Chapter 85 - Predator's Intent (Patreon)

Mayor Arnold and Captain Winfrey had already arrived when Hump returned to the sanctuary with Vivienne and Madeleine. They spent a long time discussing the logistics of locking up a High Priest. Nobody was happy about it, but Vivienne eventually brought them around to see the necessity. Right now, Albry was compromised. Until they understood to what extent, he was too dangerous to be unmonitored.

Hump was surprised by Randall’s lack of protest throughout the discussion. For the most part, he’d stuck with his own party, the five of them discussing among themselves. Clearly Madeleine and Skander had more influence over the young lord than Hump had first realised, and it gave him hope that they might make useful allies after all.

Dylan confirmed what they already knew about Albry’s state. Physically, he was fine. Perhaps better than fine now that two Chosen had provided him with medical care. That just meant there was something they weren’t seeing.

The soul was a complicated thing. Whatever damage Albry took during the previous spirit attack appeared to be gone, which meant one of two things: something had healed it, or something had covered it up. Either way it meant their High Priest was more closely involved in all this than anyone had anticipated. His eyes had already been enough evidence of that. Hump had seen the same essence in them as he had the cave.

It was that essence that tied everything together. The summoning had saturated the cave with it and created a focal point of monster activity, and now he found Albry infected by the same power. Essence was dangerous under normal circumstances. Practitioners spent years learning to control their own and to harness it with proper techniques. It took a mastery of intent, a powerful and practiced will, and most importantly, it took self-control. Albry had demonstrated the consequence when any one of those things lacked, but more importantly, he had demonstrated the violent nature that this strange essence possessed.

It made Hump nervous. It all did. He couldn’t help but draw similarities between Albry’s condition and his own soul, now imprinted with the dragon. A piece of him had been ripped out and replaced, and it seemed possible the same thing happened to Albry.

Something to bring up with the others when there are less unpredictable ears, Hump thought to himself as he stepped away from the main group of chatter. The rest of them were discussing their contacts in Sheercliff City and the various groups they needed to keep informed, all stuff Hump had nothing to contribute toward.

Instead, he wandered over to the so-called ‘Hestia’s Star’. A name Hump could only assume Albry had chosen for the artefact himself.

He took the opportunity to attempt to identify it using his spellbook. Intent on its design, he reached out for any trace of essence from within, studying every aspect of the item. After ten minutes of trying, he found nothing. No hint of essence, no shudder from his spellbook—it was as if the item was no artefact at all. If not for the spiralling silver liquid inside and the black crystal that tipped each of the twelve points of the star, he might have been convinced. As it was, his experience told him differently. Only magic could explain its appearance, it was simply beyond his capabilities.

“Any luck?” Vivienne asked. She and Bud walked over to stand beside him.

Hump let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. “Nothing. Whatever it is, my book doesn’t seem to recognise it.”

“Interesting,” Vivienne said. “I suppose I’ll need to see what I can make of it the old-fashioned way. Randall has agreed to let me take it back to my lab.”

Hump raised an eyebrow. “He has?”

“I was surprised too,” Bud said. “I think Madeleine convinced him.”

“Huh.” Hump frowned. “Randall must be a little more reasonable than I gave him credit for. So how do we figure out what it does? We could channel essence through it and see how it reacts.”

Vivienne shot him a glare. “Have you already forgotten what happened when you last experimented with an unknown artefact?”

Hump winced. He’d prefer to avoid a repeat of his attempt to wield Celaine’s dagger, Bloodshadow. “I’ll leave the experimenting to you this time.”

“I think that’s for the best,” Vivienne said. “The three of you should get some rest. You’ve had a long couple of days and it’s only going to get harder from here. I’ll see what I can find out tonight, and we can begin formulating a plan after your training tomorrow.”

“You still want us there for training tomorrow?” Hump asked.

She gave him a look. “I told you when I agreed to train you, it would be hard work, and there won’t be time for breaks. We’ve finally worked out the key to your control issues, it’s time we figure out how we can fix them.”

She left the fact it was because he was a warlock unsaid, which Hump supposed was fortunate considering where they were. Perhaps announcing it in a temple of the Pantheon was just the sort of thing to draw a god’s attention. Then again, they’d never seemed to notice before.

***

Hump stood before Celaine, his staff held out as if it would somehow protect him even without a spell ready.

