The Fractured Tower

Book 2, Chapter 50

Calling it a tavern was being generous. It was really more of a beer tent that also happened to have a portable grill set up in the corner. But it did have tables and chairs and, for the moment, was empty aside from the two men running the business.

The team was scattered across the inside of the tent. Yoru sat at one table with Vendis and Kashi, no doubt discussing the upcoming meeting and how exactly to get everyone through the checkpoints on Floor 0 without causing problems. Rue and Nemari were at another, though they were sitting there silently and picking at their food.

The last table contained Sorin and Odric. This was at Sorin’s request, as he’d pulled Odric aside just before they’d gone through the portal and told the man he wanted to talk to him. Odric had just given him a weary nod and promised to sit down for a conversation once they could.

“What do you think?” Sorin asked plainly once they were both sitting at the table, and between them a plate of some sort of grilled and seasoned meat that smelled better than it had a right to. Sorin had declined having a drink, both because his soulprints would prevent him from feeling it, and because even if he could get drunk, it was a bad time to do so.

Besides, he still had that flask of fire whiskey sitting in the bottom of his bag. His life had been so chaotic lately that he hadn’t had a single night to just relax and enjoy it, which was a damn shame because he was already reaching the point where the whole flask would do nothing.

“About this whole void thing?” Odric asked. “I think there have been too many ‘coincidences’ for it to actually be a coincidence and too many inexplicable details to assume there’s a rational, reasonable explanation for all of this.”

“Well, all of that, sure, but more specifically, what do you think about making a deal with Lord Telpike to sponsor our team and committing to serving on the front line against the Void Wall?”

“Are you asking if we’re abandoning you, Sorin? Or are you hoping we will?”

“I already know Rue plans on sticking with me,” Sorin said. “Nemari could go either way. She needs more time to process everything. But what I don’t know is what you want. If I had to bet on what you’d do, I’d say that you’ll stick with Rue because that’s what you always do. But if she wasn’t here, I don’t have the faintest idea what you’d spend your time doing.”

Odric took a drink and mulled over those words for a few seconds. Sorin was content to let him sit there in silence while he pieced together what he wanted to say, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take long.

“I never wanted to be a healer, you know? I took the job because that was what they offered me. It was my only path forward. I don’t know if you know what it’s like to be born in the slums. Maybe you do.”

“I remember,” Sorin said softly, but he wasn’t sure Odric even heard him.

“It’s desperation. Despair. Hopelessness. Hunger. That’s a big one. Try raising a family in those conditions. My parents did what they could, but there was never enough. We were barely surviving, let alone getting out of there. I had an opportunity to climb, so I took it, even if it meant being the healer. Worst case, they had one less mouth to feed.

“You know what I was good at? Punching other poor, destitute assholes trying to steal from me. Punching them right in the face. That was what I wanted, but if life teaches you anything, it’s that you don’t always get what you want. So I keep other people on their feet. Sometimes I get to punch something anyway. That’s nice. I like that part.”

Odric smiled a bit and took a bite from the shared plate. He chewed thoughtfully, probably appreciating that he was eating something that cost more than what his family had been able to afford in a week.

“I knew Rue did something stupid to get that soulprint, but who was I to point fingers? I only survived my first trip across Floor 1 due to luck and charity. Besides, she’s my baby sister. If she gets in trouble, I come along and take care of it, right? Well, trouble turned out to be a bit more than I bargained for this time.”

Odric glanced over at his sister and Nemari, then to the table of near-strangers that was Yoru and crew. Then he sighed and said, “I don’t know if I ever wanted to be a climber. I wanted to not be poor. I wanted my family to live comfortably. I wanted respect and dignity. But those are expensive, and the only way to make a living is to become a climber. You’ve got to at least make it to rank 1 or 2 so you can harvest resources from the tower.

“I don’t know how it was back in your home, but did you know that here, rank 0s are also known as the parasite class? I bet you a hundred people die every year trying to clear the portal grounds so they can climb to Floor 1, and that’s probably only a fraction of the number who starve.”

“Yes, I remember. My old tower had its own version of the Climber’s Union. They actually helped new climbers though instead of existing solely to profit themselves. It still wasn’t pretty living in the slums, but… I think it might have been better than it is here.”

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“My point is that I don’t love climbing for its own sake like I think you do. I climb because it’s the only way to be anything but a parasite in this world. If you’re looking for someone to go all the way to the top with you, that’s not me. But to stop the void from descending to Floor 0 to consume all of us? Yeah, I’m good helping with that.”

“Even if it means picking up a weapon for real?” Sorin asked.

Rolling his eyes, Odric nodded. “Even then.”

“I guess it won’t be much of an issue for you if you’re not the healer anymore.”

“Not even a little bit.”

Sorin looked past Odric to the other table. “Rue will say yes, I think. I’m not sure about Nemari, or if I should bring her even if she does.”

“I… don’t know,” Odric admitted. “I think you should respect her decision, whichever way she decides to go.”

