"Fuck! Where is that bitch! I swear I saw her move through this damn place!" a man wearing blue plated armor with the lion sigil howled as he looked all over the place.
His voice bounced between stone teeth and empty air, ricocheting down the canyon like a warning bell.
The twenty-second floor of the Reverse Tower didn't swallow sound the way the city floors did, it threw it back at you, sharpened it, made it louder and meaner.
Every shout became an invitation for something hungry to listen.
This was the twenty-second floor of the Reverse Tower. A canyon of rocks and desert, full of deadly creatures, massive lizards, serpents the size of trains, earthworms, and deadly plants. The land was carved into jagged ribs, high spires of cracked stone, narrow passes choked with sand, sudden drop-offs that disappeared into black.
The air tasted dry enough to peel your tongue, and the wind came in gusts that carried grit like knives.
