes and armed with a wickedly curved knife. Jeze heard two more loud sneezes as more figures emerged from the shadows made by the rising sun.

"Yes! It worked!" Jeze exclaimed.

Her excitement overshadowed the fact that she and Ziplocke were surrounded by three armed bandits with bad intentions.