“Who do you think made it?” Proxi asked sheepishly, breaking the silence that hung in the air.

Ash had been quiet since they left the ruined ‘rest’ room. He had checked the stairway meticulously, making sure to uncover any would be clues and tricks that might trap the pair.

Ash looked back at Proxi, hovering behind him as they climbed.

“Made what?” he replied.

“The weird golem?”

“Oh, I’m not sure” Ash answered, raising his hands and flopping them over in a shrug, “I’m not sure that it was made by anyone. Maybe it was just another puzzle conjured up by this magic tower.” “What about the person named in the letter, the wizard guy… what his name?” Proxi mused.

“Alderman?” Ash answered, not turning back this time.

“Yeah! Him! Maybe he created the golems?”

“Maybe, but the letter painted him more like a wise and kind figure. Whoever set up these golems to attack on sight doesn’t seem all that nice.”

The soft patter of Ash’s steps echoed through the long stairwell. The passage was illuminated by soft moonlight from outside, the faintest hint of dawn tinting the light a warm orange. Ash yawned deeply, raising his hand to rub his eyes. He was tired. With dawn breaking that meant Ash had been awake through the night, if not 24 hours already... assuming this worlds day and night was 24 hours. If only the previous room had been a rest point, he wished.

“The letter doesn’t make sense anyway. It was welcoming us but all we’ve found is empty streets and run down, abandoned ruins. Maybe Alderman, whoever he was, went mad a long time ago and that’s why everyone left” Ash pondered, his words drawn out by yawns.

“You think he turned bad?” Proxi questioned.

“Dunno. It’s common in stories like these” Ash answered.

“Stories like these?”

Ash swept his hand in front and to the side, gesturing to the space around him.

“Like the one you and I seem to be trapped in? You know, evil wizard tower? Trials or death? It’s in just about every fantasy game” he shared openly.

The duo rounded another turn in the flight of steps. A new door came into view ahead, a simple iron door. No strange embellishments, no hints from what Ash could tell.

“What’s a video game?” Proxi queried, “and why are there so many evil wizards there?”

Ash snorted, scrunching his face. He had forgot that Proxi wasn’t like him and now he owed them a long-winded explanation of something that didn’t exist in this world.

“I’ll uh…tell you when we get out of here” He offered instead, selling the excuse with a lopsided grin, “let’s see how bad this room is.”

--

Ash turned the cold metal knob, pushing the door inwards to reveal a fourth room. A swift gust of air escaped past the open doorway; it was cold and unsettling. Ash blinked through buffeted eyes as he stepped into the open space.

The chamber appeared to be completely empty. The atmosphere of the chamber was bleak, dark save for weak light of two torches that clung to the far wall. There was a chill in the air, the room damp as if it were underground. As his eyes adjusted to the lowlight, Ash noticed the walls were made of natural stone, not the intricate bluestone he had become accustomed but raw rock chiselled flat and straight. Sat between the torchlight was an ornate, circular aperture that looked like a bank vault. A series of rings were engraved into the age worn metal that was wet a slick sheen. The central ring composed the face of an old woman with her mouth agape.

Another one of those, Ash thought.

“That’s ominous” Ash commented, stepping further into the gloomy chamber.

Proxi whined low, almost timidly as they hovered at waist height.

Inside, Ash saw that there were small but wide platforms carved into the stone walls. He was taken aback to find they were occupied by long decayed remains. His face scrunched at the sight.

Skeletal forms, long and thin, lay inside these carved holes as if filed away to rest. It was like an ancient burial ritual within the chamber; a place to house the dead in quiet and peaceful rest. The occupants reminded him of the skeleton models that often hung in high school science rooms, sitting stiff and expressionless. These however were not the pearly white plastic he remembered; they were a stained brown colour, closer to the rock that surrounded them.

The room gave Ash an odd sense of Déjà vu that he couldn’t put his finger on. The layout, the cold dankness and even the skeletons remembered him of something. Hell, the strange archaic chamber door felt familiar too. He scanned around the room, searching for what set off this strange sense of familiarity. Was it a game, a movie? He surely hadn’t been here before.

