Chapter 50: Chapter 49: The Torque of War

The ground shook.

It wasn’t an earthquake. It was the sound of something heavy and angry moving very fast through the cobblestone streets of the Merchant District.

Arthur, Julian, Vivian, and Zack stood in the ruins of the museum entrance, watching the street corner.

CRASH.

A fruit cart flew into the air, scattering apples like shrapnel.

The Pendelton Cruiser drifted around the corner. It looked awful. It was covered in swamp mud, tangled in a clothesline it had snagged, and the front bumper was dragging a wooden fence post.

“It hit everything,” Julian noted, horrified.

“It took the direct route,” Arthur corrected. “I didn’t program it to respect traffic laws.”

The car slammed to a halt in front of them, tires smoking. The driver’s door popped open (actuated by a spring).

“Get in!” Arthur yelled over the sirens wailing in the distance.

They piled in. It smelled like wet dog and ozone inside—the smell of home.

“Status,” Arthur barked, sliding into the driver’s seat. He wiped grease from his face, leaving a streak of black across his cheek.

“Engine temp is high,” Zack read the gauges. “Thunder Core is agitated. The autopilot drove it at 100% throttle for three miles.”

“Good,” Arthur shifted into First Gear. “We need it hot.”

He pointed through the windshield.

At the end of the Grand Avenue stood the Arch-Mage’s Tower. It was a needle of white stone piercing the sky. But now, it was surrounded by a swirling dome of blue energy—the Aegis Barrier.

Inside the barrier, the tower pulsed with the stolen light of the Ley Lines.

“That shield stops dragon fire,” Vivian warned, buckling her harness. “We are going to bounce off.”

“We aren’t hitting it with fire,” Arthur said, flipping the switch for the Winch. He extended the grappling hook slightly, electrifying the cable. “We are hitting it with a Short Circuit.”

“Julian! Mount the rifle!” Arthur ordered.

Julian climbed into the back seat, popped the sunroof, and locked the Sun-Lance into the pintle mount on the roof.

“Target the base of the shield!” Arthur commanded. “I need a frequency disruption on impact!”

Arthur floored the gas.

The Cruiser roared. The solid rubber tires clawed at the expensive marble pavement, tearing up chunks of stone. The car surged forward. 40 mph. 60 mph.

The blue wall of energy loomed closer.

“Brace for impact!” Arthur screamed.

“I hate this plan!” Zack curled into a ball in the passenger seat.

Ten feet before impact, Arthur slammed the Hull Polarization switch to maximum. The car turned into a lightning bolt on wheels.

CRACK-BOOM.

The car hit the barrier.

It didn’t bounce.

The electrified hull of the car reacted with the pure mana of the shield. It was like dropping a toaster into a bathtub.

The blue barrier screamed. Arcs of chaotic lightning exploded outward, shattering the windows of nearby shops.

“Julian! SHOOT!”

Julian pulled the trigger on the roof-mounted rifle.

ZAP.

The laser beam hit the shield at point-blank range, right where the car’s electrical field was disrupting it.

The shield flickered. It tried to calculate the defense, but the input was too chaotic—physical force + electrical current + concentrated light.

POP.

The barrier shattered like glass.

The Cruiser punched through, debris raining down on the roof, and skidded to a halt in the Tower’s courtyard.

…

Steam hissed from the car’s radiator. The front grill was caved in.

“We’re in,” Arthur wheezed, his chest bruising against the steering wheel. “Everybody out! Go! Go!”

They kicked the doors open.

The courtyard was empty, but the massive double doors of the Tower were already opening.

Out marched the Royal Guard Elites. These weren’t the corrupted Golems. These were men—men who thought they were defending the Arch-Mage from terrorists.

“Halt!” The Captain of the Guard shouted, leveling a halberd. “By order of the Arch-Mage! Lay down your weapons!”

“They don’t know,” Vivian realized, drawing her sword. “They think we are the villains.”

“We can’t kill them,” Arthur said quickly. “They are just following orders.”

“Then we go up,” Julian pointed to the balcony above the lobby. “The exterior stairs!”

“Cover me!” Arthur threw a Smoke Grenade.

POOF.

Grey smoke filled the courtyard.

“Move!”

They sprinted past the confused guards, coughing in the smoke. They found the maintenance stairs on the side of the tower—a spiral staircase of stone clinging to the outer wall.

