The First Tower

Gray stones of 40 feet (12 meters) loomed high against the sky. Cobwebs filled out the hollow spaces in between blocks. Barely any clouds hovered on top of its clay asphalt roof. Weeds and tall shrubs surrounded its base. Rust crusted the locks and hinges of a thick oak door worn out through time.

The group spread out in a line, matching the curve of the tower. Their eyes gazed up and down. Its height was no joke. From the bottom, they could hardly see the top. Anyone with low stamina wouldn't be able to survive the climb.

Cleon whistled, "That's one tall tower."

"Taller ones exist in Celios." Deelah shrugged from beside him, hands on her hips. She rotated her shoulder and craned her neck, "Who will be staying here? Because I am not passing the chance to exercise."

"Cleon, Maya and Nyt will stay." Raz decided out loud,heading for the door, "I can't really think if any of you could climb this high without fainting."

"Wait." Tylen protested, "I'm not about to stay here if something inside leads to Ariene. How would you even know what to look for?"

With a sigh, the Pirate Queen crossed her arms over her chest, "I hate to admit it but the cupcake has a point."

"Well, I don't feel comfortable leaving Maia alone with Cleon."

"Hey!" The blue-haired pirate complained, "I'm more than capable of looking after her. If anything, whoever dares to attack us should be more scared of her than me."

He shivered involuntarily. If they didn't tell him what happened during the kidnapping, he would have completely forgotten about her darts. He didn't witness it himself but Maia trained a lot with them on the Ytle Ship. None of the higher ups let her take on missions until she mastered it. She also had hidden ones under her clothes but enemies already knew to look there since assassins had the same tricks.

Her beaded 'scrunchie' would be the last place they'd look.

"Are you also scared of me?" Maia fluttered her eyes, clasping a hand on Cleon's shoulder.

His body immediately bent away from her touch. His hand pushed it off, "Are you kidding? You can break any bone, any joint, any limb with just your bare hands, Pirate Sadist."

Suddenly, Cleon's clothes tugged against the side of his neck, slightly choking him. Then, his left arm had been twisted behind his body. Just a little more and his shoulder joint would be dislocated.

"What did you call me?" A hot breath hissed in his ear.

"I said you're the most beautiful and angelic healer in the world."

Maia patted his head, releasing his arm, "That's better."

In his mind, Cleon muttered the same words again, 'Pirate Sadist.'

He felt grateful that the redhead didn't have mind reading powers. She might have dislocated and placed his joints back several times over the year they've known each other. The phrase small but terrible never sounded more real.

"Well, it's only about 3 flights of stairs, maybe a total of 60 steps…" Raz calculated, "It wouldn't even take an hour to climb and swoop the place. You sure about this, Nyt?"

The sergeant turned towards the Prince. She needed to assess how determined he would be. Tylen stared up the tower once more. At the top, a small window had been boarded up. Most of the towers had open windows and planks of wood inside to close it. He imagined Ariene sticking her head out of it.

If she could do it then, they could too with less difficulties.

He met Raz's gaze, fully determined, "Yes, I'm sure."

Cleon and Maia stood a few meters apart. They positioned themselves in a way that each of them could see half of the forest around them. They also could see each other from the corners of their eyes. Cleon had one hand on his the basket hilt of his sword. Maia, on the other hand, stood near the door, keeping her hands near her small pouches.

Inside the tower, one vertical pillar stood in the middle. A spiral staircase made of marble surrounded it, along the walls of the tower. Clouds of dust had settled onto the corners and under the stairs. Its only source of light came from the oak door at the base. It could only last up a third of the tower before it would be in complete darkness.

Deelah took the front. Raz stayed at the rear, Tylen in between them. Each step they took echoed upwards. When the sunlight could no longer reach the height they attained, Raz took out a flare stick. She pulled out the protective casing and scratched its top against the tip.

Red light bounced against the walls.

"Do you want to hold it, Dee?" Raz asked, offering the stick.

The Pirate Queen glanced back, cat eyes smiling, "I don't really need it. Although—can Nyt see the stairs? Maybe he could hold it."

The Prince gazed at the flare stick beside him. He'd never held one before. Most of the time they could be found in ships. He hardly needed to use it for transport. Thus, he hadn't been exposed to a situation with a flare before.

"It won't explode." Raz chuckled, "Take it."

Tylen took it from her hand and held it in front of him. They continued their climb. Every few steps or so, they'd find a small spider crawling. The Prince noticed that Deelah essentially moved away from it every time. If the spider was on the wall, she'd walk closer to the pillar. If it had been on the pillar, she'd move nearer to the wall.

The movement seemed insignificant. It surprised him to be able to notice it.

"Ladder up ahead!"

At the last landing of the tower, a ladder led to the trapdoor for the room on top. Poles of thick mahogany made up both of its rails and its steps. Stoppers of heavy rocks kept it from sliding off the floor. It also had its share of dust and cobwebs. Some had living spiders on them.

"Raz, you go first." The Pirate Queen instructed.

The sergeant smirked to herself. She walked up to the ladder and unsheathed a butterfly sword. With its tip, she stabbed a cobweb and twisted it into a ball. She did the same for the others. Once she finished, she threw them to a far corner and hid her sword.

Raz climbed up the ladder. It felt sturdy under her weight. The trapdoor on top felt the same. An arm bent overhead, she hit it with her fist. Each knock sounded louder than the last. The hatch screeched with every inch Raz managed to push.

Then, it popped out, landing against the room's floor.

The sergeant peeked overhead. More cobwebs clung to the ceiling. Beacons of light illuminated inside. Most of it came from the boarded up window. With its height, the sun had a clear path to shine down on the tower. The spaces between the boards may be small but they let in enough sun rays for people to detect the things around the room.

Raz hopped off the ladder and landed on the floor, not making a sound. Tylen joined her in the room. He lifted himself up with his hands. Deelah came up last. The three of them gazed around the place. The room, bare of furniture, only had a closet and a few shelves. A medium-chest also occupied one side of the room while various trinkets laid around here and there.

"How could a Princess live in a tower like this?" The Pirate Queen asked, her eyes on the closet. Her hands grabbed the handles and pulled it open. Specks of dust hit her nose, making her cough, "Well, I can tell you that there's no skeleton hidden in the closet."

The Prince kneeled before the chest. The rusted lock fell off when he touched it. The hinges groaned as he opened the lid. His eyes met a pile of clothes, moldy bread and spoiled bottled milk, "Nothing in here either. It seemed like whoever came here before left in a hurry. I don't think anyone would leave food behind if they had nowhere to go."

The lid closed with a thud.

The sergeant checked the shelves. Bottles of unknown contents filled the bottom of half. The upper part barely had anything except for a lone vase with a withered flower. She turned away and stared at the floor. No signs of struggle appeared such as scratches and blood.

However, a scowl appeared on her face.

She crouched and examined closer. Using her finger, she detected the patterns. Something seemed odd about the floor. Since they walked around the room, their footsteps cleaned off some of the dust. Yet, some patched seemed odd as if unnatural.

"Maybe if we look outside, we could find something." Tylen said. He went to the boarded up window and picked up a plywood, placing it on the wall. His eyes squinted as the sun blinded his vision. The room instantly brightened. Every detail became clear.

The moment he moved the plywood, Raz's ears perked up. Her head snapped towards the window with her eyes wide in alarm. Standing up, she yelled,"Don't!"

She leaped towards the Prince. Pulling his collar, she dragged him to the floor. They tumbled together against the hardwood. At her warning, Deelah pressed her back against the wall near the window. She took out her rapier.

Then, three arrows came flying into the room and crashed against the wall.