The Tower of Endless Worlds

by Jonathan Moeller

"Where are they?" said Conmager, staring at Simon's front door.

  Simon fumbled with his keys. “Inside. They’re in the living room.”

  Conmager shifted his staff to his other hand. “Are they wounded?”

  Simon tried to still his shaking fingers. “No, no. Nothing like that. They’re a bit underfed, but otherwise well.”

  Conmager sighed in relief. “The gods be praised.”

  Simon managed to find the right key. “The girl’s healthy. I think. But she’s a bit strange…”

  Conmager frowned. “Girl?”

  The keys slipped from Simon’s hands. “Yes. A girl. The door opened, just like you said it would. A little girl ran out, carrying the boy.”

  Conmager grunted. He took a step back, tucked his staff into the crook of his elbow, and raised both his hands. His fingers traced precise designs in the air. He muttered something, his words carried a sighing echo.

  The door unlocked and shuddered open a few inches.

  Simon gaped. “What did you do?”

  Conmager scooped up the keys and handed them to Simon. “I opened the door. A girl and a boy, you say? There were no men?”

  “No,” said Simon. “Wait. I did see a man, through the door. He was fighting some shadowy things with two burning swords. The door slammed shut before he could come through. I think he’s dead.” Simon turned. “You coming?”

  Conmager leaned against his staff, his forehead pressed against the dark wood. He looked exhausted. “What didn’t you tell me, Master? You said two men and an infant. Two men and the King.” He shook himself and strode through the door. “I must see them.”

  Simon led him through the front hall, and Conmager’s staff brushed against his hand. Simon winced and pulled away. The staff felt like a live wire. He led Conmager through the dining room and into the living room.

  Ally waited on the couch, staring at them.

  Conmager fell to one knee and stared at Lithon, asleep next to Ally. “Your Majesty.”

  Simon frowned. “Majesty?”

  Conmager lowered his head. “That child is Lithon Scepteris, king of all Carlisan. What is left of Carlisan.”

  “And who is the girl?” said Simon, doubt and fear battling for control of his mind. “The High Queen Ally of Lollypop Land?”

  Conmager shook his head. “No.” He stared at the girl. She stared back. “I have seen you before. I could swear it.”

  Ally shrugged. “I don’t remember you.”

  Conmager closed his eyes. “I was at the courtyard of Castle Bastion. Lord Marugon had come. The Master faced him. He yelled for us to run and turned his spells against Marugon. I had a child in my arms, a girl. I didn’t know who she was. I ran. I stumbled. I lost the child. I turned back. I could not leave the Master to face Marugon alone. I saw…” Conmager’s voice broke. “I saw that bastard Rembiar betray him, I saw Goth-Mar-Dan…he…” Conmager shook his head. He rose and stepped towards the girl.

  Ally flinched away from him. For a moment it seemed like symbols of white light crawled up the staff. “What is that thing?”

  Conmager blinked. “This?” He hefted the staff. “This is my last resort, should the winged ones take me. I have spent much of the last year laboring over it. It is crude, I know. But it will suffice, should things come to a last desperate course.” He looked at Ally. “Does it frighten you?”

  Ally nodded, eyes locked on the staff. Conmager leaned it in the corner. “Is that better?” Ally nodded again. Conmager reached for her, fingers shaking. He laid his hand on her forehead. He bowed his head, eyes trembling behind closed lids.

  “What are you doing?” said Simon.

  Conmager took a step back, sweat beading on his forehead. “Who are you?”

  “Ally,” said the girl.

  Conmager stared into her eyes. “Where did you come from?”

  “I don’t know,” said Ally.

  “Tell me,” said Conmager.

  Ally’s eyes went glassy. “I woke up on a plain. Some soldiers found me. But Liam came, with Lithon. He killed the soldiers. I went with him.”

  “Liam,” said Conmager. “You mean Sir Liam Mastere?”

  Ally nodded.

