Beneath the Spire

Kyr touched the giant door past the room of statues and his eyes expanded like it did when he opened the tower’s entrance. It was as if the spire became glass and he could see past them.

The door slid to the sides, revealing a narrow corridor that led to the testing ground.

For a split second, he saw Aven of six years past walking down the corridor, turning slightly with a huge grin on his face. "We go one at a time for this one," he said. "You guys wait here. I'll be back soon. I'm really curious what the inner chamber is like this time..."

In the end, Aven never came back. 

“How did you do that?” Vysa asked, snapping Kyr back to reality. Her arms were still tied, but they let her walk barefoot and armorless. They didn’t trust anybody to be alone with her, so they prodded her along with their weapons at her back. “I thought you used a stone book when you opened the spire. That shouldn’t work here.”

“Kyr’s not using a key,” Nowe said. “Not that it would work on the testing ground.”

“When the hell did Kyr Solian become Hero of the Creed ?” Vysa asked, as if unsure if she was seeing it right.

“I’m not a hero,” Kyr muttered. “Let’s just finish this before we go beneath the spire. I’m curious about the inner chamber.”

He led the way into the corridor until they reached the room beyond.

Unlike the Spire of Strength with its arena-like stage, this place was far simpler. The room had two statues that were designed similar to the ones outside. But instead of wearing simple robes, they wore detailed garments of ancient fashion. One had a long, swirly dress that spread across the floor, while the other had a jagged coat and striped leggings. Both wore a crown that had flowers around it. Before the statues, at the center of the room, was a lone chair built directly into the floor, made of the same onyx-infused stone.

On the opposite side of the corridor behind the statues, Kyr saw another door with a big circle on it. That led to the inner chamber where the hero performed the sacred rites.

“Is this where the ghosts appear?” Leatrix asked, raising her visor to survey the area.

“The moment you sit on that chair, they do,” Vysa answered. “Scary even for me.”

“Did the ghosts look like the statues?” Nowe asked.

“Ughh," Vysa made an uncomfortable noise. "I suppose? I'm not one for detail, your highness. They start as smoke then form into something human-like. I just said 'no' every time it tempted me with knowledge. Now that I think about it though... Jessa and Cias mentioned something similar. You might be onto something."

The former mercenary turned to Kyr with a roguish smile. "Cias is another guardian of Ilara," she said. "Probably the only other person in that group with a good sense of humor. You'd like her."

Leatrix walked around the room to inspect it, then told Cinza to sit on the chair. The butler sighed and did as was told.

Nothing happened.

Leatrix told them all to leave the room, but there were no changes. The door didn’t even close. Roy was next to try, followed by Nowe, Leatrix herself, and then Kyr. Nothing. They even let Vysa do it, but same result.

“The ghosts are done,” Vysa said.

“I suppose it wouldn’t be as simple as asking the ghosts how to fix the apocalypse…” Nowe mumbled. She kept staring at the statues as if distracted.

“I have a question.” Cinza perked up. “This test looks rather simplistic. Why did Ilara and her guardians take so long to progress the spire?”

Vysa laughed. 

“I admit, this is the easiest test," the former mercenary said. "The puzzle at the upper floor took us longer than necessary, but it’s the beasts outside that stretched our days here. The hero’s parade you see today will make you think otherwise, but the spires faced a larger swarm of monsters than it did in Aven’s time. I don’t know what they tell the populace, but the king’s army already suffered more than half their forces fighting them. Us guardians aren’t enough. Even now, they lose more knights every single day Ilara fails at the final tower. It eats at her soul.”

“Then why did you leave?” Cinza asked.

“It’s why I did,” Vysa snapped. “There are better guardians who do it for more than just gold.”

Kyr studied his former companion for a while, then walked over to Leatrix. 

“Anything?”

“Not yet,” the inquisitor replied, her arms crossed in thought. “But I find it interesting that no iconography of the sacred order exists in this place. Nowe said the first spire was similar.”

Kyr looked at the door of the inner chamber. “Doesn’t that circle symbolize the sun?”

“Maybe, but it's very untraditional, even by ancient standards. Think you can open that door?”

“I’ll try.”

Kyr walked to the door of the inner chamber and noticed smaller circles inside the large circle. It made the symbol look more like the moon.

