Chapter 4 Part 5

Armegon climbed the stairs carefully. There was no one to watch his back now; he could not afford a mistake.

The stairs led upwards in a gentle spiral helix. The ascension made three rotations then ended at a platform. To the immediate right was a large metal bound set of double doors.

Armegon sized up the obstacle. What were the chances that the thing was locked, he wondered. Well, he decided, he wasn't getting anywhere by just standing around. So he put a foot against the edge of one of the doors and pushed hard. The effort thrust him backwards and he had to act quickly to keep from falling down the steps.

Not to be discouraged, Armegon tried the other door. Likewise, it failed to respond to his urgings. "This is not funny," he irritably spat. "I don't have time to play around."

Armegon peered at the doors closely. Taking his torch, he passed it along the crack between them. The torch wavered excitedly as the air from the other side streamed through the gap. Armegon slowly lowered the torch along the length of the gap and paused near the midpoint when the torch steadied. "A cross bar," he surmised.

Armegon drew a long dagger from its hidden sheath inside his gi. He drove the thin blade between the doors at a fairly low point. Easily the blade passed into the gap up to its hilt.
Slowly Armegon lifted the dagger until it encountered resistance just below the midpoint. Easily at first, but with steadily increasing pressure, he pulled upwards on the dagger until he felt the crossbar break loose and start to rise on the other side of the door.

Holding his breath, Armegon continued his upward push on the crossbar until it reached the top. Then praying that the door was not trapped, he shoved heavily with his shoulder and then jumped back.

The door swung open and a flash of silver blinked as he sprang back. The door had been trapped, but fortunately Armegon had been expecting it. Had he been pushing the door open, the large blade would have amputated whatever he was pushing with.

With great care, Armegon peered through the open portal. The room beyond was large like the dome chamber, and similarly constructed. On the far side. he could see a glimmer of light. In the center of the room, barely illuminated was a giant statue. The thing was a metallic warrior complete with ten meter sword.

Armegon advanced slowly. He half expected to be swooped upon by the flying creatures that had attacked them in the dome room below. Fortunately the attack never came.

He approached the feet of the statue and inspected it critically. The sculpting was fairly good. He passed between the feet and stubbed his toe on a sharp rock. Cursing, he looked down and to his surprise, he discovered a octahedral crystal just like the ones that had acted as keys to the other Towers. He had forgotten all about that. It was nothing short of a miraculous stroke of luck that he had stepped on it in the dark. He would definitely need the object, and he retrieved it before moving any further.

Feeling uncomfortably exposed, Armegon made his way across the huge room. When he reached the far side, he passed through an archway and discovered a semicircular platform with a huge open wall.

The now familiar geometry of the machinery indigenous to the realm was also present. A low wide black cylinder supported a large gemlike spheroid. Each of the twelve faces was a pentagonal plane.

Also a tapestry hung on the back wall. Though in somewhat better shape than the others had been, this one was for the most part identical.

On the far side of the small room was another set of stairs. This time they led upwards and inwards from the edge of the Tower, which Armegon could tell was a giant conical structure from his view of the outside. If all else failed, they could slide down the outside wall. The sand would make an acceptable landing. Armegon also saw the oasis far below and the form of Ganatar resting in the shade.

Armegon spared not a moment longer and mounted the stairs again. This time the climb was short, and he was soon in another large chamber. This one, however, he was familiar with. A large crystalline core grew from the foundation and reached upwards into the gloom. At one side was the pedestal and tripod which accepted the key to the Tower's mechanism.

Without a moment to spare, Armegon immediately inserted the octahedral key into the mechanism. The object clicked into place, and a dull ringing resonated throughout the chamber.

Armegon felt his skin tingle and crawl and decided to seek the safety of another chamber. He sprinted across the room and paused as he reached the head of the stairs. Behind him the room was brightening.

A glance upwards revealed an opening in the high ceiling allowing light to enter the chamber. The prismatic collector that was the crystal began to glow and the gold ring rang like a gong that never faded.

Armegon scampered down the stairs and passed through the room with the open window. The hairs on his neck stood on end and he hastened his egress.
Just as he reached the archway, a flash to his rear beckoned him to turn about and he witnessed the activation of the Tower's power. He just hoped it was not too late.

Armegon walked leisurely across the empty chamber wondering if Avery's healing magic would be in time to prevent danger. Empty? Armegon froze. The statue was gone.

A rush of wind startled the mage and he leaped to his left. A loud crashing sound to his back gave substance to his fears. The statue had come to life and was after him.

Fortunately, for Armegon the activation of the mechanism in the other room was leaking enough light into this room that he could see himself if not anything else.

Well if he was going to fight, he wanted to see his enemy as well, Armegon decided, so he dropped the torch and pulled a light crystal from his pouch. Faithfully the small gem belched forth a radiance that revealed the room in its entirety. The giant halted its advance momentarily and simply stared.

