Kirel looked at the group of monsters and laughed humorlessly. “Don’t forget the ghouls,” he added unhelpfully. “And I think I see a wraith way in the back there.”

Rikel ground her teeth. “If you have nothing tactically useful to say, be quiet!” she ordered tensely while turning her sword back into a spear.

Kirel put up a wall of lightning to try to hold back their foes. Bewr quickly ran up to him and held his hand to strengthen the spell.

The skeletons in the front of the group got pushed into the wall, destroying them. The skeletons behind them were able to stop and waited for the spell to end.

Rikel tightened her grip on her spear. “I really wish I had a bow or something right now,” she lamented the lack of ranged weaponry on the group.

Lelwyn shook his head. “It cannot be helped,” he countered. “We must make do with what we have on hand.”

Lelwyn then placed a hand on Rikel’s shoulder and cast a spell. “This should increase your resistance to the attacks from the skeletons,” he explained. “However, it will do naught against the wraith. “Also, this will not protect you from Necrotic Corrosion, so do not allow the ghouls to touch you. Finally, it will hardly make you invincible, so you must remain vigilant in your defenses,” he warned.

Bewr grunted in effort. “Don’t even bother trying to attack the wraith,” she added. “It can make itself completely immune to physical attacks anyway. Try to stay away from it to; it’s attack can be more lethal than anything the skeletons or ghouls can do to you.”

Rikel nodded in understanding while Lelwyn turned back to the other mages. “Bewr, cast spells to enhance Rikel,” he ordered. “I’ll aid Kirel with his spell,” he assured.

Bewr nodded and started casting enchantments on Rikel while Lelwyn grabbed Kirel’s hand. “I know this goes against our agreement,” Lelwyn began in a whisper.

Kirel shook his head. “Our lives are at stake,” he countered back with his own whisper. “That, obviously, has to take precedence, for now.”

Rikel tightened her grip on her spear. “Which group should I go after first, the ghouls or the skeletons?” she asked while mentally preparing herself for the battle.

Bewr paused her spell-casting. “The ghouls,” she answered. “The skeletons don’t...”

Rikel shook her head. “The details aren’t critical right now,” she interrupted while counting their opponents and noting their positions and formations to herself.

Kirel grunted in concentration. “Rikel, I’m going to count down and then make a hole in the barrier for you to go through,” he announced while struggling to maintain his barrier spell. “Ready?”

Rikel nodded her head with a determined look on her face. Kirel counted down and opened a hole in his barrier. Rikel quickly ran forward as Kirel closed the hole.

Once separated from the mages, Rikel quickly went to work on dispatching the ghouls. One of the skeletons swiped at her, doing practically nothing thanks to Bewr’s spell.

While Rikel fought with her spear, Bewr cast a few simple spells to try to keep the bulk of the forces away from Rikel. Bewr shrieked in alarm. “Rikel, get down!” the enchanter shouted.

Rikel quickly did as instructed as the wraith floated where her body was just moments before. The wraith ignored the knight and headed for the magical barrier.

The wraith passed through the barrier as though it was nothing. Bewr put up her hand to cast a spell to keep the wraith at bay, slowing it down slightly.

Lelwyn, seeing the wraith approach, let go of Kirel’s hand and cast a spell to try to dissolve the wraith. When that failed, he pulled Bewr back. “Kirel, Fire’s Cleansing!” Lelwyn ordered. “Bewr, augment us!”

Bewr nodded in understanding. “Rikel!” she shouted in warning. “The barrier’s about to go down; prepare yourself!”

Rikel dodged a swipe from a ghoul. “Acknowledged!” she shouted back while stabbing the ghoul with her spear.

Bewr grabbed both Kirel’s and Lelwyn’s hands. Kirel cast a fire spell at the wraith at the same time that Lelwyn cast a purification spell. The two spells combined and hit the wraith, forcing it to slow down. The wraith forced itself closer to the mages. Kirel and Lelwyn redoubled the strength of their spell forcing the wraith to dissolve into nothingness.

Once the wraith was gone, the three mages forced the fire spell to end, lest it end up growing out of all control. After they dealt with the fire, they turned their attention back to the skeletons and ghouls that were fighting Rikel.

Rikel was all but dancing through the enemy ranks, always keeping a skeleton between her and the ghouls while stabbing the ghouls with her spear from a safe distance.

Kirel started getting ready to cast a spell. Lelwyn, recognizing the spell Kirel was casting, cupped his hands to his mouth. “Rikel, stay away from the walls!” he warned.

Rikel nodded in understanding while slipping through the melee. Once Rikel was a safe enough distance from the walls, Kirel released his spell, causing spikes of ice to spring from the wall. The spikes impaled any ghoul that was on the edge of the fight, drastically reducing the number that Rikel had to deal with.

Rikel, upon seeing the ice spikes, started maneuvering the skeletons into forcing more of the ghouls onto the spikes. Once the last of the ghouls was impaled, she got to work on the remaining skeletons themselves.

