The Tower of Darkness, Part 2
What else would you expect to find on top of a two-mile-high tower?
Two hours later…
"Is it supposed to make that noise?" Remy asked, gripping her seat as the plane juddered through another patch of turbulence.
"Which noise?" Jackrabbit Jenny shouted over the cacophony of rattles, whines, and what sounded suspiciously like a tambourine hidden somewhere in the rickety aircraft. Her goggles reflected the morning sun as she yanked the yoke to dodge a particularly aggressive-looking cloud. "The whining, the clanking, or the one that sounds like your brother's stomach after taco night?"
Dash patted the vibrating dashboard. "She's fine! Jenny's planes always sound like this."
"Right before they become not-planes," Remy muttered, consulting the altimeter. The needle wobbled between eight and nine thousand feet. "We're still climbing, but look at that." She pointed through the windshield at the escarpment, which loomed ahead of them like nature's middle finger to aviation.
The Tower of Darkness stretched upward, its peak still thousands of feet above them. Wispy clouds circled its middle like a belt, while the morning sun cast long shadows across its face, emphasizing crevices and outcroppings that resembled a stern, ancient visage.
"Two miles high at minimum," Remy continued, jotting notes in her field journal while trying to ignore how the pencil bounced across the page. "No wonder no one's climbed it."
"Gee, what gave it away?" Dash quipped. "The sheer vertical walls or the fact it's taller than some small countries are wide?"
Jenny banked the plane, circling to gain altitude. Her eyes narrowed behind her goggles as she assessed the challenge. "You Rumbles sure know how to pick 'em. Most folks ask me to fly them to fancy restaurants or beach parties. You two? Always something trying to kill you."
"Makes for better stories at parties," Dash replied with a grin.
The plane climbed higher, engine protesting with sounds reminiscent of a cat gargling marbles. The air thinned, and Remy checked their oxygen levels, grateful for Jenny's insistence on bringing supplemental tanks despite Dash's bravado.
"There!" Dash pointed as they leveled off near the top of the plateau. "Our balloon!"
Sure enough, the crimson balloon sat nestled between two jagged rock formations near the center of the plateau. Its canopy had partially deflated but remained intact, the relay equipment still secured beneath it.
"Looks like a decent place to land over there," Jenny indicated a relatively flat stretch of terrain near the plateau's edge. "By my standards, anyway."
"So... survivable?" Remy asked.
"Mostly survivable," Jenny corrected, beginning her descent.
The landing exceeded even the modest descriptor of "mostly survivable." The plane bounced twice, skidded sideways, and came to rest with one wheel perched precariously close to the edge of a small ravine. Jenny cut the engine and gave the dashboard an affectionate pat.
"See? Told you Bessie could handle it."
"Bessie handled it like a drunk moose on ice skates," Remy said, releasing her white-knuckled grip on the seat.
"But we're alive," Dash pointed out, already unbuckling. "And that's what counts as a perfect Jenny landing."
They disembarked, and Jenny immediately began turning the plane around by hand—a feat made possible by the aircraft's questionable weight-to-size ratio and the pilot's surprising strength.
"You two go get your balloon," she grunted, pushing the tail section. "I'll make sure we're ready for a quick getaway."
"You expecting trouble?" Dash asked.
Jenny gestured at the desolate plateau around them. "Unexplored territory two miles in the sky that no one's ever visited? Nah, should be as peaceful as a library."
The twins exchanged glances and checked their equipment. Dash adjusted his utility belt while Remy calibrated her WristCom, setting it to record atmospheric data and energy signatures.
"Let's grab the relay and get out of here," Remy suggested. "This place feels..."
"Spooky?" Dash offered.
"I was going to say 'scientifically significant,' but sure, spooky works too."
They made their way across the plateau toward the stranded balloon. The terrain was oddly uniform—not natural, but shaped. Low stone structures, half-buried by time, formed concentric circles around the center where their balloon had landed. Vegetation was sparse but unusual: blue-tinged grass and twisted shrubs with leaves that seemed to follow their movement.
"The stone..." Dash ran his hand across a partially exposed wall. "These are Etherenian construction patterns."
"Which means this wasn't just a sacred site," Remy added, kneeling to examine inscriptions on a fallen column. "This was a settlement."
A breeze whispered across the plateau, carrying the scent of ozone and something older, like dust from a forgotten tomb. The sun glinted off crystalline formations embedded in the ancient structures—tiny fragments of what might once have been grand, glittering towers.
"The relay's readings make sense now," Remy said, checking her WristCom. "These structures are packed with Ragnarium deposits. Not raw ore, but refined and incorporated into the architecture itself. The Etherenians were using it as a power source."
