The Battle of the Eternal Tower

"It has been said that the only thing that can never be ravaged by time is... time"

-Setouq

It was sunset.

Alone in the great desert of Akaramn, there stood a lone tower. The tower in question was very isolated. It was th only structure on the whole 200km radius of the entire desert. The desert wasn't just any desert; it was the site of one of the most amazing things on Earth.

It housed the very birthplace of Zyktrak.

Yes, back before the planets, solar systems, or even the universe was created, there existed 5 elemental environments. Akaramn was one of them. In the very tower, was a pit, and in that pit was a runic symbol, and that symbol was the very essence of power itself.

You see, Zyktrak went on to create the universe, and he got the basis of his immense power from that very pit. The pit, let alone the tower was never found again. The desert was way too harsh, temperatures unpredictable, beasts too viscious and random pockets of magic messed with the minds of even the sanest creatures. And besdies, the desert was too big. It faded away into the legends of the Krystalics and the conspiracies of the mentally deranged.

Until the fateful day in a very harsh winter.

A ragtag group of paladins had ventured onto the desert to look for a fictitious cave that was supposed to house a powerful talisman. They never found it and meanwhile, it was getting more and more cold. Desperate, they pressed on until their deteriorating bodies could take no more. They fell to the ground and waited for death to claim their lifeless bodies.

Until a light glinted in the distnace.

At first they thought it was an illusion. But it didn't fade no matter how many times they blinked their eyes. The image refused to fade. Then they thought it was a search party. But it never came closer. When the wind died down a little, they could make out a shape that took on the form of a tower. Overjoyed and filled with a new sense of hope, they got up and ventured towards the tower. Once inside, they started a fire to warm up. Grateful they found a shelter, they stayed there the night. They never did find out what made the light, but the did not care as they were content.

That was, until someone found them. Someone with a deep desire for power...

Part 1. The great discovery
Morning had come in the desert of Akaramn. Morning was always a beautiful thing, thought the paladin Bryan. It signified the beginning of a new day and a new beginning in life. Sunrises in the desert were always a beautiful thing as its colour clashed brilliantly with the sky and sand.

"Ah, such beauty!" he would say, "I could never tire of this!"

One particularly morning, he was staring at the sunrise from the towers balcony as usual (he was an early riser) when his fellow paladin Drake came by.

"Brother, why do stare at the sun so much? You know that it will always be there."

"Yes, but we are not always here. Just as eternity watches us come and go, we must endeavour to love our life and enjoy as much as we can while it is here. Otherwise, we may as well have been living through a storm: here one moment gone the next."

"Profound knowldege of yours. But even still, why-"

"What are you all doing here?" came a voice from behind. The two paladins turned to see their third member, Gregory coming, "Are you staring at the sun again Bryan?"

"Why yes I am." Bryan said in his benign voice.

"Surely you have a better passtime?" asked Gregory, "Isn't there anything else you do?"

"Well I practice combat-"

"That's mandatory." muttered Drake.

"Oh, yeah, well theres not really much to me. I am a simple man and proud of it."

"How boring." stated Greg, "I'm going to consult with Adrian and Luke about what we do next."

With that, Greg went back downstairs to his chambers, leaving Drake and Bryan to themselves.

"I do wonder whats out there?" pondered Drake as he usually did. He was especially anxious about being in the tower as it seemed so coincidental that they happened to find a tower when they were on the brink of destruction that he was sure there were more sinister forces at work.

"I've looked at this same landscape for 2 years. I'd know if something was here." explained Bryan. There was something about his words that soothed him. It's almost as if the most benign thing in existence had spawned Bryan.

"Nah, what kind of being is that calm?" he thought to himself.



Midday had come.

Out in the middle of the desert, a stray necromancer was wondering around. He was looking for the so-called tower that was said to house the Zyktrak's mark. Gaining that much power would make him an unstoppable force and allow him to take over the great elemental environments and attain him the world. But he needed to know where it was.

In case you're wondering, his name is Htaed.

Htaed had long since abandoned his tribe after he attempted to destroy them with the staff of death. Not only did it fail completely, but they were expecting it and banished him with the staff as 'that stick does more harm than good'. However he had not found a living being other than himself to prove the point.

It wasn't until he kicked a cow skull out of frustration that it occured to him.Maybe the staff of death did not work on live creatures after all.

He went over to a place where there were several corpses, skeletons and bits and pieces all lying on the ground. There had been a war fought for the tower, But it had all been in vain as both sides slowly killed each other and none of them ever found the tower.

With a wave of the staff, a shadowy mist came out of it. It hovered over the dead and in no time, they all rose in unison, corpses, skeletons and pieces to face their master.

"Excellent! My undead army, I am your master Htaed! Under my command, we shall will find the tower of power!"

They all screamed an unearthly scream of agreement, most likely becasue their original purpose was to find it anyway.

Onwards they marched. Until they realised they had no idea where they were going. Htaed suggested they all pitch in what they all knew about the desert so that they could narrow down where it was. It only took five minutes before his sharp mind figured out the location.

