by Andrew Lynch
‘Seems...’ Lucian looked at the side of the child’s face that was visible. ‘Well, younger than I would have expected.’
‘A child, really.’
‘Yeah...’ Lucian tried to look away, but the scene was a curious one. ‘Do you think this means we were later than we should have been?’
‘One never knows when it comes to Quests,’ Jess said. ‘Were you supposed to defend them? Perhaps. Were they supposed to die to inspire you? Possibly. Either way, yes, you were probably late and should have either stopped this or witnessed it.’
‘Right. Should have taken horses. Next time…’ Lucian muttered. ‘Anyway, as the security on this place is clearly tight, let’s get moving.’
Lucian looked over his team and considered his strategy. Who should go first? The goal here was to collect information pointing to where this Lord Yelx resided in the Spires - and after seeing what these executioners could do, also avoid being seen.
Stealth meant Gar was out of the question. He had many skills, but stealth was not one of them. Jess, with her natural Elvish senses, was a great person to have on point, but she didn’t always understand what she should point out to the rest of the group, what with mortal danger being a concept beneath her notice.
That left Darrius and Khleb. Darrius, quick with his wit and even quicker with his sword. Knew how to keep a level head - assuming there wasn’t a chance to show off. A good man to have at your back. Or Khleb, suited to work in the shadows because when seen out of the shadows he’d been known to blind people - itself an asset in this line of work. If you wanted to sneak somewhere, he was your man.
It left only one possibility.
‘I'll lead,’ Lucian said.
He’d decided that regardless of the traits of the rest of his group, as a Hero, he would definitely do the best job.
He walked to the first door he saw and pushed. It didn’t open.
‘Try there, sir,’ Darrius said, pointing at a lever next to Lucian’s head.
‘Yes, thank you. I was going to try that next.’ Lucian hadn’t seen it, but was positive that he would have in a moment. ‘Obviously.’
Lucian depressed the lever with his hand - rather than pointing out its life mistakes, which seemed to be Darrius' tactic - and sure enough the door slid open in a smooth and silent motion.
Lucian stepped into a hallway filled with a dozen doors just like the one he’d stepped out of. More black slate. Clearly the designers of these kinds of buildings picked a theme and stuck with it. He supposed it was like the pre-sum castles in the Company catalog. Or maybe there was a bulk discount on materials.
The corridor had a purple underlighting to it. There were no wall-mounted light sources, and instead the light came from the floors, a small channel running down each join of floor to wall, filled with a glowing fluid, exactly like the small room they had come from. It was well lit, just oddly done. This meant that Lucian could see everything he needed to. As far as he could tell, anyway. To his left were stairs, leading up to a landing. To his right were two guards stepping out from one of the many doors.
Lucian watched as one executioner crossed to the door opposite the one they'd just left, opened it, and waited for the other guard. The other guard then closed the door, marched over to the newly opened door, and entered. The door closed behind them.
‘Let’s go,’ Lucian said over his shoulder and turned left. His years of studying strategy and tactics had taught him many things, one of which was that if you could walk away from two killing machines who were meticulously and repetitively searching for you, then you should. And taking advantage of their poorly designed helmets restricting their peripheral vision, was a valid, non cowardly tactic.
And Lucian ultimately knew that they'd have to go upwards. The villain always put himself at the highest point. Symbolically, a great idea, Lucian thought - his many hours of being a Hero now giving him new perspective on symbolism - however, it also trapped the villain. Any ridiculous flying contraptions notwithstanding. Also, Malum had been at the bottom, but that was a special case.
Being trapped at the top of his own castle was a mistake Lucian decided he would never make. Not that he was a villain of course. No, never would be, but he was sure that Heroes had similar pitfalls.
He just couldn’t think of any.
The stairs led to a landing and then curved back on themselves, leading the group back the way they'd come, only a floor higher. Lucian continued up the stairs towards that first landing. The purple, glowing liquid showed that it was a viscous sludge as it slowly dripped like treacle down the gutters of the stairs. Certainly Khleb was finding it rather fascinating, sticking a finger into it and flinging globs of purple on the floor. Gar put a stop to that with a clip round the ear.
