Zalthu scooped up Valoris and placed her at the top of the stairs. Being as stealthy as possible Zalthu poke his head up into the room. The 3rd floor was the most magical room of all. There were black and red orbs floating in a circle around the room. Along the walls were placed several testing machines of unknown origin. In the middle of the room was a large yellow barrier. The barrier was at least 20 feet wide and shaped like a dome. Inside was the Master Wizard himself, Haydis.
Haydis was sitting in a chair drinking tea and waiting patiently. Once he saw Zalthu's head at the stairs he said, "Oh! It's about time you got here. I did not realize it would take all day to climb two flights of stairs." Haydis pulled a lever causing the stairs to lift up and flatten out like the rest of the floor. Valoris ran off and hide behind a shelf as Zalthu stood there exposed.
Zalthu needed to keep Haydis's attention on himself. He stepped toward Haydis's barrier and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to stop for a snack on the first floor. I really liked your talking stove, Holly? Amazing piece of hardware."
Haydis put his tea down and stood up. He said, "I am surprised that someone as simple minded as you could comprehend my stove construct. If you are impressed by a stove, then half of the machines in this room would blow your mind." Haydis walked toward the edge of the barrier, pulled the strings to remove his cloak, then drew his wand. He stared at Zalthu with his blood marked eye and said smugly, "Now, are we ready to begin?"
Zalthu did not answer, he darted toward the barrier and throw his kukri with all his might. The blade bounced off the barrier without leaving a scratch. Zalthu dodged left to catch his kukri as it fell to the ground. Zalthu took a swing at the barrier, and another, and another. Haydis just watched as Zalthu attempted to stab his way into the barrier.
Haydis began casting a spell. He pointed his wand at Zalthu as lightning jumped from his wand through the barrier, and electrocuted Zalthu. It was painful, but Zalthu remained standing. He shook off the attack started stabbing the barrier again. Haydis wasted no time casting another lightning bolt. This one was way more powerful. Zalthu fell to the ground but managed to hang onto his kukri. He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure and said, "That burns. Why don't you try that again outside the barrier? See how it turns out."
Haydis laughed, "Oh please, I told you. This is a situation you simply can't win. This physical barrier stops your attacks while allowing mine to pass. You thought I was going to stand toe to toe with you and get stabbed to death? You must think of me as a fool."
"You're not a fool," Zalthu said as he stood up. "You're a traitor."
For several minutes, they repeated their actions. Zalthu attacked the barrier from different angles while Haydis continued to cast spells at him. While Zalthu was fast, Haydis's lightning was much faster. For every spell he dodged, another quickly took its place. Once Zalthu worked his way around the barrier, he realized there were no weak points to penetrate. Frustrated at his own failure, Zalthu backed up and started throwing furniture at the barrier. Haydis laughed as chairs and tables smashed against the barrier.
With a long cast, Haydis unleashed a huge lightning spell that struck from two directions at the same time. Zalthu couldn't dodge them both. He took the full force of one spell and fell to the ground exhausted. For the first time in several minutes, Haydis lowered his wand and said, "That must have hurt. Do you still believe you can best me? Such high hopes. I remember the first time we met in Cantiberry… Regardless of my disapproval, the duke swore he saw potential in you. Potential in a half-orc grunt? It was mindless optimism, blinded by hope. He was foolish to think you were anything more than a filthy thief."
Zalthu worked his way to his feet again and said with pride, "I am not a thief…" Zalthu flexed his arms to regain his strength, then continued, "…I am Zalthu! Killer of the Blood Tyrant's minions! Savior of Edosa and…" stopped midsentence as he quickly reached for his kukri. He barely picked it up when he was hit by another bolt of lightning. Zalthu dropped the kukri again and fell to the ground. At this point, he was in a serious amount of pain.
Haydis watched as Zalthu felt the pain of his spells. Then he said, "Amazing speech. Too bad I didn't write it down. I have memorized a countless number of spells. I could kill you with a poisonous miasma, fire, ice, or even meteors from the sky. But I choose lightning because it counters your speed. And of course, because of the pain factor. You feel it don't you?"
"Yeah," Zalthu rolled to the side and attempted to get up. He was weak now. Zalthu looked at Haydis and smiled. Then he said, "I was hoping for at least one fireball. Don't disappoint me, here."
