“A merry hunt you’ve led us on, kid,” Orion muttered, shaking his head, “And here we find you relaxin’ and chattin’!”

  He was the first to step onto the final stretch of battlements, seeing the unusual sight of Anilith sitting around with the goblins. The Barrier had changed drastically, hardly casting light any longer. It remained in place around the battlements, but it had turned opaque after the bout had ended: a darkness marbled with veins of brilliant orange.

  She laughed.

  “Well, come on, old man, pull up a chair,” she said, summoning one from her ring as she spoke.

  Razhik slumped through the doorway, the shadows clinging to him like a pall, chasing the merriment from the gathering. Anilith stood up and moved to greet her friend.

  “Good to see you up, Razh,” she started, “And I’m sorry for the friend you lost.” Her fist clenched as she found her words. “I should have done more, been faster. I should have been able to protect—”

  “That wasn’t your responsibility,” Razhik said, hardly looking up. “Hoaky died for my decision, my confidence. He died believing I would protect him.”

  A chorus of croaks sounded from behind him, before the shadows pulled the Grokar away, silencing them. Anilith couldn’t help but sense the shift in the goblins’ composure at the sound of their ancient enemy, but, to their credit, they remained as they were.

  “Bud,” Orion said in a low voice, “I told you already: you can’t be blamin’ yourself for that. You did what you thought was right, an’ you do him a disservice by takin’ the truth of his trust away from him. He died for his decision. Tell me honestly that his friends ain’t said somethin’ of the sort.”

  Razhik didn’t even look up at the Wanderer, merely shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He trudged closer to the fire, settling just outside the ring of light. Anilith walked over, placing her forehead against his, but reserving any words she might have said. She held him, one hand to either side of his jaw and her forehead pressed to his crown, for a scattering of heartbeats, then turned and reclaimed her seat, giving him the space he needed to brood and embrace acceptance.

  “Orion,” she said, “I’d like you to meet Karn, Roq, Qor, U’grom, and Zek.” She pointed to each of them in turn, Karn and Roq giving small waves as she introduced them. “We came to an agreement; no one needed to die for us to pass this final trial.”

  “Nice to, err, meet you,” Orion said, returning a small wave of his own. “Glad to see runnin’ off on your lonesome didn’t end so poorly. Guess I was worried for nothin’.”

  “You and me both,” Anilith said under her breath, “I was worried this mighta been too much for the Grokar. Turns out, the hard part is supposed to be getting to the far end, whichever path you pick first. These guys have a hard time measuring up to the raw strength of the Ogrekin, and the middle section came down to numbers. None of those goblins were as dangerous as these five, though.”

  “Makes you wonder why the Tower made it this way,” Orion puzzled.

  “I’m just going to stop you there, friend of Anilith,” Karn said coolly, each of the other goblins visibly bristling. “We may have come to an agreement with her, but we’ll risk death at your hand if you insult our god, questioning his methods.”

  Orion held his hands up not defensively but in a placating way. “Meant no offense, stranger,” he said, “Just strikes me as odd, the way this place works. All this build up, hidden pieces on hidden pieces, and I’m havin’ trouble seein’ the why, s’all.”

  “The Protector has mysterious ways,” Zek replied in a quiet voice, surprising even the goblins. “To find the path hidden among many, that is the truest test. This place, built on the bones of something far more ancient, was made to hide the oldest secrets. Great discovery reveals great secrets, and reward. Only faith in our path can reveal that which has been hidden. It is a test.”

  Zek returned to his silent observations, the air holding no remnant of his whisper.

  “I hardly remember the last time you spoke,” Roq laughed, “And then you spew some cryptic prattle.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Classic Zek. Don’t expect to get any more out of him.”

  “Is he always so…Zek?” Orion asked.

  “Are you kidding me?” Karn blurted out. “Zek’s got more locked away in that skull than he lets on. Honestly, we’re lucky to have him here. He’s leagues beyond the rest of us, could have been a Warden if he wanted. What was it he said back when the Commander was assigning duties, Roq?”

  “Ask me about anything else from those days, I’d have a time remembering,” Roq replied, “But that’s a moment I’ll not forget. There Zek was, front of the line, being offered a position any of us would have died to have, the honor of any number of lifetimes, and all Zek had to say was, ‘No, sir. I understand the need, but a guarantee of killing is too much for my taste. Do you have any openings where my skills might be put to use saving lives instead?’ And that’s how Zek joined our crew.”

