CHAPTER#100

He chuckled and shook his head. "No idea. I gave it to Zel when they had captured us, but when she didn't use it, I wondered if it was some type of poison or something. As someone who has experienced Mandragora pollen firsthand, I can assure you that many of them will be more than a little sore in the morning."

They both stood and approached the thick ladder that went up the wall. He climbed up first, walking cautiously toward the edge and marveling at the view. The tower had been built into the side of the mountain, but from here, he could see how the bottom of it sloped away into nothingness revealing the vast expanse below. Large holes had been cut in the stone, deep holes that looked like something had been mounted there.

"Ballistae." Ratu said, reading his mind. "Think like a giant crossbow."

"Strange." The holes seemed to go around the perimeter of the tower. "Why would you need to fire giant bolts off a steep drop? Is someone attacking from the sky?"

"That's a great question. An even better one is this; why is the tower made of a different stone than the mountain?"

MIke surveyed the greyish cobblestone beneath their feet, his eyes following them until they merged with the cold granite of the cliff. The colors were indeed mismatched. "It looks like someone shoved this tower into the mountain."

"Or teleported it here." Ratu winked. "The centaurs were told to guard this place, so it's likely this whole world was created to defend this tower from intrusion. I can sense magic inside, so it wouldn't surprise me if something important was stored here at some point."

"Do you think the Architect built this place?"

She shrugged. "No idea. Why is this world in your wardrobe in the first place? Why not put it deep in the greenhouse, several days journey out? Very little makes sense in the Radley house, you know."

"Ha ha." He said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe the tower holds the user manual for the house. I certainly wouldn't mind some Ikea instructions for how to activate all of its hidden passageways."

"What's an Ikea?" She looked over his shoulder. "Never mind that. Our friends have arrived."

A large cloud of dust rolled off of the mountain, and the sound of a nearby horn startled him. Dark figures emerged from the cloud, carrying unlit torches in their hand. The centaur toward the front had a dark look on his face, and Mike immediately recognized Zel's betrothed. Orion carried a spear with a flag attached to it. When he spiked it into the dirt, the flag caught the wind and revealed an image similar to a coat of arms. This one had the outline of a centaur carrying a bow with falcons circling him.

"You forfeited the trial!" Orion shouted. "Lower your bridge and return what is rightfully mine, and then face me like a man!" Mike noticed that Orion now wore a thick bracelet on his wrist and wondered if that was from the Trial of Endurance. If so, he must have come straight up from the ocean and assembled a small war party. The centaurs behind him were now planting torches in rocky crevices and setting up small tents.

"Are they planning to camp here?"

"Looks like it." Ratu summoned a ball of fire. "Should I roast them?"

"Not yet." They watched the centaurs assemble their camp. There were about five tents along the trail, and nearly twenty centaurs wandering among them. He wondered if there were even more hidden away around the corner. He looked up at the mountain, then back at the trail. "You don't suppose they could push boulders onto us or something?"

"Doubt it. That looks like a sheer climb to get up there, and it would take a hell of a push to get a boulder to cross the distance."

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Orion picked up a spear and lobbed it at them. Mike and Ratu stepped away from each other, the spear shooting between them and landing in the garden below.

"That'll be enough of that." Ratu knelt down and pulled a piece of chalk from her pockets. Another spear flew over the battlements before a glimmering aura radiated up from the stone. The next spear bounced off the barrier and fell down the cliff.

"How long will that hold?"

"Until morning. Simple shield spell that will keep them from bombarding us with arrows while we walk around in the garden." Ratu paced the battlements and drew a couple more, spacing them apart. "These overlap a bit, which will help us if they get smart enough to break one of them."

"How could they break one?"

"Coordinated fire. Either a bunch of them firing at the same spot one after the other, or everyone firing on a small area at the same time." Another arrow broke on impact a few feet above them. "However, this does present us with a new problem."

"I'm guessing it involves getting to the portal with an angry centaur mob at our door?" From below, Orion was shouting from the edge of the cliff trail for Mike's attention. He briefly wondered if he could quickly lower the bridge and crush the feisty centaur beneath it.

She nodded. "If I had the time and materials, I could probably fly us there, but that nasty monster of hers is still circling that area. I can fight or fly, not both." Ratu grabbed the top of the ladder and descended, a cool breeze grabbing the sides of her kimono and exposing her legs.

"If we can get there, could you fight that thing? The Jabberwock?" He followed her down, wincing at the sound of a pair of arrows breaking on the barrier. From down here, he could just barely hear Orion's voice over the wall.

"Maybe. But I think it might be time to face a hard truth." Ratu swept her hair out of her eyes. "I don't think we're going to make it back in time."