Ascension Chronicle: The Tower Of Calamity

 The very atmosphere seemed alive with some untouched stillness, which long before made the hairs on the back of the neck raise warning that something was to change. Long have the world and weeks gone by without disturbance, so everyone has forgotten how to keep looking back and questioning the calm as it was susceptible to shredding with the sky itself.

Liam Carter, a normal 23-year-old who occupies the place of earning for every other needy fell, walked back home from his night shift. The neon lights of the city filtered through the puddles on the ground on which he trod, his head hidden under a hood from the falling rain. He had just turned the corner of his apartment building when the very first tremor earned its name.

The ground bucked beneath him, throwing him off balance. Windows shattered above, raining glass down like sharp confetti. Car alarms wailed in a cacophony of panic, but it wasn't the earthquake that drew Liam's attention. It was the sky.

A black swirling vortex ripped through the heavens, oozing with an ominous red light deep inside. It was stretched wider with every second, being a gaping wound in the fabric of reality. Then came the roar. A sound so primal, so alien, that it froze the air in his lungs. From the vortex monsters poured out-hulking, grotesque monsters gaping with gnashing teeth and eyes that seemed to glow like molten lava.

Loud chaos broke out. People screamed, and some started fleeing away; the monsters moved far more quickly. One moment, the streets were alive with people; in the next, they turned into a battlefield. Liam ducked into an alley, heart hammering as a clawed beast tore through a car like it was made of paper. He clutched his phone, desperately trying to call someone, anyone, but the network was dead.

"What the hell is happening?" he whispered, his voice trembling.

Above the chaos, a new presence appeared. In the city square, a gigantic tower was beginning to emerge. Its skin was black as obsidian, and etched within glowing blue runes that flickered and pulsed as if alive. It grew higher and higher until it even passed through the clouds until it was hanging over the whole city.

And then Liam heard the voice. Not in his ears but in his mind. 

> "Humans, the trial has begun."

The voice was both male and female; however, it struck with an authority that made Liam's knees buckle. People cloistered around him, clutching their heads in terror and confusion.

> "Survivors must pass an ascent. Only those chosen may enter the tower. Complete the hundred floors, and the fate of your world shall be revealed."

Before things began making sense to Liam, a blinding light engulfed him. There was a free-floating sensation, as though his body were evaporating. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the alley. He stood in a vast round chamber with a high ceiling. Dozens of others were there too, their faces had grown pale and bewildered.

The silence of the chamber was drawn and broken only by the soft glow-hum emanating from the runes lining the walls. In the middle of the room a shape formed, a phantom. What was probably an ethereal body yet bore no other feature. Hovering above them, it seemed to have an oppressive presence.

"Welcome, chosen ones. You are selected to against the Tower of Calamity. Each floor has a challenge. If you win, you will ascend. If you fail, you will die."

A murmur of fear and all mixed feelings passed in the spectators. For Liam, he clenched his fists while his mind embraced a chaotic cloud of questions. What nightmare was this? Why him? Why any of them?

But before anyone could ask anything, the very ground under them suddenly shifted. Their room metamorphosed. The walls melted into a great forest filled with humungous trees and thick undergrowth. But all was not well; there were figures monstrous and gargantuan growling low and deep in the distance.

> "This," boomed the voice, "is the first floor. Survive."

Liam looked round, noting his heart pounding like a drum. Some of the 'chosen' had already disappeared into the trees, while others, just stood frozen in their places, terror-struck. A tall man, quite self-assured grabbed the rusted sword that had just appeared at his feet and barked commands to muster a group. Liam was without time to work out whether he would follow or not.

Something growled and then released a snarl at that time. A mass of fur and muscle pounced into the clearing. Its gaze was fixed on Liam.

He had no weapons. No plans. Pure primal instincts of fight-or-flight.

To Be Continue.....