Chương 3

The waves broke somewhere below Fritz, the sound of splashing echoing oddly in the too-smooth dome above. Before anyone had time to gather their wits and ask anything of their captor-guide, Jagged Nic spoke up, cutting off any questions before they began.

"I bet a lot of you are thinkin' 'I ain't never heard of no Sunken Spire' if you're thinkin' anythin' at all," he derided.

"That's cause it's a secret, known only to the Nightshark, his gang leaders and a chosen few others." He waited for a moment to stress the grave importance of his statement, then he continued, "Why are you here? To give you a chance to climb a Spire. Why not let you climb the Mer Spire in the Upper Ring? A so-called 'Rookie Spire'? Well, that's cause the Nightshark don't wanna pay a gold triad per head for all you worthless gutter rats."

Most of the group looked terrified at this pronouncement, though some were angry. A couple of the captives yelled and cursed at Nic, but he ignored them. Fritz was scared for sure, and more than a mite furious, yet he held his tongue. A chance to climb a Spire, a secret one no less, filled him with an inexplicable excitement.

"So what you lot is gonna do if you want to survive is listen to me, no interruptin', no squabblin' or fightin' and if you want to run maybe think about why this place is still a secret. I'll tell you it ain't cause we let people go, or run their mouths, you can be sure about that," Nic threatened casually. Dark mutterings followed his words.

"Got it!?" he barked, staring down those few willing to glare at him and silencing the cursing. Most nodded, and many looked away entranced by the eerie blue-green light that pulsed softly in the distance, glittering off the rippling lake.

"Right. What we're gonna do is give you a sack of gear and tie it to you. Then you're gonna pick up one of these heavy stones, pick a spot a foot or two from the water then put the stone down in front of you. We're gonna give you a potion, which you will drink. Then you pick up the stone again and jump right into the lake." He motioned to a pile of stones ranging from the size of a head to a torso while spouting his absurdities.

"You just need to hold on to the stone till you get to the bottom. Drop it, then swim. You'll have about half an hour to get to the entrance of the Spire, where you start your first floor. Easy-peasy," Nic said, disregarding the obvious difficulty of the task and the murmurings of despair and doubt.

"Oh, and don't piss off the Armoured Sharks. Or the Quicksilver Swordfishes, or the Blade Squids. Or anythin' really, down there under the waves. They'll leave you alone if you leave them alone, but they're mean buggers if you mess with them, I'll tell you what," he said running a thumb over one large scar that reached from the base of his wrist to the end of his elbow.

"Got any tips for once we're in the Spire? Uh... sir," Steve asked meekly.

"I was gettin' to that," Nic scowled, then spat again.

"Right. You all have Sanctums now, don't bother looking at your Attributes or Abilities or anythin' like that. You got none, you all start at zero."

"I don't care if you think you're smarter, stronger or faster than your mates. Maybe you are, but it won't show up. The sanctum tracks magic, the 'enhancements', you've gotten from the Spire."

"Your sanctum will be different to anybody else's and can be confusing or just weird to read. So you can always think 'Spire Readout' and you will be given a 'Spire Sheet' that will tally up and show your gained abilities and powers. As well as telling you how the Ability or Attribute works when you focus on 'em'."

"What if you can't read or count good?" Steve piped up again, before looking down and worrying at his threadbare grey tunic.

"Don't worry about that, even if you cant read, you can read it easy. It's for everyone to be able to use, or so I've heard. Plus you'll find counting much easier now, something about the Sixth Toll does that. Don't ask me why, I don't know why," Nic replied not scowling for once. Then he held up three fingers and continued his lecture.

"Once you get in the Spire there will be a Door Room, three choices for three different floors. Form a group of three, six or nine at most, choose a door and go through. I shouldn't have to tell you all this, but I will anyways, since I'm nice, and because some of you are idiots who would attack someone who has a Path and many more levels besides." He glared pointedly at Fritz.

"Thick-skulled skulg-suckers like that don't know the first thing about the world we live in, so I'll explain a thing even a child should know."

"The Spires like threes and climbing without threes is a way to earn the Spire's Spite."

"You don't wanna do that. The floors will be harder, there will be more traps, nasty surprises happen far more often and there will be more beasts. Best to leave when you can if you lose someone and are no longer in threes," Nic advised callously.

"Oh yeah, leaving. You can leave on floors one, three and ten once you've cleared them. You can never climb down floors so bring everything you want or need to the next floor. Or don't, I don't care." He spat.

