Tamber
Princess Sol Laetanas
Sol walked around the room, gingerely running her finger along the dusty wall and quickly brushing away the dirt. "Is there really no way up to this tower? are we meant to land on the top and make our way downward?" she asked, turning to Tamber. "It does seem terribly inconvenient."
"Maybe it was a way to keep intruders out?" Tamber suggested. "Limiting their access to whatever treasures and such our predecessors kept hidden within these walls seems like it be more beneficial than say, constantly fighting to the death... It also takes advantage of the dragons being able to fly."
Sol made her way back to the front doors and pushed one open just wide enough for the dragons to be able to peer inside. "Khepri, could you please light up the room for us?" she requested, scolding herself for not asking earlier.
"At your service, your majesty." Khepri replied as he poked his head through the opening in the doors. "Khepri would recommend looking away now." After a brief moment of charging, the dragon's face suddenly burst into light, nearly blinding the two riders despite the fact they were not looking directly at him. Thankfully, it seemed to have done the trick, as the room was now as bright as daylight.
Sol reeled back at the sight of the undead's body and head now in full light. "Thank you, Khepri." she said, petting her dragon's head.
"Anytime, young mistress." Khepri replied, nudging the rider affectionately before pulling his head out through the door.
Now that the room was cleared of the darkness and fog, Tamber and Sol could clearly see a weak-looking ladder dangling from an opening in the ceiling in the corner.
"Well, it looks like we'll actually be climbing up the tower after all," Tamber replied, a small grin tugging at her lips. After making her way over to the ladder, Tamber placed her hands on the sides, giving it a few tugs as if testing its durability. It did not seem to be too shaky or unstable, something that did fill her mind with ease. Turning back to her companion, her smile grew as she placed her hands behind her back. "Royalty first, yes?"
Sol scoffed slightly. "An unexpected display of etiquette, coming from
you." she said, stepping onto the bottom plank and tentatively putting some of her weight on it. After deeming it safe, she pulled herself upwards and began climbing the ladder, avoiding the rustier and dirtier parts as to not ruin her boots and dress. Once she had reached to top and entered the second floor of the tower, she turned around. "Okay, it's safe! Climb up." she called down to Tamber.
Tamber nodded and started to follow behind Sol, climbing up the ladder towards the next floor. She was about halfway up the ladder, when she suddenly felt a shift in weight, the faint sound of something starting to snap reaching her ears. The white-haired dancer looked about, taking a moment to make sure that the undead creature from earlier was not coming in her direction or something of the sort. Tamber was quick to notice that the being was still on the floor where she and Sol had left it. It was at that moment that Tamber returned her focus to the ladder, her eyes widening as she noticed the rope on the left side slowly starting to snap.
Cursing under her breath, Tamber began to scurry up the ladder as quickly as she could. However, each step she took caused the ladder to start snapping more and more. It was only a matter of seconds before the entire left side of the rope gave out from the strain of the threads snapping. Tamber was quick to grab hold of the right rope, a sigh of relief slipping past her lips as several planks of wood began to crash against the floor. Still, the white-haired gypsy did not have long to relish in her safety. The rope she now held tightly onto began to snap as well, the effects of age clearly taking hold over what remained of the ladder.
"S-Sol, I need your help!" Tamber cried out, trying to pull herself up as fast as she could.
"Hold on, I-" Sol began, looking around the dark room in panic.
It's too dark for me to get anything...
The sound of the rope nearly snapping brought her back to her senses. There was nothing around to help her pull Tamber up, and she was barely strong enough to lift another person. Throwing herself onto the ground, Sol reached through the opening in the ground. "Quick, grab my hand!" she called out.
Tamber was quick to reach out for Sol's hand. The princess was just slightly out of reach, and the sound of the rope that the white-haired gypsy to hold onto was causing her worry to grow all the while. As best as she could, Tamber tried to scramble up the rope another inch or so. The sound of the snapping grew louder and more frequent, but thankfully she finally managed to reach Sol's hand. Tamber grabbed hold of it with both of her own hands, the rope giving way just as she did so.
