“It is believed, and well accepted, that the difficulty of the zone within the gate relates to the level of the tower. A lower level will have less powerful monsters, and the size of the zone will directly correspond. Therefore, it leads one to wonder where the monsters come from.

  Climbers that have reached up into the higher levels of the tower have reported facing sentient monsters. Does the tower create these monsters, or does it simply link our world to another whose inhabitants are forced to be combatants when the gate is generated?”

  -Excerpt from Ruth Gabbinstone’s, An In-Depth Exploration of Tower Related Portals and Dimensions

  ???????????????

  Snek slithered down and dropped from the edge of the hatch, falling through Kor’s wiry hair and plopping down into her nest with a light thud. She stuck her tiny head out the front and gazed, upside down, into Kor’s face. The goblin woman’s eyes were red, but she let out a small giggle when she made eye contact with the small creature.

  “Is Snek feeling better?” Kor asked. Her voice sounded worn and scratchy.

  Snek nodded and tapped her forehead into Kor’s, indicating that she wanted Kor to use her spell and connect their minds. She complied, and as her tattoos faintly glowed and eyes briefly drew milky white, Snek could feel the presence of the goblin woman enter her mind. She pushed feelings of concern and curiosity towards her friend, and Kor sighed.

  “Jigz was here and asked if Snek was dead.” The goblin woman said.

  How did he know what happened? Snek asked.

  “Jigz is the gob who has rats spy for him. Jigz poisoned the rat.” Kor whispered.

  The little snake turned her head to the side as her small forked tongue flicked out and tasted the air. Why?

  “Kor and Jigz had baby. Baby was Tor. Jigz thinks Kor isn’t focused enough on what happened to Tor. Thinks Kor only cares for Snek.” She sighed, lowering her head and breaking eye contact. “Kor is sorry, Snek. What happened is Kor’s fault.”

  Snek felt hot anger boil within her. She wasn’t mad that Jigz had tried to poison her. Every single creature she had met in her life, except Kor, had tried to do the same.

  How is that your fault, Kor? She asked.

  Kor twirled her moustache and took a deep shaky breath. “Kor made deal with Snek to keep safe. Then Snek almost died again.”

  I got stronger because of what happened, and Kor - you saved me! Snek pushed her memories of her new skill and mutation through their link, along with some comforting warmth to emphasize that her words were genuine.

  Kor gasped, her beady eyes widening. “Kor didn’t know Snek could mek skills stronger. Skill can grow too…” She lifted her ringed green finger to tap on her chin before continuing, “Kor knows how to make some poisons and can give small amounts to Snek to make skill stronger. Snek want that?”

  Excitement roared through their mental connection as Snek nodded vigorously, before upsetting her balance and falling from Kor’s head. The goblin woman deftly reached out and caught the little snake before she could fall all the way to the floor.

  “Snek should try not to fall so much.” Kor chided with a laugh, then carried her up into the loft and placed the small snake onto the table. She lifted the burnt looking black jar off the floor and into her lap, opened it, and began pulling out various stems, flowers, and miscellaneous vegetation.

  I don’t try to fall. Snek responded, watching her friend with curiosity.

  “Kor didn’t know if she would need this when Snek was hurt, grabbed it anyway.”

  Do you have other things hidden in the mess downstairs? Snek teased.

  Kor looked up at Snek with a wide smile. “Kor has many good things. Big collection!”

  Big collection is right, the snake replied as she pondered Kor’s words. Jigz - Kor’s previous mate - had tried to kill Snek because she had been monopolizing Kor’s time while teaching her how to read. It was misguided at best, yet she doubted Jigz knew or believed that what they were doing was actually their best shot at finding Tor’s killer. She sent those thoughts across her link to Kor.

  “Jigz thinks Kor is lying about Snek. Has been telling other gobs that Kor’s mind broke when Tor died.” Kor answered without looking up from the herbs. “Some gobs think Jigz is right.”

  What do you think? Snek asked.

  Kor thought for a moment before responding. “Kor’s mind did break, but not so much like Jigz says.”

  Should we kill him? Snek asked angrily.

  Kor could feel Snek’s rage through their temporary connection, and her lips turned up in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Snek can try to kill Jigz, if Snek wants. Kor can’t. Tor loved Jigz, and…” The goblin woman paused as she drew in a deep breath, “Kor can’t.”

  They quietly looked at each other for a moment, and Snek sent feelings of comfort and understanding through the link as their connection faded. She thought she understood where Kor was coming from, and had felt the ocean of guilt and sadness seep through their connection when Kor talked about her daughter.

  The goblin woman patted the little red snake on the head with a finger before reaching to her own face and unfastening the magical nose ring. She held it up before her eyes for a moment, then reached down, setting it on the table in front of Snek with a click.

