Chapter 84 - No Good Reasons (Patreon)

Hump stared at Albry’s unmoving body; the image of those black eyes fixed in his mind. Essence had filled them, just as he had seen it in the cave.

“Gods above, Skander, you’ve assaulted a High Priest. Are you insane?” Randall burst out, the abruptness of his voice setting Hump once more on alert. He still stood behind Madeleine, her shield ready in case Hump launched another Focused Blast.

The tension in the sanctuary was palpable. One moment, auras were blazing, and the air was filled with frostfire and flame, the next… well, Skander had ended it all in a moment. Hump readied his essence once more, a Shield spell on his lips in case Randall decided to use more than just words to express himself. The young lord’s focus was fixed on Skander, a glare so intense that the pompous arsehole looked ready to explode.

“The only insane one is this guy.” Skander pointed in Albry’s direction. “Did you not see his eyes?” He crossed his arms and shivered. “Creepy. Besides, you lot were busy snapping at each other. Someone had to do something.”

“Somebody was,” Vivienne snapped, returning her wand to her robes. “Knocking a sick man over the head is far from helpful. He could have been having a seizure!”

“I’ve never seen a seizure like that,” Skander said defensively.

“And are you well educated in essence induced seizures?” Vivienne asked. “Gods spare me. What good would knocking him unconscious have done anyway!”

She strode to Albry’s side and knelt, inspecting the back of his head where he’d hit the ground and looking him over for any other obvious injuries. The results must have been positive as she let out a relieved breath.

Randall seemed to have regained his wits, or whatever it was that had been instilled in his head in their place. He took aim with his wand once more. “This has gone on just about long enough. Priest Albry is unconscious. Clearly your harmless test was not so harmless after all. You pushed Priest Albry too far, and this is the result. You will leave him in our care now.”

Vivienne gave him a hard glare. “Do you wish for your High Priest to die?” Her voice was quiet, but so full of venom it made Hump’s skin crawl. He was reminded that Vivienne was at minimum a Rank 4 wizard.

“Is that a threat?” Randall growled, wand radiating frostfire. Clearly that fact was lost on him.

“Gods no, you idiot. He needs medical attention. I may not like Albry, but I certainly don’t wish him dead. His soul was damaged, and that injury has clearly developed. To top it off, he now has a head injury.”

“You cannot possibly blame us for this.” Randall gestured at the armoured man behind him. “Lawrence here is a Chosen of Emira for goodness’ sake, he was taking very good care of Priest Albry. We are all Chosen and had it perfectly under our control. His assistance has been nothing but useful ever since we arrived. He was fine before you got here and would have been fine if you hadn’t pushed him over the edge.”

“Albry hasn’t been fine since he was attacked two weeks ago,” Vivienne said. “As I previously informed him, soul damage to the extent of his would take months to heal naturally, if it fully heals at all. He refused my help at the time, and I accepted that. However, the situation has changed. That was not the essence of a first circle Chosen, nor that of Hestia.”

“It was just like the essence in the cave,” Hump said. “The flicker of affinities in the darkness was unmistakeable.”

“How can that be possible?” Dylan said. “He was only injured by a spirit; they don’t have that kind of strength.”

Vivienne frowned down at the priest. “Hopefully Albry will be able to give us a clue when he wakes up. Until then, we need to focus on what we do next. Lord Randall, this is not going to work if you continue to fight us.”

“You have given me no reason to trust you,” Randall growled.

“I can’t believe I need to reiterate this, but we are all working toward the same goal: to protect Fishers Lake. I can imagine Priest Albry has filled your ears with all sorts of nonsense but understand this. I have lived in this town alongside my apprentice for almost four years. The people here are my friends, and it’s more my home than anywhere else. I have more motivation to protect it than any one of you here. I am not asking you to leave town, I’m not even asking you to leave the church. I’m only asking you not to interfere.”