With a painful groan, the princess closed her and managed to pull Tamber just high enough for her to grab onto the ledge and hoist herself up. Tamber grabbed the ledge, her eyes wide with panic as she quickly flopped herself up and over the ledge... and landed right on Sol upon reaching the next level. Tamber was so distracted with being safe and not falling to the previous floor, which may have resulted in several broken bones... or even worse, that she failed to notice that she more or less had pushed her chest right into Sol's face.
The elf coughed and flailed around, one arm clutching her aching side and the other desperately trying to get Tamber off her. She uttered a muffled curse as she managed to push Tamber to the side just enough for her to roll away, panting.
A few moments after the ladder had collapsed, the entire building began shaking - or at least, the bottom floor. Dust and pebbles were falling from the ceiling, as if the watchtower was going to collapse at any moment onto the two riders. Then, it suddenly stopped, as the loud
clang of the front doors beneath them signaled that they had been closed somehow.
"Wh-what just happened? Did Pyra or Khepri do something?" Sol asked, the panic rising in her voice.
"Unless they decided to close the doors for some reason, I doubt it..." Tamber replied. She frowned, realizing that Sol being in another state of panic was not going to help them out in this situation. She reached out and put a hand on the elven princess' shoulder. "Relax... We're both okay for now, right? Let's not lose our cool just yet. Let's see if the dragons know anything first."
"Pyra...? Is everything okay out there?" Tamber questioned.
"The tower is starting to act kind of strange, I think even the doors shut. Did you or Khepri do that?"
"No, Tamber... I am not sure what happened just now..." Pyra replied, concern evident in her voice.
"I knew this was a bad idea... Khepri and I are going to get you both out right now."
"No, if you do that then the tower and all the artifiacts we're supposed to bring back with us could be destroyed. I only want you to come for us like that if it's a last resort, alright?" Tamber answered, trying her best to calm not only Sol but her own dragon as well.
"We'll manage for the time being. Just stay on guard. I have a feeling this isn't going to be as easy as we thought."
Turning her attention back to Sol, she offered the girl a smile of reassurance. "Well, it looks like going back down isn't an option at the moment. But since the previous Riders used this tower, I'm sure there has to be another way out. Let's just keep our eyes open for it as we keep going."
"R-right." Sol replied, taking a deep breath and picking herself up. "We just have to be careful. There might be more of those...
things like the one we saw before lying around."
The light streaming through the ladder hole in the corner lit up the room just enough for the two riders to see what its purpose was. Judging by the rusty spearheads, broken arrows and sword racks, this was likely the watchtower's armory. Most of the weapons had either been taken (whether by the old riders or by the elements) and the only ones left intact or had survived the rust were strewn across the room. Whoever had left them here had obviously left in a hurry, and hadn't been bothered to come back to reclaim the rest.
"Well, I suppose this is what we came for..." Sol mused, looking around. "...is that really it?"
"Hard to say..." Tamber replied. She made her way over towards a sword, kneeling down to the floor to run her hand along the blade. "Again, Krotan never mentioned exactly what he said were the weapons we're looking for... A lot of these swords are kind of rusty..." Standing back up, she turned to face her fellow Rider. "Don't you think the weapons we already have are better? I mean I'm not a swordsman, but I'm fairly sure that some of the weapons you all brought in with you were in much better condition..."
"Yes, I- oh!" Sol stopped as she noticed a particularly bright sword laying on a shelf. "I found one in a good condition!" The blade seemed almost as good as a new one, and the golden hilt almost made it look like a nobleman's rapier or personal weapon. She looked around the shelf, checking for any signs that it could be a trap or mechanism of some kind like the ladder could've been. After a momentary inspection, she deemed it safe to pick up the sword.
"This feels... surprisingly light. Amazingly, even." she muttered to herself. In her years of sword training she had been taught to carry different types of swords - though she settled for the longer types which were lighter and quicker - but this one felt nothing like the others. "This must be what Krotan sent us for." Sol said, tapping the blade of the sword. "Check around for any other weapons like these."