Why was it so familiar? Was the tower drawing from his subconscious to create these rooms? That felt like an invasion of privacy. Ash leaned over, poking his head closer to inspect the higher of the two skeletons. It looked humanoid, but not quite. It was around the size of a human, but the bones were slender, and its skull had more angular features. Maybe the people in this dream world were different from his own or … Ash thought back to the ‘race’ listed next to his name.

“Proxi, are there other races in this world?” He asked softly, turning back to his floating companion.

“Hmmm” they paused, thinking as if searching through their memories.

“I seem to know that there are humans and there are outlanders like you. There are also demi-humans…” Proxi continued, prattling off a list of human adjacent races.

What are demi-humans? Ash thought. That wasn’t what he expected to hear.

The information was helpful, but Proxi hadn’t confirmed or denied Ash’s specific suspicions. Perhaps Proxi only knew the races that had once lived in this city.

“This skeleton” Ash commented, “They look like Elves to me, do you ha-“

Before he could finish the sentence, Ash was cut off by a bell chime from behind him.

“Update!” Proxi interrupted with a hint of glee, “there are Elves too.”

So, Ash was right. This was an Elf.... and apparently his deduction had provided an update for Proxi. Ash wondered what else he could predict and unlock for Proxi. Apparently not elements, but that was useful information to have. Ash had a better idea of this world though; it was definitely a traditional fantasy world so far. Maybe his RPG experience would help after all. He felt a little more at ease knowing that.

--

Ash stepped back from the remains, his eyes lingering a moment before turning away. He had the nagging suspicion the skeletons were another trap. He half expected the skeletons to crane forward, lumbering towards him with outstretched arms.

Please stay down, he thought.

The bodies stayed still and unmoving. Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

Ash turned back to the baroque circular door of the burial chamber. Upon closer inspection Ash counted seven rings surrounding the scowling face in the centre. Each band contained a series of seven symbols, the same symbols.

“If I’m right then this should work” Ash said quietly beneath his breath, reaching out to touch door. They were cool to the touch and damp beneath his fingers.

He pulled lightly at the outermost ring. It shifted with a dull grinding sound, sliding the array of symbols around the doorway. The corners of Ash’s mouth curled on end.

It’s a symbol puzzle, he thought. That is familiar.

Ash’s thought back to many of the fantasy video games he’d played. This was always a common obstacle.

Ash turned to Proxi, his hand still touching the metal rings.

“I think these symbols need to be arranged in a specific order to open the door” He conveyed.

“That seems easy enough, it’s just another riddle then?” Proxi replied with approval.

“I think so, but If each ring is moved and the order is wrong.”

Ash paused, turning to peer at the lifeless skeletons, “I have a feeling our sleeping friends might not be so friendly after all”.

Proxi whimpered, “O-Oh. They’re only skeletons though and you are pretty strong with your battle mantle?”

“True. I could take at least two of them” Ash agreed, “But four? especially when they might have magic powers too? I’d rather not risk it.”

“So we need to get it right on the first try?” Proxi questioned.

“I think so. We’ve gotten good at these though. We got this” Ash reassured, flashing a half smile.

Despite his theory, to Ash the symbols were an oddity. Some were obviously animals this world and his shared. There was a spider and a cat. Those were simple. The others however were less so. Two were close to earth animals but alien and strange. One was a bird that Ash had never seen before, with a long fantastical crest that trailed from its head. Another looked like a strange hairy cow, the detail of the symbol made it look like a shaggy ball with a set of 4 horns. The final 3 symbols were entirely alien to Ash’s world.

One was a dragon; Ash knew that. The long neck and outstretched wings were displayed clearly enough. Alien, but known. The other two left him perplexed. There was a dog-like creature with long hackle spines and a long tail that ended in a point like a scorpion. The last was stranger again, it was vaguely humanoid with wings like an insect. When Ash cocked his head to study it seemed oddly like the cartoon fairies from children’s movies.

“Proxi, you don’t happen to know what these are do you?” Ash asked hopefully, pointing at each of the stranger creatures adorning the vault like door. Proxi floated close, umming and erring at the symbols.

“Uhhhh… that one is a dragon?” They replied hesitantly, “which should be the biggest one”.