They climbed.

Fifty feet up. One hundred feet.

Below them, the guards were yelling, but the smoke confusion bought them time.

“My father is at the Pinnacle,” Julian gasped, his lungs burning. “The Ritual Chamber. It’s on the 100th floor.”

“We aren’t climbing 100 floors.” Arthur stopped at a landing on the 10th floor. He kicked a window in. CRASH.

“We’re taking the express elevator.” Arthur climbed into the hallway.

The Tower interior was pristine white marble.

They ran to the central elevator bank. Arthur jammed the Black Keycard (from the Sentinel) into the panel.

“Access Denied,” the panel beeped red. “Lockdown in effect.”

“He locked the lifts,” Arthur cursed. “Smart.”

“Stairs?” Zack asked weakly.

“No time.” Arthur looked at the elevator doors. “The shaft is clear. The car is just locked at the top.”

He turned to Vivian.

“Do you trust me?”

“Not usually,” Vivian grinned, sweating. “But today? Yes.”

Arthur pried the elevator doors open with his crowbar.

The empty shaft stretched up into darkness. Cables hung down like steel vines.

“We climb the cables,” Arthur said. “Zack, cast Levitate on us. It won’t make us fly, but it will make us weigh ten pounds. We can jump up the shaft.”

“I… I can try,” Zack stammered. He waved his wand. “Leviosa!”

Arthur felt his stomach drop. He felt light as a feather.

“Go!”

They jumped into the shaft, grabbing the greasy steel cables. With the gravity reduced, they pulled themselves up with superhuman speed. Hand over hand, flying upward.

Floor 20… Floor 40…

Suddenly, a door opened above them at Floor 50.

A Shadow-Golem leaned out into the shaft. It looked down. It saw them.

It didn’t attack. It severed the cable.

PING.

The steel cable Arthur and Vivian were holding snapped.

“Falling!” Vivian screamed.

They dropped. The Levitation spell slowed them, but they were still plummeting.

“Julian! The other cable!” Arthur yelled, reaching out.

Julian was on a different cable. He swung out, hanging by one arm, and grabbed Arthur’s coat. Arthur grabbed Vivian’s hand.

They slammed into the wall, dangling three people deep from one cable.

“I can’t hold us!” Julian grunted, his grip slipping on the grease. “The spell is fading!”

“The door!” Arthur pointed to the doors of Floor 50, where the Golem was waiting. “Swing into the opening!”

They swung. Once. Twice.

On the third swing, they launched themselves through the open elevator doors of Floor 50, tackling the Golem.

They crashed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs and stone.

Vivian didn’t hesitate. She was on top of the Golem instantly, driving her hammer into its head. CRUNCH.

“Is everyone alive?” Arthur gasped, checking his ribs.

“Alive,” Julian panted, wiping grease from his face. “And angry.”

He looked at the stairs leading up.

“Fifty floors left,” Julian said. “No more sneaking. We run.”

…..

They fought their way up.

Floor 60: Magic Traps (Zack dispelled them).

Floor 80: More Golems (Arthur blew them up with breaching charges).

Floor 99: The door to the Pinnacle.

They stood before the massive golden doors of the Arch-Mage’s sanctum.

The air here was humming with power. The building shook.

Arthur checked the countdown.

[Time Remaining: 00 Days, 00 Hours, 10 Minutes.]

“The Ritual is almost complete,” Arthur said, checking his ammo. He had two charges left in his rifle. Vivian’s sword was chipped. Julian looked exhausted.

“This is it,” Julian said. He smoothed his hair. He straightened his dirty sanitation overalls.

“Ready?” Arthur asked.

“No,” Julian said. “Open it.”

Arthur didn’t knock. He placed a charge on the lock.

BOOM.

The doors blew inward.

They stepped through the smoke into the Pinnacle.

It was a roofless observatory. The wind whipped around them.

In the center, surrounded by a swirling vortex of stolen mana that looked like a hurricane, stood Arch-Mage Valerius van Thorne.

He was floating. His eyes glowed with blinding white light. He looked like a god.

“You are late,” Valerius’s voice boomed, echoing not from his mouth, but from the sky itself. “The Ark is sealed. The world below is forfeit.”

Julian stepped forward, small against the storm.

“Hello, Father,” Julian shouted over the wind. “I’m back from my tour.”

End of Chapter 49

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