Catching up with Edmund hadn’t been difficult. The man was tall, about the same height as Asher. His clothing was unusual, he wore faded grey robes that Asher thought looked like those of a martial artist, long loose sleeves to allow for free movement, belted at the waist with fabric. The robes which might otherwise have looked plain were ornamented by a blue cape resting on his shoulders. Lastly there was the hat. A strange tri-pointed thing that folded at the sides and back, it was navy blue with white lining at the edges. To top off the flashy presentation the man had striking yellow blonde hair and icy blue eyes. All in all the guy was hard to miss.

  Asher worried about that, if he had only noticed Edmund because of how obvious he was in a crowd, had he missed other tails? Were they still being followed? He had no way to figure that out while also trying to follow Edmund and keep an eye on Hazel all at the same time.

  Edmund was true to his word, he led them on a short walk to an inn with a sign out the front naming it “The Sleepy Hound.” Edmund stepped up to the front door and gestured for the others to enter.

  The two accepted his invitation and stepped inside. Immediately Asher was embraced by the nostalgic smell of an inn. The warm inviting scents of roasting meat and rich gravy was enmeshed with the smell of spilled beer and wine. The front of the building was staffed by a woman Asher guessed to be in her sixties. There was a flight of stairs to the left, presumably leading up to the rooms, and to the right Asher assumed was the way to the dining hall. His eyes, still nightblind from the glare outside, were having trouble adjusting to the dim interior.

  Asher and Hazel both hesitated, waiting uncomfortably for Edmund to follow them in. The embarrassing truth was that, not only did they not have any money, they didn't even know what money looked like here. At home they had traded with paper money that the King had produced. He hadn’t seen anything like that exchanging hands here.

  An awkward moment of silence later and Edmund waltzed in, the room’s attention was drawn immediately. Asher was beginning to wonder if perhaps Edmund enjoyed being the centre of attention. “Evalyn! So good to see you again. It has been much, much too long.” he strolled over to the greeter and leaned down, planting his hand on the desk in front of her. He grinned down at the woman.

  “No parties.” Evalyn grunted, her voice sounding stiff from disuse. She cleared her throat and repeated herself for effect “NO PARTIES.” She said in a much firmer louder voice.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it, and you have my sincere apologies for the damage, once again.” Edmund replied as he stood up straight, withdrawing from the desk, only to knock on it once again for effect. “One room please, for my friends here.”

  Evalyn leaned to the side peering around Edmund, studying Asher and Hazel for the first time. “And why aren't they buying a room themselves? They aren't beggars or streetwalkers, are they Edmund?”

  “They’re no beggars.” Edmund scoffed at the notion.”These two are my new friends. They have come here from far away along a difficult path and they are in need of some help while they get back on their feet.” He winked.

  Evalyn just sighed “Hmph, same price as always.” She took a key from the drawer in front of her and placed it on the desk.

  Edmund pulled out what looked like a rough transparent gemstone, it hadn't been faceted and looked as if it were still in its original shape, perhaps snapped off a geode. It was sized well to fit in the palm of a hand comfortably. Edmund placed it down heavily on the desktop, taking the key in trade.

  “Thank you my good woman, I promise to be a good boy and ensure the damage is kept to a minimum.” Edmund said. Satisfied with himself, he turned back to Asher and declared “I think we need a meal, don’t you?” And with that he began walking away once more, toward the smell of the food.

  Left with few other options Asher and Hazel followed the strange man in. Entering the dining hall they were bathed in the warm nostalgic scents of meat and gravy. Asher’s mouth instantly began to water and Hazel’s stomach loudly complained.

  “Is this feeling too good to be true to you?” Asher leaned in and whispered to Hazel. “We come to this magical and dangerous world with shadow monsters and elves, and we immediately run into a weird rich kid who saves us and buys us a room and meal to top it off?”

  “Maybe. It is pretty convenient. But what other option do we have but to humor him? We have no guide and no information. Besides, if it's a trap we can worry about it after we eat.” Her eyes never left the firepit at the end of the hall, which had a cauldron of some kind of soup boiling away inside. Edmund was already introducing himself to the barkeep and the few other patrons sitting at the bar. Asher couldn’t imagine having so much energy and appetite for meeting other people, he just couldn't understand it.

  “You're right.” Asher replied. “ We need more information, not to mention the food and a roof over our heads tonight.”

  Looking over again Asher could see that Edmund had already chosen where they would be sitting. He had placed himself in a booth at the fart corner of the room, pointedly chosen to be far away from the other patrons. Somehow, although Asher had not seen them ordered, drinks were already sitting out for the three of them on the table. Edmund was gesturing enthusiastically for them to join him. Asher and Hazel sat down at the table opposite Edmund, they didn't bother to hide their suspicion of him.