"Riiiiight, oveeeeeer THERE!"

With the location in place, Htaed marched on with his undead army, marching towards an inevitably bloody and gruesome battle.

Part 2: The uprising
It was the beginning of the afternoon.

Bryan had completed another round of archery. He had attained quite a prodigy at it. No one had been able to compete with his accuracy. He felt good about it as it gave him a sense of purpose to the gang. Not that he really cared. They had resided at the tower for more than 5 years and not once had they ecountered any hostile beings. He thought all these battle skills weren't really necessary if they were never going to be used. So Bryan spent most of his time investigating his book of philosophy and contemplating the world.

It was during that afternoon that Bryan decided to go for a walk. Drake had warned him several times that he could get killed if he ever left the tower alone. He didn't care, as he never had a reason to.

He proceeded to walk over the hill he so often stared at when the sun rose. It was starting to go down, so it was almost like he was going backwards. The thought of it confused him.

"I really need to stop thinking so much!" he would often say to himself.

Over the hill he saw the vast sprawling horizon of the desert stretching as far as the eye could see. The desert was as vast as ever.

"There is some peace to be found in the sight of calmness." Bryan thought to himself, "I truly love this place."

Over in the distance, the wind was gently blowing the dust around. He liked the look of it. It meant change was coming, according to his new philosophy: lizechscanism. The dust indeed seem to change. Bryan wondered intently what sort of change would be brought on. The dust seemed to move. Mabye it meant that he was going to leave the tower. Well, he already did, else he wouldn't be sitting on the plinth. Maybe it meant a change in personality,or perceptions. He wondered if the change was going to happen to him. The dust seemed to get higher. Was the change going to be big? Was the change going to have a lasting impact? He did not know. All he knew was that only time would tell. Time always tells.

"There are some questions that can only be answered with time." He often said. Now it seemed more true than ever.

The dust was moving quickly. This somehow disturbed him. What if the change was coming for him? What was the change? To be honest, what was making the dust? Adrian had always talked about the pockets of magic in the desert, maybe this was it, or was that Adrian being his paranoid old self? Or maybe it was something more sinister...

He took a closer look at the dust. At first all he could see was a swirl of colour. Then it became apparent that there were figures in the dust. And the figures looked strangely surreal. There were skeletons, limbs and corpses all headed for him. And in the very centre was a lone figure wearing purple and black robes. He looked quite sinister.

Purple and black robes? The only people that wore them were either dark wizards or necromancers. And all the skeletons proved it.

"He's a dark wizard!" Bryan screamed to himself.

The army apparently heard him as the dust cloud turned towards his position and started charging at him with increasing speed.

Bryan panicked. He started to run away. Several beams of energy shot over his head, several arrows flew around him and loads of boulders were being hurled towards him. He had never been so scared.

Whe he reached the tower, he hurried up the stairs to the balcony where Drake and Gregory were playing mahjjong.

"Ah Bryan, you're still alive!" Drake said sardonically.

"Guys you have to help! theres something bad coming!" Bryan said in a hurry.

"What? The sun isn't shining now?" Gregory aske in a pathetic tone.

"Not, it's-"

"SURRENDER THE TOWER AND WE WILL NOT KILL YOU AS QUICKLY!" came a horrendous voice from below. A quick look at the distance showed a massvie army of undead beings advancing rapidly towards the tower.

"Bryan, WHAT DID YOU DO?" Gregory yelled.

"It followed me home. Can we keep it?" Bryan asked.

Drake and Gregory were not amused.

Part 3: The great battle
It was sunset.

Just as the sun started to sink beyond the horizon, Htaed cheered in success of having finally found the tower. Now with a new sense of hope and a massive undea army at his disposel, he was ready to take the tower at any means necessary.

However for the paladins, things were not going so well.

"Well, isn't this wonderful?" Gregory asked Bryan in furious tones.

"Well, the sun looks nice." Bryan sheepishly muttered.

"FORGET ABOUT THE SUN! We are surrounded by a thousand freaking skeletons and we are only five! Do you seriously think we can win this?" Gregory continued.

"We are paladins," Drake put forth, "We are more powerful than standard knights."

"Yes, but 5 to a thousand is not good odds!" Adrian argued.

"Well, lets look at it this way." Bryan said in his benign voice, "They are already dead, so shouldn't they be easier to destroy? Becuase they aren't alive?"

"HAVE YOU NO SENSE?!" Gregory yelled again, "Just because they are dead does not lessen their threat or improve our odds for any matter! In any sense, they-"

"Guys, the longer we talk, the closer they are getting!" Luke yelled in anger, "We need to deal with this problem NOW!"

With that, he jumped up and grabbed his bow and started firing at the skeletons down below.