“Are you sure this won’t hurt?” he asked.

“Certain,” Vivienne said. She was standing off to the side of the grass green where they’d held their previous training sessions, Bud and Dylan watching with equal interest. “Now stop talking and let Celaine concentrate. This requires focus.”

“She seemed to focus best with Bud as a target,” Hump said. “Maybe we should switch back.”

“Your soul has progressed furthest, Hump,” Vivienne said. “This will make for a good test. And it’s only fair that you each have a turn. Now keep your mouth shut. Celaine, remember what I told you. This time, focus your will as if it were an arrow.”

Celaine nodded. Her hair swept in the wind, but her gaze was fixed on him, a glare so intense it made all her previous glares look like smiles. Hump stood there, heart racing in anticipation. Seconds passed, still he felt nothing. The wait was worse than just getting hit.

“Come on, Cel—”

Her eyes flashed a violent red and invisible power encompassed the space between them.

It bore down on Hump like an all-encompassing force, piercing through the natural defences of his soul, filling him with an intense fear. It shuddered through his body like a physical attack and sent a sharp chill down his spine. He was frozen in place. Every instinct told him to run yet his body refused to obey him.

He knew it was Celaine doing this. He knew it was her new blessing, and that no harm would come to him. Still, her power fixed him in place. Murderous intent radiated from her eyes, and he truly believed she would kill him. Her previous attempts against him had been far less effective, hardly influencing him at all. This time it was different. The penetrative power of her attack pierced right to his core.

Despite trying not to resist, instinct was a strong thing. In that moment, Hump cared not for the experiment or testing of Celaine’s power. He simply wanted it to be over, for the fear and sense of being prey to end. So he fought to raise his staff and defend himself. His arm moved sluggishly, fighting against his will. He channelled a sliver of essence to it and pressed harder, willing his body to move, to calm itself and respond as it should.

His essence flowed as smoothly as ever, unhindered by her glare. He pressed back her attack, putting his will against hers. With the fight over his own body, there was no challenge. One moment of surface tension before plummeting through. He stumbled from the sudden freedom, catching himself on his staff.

Celaine collapsed to the ground with a scream, barely bringing up a hand in time to catch her fall. She lay there, clutching her head and groaning.

“I told you not to fight back,” Vivienne snapped, hurrying forward to Celaine’s side. “Are you alright?”

“Did it work?” she asked quietly, not looking out from beneath her hand.

“Yeah,” Hump said. It worked so well in fact; he was still shaking. “It definitely worked. Sorry I did that, you kind of threw me into a panic. It is not a pleasant sensation.”

Celaine sat up, wincing as the sun touched her eyes. “It doesn’t feel like it worked. I couldn’t even hold you for a couple of seconds without feeling like someone hit my head with a hammer.”

“It was a good start,” Vivienne said. “Timed well, you could have easily landed an arrow in that time.”

“On an opponent that was already not resisting,” Celaine said. “Even Hump could have crossed the distance between us in the time it took for me to focus that attack.”

Vivienne laughed. “Think of your will as a muscle. For you Chosen, it is often abysmally untrained. Power comes too easily to you, and this kind of training is usually saved for when you reach the fourth circle. With time, your will and intent will grow firmer. Perhaps you may even be able to wield that dagger of yours upon mastering this.”

“If it doesn’t kill me practicing it first,” Celaine said.

“You know something,” Hump started. “It’s nice to see you having to properly practice something. You have no idea how often I feel hard done by having to train for weeks just to cast a spell.”

Celaine shot him a glare, but Hump only smiled.

“That’s not going to work anymore,” he said. “I’ve seen your real glare. Now everything else just looks funny.”

They spent the rest of the morning training under Vivienne’s direction, each of them taking turns helping Celaine practice as well as working on their own abilities. Predator’s Intent was clearly an ability that would be of great benefit to them as a party, not just for her. Anything that could slow down or freeze an enemy in place left them vulnerable to the rest of them. It had taken only hours for Celaine to be capable of affecting Hump. With training, it could make her a threat to any that had yet to manifest their soul.