  “So you two are from another world right?” Edmund wasted no time getting to the point.

  Asher found the question jarring, all at once the words worked to drill home the reality that he really was in another world, his home and remaining family were, in the realest sense, out of reach. The question also demonstrated that Edmund had likely been there for their original appearance, confirming Asher’s suspicions about why Edmund had been following them.

  “What would it mean to you if we were?” Hazel asked before Asher could speak.

  “It would mean a solution to my problem.” Edmund replied quickly.

  “Problem?” Hazel asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Boredom of course. Look, I understand why you feel defensive as you do, allow me to explain myself and hopefully your minds will be put at ease. I promise that I mean you no harm.” Edmund held his hands together as if he were praying, begging their attention.

  “Speak. I will listen.” Hazel said coldly.

  Asher was growing more and more impressed with this tough exterior Hazel was presenting. She had always seemed polite to a fault, too conscious of making others uncomfortable to stand her own ground. In his moment of distraction, admiring this new side of Hazel, he missed the fact that the rest of the table had paused and was waiting on his input.

  “Please go ahead.” Asher coughed, embarrassed. “ I appreciate your help so far but I won't lie and say that I’m not suspicious, I don't understand why you're helping us at all.”

  Edmund nodded sagely “That is a healthy suspicion you have there, healthy enough that it might just keep you alive.” He grinned. “Onto me, my favorite subject if you don't mind me saying so. As you know my name is Edmund Wright, I am the son of a wealthy family who made their money by being the very first shipwrights to settle at the waterfront that eventually became Brightwater Port, just after The Blast. Fast forward a dozen or so generations and the heir of the famous Wright family is extremely very bored, and not nearly famous enough for his taste. That is where the two of you come in.” He pointed at the other two.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I don’t think we have whatever it is you're looking for” Asher cut in, he wondered what it was that Edmund thought they were doing, or maybe what they had with them.

  “Nonsense, you're here on an important mission.” Edmund chuckled as he replied, taking a sip from his wine afterwards.

  Asher and Hazel’s eyes both grew large and they looked at each other in surprise.

  “Did you tell him?” The two asked each other in unison.

  Edmund burst into a full chested laugh, spitting wine as he did. “You two are absolutely adorable.” Edmund continued laughing as he spoke. “Neither of you have told me anything. I know that you two came from Safehome and I also know that travel from there is exceedingly rare these days. Almost everyone who comes through the Tower has some kind of grand goal or dream. So if you don't mind, might I ask what your mission is?”

  An uncomfortable silence fell over the booth, moments passing by uncomfortably as both Hazel and Asher hesitated to volunteer information to this stranger.

  “Pleeeaaasee.” Edmund suddenly whined like a child begging for sweets. “Friends, I want to help you. This world you have come to is disgustingly stagnant, unforgivably dull. The people in power have been in power as far back as anyone can remember. Large conflicts and glorious magical displays are a thing of the past. Hardly leaves any chance for a handsome young dreamer to rise up and become a hero. Climber’s like you, are the only people who ever seem to manage to stir things up. Let me jump on your coattails and support you in your story. Be it the story of a legend or a fool, let's work together to make it a story worth telling”

  “Wow… That was… intense.” Asher said, utterly stunned by Edmund’s enthusiasm.

  “No kidding.” Hazel added. “Anyway, It’s Asher’s story to tell, not mine”

  Edmund placed his drink down and leaned in intent, eager.

  “I’m here to rescue my brother.” Asher explained.

  Edmund fell back and slumped into his chair. “ A rescue mission for your brother? After I got my hopes up and everything.” He harrumphed.

  Asher tried not to feel annoyed at Edmund’s attitude and went on “Our home was raided by goblins from your world. We don't know how or why it happened but they took my brother when they left.”

  Edmund had sat back up and leaned in at the mention of goblins.”Say again? You mentioned goblins? In Safehome?”

  “I thought they were made up stories before the attack, things made up to spook children into being well behaved” Asher replied, still coming to grips with the fact of the attack.

  “It was terrible.” Hazel added in after Asher spoke.

  “That is very interesting, it shouldn’t be possible. You have reeled me back in!” Edmund declared.

  “I think we are owed some information now.” Hazel put in. “As far as we knew the Tower somehow contained a magical world, but we knew nothing about it since nobody ever came back. People on this side seem to know more than we ever did. So tell us, what is this world? What is the Tower?.”

  Asher was keen to learn more as well, they were in desperate need for more information.

  Edmund relaxed back in his chair, picked up his glass and began to swirl it as he went on. “I guess you are probably dying for context. I suppose I can help with that.” As usual Edmund seemed to be enjoying the attention that came along with knowing much more than his companions.