The landing seemed identical either side - more purple gloop and black slate doors. Either way, the walkways met up again at the other end of the hall.
Lucian immediately picked a side and pretended it was the obvious choice, mainly to mess with Darrius and Khleb, the ones who would have agonised over which route to take, drawing on all of their years of sneaking and intuition to make a decision.
Halfway down the hall, the sound of a door opening came from below. Then another door opening, then one closing, and then another closing. The guards were continuing their patrol. Lucian decided that if they kept at that pace, then the number of doors downstairs would make them a non-issue.
At the end of the hallway, large, arched double doors came into view after being concealed by an oddly placed vanity wall. Actually, Lucian gave it some thought and decided that it provided a perfect bottleneck against any invading forces. Lucian could make out intricate scroll work covering the doors. He couldn’t understand it, but he could see it.
Something deep inside him told him that what he sought was through there. Maybe it was his new found heroic talents, maybe it was his years of experience in the field.
But something else drew his attention. Only a few doors away from reaching the double doors, Lucian noticed something different with the entrance they were currently passing.
The rest of the group were flat against the wall - just in case - so couldn’t see this latest door. Lucian faced it head on and looked. It appeared superficially the same as all the rest. Ebon slate with the waves of the slate running vertically, oriented the opposite way from the walls. It was inset in a small nook just like all the other doors.
‘What’s up, boss?’ Khleb asked.
‘Hmm? No, nothing. I think I’m going to see what’s in here though.’
‘You sure?’ Khleb asked, moving closer. ‘We probably want the big door at the end there. You know, if I had to guess.’
‘Yeah, I agree, but this door... there’s something about it.’ Lucian said, almost entranced. Was this what a Hero’s senses felt like? An unnatural calling, felt deep inside. Not magic. Okay, maybe magic, Lucian couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t had any proof he’d felt magic yet, despite managing to find the entrance to the Goblins’ dungeon.
‘Sure, makes sense,’ Khleb said, after getting close enough to see the door properly.
This broke Lucian out of his trance. His eyes went to Khleb’s. ‘You feel it too?’
‘Feel? I see it.’
‘Huh?’
‘The colour of the light seeping out. It’s not purple. It’s just normal. Daylight, I'd guess.’
Once it had been pointed out to him, Lucian realised now that it was very obvious. The sunlight creeping through the cracks of the door made it seem like the door was glowing. Highlighted.
Lucian tutted to himself. No magic, no Hero’s senses, just everyday eyesight. And he’d been out-observed by half his group now.
It’s all right, he told himself, all Heroes have teething problems. He was sure Moxar’s first time out was filled with mistakes. He briefly wondered what Moxar was up to and if his new backup team were up to the task.
The slate door opened slowly at his touch. The natural light poured
into the hall, illuminating everything in a more appropriate colour. Lucian’s eyes were blinded by the light and he couldn’t see into the room.
The sound of a door opening came from below, followed by the surprised exclamation muffled by a full suit of armour, that Lucian expected from this turn of events.
The group piled in quickly and shut the door. It was an instinctive move, the knowledge that the guards would instantly find the door they used due to the light, forgotten.
Everyone’s eyes took a second to adjust. Lucian saw a plain wooden floor filled with two rows of desks, support timbers acting as pillars, and plastered white walls with doors at the rear of the room. Windows let the sun fill the room. Very ordinary. Very - out of place.
‘Well, all things considered it could have been worse.’ Lucian said. ‘I couldn’t even see what I was charging us all into.’
‘Fantastic bit of leadership, sir,’ Darrius sarcasmed. ‘Any ideas for the guards that are mere seconds behind us?’
