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Right, so this whole Tower of Lashra Vaeil was slightly larger than I had expected. Okay, it was quite a bit larger. It was like expecting to help someone move out of a single bedroom apartment, only to get there and find out they actually needed help moving the contents of an entire skyscraper. Seriously, this thing was enormous! Fifteen miles high? There was no way we could fit even a small percentage of what was probably in there inside this ship. We couldn’t fit it anywhere. Where were we supposed to hide any of it? I’d thought that having this ship would be a blessing because it would mean we could take everything in the tower and keep it away from everyone else, but this? This was so far beyond anything I had expected. It was completely absurd. How could this place have gone unfound for so long? Yes, the continent wasn’t fully populated or explored yet, sure. But to have missed something like–right, magic, yeah. Of course there was magic keeping it from being found. Hell, we’d seen that for ourselves. The whole tower had been completely invisible, even to all the ship’s sensors, when we first arrived. But what exactly had made it appear? We’d felt that touch against our minds and then the thing just appeared. What made it show itself to us?
All those confusing thoughts jumped through my mind before Gaia spoke up. “I assume this is not what you expected to find.”
“You could say that again,” I muttered. “I wasn’t sure what this place looked like, but this is kind of absurd. Where did it come from? Who built it? Who–wait, who or what is ‘Lashra Vaeil’ anyway?”
Percy shook her head. “I don’t think anyone knows, Jacob. As far as I am aware, the name has simply always been out there. Everyone who knows about it understands that the tower once belonged to one of the most powerful Necromancers in existence, and that all of his tomes and implements were left inside. I couldn’t… even say where the legends began, I’m sorry. I do know that it wasn’t limited to this world. There have been stories about the tower on many different planets.” Her head tilted a little thoughtfully before she added, “Perhaps the tower moves, and that is why it has not been found until now. It is clearly affected by some very powerful enchantments. You… felt it testing us?”
“Is that what it was doing?” I started to ask, “What do yo–”
“It’s here!” Laein had arrived, stampeding onto the bridge with that loud shout. She skidded to a halt beside me and stared with wide eyes at the structure through the viewscreen. I saw the shock hit her so firmly she physically rocked backwards on her heels, mouth falling open. For a few seconds, she didn’t say anything at all. The sight of the tower and its sheer scale had left the young necromancer stunned into silence. When she finally managed to make a sound, it started as a soft whine, which gradually became a squeal as her mouth turned up in a wide smile. I could’ve sworn her eyes literally did the anime hearts thing. “Ohhh it’s amazing! It’s so much bigger than I thought it would be! Is it as big as you thought it would be?!” Her hand grabbed mine eagerly as she literally jumped up and down a few times, an ecstatic laugh escaping her. It was like she was a little girl who had just seen Taylor Swift walk by or something. Which I supposed made sense. She was a little girl after all, everything else aside. And of course she idolized powerful Necromancy. Hell, even the fact that she was holding my hand in her excitement was kind of cute.
Shaking off that thought, I gestured toward the screen. “Yeah, we found it. But no, none of us expected it to be like this. I take it your old employer didn’t show you any pictures? Do you know if he came here himself? How did he even know where it was?”
Laein’s head shook slowly, that wide smile still firmly planted on her face as she gazed at what probably looked an awful lot like Santa’s workshop. “He was paid to locate it a long time ago–well, in the future from now, but a long time ago from our perspective. He said he found out where it had been at one point, but something had already happened to it by the time he got there. But he knew it would be here at this time.”
Why did I have the feeling that Fossor had been the one who paid him to find this thing first? It definitely sounded like something he would be interested in. And Fossor being even more dangerous than he had already been by having access to something like this made a cold shudder run through me. Or maybe Manakel had– oh wait, Manakel. Part of me wanted to summon up his ghost to have a chat, but I couldn’t do it with Gaia right there. She would definitely recognize him later.
So, I cleared my throat before saying I needed to consult with one of my ghosts in private. Asking Percy to keep us right there and not to go any closer, matter how much Laein wanted to go charging right in, I excused myself and walked into the captain’s quarters nearby that were directly linked to the bridge itself.
This place looked like the penthouse of a fancy hotel, to be honest. There was an enormous bed in one corner, several television and computer monitors, a full-sized bar full of bottles of what I was guessing was alcohol from across the universe, and a small kitchen in one corner. There was also a wide leather couch facing a floor to ceiling monitor which was apparently connected to the one out on the bridge, because it showed the same view of the tower waiting in front of us.
Making sure the door was shut behind me, I took a breath before focusing on Doctor Manakel. “Hey, uhh, do you mind having a little chat?”
