Spire's Spite

The team were quick to heed Fritz's warning, their packs and bags already on their backs as they ran right, opposite the faraway roar of flooding water. Cal sprinted ahead of the team, leveraging his Speed to stay ahead. He held the lantern aloft, lighting the way up the curving stairs and into the blackness beyond.

Fritz was glad they had reacted as rapidly as they did, he didn't know if they had moments, minutes, or hours before being swept up and drowned. And as the saying went: 'There is no wisdom in waiting to see the wave'. At that point your fate was likely sealed and the whole team knew it.

Fritz brought up the rear, catching George as he tripped in his haste and almost toppled back down the stairs. He pushed him forward with both hands on the man's scaled cloaked back until he found his feet again. George tried to turn and to apologise but Fritz kept pressing him forward.

"Thanks can come later. Get moving, we need to break the other door," Fritz ordered.

The team fled up the stairs and the sound of rushing water finally reached the ears of the less perceptive, spurring them to be swifter. Despite it being only a minute of running it felt like far more. Each second could be their last and they stretched out from hard-taught fear. Finally, they found the barred double doors. Immovable and imposing, cutting off the path ahead and with it their lives.

Bert immediately hit the hard wood, blurring forward and slamming into it with both his Bull Rush and Concussive blow overlaid over his shoulder. He bounced off with a thud and a loud crack. At first, Fritz thought it was the bar behind the door that had snapped, but was soon disappointed and distressed when Bert grunted in pain and held his broken breastbone. There was another, smaller crack and the sharp bump of protruding bone beneath the skin flattened in an instant.

Cal struck next, he swung his flail in a devastating arc, denting the wood and causing the door to shudder slightly. However, that was the extent of the damage done. Lauren scorched the door with clinging flames, the fire caught and orange tongues licked at the wood, yet it quickly burned out, too quickly as if the door was treated against fire. It was likely they were protected against such things, few things were as dangerous to libraries than a fire.

She scowled then joined Rosie in hacking at the door with her sidearm, it seared and steamed where its edge met wood. Rosie herself was a flurry of slashes and slicing, leaving furrows where she struck. Splinters flew and they all redoubled their efforts whaling on the door with what they could. Yet it stood defiant, and would not yield to their assault. Until George stepped in with Sever. His copper longsword glowed with a sharp translucent white light and its deadly edge seemed to pass right through the wood as if it were mud.

"Out of the way, give George more room," Fritz commanded.

His team retreated from the door, and George grew out his sword to its full length and Sever-ed again, this time angled horizontally rather than vertically, then with one last Sever he chopped down again, carving another straight line and forming an almost neat square in the wood. Bert struck the cut section of the door with full force, crashing against and driving the slab of wood out with a great thud. It skated along the stone for three seconds before it ground to a stop.

Bert ducked into the new opening, then Rosie was shuffled forward and through by Cal, who was then was followed by Lauren. Soon they were all on the other side, discovering another labyrinthine library. Haphazardly arrayed shelves with stack upon stack of books, tomes and scrolls flanked and flew by them on both sides as they ran.

Fritz swiftly took the lead, guiding his team as best he could through the cluttered alleys. Piles of books were scattered by their passing and Fritz desperately pulsed his Door Sense, this time not searching for the Stairway but just the very next heavy set of doors that had to exist. They had to otherwise they were drowned. To his great relief, he could feel their location vaguely and he steered the team towards the muted impression.

From ahead, through many rows of shelves, he could hear a muffled yell, a man's rough call, shouting an alarm.

"Wake up! We have company. Draw your steel!"

"We should arm ourselves too," Fritz said softly over his shoulder. "Just in case."

"I'm always armed," Bert said, raising his fists.

"We don't have to fight them, let's try talking first," Lauren whisper-yelled as they slowed their pace, to better wind through the passages and be on the lookout for any attackers.

"We will," Fritz agreed, listening for the flood closing in on them. The sound of rushing water had faded considerably, perhaps he had been too prone to expecting the worst and they actually did have more time than he had suspected. Growing up in the gutters of Rain City had seemingly left some hard-to-break fears about floods. When he thought about it, didn't they have water-breathing potions? And they would likely survive the crushing force of the wave what with their defensive Treasures or Attributes.

He didn't think he'd been panicking for nothing, however they were far more equipped to deal with being submerged than he initially feared. Taking a moment to breathe in slowly, Fritz slowed his and his team's pace further, keeping them at a brisk walk rather than a jog.