Armegon took the moment to prepare another bout of magic. When the metal behemoth resumed its attack, Armegon loosed a jet of flame that seared the metal solid black, but the giant charged closer prompting Armegon to dodge a strike. A sword that could fall trees bashed into the ground where Armegon had only a split second before stood.

The mage sprinted between the giant's legs and whirled and repeated his assault with fire.

The giant lumbered around and prepared for another strike.

A third time Armegon bathed the metal giant with flames and ducked around behind him. The giant tried to stomp on the quick mage as he darted beneath its stance.

Armegon braced himself. Thrice he had doused the metal monster in flame and he could feel the radiance of the hot metal when he passed between the stomping feet. This time Armegon changed his tactics. He knelt and braced himself as he cast another spell.

This time a whirling vortex of ice and subzero winds assaulted the giant. The wind was ignored as was the ice. These things could do little against metal flesh, but the sudden change in temperature wreaked havoc with the strength of that same metal.

Armegon immediately followed the frigid assault with a battering ram of pure force which slammed into the pelvic area of the giant. The resulting stress cracked the metal and sheared the legs from the upper torso. The giant fell and became still.

Armegon spared it no further attention. He retrieved his torch and sprinted out through the double doors and began his flight down the stairs.

When Armegon reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Ruk standing confidently brandishing his ax. Ultrecht stood nearby holding the other torch and attending to Avery's assistance while the ranger unwrapped Calista's injured leg.

Avery peeled the final covering away and Calista gritted her teeth against the pain. "Don't worry," Avery assured her. “In a few moments you will be as good as new.” Calista answered with a weak smile.

Calista watched as Avery washed the wound again and then closed his eyes. Instantly she grew warm. It was a feeling as if a warm blanket had been wrapped around her on a chilly day. Her thoughts drifted to the memories of being wrapped in Sam's arms on those rare occasions when he would...

"Calista," Avery's voice invaded her thoughts. "When I’m healing your body don't think thoughts you want to keep to yourself."

The girl shot a shocked and embarrassed glance at the ranger. His amber eyes were open, but they were unseeing. It was almost as if he was staring off into space. His hands were gently molding the flesh on her leg. One finger dug down into the wound and everywhere it touched, flesh closed and healed. Slowly the finger spiraled about in shallower and shallower circles. Finally the finger traced a circle on the surface of her calf and then Avery removed his hand altogether leaving unbroken skin in its wake.

Gleefully Calista bounced to her feet delighting in the total lack of evidence in any injury having ever been present. Even the memory of the pain was losing its potency.

"There," Avery said warmly feeling of her naked calf. "Good as new."

Calista playfully slapped at the healers hand. "Hands off my innocent flesh you dirty old elf."

Avery laughed and leaned close to her ear. "Not so innocent, I think," he said.

She looked back in shock. "What do you know?" she challenged.

"Enough," Avery chuckled and left it at that. He retrieved his pack.

"Shall we go?" Armegon asked.

"Yes," Ultrecht agreed. "I have no desire to stay here. Let's get out."

"Fine," Ruk agreed. "If you would all like to follow me," I know the way out."
Ultrecht and Ruk led them back through the corridors of the Tower after Ultrecht paused long enough to dish out some magical retribution to the flying creatures in the dome room. A flash if bright light followed by a forked thunderbolt eliminated the dangers that the flying nemesis posed.

Within two hours, Ruk and Ultrecht led the other three to the doorway which was only partly buried with sand. Ganatar was there to meet them. He had periodically been dousing the edges of the pit with water to help keep it from collapsing. The unicorn expressed great happiness at seeing the missing three members of the party emerge from the Tower.

They camped at the oasis that night and enjoyed the semidarkness lighted partially by the brilliant beam of gold that stretched from the Tower to the horizon. "Well at least we won't get lost in the desert," Avery muttered just before he dozed off leaving Ruk to keep the first watch.

The next morning everyone was more than anxious to depart the desert and put the Tower far behind them. They loaded their water sacks and replenished their food supplies with the last of the coconut and dates from the trees.

Avery cheerfully mounted a dune at the oasis edge and gazed out across the multitude of sand crests. "Well I recommend we follow this beacon until we get out of the sand," he said referring to the brilliant orange ray. "There’s no reason to try to navigate by dead reckoning when we have something like this to guide us.

Once again they set out overland. Their only apprehension was an unwanted encounter with the desert sand snake that had plunged Calista, Avery and Armegon into the caverns the last time. Fortunately they had little to fear as the beast seemed not to be in the vicinity.

As the day wore to a close, Avery pulled up and called a halt. They could continue on. Ultrecht and Armegon's magic could provide light throughout the rest of the night, but the day's walking in and around the many dunes had tired them all out. Avery also expressed some concern about revealing their presence to distant onlookers by carrying an artificial light source. It would be better to eat, drink and rest and continue on the next day.

When the next day arrived, they rose early and departed. Avery again lead them throughout the day and no encounters impeded their progress. By day's end they again were camped, but this time Avery was certain that they were within a few hours of the desert's borders. They had made very good time.

It was near the noon hour of the next day when there was grass once again under their feet.