"If you clear your first floor and go up its staircase you'll be brought into a 'Well Room'. The Well is not always a well, but it's basically the same no matter what appears. We call it that cause if you reach that far you're doing well," He chuckled darkly at the small joke he had likely told too many times for it actually to be funny.

"Anyways drink the water, touch an idol, whatever is in the room; use it and then you'll get your Attribute Points and an Ability."

"Your first ability gained will always be a choice of three Activated Abilities, and since you won't have one of the Magic Attributes it will cost stamina. That's your body's energy to move and do stuff. But be warned if you have no stamina left it will take it from your body. Which will hurt. It might knock you out, or maybe kill you. Anyways, I wouldn't risk it," Nic warned gravely.

"Every floor cleared gives you Attribute points. And adds one to your level. Levels don't really do anything, they're just a record of how many floors you've cleared, but it's a good way as any to judge the strength of a Climber." Nic shrugged as if it were all the same to him.

"Second floor will give you a choice of three Passive Abilities, and from then on the Abilities are random. The Third floor clear will give you a Path, an Ability and a Trait, and from then you get Abilities every third floor you climb and a Trait on the tenth floor of any Spire. That's about it."

"Your first Spire Climb is always special. Those first three floors clears are very rewarding, and you can leave after each of them. And you'll never get 'em again," Nic said as wistfully as his gravelled tones could manage.

"Right, I think that's everything, grab your sacks, tie them tightly and then go pick up a rock and stand a foot or two from the edge," Nic ordered.

"Now!" Nic shouted as the prisoners just stared at him. Fritz and Bert glanced at each other, nodded, and went to grab a sack. The sacks were rough cloth affairs with equally coarse drawstring keeping them closed. They were in an assortment of colours mostly brown grey and light blue. Jane, in her 'new' yellowed shirt, short trousers and with her mousy hair in a ponytail, picked through the pile of sacks until she found one she liked. He could see why she liked it as it had a faded lilac colouring.

Fritz and Bert picked out almost identical grey bags then grasped their forearms together while exclaiming, "Bag-Brothers!" in unison. The others gave them strange looks but Bert and Fritz's crew merely rolled their collective eyes. The crew gathered around them and turned to him and Bert.

"What's the move? We walking into this deathtrap?" Toby asked.

"I believe we'll be swimming into this particular deathtrap," Fritz replied flippantly.

"Still, what choice do we have? They won't let us live if we know the secret and aren't useful. Plus it's a chance for us, a chance at power, at doing more than just petty crimes or odd jobs."

"It seems more like a chance at drowning or getting' eaten by monster fish," Greg groused rubbing at his lumpy scalp.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, it is a Spire. Usually you have to pay the tax to enter. But I'm still not keen on dying," Jane said, worry creasing her brow. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"It's a chance to better our futures. Think on that," Fritz said steadily.

"We're surviving now, but what about in a couple of years, will we ever have the chance to save as much as a gold triad each? If not, what then? What choices will we have? Can we really keep on with what we're doing?" The crew lapsed into a dark contemplative silence. Fritz felt the need to push a little more to stir their ambition, so he entreated them again.

"Jane, Toby, you want a family don't you?" Jane and Toby gazed at each other making eye contact, then they both looked away quickly blushing in embarrassment. Bert and Fritz grinned at the reaction and Greg let out a small laugh.

"How did you know? No wait, that doesn't matter! So what of it?" Jane blurted out quickly reddening further.

"Well, do you want that family to survive as we do now?" Fritz replied.

"No," Toby said for her.

"And you, Greg, what better way to get some more rugged scars than from monsters in the Spire? Some might even cover up that terrible excuse for a face," Fritz continued quickly. Greg began to growl something, but Fritz cut him off.

"You'll get strong, stronger than anyone who used to beat you. You could get a little payback or even a lot of payback when you're done with the Spire. Might even get your own gang, who knows what the city has in store for Pather Greg?" A cruel grin twisted the thug's already ugly visage and he nodded at the idea. Then one by one they turned to Bert, waiting on his answer.

"You know I hate to say it. I really do. But I think Fritz is right. We go for it. We get to the Spire and wait on the stragglers. Wait for about an hour in the Door Room, I think, just in case something happens to someone in the lake." Fritz tried to look abashed, but no one was buying it, so he let Bert continue.

