The floor of ice became perfectly clear. A perfectly straight stretched in every direction beneath their feat. The floor was a thin layer between that realm and their own. Then the screams started. The prisoners had begun to meld into the floor.
Their screams pitched into perfect chords. The sound rang into a beautiful chorus. The masks covered their expressions. Except the noble at the far end of the line whose mouth was open, eyes were wide, and fear riddled every pore of his body. As they sunk through the floor shadows appeared on the other side, the shadows snapped into gray lines that joined the grid.
Then it was over. The tops of their heads went through the floor. The grid disappeared. The semi-opaque ice of the glacier reappeared. Silence. The chorus of screams to notes echoed in her mind.
"Someone probably heard that," Haze said. All four youths looked at him for an explanation. He said, "We have to keep moving."
They left the meeting room. Farther into the glacier the air became much colder. Slight clinking came from Haze's flexing fingers under his gauntlet. What had he just done? Were they dead? Or something far worse?
They were still in the ancient Eternal Glacier, which likely had even more heretics inside. Haze flicked a finger at a door. Gill peaked through it in response. He looked back and nodded.
Doorways lined a long hall. If this base was like the tower, the early halls were meant for defense. Now that they were further in they would probably start finding the good stuff.
Food storage, weapons, and armor peaked through each entry as the group passed them. Haze didn't stop. Moonlight shined through slits in the ceiling. The end of the hall whistled with vast empty winds. The tunnel opened onto a twenty-foot wide ledge that curved around the room and back to them. A gaping abyss took up the center. It had to be a dozen wagons wide.
A cold wind greeted Cutlery's face. A beam of moonlight pierced the center like a rope. It left a small circle of light at the bottom fifty floors below them. No stairs, steps, ladders, or otherwise were on the sides of the abyss.
"There must be something, or someone, that gets people down there," Haze said. They looked around. The ledge had no other doorways or clues for them though.
"We'll use some of my resources, step near," Haze said. They all got somewhat close. Haze put his hands together and a cube formed in the air. The outlined shape was the size of a horse and hovered above the pit. It split into five smaller rectangles that descended upon them. It had the same grey lines that made up that other world she had seen on the meeting room floor.
Haze said, "Step off the ledge. It may seem fast but you will not be hurt." He strode off the ridge.
-
The golden general's short hair whipped in the wind as he descended inside his glowing cube. Fish followed with a grin. Asim and Cutlery went together. Gill hesitated and tilted off the edge.
The fall was indeed alarming. The rate of descent was right on the edge of danger. The ice walls became darker as they plunged. Ten seconds of falling passed. The cubes shattered into nothing as their feet hit the floor.
It was much colder here. She could the soft piercing wind moving up the shaft. It came through three nearby doorways in the ice walls. All heat was rushing to escape this hell hole.
Haze leads them toward the largest of the doorways. It framed a sharp set of stairs carved into it. They descended into the silent dim light. The quiet of this place is still disturbed here. Especially after watching a few dozen people get turned into a grid.
Was there anyone else? A total of two guards seemed bizarre. Perhaps most of the people were out. What was the point of this massive base?
A minute later they reached a set of double doors made of dense opaque ice. Handles had been carved out of the middle for each to be pried open. No design adorned them. The chamber walls were tilted out to accommodate the huge doors. The floor was slick. She hoped she would not have to run on it.
A careful inspection of the doors was done by Haze. He grabbed a handle and pulled. It scraped outward. The sound was deafening as the echoes built up.
Covering her ears, Cutlery watched the door. Slowly the entombed chamber was revealed. Something writhing, moving, undulating inside faded into view. It was helping the door open. The long tentacles slid off the surface of the door despite their huge size.
"Haze back off!" She suddenly yelped. He looked at her and then at the door. Slowly his eyes went up to see the huge tentacles coming toward where he was. Blindly they sought him. Small ones at the front, searched the air, and large ones further back followed.
It was the beast of her first night in the tower.
-
Haze backed away from the door. The small tentacles followed his steps. They reached out of the doorway and towards him. He stepped left and they turned left.
"Fuggin nine," Haze murmured. He reached behind his back and drew the invisible blade once more. The small tentacles rushed forward at this. A woosh of wind accompanied Haze swinging his blade to behead the ends of the scouting arms.
Their new speed was uncharacteristic. Was this monster more dangerous? It had to be following heat. In this cold place, even a small pocket of heat would stand out to it. In the tower when kids grouped up, the tentacles easily find them. Any living thing within the glacier would be like a beacon to it.
A swarm of meat noodles descended from the dark chamber. Haze met it with a wall of invisible swings. Arcs of thick gray blood sprayed outward from where the blade met flesh. Gill leaped to help. Fish threw a few small knives. Asim raised glowing hands. Cutlery looked into the chamber.
While the threat was urgent, it was not their purpose. Inside she could see a coral rock. The many deep holes of the rock extruded the tentacles. It was like a super scary ultra barnacle from the Zurkonian docks.
Just like a barnacle, it was attached to the wall. Beneath it were several icy chests. They were transparent and with gold, scrolls, metals, and shimmering weapons inside. The vault and its guardian lay before them.
Cutlery dashed inside the vault. She was the smallest so she hoped her smaller heat would attract less attention. She focused on breathing. Then an idea came to her. It was time to cool off with a land swim.
She started dropping gear. Her leather armor, then her belts and shorts. She was left in her panties and leather bra. The cold bit at her and she felt her body quickly losing heat. Then an even worse idea came to her. She dived for the chests. She was still a good fifty feet from them. The cold ripped into her stomach and thighs instantly. Goosebumps splashed onto the surface of her skin.
With a quick glance back she saw Fish gawking at her. The rest of them were focused. Above her, a single tentacle strayed in pursuit. Warmer people by the door would be a great-looking meal for the coral monster. She reached the chests with a thud. At least eighteen of them were lined up against the wall.
Chains had been frozen into the ice to hold the chests in place. With a push Cutlery slid along one side of the chests, Fantastical treasures were laid out before her. She switched directions and checked the other half.
The small scouting tentacle struggled to keep up with her. It seemed slow as well. As if it had been stuck with the boring job.
The second to last chest on the left side was filled with small animal statues. They were all similar to the one she had gotten on the back of the heretic boat. She yanked on the chains holding that chest down. The chains were slippery and warm. Warm? Cutlery pulled her hands away and a trail of slime followed them. The chain unraveled into two tentacles. Fuck.