Lucian thought of all the possibilities. Hiding behind desks was a strong contender. Standing and fighting less so. Sure, they might get the first executioner, Lucian reasoned, but the second one would be warned. And okay, yes, they might take him down too, but from what they'd seen of the executioners outside the Spire, they would definitely lose someone in the process.
And then there was the unknown of their current location. What bizarre psychological horror would they find in there.
‘All right, everyone find a desk or a pillar and hide!’ Lucian said.
He was sure he heard a groan from his group, but convinced himself that it was just that their legs were weary from crouching by the walls, and nothing to do with his command.
Lucian stayed by the door watching as his group went to their self appointed spots. Khleb and Gar crouched behind desks, while Darrius and Jess went for the pillars. All for different reasons - Lucian could tell, now that he knew his group well. Khleb chose the desk because it allowed him to lie down, and he was always one to slack off. Darrius, a pillar because it allowed him a quick hidden strike if things turned sour. Jess, a pillar because she felt that lying down was beneath her, the expenditure of effort to stand up again something she would resent. Gar, a desk because he couldn’t fit his broad shoulders and equipment behind a pillar. In fact, he couldn’t fit it all behind a desk either, his shield being the only thing left visible of the group.
‘Gar, shield!’ Lucian whispered, but he might as well have just shouted.
The shield shifted back and forth a bit, but ended up still visible. Lucian ran over to Gar’s desk at the back of the room.
‘I'll take your shield,’ Lucian whispered.
‘No. Is fine. Can take sword?’ Gar replied.
‘Your sword isn’t revealing your position. Give me the shield.’
Gar looked reluctant, to say the least, but after a moment’s pause did as he was told and unbuckled his shield from his back, handing it over.
Lucian began dragging the shield to the other row of desks, where he intended to take up position. The shield made a horrendous screeching sound that pierced the soul of everyone in the room, earning him some harsh stares. He picked the shield up for the few metres it took to get to the next row of desks.
He set the shield down as gently as he could and was about to lie on it when the door opened.
Just - not the one they were expecting. The slate door remained closed, and the door at the back of the room opened, letting in a loud, out of place sound, to what had previously been a silent room. It sounded happy and good natured. Maybe even jovial.
A group of people entered the room, chatting away and paying no attention to Lucian. Lucian noticed that his group had swiftly moved to the opposite side of their respective cover, even Gar. Only Lucian remained in view.
All of the new entrants were wearing a simple long, fitted, purple robe with black shoulder pads - Lucian presumed they worked here and that was the uniform - but no weapons were visible. Lucian drew his hatchet.
The unmistakable sound of a weapon being unholstered brought the attention of the group of evil employees to Lucian. ‘Woah, woah! Hello!’ the first person into the room said - a tall, icy blue skinned... person. Lucian had never seen or heard of what he might be. ‘Why are you here?’
The blue skinned man didn’t sound particularly aggressive, but still, Lucian didn’t know what to say. ‘We're here... I mean, I’m here to... right the wrongs your master has caused.’
‘Oh. Right. Well, wrong door I’m afraid. Didn’t you see the big double doors? Arched? Intricate scrollwork?’ The rest of the evil employee group waited patiently for the situation to be resolved, but there was an awful lot of eye rolling.
Lucian had started shakily but a Heroic challenge seemed to be his knee-jerk reaction, so he stuck with it. ‘I shall grant no reprieve for the servants of dark overlord Yelx!’
The ice blue man absently smoothed his eyebrows. ‘Yeah, we're really just the admin here. How come the guards outside didn’t catch you?’
At the mention of the guards, Lucian realised they should have burst into this room at least half a minute ago. ‘Umm, actually they did find us entering.’ Lucian lowered his axe and twiddled with the head. ‘I’m not sure where they are now though.’
‘Not in here, obviously. Get to work everyone,’ the blue man said, seemingly unconcerned about the armed Lucian in front of him.
As people moved to their desks and started scratching away with quills on parchment, the rest of Lucian’s group revealed themselves.