  “This is for Snek,” She said.

  To Snek’s credit, she didn’t immediately dart towards the small ring. Instead, she backed up and shook her head. It was too big of a gift. She had seen the power of the ring when Kor had used it to manipulate the dead rat during the painful regurgitation.

  “Snek taught Kor to read, but Kor has not helped make Snek strong. Ring is small compared to hope Snek has given.” A small green hand gently pushed the little snake towards the ring.

  Snek gave her best shrug, extended her neck outwards, and poked the small ring with her nose.

  A window popped up in front of her when she made contact.

  “Will also help Snek with writing.” The goblin woman said as she pulled a small needle from her shirt, holding it pointed towards the ceiling in front of the little snake. “Need to make a small hole for ring.”

  Realizing that Kor wanted her to choose a location for the ring, Snek considered for a brief moment before bringing her tail around and pointing to the septum between her nostrils.

  Kor nodded, and pierced through the skin quickly before bringing up the ring with her other hand. Snek realized that the ring was way too big, but as Kor held it up to the little snake's nose, the ring shrunk dramatically in proportion to the snake’s nostrils. It slid into place perfectly.

  She couldn’t see her new jewelry, but felt it when she flicked her tongue out.

  A blue screen materialized in front of Snek.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  The snake mentally affirmed, and the notification changed.

  So my wisdom attribute makes spells stronger. Or at least, this spell. Snek mused as she finished reading through the description. Well, no time like the present.

  She mentally pulled at the skill, and felt a brief surge of power rush through her. Part of her mind wondered if her eyes had grown milky like Kor’s did when she cast magic. Snek turned to the large book and directed it to float upwards and turn to face her with a mental tug.

  It… Kind of worked.

  In response to her prompting, the book launched up off the table and began spinning rapidly - the pages fluttering in a chaotic blur. Kor jumped and stared at the book as it careened upward and crashed into the ceiling with a tremendous thud.

  They sat there staring at the book as it remained pressed aggressively to the ceiling, multiple pages bent in various directions. Kor burst into a maniacal cackle, her body convulsing with laughter and sending tears flying from her eyes.

  Kor spoke sporadically between laughs, “Snek. Don’t. Kill. Book!”

  Snek dipped her head in embarrassed amusement. Her first time casting a spell hadn’t gone exactly as she imagined, but it was fine.

  Learning from that lesson, Snek pulled back on her mental force incrementally until the book began to spin slightly and lower a hair from the ceiling. She held it in place for a moment, getting a feel for her new skill’s balance. Then she pulled ever so slightly, and the book floated down and hovered in front of her.

  She continued to work on wielding telekinesis with a precise touch, gently flipping through the pages until she saw the familiar diagram drawn into the margins. The runic script scrawling across the diagram was similar to what she remembered from the ring of telekinesis. The words had the same sharp qualities. She figured that they must be the same language.

  Did that mean that the diagram in the book was a recipe for some sort of spell? Snek wasn’t in a good position to see the lettering on her new septum ring, but as she thought about the strange characters something shifted in her mind. She honed into that feeling and gave it a tug. The runic script, representing the telekinesis spell, floated into her mind’s eye.

  She couldn’t read the individual letters, but could sense the overall meaning. It was strange, but she assumed that meaning was granted from her acquisition of the spell itself. Turning back to the diagram, she saw that some of the individual runes from her spell were also written on the page, just not in the same combinations.

  It was a starting place. Hopefully she could acquire more spells or clues that would guide her to understand the language of magic, but she could be patient for now. Kor had long since turned back to sifting through the various herbs on the table, letting Snek experiment with her new power. Snek lowered the book onto the table gently and canceled the spell, turning back to Kor.

  “Kor is missing blue flower for best poison and antidotes.” The goblin woman said, her lips in a line that pointed down slightly.

  The snake dipped her head curiously to the side as she turned to face Kor. The goblin woman wanted to make a poison? Kor absently twirled her moustache before sitting up straight, and glancing at the snake.

  “Kor has an idea. Will be dengerous for Snek, but would fix problems.” Kor smiled wide, “Get missing flower, make gobs like Snek, and make Jigz look dumb.”

  Kor cast the spell to once again connect their minds, and the two conspirators hatched their plan. The goblin woman was right - this plan would be very dangerous for the little snake, but she felt confident with her new skills and the magical ring Kor had given her. Once they fully fleshed out their plan, Snek wound her way up into Kor’s hair and prepared for transit.

  ???????????????

  After a few quick stops around the cavern, Mog and Kor were standing at the edge of a shoddy wooden construction. Snek peered out through the tangled hive of white hair atop Kor’s head, observing the strange creation. Clearly goblin made, the race track looked on the brink of falling apart as the village goblins slapped its side and jumped up and down.

