TOWER OF THE EXILED GOD

Chapter 3: The Blood-Tide Hall

The next staircase was narrow, carved into the tower’s stone like the spine of a serpent. Kaelen ascended slowly, every sense straining. The dagger felt alive in his grip, the faint red runes pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. 

The Exiled God was quiet again, and that silence was worse than his mocking laughter. Kaelen reached the top of the stairs and stepped into a hallway unlike anything he’d seen yet. This floor wasn’t a ruin, it was… alive. 

The walls were made of pale, fleshy stone, like bone wrapped in muscle. Faint veins pulsed beneath the surface, glowing faintly blue. 

The air was humid and thick with the stench of brine and iron. Water dripped from the ceiling, pooling along the floor, and the sound echoed endlessly. 

Kaelen crouched low, moving carefully. His bare feet splashed in the thin layer of water covering the floor. The hallway stretched forward in a series of arches, each one lined with runes that flickered faintly. 

At the far end, something was moving. 

Kaelen froze, peering through the dim light. A shadow slid across the hallway, too fast, too large. His grip tightened on the dagger.

The Exiled God’s voice whispered suddenly. You’ve entered the Blood-Tide Hall. Kaelen’s jaw clenched. “What is it?” 

An old experiment, a guardian. One of their pets, the god murmured, almost amused. It hunts sound, and I'm hungry. 

A chill ran through Kaelen. He crouched lower, pressing himself against the wall. He’d fought beasts before, but the way the god’s voice purred made this one feel… worse. 

The shadow moved again, closer this time. A low, wet slithering sound echoed through the hallway. 

Kaelen’s instincts screamed at him to run, but he forced himself still. 

The creature appeared from the darkness. 

It was enormous, its body serpentine and slick with brackish water, scales glistening faintly blue under the glowing runes. 

Its head was a mass of tendrils and teeth, eyeless and horrific, its jaw splitting open wider than Kaelen’s body. A row of gills flared along its neck, releasing a hiss. 

Kaelen’s breath caught. 

“It can’t see you,” the god murmured. “But it can hear your heart beating.” 

The creature slithered forward, moving with terrifying grace. Its tendrils brushed along the walls, tasting the air. Kaelen held his breath, muscles trembling. 

The dagger pulsed in his hand, eager, hungry. 

Strike, the god whispered, or die. 

Kaelen moved. 

He lunged forward, driving the dagger into the creature’s neck just as it passed him. The blade sank deep, and the beast let out a shriek that rattled the hallway. Its massive body thrashed, sending waves of water crashing into the walls. Kaelen was thrown off his feet, hitting the wall hard. 

He rolled aside as the creature’s tail smashed into the floor where he’d been. “Too big to kill with one strike,” Kaelen hissed, scrambling to his feet. 

The beast lunged, its tendrils whipping out like spears. Kaelen ducked and weaved, the dagger slashing through one of its limbs.

The severed tendril writhed on the floor, spraying black ichor that hissed like acid as it hit the water. 

The god’s laughter echoed in Kaelen’s mind. Good! Make it bleed. 

The creature roared, its eyeless head snapping toward him, drawn to the sound of his movements. Kaelen dove under another swipe, stabbing upward into its gills. 

The beast convulsed, crashing into the walls and bringing chunks of stone down. The hallway shook. Water surged higher around Kaelen’s legs. 

You’ve angered it, the god purred. Now run, mortal. 

Kaelen didn’t argue. He sprinted down the hallway, boots splashing, as the beast’s massive body smashed after him. The corridor ahead split into three paths. 

He didn’t hesitate, left always left. 

He dove through the archway just as the creature’s body slammed into the wall behind him, cracking stone and spraying water. 

Kaelen stumbled forward, gasping for breath, heart hammering. He skidded to a halt. 

The room ahead was a massive circular chamber. The water here was waist-deep, glowing faintly blue from runes etched along the walls. A massive iron door stood at the far side, sealed tight with glowing chains. 

Kaelen cursed under his breath. 

Behind him, the beast roared again, the sound reverberating like thunder. It was coming. 

That door won’t open until the guardian is dead, the god said, amused. This is your trial. Pass it or perish. 

Kaelen turned, dagger in hand, as the creature burst into the chamber. Its body coiled through the water, massive and unstoppable, waves crashing against the walls. 

Kaelen backed up until his shoulders hit the iron door. 

The beast lunged. 

Kaelen dove aside, its jaws snapping shut where he’d stood. He slashed upward, driving the dagger into its throat. The blade burned with red light, and the beast let out a horrific scream, thrashing violently.

Kaelen clung to the dagger, holding on as the creature slammed him into the wall. Pain exploded in his ribs, but he didn’t let go. He twisted the blade deeper, and black ichor gushed into the water. 

The beast’s thrashing slowed, then stopped. Its massive body sagged, half-submerged in the glowing water. 

Kaelen yanked the dagger free, panting. The runes along the chamber walls flared brightly, and the chains across the door dissolved with a hiss. 

“You’re welcome,” Kaelen muttered to the voice in his head. 

The god chuckled. You amuse me, mortal. Most would have been crushed like flies. 

Kaelen didn’t reply. He stumbled forward, shoving open the heavy iron door. Beyond it was another staircase, spiraling upward into darkness. 

He was halfway through the doorway when a soft sound froze him. 

A clap. 

Slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the chamber. 

Kaelen spun, dagger raised. 

On top of the dead beast’s massive head sat a figure. 

A woman. 

She was young, maybe Kaelen’s age, with pale skin and long black hair that flowed down her back like ink. She wore a tattered white cloak, and her bare feet dangled casually as she perched on the corpse of the monster he’d nearly died fighting. 

Her eyes glowed faintly blue, reflecting the runes in the water. 

“Impressive,” she said, her voice calm and melodic. “Not many make it this far.” Kaelen tightened his grip on the dagger. “Who are you?” 

She tilted her head, smiling faintly. “A fellow prisoner, a climber, like you.” The god’s voice hissed in his mind: Lies. 

Kaelen frowned. 

The woman slipped gracefully from the beast’s head, landing silently in the shallow water. “Don’t look so wary. If I wanted you dead, you’d already be bleeding.”

She stopped a few feet from him, studying him with a curious tilt of her head. “You’re marked,” she murmured, her glowing eyes narrowing. “Interesting.” 

Kaelen didn’t lower his weapon. “What do you want?” 

Her smile widened. “To see if you survive.” 

Before Kaelen could react, she stepped backward and vanished. 

Not into the shadows. Not into a doorway. She simply disappeared, her body dissolving into mist that evaporated into the damp air. 

Kaelen stood frozen, heart pounding, the corpse of the guardian bleeding black ichor into glowing water around him. 

The god’s voice was a low growl. That was no mortal. That was a fragment. Kaelen swallowed hard. “A fragment of what?” 

The god chuckled, dark and pleased—a god, of course. 

Kaelen glanced back at the staircase leading upward. His grip on the dagger tightened. Whatever he had just seen, it wasn’t the last time he’d see her.