Tamber gave a quick nod to Sol and began to walk around the room, seeing if there were any weapons such as the blade that the elven princess had picked up. Doing so was a bit easier said than done, however. The darkness of the room did little to assist her in the search for one of these special weapons like Sol found. After several minutes of searching. Tamber did find something that stuck out to her. It was a rather ornate, decorative looking spear.
"Hmm... this looks to be something nice..." Tamber mused aloud. "I don't know if any of the others will be able to use it, but they might be willing to learn." Reaching down, Tamber grabbed hold of the spear's handle and began to try and pull the weapon up. A frown quickly graced her lips as she started to pull, the spear seemingly not budging an inch. "...How odd..."
Taking a moment to reposition herself, Tamber gripped the spear's handle tighter and began to tug with much more determination. Slowly, the white-haired dancer could feel the spear starting to shift, slowly becoming unwedged from whatever was holding it down. Steadying herself so she wouldn't fall over from the force of the spear finally being pried free, Tamber gave one more mighty pull before the spear finally came loose.
"Just needed a bit of work to come loose, I suppose..." Tamber said, lifting the spear up higher to get a better look at it in what limited light there was.
The faint sound of heavy breathing quickly reached the gypsy's ears as she inspected the weapon. She was about to open her mouth and question if Sol was okay, but before she could a sudden weight pulled back down on the spear. Her eyes went wide as she glanced down at the bottom of the spear... the rotting, boney hand of an undead creature quickly being spotted.
"S-Sol..." the dancer said, her voice quiet as she tried to get the attention of her fellow Rider.
"Hm?" Sol asked, turning around. She was still carrying the sword she had found earlier, along with a small dagger also apparently possessing the same magical properties. "Did you-" she stopped mid-sentence as she noticed the body clutching the spear Tamber was holding. "Don't-"
Suddenly, Khepri's voice boomed inside of her head, as if the dragon was roaring straight into her ear.
"DARKNESS IS APPROACHING YOU. GET OUT N-" was all she could hear before the sound completely cut out.
"Khepri?" Sol called out mentally, but with no response.
"Was that you?" She was met with silence. Doing her best to shake off the growing anxiety she was beginning to feel, Sol laid down the dagger she was holding and raised her sword, stepping slowly towards the undead creature. "Just don't move..." she whispered, raising the blade over her head before bringing it down on the creature's arm in one clean slice. The undead reeled back, although if it was in pain she couldn't tell. "Let's get out of here quick before more of them... oh gods."
Just as she finished her sentence, another bloody hand emerged from the hole through which Sol and Tamber had come in - despite there being no ladder - followed by another, and another, then a head - all turned towards the two intruders.
"What in the world are these...?" Tamber asked, gripping the spear tightly still as she backed away. "There weren't any more of them back on the first floor aside from that one... Are they coming in from outside?"
Taking a quick step back beside Sol, Tamber tried to reach Pyra.
"Pyra? What's going on outside? ...Pyra?"
Glancing over at Sol, Tamber gave the princess perhaps the most serious expression since she arrived at Pharus. "...I can't reach Pyra. Something... Either something happened to her or something is interferring with our link."
Sol nodded. "I got a message from Khepri just a moment ago... It was cut out mid-sentence." She looked at the ladderhole from which the creatures were swarming out of now. "The amount of dark power in here must be interfering with our connections to the dragons..."
"We need to find a way outside," Tamber replied. "The mission is an afterthought. Our lives greatly outweigh Krotan's desire for these..." Tamber gestured to the spear as she spoke. She noticed the spear had a strap on its handle, and quickly took a moment to place across her back.
"Why did he send us here if it was this dangerous...?"
Looking around, Tamber quickly spotted another ladder dangling from the ceiling. "There. Get to higher ground!"
Sol did the same, sheathing the now-bloodied sword and strapping the sheath to her belt, and picking up the dagger. Just as she made her way to the ladder, a body fell from the ceiling above, nearly landing on top of her. "Crap, they're above us too!" she spat, driving the dagger into the undead's temple before it got a chance to get up. "We need to get up before more of them come in!"