"One? How about one hundred!" Haydis began summoning a swarm of fireballs. Zalthu rolled over and covered himself with the fire-resistant cloak. The wave of fireballs started coming in two or three at a time. While covering himself with the cloak Zalthu was immune to the fire. But the force of each fireball struck with enough force to slide him backward. It was like getting punched over and over again. Forty fireballs in, Zalthu had been pushed all the way against the back wall. Eighty fireballs in, Zalthu was losing his strength. He couldn't hold up the cloak much longer, but he knew without it he was as good as dead. Finally, the last fireball was cast. There was silence. Zalthu didn't move. He stayed hidden under the cloak breathing hard. He was exhausted.
With the highest level of overconfidence, Haydis stepped out of his barrier. He walked over to Zalthu and pulled the fire-resistant cloak off of his head. Haydis was shocked as he said, "Still alive? Where did you get this cloak?"
Zalthu laughed manically. Haydis started laughing too. They both laughed for a moment then Zalthu wiped blood out of the corner of his mouth and said, "You're a smart guy. You figure it out." Zalthu put two fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. Then he shouted, "Valoris! Tittynope!"
Haydis froze in fear of hearing those words. Behind him Valoris started transforming back into her human form. She was naked. All of her clothes were back in Cantiberry, but that didn't matter. She was in a full attack mode. All that time being trapped as a rat, this was her moment to unleash her frustration. Valoris screamed with rage as she ran.
Haydis turned as if it was slow motion. Panic set in. Valoris swiped Zalthu's kukri off the ground and kept running. Haydis raised his wand to cast something, anything. His mind fumbled over the words. He started to cast his spell, but it was too late. Valoris closed the gap and plunged the knife into Haydis screaming the whole way. The whole room echoed with her battle cry. Both of them stood there like statues from a moment. Zalthu looked up to survey the damage. Valoris had buried the knife all the way up to the hilt. The tip of the blade stuck out of Haydis's back. She got him. She got him good. Valoris took a few breathes and said, "You forgot about me, didn't you?"
Haydis coughed up a bit of blood. Then he put his wand on Valoris's face and said, "You… rat!"
"No!" Valoris said it as she slowly started turning into a rat again. Haydis stumbled back to his magical barrier leaving a trail of blood along the way. Zalthu didn't stop him. The damage was done. Valoris had delivered a fatal blow. Without a cleric he would die from internal bleeding within minutes. Haydis pulled the kukri out of his chest and dropped it to the floor. An endless stream of blood flowed from his chest as he held his open wound. He was in bad shape.
As Haydis made it back to the barrier, the focused magic started to dissipate. The barrier was maintained off of Haydis's concentration. His mental clearly was broken. His barrier was vanishing just as quickly. Haydis's eye darted around. He was in trouble.
Zalthu picked himself up, still shaken a bit. He straightened himself up and glanced down to Valoris. Zalthu said again, "Tittynope."
In an instant, Valoris transformed back into her human form. Valoris covered her female parts with her hands and arms. Unlike the last time, she seemed a bit embarrassed to be naked in front of Zalthu. Without missing a beat, Zalthu handed her the fire-resistant cloak so she could cover herself up. Zalthu stepped around her as he continued to walk toward Haydis. He said, "Where are your speeches now? Aren't you going to tell me about all the spells you have memorized? Maybe you can tell me how dumb I am, and how smart you are?"
After some effort, Haydis picked up his robe and used to cover his stomach wound. It wasn't going to save his life, but it was all he could do to stop the bleeding. Zalthu did not let up with he insults, "You never expected someone to know your secret word. A word your apprentices couldn't say, and nobody could have guessed."
Zalthu stepped around Valoris and picked up his bloody kukri. Haydis quickly released his wound and transformed into a bird. This was his last chance to escape. He flew to the balcony, but he didn't make it far. Zalthu said again, "Tittynope!" As he did, Haydis transformed back into his human self and fell to the ground. Zalthu slowly walked over to him as he said, "You see that is the best part about trigger word spells. They last longer than regular spells, but if someone figures out your trigger word… your screwed."
Haydis coughed up some more blood and started to laugh. He coughed as he said, "I told you regardless of the outcome… I have already won." Haydis pointed to the machine spinning at the top of the room. It was clearly made of brass or some other kind of shiny metal. It had multiple hoops that spun randomly in circles. The device was clearly magical.
Haydis once again wiped blood from his mouth as he said, "I told you… I have already won."
Zalthu grabbed the collar of Haydis's robe and shouted, "What was that thing?"