  Conmager blew out a long breath. “I should have known. An old man with two burning swords. Of all the Knights, only Liam Mastere could wield two Sacred Blades at once, his own and his slain father’s. And he paid a terrible price for that power.” He took Ally’s hand. “You know he is most likely dead, don’t you?”

  Ally bit her lip and nodded.

  “This plain,” said Conmager. “Was it the Crimson Plain?” Ally gave a nod. “Was there anyone else with Sir Liam? Another man, another Knight?”

  Ally shook her head.

  Conmager dropped her hand. “What am I to do?”

  Simon frowned. “What?”

  Conmager ignored him. “I cannot do this. Master. So much has gone wrong that you cannot have foreseen. I thought Sir Liam would know what to do. But he is dead. All the Knights are dead. All the Wizards are dead. I am no Wizard, I am no Knight, and I am all that is left. And I cannot do it. I am not equal to it.”

  Simon scowled. “What are you talking about? I thought you were spouting nonsense before about…about that Tower, and other worlds, and interplanetary gunrunning. But this…this is beyond the pale. Wizards? Spells on a staff? I don’t understand. You were keeping things from me before, I know it. I think it’s past time you told me everything.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” said Conmager. “There is nothing more that can be gained from secrecy. I will tell you what I know. But I do not know everything.”

  The front door slammed shut. Conmager whirled and got to his feet, faster than lightning. A glimmer of white light flashed in his fingers.

  The living room door opened. Katrina stepped inside, carrying a paper shopping bag. Conmager stepped towards the corner, reaching for his staff.

  “Simon?” Katrina froze and dropped the bag. Her eyes fixed on Conmager, who stared back. “So you must be the famous Conmager I’ve heard so much about.”

  “I am. And you?” Conmager’s hand wrapped around the staff. He started to lift it.

  Alarm bells went off in Simon’s head. “Conmager! Wait. This is Katrina Coldridge. She went to get clothing for the children. I’ve told her everything.”

  “I hope you trust her with your life,” said Conmager. “For that is what you have done, telling her these things.”

  Simon glared. “I do. She’s my fiancée. I trust her with everything.”

  “Ah.” Conmager paced to the window, his staff clicking against the floor. “Then you have put her in as much danger as you are yourself.”

  “Is that a threat?” said Katrina.

  Conmager barked a humorless laugh. “It is the truth, my lady. Simon Wester brought you into great peril when he told you of me. And even greater peril came into this house when you took in the children. I am grateful for your help, do not doubt. I will always be grateful, for so long as I live.” His mouth quirked. “Which may not be much longer.”

  “You were going to tell me everything?” said Simon, trying to sound commanding. “So tell us. What is going on?”

  “Very well.” Conmager sat in the recliner, the staff propped between his knees. “In my youth I was a thief and a highwayman, I told you this, true?”

  Simon nodded. “You did.”

  Conmager closed his eyes. “One day I saw an old man in a ragged green cloak. He was alone and looked helpless. So I determined to rob him. I sprang down from a boulder with a pair of daggers in hand and demanded his valuables.” He smiled. “Little did I know that Alastarius, Master of the White Council, often traveled the High Kingdoms in an old green cloak to hide his Wizard’s robes. He threw aside his cloak and overpowered me in a heartbeat. I thought he would kill me. But he saw something in me. I do not know what, even to this day. So he took me as his apprentice.”

  Katrina snorted. “Wizard’s apprentice? Do you think we’re idiot
s? Do you expect us to believe that?”

  Conmager pointed at the coffee table and whispered. The remote control flew from the table and landed in his hand. Ally sat up straighter, watching him.

  Katrina’s brows knitted. “What the hell…”

  Conmager held out his other hand and whispered. The coffee table rattled. Before Simon’s astonished eyes, it started to float into the air. It rose two feet and hovered.

  Katrina went white. “Holy shit.”

  “Are further demonstrations necessary?” said Conmager. “It is against the disciplines the Master taught me, but I am sorely pressed for time.”