He manifested into view, already shaking his head. “Good evening, Miss Chambers. I can tell you a little bit more about this tower, but not where it came from for certain. Much of what I was able to piece together may come from faulty sources, unfortunately.” He regarded me for another moment before his expression softened. “And before you ask, I was not the one who hired Fahsteth to find it. I assure you, even at my lowest point, I would not have trusted that man with something so powerful and important. He would have found a way to use it for himself, even if he didn’t understand anything about the tower or what is in it.” After a brief pause, he gestured around us. “Ah, case in point, I suppose.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” I agreed. “But really, anything you can tell me about it would be helpful. You know, before we go running in there without any idea of what we’re gonna find. I mean, besides powerful Necromancy stuff. And that already sounds pretty dangerous to begin with. Even if you don’t think it’s important, maybe it’ll help at some point. You’d be surprised how often small details can end up being incredibly vital.”
“I really would not be,” he informed me dryly as a very slight yet pointed smile crossed his face. “But yes, I will tell you what I have heard or been able to piece together. There have been stories of the tower for at least ten thousand years. Perhaps longer than that, but it was in my relative youth that I came across the first rumors. Its location was said to be anywhere across dozens of worlds, Rysthael–sorry, Earth only one of the later possibilities. No one, to my knowledge, is certain whether Lashra Vaeil is the name of the Necromancer who created it, the planet he came from, a family name, that of a lover, or just words he or she made up to call it. Or they. What is known is that several people have been inside the tower previously. They described finding the building accidentally while traveling through various experimental teleportation magics. None of them used the same or even remotely similar ways of getting there, and none have been successfully duplicated. And believe me, many have tried.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they have,” I muttered under my breath. “To be honest, I’m surprised there isn’t some huge Seosten task force devoted solely to punching holes in reality using powers no one understands trying to find this towe–aand there’s totally a group like that, isn’t there?”
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“Several,” he confirmed flatly. “But, as far as I am aware, none have been able to get so much as a glimpse at it in person. You’re a step ahead of them on that fact.” Another pause came before, “And several others, of course.” He shook that off quickly, the ghostly figure shimmering briefly before he continued. “In any case, of the accounts that can be at all corroborated, the people who did make it inside described corridors full of endless rooms containing what they called Necromancy experiments. Various magical drawings of spells they didn’t understand, body parts and other dead things with tools attached to them, a lot of what your people would call a, ahem, ‘real horror show,’ I believe. Some of what they described and were able to reproduce actually went quite far to advance knowledge of Necromancy, in one way or another, in the places that would listen to them. Like a Bystander man from your Medieval age being temporarily transported into the future to find a science textbook and scrawling what he could remember from a brief perusal of it. Those who studied the knowledge those people brought out of the tower were able to fill in some of the gaps and completely rewrite some societies’ understanding of the entire field of magic. And other fields as well, by extension.”
Doctor Manakel let that settle in my mind for a moment before continuing. “The tourists, as most call them in various languages, also described untold treasure in many of those rooms. Piles upon piles of precious metals and jewels, incredibly powerful enchanted objects, millions of books containing indescribable secrets of history and magic, and so much more. If a few remembered doodles from what they remembered seeing on those walls advanced Necromancy magic several decades, or even a century or two in some cases, then a handful of the treasures pulled from those rooms easily set those tourists up as some of the wealthiest people on their respective worlds.”
“If it’s that good, why didn’t they take all of it, everything they could carry?” I pointed out. “Why do they only have the spells they can remember seeing on the walls and scrawl down? Why didn’t they stay and make copies of everything, bag up enough to buy a few planets, come out with the sort of power that can really change things? It sounds like you’re saying they just grabbed a few things and ran for it.”
His smile was more of a grimace. “Yes, well, that would be where the defenders come in.”
“You know what, something tells me this is going to be the more relevant part of what you have to tell me about this place,” I noted with a low groan. “Okay, what sort of defenders are we talking about here? How dangerous is this gonna be?”
“That, unfortunately, is another point where details are varied and vague to the point of near uselessness, but I will tell you what I can, and hope that it manages to prove useful in some way once you find yourself faced with what is actually there.”
After saying that much, Doctor Manakel took a moment to collect his thoughts, clearly deciding how best to proceed. “Every person who has been in that tower, as far as I was able to corroborate, reported a powerful force pursuing them throughout their visit, driving them to find a way out and herding them toward an exit. That, however, is all they can agree on. Although each tourist spoke about something or someone pursuing them, every report is quite different on the details. One said he was pursued by large metal golems. Another claimed it was ghosts of his own family and friends. A third said it was a large slime creature capable of splitting into many smaller beings which could slip through cracks. Still another spoke of a creature made entirely of sharp blades, a tornado of metal careening down the corridors after them. The only thing they agree on is that something in there sent guardians to force any intruders to leave. But it is always a different guardian, so it would be rather difficult to tell you what to prepare for. Aside, of course, from simply preparing for anything. Which you should do anyway.”
