Space Wizards

5. Portable Tower

"Take the next three steps with me," whispered a tiny voice in her ear. 

Murphy jumped to her feet. 

"Ready... one, two, three!" 

She stepped forward barefoot and blind into absolute darkness. Her body lifted off the ground and began flying through the air at an incredible speed. The sound of blades launching off the walls as she whizzed past froze her with terror. She turned in flight and angled up the next stairwell. Her body rounded corners until she saw the faint light of the hole in the back of the mausoleum where they had entered the tomb. Her feet touched the ground and she ran through the crypt and out into the daylight. 

She leaned over breathing hard with hands on her knees. She had nothing but a coarse wool shirt and shabby pair of underwear. She surveyed the field and walked over to the smallest of Kulju's bodyguards. His chest plate was smashed as well as his helmet but his pants and boots looked ok. She removed his leg armor and pulled off his boots, socks, and pants.

The pants were roomy but fit well enough. She secured them with his belt and tossed his curved dagger in the dirt. The boots were too big so she stuffed his socks into the toes and pulled them on. His sword was well crafted but had a huge dent in the blade where she had swatted it away with her war hammer. 

"I'll miss you, Lord John," she said to the blade spinning it around. 

The earth began to rumble. A puff of dust shot out of the mausoleum archway and then was sucked back in. The water must have been receding. The ground under her feet felt unstable and she ran as best she could in the oversized boots toward the woods at the edge of the meadow. She turned around before entering the woods to watch the old stone structure collapse into rumble sealing the Lich's tomb once again. 

A mosquito buzzed about her ear and she swatted it away. Narrowing her eyes, she was about to slice it out of the air when a small red-winged thrush swooped down and swallowed it. The bird flew into the woods down the path she was about to take. 

"Thank you. Please eat as many as you like." 

An hour or so down the trail, she felt as hungry as she was thirsty. She saw the bird again. It landed on a branch to the side of the path and cocked its head at her. Dusk was rapidly approaching and as she looked at the bird she noticed the pointed top of a turret above the trees. She'd come this way that morning and didn't notice any buildings. There was no side path leading off the main route through the woods. The bird flew off in the direction of the tower. 

Murphy left the trail and followed the bird. It kept flying ahead and stopping on branches. At several spots, she hacked through the undergrowth just to keep up. The bird flew up and out of the forest and she saw the structure. 

It was a single freestanding stone tower; three stories tall with a thick wooden door, a pointed tiled roof, and four small windows at the top. Vines of the forest had wrapped themselves around its base and the trees grew right up to its edge like it had been there for hundreds of years. The tower itself was in good condition considering there was no sign of it being used anywhere about it. 

She pushed aside branches and shoved open the door. The spotlessly clean room inside was empty with elaborate golden runes etched into the floor. Narrow stone steps opposite the entry led up. She closed and bolted the door. 

The second floor was all runes as well but unlike the bottom floor which was one big design, this level was covered in smaller geometric configurations of myriad colors and materials. Stepping carefully between the runes, she crossed and went up to the top.

The setting sun flooded through two windows into a sitting room with two comfortable chairs and a small table between. Behind the chairs was a wall with two doors dividing the space. Sitting in the chair to the left flipping through Kulju's spellbook was Melock.