  “The world you are now sitting in is not inside the Tower, or perhaps it is, we don't know for sure, trying to figure it out can all get a bit too heady for me… Anyway, for the sake of explanation, it’s easier to discuss it if we assume it isn't.” Edmund began.

  “Great first lesson, just started and he’s all over the place.” Hazel muttered to herself.

  “Tower theory is very complicated Hazel, there are whole schools dedicated to considering the Tower, the magic behind it, how it’s magical context relates to the physics of the physical structures and implications of its existence in relation to theology. My apologies if my answers are not sufficiently succinct.” Edmund retorted, his tone lightly mocking.

  Hazel blushed at the reprimand. “Oh, sorry… go on… please.” her eyes darted between the two others as she shrank into herself.

  “So, to be clear. You come from a world without the influence of magic and your people thought that the Tower contained a magical and presumably dangerous world, right?” Edmund asked.

  “Right.” Both Asher and Hazel agreed.

  “The truth, I think, is much more interesting. Turns out your’s is just one of a number of worlds which are connected by the Tower. Rather than this world being inside the Tower as you thought, we are just the next in the chain of worlds. Each world has their own set of Tower’s which connect one plane to the next to the next.”

  Asher was stunned into silence. So the Tower acted like a portal? And there were actually many worlds connected to it, not just two? Asher’s understanding of what the world even was had to change. His very language would need to change, he realised, he had always thought that world meant everything, the Tower had been a part of his world and that was all they knew, but this man spoke of many worlds which were separate entities from each other. Asher decided he couldn’t process all of the implications of this information right now, he needed to be able to be a part of the conversation, to get as much information as he could.

  Edmund continued in his lesson, uninterrupted. “Your home world is considered the first step in the path, the first floor if you please. For reasons beyond our understanding your world was forbidden magic at some point, perhaps when all of this was first created. All of the worlds beyond yours have access to their magic, in fact the resident’s of the higher floors are almost always significantly more powerful than those of the lower floors. They encounter more danger but enjoy richer rewards if you understand, competition is a powerful selector.”

  He stopped for a time and basked in their baffled expressions. It seemed he was enjoying his part in undermining their entire world view.

  Before he continued again Hazel gathered herself enough to jump in with a question. “If that is all true then why didn’t we appear in this world’s Tower?”

  “Ah yes, perhaps, you could say, a boring question, but a worthy one nonetheless. One Tower does not connect to another, rather it transports you into a location in the next world. The selection of where is random as far as we can tell. The next Tower must be found and reached before a climber can continue.”

  “Climber?” Hazel asked.

  “The label used to refer to people who commit their lives to climbing the Tower, or if you prefer it put this way, exploring the worlds to the end.”

  Asher spoke up, one question had been gnawing at him this whole time. “But why? Why is the world like this? Why are the worlds connected by the Tower like this?”

  “Well, that’s the question isn't it? Some in the Church think they have the answers but, if you ask me, I don’t think anybody really understands all of this. It’s a mystery waiting to be solved.” Edmund smirked as he spoke, clearly he was curious about the Tower itself as well.

  Asher supposed that it made sense that even here, in this world of magic, the people didn’t have the answers to everything. It had just seemed like Edmund knew so much he had assumed he knew everything. He realised quickly how naive that was.

  “We can talk the mysteries of the Tower all you want later, for now I think we should get back to the point. You two are here to rescue this one's brother.” Edmund pointed to Asher. “You have no knowledge, resources, support or plan. All that in mind, I would like to ask if you would allow me to join you on your quest?” He awaited eagerly for them to respond.

  Hazel and Asher both sat in stunned silence for a time as they caught up with the discussion and Edmund’s strange request. “You want to join us? But why? You don’t even know us.” Asher said eventually.

  “I already told you why I want to join you, plus If I wait to get to know you, it will be too late. You will have gone off into the big bad world and almost certainly have been killed.” Edmund smiled, seemingly proud of his quip.

  Asher didn’t know how to respond. He thought he liked this man so far but they barely knew him. He was right that they had nothing backing them and they needed support but Asher’s mind couldn’t understand Edmund’s motivation, and that scared him. “What do you think?” He asked, turning to Hazel.

  Hazel hadn’t broken eye contact with Edmund since he spoke, she was still staring daggers straight at the man. He did not flinch under the glare and his smile held firm. “I think we should use him for now, until he reveals his true intentions.”

  At the jab Edmund clutched at his heart, as if he were deeply pained by the comment.

  “All right.” Asher said. “ Welcome to the team.” Finally, he offered his hand for a shake.

  Edmund beamed and took Asher's hand into his own with enthusiasm. “You won't regret this boss.”