“She’ll need to branch out from her current path. Mages are worthless against the void.”

“She’s already starting with that sword she took.”

Nemari’s progress as a swordswoman could best be described as ‘nonexistent’ to Sorin. She’d spent a few hours doing the most basic of drills, which put her nowhere near the level needed to fight a being like a voidling. But he supposed some amount of credit was due for being willing to pick up a weapon at all when he knew she’d much prefer a staff or wand instead.

Speaking of weapons…

“What happened to that whip we took from those guys who tried to ambush us on Floor 2?” he asked.

“Scorpion snipped it in half a few days after we got it,” Odric said. With a chuckle, he added, “Nemari was pissed.”

“Ah.”

That would certainly destroy the enchantment, making the weapon worthless. They’d probably left it in the sand for the tower to reclaim after that. That was too bad, because the whip had been a rather clever piece of enchanting work, one he didn’t think he’d be able to duplicate even if he did pick up the right soulprints.

Kashi caught Sorin’s eye with a raised hand. He beckoned Sorin over. “Excuse me,” Sorin said. “Looks like it’s time to see if they’ve come up with a plan for Floor 0 yet.”

“Bet it’s the obvious one,” Odric muttered.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“Same plan the high families always use. Throw money at it until they get their way.”

“Well, if it works, it works.”

Sorin stood up and walked across the grass-covered length of the beer tent. Claiming the empty seat across from Yoru, he asked, “What did you decide?”

“Simple and straightforward,” Yoru said. “It’s not worth the effort to try to sneak you past the guards, and summoning an escort draws too much attention.”

“So instead…” Sorin prompted.

“We’ll just pay the taxes and walk through like normal.”

I think that counts as throwing money at a problem to make it go away. Looks like Odric wins that bet.

“As long as your father doesn’t expect us to pay it back or try to use it as leverage during negotiations,” Sorin said mildly.

From the flash of guilt that crossed Yoru’s face, Sorin surmised that Lord Telpike would indeed look at it as a loan, not a gift. That was going to cost them once the negotiating started, but considering what Sorin was offering, he didn’t think it would really hurt them so long as Telpike didn’t try to collect the taxes directly back out of Sorin’s pocket.

“I see,” was all he said. “Anything else?”

“No. Kashi’s going to go ahead and get the funds put together, then meet us at the portal grounds. We’ll leave in about an hour.”

“Rushing me through my meal for this,” the bounty hunter muttered as he squinted at Yoru with some fondness. “You’re just like your father.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Yoru said.

Snorting, Kashi said, “You would.”

But he stood up from the table and, snagging a long strip of meat on his fork to stuff in his mouth, departed the tent. The two men working their makeshift restaurant watched him go, then turned expectant gazes toward Sorin and Yoru.

“I notice he didn’t leave any money behind for his part of the bill,” Sorin said.

Yoru rolled his eyes and produced a small bag that clinked with the sound of coin when he dropped it on the table.

* * *

Sorin had to admit some trepidation, if only to himself. So far, he’d handled everything the Black Hellions had thrown at him, but he was really only guarding himself from Samael with the supposition that it wasn’t worth the gang leader’s time to go collect Sorin. Samael obviously needed him to grow stronger in order to be useful, but dangling himself right in front of the only person in the tower Sorin couldn’t reasonably expect to defeat didn’t seem like a smart idea.

It was, however, necessary, since Morlin Telpike—Sorin had finally gotten around to learning the name of Yoru’s father—certainly wasn’t leaving his estate to come meet them at a portal hub. So, they filed through the portal one at a time, with Yoru leading and Sorin bringing up the rear.

Part of him expected to find a few dozen Hellions waiting for him on the other side, or even Samael himself, but instead it was just a pair of bored-looking portal guards. Kashi stood about twenty feet behind them next to a stranger holding a wooden coffer that was hopefully stuffed full of danirs.

There was some haggling over the actual value of all the enchanted gear the team was wearing. Apparently, there was a registration process to prevent paying taxes on a piece twice, but of course only Yoru and Vendis had anything already on the books.

At least they’re only taxing the magical pieces, Sorin thought with some bitterness. Not that it’d make much difference to the total.

They didn’t try to take more than their share this time, which made this batch automatically better than the first one he’d dealt with. Sorin’s sword went down as enchanted for durability, and only because it obviously had to be magical, even if they couldn’t figure out how. The guards had a pair of wands set to detect enchantments, but they didn’t seem to have any ability of their own to figure out what those enchantments were.

A pile of money changed hands, and then, just like that, the whole team was set loose to go wherever they chose on Floor 0. Somehow, despite building it up in his head, the passage through the portal was relatively painless. At least, it was to Sorin. If he’d been required to hand over better than a thousand danirs in taxes, he’d have resisted far more strenuously.

They attracted attention as they walked the streets, but not much. Climbers weren’t that uncommon in the inner districts where the high and mid families lived. Soon enough, they reached the grand, ten-foot-tall, wrought iron gates of the Telpike estate, and Yoru led them inside its walls.