Chapter 33

                                    

                                          
The other half of the Chaos Tower has steps, yes, but it also has jagged platforms that we can only climb down using rope. And sometimes jumping. One wrong move can have us catapulting down. But Mist and Nathaniel guide us, and Mist even goes so far to grab a mage by her collar, dragging her so she doesn't start plummeting down. 
It gets even trickier with each step. One platform forces us to jump in a long vault, grabbing a rope against the wall for support. The last warrior makes the leap, barely steadied by his remaining party members, and skids to a stop. 
I breathe in deep. Cold freezes my nostrils, and I catch the scent of parchment as well, like ancient magic. The snow has not made it any easier to descend the Chaos Tower. My skin feels like someone has rubbed it with an ice cube. And although my party did not battle the Ice Yeti for long, the others were using all their might for a long time. Most of them are spent. 
Potions can only do so much, but we down our supply. 
My hand burns with the rope I use to climb down. Juno catches me as I fall the last of the way down. At the same time, Mist lets out a screech. A warning call that everyone should know. 
I look straight ahead to see a monster spinning in front of the parties, hovering between two platforms. With a blue and black head, and a white body, it almost looks... cute with its beady eyes and face? It definitely resembles a penguin, although I've never seen one in person. Except, this penguin can fly pretty well. "A Penguin," Nathaniel says beside me. So I guess it has no mystical name. 
Mist darts ahead and takes a massive bite out of the Penguin. In response, the monster screeches and flings the dragon away. Distracted, the monster has no reflex available to dodge the arrow from three quick archers. The monster disintegrates, but I know it won't be the last one. 
We climb down several more platforms. Penguins charge us on the way down, almost making more than one of us fall. Up close, I see the fangs that should in no way belong to a normal penguin. I use a Wave on one of them, the finishing blow after an attack from Juno. 
We make a good team, and I'd be so mournful to leave my party. I can't think of that now, however. Not when hallucinations attack me on almost every twentieth step. One time, I see the brother god floating above me like a ghost, taunting me. Another time, I see a massive Penguin that disappears. Our group pauses many times to deal with the hallucinations. Mist bites my leg gently to draw me out of it. 
C'mon, Hope! the dragon tells me. You need to definitely step up your game to fight these stupid... what do you call them? Hallucinations? 
"Yes," I say weakly. We must be already thirty percent of the way down. 
The next monster that attacks us is a Snowball. A little thing the size of two fists, it shoots toward us like actual snowballs to try to make us lose balance and fall. Rogues do the most work in eliminating them, using their agility to make them out in the snow. Mist also blasts more than a few with his fire, his good eyesight doing him well. 
Finally, we make it down fifty percent of the way. No big boss surprises us, just more Penguins and Snowballs hiding in the snow. Has the snowfall grown even thicker? My feet sink deep into the ice. 
One foot in front of the other. I try to ignore the hallucinations. At the same time, I feel evidence of the brother god. I feel him here, wanting to take more of me, wanting to leave me even more empty. I know he awaits at the bottom. He will spare no thought to slicing more necks, leaving more blood beneath his feet. His vengeance for his sister has finally awakened, even though he remained in hiding for the longest time. 
The third monster of the Chaos Tower rises above the snow. A Standing Wolf, as Nathaniel names it. Unlike the Maroon Wolf or the Ice Wolf, it stands on its feet. Just as its name suggests. With a buff body, it reminds me of a boxer or some other human athlete. It leaps forward and almost slashes a warrior right across his chest.