The undead who had come in from the bottom floor were now getting up, and slowly shambling their way to the two riders. They seemed to be murmuring something.
"Answer... the call to arms..."
"Then get moving," Tamber insisted. She was quick to spin Sol around in the direction of the ladder, which the dancer then started to push her towards. Tamber more or less pushed Sol onto the ladder, the white-haired gypsy going as far as to push her up further which resulted in her hands inadvertently getting a feel of the princess' backside. "Ooooh, soft~"
Once Sol was up the ladder a safe distance, Tamber was quick to start following the princess up. Thankfully, this ladder seemed to be much more durable and stable as opposed to the previous one. It was more than capable of holding the weight of both girls, as well as the weapons they had picked up from the previous floor. Once both she and Tamber reached the next floor securely, the dancer grabbed hold of the knfe from Sol's sheath and turned back to the ropes.
"Watch my back," she insisted, bending down to cut the ladder down at the very least to hinder the undead monsters' progress at coming from below.
"Easier said than done!" Sol called back, taking out her sword as she tried to kick back another undead. "Where are they even coming from?!"
The room they had just entered was surprisingly bright, despite there being no discernable light source. Bunk beds lined the walls, pillow sheets and slabs of wood (which Sol presumed were also beds) were strewn around as if knocked off. The ceiling was also unnaturally high - which allowed even more bunk beds to be stacked along the walls. "I think we've reached the tower's sleeping quarters! And if that means what I think it means..."
Her suspicions were confirmed as even more undead began falling from the 'ceiling' near the walls. They were in fact rolling off the bunks, some of which were so high Sol couldn't even see if anyone was on there. She stabbed another one in the head just as it fell beside her. "Ah, Tamber? How are you doing on the ladder? I won't be able to hold them back for long!"
"Just... hold on..." Tamber muttered, one of the ladder ropes snapping after the knife had run through the threads after several passes.
She was quite amazed with the weapon. Despite the amount of time that had most likely passed since another living creature stepped foot inside the tower, the blade was quite strong indeed. Tamber did not stop to admire the work of the weapon, however. She was quick to move on to the other side, the knife passing through the rope with ease before the whole ladder crashed to the floor. Smiling at her handy work, Tamber turned her attention back to Sol.
"Got it, now all we... Oh my..." she trailed off.
"You see what I-" Sol stopped as she thrusted her blade menacingly at an approaching undead. "-see what I meant?"
The number of undead staggering before them were emense. It was going to be impossible to get past them all by running. At the same time, fighting them one by one was also going to be out of the question. After placing the knife back in the sheath, Tamber took hold of her whip, gripping it tightly.
"...This is going to be messy," she admitted, glancing over in Sol's direction. "We have to fight to clear a path. Don't try to take on any that are out of the way of a clear path to the next floor."
Without warning, Tamber reared back and lashed out at one of the approaching, undead monsters. Her whip snapping loudly as it cut through the head of the creature, essentially slicing the head in half. Blood from the monster spewed about, some of it dousing along the dancer's wardrobe and hair. Amazingly, or perhaps even expected at this point, the creature continued to shuffle forward, it's lower head still functioning slightly.
"Damn... If anything these things are resiliant," Tamber cursed. Her statement was soon followed by an arrow whizzing past her ear, and nesting itself right into the eye socket of an undead behind her, further splattering the two rider in dark blood.
"That's an understatement!" Sol said, shooting another arrow into the ladder hole they had come through. Following Tamber through the room, the two riders watched as more undead creatures swarmed incessantly into the room from god-knows-where, all of them chanting the same words about answering a call to arms.
Noticing two of the creatures coming at her from opposing sides, Sol slung her bow over her shoulder and unsheathed the magic sword she had found in the armory. With an unfittingly high-pitched roar she drove the sword into the first undead's stomach, before tugging sideways, effecitvely disemboweling it. using the momentum to spin around, she brought the blade straight into the second one's ribs, the force of the impact tipping it over. Noticing the first one hadn't given up she turned around and forced her boot into its face, following it up with another sword stab to the neck.
