by Wight, Will
His whispers trailed off, but Donia had no idea what she could say.
"Are they from Enosh?" Nikolos asked, sounding strangely excited. "I've heard that the Grandmasters do things like that. You know, blood sacrifice to raise monsters, that sort of thing."
From what Donia had heard of Ragnarus Travelers, the Damascan royal family was more likely to be involved in human sacrifice than anyone from Enosh, but she kept that to herself. The annual sacrifice was cloaked in mystery, and no one outside the Royal Palace in Cana really knew what went on there. It was all way above her, and none of her business besides.
"Not Enosh," Lukis said. "I know all of the Helgard Travelers that Enosh ever sends to this floor. One of them was visiting the outpost when these...cultists tore it down."
Nikolos' face twisted into an expression of revulsion. "How can you stand to be so close to an Enosh heretic? I'd kill them on sight, myself."
Nikolos wasn't a Traveler, and Donia was of the opinion that he would get himself eviscerated before he managed to kill anybody, but she held her opinion close. "Inspector. Are we safe here?"
Lukis chuckled bitterly, though he didn't raise his voice above a whisper. "As safe as we ever are on this floor. They're busy with their ritual, or whatever dark business they have going on, and they're all the way over by the outpost. Where the outpost used to be, anyway. They won't be coming back after me."
"You should stay here, then," Donia said, though she realized immediately that her suggestion was useless. Of course he would stay here, where it was safe. What did she expect him to do, run back in and fight the cultists single-handedly?
"In the meantime," she continued, "Nikolos and I will head back down and warn the Inspectors on the first floor. From there—"
"Hold on," Nikolos interrupted. "How long will that take?"
Donia sighed. "Nikolos, surely you can see that—"
"And what will they do about it?"
"They will send Travelers," Donia said impatiently. "A small army of Travelers, with powers at their command that you couldn't even pronounce."
Nikolos met her gaze, his eyes more serious than she had ever seen them. "So we climb back down sixteen floors, which will take us hours, if not longer. We convince the Inspectors to send people up to the sixteenth. Even if they believe us without sending someone to look for themselves, how long will it take for them to gather enough Travelers? Not to mention getting them back up here."
"What would you have us do, Nikolos?" Donia asked. She meant it to be mocking, but if he had a real suggestion, she was more than willing to listen.
"There's a route to my father through here, right?" Nikolos said. "That's why we're on this floor in the first place. We should go to him. It's faster, he'll believe me immediately, and we won't need an army. My father alone will be more than enough."
Donia had to admit that the boy had a point. She had seen Overlord Vasilios in action, and the man was like a Helgard Incarnation in the flesh. And according to rumor, the Overlords each had artifacts of Ragnarus that ensured they would always be more powerful than their competition. With that kind of weaponry on their side, they would have nothing to worry about. Besides, the Overlord would surely want them to come to him with this.
She turned to Lukis, outlining exactly which crossing they needed to take. "Where is the enemy?" she asked. "Can we cross without running into them?"
Lukis rubbed his gloved hands together nervously. "I couldn't say...I think, if you skirted the center of the floor and headed straight to the crossing, you could open a Gate without them being any the wiser. But there would be no guarantee that you wouldn't run into a straggler, or a scout, or just somebody in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Donia stared off into the featureless waves of ice, mulling over the situation. It would be safer to go down to the first floor, that was for sure. It was her responsibility to keep Nikolos safe. The safer option wasn't necessarily the right one, though. She wasn't certain whether the Overlord would love her for bringing him the news first, or hate her for taking his son into danger.
As she sometimes did, she pictured herself as she imagined others thought of her: strong, skilled, confident. Always ready with the right answer. That woman would know exactly what to do. She would likely press forward, relying on her own ability to keep them all safe.
Unfortunately, Donia wasn't sure that woman actually existed.
"We will move forward," Donia said at last. Lukis groaned, but Donia continued speaking. "As carefully as we can. If we see anyone, anyone at all, we immediately turn around, no questions asked. Now, Inspector Lukis, are you with us?"
Lukis gaped at her. "Me?"
"We've never encountered this enemy before, we're not familiar with the floor, and the boy here is the Overlord's son. He's not a Traveler."
Inspector Lukis looked Nikolos over more carefully.
"The boy?" Nikolos whined.
"As you can see," Donia went on, "we could use your help."
Lukis glanced from one side to the other as though trying to find his way out of a trap. At last, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Let me show you the way," he said at last.
***
For the first few minutes, the silence of the sixteenth floor was laced with tension. Donia barely took a step without craning her neck to see over a frozen wave, and three or four times she almost called on Helgard's power to destroy a shape that turned out to be nothing more than a flickering shadow.
But Lukis set a pace barely greater than a crawl. He called a stop at any sound, seemingly even the echoes of their own footsteps. An hour into the journey, without seeing any sign of danger, Donia's alarm began to fade, and she started to worry.
Nikolos drifted up to her, seemingly casual, speaking under his breath.
"What do you know about him?" the boy asked, nodding toward Lukis. The Inspector stared intently between two man-sized curls of ice as though expecting someone to materialize inside them.
