Chapter 34

  Power, Deep And Infinite

  Carried on the light breeze, a crisp chill swept past the string of people who were making their way out of the goblin’s tunnel network. The cold air made Nik’s scales feel tight, and the adventurer’s skin grew what Beatrice informed him were called goosebumps.

  It feels quieter on the surface than I remember. It’s like the day after the fire chased us through the Emberwood Forest. Where are the birds, he thought.

  Looking around, he made eye contact with Pearl, Beatrice, and even Harper, each of whom were also looking suspiciously toward their surroundings.

  And then there was Sir BlackDagger, who said, “Why is everyone being weird?”

  Beatrice and Nik both shook their heads. Beatrice was still busy running a hand over her face when Nik said, “Really, BlackDagger? You didn’t notice how quiet it is?”

  Sir BlackDagger sighed and replied, “Please, can everyone just call me Eric? And no, I didn’t notice, but I really don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I, BlackDagger. Neither do I,” Nik enunciated each syllable of the adventurer’s name. He continued monitoring the trees and the shadows as the rest of his clan made their way up to the surface. Before they could continue traveling, though, the earth-shapers had to seal the opening into the tunnels below.

  Once that task was completed, as thoroughly as possible with the mana they had left, the clan was on the move.

  I have a weird feeling, like we’re being watched. I don’t like it. Nik shivered at the thought and forced it aside as he jogged to the front to take the lead.

  They moved with as much haste as they could, tired and varied in age as they were. Even Harper, who was carting Wolf behind herself, was able to keep up with the rest of the group.

  Hours later, Nik allowed himself a small smile. His people were resilient folk. Hours of walking with no breaks and not a single goblin had complained, not even the children. A dark thought stole the brief smile from his face. At least some of the resolve they showed might have been due to the losses they’d suffered the last time they had been on the surface.

  His people had been through so much, just like he had, and their resolve only made him more honored to have their trust.

  Almost as though the area ahead was a door to another world, several of the trees formed a short row of parallel pairs. Along the imperfect path between the line of trunks, was the view of a flower sprinkled prairie.

  The land flattened to the horizon with only the rare copse of trees.

  “This is… almost perfect…” Nik said.

  Pearl, who had spent most of the trip on his shoulder, asked, “Almost?”

  “We would see any enemies coming. We could make it so there are no places for shadows to hide, but I have no idea how we would clear the tall grasses and make a camp safe before sunfall,” he elaborated.

  They looked over the beautiful flower speckled, green fields that stretched into the unknown as his guards joined them.

  Together, they all began listing their resources and the abilities of their people in order to come up with any idea they could. Nik perked up, a haphazard plan brewing in his mind.

  “I have something, but it’s risky. I need everyone to help me figure out how to make it work, and how to protect our people from anything going wrong. How long will it take for our earth-shapers to recover?” Nik asked his guards.

  “They should be fully recovered in maybe half a day,” Kath replied.

  “That will only leave us with a few hours by where the sun lies,” Pearl said.

  He looked between them all; he trusted each of these people with his life, and they trusted him with theirs.

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  Nik said, “Let’s get started. Pearl, pick a spot and use the wind to flatten as wide an area as you can. Big enough to fit everyone inside, if possible. Stics, Worik, and Kath grab the shovels Worik brought with the supplies from Brekk.”

  The guards had tools in hand the moment he’d finished giving the command.

  With a nod to them, Nik said, “Follow after Pearl. In the place she flattens, I need you to use Wind Slices and shovels to clear the ground. Get rid of the plants in the circle so our people can shelter there and move some of the dirt to form a ring around the area. Now, work hard and work fast.”

  As for the lupine’s part in the journey, Wolf had just slept through it. He rested like a stone, up until the last half-hour when he had become more fitful in his sleep.