He touched the door and felt a familiar jolt before it opened. The inner chamber waited beyond.

So I can open this too?

Kyr and Leatrix entered first. The room was circular and empty, save for a pedestal at the far end, along with carved portraits along the walls.

“It seems the fighting only happened in the main room,” Leatrix observed. “Not in the room of testing nor here. Aven already left when he fought his killer.”

“That's true…” he said.

“Aha!” Vysa suddenly yelled behind them. “Look! That pedestal has buttons for pressing! I knew it! Morick must be rolling in his grave!”

Surely enough, there were two elevated squares at the top of the pedestal. Between the squares was a recessed curve in the shape of a circle. Something spherical was meant to go on it.

“That must be where the codex goes,” Nowe said as she leaned closer. “And these portraits… these are depictions of the era when this tower was built.”

Kyr looked up. The carvings indeed showed people laboring to build the tower.

“And look there.” Nowe pointed to something at the leftmost side of the room. Two figures were above the others as if commanding them. “It’s the statues from outside. I think they’re Vastillian royalty. I recognized the flowery crown from old books.”

“Interesting,” Leatrix said, then turned to face Kyr and Vysa. “Did Aven carry anything spherical in shape? What about Ilara?”

“Not that I know of,” Kyr said.

“The king’s as secretive with Ilara as he was with Aven," Vysa followed. "The only thing our new hero has that’s similar to Aven is her sword. I suppose the armor looks similar too, but its shape was suited to Ilara's height and figure.”

“Was Aven’s sword lost after he died?” Cinza asked.

“No, it’s accounted for,” Leatrix said. “Just what is this codex…”

They searched the room for some time but ultimately found no clue about the apocalypse or Aven’s murder. 

As for Kyr, no memory resurfaced.

Which meant...

There was only that place left to check.

“I wonder how long it took them to build the spire,” Roy said, staring at the middlemost portrait with the half-built tower. “Didn't the legends say it was a gift or something?”

At the bottom of the carvings, directly beneath the spire, were a pair of outstretched wings. It looked to be part of the portrait’s frame, but Kyr knew what it really meant.

Kyr steeled himself. “Let me show you what that carving is really depicting,” he said. “I don’t think any of you will like it very much.”

Not even the princess had seen it. Aven made sure to stop her from joining them in the first spire.

He led the others back into the main room and walked around the statues to press parts of them that unlocked the room’s secret. He was worried the fighting had broken the mechanism, but after hearing a loud click, he knew that it still worked.

One of the statues suddenly slid backwards revealing another set of stairs. This time, no crackling light followed it down.

“I’m glad you still remember the combination,” Vysa said to Kyr. “But let me tell all of you something important before you go. Seeing what’s beneath the spire is part of the tradition, but King Rewald forbade Ilara’s group from going down there. Said it was nothing more than unnecessary distraction in delicate times. Radon, Jessa and I disagree. We all think it’s the reason Ilara hadn’t found her resolve.”

With those words, Kyr led the way down the stairs, providing light with a bubble of mana above him. 

When they reached the bottom, they exited to a carvernous area bigger than the circumference of the spire itself. Kyr didn't need to provide light anymore. The walls of the cavern were lit by glistening rubies. Almost like they were set aflame. As if they descended to hell itself.

Audible gasps echoed as soon as the others saw it.

Even Kyr, who had seen this exact image six years ago still trembled at the sight.

In the middle of the cavern was a large crater, and at the center of it was a person. Not a statue or a carving of some kind. It was a human-shaped being about fifty feet tall, laying dead on the ground with a massive beam connected to the tower skewering it in place on its stomach.

It was dead but it had not rotted nor decayed. It was muscular in stature, wearing a voluminous white robe. It had golden hair and beard. Its eyes were closed and its mouth was slightly agape. Behind its back were enormous wings like that of a bird, sprouting outwards along the crater, broken and lifeless.

This was what the spire was really made for. They nailed a winged giant into the earth.

Kyr felt repulsion, sadness and contempt for those that did this. Presumably this was the reason why they could control the mana of the land. Or perhaps… the reason it existed in the first place.

His breathing felt heavier.

What he saw pained him, but some other sensation was starting to grow. Heat. Burning.

“Kyr?” Leatrix said next to him. “Kyr!”

His head throbbed like it was about to explode.