"Nothing more than you do," Donia said. She had never heard of Lukis before. But then, Outpost Sixteen was one of the most isolated positions in the Tower. The more social or ambitious Travelers avoided it, leaving those who had a reason to stay alone.
"I've been thinking. Isn't this a little suspicious? We haven't seen anything wrong this whole time. We're taking his word that there's a threat. We're taking his word on where it is. How do we know there are even any enemies out here at all? Even if there are, how do we know he's not with them?"
They were far enough behind Lukis, and Nikolos was speaking quietly enough, that Donia doubted they would be overheard. In truth, Donia thought much the same. Lukis had shown them nothing to back up his claims.
But there was something of an understanding between Helgard Travelers, even between Travelers of Enosh and Damasca. They may be enemies on the outside, and they would work against each other when ordered, but the real danger was the Tower itself. Tradition said that she could trust Inspector Lukis.
"I say we trust him," Donia said. "Just for now. But I'm on my guard."
Nikolos clearly wasn't satisfied with that, and he seemed on the verge of voicing another complaint.
Then the ice in front of them exploded.
The frozen wave burst with a sound like a thousand falling trees, bursting into a cloud of ice shards that tore into Donia, tearing through her clothes, slicing her skin.
With well-trained speed, Donia threw her hands up, holding her fingers in the correct signs, and whispered a quick word.
Helgard Travelers collected names and gestures that allowed them to summon, control, and influence the creatures of the Territory. But she was not limited to calling on living creatures.
She held out the signs, whispered the key, and the Tower of Winter answered.
Freezing wind whipped up around them, tearing at the fringes of her coat, throwing her dark hair in her face. In front of Lukis, it was much stronger. So strong that the wind blasted many of the fly
ing ice chunks from the air, blowing them to one side of Donia's group.
Some of the ice got through, drawing lines of burning red on her skin. Far fewer than before, though.
Lukis hadn't reacted as quickly as she had, but then, he had been closer to the initial explosion. As the ice shards continued to fly, he huddled behind Donia's barrier of wind, curled up on the ground. His torn coat was in tatters now, and he was visibly splattered in blood.
Donia didn't have time to worry long over Inspector Lukis. Three figures appeared in the blowing snow and ice. One of them raised a hand, and the daggers of ice stopped flying.
I guess I owe Lukis an apology, Donia thought. Here were his mysterious cultists.
And they were dressed...exactly as she had imagined.
They wore the typical uniform that all Helgard Travelers shared, out of necessity: a fur-lined coat with a hood and thick, warm gloves. Unlike Donia's outfit and Lukis', both of which were blue with white fur, these three wore black coats lined in dark gray fur. The lower halves of their faces were covered by a black mask that, Donia had to admit, looked rather warm.
In another circumstance, the effect might have been silly. They were dressed up like the villains of some bad play, and there wasn't even any reason for it; black was no good for stealth up here. The landscape was white, the light blue-green, and night never fell on the sixteenth floor. Part of her thought they couldn't be serious.
Then she saw the dark stains, glistening against the black of their coats, and she had a disturbing thought.
Those coats wouldn't show bloodstains.
One of the figures stepped forward and spoke. His voice was cultured and educated, possibly a wealthy son raised at the heart of Cana. "I'm sorry for that. We can't be too wary out here, you know. We've heard rumors that there might be some Enosh Travelers around here, and we were not as careful as we should have been."
Blood dripped into Donia's eye, and she wiped it away so it wouldn't freeze her eye shut. Anger and fear warred for control.
"You're sorry?" she said. "You could have killed us! You nearly did! Give me one reason why I shouldn't report you to my Overlord. One!"
The lead figure bowed at the waist, inclining his head a fraction. "As I said, it was a misunderstanding. We have heard rumors—"
"We've heard some rumors ourselves, today," Donia said. Fear and anger were still having their match, but anger was leading by a head. "Who are you, and what is your business here?"
He paused, then glanced down at Lukis.
"Ah," he said at last. "Rumors. Yes, I imagine you might have heard a few. Well, I have nothing to hide. There is a being sealed in this floor known as a Frozen One. Perhaps more than a single individual. We are here to share our names, perhaps form a bond with this being, as has been the tradition in Helgard since time immemorial."
Casually, Donia slipped her left hand into her pocket, swiftly forming sign after sign. She would have to move quickly, when the time came, so it would be best to do as much of the preliminary work ahead of time as she could.
"And what about Outpost Sixteen?" Donia asked.
Nikolos edged around so that he was standing behind her. Wisely so, she thought.
The black-coated man shrugged. "Mistakes were made."
That was all.
"Well, I think," Donia began, and then before anyone could react, she shouted for her strongest ally.
She called him Rishla, for short, because his full name was fifteen syllables and required years of linguistic training to pronounce. He looked something like a furred serpent, or a long weasel, with pale tan fur and a dozen legs. He was fiercely loyal to her, devilishly intelligent, and one of the most powerful creatures she had ever encountered at the tower. More importantly to her right now, he would come at the sound of his nickname, said alongside the proper signs. She didn't have time to shout all fifteen syllables.