  “Yeah,” Karn continued, “And he knows more about this place than most. I’m pretty sure he spent some time here before the…well…everything.” He scratched his head. “Can’t really tell you about all that, though.”

  Silence fell over the group after that, each lost to their mind’s own musings. So it was that the most peaceable time they’d found in the Tower passed in a blink, ending, as all pleasant things must, before they were ready.

  “I think we’ve all hidden away here long enough,” Roq said without preamble. “You three had better get back the way you came. The Commander will be expecting you, and you have rewards to claim. The way down to the violet chamber should be unsealed now.”

  “The way down?” Orion asked. “As in a shortcut?”

  “Well, yeah,” Karn replied. “What, did you think you’d have to walk down those long, boring hallways again?”

  Orion fixed him with a flat stare that spoke volumes.

  “Don’t…don’t tell me…you’ve missed all the shortcuts so far!” Karn choked out between bouts of laughter.

  Orion pointedly ignored the question, only saying, “So there’s a way down from the far end, then?”

  Karn could hardly contain himself and was cackling like a lunatic.

  Not sure I ever heard a more disturbin’ sound, Orion thought.

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  “Just stand in the black circle between the braziers,” Roq said, ignoring Karn in turn. “You’ll get where you need to go.”

  “Thank the gods. If I had to walk down that damnable hallway one more time…” Orion responded, letting his comment hang. “I owe ya one, I guess. Thanks, Roq.”

  Roq just waved Orion’s thank you off. “Don’t worry about it. I doubt you’ll be thanking me once you meet the Commander.”

  “You’ve mentioned him a few times. I can only assume you mean the Warlord,” Anilith chimed in. “I think I caught his eye on the way here.”

  “Warlord,” Qor said, breaking his own silence, “You humans come up with the strangest things, although, I guess it’s not so far off, if you’re not looking at the bigger picture. It’s got a nice ring to it,” he chuckled.

  Roq nodded along with his brother. “I’d say you caught his eye. There’s not much that goes on around here he’s not aware of. If you think we were bored waiting around, you have no idea. He’s ecstatic about getting to muster the whole army this time around. Last time, the challengers just waltzed by all the hidden bits and brute forced their way through.”

  “And I heard they didn’t even end up fighting,” Karn, who had finally caught his breath, said. “Kinda glad I wasn’t there to see how he reacted to that one.”

  “That’s enough of that,” U’grom reprimanded his cohort before turning to the interlopers. “Like Roq said, best you three are on your way, now.”

  Anilith, not waiting to be dismissed again, got to her feet and stored her chair, brushing off her knees as she did. “Well, see you guys around, then.” With a smile, she was off, Orion in her wake. Razhik trailed behind them, following at his own pace.

  When the trio departed the battlements, Karn muttered, “I’ll be counting on it. I’m not so sure the Commander is going to be happy with us. Bah! It’s about time things got shaken up around here!”

  The black circle, as it turned out, was a platform of sorts. With both braziers lit, Elderscript lined the edge of the circle. When they all stood within the black, the floor slowly began to move with a grinding of stone on stone.

  “Gotta say,” Orion remarked, “You never fail to bring unexpected adventures. Guess I can add pallin’ around with gobs to the list.”

  “I don’t know,” Anilith replied. “The more time I spend here, the more I start to see them as people like any others—granted with a healthy dose of madness in the mix. It’s all part of their role, I think, making people think they’re nothing more than monsters. What would this place be without obvious enemies?”

  “I hear ya, kid,” Orion said slowly. “I’m still wrappin’ my head around everythin’ we discovered here. I been fightin’ these things a long time now, and remember, there are folks as have been here longer’n me that won’t be so quick to change their tune.” He sighed as the platform continued its descent. “We knew this was gonna change things out there, we just really didn’t know how much.”

  The grinding came to an abrupt end with a resounding boom, the sudden lack of motion nearly throwing them off balance. A small opening to one side led to a staircase spiraling downward, the outer wall lined with torches. Anilith strutted right up to the opening, entering without a thought.

  “Let’s see what rewards we’ve earned ourselves,” Orion heard her say.

  “For all that trouble, it’d better be well worth the reward,” he muttered as he made to follow her.