Haydis didn't feel the need to lie, he said, "It's a machine of my own invention. I call it the time dilator. If you are too thick to understand that… then just know that it slows down time. You think you have only been in my tower for twenty minutes? No, it has been hours! Hours!" With a quickly glance Zalthu looked to the balcony. Outside trees appeared to vibrate as they shook in the wind. Clouds passed as quickly as birds flew. Long shadows formed as time quickly passed before his eyes. Zalthu remembered the feeling when he first entered the tower. That strange energy surge he felt. He had walked into a trap without knowing it. Without another word, Zalthu threw his kukri at the device. The blade landed perfectly in a gap of the device, stopping its rotation instantly. Zalthu felt the effect of the spell as time returned to normal.
"The Blood Tyrant comes for you…" Haydis laughed but his laugh quickly turned into coughing. Ignoring the wizard, Zalthu quickly walked to the balcony. Before he got to the ledge, he could already see the smoke from the torches. Outside, the tower was completely surrounded by orc warriors carrying torches, shields, weapons. At the head of the pack was the man in black armor. The Blood Tyrant was here with his war party. Over three hundred orcs were marching in unison. Zalthu quickly backed away from the balcony. Haydis was right. This was an unwinnable fight, and it was too late to run away.
Haydis continued to laugh and shout as he bled to death on the floor. He shouted, "I won! I won!"
Zalthu turned around and clenched his fist. He wanted to beat the life out of him. But it was too late. Haydis's screams quickly faded as he breathed his last breath. Once he was dead, his arms went limp and fell to the floor. The blood mark on Haydis's eye disappeared. Despite all his efforts, Zalthu did not get the last laugh. He was in a much worse situation than he had hoped. The Blood Tyrant can see through the blood marks on his followers. He knew Zalthu was here. Zalthu thought about it for a second, pondering how he could get out of this alive.
With the flip of the lever, Valoris lowered the stairs opening the way to the second floor. She ran down the stairs and out of sight. Wherever she was going, Zalthu knew she wouldn't be going very far. They were both trapped here.
Zalthu continued to think on the situation, until he heard that voice. The voice was deep and boomed in the air with an unnatural tone as it said, "Intruders! You have invaded the Blood Tyrant's domain! Worse yet, you have something that belongs to me! Release the Wizard and come out to meet your fate!" The orc war party roared with approval.
There was no reason to hide anymore. Zalthu walked back to the balcony and looked down to the river of solders surrounding the tower. He shouted back to the Blood Tyrant, "You want to wizard? He's all yours!" Zalthu returned to Haydis's body and picked him up with both hands. With a running start, Zalthu tossed Haydis's body out the window. The surrounding army watched and groaned as the body fell three stories to the ground.
The Blood Tyrant was not amused. He shouted, "That was the last mistake you will ever make! Come down here and face me!"
Every second Zalthu delayed was another second he had to think of a way out. He shouted back, "That sounds like a tempting offer, but I am going to have to pass. I am comfortable right here. But you could do me a huge favor? Yeah, you can go fuck off and die. That would be great. Appreciate it."
Some of the orcs laughed at Zalthu's words. The Blood Tyrant slowly turned his head to look at his army. The laughing stopped immediately. After a second, the Blood Tyrant took a sword out of his follower's hand and throw it with furious speed at Zalthu. The blade cut through the air so fast Zalthu barely had the chance to roll out of the way. The sword smashed through the balcony railing and then blasted a hole in the tower roof. Zalthu was quickly covered in wood splinters as he covered his head.
Once the cover was clear, Zalthu stood up and inspected the path the sword took. He had seen a lot of crazy things in his military days, but nothing quite like this. How strong was the Blood Tyrant to throw a weapon like that? It was some kind of supernatural strength. Zalthu returned to the balcony. Without making eye contact with the Tyrant, he shouted, "You missed!"
The Blood Tyrant drew his own sword and shouted, "I have seen greater men rise up and fall before me. True heroes. Your attempts at heroism are just pathetic. Normally, in this situation I would offer you the chance to serve me. However, I know you. I have seen your face through the eyes of many. The Blacksmith from Ganzia, Valoris, and now Haydis. Your actions have cost me much. My offer to serve will not grace your ears. I offer you a quick death, and only death."
"And if I refuse?"
"There is no refusal! You will die on the ground in front of me, or I will come up there and cut you down where you stand!" The Tyrant's words echoed the land. He was pissed.
Zalthu thought about it for a second then he replied, "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you."
A voice from behind him startled Zalthu, "What are you doing?" Zalthu turned to see Valoris standing in a beautiful purple dress. She must have taken it from Tamara's closet. Valoris continued, "You aren't going to kill him with harsh words."