I exhaled slowly and thought that through. “Right, if things stay the same, we’re going to be attacked as soon as we get in there. And I think the relevant part of what you’re saying isn’t just that there are guardians, but there are a lot of them. Assuming we beat one of the things that chased the others out, there’ll be more. Things we can’t prepare for because they could be anything. I’m sure they’re not limited to ghosts, blade monsters, golems, or slime. A place that big with that much treasure in it has to have a lot of options to throw at us. And they’ll probably keep coming until we find the source and shut it down. Whatever that source might be.”
Giving me a slight smile and nod, the ghost man agreed, “That does appear to be how it will go, yes.” His gaze turned pointed as he prompted, “And yet, with the size of that structure, if you wish to locate the source of those defenses and ‘shut it down’ as you say, before you are eventually overrun…”
“We need to trace whatever’s directing them,” I finished for him. “If there’s something else sending them after people and controlling that situation, there must be some sort of link between it and the teams. We need to trace that to find wherever the source is. So we need to prepare a spell for that.” Belatedly I amended, “Probably a few different spells, since we don’t know exactly how the link works.”
Giving a firm nod of approval, Doctor Manakel announced, “Precisely. And if you like, I will show you what spells would be best for that, to cover the maximum amount of possibilities with the… ahh, ‘least’ effort. But it will still require quite a bit, if you wish to track that source as quickly as possible. Fortunately, you have energy to spare.”
He wasn’t wrong. Between my extended stamina, and the magical energy boosts I had gotten over the past couple years, I could pull off much stronger spells than I should have been able to at my age and relative amount of experience. Sure, I might’ve been constantly thrown into near impossible situations, but at least I kept coming out of them with the ability to do more impossible things. It could’ve been worse.
So, I sat down with the old ghost and paid attention as he talked me through five different spells that would overlap the best for identifying and tracking any connection between any defender that might come after us and the source that was directing them. Those five spells apparently had the best possible combination of not overlapping too much with each other to track the same things, covering most potential types of links, and worked the quickest so I wouldn’t be distracted for too long right in the middle of a fight. I did consider having each of us, myself, Percy, Gaia, and Laein cast a different spell to spread it out so it would be done even quicker. But I dismissed that possibility. It might’ve been quicker, but it also wouldn’t take long for any of those guardians to kill one of us if we stopped focusing on them. Sure, we had Cerberus and the–hang on…
“We can do this faster,” I announced, completely reversing my original plan. “I’ll get everyone else to use one of these spells, while Cerberus, Eurso, and uhh, well, you and the rest of the ghosts and zombies hold off whatever comes after us. If you think you guys are up for that?” Why hadn’t I thought about the solution before? Yes, there would be threats inside, but surely my army of undead friends could hold those threats off for a minute or two, right?
As though in answer to my thought, Seth and Grover appeared. Gaia knew the dead vampire, of course, but no worries on that front. He had thought of that, and adjusted his appearance so that he had a long beard, big sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat. So yes, he looked like a member of ZZ Top.
Grover, meanwhile, was holding a large butcher knife which he gave a couple experimental swings before smiling at me. “Oh, you know it. We’ve got your back. Or, you know, their backs.” That smile turned a bit maniacal as he pointedly swung the knife a few times through the air.
Seth’s own ghostly figure flickered as he smirked and put a hand on top of Grover’s head. “Kid’s right, we’ll be there, and so will everyone else. We’ll keep them off you.”
With that agreement, I thanked Doctor Manakel and dismissed him before opening the door to go join the others, with the two ghosts trailing behind. Laein was still practically drooling over the tower visible through the monitor, but paid attention when I started to tell them what I’d found out and what we were going to do.
“Each of us casting a different spell does sound like the safer, quicker option,” Gaia agreed, “but are you certain that your… friends can stand against whatever threat may present itself for that long?”
“Oh, I think they’re up for the challenge,” I confirmed with a smile over my shoulder at those two. “I’ve got a lot of ghosts and zombies to throw at whatever thinks they can stop us. And if that turns out to be a problem, well, I’ve got more tricks they won’t see coming.”
Regarding me for a long moment, Gaia lifted her chin, an unknowable look crossing her face. “Somehow, I find that easy to believe, Jacob.
“I may not know much about the future, but I feel quite certain that you are always full of surprises.”