Without needing to worry about the relatively more intelligent ghouls, Rikel was able to finish off the skeletons without difficulty, with the occasional spell of support from the three mages.

Rikel transformed her spear back into a sword while Bewr bent over, trying to catch her breath. “Remember when I doubted needing an escort for this mission?” the enchanter asked rhetorically. “I am hereby officially rescinding that statement,” she smiled.

Kirel raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?” he asked mockingly. “Bewr is admitting to having been wrong about something. Has such a thing ever happened before?” he joked.

Bewr pointed a finger at Kirel’s face. “Remember, when we started this quest, it was just to head to an elvish forest and help with a blight,” she pointed out while still trying to catch her breath. “Hardly the kind of thing that we’d need such an expensive mercenary as a bodyguard for.” Bewr, finally having caught her breath, stood up straight.

Rikel turned to Lelwyn. “Should I be taking offense to that?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Lelwyn shook his head. “Nay,” he countered. “This is but the common bickering between Bewr and Kirel. I have had to grow accustomed to it in the many years I have known the two of them.”

Rikel smirked. “I can bet,” she deadpanned while cleaning her sword of the remains of the ghouls she slew.

Lelwyn walked up to the two arguing mages and tapped both of their shoulders. “If the two of you are quite done behaving as adolescents,” he began, “what say you we continue in our quest?”

Kirel and Bewr nodded before shaking hands. Kirel smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m just exhausted from that fight,” he admitted.

Bewr tried to stifle a yawn and failed. “Likewise. Any idea what time it is?” she asked groggily.

Kirel did some thinking. “Only a few hours until dawn,” he announced.

Rikel looked at the mages in confusion. “We just finished resting,” she objected.

Lelwyn started pulling out the camping gear. “Spell-work of this complexity is exhausting,” he explained. “We best get some rest before heading on,” he ordered. “We will hardly be able to defeat a necromancer capable of summoning a tower such as this while exhausted and famished. Such a lackluster defeat will do naught to help the denizens of Midway with their blight.”

Rikel nodded in agreement. “It’d also make a rather pitiful death,” she joked. At the mages’ looks of annoyance, she held up her hands in surrender. “Sorry, that was a joke we’d make in the army in similar situations,” she explained.

The mages nodded as Bewr groggily got to work casting the spells needed to keep them safe while they ate and rested. Lelwyn used this time to hand out another meal of conjured food to everybody.

Rikel took the offered food and broke off a small piece as a snack, not being as hungry as the mages. “I have a question for you,” she told the mages. At their looks of curiosity, she continued. “How were the necromancers defeated during the Mage’s War?”

Kirel shook his head. “There was no trick or super-spell that was used, if that’s what you were getting at,” he explained. “They were defeated through simple combat tactics and numbers,” he added.

Rikel nodded in disappointment. Lelwyn chuckled. “Indeed, it would have been advantageous for there to be a simple weakness to necromancers or their magic that we could exploit,” he lamented. “Alas, it is not to be. We shall have to make do with only our wits and our skill to assist us.”

Bewr cleared her throat. “I know I’m probably the last person who gets to ever say this,” she started. “But we should probably not distract ourselves with lots of unnecessary conversation tonight and instead focus on our tasks at hand.”

Rikel turned to Lelwyn. “Speaking of sleep,” she began, “how much sleep will you need to recover?” she asked.

Lelwyn thought for a moment. “Six hours should suffice,” he answered.

Rikel nodded in acceptance. “Than I shall rouse you in six hours,” she reported. “I won’t need sleep, myself.”

The others all nodded and finished their meal in tense silence before heading to their tents.

Six hours later, Rikel woke the group. The group groggily left their tents. Lelwyn silently handed out more conjured rations and the group quickly ate.

Once done with their meal, the group continued through the door that was guarded by the monsters they had defeated before sleeping. On the other side of the door was a hallway leading to a large, circular room connected to four hallways, including the one they just came from. Bewr, Kirel, and Lelwyn each walked to entrance of one of the other hallways to get a better view.

Rikel walked to the middle of the room. “Which way should we go?” she asked the mages.

Before any of them could answer, they each saw Jolen walking down the hallway towards them.

Once all three figures entered the main room, Kirel laughed humorlessly. “The Knight and Knave Clones spell?” he asked in disbelief. “Really? Just how inept is this necromancer? We’re taught about this in our first year!” he pointed out in exasperation.

Lelwyn placed a hand on Kirel’s shoulder. “Perhaps the necromancer yet remains unaware as to the intruder’s presence in the tower being fellow mages?” he mused. “In any event, let us deal with this absurdity quickly so we can resume our quest,” he ordered.

Bewr walked over to Rikel and held out her hand. “May I borrow your sword?” she asked. Rikel shrugged and handed over the sword. Bewr took the sword and walked to the three copies of Jolen. “I’m going to ask some questions. If you don’t answer a question, I’ll stab you. If you answer this first question with a lie, I’ll stab you,” she explained. “How old was Telina when she used magic for the first time?” When none of the Jolen copies answered, she sighed. “When she encountered the rat after you stole her favorite quill,” she clarified to them.

