The two ran as quietly as they could manage across the lawns and gardens of the parks district. Asher cursed himself silently as he ran, now that he was here, he felt a fool for not having come up with a better idea other than “dash and hope”. His body was still swollen and bruised and every step caused a fresh bloom of pain, but he pushed it out of his mind as best he could. He just needed to make it to the Tower and he could rest.

  Hazel had turned out to be the slower of the two, in no small part to the shield throwing off her balance as she ran. Asher slowed a little to match her pace.

  “Almost there.” Asher said, between heavy breaths.

  Hazel just grunted and continued staring forward as she ran. Distant voices broke the silence of the wide open area. Asher heard the first hints of alarm as shouts rang out across the gardens, and he felt a moment of total panic as he waited for an arrow to strike him down.

  No arrows fell, instead the shouts redoubled and seemed as though they were coming closer. The guard must have realised that this was not an attack and made the call to chase them down rather than shoot them from a distance. That was a massive relief.

  “I think they’ve seen us!” Asher yelled over his shoulder.

  Once again Hazel only grunted in response, her breaths were fast and short, she was struggling to run and respond at the same time. Asher reminded himself that not everyone had a job that required a high level of physical fitness and that running, for most people, was pretty difficult.

  They were close now, barely a few more seconds and they would be on the Tower grounds proper. Shouts cried out again, they were coming from much closer now, Asher risked a look over his shoulder and almost fell as a reward for doing so. The guards were close, too close. If anything held them up, they would be caught.

  “Stop! On the King’s orders!” One man shouted.

  “Get away from the Tower, it's off limits.” Another yelled.

  They closed the remaining distance and came to a stop in front of the Tower. From this perspective one could not even tell that they were standing before a building, rather it looked as if a massive wall stood before them. It rose impossibly into the sky and looked to travel beyond, into eternity. The endless expanse of smooth white brick was perfect and unmarred, there wasn't a blemish to be seen, unless one counted the grand door itself as an imperfection.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Asher knew that the tower was inconceivably huge, but standing here now, having his full range of view encapsulated by the Tower, he wondered if the Tower might have some magical effect on his perception. Indeed, even with the extreme dimensions of the thing in mind, the footprint of its base shouldn’t feel this endless, this overwhelming.

  Hazel stumbled next to Asher, either she was struggling more than he expected, or she had also been thrown off balance by the strange effect of the Tower.

  The voices continued their relentless approach, they echoed in Asher’s mind, crowding and overwhelming his thoughts.

  They finally reached the archway opening to the of the Tower, they dashed under the enormous intricate carved opening and were now sprinting through the Tower itself. Asher knew that the walls on the inside of the building were covered in impossibly huge and impossibly beautiful murals but he had no time to even glance over. He had seen them for the first time on a school field trip to the Tower, the murals seemed to depict other worlds and hinted at amazing stories, but they were vague enough that still to this day the educated folk couldn't agree on what it all meant.

  The run across the massive open space that was the ground floor of the Tower felt like it took an eternity to Asher, with every moment he felt more and more sure they were about to be caught, that any second now he would be slammed down into the ground.

  Miraculously, joyously, they finally made it to the actual Tower Door. They both knew there was no time to hesitate. Without pause, Asher grabbed Hazel’s spare hand, grasped the crystalline handle of the door with the other, and pulled.

  ***

  David cringed back as a wall of blinding light burst out from the Tower’s open door. He had been so close, he was trying desperately to stop those kids from throwing their lives away by following Ben into the Tower. This was the first time David had ever seen the Tower door be opened and he was caught off guard when the light hit him. Not only was it eye searingly bright, but it also felt like it had a strange weight to it, as if the light were pushing him back, resisting his approach. The light was so bright that if there were colour, David was unable to identify it.

  As suddenly as it had appeared, the light ceased. It didn't fade, but disappeared, as if it had never been there. It took almost a full minute for any of the guards to regain their night vision. When they could finally see again, all they saw in front of them was a closed door, the kids were gone.

  David stopped in his tracks, hands falling to his side. He had failed. David had a feeling he knew exactly who those two had been, and that knowledge sat heavy in his heart. He would have to notify Anna of this, after all she’d been through. He tried to fight back the tears but felt his shoulder shudder as the tears came anyway.