"Get your water-breathing gear ready," Fritz said, now that he had calmed somewhat.

"I forgot we had that," Bert said slapping his forehead and reaching into his remedy kit.

"You and me both," Fritz said. "Must be old scars."

"Must be," Bert agreed.

"I hear 'flood!' I run, simple as that," Cal added and Rosie nodded along.

Lauren and George kept quiet, weapons in hand and keeping their eyes and ears out for trouble.

Fritz decided to take the time to climb one of the many shelves to get a better view of where they were in this maze. He spread his Trap Sense, attempting to pulse it like his Door Sense, and found it responded similarly, though it was not entirely alike the other Power. It was far more responsive, more malleable, more akin to water than the misty feeling of Door Sense. He should have been doing this all along, he suspected, and noted he should test his Danger Sense with this burgeoning expertise later.

Rapidly Trap Sense responded, there were traps all around, some of the books and scrolls stood out to him especially. But that wasn't what he was looking for, he wanted to leverage the second feature, the detection of natural hazards such as the weak shelves and frames around him. Soon he found a stable enough bookshelf to scale and he motioned for his team to wait while he crept onto its top. It creaked and dust fell from its old wood, but it didn't break beneath him.

Fritz searched the many paths and to his dismay saw the glow of three separate lights shedding their illumination within the dark passages between the shelves. Two of blue and one of amber. The lights were gathered together and were slowly making their way to another set of double doors on the other side of the room. They would likely arrive there before Fritz and his team, then, if they were the ones barring the doors, they would seal them in.

He committed a winding path to memory, or as much as he could before he felt something off. Fritz heard a whistling softly splitting the air. Suddenly he shifted into his shadowy form. A soaring dagger, its edge subtly shining with red hues, slid harmlessly through his smoke-like neck. Cold washed over his body while his Dusksong was drained. Behind him, the blade bounced off a bookcase and clattered to the stone. Fritz dropped, riding the last seconds of his phasing to alight upon the ground without a sound.

"Argh!" He cried as he solidified, stomping his foot as if he were a body falling to the floor.

The team looked at him quizzically and he held a finger to his lips.

Distantly, maybe through one or two sets of shelves, Fritz heard low voices that he could barely make out.

"I got him, can't believe the idiot would stand out in the open like that," a man said in a darkly mocking tone. "And you said Shadow Sight was useless."

"I said it will be useless. Once you climb the other Spire again and get its bronze award," a rough man replied.

"Why are you standing around whispering like fishwives, let's get out of here," a woman hissed.

Fritz's stomach dropped and Dusksong's hum spiked and spat. He thought he knew those voices, but he tried to convince himself that maybe he was wrong about his instinct. He shook his head, dispelling both his sureties and his doubts.

"We'll move as soon as we pack up the readable books," the rough man replied.

"Let's go now," she said again.

"Calm your ti... er just calm down. We know the way out and we don't have to rush. Some of these books could be Techniques. I won't leave any behind," he growled back.

"Don't tell me to calm down," she spat. "There's another team out there. They broke through the doors! What if they have nine? There's only six of us."

"Your man just killed one," the man grumbled. "They'll be feelin' the Spite soon enough. Even if they outnumber us we have already have the drop on them."

"Fine," the woman conceded bitterly.

Fritz stopped listening, pulling himself back to the wondering stares of his team, obviously, they hadn't heard a thing.

"I was seen and attacked. My Cloak didn't hide me and Danger Sense, didn't warn me," he whispered as loud as he dared. "One of them must have a stealth and a Sense Ability, like the raider."

Of course, he would choose Powers like that, the cowardly traitor sneak thief.

"Damn," Bert whispered as George picked up the fallen, familiar, dagger and slid it into his belt.

"Fear not. My Sense was not completely suppressed so I don't think this was as Powerful of an Ability. This Climber is likely not a Journeyman," Fritz reassured them.

The team still looked worried about being dragged into another hunt, except Bert who frowned suspiciously at Fritz. Obviously reading something in his demeanour, or perhaps he had also recognised the dagger, and therefore its owner.

"Let's keep moving, we could still beat them to the doors out," Fritz whispered, leading them down an alley making sure to stay within the lantern light so they didn't lose him.

Wending and winding their way through the walls of shelves, they encountered no one. Fritz had been able to surreptitiously circle where he had heard the other Climbers and slip around their camp. The light that played upon the roof cast shadows in such a way that Fritz could vaguely divine when the other Climbers were and thus he was able to avoid them at every turn as they also slowly made their way through the maze.