  Katrina managed to shake her head. “No.”

  “Please put the table down,” said Simon.

  Conmager lowered his hand. The table drifted back to the floor. He grimaced and shook his head. “That is not easy for me.”

  “I…I should think not,” said Simon. “Lifting a table with the power of your mind and all.”

  Conmager sighed. “It should be easy. It is one of the simpler spells. Yet I did not take to the white magic very well, despite Master Alastarius’s efforts. But I remained his apprentice, his faithful servant, and his friend. I accompanied him when the High Kingdoms marched against the Black Council.” He glanced at Simon. “You have told your betrothed of this?”

  “Yes,” said Simon. “I told her everything.”

  “Though I certainly didn’t understand it,” said Katrina.

  “The High Kingdoms destroyed the Black Council and won the war, yet one Warlock escaped,” said Conmager.

  “This Marugon fellow you keep mentioning,” said Simon.

  Conmager nodded. “When he returned…he raised an army from the dregs of the High Kingdoms and armed them with guns and bombs and fire. They swept south from the Wastes like a storm. The Knights and the Wizards of the White Council thought we would win. They did not understand what Marugon had unleashed. But Master Alastarius did.” He closed a fist. “The Master had the gift of Prophecy. Sometimes he had visions, and caught a glimpse of what lay in the future.” Conmager rubbed a hand over his eyes. “He told me that one day I would find myself on Earth, on the world where Marugon found the guns. And he said that someday the King of Carlisan would arrive on Earth, with others, and that I must find him and guard him, whatever the cost.” He fingered his staff. “Whatever the cost…”

  “I thought you said two men were supposed to come with this King,” said Katrina.

  Conmager shrugged. “Master Alastarius Prophesied that the King of Carlisan would come to Earth with companions. He thought these companions would be two men.” He looked at Ally. “Apparently he was wrong. Or things did not go as he had hoped. Sir Liam Mastere did travel with this girl, we know.”

  “Why is the toddler so important?” said Katrina. “I mean, you said that this kingdom…Carlisan, or whatever the hell it is, was destroyed. What good’s the king of a dead nation?”

  Conmager rubbed his forehead. “Because the Master made another Prophecy, moments before Marugon killed him. He Prophesied that one day Lithon Scepteris, King of Carlisan, would undo Marugon.” He looked at Lithon. “Marugon wants this boy dead. Sir Liam must have taken him to the Tower. If so, it is nothing short of a miracle that Sir Liam got as far as he did. Thousand of miles of mountains and hard lands, with Marugon’s hunters snapping at his heels…only Liam Two Swords could have done it.”

  “So the kid’s here,” said Simon. “Why do you keep saying we’re in very great danger? Lithon’s here, and Marugon’s on your world.”

  Conmager shook his head. “No. Marugon is here.”

  “What?” said Katrina.

  “He must have entered the Tower only a day or so behind Sir Liam,” said Conmager. He laughed. “Do you see the irony? Marugon did not know that Sir Liam had reached the Tower. He thought that the traitor Rembiar would deal with him. Marugon only came to visit his agent Wycliffe.”

  “How do you know this?” said Katrina.

  “I have made many friends during my time in your world,” said Conmager. “And Senator Wycliffe has made many enemies. Most of them are afraid to challenge him. Those who stand in his way have a habit of turning up dead, or so the saying goes. I am not surprised. Marugon must have taught Wycliffe the secret of the Warlock’s Voice.”

  “What’s that?” said Simon.

  “A spell of dark power,” said Conmager. “Wycliffe can speak with a Voice of command, and those who fall under his spell heed his wishes. You have heard how that reporter went insane at Senator Fulbright’s campaign headquarters? Perhaps he was commanded to go insane.”

  Simon shuddered. “That’s…not possible.”

  Conmager smirked. “Think of the winged ones, Simon Wester, and tell me what is possible. Wycliffe has made many enemies, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They watch him for me.” He rubbed his temple. “And I can feel Marugon. I can feel his dark power, even halfway across the city.”