"Smart ancients," Dash nodded appreciatively. "Built their town on top of an endless battery."
They approached the balloon, which had settled between what appeared to be the remains of a ceremonial archway. The geo-radial relay hung intact below it, its lights still blinking—recording data even now.
"That's one sturdy piece of equipment," Dash whistled. "Dr. Tadashi builds to last."
Remy knelt beside the relay, connecting her WristCom to download its findings. Her eyes widened as information flooded her screen.
"This is incredible. The Ragnarium concentration here is off the charts, but that's not all. There's an unusual energy signature interacting with it. Something I've never seen before."
Dash, meanwhile, had wandered a few paces away, examining what looked like a ceremonial circle carved into the stone. "Hey, check this out. These markings look like—"
A faint scraping sound came from behind them.
The twins froze, eyes meeting in silent communication.
The scraping came again, closer now, accompanied by the soft padding of footsteps on stone.
Dash raised one finger, then pointed in a slow circle around them. Remy nodded, understanding. They weren't alone—and whatever was with them had them surrounded.
"Reeeemmmy," Dash whispered in a sing-song voice that belied his tension. "How's your Etherenian these days?"
"Rusty but functional," she whispered back, eyes darting to the shadows between the ruins where movement flickered. "Why?"
"Because I think we're about to need a translator."
They stood back to back as figures emerged from the ruins. Tall, muscular humanoids with skin the color of mountain stone, patterned with swirling markings that caught the sunlight like embedded quartz. They wore simple clothing of leather and woven fibers, adorned with symbols similar to those on the fallen structures. Each carried weapons—spears and clubs fashioned from materials that gleamed with the telltale blue shimmer of Ragnarium.
Etherenians. Living, breathing Etherenians.
"Impossible," Remy breathed. "The last known Etherenian settlement was destroyed three centuries ago."
The warriors approached cautiously, forming a circle around the twins. Their expressions were wary but not overtly hostile—until Remy stepped forward and spoke.
"Kara eth naros," she said, her accent stumbling over the ancient syllables. We come in peace.
The change was immediate. The lead warrior's eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. He raised his club—a fearsome thing studded with blue crystals—and lunged at Remy with a guttural cry.
Dash moved with enhanced speed, pushing his sister aside and catching the club's downswing on his reinforced forearm guard. The impact rattled his bones despite his augmentations.
"So much for the diplomatic approach!" he grunted, ducking a second swing.
The other warriors joined the fray. Remy rolled away from a spear thrust, coming up with her shock baton activated. It hummed with energy as she parried another attack, sparks flying where it met the Ragnarium-infused weapon.
"What did I say?" she shouted to Dash, who was grappling with two warriors at once.
"Maybe it was your accent?" he suggested, using one attacker's momentum to send him stumbling into another. "Or maybe they're just not morning people?"
Despite their enhanced strength and reflexes—gifts from their father's experiments—the twins found themselves outmatched. The Etherenians moved with preternatural grace, their strikes precise and powerful. For every blow the twins deflected, two more connected.
Dash took a club to the ribs that sent him sprawling across the stone circle. Remy lasted longer with her baton, but a sweeping kick took her legs out from under her, and she found herself staring up at three spear points.
"Eska noth veren," one of the warriors said, his voice deep and resonant.
Dash struggled to his feet, hands raised in surrender. "Anyone catch that?"
To their surprise, the warrior switched to halting, accented Common. "You. Come. Now."
The twins exchanged startled glances.
"You speak Common?" Remy asked, slowly standing. "How?"
The warrior jabbed his spear toward her, not answering. Another warrior collected their weapons while the rest formed a perimeter around them.
"Mara eth keroth," the lead warrior commanded, gesturing for them to walk.
"I think we're being invited to tea," Dash muttered, rubbing his bruised ribs. "Emphasis on 'think'."
"How do they know Common?" Remy whispered as they were marched away from their balloon and the plane. "The Etherenians vanished from contact with the outside world centuries ago."
"Maybe they've got cable up here," Dash suggested. "Great reception, two miles up."
The lead warrior glared back at them, and they fell silent. As they walked deeper into the ruins, more structures emerged from the landscape—buildings still partially intact, their architecture alien yet beautiful. Windows shaped like flowing water, doorways that spiraled inward, and everywhere, the glint of crystal and metal woven into stone.
Dash nudged his sister. "We're the first outsiders to see this place in who knows how long."
"If we survive to tell about it," she replied.