  Inside the track, rats were sprinting, dodging, and navigating through various deadly obstacles. There were spikes lining portions of the walls, and blades swinging back and forth occasionally impaling the unlucky rodent. Snek watched as a large and particularly muscular rat jumped from an elevated platform and onto a sickly looking rodent, crushing it with its hairy feet before grabbing another rat's tail. It bit down and wrenched its thick neck to the side, launching the target of its attack sideways and into a wall spike, ending the poor creature’s race prematurely.

  Each time a rat died, some of the goblins would shake their heads or drop to their knees dramatically, yet the majority continued to rambunctiously cheer. Many goblins were chanting the word ‘Meaty’ again and again, and it wasn’t long before Snek figured out that was the name of the violently buff rat.

  Meaty crossed the finish line just as its only remaining competitor frantically climbed through a tube and was bisected by a sharp flat blade waiting on the other side. Meaty paused, stood on his hind legs, and flexed its arms and numerous abdominal muscles towards the crowd. They ate it up, and a wide smirk danced across Meaty’s chiseled jawline. Its gaze briefly swept past Kor’s small group, and Snek saw the gleam of intelligence in the rat's eyes.

  Curious, she thought, None of the other rats were intelligent.

  “Meaty wins again! Always big and strong.” An old and devious looking goblin yelled from atop a shabby looking wooden platform.

  So that’s Jigz, Snek thought. She stared at her enemy and attempted murderer while completely obscured by Kor’s hair. She had expected a previous mate of Kor’s to be… handsome? Strong looking? Impressive in some way? He was not. Jigz was old and frail looking, his small goblin frame hunched over and gripping the railing as he shouted.

  Gazing across the arena, she could make out a group of older goblins huddled together as they whispered and pointed at the rat arena. And those are the other elders.

  The Rat Race was exactly as Kor had described before they left the hut. Apparently, this small gambling den was run and rigged by Jigz. He exerted his control over all of the participating rats, choosing who would win and how the others would die. Goblins would bring any rats they happened to find to compete, which were supposedly untamed, for their chance to win big.

  Unfortunately for them, there were no untamed rats in this cavern.

  Yet there were never too few rats to compete in the races, as the other goblins either didn’t care or didn’t know that they were being taken advantage of. Once the race finished, Kor beelined for Jigz’s podium with rehearsed panic scrawled across her face. She stomped right up to the base of his makeshift podium, drawing the attention of the other goblins.

  “Jigz!” She yelled, glaring up at him from the ground below the podium. “Give Kor the blue flowers with red spikes.”

  Jigz scoffed and leaned back dramatically before calling down his response, “Just because Kor is boss, Kor can’t steal from Jigz!” As he gazed down at her small posse, Snek could see the delight and untempered malice in his eyes.

  Kor had explained that the specific flower she wanted could be used for a myriad of poisons and antidotes, including the antidote to the poison that was inflicted on Snek last night. Demanding the flower so publicly served two purposes: First to lead Jigz into thinking that his assassination attempt had been at least somewhat successful, and to encourage a large response from Jigz in front of the other goblins.

  The excited gleam in the old goblin’s eyes indicated that their plan had been successful so far. Silence grew in the cavernous room, only punctuated from the low squeaks the buff rat made while flexing his muscles. Meaty hadn’t noticed that the crowd had stopped admiring him in favor of a disagreement between their leaders.

  Kor stared at Jigz briefly before thoughtfully scanning the members of her tribe. She snapped her head back to the father of her deceased child and blurted, “Kor will bet on race for flower.”

  Jigz’s smile grew maliciously wide at the opportunity to publicly humiliate Kor, and Snek figured that Jigz wouldn’t have the same reservations Kor had when it came to killing their previous spouse.

  That might become a problem in the future, she thought, before bringing her attention back to the conversation at hand.

  “If Kor can bring racer to beat Meaty, Kor can have all of Jigz’s poison flowers!” He yelled down. These were the words they were hoping to hear, and Snek tapped the top of Kor’s head in excitement. He ended his proclamation with, “If Kor loses, Jigz gets bren in jar!”

  Kor had also expected this, yet Snek was surprised nonetheless. Why are they all so obsessed with that musty brain? She wondered.

  Jigz knew how important the brain was to Kor, and was trying to slowly take away everything Kor held affection for. What an asshole, Snek thought as excited fury and adrenaline rose in her little body. She couldn’t wait to make him pay for hurting Kor.

  “Where is Kor’s rat anyway? Did Kor forget how race works?” Jigz taunted and laughed, drawing out some shocked gasps and muffled laughter from the onlooking crowd.

  Perfect. He can’t go back on his words now without looking weak, Snek thought as Kor reached into her tangled mess of white hair, lifting the snake out and holding it high for everyone to see.

  “Snek will race for Kor!”