"I didn't think we were going to kill him at all!" Zalthu pointed to the hole in the roof and said, "Look what he did with a single throw! Please tell me you have a plan?"
Valoris took a quick peek down to the army, Outside the Blood Tyrant waited patiently for Zalthu to answer him. His patience was wearing thin. Valoris turned to Zalthu and said, "My plan was getting out of my rat form and steal this dress. That as far as I was thinking."
They argued for a moment until the Blood Tyrant interrupted them, "Times up! You have made your chose!" With hat said, the Blood Tyrant pushed passed his orcs over to the door. As the Blood Tyrant attempted to kick the door open, a massive purple fist came flying out. The fist slammed into him, knocking the Blood Tyrant to the ground.
Everyone went silent for a second. Then the door said its signature phrase, "How rude."
This was a shocking moment. The Blood Tyrant's army had never seen him take a hit before. With a small shake of his head, the Blood Tyrant stood up. He glared at the door as if it were Zalthu himself, then he said, "Filthy magic. Burn it! Burn it to the ground!"
Within seconds, the orcs started throwing their torches. Zalthu and Valoris watched as fire bounced off the sides of the tower. While the tower itself was made of white stone and would not burn, the roof was just simple wood shingles. Zalthu and Valoris listened in horror as the torches landed on the roof and quickly caught fire. One of the torches fell through the hole and landed nearby. Zalthu quickly picked it up and tossed it out the window.
Zalthu quickly picked it up and tossed it out the window as he said, "We might be in trouble here. I only had one water scroll. I shouldn't have used it in that fire elemental."
Valoris watched as the rafters started to smoke. Then she said, "Even if you did have the scroll, the Tyrant would still kill us. Either way we are screwed. I say we run for it."
"Run?!" Zalthu said with confusion, "You think you are fast enough to make it through all those orcs without being cut down?!"
"It's better than staying here to burn to death! This might be a surprise to you, but this tower will collapse without its wooden structure! Once the roof gives way, the fire will fall down to this floor. When the third floor is burned up, it will fall down to the second floor. And it will continue until the whole tower crumbles. So, unless you want to burn to death, we have to make a run for it. You got a better plan?"
Zalthu and Valoris argued back and forth for a bit. It would seem they had conflicting ideals. Soon enough the room was getting too hot. Zalthu was starting to sweat. Zalthu inspected the area to find something useful. He had no idea how any of the left-over machines worked.
Retreating to the second floor both Zalthu and Valoris ransacked the bedrooms looking for something to get out of the situation. There were a lot of magical items. Zalthu found the fire-resistant cloak and put it on. He would be needing it soon.
Valoris found some magical crystals, and said, "These look useful. Maybe we can use them to cast magic or something?"
With a quick glance, Zalthu dismissed the idea. He said, "They are useless. Don't waste what little time we have."
This comment sparked a verbal dispute about the importance of the crystals. The disagreement turned into shouting. Finally, when she could no longer take it anymore, Valoris threw the first punch. She hit Zalthu across the face and said, "Shut up and listen to me!"
Zalthu wasn't going to take that laying down. He tackled Valoris to the ground. The two switched from verbal to physical fighting in a matter of seconds. Valoris was fast, she quickly got Zalthu in a choke hold. Zalthu was definitely stronger. As she attempted to choke him, Zalthu picked her up and slammed her down on one of the nightstands. Zalthu picked up Haydis stone altar and threw it at Valoris. She rolled out of the way and counter attacked with a flying kick. Zalthu caught her leg and tossed her into a bookshelf.
After a few minutes, they both got a few good hits in. Eventually Zalthu tired out first. Valoris was lining up for another hit, Zalthu put his hands up and said, "Okay, enough! I just fought that stupid wizard, now I have to fight you too? I give. I give."
Valoris put her hands down. She was tired too. They both took a knee to catch their breath. The moment of peace was short lived. As they caught their breath, the sound of wooden planks cracking and falling upstairs. Valoris looked up as she listened to the fire braking apart the roof. Zalthu stopped to listen too. Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the time dilation machine fell to the floor.
The irony of the moment finally caught up to Valoris. She laughed and said, "Isn't this how we first met? Fighting inside a burning building?"
Zalthu smiled. She was right. Valoris gave Zalthu a smile and said, "We are both stubborn and a little too pig headed to agree on anything. How about we just work together for two seconds and get out of this mess? Then we can kill each other… Okay?"