They were nearly all the way through, so close to the way out that Fritz could feel it reliably through his Door Sense. When the ever-ramping sounds of rushing water rapidly rose to a rumble like thunder. From behind, the shelves crashed against the floor and each other, and were shattered. A tide of wood and water surged. They could hear the flood sweeping forth, a cacophony of snapping timber and a tide of splintered shelves.

"Run!" Fritz ordered, snatching the lantern from Cal so he wouldn't disappear in the dark while he ran ahead. His shout was echoed by a coarse cry, somewhere to his left in another alley. There was more yelling, a woman shrieked, then all sound was suffocated by the roaring of the wave wrecking everything in its wake.

Fritz was sprinting now and was joined by his trailing team. As they ran through the last couple of passages other unidentified Climbers appeared and ran besides them. Heedlessly they all raced to the double doors. Though Fritz was tempted to trip and tangle the other team up, he instead decided to focus on getting his whole crew out, forestalling any fighting for when they were safe from the flood.

The doors were in sight when Lauren slipped on a scroll and staggered. Bert caught her before she could fall and hefted her over a shoulder, then he Bull Rush-ed forward. He was a white and blue blur as he sped past and he was soon tailed by Rosie who streaked behind him with her Interpose, dragging Cal along.

Now that they could see the door, those who had mobility Abilities used them, speeding past Fritz and George and leaving their fellow teammates behind. One man, then a woman bounded by with great leaps, then another man, propelled by the stone beneath his feet, soared past. Fritz cursed and he redoubled his efforts, George looked back worriedly slowing his pace.

"Go! Get through the doors!" Fritz ordered, seeing the doors ahead closing, being shut by the others.

George winced, but nodded, then he harnessed his Speed and rushed ahead. When he reached the narrowing opening he was blocked by the bodies of a dark-haired man and a scarred woman ahead of him who filled the space. The two were having trouble slipping through the small crack left. George gripped the door and pulled it open enough for them to squeeze through then did so himself, holding the door open, shouting at someone behind him.

Fritz and the sixth member of the other team ran beside each other, when Danger Sense flared. The man next to him swung a hammer, the brutal blow was aimed at his head and would shatter his jaw. Out of instinct, Fritz dived into a roll. It only cost him a heartbeat to slide back to his feet, but that was all the time the man required to barrel into George, through the gap and for the doors to slam shut.

Fritz's body met the wood with a bone-jarring thud. He bounced off, then stood swiftly, then beat on the door with his fists, yelling all the curses he knew. There were muffled shouts beyond the barrier but he paid them no heed, then there was a dreadful clunk. Fritz knew that was the sound of the bar being set down. He continued his tirade, drawing Quicksilver and hacking at the immovable wood. Small splinters flew from where he struck and his voice was soon drowned out by the oncoming flood, as he himself would soon be.

With his free hand, Fritz rooted through his remedies, pulling out his waterbreathing potion, and drinking it down desperately. He ceased his yelling and breathed in deep. He glanced backward to see how much time he had left, just as he was assaulted by about-to-be agony from all sides. Bones would be broken, muscles pulverised to paste and skin torn to ribbons, all under that terrible cold and overwhelming pressure.

Then the wave hit. Thunder then silence.

Fritz was dead, and it didn't feel too bad. Sure it was cold, bleak even, but there were nowhere near the pains his Danger Sense had predicted. He had many regrets, but the most pressing was that Bert wasn't there. His spectre slid right through the door as if it were water, seeking his friend in his final moment. Then he was on the other side and he was surrounded by his team and the strangers.

The shouting and menacing stopped dead. They stared at him in horror, as if seeing a ghost, which was appropriate.

Serves them right.

Then his heart beat, Fritz's shadowy form fled, and he shifted back to normal.

Oh, that's right, Umbral Phase.

"Fritz," Toby stated aghast. "Here to haunt us."

"A ghost," Jane whispered in horror.

Quickly Fritz got his wits about him and straightened his back, then smirked evilly.

"I am back, from beyond the veil, hark and hold while thee quail," Fritz declared, lacing his words with his Dusksong's terrible tones. His voice rasped and rang, like the grinding of stone coffins lid being slid open. "I seek my vengeance on cowards, traitors, all I hated. Only by thy pain can my thirst be sated."