  Simon stiffened in alarm. “Can Marugon…sense you, or whatever?”

  “No.” Conmager’s smirk grew bitter. “I am not powerful enough to attract his notice.”

  “Then we’re fine,” said Simon, his voice shaking. “You’ll just take the children and go. Katrina and I will never speak of it again, and you can disappear with your anti-Wycliffe friends.”

  “It is not that easy,” said Conmager. “Marugon will find them, eventually. He must have sent spell-chained beasts on their trail, creatures that will hunt them even through the Tower of Endless Worlds. They will find the children, and when they do, Marugon will know. And there is worse. If Marugon commands it, Wycliffe will unleash the winged ones to find us.”

  Simon felt his knees turn to jelly. “You mean there are winged ones at the Wycliffe Consolidated Shipping compound?”

  “At least two dozen,” said Conmager. “Likely more. They have disguised themselves, somewhat, so they can move about like men. They wear black leather jackets with heavy hoods, black glasses, and fake beards. They walk with a marked slouch, to hide the presence of their wings beneath their jackets.”

  Simon almost fell. “No. Oh, no. No, no, no.”

  “What is it?” said Katrina. “What’s wrong?”

  “All this time,” said Simon. “They were there all along. Wycliffe’s new security men. They’re really the winged things.” He could not stop shaking. “I walked past them every day. Every day.”

  “My God,” said Katrina. “Those damn thugs always gave me the creeps. But I never thought…well, I suppose that explains why they made my skin crawl, doesn’t it?” She put her arm around Simon’s shoulders. “Here. Take some deep breaths. You’ll make yourself pass out.”

  Simon nodded, embarrassed. Katrina rubbed his shoulders. He waited until the shakes passed.

  “So you understand the danger,” said Conmager.

  Simon folded his arms. “What are you going to do?”

  “I am not sure,” said Conmager. “But you must come with me.”

  Simon frowned. “Why?”

  “You are in great danger if you stay here,” said Conmager. “If Marugon takes me, he will learn that you aided me. Wycliffe will send the winged ones for you. But if you come with me,” he rubbed his fingers against the staff, “I have the means to protect you.”

  “No,” said Simon. “No. I’m not…I’m not doing this. You’ve hidden once before, you can hide again.”

  “I did hide once before, yes,” said Conmager. “But only because Wycliffe considered me an unusual curiosity, a man who could resist his Voice, and because I am too insignificant to trouble Marugon. But Lithon is a threat to him. If he learns…rather, when he learns that Lithon reached Earth, he will respond with ruthless force. He will try to annihilate Lithon and anyone connected to him.” He frowned. “And the girl. There is…there is something strange about her. Familiar, almost, yet I cannot…”

  “Then what hope is there?” said Simon. “If we go with you those winged devils will find us, and if w
e stay here, they’ll come for us?”

  “There is hope,” said Conmager. He rolled his staff between his palms. “I have thought on this long and hard. There is something I can do yet. A desperate last chance that might save you and your betrothed and the children.” A terrible look of mixed fear and pain came over his face. “It may save us all. But the price, ah, the price…” He shuddered.

  “Then just go.” Simon stepped away from Katrina and waved his hands. “Just go, take the children, and don’t come back.”

  “Are you just going to abandon those kids?” said Katrina. Something hardened in her eyes.

  “I though you didn’t want children,” said Simon.

  “I don’t,” said Katrina. “But I don’t want to abandon them, not like my father did to me and my mother.”

  Conmager stood. He looked beyond weary. “You are right. We face dire peril, all of us. For you aided me, and then you told your betrothed of me, and Marugon wants these children dead. If you stay here, all is lost. If you come with me, there is some hope. I am no true Wizard, but even I have some spells Marugon may find troublesome.”