"Then we climb, we're going for a path," Bert said, a serious cast to his usually playful demeanour.

"We gotta climb with six though, any votes on who else should join?"

"Sid," Toby and Jane said together.

"Sid's tough, so him," Greg readily agreed.

"Sid, agreed," Bert continued.

"Anyone but Sid," Fritz added, too slowly. His face soured, then became a grimace as he realised all the votes were against him.

"Fine, bring Sid. What's another deadly foe in this dire struggle anyway?"

"What's this about me?" Sid's gruff voice said from behind. Fritz didn't jump in alarm, not at all.

"We want you to climb the Spire with us. If we all make it to the door, that is. Five and one is six after all," Bert said amiably to the intruder.

"You want me to Climb with your crew?" He looked over their faces one by one as they nodded agreement until he stopped on Fritz's dark expression.

"Even little Fritzy? Or is he still scared of me from the last time I caught him?" Sid mocked, pulling at his scarlet scarf and locking gaze with him. Fritz wanted to punch him, but thought that would end badly. And not just for himself. So he swallowed his pride, took control of his features then smiled roguishly at Sid. Straightening his back, Fritz put his chin up a little. He then spoke in the most agreeable, charming manner he could conjure, staring into Sid's eyes the whole while.

"Of course we want you! You're capable and strong, as my neck can attest to." He rubbed at his throat.

"And we are in desperate need of good company and skilled individuals. You, of course, exceed our requirements in both categories enormously, so we would be honoured if you would join us. I cordially invite you to the Fritzbert Climbing party. And I personally would be delighted if you graced us with your expertise," Fritz exhorted, channelling a stream of sycophantic sentiment. Sid didn't react how Fritz thought he would.

He had predicted that the man would just get angry at his foppery, refuse them, then leave in a rage. Or so he had hoped. But instead, Sid broke off eye contact, his cheeks reddening. Or was that just a product of this weird light?

"Yeah... uh, if you survive the swim, I'll join your team. Uh... see you there," Sid said almost mumbling. He hurried away to go get his gear.

"Huh, didn't think he'd agree," Fritz remarked.

"Eh, he's not so bad if you stay out of his way, which is why you have so much trouble with him, Fritz. Never known you to do anything smart when it comes to staying out of something," Toby espoused.

"Let's get our rocks," Bert suggested. The crew split up, walking away and making themselves ready for the swim. When Fritz was sure his gear was firmly strapped to him with cords of coarse rope, he meandered over to the stone pile. He picked out a rock the size of his head and, with a small struggle, picked it up, trudged to a spot by the cliff's lip and placed it down in front of himself, just as he was instructed to do. The rest of his crew also lined themselves up, stones sat at their feet.

Fritz heard a scuffle, someone was attempting to flee, right down the passage they had entered the dome from. He was caught instantly and dragged back by another of the men in oil-coats.

"You're going in the lake one way or the other, dead, alive, don't matter much to me, but orders is orders and thirty is a good number to attempt the climb. Auspicious the boss calls it. And you wouldn't want to ruin that lucky number now would ya," the thug said in an immediately familiar malicious croak. Fritz scrutinised the man in the oil coat, one of the bastards who had abducted him.

He had lank black hair that fell past his shoulders, dark almost black eyes and an expression of utter boredom, even as he dragged the captured man to the edge of the lake. The terrified prisoner tried to fight him off, but he was completely outmatched. The thug's strength was far above his own. Eventually, the man stopped struggling and stood still where he was held.

"Stay here," the thug ordered. The lank-haired thug strode away to the stone pile, seized a heavy rock, one the size of Fritz's torso and picked it up as if it were only the weight of a sack of flour. Striding back, he forced it into the defeated man's arms. He couldn't hope to hold it, not with those stick thin arms. The stone slipped right through the captive's hands and crashed onto his foot with a terrible sound like a melon being split.

He screamed in agony and fell, then yanked at the stone with all his might. It rolled, revealing the crushed foot underneath. Two of the toes were set in unnatural angles and the foot was itself was mangled. Bones split, shattered, where the stone had landed. Fritz winced in sympathy, but didn't move to help the man.

"Oops." The lank-haired man smirked.

"I'll get you a lighter one." The man sobbed over his broken foot until the thug came back with a smaller, head-sized, stone. The prisoner, still cradling his ruined appendage, stared up at him, eyes filled with tears of pain and hate. A whole lot of hate. This just made the thug chuckle. Then, content with his 'prank', he walked off, looking for someone else to torment.