Only a few seconds later, he dropped to the ground, dead. A bone with an arrow tip had pierced his heart. The blood was gushing out of him like a leak in a fountain. The swift death of their team mate dealt a massive blow to the morale of the paladins. They just sat there in deep fear. Until:

"Hey, this looks like fun!" Bryan said suddenly. and with that, he picked up Lukes bow.

"Don't do it!" Adrian yelled, "It's definate doom."

"I've dabled in necromancy once." Bryan said carefreely, "I know what I'm doing."

He got all the arrows left in Luke's quiver and dipped them in his blood. With that, Bryan used his swift skills to send the arrows into all directions. Several flashes were seen and there was even a small explosion.

"What did you just do?" Drake said in amazement.

"Basic necromancy." Bryan said, "The blood of a person that is killed by those controlled my necromancy is lethal to them. Basically, I gave them a taste of their own medicine!"

"And where did you learn this evil art?" Gregory asked in mutinous tones.

"Oh you'll have to wait for another fanfiction to find that out!" Bryan said with glee.

"Less talk, more action!" Drake said, with courage restored by Bryan's actions. He picked up his staff and started casting spells at the offending attacker. Adrian too, redied his blade in case the troops broke through the battalions. Only Gregory remained unfazed.

"Give up guys! We have no hope against these monsters!"

"Dude, did you not see Bryan's awesome skills?" Drake said in amazement, "We can do this!"

"Come ON!" We've already lost one member, and we've only killed, what 10? We have no hope guys!"

"Oh Yes we do!" Adrian said. and with that, he charged down the stairs to the onslaught.

"I might as well follow him. I'm doomed anyway." Gregory said. He then trudged after Adrian, leaving Bryan and Drake to defend the tower from their vantage point.

"Do you reckon we can win this?" Drake asked as he dodged arrows and cast spells.

"I reckon we can do anything if we set our minds to it!" Bryan said.

"Do you ever have a bad view on anything?" Drake asked in amazement.

"Negative energy exists and its bad!" Bryan said, "I'm building up my time."

"I'm confused."

"And so am I. I never make sense."

Drake just looked at him.

Meanwhile, the skeleton army had managed to come within reaching point of the castle. They were battering the walls and the door, desperate for entry. Adrian and Gregory were only meters away. Drake was worried about them.

"Do you reckon they'll be okay?" Drake asked Bryan.

"Oh Adrian will."

"Well, what about Greogry?"

"He has negative energy. He's doomed."

"You can't really base your ideas around beliefs!" Drake said with annoyance, "You have to have proof!"

"You want proof?" Bryan asked him with mocking tones.

Just at that moment, there was a loud CRASH! Not long after, the fresh screams of someone that could only be Greogry was heard.

"There's your proof!" Bryan said triumphantly.

Scuffles were heard below them. Several swords seemed to clash. Bryan and Drake were too afraid to go down and check. At least Drake was though. Bryan just stood there with an expressionless face.

Time passed, and passed... And passed.

Then finally, Adrian came running up the stairs. His left hand had been cut off, his shoulder had been slashed open and he was bleeding profusley.

"It-It's terrible!" He said through severe pain, "They bashed down the fortifications in like 2 seconds! I fought them off, but Gregory was starting to glow red. He flatered and was soon killed! I fought off as many as I could, but they took bits of me with them!" He took off the armour on his leg to show most of his knee missing, "This is serious! There's only three of us now!"

"This is bad!" Drake said, "Real bad!"

"Relax, it's fine." Bryan said in serene tones.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Adrian and Drake said in astonished tones.

"Just wait. Three... Two... One..."

Just at that moment, the Necromancer burst in from the staircase, accompanied by a large group of undead warriors. The noise seemed to subside.

"Puny knights! I am the evil Necromancer Htaed! You will surrender this tower to me, and I promise I won't kill you too quickly!"

"Why should we give you the tower?" Drake said in defiance.

"You see these?" Htaed asked. He held up in his hands, two glowing orbs, "These represent the lives of your two friends. Do you want them back? If you do, you will surrender the tower to me!"

"Why do you want the tower?" Adrian asked.

"Do you have any idea what this tower really is?" he asked them

"It's... uh..."

"This tower was the birthplace of the Zyktrak, God of power and loyalty. It is said that in this tower, there is a pit that contains a rune that is the essence of his power. I need that rune!"

"Well, you're going to have to get out a shovel, becuase there was never a pit here!" Bryan said with mirth.

Htaed had never felt so stupid. All around him, his world came crashing down. If this was a wrong tower, he had just dragged an undead army across a massive desert for nothing. He had been brought down. Now the only thing he wanted to do was drag the other down with him."

"ELITE MEN! KILL THESE WORTHLESS HUMANS AND DESTROY THEIR REMINAS UNTIL THERE IS NOT A SCRAP OF THEIR EXISTENCE LEFT IN THE UNIVERSE!"

With that, the skeletons behind him drew out their red blades and advanced towards the paladins.

"You just couldn't keep your mouth shut couldn't you?" Adrian asked Bryan in cold fury.

"No I couldn't" Bryan said simply.