Zalthu shook his head and replied, "No. I carried you around for too long to kill you." Zalthu stood up and held out his hand, "Friends?"
With a half-smile, Valoris said, "We'll see." She took his hand and stood up. Valoris pulled the crystals out of her pocket and dropped them on the floor. She didn't know how to use them anyways.
Now that the second floor was trashed, they went downstairs to the first floor. Zalthu noticed right away that the front door was smoking. Some of the orcs must have lite the door on fire to get in. This meant they had even less time than they thought. Zalthu called out to the stove, "Holly! We need water. Lots of it."
The kitchen stove glowed for a second then Holly popped out and said, "Welcome back, water coming up." Holly quickly created a glass of conjured water and handed it to Zalthu. Then she said, "Hydration is important."
Before Zalthu could reply Valoris said, "No, we need a lot of water. How about a few thousand glasses of water? Or enough to fill this room?"
Holly paused for a moment then she said, "I am sorry, miss. I think that is beyond my capabilities. I can't conjury that many glasses. Even I have my limits. Is there anything edible I can get you?"
Zalthu tossed the glass of water on the door and asked, "Holly, we are going to burn to death if you don't help us. We only have a few more minutes. Please, tell us you have some kind of secret ability or something?!"
There was a short pause then Holly said, "I am a magically enchanted stove. I can cook food anything you could want to eat. No, I don't have any special abilities. I thought being able to cook any kind of food in mere seconds was special enough. Now, is there anything you would like to eat?"
"No, Holly. Thanks anyways."
Holly disappeared back into the stove. Valoris and Zalthu picked up some of the furniture and place them in front of the door. It would buy them some more time but not much. When they were done, Zalthu sat down in one of the chairs and let out a sigh. Time was running out. Valoris sat down next to him and said, "I kind of wish I was still a rat. I could hide in the tall grass and sneak past all the orcs. Then again, I would be a rat again, and all alone. Scratch that idea."
They sat and listened to fires burning upstairs. Zalthu gave Valoris a sad face as he said, "You know, there isn't going to be a happy end to this story."
"Wow, take a step back there Mr. Optimistic. We could…" Valoris trailed off trying to think of something positive to say. She couldn't think of anything. Then she came back with, "It's happy for some people. We saved the duke, stopped Haydis from helping the Blood Tyrant. It's happy for them. Then again, not all stories need a happy ending."
Zalthu smiled at her. She refused to admit defeat. Even while facing certain death. Zalthu realized what he had to do. He stood up and walked over to the middle of the room. He waved Valoris over to him. Valoris got up and walked over to him with a confused look on her face. Zalthu said, "Do you believe in promises?"
"Promises are made to be broken, right?"
Valoris watched in confusion as Zalthu took off his belt and gave her all of his gear including his gold bag. Valoris was more than confused. As she stood there holding his stuff, Zalthu reached in his personal bag and pulled out the last scroll. Then he said, "Are you ready?"
"Ready? Wait, what does it do?"
Zalthu unrolled the scroll so she could see the gray text. Then in one quick motion Zalthu slammed the scroll into Valoris's stomach and shouted, "D'neltas!"
Valoris wasn't ready for that hit. She was holding all his things, so she couldn't have blocked it. Valoris temporarily got the wind knocked out of her. She dropped some of Zalthu's things as she took a quick breath and said, "What have you done?!" Looking down at her stomach the scroll crumbled to dust as her cloths started to turn into stone. Valoris instantly realized what was happening, she said, "You… didn't?!" After that, she couldn't speak another word. The stoning process was fast. Faster than she could speak. Within seconds, her whole body was drained of color as she turned to stone. Valoris was a statue.
Zalthu stepped back and walked around her. She had such a look of betrayal on her face. She had no expected that. She was fireproof now.
Zalthu looked down to her feet. She had dropped his money bag. Zalthu picked it up and said, "You missed out. There is a lot of gold in here. Gold that could have helped you out in the future."
"Isn't it funny that we all decided that this would be the currency we exchange?" Zalthu said as he walked over to the table and sat down. Then Zalthu said, "Of all the metals, gold is the metal we use for coins. Should have been silver, or bronze. Bronze would make a nice coin." Zalthu wiped the sweat off his forehead, the room was getting hotter. He reached for his fire-resistant cloak but then changed his mind. It wasn't going to save his life.
Outside of the tower, the orcs cheered as they watched the tower slowly burn. Zalthu could hear them. He paid them no mind as he dumped the coins out of the bag and started stacking them up. It was something to pass the time. Time was all he had.