"Keep..." she shouted, panting. "Keep clearing the path!"
"I'm working on it!" Tamber shouted back, the dancer bringing down her whip across the chest of another monster.
The monster groaned in pain as the blood spewed out across her face. Tamber was quick to shove her foot into the monster's chest, knocking it down onto the floor before she sent her whip flying across its face in a fury of lashes. She glanced up from the downed creature, looking as more were shuffling towards her, three to be exact... all of them in a line. Slowly, the dancer took a step back, her hands falling to the spear that was still strapped to her back. She really did not know in the slightest bit how to use the weapon properly, but Tamber did know in the very least that it was used for impailing.
Readying her grip on the spear's handle, the dancer suddenly charged forward. The spear started to run through the first in the line, slowing down her charge. Yet, Tamber remained focused in her goal. She began to push forward as hard as she could pushing he spear through the stomach of all three before they fell to the ground. Tamber herself nearly fell down on top of them, the sudden shift in weight being a bit more surprising than she had expected. Quickly glancing around, Tamber spotted a nearby, rather sizable stone on the floor. She grabbed hold of the slab and quickly dropped to her knees, where she then began to take the time to bash each one of the monsters' faces in.
"Ah, Tamber?" Sol asked as she continued to make her way to the final ladder at the other end of the room. The dancer continued smashing the monsters' faces in. "TAMBER!" she screamed over the deafeaning sound of the undead chanting.
Tamber was breathing heavily as she slowly pulled herself back up to her feet. She gripped the spear tightly, prying it free of the corpses on the floor before turning to face her companion. "What?! What is it?!"
"You- Nevermind, just get up and get going!" the princess shouted back as her sword struck yet another undead. Her dress was all bloodied and crimson by now - one would even imagine the blood to be part of the design now - and her face was no better.
The ladder was just a few undead away now, and the path they had cleared behind them was closing in as undead from both the armory and sleeping quarters swarmed in, clawing hungrily at the two riders. "We're not far, just keep going!" Sol instructed. Suddenly, a pair of bloody hands grabbed her right arm, causing her to drop her sword. As she reached for the dagger strapped to her belt, another hand grabbed her hair, this time coming from underneath her. She screamed in pain as the undead pulled her to the ground. "T-Tamber!" she managed to stutter as the panic began to settle in.
Tamber's eyes were wide as she watched Sol being pulled to the ground. She was fast to run towards the princess' side, sliding down to the ground in the process. Grabbing hold of Sol's blade, Tamber was quick to sever the undead claws that were gripping Sol's hair. She then quickly turned and sliced at the hands holding Sol's right arm, spraying even more crimson liquid on the two Riders. A foul smelling stench was starting to take hold over the room from all the death that surrounded them.
"Are you alright?!" Tamber shouted, once more making sure that nothing had bit or done any severe damage to Sol. Not even waiting for the princess to respond, Tamber carefully placed one of her arms under her legs and the other under Sol's head. She scooped Sol up into her arms, turning to eye the ladder ahead. "Hold on tight. When we get to the ladder, you climb first!"
Tamber made a mad dash for the ladder leading up ahead of them. The sounds of chanting were now ear piercing, as bloody hands and claws swiped at the dancer and her fellow Rider. She cursed under her breath, wincing in pain as one of the claws managed to leave a nasty looking slice at her side. Thankfully, it was nothing that seemed to be life threatening. Her movements were quick as she continued to run, clearly a result of her profession as some of her dodges from any oncoming attacks appeared to be ripped straight from a dance. All the while, Sol seemed to be whispering something to herself. Despite the noise in the room, her soft voice was able to reach Tamber's ears. However, whatever the princess was actually saying, she could not make out. Eventually, Tamber and Sol managed to reach the ladder. The dancer quickly set Sol back on the ground, before turning to face the hordes that were slowly, yet surely approaching them.
"Climb up all the way to the top. If you can finally call your dragon, do it. I'm sure Pyra will be right behind him!" Tamber shouted, gripping hold of her whip one more time. "I'll hold any off while you climb!"