"Don't pick on em' too much Kev, thirty need to go into the water, that's what the boss said. I don't want to be flogged 'cause you went too far with your fun," one of the other oil-coats, Jeb, griped.

"Mind your own tasks mate, don't be such a wet-blanket," Kev retorted, scowling. Jed held the thug's stare for a moment, then turned away muttering to himself. Fritz looked down and away, attempting to avoid Kev's eye and evil attentions. Bending down, he pretended to check and recheck his gear sack's bindings, dreading to think what would happen if he were noticed. He sighed when Nic called out to them, relieved that the thug hadn't approached. He looked to be one who could hold a grudge.

Fritz knew that because he too nursed a grudge, old and painful, against all those who ruined his family, his life. The Guides Guild, the nobles and the murderer. He ground his teeth, his jaw clenched tight. Not now, logic pleaded. Pay attention, pull yourself out of those bitter memories. T hey're not needed now. He wiped away the light sheen of wetness that was beading on his forehead from the stress, the anger boiling within and the thin mist from the churning waves.

With an effort of will he broke out of his turbulent thoughts, focused on the present then smiled at his fortune. He hadn't been seen, things were going to go his way, just as they should. Fritz realised Nic had been talking and he bent his ear to listen, and now that he was out of his emotional haze, he could finally make meaning out of the man's rough words.

"Right. Potion's coming round. It'll stop you frown drownin'. So drink it up and then take one big breath. Don't let that breath out or you lose it. And we ain't wasting another dose on you. I said this before but it bears repeating, the potion will last about half an hour. Don't dawdle, the Spire's further than you think. The Door will be deep down, near the bottom of the lake. Hold your rock as tight as a sweetheart until you hit the bottom and then walk or swim to that Door.

If you do that you'll survive," he lectured, his voice like a grindstone.

"Good Climbing levelless. Grab a Path if you can, but don't bother coming back without your first level." Nic attempted a kind smile, it was almost as terrifying as his scowl. The men in oil-coats came around with clay jars of some foul green-grey liquid that bubbled. It stank of overcooked shoes and rotting socks. Fritz saw Jane choke down the drink, take a huge breath and fling herself into the water. She was followed by Toby, Sid, Greg and then next up was Bert.

He nodded at Fritz, then leaped into the lake, a stone held to his chest, splashing into the roiling water and sinking into the depths. It was then Fritz's turn to drink from one of the clay jars. However putrid it smelled, it tasted worse. He gagged but managed to keep the vile potion down. He bent then heaved up his stone and took in a deep breath. A hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. Fritz glanced sideways at the hand the and the man belonged to. His stomach dropped.

Kev grinned at him, wicked joy gleaming in his eyes.

"Hang on there, your shoelaces are untied. We can't forget that now can we." Fritz wanted to yell, but to do so would waste his breath. He'd lose any chance he had to survive. Kev knelt before him and tied the laces of his hard leather boots together, twisting them into interlaced, muddled knots. Fritz stared around frantically. Everyone else was either gone down into the eerie waves or watching on with grim delight.

Anger and outrage threatened to bubble out of him in a torrent, but held it and his breath in, pushing down the wild emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. He knew that to survive he would need every minute of breath, every ounce of luck and every drop of skill he could muster.

"Oh, and you won't be needing this," Kev said. He pulled open and reached into the grey sack at Fritz's waist, removing a rusted and pitted pig-iron knife from it, then sheathing it in his own belt. Pulling the drawstring closed, Kev gave a cruel smirk. Then the thug, slapped Fritz hard on his shoulder, painfully so, and left his hand there, squeezing like a steel trap.

"There we go, all ready to dive. Eyes on the water," Kev ordered. Fritz obeyed looking in that glinting blue-green murk, attempting to make out the shapes of his crew. Kev moved out of the centre of his vision, walking to stand beside him, still keeping his steely grip on his shoulder. Fritz stood there for a full minute, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

"What are you waiting for scaredy-skulg, get diving!" Kev yelled. Right into his ear. Loud enough to leave his hearing ringing. The hand on Fritz's shoulder let go, then he felt a shove from behind, pushing him forward into an uncontrolled lurch. His feet were too tightly bound to each other to catch his balance so he attempted a sort of hopping dive that quickly turned into an ungainly flop straight into the eerie waves and into water below. Fritz sank.