Floor 23

Gremlins in the Golems

The twenty-third floor was another of the industrial designs. Metal walkways cut across a chasm while suspended in air massive gears churned. The only means by which to traverse vertically were a scattering of ladders. Far above a ceiling crafted of steel blocked out the sky, and lights ran along the entire stretch of it.

The Wolfe brothers had stuck with Kuzu and I, though they hadn’t shown much enjoyment over that choice. After we arrived on the twenty-third floor Lance glared at me, his aggravation worn on his sleeve, while Adam didn’t even talk to me and instead checked his own compass.

Adam shortly thereafter took the lead with Kuzu right behind him. In the end I was caught in the middle, even though I’d tried to linger so as to be in the back. Instead Lance had stubbornly refused to move until I did. With every step I could feel his glare on the back of my neck, an annoyance that I was tempted to remove.

We walked in silence for a while with Adam setting the pace. He moved with a certainty that marked how experienced he was with the twenty-third floor, and he always kept his hand on the pistol at his side.

At one point Kuzu went rigid, her tail puffed up while her ears flattened against her head. She held up three fingers in my direction before she called out to Adam, and before he’d turned she’d pulled the two-handed sword out. Off in the distance I could make out the sound that had caused her alarm.

“There are three approaching us, one heavier than the other two,” I warned Lance.

From one of the higher walkways there came the obvious sound of heavy footfalls, loud enough as it grew closer that even Adam and Lance couldn’t fail to notice. A large hand gripped the railing that ran along the side of that specific walkway before a giant leapt over and fell onto our own.

The golem was at least eight feet in height with a width of about three feet. It had been designed to be humanoid but it lacked any proper face or other markings, giving it strange blank style. The skin was made of a type of malleable metal that bent readily with every movement of the body.

Two more shadows fell from above as a couple of gremlins joined the golem. They landed quietly on the walkway in front of us, though they chose to drag their fingernails along the floor in an attempt to intimidate us rather than to attack.

Adam pulled his pistol out and fired it in one smooth movement. The bullet hit the gremlin on the left before it could react, piercing through the center. The stricken monster could only fall down as blood started to ooze from the bullet hole.

The other gremlin leapt behind the golem in reaction to the gunshot. The large construct in turn had already started to walk forward, each footfall bringing a shudder to the walkway that we stood on. With one hand it swung out at Adam to try and swat him aside, but he proved nimble enough to dodge.

Kuzu darted at the golem and slashed the nearest leg, her blade easily cutting through the unusual metal. She pushed past and in one fluid combination severed the hidden gremlin into two chunks before coming to a stop. The injured golem swayed due to the blow, but instead of falling it turned and tried to backhand Kuzu away.

Before the hand could connect Kuzu swung her weapon up, and in the wake of the blade a wall of ice appeared. The golem’s fist connected hard with that magical wall and was stopped, but most of the ice cracked and began to crumble. A second later Kuzu emerged from behind the ice wall with a leap, pushed up from what I could tell by a pillar that she spawned beneath her feet.

As she leapt over the wall she did a forward flip before she brought her sword down on the golem. The machine had no time to react and the weapon connected easily enough, cutting through the entire height of it along with the gremlin buried inside.

The two halves of the golem fell separately onto the ground with a loud bang while Kuzu gracefully landed. Kuzu’s ears twitched as she scanned the vicinity, and then she pulled out a cloth from her pack and used it to clean the sword.

The Wolfe brothers had watched her actions quietly, but Lance let out a long whistle as he walked over to his brother. He nudged Adam in the side as he motioned at Kuzu, “Ain’t she a bit of a nice thing to see?”

“She is quite capable at handling herself,” Adam admitted as he rubbed the edge of his monocle, “a nice change of pace from the other people we’ve worked with.”

Kuzu on the other hand had no interest in the Wolfe brothers, or their words of praise. Instead after she’d reslung her large weapon she approached me, her emerald eyes shining with excitement. Behind her a slight wiggle of her tail made her emotions obvious, and she smiled at me in anticipation.

I responded as she wanted and gave her a light pat on the head, and then I gripped one of her twitching ears tightly. “You were showboating,” I scolded her, “next time kill the golem in one move and don’t let it get a chance to attack.”

“I’m sorry I will!” she said as she squirmed in my grip.

I let go of her ear, and once again I gave her a light pat on the head. I couldn’t resist smiling at Kuzu, but by the time I looked at the brothers it was gone. “Sorry for that interruption, let’s get moving shall we?”

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

The rest of the twenty-third floor was an unending repeat of that first encounter. Gremlins would often come attached to a golem or two, and for the most part Kuzu handled each of the instances. It wasn’t out of a need to impress the Wolfe brothers so much as I didn’t see the point in Adam wasting his ammunition, and after I’d told him to only worry about himself he was quite happy to leave everything else to Kuzu.