Bewr walked to the first Jolen and held the sword at his chest, waiting for an answer. “Nine years,” he answered.

Bewr walked to the second one. “It was her ninth harvest,” the second Jolen replied.

Bewr walked to the third Jolen. “Last summer,” he answered. Bewr casually ran the sword through him, causing him to disappear into nothingness. “So far so good,” she mused with a smirk.

Bewr faced the other two copies. “If you answer this question truthfully, I’ll stab you. What creature did we hide from on our way here?” she demanded.

Bewr walked to the middle one again and waited. “An eight-tailed fox riding a purple unicorn,” he winked.

Bewr chuckled and walked to the first one she interrogated. “A dragon,” that Jolen answered. Bewr tiredly stabbed that Jolen, causing him to also disappear. Bewr then went back to Rikel and returned her sword.

Rikel sheathed her sword and raised her eyebrow. “Anybody care to explain to me exactly what just happened here?” she asked the mages in confusion.

Kirel rolled his eyes. “The Knight and Knave Clones is a spell that creates two copies of a person, down to their memories and personality,” he explained. “The only difference is that one is incapable of lying and the other is incapable of telling the truth. Though, I honestly think this is the first time that that spell has ever been attempted tactically. As you can observe, it’s hardly effective against anybody who knows even the slightest bit about the spell and the target, making it even more useless with our very own resident bookworm in the portrait,” he finished while motioning to Bewr, who blushed at the praise.

Lelwyn rolled his eyes and pulled Kirel back. “It matters not how inane of a plan this was. We have surpassed it and must continue onward.” He turned to Jolen. “Have you any thoughts on which way we should proceed, our fortunate elvish friend?”

Jolen shrugged. “There’s nothing of any interest back there,” he admitted with a nod back to the hallway he came from. “Assuming the rest of you searched the way you came from thoroughly, that leaves two hallways left. I have no further thoughts than you,” he admitted.

Bewr shrugged “Anybody got a coin?” she joked. As Jolen started looking through his supplies, Bewr stopped him by grabbing his arm. “Sorry, that was supposed to be a joke,” she told him.

Rikel raised an eyebrow. “The elves don’t flip coins for games of chance?” she asked in confusion.

Jolen shook his head. “We’re more fond of dice based games,” he admitted with a laugh. As he saw the look on Bewr’s face, he turned to her. “What is it?” he demanded.

Bewr smiled at Jolen and hugged him. “I’m just so glad that you’re alright,” she told him while trying to fight back her tears of joy and failing.

Lelwyn pulled Bewr off of Jolen. “While we are all relieved to see Jolen hearty and hale, it would not do to suffocate him while over enthusiastically demonstrating that relief,” he teased her.

Bewr made a face to Lelwyn before smiling at Jolen. Rikel cleared her throat. “I have to agree with Lelwyn,” she announced. “While it really is great to have you back, Jolen, we really should try to figure out what to do, or where we should go, next. Saying that we want to take out the necromancer is all well and good but we need directions.”

Lelwyn turned to her. “I am open to suggestions,” he admitted. “For I have no thoughts on how to proceed myself.”

Kirel shrugged. “Don’t look at me,” he ordered with a smile. “I don’t have any ideas either.”

Bewr pointed down one the tunnels. “Since nobody has a better idea, how about we just follow the left-hand rule from here on?” she suggested.

Rikel cleared her throat. “For those of us who didn’t go to the Mage’s Academy, what’s that?” she asked.

Kirel sighed. “Simple version. Always keep a wall to your left. If you discover a loop, mark it and treat that path as a wall. It’s extremely slow and it’s outrageously tedious, but it always works,” he explained in a bored tone.

Bewr smiled and pointed down the left hallway. “Leftward, ho!” she jokingly shouted as she started walking, the rest quickly running to follow her.

After several fruitless hours of scouting the tower, Jolen stretched and yawned. “I’m exhausted,” he admitted. “How about we get some sleep?” he asked.

Bewr looked at Jolen incredulously. “How can you possibly be tired after spending all that time in stasis?” she demanded in irritation.

Kirel placed his hand on Bewr’s shoulder. “We don’t actually know the full possible effects of long-term stasis on a living being,” he countered. “It’s not like there’s been that much study on the subject,” he pointed out.

Rikel cleared her throat. “Stasis magic, whatever that is, aside, I agree with Jolen,” she added. “Being too exhausted to fight won’t do anybody any good. But, it’s your call Lelwyn. Shall we press on in haste or rest up so we can fight at our best?” she asked their leader.

Lelwn thought for a moment. “Very well,” he relented. “However, a few scant hours shall have to suffice; we are rather pressed for time, after all,” he added while setting up a place to get some sleep.