Hump found his ability with Earthen Grasp had improved much after having used it in combat against the monsters of Lakewood. He wouldn’t go as far as calling it a proper Battle Magic spell yet, but he no longer required a formation to activate it. Given a few minutes to focus, he could properly construct the formational channels in his mind and make it work. According to Vivienne, the act of wielding such a spell in the height of combat, fuelled by adrenaline and instinct, helped to instil the formation into one’s memory. Now, it was just a matter of repetition.

They trained into the afternoon, stopping later than usual for lunch. There, Vivienne updated them on her progress with Hestia’s Star.

“It’s a storage artefact, and a remarkable one at that,” she said. “The reason we sensed nothing from it is because it’s so efficient at what it does. Each of those black tips seems to completely capture the power held inside.”

“Is it dangerous?” Bud asked.

“Perhaps if someone found a way to fill it and then power a formation, it could be,” Vivienne said. “Though I know of no way of doing so myself.”

“Perhaps Albry intended to summon something himself,” Dylan said. “You said yourself that his eyes matched up with the essence of the cave. It seems possible that something might have been driving him to do it.”

Hump nodded. “I didn’t bring this up when we were in the temple yesterday, but I can’t help but draw comparisons between myself and him. Could it be possible that Albry’s soul wasn’t just damaged, but infected? Perhaps he merged with a part of the spirit that attacked him and it’s been influencing him since.”

“You’re suggesting Priest Albry is a warlock?” Vivienne asked.

“Impossible,” Bud said. “Not a High Priest. Hestia wouldn’t allow one of her own to be turned.”

Hump shrugged. “It’s not like she’s interfered with anything so far.”

Bud shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”

“It does seem like a bit of a stretch,” Celaine said. “Kassius was far more… ambitious. Albry seems convinced he’s protecting the town.”

“I can’t think of a better explanation for his sudden power,” Hump said. “Albry may be of the church, but he is still an ordinary human. If another being infected his soul, he may not have the strength to resist its will. It would explain his delusions too, and his insistence that he is protecting Fishers Lake. He could really believe it’s Hestia he’s speaking to.”

Vivienne furrowed her brow. “This is beyond the power of any of these spirits. Well beyond it. They are little more than mindless, drawn to whatever it is their instincts demand. What you’re talking about is possession, or perhaps some form of mind control.”

“Or something has literally imprinted on his soul,” Hump said. “Perhaps there were more than just spirits that night.”

“Or perhaps it didn’t come from the other realm at all,” Celaine said. “Albry’s soul was damaged and then he returned to the lighthouse. The next morning, they found him out in the lake declaring he was Chosen. There were plenty of opportunities for someone to take advantage of his injury.”

“Maybe one of the missing adventurers?” Bud said.

Hump scratched his chin. “No. They were in Lakewood by the time Albry turned.” He frowned. “Or what if the same thing that’s happened to Albry happened to them?”

“You think they were warlocks too?” Bud asked.

“Maybe, but that’s not the point,” Hump said. “What if one of them became injured during their time here and started to experience delusions like Albry. Their vision led them to the cave outside Lakewood, where they performed a summoning ritual.”

“That would only explain the single summoning,” Dylan said. “There’s been spirits showing up for months, and I don’t think they’re coming from Lakewood.”

Hump sighed. “True. I still think this strange essence in the cave is the clue. I swear Albry’s eyes were exactly like it.”

“I’ve already looked into them,” Vivienne said. “They’re nothing more than impure essence. The colour is caused by the variation of affinities held within, but other than that, they’re not special special about them. They’re little different to the green essence stones common in dungeons.”

“Then where do we go from here?” Dylan asked. “It sounds like we have a whole lot of nothing.”

Vivienne looked at him. “We prepare. Don’t forget, we already have a plan in place. If we can follow one of these spirits back to the source, all of this will fall into place. Whether there’s a cultist behind this or something else.”

“And if more die before then?” Hump asked. “It was already close this time. If Albry hadn’t let everyone out of the temple before speaking with us, who knows what would have happened?”

“We’ve controlled the situation so far.” Vivienne stood, walking over to the door. “Lakewood was a travesty, but it was outside of our reach. Here in the town, we can keep it safe. Dwelling on hypotheticals isn’t going to bring us any closer to stopping this. I’m going to get back to work, I suggest you all continue your training for the afternoon.”

Hump clenched his jaw as he watched her leave. He’d felt impure essence before, and it had been nothing like the essence in the cave. The problem was, with his current equipment and skills, he only had one way to prove it.