  “I don’t know,” said Simon. How could he flee with Conmager in a fool’s race across the country? He had worked so hard to build a life here. What would he tell his mother? He looked at Katrina. Would she be willing to leave her mother behind?

  “I don’t know,” repeated Simon. “I’ll…have to think about it.”

  Conmager sat back down. “I will give you until tomorrow morning. I am weary, and must rest before I can go on. But you must decide. And I beg you, Simon Wester, to come with me. You have always aided me so far, and that was the right decision, I assure you.”

  Simon's thoughts chased each other in a confused jumble. He managed to nod and walked into the dining room. The morning sunlight sent bright shafts through the windows. He paced, rubbing his eyes, trying to think through the dread that choked his mind.

  He wished he had never helped Conmager.

  “Hey.”

  Simon spun, his heart pounding. “Katrina.” She stood by the living room door, watching him.

  “You don’t look too good,” she said.

  Simon barked out a laugh. “If you’d seen that winged thing, and if you knew that it was coming for you…you’d be scared, too.”

  “Are you scared?” said Katrina.

  He sat down on the stairs. “Terrified.”

  She sat besides him. “So am I. I saw those shadow-shapes through the door, remember? If they’re anything like those winged things you keep talking about…I wouldn’t want to meet them. But I have, haven’t I? All this time. God damn that Wycliffe, Simon, God damn him to hell. Those damned thugs. I should have thought those beards were fake. They all looked like Hell’s Angels.”

  Simon shook his head. “Yeah. That’s exactly right. Hell’s Angels.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  Simon shrugged. “I don’t know. I…think I’ll skip town for a while. Head to Milwaukee, or Springfield, and get a room. Pay in cash. I’ll wait a week, until Conmager and those kids are on the other side of the country, and then I’ll come back.” He took her hand. “Come with me. I shouldn’t have told you, but I did, and you’re stuck in this mess now. Conmager’s not our problem. He can take care of himself.”

  Katrina shook her hand free. “No.”

  Simon’s heart lurched. “Why not?”

  “I think you should go with him,” said Katrina. “I’m going with him.”

  “What?” said Simon, aghast. “Why?”

  “Because he’s right,” said Katrina. “My God, Simon, think about it. We both work for Wycliffe. He’ll find out about us somehow. And this Marugon will be staying at the warehouse. Don’t you think he could find out?”

  “How can you even think about doing this?” said Simon.

  Katrina scoffed. “You saw the winged things. And everything Conmager said makes sense. All those stories about Wycliffe. Fulbright committing suicide. And I saw the door.” She smirked. “What is it that preachers always say? Blessed are those who have not seen but yet believe. Well, guess what, Simon? I’ve seen the door, and I believe.”

  “But…” said Simon.

  “And there’s something else,” said Katrina. Her hands clenched. “My first year working at the warehouse, a part-time receptionist was hired right after me. She was bubbly and bouncy and blond…you know the type. I got to know her a bit. She was an idiot, but not a bad one. Wycliffe hung around her all the time. Everyone figured he was screwing her.” Her scowl deepened. “And then one day her roommate finds her floating in the bathtub with cut wrists. Everyone thought it was a suicide. Wycliffe even went to the funeral. But I don’t think it was a suicide. You heard what Conmager said about that Voice thing. I think Wycliffe used it on her, and then when he got tired of her or she found out too much, he told her to kill herself.” She shook her head, her eyes drilling holes into him. “The suicide never made any sense to me. And now it does.”

  Simon clutched at his knees. “It could…it could still all be a coincidence.” But his words were empty, and he knew it.

  Katrina spat. “I always thought Wycliffe was a creep. But if everything Conmager said is true, and I think it is, then our beloved Senator Thomas Wycliffe’s a monster.” She stood. “I’m going with Conmager because I think it’s the right thing to do. And I’ll go without you if I have to, Simon.”

  She walked back to the living room and shut the door.

  Simon stared after her.

  ***

  Chapter 19 - The Voidspawn

  Anno Domini 2003