Three more days of travel brought them to Spirehold.
The city sprawled at the base of an impossible tower that rose so high it disappeared into the clouds. Buildings crowded together, streets winding between markets and inns and training yards, all of it leading toward the dark stone spire at the center.
Lyra leaned out of the carriage, staring up.
Lyra: That's bigger than I thought.
Dorn: Everyone says that the first time.
Vex said nothing. She stared at the tower with an expression none of them could read. This was where her parents climbed twelve years ago. Where they disappeared.
Sylas: We made it.
Leon: We rest today. Learn what we can. Enter tomorrow.
---
The city gates were open, guards waving them through without question. Adventurers came to Spirehold every day. The Outliers were just another party.
Inside, the streets were alive with noise and color. Merchants shouted over each other, selling maps of the known floors, gear for high altitudes, charms that supposedly warded off whatever lived above. Inns advertised climber specials on wooden signs. Fighters of every race and rank moved through the crowds.
Lyra: It's like Greyhaven but more.
Sylas: Greyhaven is a starting town. This is a destination.
They found an inn near the base of the Spire. The innkeeper took one look at their gear and their scars and gave them a room without haggling.
Innkeeper: You're climbing?
Dorn: Tomorrow.
Innkeeper: Then get some sleep. You'll need it.
---
That afternoon they walked to the tower's base.
A single archway stood at ground level, carved with ancient symbols and humming with low magic. Through it swirled a portal of light—the entrance to Floor One.
Nearby, set into the tower's stone, they found a wall covered in names. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Carved over decades, some fresh, some faded to nothing.
Dorn stopped walking.
Vex stopped beside him.
Lyra: What is it?
Vex's voice came out quiet, stripped of its usual sharpness.
Vex: This is where they list the ones who didn't come back.
Dorn found their parents' names near the bottom. Kaelen and Mira Vance. Gold Party. Floor Seven. Twelve years ago.
Vex reached out and touched the stone where the letters were carved, her fingers tracing each one slowly.
Vex: They made it past the Guardian of Six. They opened the portal to Seven. And then they never came back.
Lyra moved closer to Dorn, not touching, just there. Sylas stood beside Vex, silent.
Leon read the names above and below. So many families. So many lost.
Leon: We'll go further.
Vex looked at him.
Vex: You don't know that.
Leon: No. But we'll try.
---
A grizzled woman with missing fingers approached them from a nearby bench. She walked with the slow confidence of someone who had survived longer than most.
Marta: You're Vance's kids.
Dorn: How did you know?
Marta: The way you looked at that wall. The way she touched the names. I've seen that look before.
She studied them both for a long moment.
Marta: I met your parents once, before they climbed. Good people. Strong. They beat the Guardian of Six—first party to do it in years. Opened the portal to Seven and stepped through. That was it.
She paused, letting the weight of it settle.
Marta: If they couldn't make it past Seven…
Dorn: We're still climbing.
Marta nodded slowly.
Marta: Then don't let their names be the last ones you see.
She walked away, disappearing into the crowd of climbers and merchants.
---
That night they gathered in their inn room. Maps covered the table. Albert's notes sat beside them. Food went untouched.
Leon: Tomorrow we enter. We take it floor by floor. If we need to retreat through the safe portals, we retreat. But we keep moving forward.
Dorn: And if we make it to Seven?
Leon: Then we find out what happened to your parents.
Vex: And we don't become more names on that wall.
Lyra: Sounds like a plan.
Sylas: Simple is good.
They packed their gear, checked their weapons, counted their jars. Outside, the Spire loomed against the night sky, its peak lost in clouds and darkness.
Waiting.
---
End of Chapter 51