And so they did. Sir Maxwell of Urquill did the best use of all of his troops and war machines. He studied and analyzed all piece of intelligence his men managed to find, every scrap of information, every rumour as small and unbelieavable as it may seem, and despite all of that, despite all of the neverending nights trying to find a solution, constructing different strategies, different plans, even then, years after, the tower still avoided complete and utter domination.
The Sorcerer King was gone by now, yes. Vanquished by the sheer greatness of the standing army besieging him. Vanquished by all the years resisting, preventing the taking of the tower. He grew tired and eventually left, deeming those men not worthy of his attention no more. Yes, a small victory indeed.
But even though he was gone, what he left behind proved to be a not so easy task again.
But even though he was gone, what he left behind proved to be a not so easy task again.
The castle itself wasn't the true challenge, now Sir Maxwell and his men found out the truth about it all.
The Sorcerer King wasn't the real force holding them back, keeping them at bay. It was the tower itself, with all its meandering stairs, seemingless neverending, impossible to follow, impossible to map out. Sure, Max had gained access to the tower, but once inside he found out the terrible truth: he may be inside but the tower itself wouldn't allow him to gain control of it. Dozens of men, sent to explore it never came back, other returned but they had lost their mind inside the tower.
It seemed the tower changed every day. The entrance door was always in the same place, but once inside one never knew what to find.
One day a large hall room, the other a long and winding corridor, other still a flight of stairs. Once he was bewildered to find behind the entrance door a strong anf thick stone wall, impossible to break. So, it seemes that the tower had the power to bar their entrance for good....the fact that it allowed their entrance most of the times showed only that it was almost mocking the men, confusing them, in order to prevent their taking over.
The Sorcerer King wasn't the real force holding them back, keeping them at bay. It was the tower itself, with all its meandering stairs, seemingless neverending, impossible to follow, impossible to map out. Sure, Max had gained access to the tower, but once inside he found out the terrible truth: he may be inside but the tower itself wouldn't allow him to gain control of it. Dozens of men, sent to explore it never came back, other returned but they had lost their mind inside the tower.
It seemed the tower changed every day. The entrance door was always in the same place, but once inside one never knew what to find.
One day a large hall room, the other a long and winding corridor, other still a flight of stairs. Once he was bewildered to find behind the entrance door a strong anf thick stone wall, impossible to break. So, it seemes that the tower had the power to bar their entrance for good....the fact that it allowed their entrance most of the times showed only that it was almost mocking the men, confusing them, in order to prevent their taking over.
King James X was dead by now, fallen victim of a wild boar in an ill fate hunting accident. But still his words resonated with Sir Maxwell: "We'll be victorious. The first thing is not to lose hope. Have patience my friend. Strive and endure. Get to know the darkness, and the light will soon come".
Sir Maxwell missed his King, his friend, his comrade in arms. Together they achieved much, but this particular speck in the map was still defying him, not allowing him to achieve true victory. Altough the entire country, all of its castles, even this castle, everything and everyone was now a part of the Kingdom, this wretched tower still eluded him.
The new King, the dead King's brother, rose to to power while the young Prince waited for a more mature age. But King Jules I didn't share the same worries about this tower. Thus making it difficult to Sir Maxwell to fulfill the promise he made to the old King. The new King wanted to move forward, he said he didn't need that small tower, neither did the kingdom. But Sir Maxwell couldn't allow himself to forget, to simply walk away. Even knowing that the king was being really patient. Altough until when, he didn't know.
It was personal now. And more than overpowering the tower, he now just wanted to understand it, he strove to fully understanding it, to simply overpower it with his intelligence, his mind, but all had been in vain until now. Some of his men were already talking of tearing down the tower, so simple as that, but he wasn't ready for such a terminal solution. He had to understand it, anything less than that would constitute a failure to him, a horrible failure.
Gunther Dünn