‘Oh, what’s all this?’ the blue man said, throwing his hands in the air. ‘A whole group wandered in here? Don’t you know anything?’
‘To be honest,’ Lucian said, ‘I’m starting to think I’m missing something, yeah.’
‘We're the admin... All right, all right. You’re all Heroes, yes?’
‘Well, I’m a Hero, and this is my group.’
‘You know about your support group, but you don’t know the basic rules of attacking a lair?’ The blue man was becoming more exasperated and Lucian was becoming more confused. ‘I don’t even know where to start. Take a seat, all of you. So you don’t mess anything up.’
The group sat obediently, the enticement of learning what the Gods was going on being enough to placate any arguments.
‘I used to be a support member myself. They made me a Hero about a week ago.’
‘Huh. Well, that’s a new one, never heard of a support member ascending to a Hero. Anyway, doesn’t matter. So I'll cut a long story short for you, shall I?’
‘Yes, please,’ Lucian said.
‘As support members you knew all about the admin offices and behind the scenes operations for the Heroes, right?’ The blue man was leaning on the nearest desk, drawing on a piece of paper as he spoke, although Lucian could only make out random doodles. ‘Well, just as any major Hero has the full support of Zenith Keep, all major villains have the full support of Apex Spires. This is the admin wing. It goes back for several rooms just like this. I believe yours is similar, just a different layout?’
It had been a while since Lucian had heard the Company’s real name, Zenith Keep. ‘Well, yeah. We have information gatherers to keep up with the latest goings on, make sure we get the Quests right, and check out what needs to happen behind the scenes. I guess. But we don’t have it connected to a lethal corridor.’
‘Are you sure? When we enter, we use the employee’s door at the rear, never the main door. Maybe you do the same without knowing it?’
Now that Lucian thought about it, he never had entered Zenith Keep over the large main drawbridge. The Company men always took him in via a small and insignificant wooden door when he needed to do something in the main building and not one of the Heroes lodges. ‘I guess. Maybe.’
‘Right. So in the past you’ve just followed your Hero through wherever he’s gone?’ Clearly the blue man wasn’t going to give Lucian time to process this. ‘Never really explo
red other routes? Well, that’s because the Hero knew not to go into places like this - given some excuse by your Lord Orson. But as you’re a new Hero, presumably not correctly briefed, here you are, trying to attack a bunch of quill pushers.’
Lucian looked around and realised that he couldn’t argue with anything the blue man had said. ‘Well, you do all look kind of evil - in an Imperious, well organised sort of way. No offence.’
‘We're Soulless. Ask your Elf friend, she'll know. Apex Spires does have standards to maintain, it can’t very well just go hiring normal Humans. Anyway, there’s bad news to go along with these revelations.’
‘Oh.’ Lucian said, completely unprepared for any more information, good or bad.
‘You’ve been sent into the heart of the villains. The biggest, most well fortified bastion that the villains have. I’ve seen Heroes before, and you are not one.’
‘I could be...’ Lucian muttered, but he couldn’t muster more of a defence than that.
‘Sure, sure. One day, maybe. But one day, this is not. You, sir, are on a suicide mission. Been sent here to find someone called Lord Yelx, right?’
‘Umm, yeah.’
‘Have you seen what the executioners can do?’
‘Yeah.’
The blue man stood up and motioned Lucian to follow him. Lucian trotted along, and his group followed, having all crept closer to listen to the conversation.
The blue man reached the slate door and pressed the button to open it. It opened inwards, and two giant suits of armour holding axes stood outside.
‘One second,’ he said, as he stepped outside and closed the door.
Lucian looked at his team. They were all looking sullen. ‘Don’t worry. This is probably just a trick. He wasn’t very well going to tell us that everything would be really easy and we were going to win. Psychological warfare, I’m sure.’
Noncommittal grunts emanated from the team, and Jess spoke up. ‘Were you aware that villains had their own Company?’
‘I... was not,’ Lucian admitted.
‘Do you realise the implications?’ she continued.