  The stairs were blessedly short, dumping them unceremoniously into the purple antechamber through a door next to the gate, which he was sure hadn’t been there last time. The room itself was, unsurprisingly, as they had left it; the contents, however, were not. Gemstones glowed in each of the colored sigils, and six rainbow torches burned brightly at the room's center. Between them, three chests sat in a circle, each emblazoned with a symbol: one a blade, one a bow, and one a striking, crowned serpent.

  “That seems clear enough to me,” Orion said, heading for the chest he felt a budding connection with, as his friends wordlessly did the same.

  Opening his chest, a long, slender thing, he beheld a sleek, dark staff wrapped from end to end in chains so fine, they appeared more rope than metal. As he reached for it, he felt warmth from the ring he wore, and startled as a voice appeared to whisper in his mind:

  For uncovering that which was hidden, you have earned this Pristine Ring of Focus, which enhances not only the bearer’s internal focus, but ability to perceive the external world. Grants the ability to sense Magical Properties of Items, as well as the nature of the abilities of others, based on internal awareness.

  To know yourself is to know your enemy.

  Shock colored his movements as he found the staff in his grip, the voice returning:

  You have earned the Staff of the Chain Warder: A staff wrapped in chains bearing three forms: Staff, Bow, and Kusarigama. At times, you may need a weapon, at others, a tool to lean on.

  May this always support the Wanderer, and may these Chains keep you mindful of the Power that binds you.

  Intuitively, although he’d never heard the term, he knew the third form would align with his chained weapon. With just a bow of this caliber, he’d have been more than happy. This reward was far, far greater than anything he could have imagined, and a grin formed all on its own.

  A silvered blade lay on the satin lining within Anilith’s chest. It was an ornate tool, far more delicate in appearance than any she’d used before, yet gave an unmistakable impression of strength. As she lay her hands around its leathered hilt, her ring warmed, and a voice like the Wind, yet with a childish edge, spoke to her:

  For uncovering that which was hidden, you have earned this Pristine Ring of Focus, which enhances not only the bearer’s internal focus, but ability to perceive the external world. Grants the ability to sense Magical Properties of Items, as well as the nature of the abilities of others, based on internal awareness.

  To know yourself is to know your enemy.

  She’d hardly grasped the meaning behind these words when a second message followed.

  You have earned the Blade of Shifting Purpose, young Weaver:

  A Blade that alters its shape to suit your desires. Capable of nearly instantaneous form-changing, but can only form bladed weapons.

  To one versed in the art of Blades, all Blades are one.

  Exceptionally receptive to bearer’s Mana in all its forms.

  It seemed she may have wasted some time learning to change weapons on the fly, but, then again, she hadn’t been given two of these. The possibilities that would have allowed took her breath away.

  For once, I’m not much in the mood for treasure, Razhik thought, but a Royal Guard gave his life to give me this chance. I owe it to him to see what that price bought.

  When he touched the chest, one far smaller than either of the others, with his snout, it sprang open of its own accord, revealing a golden trinket that appeared to float on a cloud of darkness. As he watched, a weight vanished from his taloned paw, replaced by a burning atop his crown. He felt a scraping as metal interlaced itself with his horned visage, the natural Crown of the King in the Mire. It was neither pleasant nor painful, and over before he could truly assess the sensation, but left him with what could only be the wisdom of gods.

  For uncovering that which was hidden and earning the respect of the Tribes, you have earned the Crown of Sovereign Focus, long may it bless your reign, which enhances not only the bearer’s internal focus, but ability to perceive the external world.

  Grants the ability to discern attunements of those who swear fealty to the Sovereign.

  To know your people is to know your truest self.

  Grants the ability to sense Magical Properties of Items, as well as the nature of the abilities of others, based on internal awareness.

  To know yourself is to know your enemy.

  The trinket within the chest floated upward, affixing itself to the crown on his head. A tear ran down his cheek as he absorbed the words of the gods that followed. This was more than a reward; it was a gift.

  You have been given a Charm of Remembrance: A charm that bears the essence of one devoted even after death, Hoaky. Grants the Bearer a measure of the devotee’s gifts, empowering them when in contact with water and proficiency with poleaxes.

  Not every gift holds purpose, but that should not diminish its worth. A true King finds value in what others think worthless.