Ash scrunched his face.

We’re both in the dark here.

Proxi had pointed out the obvious that Ash missed though. Size. Was size the important factor to the puzzle? If it was, the dragon would be on the inner ring. The cow-like creature would probably follow. Ash guessed the scorpion wolf would probably be bigger than a cat, but the bird he was unsure. In a fantasy land you could expect birds far larger than the ones from home. Even then, some birds back home were bigger than cats too. Without a reference Ash thought it safer to play to the fantasy tropes. That left the humanoid figure and the spider. The insect wings made Ash think the spider would be the bigger of the two.

Ash nodded when he was done, happy with his deduction of the creatures’ sizes. As he lifted his hand to begin rearranging the orders, Proxi interjected.

“Why do you think there is a face in middle?” they pondered.

Ash’s eyes narrowed. Proxi was right, it was strange. He wasn’t sure how it related to the symbols themselves. Was it decoration?

“They kind of look a witch” Proxi continued.

“You know what a witch is?” Ash queried, surprised.

“Of course,” Proxi proclaimed confidently, “I know what I know and to me that looks like a witch.” “Why would a witch be on the door?” Ash mused, his hand lingering on the door, “Is it cursed?”

“Well…” Proxi puffed up, clearing their voice, “Witches would eat a whole manner of strange creatures, no?”

Proxi sounded sure of this. Ash did know witches to eat children, and the old fairy tales talked about bubbling cauldrons?

“Witches… eat… these?” Ash trailed, his gaze appearing far away.

Fairy tales…witches, he thought. How did that relate to different sized creatures?

In a hurry he clicked his fingers, a thwack breaking the momentary silence.

“That’s it! That has to be it!”

“What is?” Proxi asked, confused.

“The face is meant to eat each of the symbols! It’s like a nursery rhyme from home… I think” Ash answered eagerly.

“What does that mean?”

“Let me show you”

--

Ash carefully span the circular rings around, rearranging the symbols from largest on the outer rings to smallest on the inner rings. At least, he hoped that it was the correct order. Ash explained to Proxi what a nursery rhyme was and how in this tale, a woman swallowed one creature which led her to swallow more and more creatures to chase the first.

As Ash pulled the last ring into place, he crossed fingers and hoped. A load clack and twang erupted from the metal door.

Please don’t make me turn around to face the skeletons, he hoped.

After a few moments, Proxi broke the silence.

“So, uh… were you wrong?” They asked quietly.

Ash drew his brows together in thought, “I am sure this is right,” he said, peeking over his shoulder, “The skeletons didn’t get up so the order must be correct. Unless…”

Ash grimaced, the light in his face dimming.

“I have to sing it” he said, defeated.

Proxi chuckled lightly, chirping with anticipation as Ash furrowed his brow. He would have to make up names for the creatures that he didn’t know. He hoped the intent would carry across. When he was done, he listed them to Proxi.

“It’s a magical nursery rhyme. They’ll get the point” he told Proxi.

Ash stepped back, cleared his throat and began the recital.

“There once was a witch who swallowed an Ox,

I don’t know how she swallowed an Ox,

She swallowed the Ox to catch the Wolf,

She swallowed the Wolf to catch the Eagle,

She swallowed the Eagle to catch the Cat,

She swallowed the Cat to catch the Spider,

She swallowed the Spider to catch the Fairy.

There once was a witch who swallowed a dragon,

She’s dead and charred, of course of course”

As Ash finished reciting the long rhyme, the symbols on each ring began to glow from the smallest to the largest. They cycled through reds and blues and yellows and purples and when they petered out, the gaping mouth of the angry female figure snapped shut and miraculously, started chewing. With each bite, the sound of grinding metal could be heard.

“Did it work?” Proxi asked, bouncing around Ash’s shoulders, “It worked right?”

Ash held his breath.

Come on. Work. It’s got to work, he thought.

After what felt like an eternity, a loud snapping click was heard from behind the worn iron door. What followed was a haunting creak that echoed through the gloomy chamber as the door fanned open.

“Yes! Come on!” Ash yelled, throwing a fist in the air, “We’ve got to be close by now!”