Ramdall glanced awkwardly at Madeleine. She gave him a nod and slowly he lowered his wand. “Perhaps Lawrence can assist you with Priest Albry.”

Randall glanced awkwardly at Madeleine, then back at Vivienne. Slowly, he lowered his wand. With a quick gesture of his hand, he indicated the cleric at his side. “Lawrence here is a Chosen of Emirai. Perhaps he can assist you with Priest Albry.”

Hump saw the worry leave Vivienne’s face. “Thank you. Dylan, would you come here too. Bind Priest Albry’s arms and legs and then start using Nature’s Heart on him. Hopefully, he’ll recover quickly.

“I’ll get right on it.” Dylan hurried down the aisle to the altar, already conjuring a handful of seeds.

“Surely tying him up is too far,” Randall said. “And I told you, Lawrence is a cleric. He can help.”

“Dylan is a Chosen druid of Krioc and of the third circle,” Vivienne interrupted. “While nature essence may not possess the immediate healing of life, I know to trust his skills. As for binding Albry, it is only a precaution until we see his state when he awakes.”

Randall appeared reluctant but didn’t argue. “Very well.”

“Wonderful.” Vivienne smiled tightly. “Lawrence, I’m sure you know best how you can assist my apprentice. Coordinate with him.” She said it in a way that made it clear which one of them would be in charge, and the cleric took it with ease.

“Of course, Wizard Vivienne.” He nodded eagerly, seemingly just pleased that the conflict was over, quickly joining Dylan beside the High Priest.

“Good, that’s one thing sorted,” she said. “Here are the facts. We’ve discovered spirits near Lakewood alongside a pack of previously unseen monsters. It appears they were brought there using a summoning ritual, but to confirm that, we need an expert on the matter. I’m hoping Priestess Elowen will be able to fulfil that role. Now does anyone know where I can find her?”

There was a long silence. Everyone looked at Randall, who bit his lip, a deep frown on his face as he thought.

It was Madeleine that broke the silence. “She’s being held in her chambers. I can take you to her.”

Randall turned to her with wide eyes. “Madeleine? What are you doing?” He didn’t seem angry. If anything, he appeared hurt.

“We were wrong, Randy,” she said quietly. “At the end of the day, we didn’t intend to come here, but now that we’re here we should be doing what we can to help Fishers Lake. And that’s what I’m going to do. Whether you decide to do the same is up to you.”

She left his side and walked over to Vivienne, gesturing to the side door that led to where Albry had been held in the past. “It’s this way.

“Thank you,” Vivienne said, any anger gone from her tone. “Hump, could you come with us please. The rest of you, I expect Captain Winfrey has already been informed and will be arriving any moment. Celaine, stick with Dylan and help to look after Albry. Bud, take care of the captain’s questions and make sure he understands the situation. We need everyone to finally be on the same page. Is that understood?”

There was a round of agreement. Hump joined Vivienne and Madeleine, giving an awkward smile to the knight as she opened the door for him. All he got in return was an impassive stare.

Well, she definitely doesn’t like me, he thought. Honestly, he couldn’t blame her. While it took a very roundabout way of thinking to blame Hump for Randall and his party being there, it wasn’t farfetched that there was some lingering resentment there.

She led the way to the sleeping quarters, indicating a locked door. “This is it.” She took off a chain around her neck with a key on it but paused before handing it over. “Please understand, while Randall may be rash, he’s not blind. None of us are. Lawrence has been working with Priest Albry every day but found his soul to be undamaged. And then last night, he came to us with his vision… and it proved fruitful.”

“So you allowed him to imprison an innocent woman,” Vivienne said.

“Only while we investigated,” Madeleine said. “We had Albry’s trust, and he was forthcoming with his help. Why would he direct us to Hestia’s Star if he was trying to harm the town?”

Vivienne took the key. “Indeed. Why would he? Whatever the case, at least in our hands it won’t catch us off guard. It does raise another question though. If it was not Hestia guiding you to the artefact, who was it? And what do they want it for?”