Their captors led them toward what appeared to be a depression in the center of the plateau. As they approached, the twins realized it was not a natural formation but an enormous carved staircase descending into the heart of the Tower of Darkness.
"Underground," Remy murmured. "The main settlement must be inside the plateau itself."
The lead warrior gestured with his spear, indicating they should descend.
Dash stared into the shadowy depths. "Any chance we can just apologize for dropping in unannounced and go back to our plane?"
The warrior's stony expression didn't change.
"Yeah, didn't think so." Dash sighed. "At least Jenny will come looking for us if we don't return."
"Assuming she doesn't abandon us for a more lucrative job," Remy added.
"Hey, Jenny may be reckless, opportunistic, and morally flexible, but she's loyal." Dash paused. "Mostly loyal. Sometimes loyal."
"That's reassuring."
They started down the stairs, warriors ahead and behind. The passage was illuminated by some bioluminescent fungus that cast everything in a soft blue glow. The air grew cooler as they descended, carrying a mineral tang and the distant sound of running water.
"Why fight us if they're just going to give us a tour?" Dash whispered.
"Maybe I accidentally insulted their ancestors," Remy suggested. "Or propositioned the leader. My Etherenian is pretty rusty."
"Still better than mine, which consists entirely of 'where's the bathroom' and 'this food is too spicy'."
The staircase spiraled deeper, passing chambers carved into the rock—some appeared to be living quarters, others workshops or storage rooms. All showed signs of recent use.
"This isn't a ruin," Remy observed quietly. "It's a thriving settlement. How has no one discovered this?"
"Two miles straight up a sheer cliff face might have something to do with it," Dash replied.
After what felt like hundreds of steps, they emerged into a vast cavern within the plateau. A subterranean town spread before them, built from the same stone-crystal-metal combination as the ruins above but intact and vibrant. Etherenians moved about their daily routines—tending gardens of strange, luminescent plants, working at forges that glowed with blue fire, weaving at looms that seemed to float inches above the ground.
"Whoa," Dash breathed. "Dr. Tadashi is going to lose his mind when he hears about this."
"If we get to tell him," Remy reminded him.
Their escort did not allow them time to gawk. They were marched through the settlement, drawing curious stares from its inhabitants, toward a large structure in the center of the cavern. Unlike the other buildings, this one was adorned with elaborate carvings and pulsed with blue light from within.
At the entrance, the lead warrior stopped and turned to face them.
"You speak old tongue," he said in his stilted Common. "How?"
Remy straightened her shoulders. "I studied Etherenian history and language. We're scholars," she added quickly. "Seekers of knowledge."
The warrior's expression remained unreadable. "Why come to forbidden place?"
"We didn't know it was forbidden," Dash interjected. "We were retrieving our equipment." He pointed upward, attempting to mime a balloon. "It drifted here by accident."
The warrior studied them for a long moment, then nodded. "Council will decide."
With that cryptic statement, he shoved them through the doorway into the grand structure.
"Council?" Dash whispered to Remy. "That sounds promising. Councils discuss things, right? They don't just execute intruders on sight."
"Usually," Remy agreed. "But I'd still like to know how they learned Common. And why they attacked when I spoke Etherenian."
"Maybe they thought you were mocking them?"
"Or maybe," Remy said, her voice dropping even lower, "they have contact with the outside world after all—and it's not the kind of contact they want known."
They were brought to a stop in a circular chamber illuminated by floating orbs of blue light. Seven elderly Etherenians sat in a semicircle on carved stone chairs. Their skin was more deeply patterned than the warriors', the swirling markings extending to their faces in complex designs that suggested rank or wisdom.
The lead warrior bowed and addressed the council in rapid Etherenian, occasionally gesturing to the twins.
Remy listened intently, catching fragments. "He's telling them we speak the old tongue... came from the sky... seeking knowledge..."
The central figure of the council, an Etherenian with intricate spiral patterns covering half his face, raised a hand to silence the warrior. He turned penetrating eyes to the twins.
"Why do you speak the sacred language?" he asked in perfect, unaccented Common.
The question hung in the air between them, a mystery wrapped in a puzzle served with a side of potential execution.
Dash and Remy exchanged glances, silently agreeing on their next move.
Curiosity won over caution.
"We could ask you the same about Common," Dash replied, his usual bravado tempered by genuine wonder. "How does an isolated Etherenian settlement two miles up a sheer cliff know the common tongue of the world below?"
The council members murmured among themselves. The leader's expression remained impassive, but something flickered in his eyes—calculation, perhaps, or concern.
"The world below," he repeated slowly. "Yes... we have much to discuss about the world below."
