Chapter III - Triton's Tides

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After pressing the man’s arm against the picture, the swirling portrait of water began to glow a bright blue. The hand trembled heavily as it reached into the wall to retrieve the gem within. The tiles rippled, allowing the hand to pass through with ease. Pulling the treasure out, another man took the stone from the frightened hand and placed it in a bag which then took on the color of the stone, a bright and vibrant cerulean. The wall’s aura slowly disappeared.

The trembling man fell to his knees in fear as he turned and faced the superior warrior. “I—I’ve done what you’ve asked me to. Now please, let me go.” He looked to the floor in fear, with hope this was all he needed to do.

“So be it,” the man replied. He turned his back and began to stride away, feeling triumphant. After three steps, he turned his head back to the other man who was beginning to rise to his feet. In the blink of an eye there was a brilliantly shining sword jutting through the frightened man’s chest. This was the worst pain he had ever felt. He never could imagine what being stabbed could feel like. His eyes went wide and he began to choke as he slowly fell back down to his knees.

“But—but…why?” were the only words the man’s last breath could conjure up.

The tall warrior withdrew his blade from the pitiful puppet and wiped it clean. He looked toward the ceiling of the chamber, nodding to it. He turned his back and began to walk toward his next destination. Only two more remained.

The Great Tower of Triton appeared stupendous from a distance, but it was unimaginably enormous up close, stretching toward infinity as the clouds around it masked its true height. It looked impossibly tall, far beyond what any normal human could build. For ages the Great Towers had stood strong across the land of Emileian, watching over the world’s inhabitance, watching and waiting like the very gods up above.

As the two approached, they ascended several flights of stairs, each made of white and blue marble and each crossing over ponds of still water. The entrance to the tower was perfectly symmetrical; too perfect for a man to create. Once both Pyro and Cade made it to the top of the fifth staircase they were opposed by a giant door.

The door stood easily as tall as three men. Made of shining white marble, it appeared untouchable, like the rest of the Great Tower. On its surface was an ornate tiled picture of swirling waters rising up under a female human figure. The tiles were so small and well organized the water underneath the human figure seemed to move, blasting upward.

“That looks pretty heavy. How do we get that open?” Pyro asked. He approached it and gave it a small push with one arm. The door remained silent, serving its purpose to allow only the worthy through to the heavens.

“That stone the old sage gave us must be the key.” Cade unhooked the gemstone from his belt to see an even darker blue glow. The stone left Cade’s faintly trembling hands and began to hover in thin air. Both shocked, Pyro and Cade took a step back as the jewel rose higher into the air, beginning to spin. Blue energy began pulsating out of the stone as it neared the door, like a rapidly spinning pulsar from the heavens high above. A small groove revealed itself on the slab of marble and accepted the blue rock like a caring mother accepts her child in her open arms. The entire door began to glow blue and in an instant, it vanished. Pyro and Cade each looked at each other and nodded, entering the tower.

The entrance hallway to the tower was enormous. Cade and Pyro agreed that six tall men could stand head to toe before reaching the ceiling. Each side of the hallway was lined with white statues representing a figure similar to the female human figure on the door. The only sounds in the hallway were the echoed clicks of the two warriors’ footsteps. Then floor was lined with a straight path of white tiles outlined with blue ones.

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