Well, he would normally come at the sound of his nickname.
Creatures of Helgard could hear their name spoken anywhere, especially by their bonded partner. Why wasn't he coming already?
More importantly...
Usually, a battle between Helgard Travelers was a match of who could make their signs and shout the words the most quickly. The three cultists should have been yelling like town criers and frantically twisting their fingers, but they did nothing.
Lukis barely managed to raise himself on one bloody arm, twisting to look at Donia.
"No!" he croaked. "Don't summon...not here."
Then he collapsed again, his strength evidently exhausted.
The black-coated speaker swept a hand in Lukis' direction. "You heard the man," he said. "But it seems like it's too late."
The light beneath the ice vanished entirely, for one disturbing second leaving the entire floor in complete darkness.
She heard a sound like a cross between a lion's roar and the tolling of an enormous bell.
One of the cultists who had previously remained silent started laughing.
"This floor is sealed by the power of the Frozen One," the speaker said. "We've managed to encourage that much cooperation, at least. Anything that tries to enter is met by his wrath."
Donia didn't respond. Not in words. She crossed the first two fingers of each hand and stuck them out, one to each side.
She spoke a key.
This time, the enemy Travelers sputtered their own keys and began raising their hands in signs. The speaker raised his hands and made a warding gesture, trying to get his key phrase in place.
He was too slow.
A gleaming crystal snowflake the size of a wagon wheel came hurtling out of the distance, spinning through the air, its edge sharp enough to cleave bone. It had formed itself from loose ice and snow, and she could now control its flight with the motion of her right hand.
She whipped her right hand forward to point at the cultist speaker, then brought her left hand in as well.
A second giant snowflake followed.
She didn't know any of the powers associated specifically with the sixteenth floor, but she could use this one anywhere. Very few people in the entire Tower could form two White Razors at once, much less so quickly.
Donia was counting on the surprise.
One cultist called up a burst of wind, blasting a single Razor from the air, but not before it could nick her in the leg. A second cultist dropped to his knees, letting the Razor fly over his head, straight at the speaker.
The speaker spoke the last syllable of his key and stumbled backwards. In front of him, the loose ice-shards rose into the air, forming into a blue-white wall.
The White Razor slammed into his ice-wall in a thunderous collision, sending chips of ice and a freezing wind flying in all directions.
Donia was already forming new signs, speaking the key to her next summons.
The cultists muttered along, doing the same.
Then Inspector Lukis picked his head up once more, thrusting a bloody fist at the ceiling.
He breathed out three final syllables, smiled, and collapsed with his face on the ice.
A crack echoed throughout the sixteenth floor, as though the world itself were breaking. Donia couldn't help but look up...and up...and up...
At the icicles on the ceiling. The icicles that could crush an entire village.
One of them, with its point directly above Lukis, started to fall.
It looked deceptively slow, she noticed, as though it would take ten minutes to reach the ground. And beautiful. It refracted the ambient light of the sixteenth floor with the thousand indescribable colors of the rainbow.
It didn't look anything like incalculable tons of ice rushing toward her at lethal speeds.
All of this flashed through her mind in a single instant, then she grabbed Nikolos' arm and hauled him along behind her, running recklessly over the icy surface. She didn't know which way she was going, and she didn't care a bit, so long as it was away from that mountainous hammer of ice.
Ordinarily
, she would never have run over this ice. One slip on ice this irregular could mean death at the best of times, and now it certainly would. Mentally, she thanked her father for the gift of the new boots that he had sent her last Winter's End. She did not slip, and she did not look back. She just kept running.
For a few seconds.
She crested the rise of a frozen wave, dragging Nikolos behind her like a cart behind a horse. She jumped off and almost landed on another Traveler in a black coat.
He had fallen onto his backside, scrambling backwards, face locked on the descending icicle. Donia couldn't blame him. She vaguely noticed a half-dozen other figures, dressed the same as the first, all around her, and a huge red circle painted on the ice.
She would worry about all that after she survived. She kept running.
She made it a few more steps before the icicle hit, tossing her from her feet.
Donia slammed face-first into the ice, and the world went dark.
***
She woke to agonizing pain.
Donia's cheek, pressed against the ice, had begun to burn with the cold. She felt like she had been stabbed with a dozen knives, all up the right side of her body. Her hip sent up lances of pain when she tried to move, and it made a disturbing clicking sound.
Worse, she could barely move. She was trapped. Her breath came faster and faster as she rolled her eyes around, trying to see a way out. All she could see, by the light of the dim glow beneath her, was ice: chunks of ice pressed against her face, above her, beneath her, all around. She was buried alive.
The thought brought on a new wave of panic, and she instinctively tried to push herself up with her right hand. As soon as she leaned on her arm, pain shot through her as though someone had crushed every bone in the arm with a hammer.
She couldn't help herself. She screamed.
When her shout faded from her own ears, she realized she could hear voices. Not from far away, either; maybe she wasn't buried as deeply as she thought.