All of the walkways eventually lead to one of the scattered chambers that would house the portal. The dome was easy enough to see from a distance, and as we got closer the gaping hole in the side was our way in. The walkway itself ran directly into that hole, though the inside was difficult to see due to an interior hallway which curved.

We paused at the entrance to the dome to prepare for what would be the fight for the portal. Instead of pulling out a weapon like the Wolfe brothers I instead leaned against a wall, arms crossed while I watched Kuzu. She had drawn close to the bend in the hallway and her ears visibly twitched.

When the Wolfe brothers walked over after their preparations I held up one hand. “She’s got this, stay out of her way,” I told them.

“Don’t be stupid, she could die!” Adam replied, his one hand tightening on the grip of his pistol.

“Ain’t nice to let her fight alone,” Lance said in agreement with his brother, “shame to lose a girl as good as her.”

I couldn’t resist the chuckle that welled up inside. I slowly pointed with my left hand to where Kuzu had been even as a grin appeared on my face. As the Wolfe brothers turned their heads they realized that she was already gone.

“Ain’t heard nothing,” Lance muttered in shock, and then he started to walk quickly down the hallway.

I followed the Wolfe brothers as they hurried after Kuzu, but by the time we reached the interior of the dome it was already too late. Kuzu had killed off the four golems that guarded the portal and was in the process of cleaning the gremlin blood from her sword.

Two of the dead golems had been pierced through by large spears of ice, while a third one was simply cut in half with what I could only assume had been a horizontal slash. The final one had a single hole in the chest, a sign that Kuzu had stabbed in and killed the gremlin with a well placed thrust.

She sat on top of one of the defeated golems while she ran her cloth down the blade. Her tail swung gently behind her, and she had a smug look on her face. “Easy,” she declared when she saw the three of us enter the room.

“I would hope so, a child could do it,” I said as I casually walked past her and approached the portal.

During my time in the labyrinth I’d dealt with a lot of people similar to Kuzu, those who’d been trained by someone with a good deal of experience. It often led to quick growth but it came with the penalty of arrogance. After all if they could kill something like a golem as easily as breathing than the rest of the labyrinth would be easy.

I knew that it caused an immediate reaction in her. She let out a little sound and I could almost feel her pouting behind me. I gave a slight shake of the head, placing my hand on the portal. With a glance over my shoulder I could see that the Wolfe brothers had paused to stare at what Kuzu had done.

Based on what they’d said already I knew that they weren’t accustomed to capable fighters. Most likely a similar decrease in skill had happened to the humans of the twentieth floor as what the first floor had seen. With the two groups cut off for hundreds of years they’d probably opted to play it safer.

So why had the Wolfe brothers not? For some reason they had pushed the limits that others seemed to have been shackled with, and they’d even been willing to take money for what could’ve been a suicide mission.

“I’ll see you on the next floor,” I let the others know. I’d worry about their motives later, as instead I wanted to simply get away from all of the gremlins and their tedious toys.

Floor 24

The Workforce of the Warlocks

By the time the other three arrived on the floor I had already found a nice vantage point atop the hill nearby. It allowed a good view of the open plain that stretched out welcomingly. To the far north I could make out a forest while mountains stretched up everywhere else.

“Come on,” I called out, already heading in the opposite direction of the forest.

It went without saying that the portal was always located in the same rough area on the twenty-fourth floor. We would find it nestled inside a cave along the southern mountain range, though we would also discover the gnomes that lived there. Sometimes there were gremlins, but this was most definitely where we’d start to see the next race.

As we walked the soft grass beneath us began to dampen our feet, the morning dew an aggravation that we’d simply have to put up with. A sliver of sunlight cut over the mountains to our west and brought a tickle of warmth along with it.

While walked a new formation started to form, as Kuzu and Lance took up the back while Adam and I shared the front. He’d already unslung his rifle and held it in a comfortable position in his arms. I, on the other hand, kept one hand near the hilt of my sword in case of a fight.

We didn’t talk since it would be a waste of time. Neither of us would gain much from the conversation, and instead we’d much rather stay on the alert for a potential gnome ambush. Still I was curious about his rifle since the design was slightly different from any I’d seen before.

A distant yell came to my ears, followed by the sound of metal on metal, and I knew we were near a battlefield. “Someone’s fighting,” I let Adam know as I pointed in the direction of the noises, “over there.”

“Lance! Go check in that direction, Fenix says there’s a fight happening,” Adam called over his shoulder.

Lance lowered his tall frame to the ground and dashed off, no hesitation in his actions. He approached a hill and crested it, and then turned and motioned toward Adam. His arm movements were erratic and meant nothing to me.

“A warlock’s hassing someone,” Adam said as he started to jog after his brother, “come on!”

While the Wolfe brothers had no qualms with rushing off to help someone I didn’t know, I struggled for a moment. In truth it would be best if I ignored them, but Lute would never forgive me if I left them to die.