“Priest Albry never spoke of its uses,” Madeleine said. “Do you think he’s possessed?”

“After today, one thing is clear, it is not Hestia that speaks with him,” Vivienne said. “Beyond that, only time will tell. For now, let’s hope Priestess Elowen can give us some answers.”

She clicked the key into the door and turned. The lock clicked, and inside Hump heard the sound of shuffling.

Vivienne knocked politely. “Priestess Elowen, it’s Vivienne. Albry has been dealt with and I’ve come to let you out. May I come in?”

Footsteps sounded on the other side and a second later the door opened, Elowen’s relieved face on the other side. “Oh, thank Hestia. It’s good to see you Wizard Vivienne. I feared Albry would never see sense when he brought me here last night.”

“Unfortunately, that may still be the case,” Vivienne said.

Elowen’s face darkened. “What happened?” She glanced at Hump, taking him and Madeleine in for the first time. “This is more than about me being locked up, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid it is,” Vivienne said. “I thought perhaps you could help us figure out to what extent. Hump, please can you show Priestess Elowen the drawing you made in your journal.”

Hump took out his spellbook, careful to look as if he were searching for the correct page. The book seemed to have registered that it needed to look like an ordinary book for once, as for the first time ever he couldn’t find what he was looking for. He flicked through the various spells, rituals, and potion formulas until he finally found the entry.

There was still no name on the page, just the formation they’d found in the cave. There was no essence in the ink this time. Even to Hump’s eyes, nothing stood out about the book other than the fact that it was old. By all accounts, it was an ordinary wizard’s journal. He held it out for Priestess Elowen to see.

“We found it in the cave near Lakewood,” Hump said. “There were also spirits there, identical to the ones that have been attacking the town. If this is a summoning ritual, it will all but confirm that these spirits are somehow entering our world from another.”

Elowen’s face creased as she examined the page. “Goodness, you found this in a cave?”

Hump nodded. “Drawn in blood.”

Elowen glanced up. “Blood? There was a sacrifice?”

Hump frowned. “You haven’t heard what happened in Lakewood?”

Elowen stared at him, worry in her eyes. She shook her head. “No. No I haven’t.”

Hump glanced at Vivienne, who gave him a nod. He sighed, then began his fourth recount of their time in Lakewood, the slaughter, and the monsters in the cave.

“Heresy,” Elowen snapped when he finished. “Hestia’s mercy! It’s always unnerving to read about atrocities, but for them to happen in my home… This is truly terrible.”

“And I fear this is only the beginning,” Vivienne said. “We need to know what we’re dealing with. I have contacts in Sheercliff City but getting a response from them could take weeks. If there’s anything you can tell us now, it could make all the difference in our preparations.”

“Of course,” Elowen said, collection herself. “Off the top of my head, it could be a summoning ritual. If it is, it’s more complicated than any I’m familiar with, which may explain the number of monsters you encountered.” She pointed at one section of the formation, where a line extended beyond the central structure, ending in a rune. “This is a typical runic structure used to establish a connection with another realm, this rune at the end representing the location. I’ll need to consult my collection to be sure, but I should be able to identify which realm we’re dealing with.”

“You only said it ‘could’ be a summoning ritual,” Hump said.

“I’ll know more once I’ve had a chance to check my books.” She tapped the page. “Could I get a copy of this?”

“I have one ready,” Vivienne said, handing her a folded piece of paper. “Come find me as soon as you know something. I’ll be sending a letter to Sheercliff first thing in the morning, and any information I can include will greatly speed things along.”

Elowen took it and nodded. “I’ll find you before the day’s end.”

“Hold on a second,” Hump said. “There were monsters in the cave. All the signs are pointing to a summoning. What else could it be?”

Elowen sighed. “There are many reasons cultists communicate with beings of other realms. Unfortunately, none of them are good.”