Jane and Toby stared, eyes wide with pure terror and bodies seemingly frozen. The opposing team around them quaked, one signalled the order to retreat, then they immediately ran up the curving stairs, abandoning the pair. Fritz let them flee, keeping his gaze locked on the two former members of his and Bert's crew. They stood there too stunned to move.

"Don't worry. He's not really a ghost," Bert said, ruining Fritz's act. "Just very slippery."

Their eyes turned to Bert.

"Bert, you're..." Toby began, pushing his shoulder-length dark hair out of his watering eyes.

"Alive? Of course he is," Jane said dejectedly, gloom settling over her like a stormcloud. "Of course they are. They're both bloody madmen who will never get their due. Surviving as they shouldn't. Wrecking everything around them."

Toby came to some conclusion and glared. His hands slowly went to his throwing daggers, he gripped their hilts though didn't make to fling them.

"How in the darkest depths of the Abyss did you two fools escape?" He asked scornfully. "Let me guess you murdered the girls and Sid then took their places."

"Harsh words for our reunion, and even crueller accusations," Fritz objected. "And here I thought you'd be all sweet and sorry for your cowardly deeds."

"Why bother apologising, you're here to kill us," Toby said darkly.

"We're not here for you," Bert said, shaking his head.

"Oh, it's a coincidence then," Toby sneered. "How fortunate."

"Liars," Jane added in a hiss her flame-scarred face contorted with distrust.

"Traitors," Fritz replied just as scathingly, with Dusksong's bitterness coating his voice coldly. Rage bubbled up, threatening to boil over. He gripped the hilt of his still-drawn blade so tightly it trembled. Yet he held himself back, cutting them and leaving a scar may be what he desired in the moment, but it wasn't right, it wasn't what they deserved.

"Stop!" Bert shouted. "I don't want to fight. And neither do you. Look around, there's six of us and two of you."

"If you don't want to fight then we'll be going then," Jane said quickly. "We have a crew to get back to."

"Not so fast," Fritz said. "I want to know something."

"What is it?" Toby asked as he shuffled uncomfortably. "It better not be about leaving you two, Bert told us to go. How can you hold that against us?"

"That right, we were only doing what we were told," Jane said, her voice taking on a pleading almost whiny edge. "And we deserve to survive, no, to live. Like you said before we entered the Spire, Fritz."

"Even after I joined the fight with Steve? You fled there, again. Left Sid and I to fight by ourselves, again," Fritz said, holding back the fury he felt from having his own words thrown back at him.

The pair fell silent.

"Fine, I don't care about that," Fritz lied. "What I want to know is what you're doing here."

"Climbing, what else," Toby scoffed, unable to suppress his snarky nature.

"How'd you get the coin?" Bert asked.

"Nightshark paid, we met them after we left with our Paths, and they offered us a free Climb if we worked for them," Toby provided, falling into a more relaxed, though still guarded, posture now that it seemed that Fritz and his team meant them no harm, yet. "It seemed a good deal, so we took it. Jane needed some convincing though."

"The Spires are deadly," Jane said annoyed, then she sighed. "But this one is much easier, as they said it would be, don't even need a Guide."

"This one?" Lauren asked quizzically, then her gaze sharpened. "There's another?"

Jane covered her mouth and shook her head. She'd never been a great liar, though she didn't need to be.

"Only the supremely secret Rain Spire," Toby said drily, rolling his eyes.

"And you had badges for it?" Lauren said even more sceptically.

Toby gave Fritz and Bert an imploring look.

"Not important," Fritz interjected. "What is important, and my last question, before you two scurry back to your rat-fondling friends is this: Is there anything valuable on this floor?"

"It's all just dusty, jumbled books and papers filled with meaningless scribbles," Toby lied.

"I see," Fritz said coldly.

"If that's all..." Jane said.

"It is, that's all," he said, sheathing Quicksilver and waving them away as if he were a king dismissing his court. His gut was roiling and he couldn't bear to see their faces or hear their bold faced lies.

"I'll walk you out," Bert said, acting the butler for some reason. He also likely wanted to talk to them on his own. Reassure them that he at least bore them no ill will. If that's what Bert wanted to do then Fritz wouldn't stand in his way, no matter how much it pained him.

Soon Bert was back, a sour, sad look to him. A look quite unusual to him, but absolutely understandable, given the circumstances.

The team gathered quietly, then sagged and sat, the fatigue from their flight finally falling on them. A drop of water leaked from the barred door, trickling down the wood.

Cal broke the silence, "What do we do now?"