Kuzu didn’t wait for my response and instead ran off after the Wolfe brothers. She had already pulled out her sword and shown she was ready to fight for someone she didn’t know.

“Fine,” I finally said to myself as I followed after them. Though I wanted to get to the fiftieth floor soon this was most likely only a minor delay.

When I caught up to them Adam and Lance had crouched near the top of the hill. Kuzu stood off to their right, kneeling down amongst the grass, and her ears couldn’t stop twitching. The brothers talked back and forth in quick whispers and I caught the name Wendy often mentioned.

I crept up to the edge of the hill and peered over it, making certain to keep as little of myself from being exposed as possible. In a small flat section of land a thin and tall man draped in a purple robe stood before a group. From his gaunt hands flames shot out, and though I couldn’t see beneath the hood I knew he was smiling as he toyed with the divers.

A loose ring of gnomes had gathered around the people to keep them penned in. They were a little taller than the goblins and had pale skin. Each of the gnomes was draped in loose robes made of a thick cloth, and their only weapons were swords that were a little too large for them.

Adam laid down on top of the hill near me, his rifle rested on one arm. With a click he popped open the main length of the rifle and loaded a bullet in, one that what I could’ve sworn was titanium casing. The oddest part of the bullet was the red tip that glowed.

“This ain’t nothing but a bit o’ fun,” Lance said with a laugh as he pulled out his long daggers. He began to walk down the hill without any interest in stealth.

A couple of the gnomes saw Lance as he began his march and they called out to the warlock. Swords were pointed at the Wolfe, but none of the gnomes made any move to attack him. Instead the warlock turned and lifted one hand while flames began to spiral around his wrist.

A loud crack sounded as Adam fired and the bullet pierced the hooded head of the warlock. What came next surprised me as the bullet erupted into what I could only call a fireball. The warlock was dead, anyone could see that, but everyone nearby had gone still in shock at the explosion.

The only one who moved in that period of uncertainty was Lance. He dove into the gnomes with reckless abandon and began to slash his way through the confused men. To call it a fighting style would be an insult to any proper fighter, instead he lashed out at random with his long daggers and mixed it with physical blows. Every so often he would throw a kick, an elbow, or even a knee which would be followed by a dagger to the face.

The gnomes discipline vanished and they began to scatter. Some of the gnomes tried to put up a fight but the divers who they’d been surrounding had quickly recovered and turned on them. In a short amount of time what had been a precarious situation had turned into a complete defeat for the gnomes.

I walked down the hill to join Lance alongside Adam and Kuzu, the latter of who held her ears with a look of slight pain. She was unaccustomed to noises as loud as what Adam had caused, something I hadn’t even thought about training her for. I made a mental note to keep track of her during any loud conflicts in the future.

The group of divers that had been under attack were a small gathering of seven. Most of their equipment had been damaged to the point of being useless, with a few severely burned. One of the seven had been cut by the gnomes to the point I doubted he’d survive.

Adam stepped over to one of the strangers we’d helped with a clear look of concern. “Are you okay, Wendy?” he asked one of the women in the group.

Unlike the other six the woman he’d talked to wore a full suit of plate armor, except for her head. A purple cloak ran down from fasteners on her shoulder, while a fairly long sword held behind her waist in a leather scabbard. As she turned to face the first thing I noticed was how her jaw appeared larger than what I’d normally expect. Her tanned skin had a slight hint of green to it, and her short hair had been left in a tangled mess.

“Worthless trash ambushed us,” she said in fluent orc before she spat some blood onto the ground, “I’m fine but we need to get Tricks back home.”

Kuzu’s reaction was a bit hasty as she stepped back, sword pointed in the direction of Wendy. Though I doubted she understood what was said she clearly recognized what language it was. Her four years spent in the orc nest had been one that involved countless fights against orcs.

“Calm down,” I told Kuzu as I put a hand on her shoulder, and then I looked at Wendy with an upraised eyebrow, “was that orc?”

“Of course!” Wendy said with a wide grin, one that revealed that her teeth were a bit thicker and longer than what you’d normally see, “my ma taught it to me and the brothers and I use it a lot.”

“It does make it easier to talk in public places about private matters,” Adam said as though to explain why.

Lance on the other hand had ignored the direction our conversation had taken and instead walked up close to Wendy, a hand lifting up half the way to her arm before he let it drop. “Ya going to be fine?” he asked her in what was probably the softest tone I’d heard him use.

“I’m fine, but like I said Tricks is in a bad spot and we need to get to the portal right away,” Wendy told him before she slipped back into orc, “thanks for helping us.”

“We’re going to help them get to the portal,” Adam said as he slung his rifle over his shoulder once more, “if you don’t like that you we can sever the contract right now.”

“What, do you think I’m a monster?” I couldn’t help but shake my head. Though it would slow us down, and make it far easier to find us, I had no concern about how we could handle anything the floor threw at us.