CHAPTER#109

Daisy had explained it to them as best as she could when asked. It had taken forever with only a few words at a time on the slate, but she told them that Yuki and Emily had made the tower their own personal love nest. Apparently it had become a home away from home for them, discovered completely on accident during a trip abroad. Emily had destroyed the old portal to this place after connecting a new one, and the two of them constantly snuck away to enjoy the tower's relative peace and quiet.

One night, Emily got out of bed to wander the tower, leaving both Yuki and Daisy behind. Several years passed, years of searching for her. Yuki had been unable to use the portal, and had assumed the centaurs had taken her.

After months of constant harassment, she was forced to believe that Emily had simply vanished.

That was, until the night many years later when Emily came back. Daisy couldn't say much about that day because she had been off scouting a new area for them to explore. She had come back to discover that Emily had suddenly returned, bypassing the many wards that had been placed around the portal. Instead of a greeting or an explanation, Emily had attacked her former lover, essentially leaving her for dead.

The experience had changed Yuki, and not necessarily for the better. Daisy insisted that the fox was still a good person, but when challenged by the centaurs, she had started collecting them, using one of the magic items that had been hidden away in the tower called the Gorgon's Eye.

Daisy took them to the room she had warned Mike about when asked about what had been kept there. Upon entering, they discovered a room similar in structure to Ratu's laboratory, only it was primarily an armory. Lit by some torches and a natural skylight, it looked similar to the old library he had stumbled into with Tink and Cecilia.

A few of the objects had been broken apart and stacked on the tables around the room, but the rest were stored in protective cases that had no hinge or latch. Daisy explained that they had been locked up with spells to keep anyone from getting them, and he knew better than to attempt to open them.

A case made of thick wood held nothing but a few inches of water in the bottom. When he approached it, the water formed into a sword, then a handax, then a bow, as if trying to figure out what he would like best. When he moved away, it turned into a massive trident, then collapsed into a pool of water once again.

One of the displays had been broken apart. The only thing inside was an empty stone box that looked like it held something the size of a ping pong ball. In the locked case attached to it was a strange looking sword with a sickle near the end of the blade.

An odd looking mace was in a super thick case and held in place by several heavy looking chains. It rattled the chains when Mike came near, so he immediately moved away. Ratu suggested there was little to learn from the room after inspecting the broken items, so they agreed to leave it alone.

Throughout the tower they also found several hand-drawn tarot cards, hundreds of them tucked away everywhere. Ratu warned him away from messing with them. Apparently several of them radiated magic, and she was fairly certain Yuki had spent her solitary confinement perfecting the art of inscribing runes into the cards.

It was too bad they couldn't find a use for the cards, he thought, walking to the window to look down at the centaur camp. They had set up several more flags along the edge of the cliff, and a few of them had symbols he couldn't quite make out from here. "So what happens when we get past them? After we get home?"

"If it's like when we came here, probably another fight." Ratu grimaced. "I'd like to think I'm better prepared this time, but Yuki seems like a planner. I imagine the whole house is covered in snow by now."

"And the others?"

"That's a great question. I have my ideas, but none of them are optimistic."

He felt sick to his stomach. Had Yuki hurt the others? Or maybe even turned them to stone? Momentary anger filled him, his hands clenching tight. "I wish we knew what those weapons did. I imagine they would help us turn the tide."

Ratu closed her book and lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "Do you honestly believe that?"

"Of course I do. If that stuff is locked up, it must be powerful."

"That is true. Those things do radiate magic like tiny stars."

"So maybe we should look into them! If I had a powerful weapon, maybe I could beat her this time."

"The only reason you lost last time was she had the element of surprise."

"Hardly. The only reason I'm still alive is the naga skin armor Sofia gave to me. I'm not a fighter. All I have is this knife." He pulled out the dagger. "It cuts through everything, but the damn thing is too short. What good is that? I have to get close enough to use it first. Or what about magic? I can't do magic, not the things you can do. Yeah, I get magic boners that let me last in bed for hours. Super useful. Oh, and limited precognition. I get to sense the future briefly before it smashes me into a bug. A lot of good that did me when I met Yuki. Oh, I know!" His voice had risen now, and he was shouting. "Why don't I just give her some orgasms with my sex lightning? That's right, I'm calling it sex lightning! I bet she'll show me a heap of respect when I show her that trick. Oh, Mike, I'm so sorry I tried to kill you, if only I had known you would rock my world like never before!"