The sight of the ladder seemed to snap Sol out of her panic-induced trance. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Tamber and nodded. "Y-yes, okay!" she stuttered.
The ladder was shakey and Sol thought it would give in at any moment, but thankfully it held out. At the top of the ladder was a closed trapdoor, whose wood looked rotten enough to punch through. After a few tries, the young elf managed to stab through and squeeze her dagger between the wood and lock, and after twisting the blade around the crude piece of metal snapped, unlocking the trapdoor.
The sudden gust of fresh death smog was more of a nuisance to Sol than a relief. The watchtower's roof - arguably the most important part looked even more ruined than the inside, being exposed to the elements. Quickly climbing to the top, Sol looked around. They were so high now she couldn't see the dragons through the smog, but she could finally feel Khepri again.
Before she had a chance to do anything, Khepri's voice exploded in her mind. [i["SOL!"[/i]
Moments later she heard a gust of wind come from down below - the dragons were on their way. "Tamber, come up!" Sol called out. "Hurry!"
Tamber, who was busy slicing through another abomination with her whip, turned and looked up the ladder. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as this nightmare was finally coming to an end. The dancer was quick to start scrambling her way up the ladder, the ropes swaying back and forth as she made her way up towards the roof. The light from the outside was starting to grow brighter with each step. The dancer was just short of reaching the roof where Sol was waiting, when a bloodied and rotting hand reached up, managing to grab hold of the dancer's ankle.
"D-Damn it!" she shouted out, almost falling off the ladder as she felt a weight trying to pull her back down into the dark abyss of the tower. She tried her best to reach out into the light, her own panic starting to set in. "Sol, give me a hand!"
"On it!" Sol quickly thew herself on the ground and grabbed Tamber's hand, desperately pulling up. "Come on..." she grunted, switching to both hands.
"Khepri, Pyra... hurry..."
She felt herself being pulled downwards into the hole as more undead climbed on top of each other and grabbed hold of Tamber's leg. "No, no, noononono-!" she cursed as she felt herself sliding off the roof and being pulled straight into the mass of undead. "I'm going to fall in!"
Suddenly, she felt a massive gust of wind, followed by something wrap around her waist. A brief moment later a great force yanked the two Riders upwards, tearing off a few undead arms in the process.
"Fear not, young mistress! We will get the two of you out safely. Lady Tamber, hold on!" Khepri's booming voice reassured them as the dragon flew straight upwards.
A large, feral growl could be heard in the air around them as Pyra swooped downwards towards the tower. The fire dragon landed on the tower, her strong claws digging into the stones as she reared her head back. A fierce glare was evident on her face as her mouth began to glow, smoke and ash already starting to spew out from it. With a might blast, a searing stream of fire shot forth from Pyra's mouth, engulfing the undead creatures, as well as most of the inside of the tower, in a blazing inferno. The sounds of their anguished screams and moans filled the air around the tower, yet Pyra seemed to care little for their pain. All that was on the dragon's mind was revenge for any harm caused to Tamber, as well as making sure to serve some out for Khepri for any caused to Sol.
Before long, the tower was completely engulfed in flame. Smoke pouring into the air as everything left inside was assured to be burned to ashes. Satisfied with her work, Pyra took back towards the sky, soaring over to where Khepri and the two female Riders were in the sky.
"Are you both alright?! Please, tell me everything is fine," Pyra begged, nothing but concern for the wellbeing of the princess and the gypsy in her voice.
"Y-Yes... Yes, we're fine..." Tamber gasped, the dancer just now catching her breath from the intense escape that the duo had to perform.
"That looks a pretty bad cut..." Sol said, looking at Tamber's leg. "Let's just... get as far from this place as we can."
"I think I can agree to that," Tamber replied.
She watched as the dragons soared away from the burning tower, the undead creatures inside now finally being put to rest as well as anything left from the past of the Riders. This mission was bound to be the first of many adventures and hardships the duo knew they were to face as the new Riders. Yet throughout the passage of time, Tamber and Sol both knew... They would remember this.
A joint post of Foxrally and Frozen Heart