  Joints popped when Nik stretched his limbs before heading over to Harper and the adventurers. As burrow lord and head of the Stormclaw clan, Nik had kept an eye out for threats from both the forest and all of their new guests. The strain of constant vigilance made even his bones feel tired.

  Setting the cart down, Harper wiped the sweat from her eyes and forehead. Her hands went into the cart, shaking her companion as Nik approached. She was trying to wake her friend.

  “Wolf has something for us to use, but it’s in his inventory. I can’t access it myself,” she said.

  Nik narrowed his eyes at her, and asked, “What is it?”

  “Do you know what is happening to the tower?” Harper asked instead of answering.

  “I only know that the system called me Nik Stormclaw of the Green Tower, and it called the rumble that has been shaking the world around me, a ‘tower quake’. But you didn’t answer my question. What does Wolf have?” Nik asked again.

  A voice, rough like it was just returning from being lost to sickness, grumbled within the cart.

  Harper smiled down at her friend and said, “You’re finally waking up. Nik needs the tower dust. It’s time.”

  “You need to start explaining. Now. We only have so much daylight left, and I can’t waste it trying to decide if you’re a threat to my people. No circles, direct and to the point,” Nik commanded.

  A hand reached out of the cart and offered Harper a small flask. Her smile only grew.

  “You are far more bold than you once were. That is good, needed even. This is dust from the tower, but specifically the portion of the Black Tower that has changed, shifted in color and so much more beyond the surface.” She paused to look at the sky as if it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

  “With my father gone, the kings have ruled it with their crowns alone, but they couldn’t truly master the tower. Not even its broken pieces. But it’s not the same for you. The tower is becoming yours, binding itself to you more firmly with every ounce of power and control you gain. You’re already changing the system. The tower needs an architect, and in time I believe you will ascend to the position,” she said.

  Nik was stunned by her claims, stuck inside his own thoughts until he remembered that he needed to give them voice to get answers.

  He asked, “What do you mean I’m changing the system, and what do I want with becoming whatever this architect is that you’re determined for me to be?”

  “For your first question, I have a confident guess that you’ve already used your connection to the tower to create a new ability within the system. Tell me I'm wrong,” she said, her smile never having faded from her lips.

  “I’ve created two abilities, Wind Claw and Flame Blast. Other abilities, I’ve just unlocked,” said Nik.

  Harper's hopeful smile gained a touch of sorrow as she spoke again. “I suspected you might have by now, after everything you've been through. For your second question, as the next Architect Ascendant you would have the power to protect your people, even from the kings. My father was an explorer and a builder, but you are a warrior. You could protect what even he couldn't. You could rescue his legacy.”

  If she's right and all of that’s true, I doubt the road would be easy. It sounds like she's talking about me waging war against kingdoms to claim the Black Tower. Kingdoms against a few dozen people. She might truly be insane, he thought.

  Remembering part of what prompted the conversation between them, he asked, “What use is the green dust?”

  Her smile returned, and her eyes flared to wide-eyed excitement as she replied, “This is a gift. A physical connection to the tower, like the kings made their crowns, you could fashion your own. They used dust from the Black Tower, and you could use the green dust similarly. I could try to use it myself, but it should be yours by right of resonance.”

  A strange sensation settled over Nik; a sort of pull that drew him to the flask as it was held out, offered to him.

  He thought, It’s bizarre, but it feels like it wants to be with me, like there's a will behind it.

  Before he had made the decision to take it, he felt cold metal against his fingers.

  The wind caught in his lungs and the gently thudding beating of his heart ceased. It was like the entire world had been frozen save for his mind.

  Tower, what is happening? Was this a trap of some kind that Harper had planned, and now I’m dead, Nik thought.

  It struck him like a thousand of the skitterbug matron's legs to the gut. One moment he was standing at the edge of the Emberwood, and the next he was enveloped by darkness and distant flecks of bright light.

  Power, deep and infinite, was reaching toward him from beyond the stars, and to his periphery, three dark crowns glittered black against the starlight.