Chapter 89 - Truth of Fishers Lake (Patreon)

“You knew this temple was out there and told us nothing?” Bud snapped. “Why would you keep that from us?”

Impatience flashed in Vivienne’s eyes as she cast a glance around the square. “Not here. We’ll talk once we’re back in the lighthouse.”

“No,” Bud growled. “This can’t wait. Did you or did you not know there was something out there?”

“Of course I knew there was something. We all did. But I didn’t know what it was.”

“You just said—”

“Sphere of Silence,” Vivienne muttered. Essence filled the air around them before Hump could think, waves of pale light shimmering in the night, nearly invisible.

“What are you doing?” Celaine asked.

“Stopping the entire town hearing our conversation, since apparently it can’t wait fifteen minutes,” Vivienne said. “Now Bud, what I said was that this proves the existence of the temple I was searching for. I did not know what that temple was, nor did I have any evidence to connect it to the related attacks. Gods above, it’s hundreds, if not thousands of years old. A long-forgotten relic. These attacks only began a few months ago.”

“The evidence was before your eyes,” Hump said. “The density of Fishers Lake has been increasing, and you knew the attacks were coming from somewhere in the lake. You must have had your suspicions.”

She sighed. “Suspicions, yes. Evidence, no. Dylan and I searched the lake for four years and found no sign off the temple. Discussing it with you would have been pointless. Worse than pointless! It would have narrowed your line of thinking.”

Hump scoffed, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. “Don’t try to make it sound noble. You didn’t tell us because you feared someone else might find out about your research. The same reason you didn’t want Bud to contact Countess Daston.”

“I did everything I could to protect the town,” Vivienne said. “The formation in the lighthouse—”

“A formation you said you could only maintain for a couple of months,” Hump said. “You put the whole town at risk for what? Money? Pride? Power? What’s in this for you?”

Vivienne glared at him. He was ready for her to shout. A part of him was ready for her to fight back against her suppression once again. Instead, she relaxed. Her anger left her, and a calmness took over. “It’s none of your business, and I need not explain myself to you. I’ve dedicated my life to my research. Who are you to question me? None of you know a thing about any of this. The moment the danger escalated beyond my capabilities, I had letters sent to Sheercliff City. The countess will still receive Bud’s letter with plenty of time before the next wave, and we’re prepared to face at least two of them alone.”

“What if the formation failed?” Celaine asked.

“It wouldn’t.”

Celaine shook her head. “All defences can fail. I come from a land protected by a god, yet still enemies prowl our forest and stalk our fields. It’s impossible to be certain.”

“There is only one certainty in life, Celaine. That does not make me any less confident.”

Bud frowned. “But if the attacks keep going, then what?”

“Then it would be no different to our current situation,” Vivienne said. “Everything is in hand.”

“Somehow your research is connected to all this,” Hump said. “And the temple. It can’t be a coincidence that these spirits suddenly show up after you arrived.”

“You think I have something to do with this?” She practically scoffed at the words, shaking her head.

Clearly he’d offended her, but now wasn’t the time to be concerned about hurt feelings. Hump needed to understand. “The temple has been dormant for hundreds of years. You turn up, begin your research, and now the spirits have appeared. What else should I think?”

“Enough of this,” she snapped. “I won’t even humour this discussion any further. Not here.”

“Vivi, we need more than that,” Hump said. “You can’t close us out like this, not if you want our help. We just need to know what’s going on.”

“Do you forget why you’re here?” she asked. “You came seeking my help, not the other way around.”

Hump clenched his fist, hardly able to keep himself thinking straight. She was as stubborn as the old man, never letting him help. He considered threatening her. If the church found out she’d been researching ancient wizard temples, they’d come for her. Ancient wizard temples and other realms were about as far from church rhetoric as one could get. Or he could go to the Wizard’s Society, tell them they’ve discovered an ancient temple. The place would be swarming in no time. Somehow, he didn’t think threats would get him very far. But it was the only leverage he had.

“That’s not an answer,” he said finally. “That’s not even a defence. You knew what the essence stones were before I even gave them to you. For all we know, you’ve found other formations just like the one in the cave. Maybe you went prodding in the wrong hole and these spirit attacks are the result.”

She scowled. “Gods have mercy, you’re as persistent as Seth. They’re dangerous, Hump. I kept them from you because I didn’t want you to get any ideas. You channelled their essence, did you not? You must know the poison that flows through them. The power. I didn’t want you to fall for the temptation. It’s not just essence inside them. It’s essence broken down into its corruptive form.”

“So you keep them for yourself? You said these gateways require a connection point. Is that what these essence stones are used for.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then why?” He frowned, then let out a laugh, more out of disbelief than anything. “You’re trying to harness them. The lighthouse.” He smacked his forehead with his hand. It was so obvious now. “You’ve been using these essence stones as part of the formation. You use their essence to lure in the spirits.”

“You can’t be serious,” Bud said. “You can’t use the corrupted essence of another realm.”

“It’s necessary,” she said flatly.

“It’s evil,” he snarled.

“You have no idea how sinister the world truly is,” Vivienne snapped. “Do not think to tell me what is evil. I’m done taking questions. Return to the inn. There will be no training in the morning.”

With that, she started to walk, her spell of silence trailing her like spirits on the wind.

“Answer me one more thing,” Hump said, just before they left the range of the spell. “Are you trying to track down the spirits because you hoped they would lead you to the temple, or to protect Fishers Lake?”

She paused.

“Master,” Dylan called. She slowed, glancing back at him. “We need their help. More than that, I trust them.”

She clenched her jaw then let out a reluctant sigh. “They are one and the same. My priorities have not changed. We find the temple, we destroy whatever it is that’s creating the connection point, and we finish this.”

“I don’t understand,” Bud said. “If you think the spirits are coming from the temple, why do you suspect it’s underwater?”

“I told you It was destroyed during the War of the Firmament,” Vivienne said, beginning to walk. “Hestia buried it in water. How do you think Fishers Lake got here?”

***

Despite Vivienne’s instruction, the three of them joined Dylan in the training grounds for their morning practice. The druid wore a guilty face the entire time, but he never uttered a word more than what Vivienne had told them. Hump had to give the man credit. He was certainly loyal. He just hoped that loyalty wasn’t misplaced.

They’d discussed what they would do next the night before. In the end, nothing had changed. No matter what Vivienne hid from them, they weren’t going to abandon Fishers Lake. It made no difference anyway. They knew Vivienne had secrets to begin with, and that was still the case. Now they just had specifics.

Hump was almost surprised when Vivienne appeared for their egg bonding session after lunch. She acted as if the night before hadn’t happened, sitting down across from him, and preparing her aura. He’d had a breakthrough before the flesh prowler incident, and to capitalise on it they were going to continue like before.

The session went reasonably, though Hump struggled to maintain the connection with the egg. At least when it was there, he forgot the troubles of the day and focused on the experience. But it came in bursts. Each time he lost it, he grew more and more frustrated. Not a good impression to be sending his hatchling. The harder he focused, the more it felt like it was slipping away. As if he were trying to remember something distant.

Vivienne suddenly stopped. “You’re distracted.”

Hump looked at and rolled his eyes. “Well obviously.” She frowned at him, waiting for him to say more. Eventually he added, “Why did you decide to skip the morning’s training? You have no right to be angry that we confronted you. We did what we had to.”

“I’m not angry,” she said, surprising Hump. “Your questions were fair.”

“Then why didn’t you answer them?” he pressed. “You know everything about me. Secrets that could get me killed twice over by any number of groups. Why can’t you tell me the true reason you’re here? It’s just us now.”

She thought for a long moment, then sighed. “When Seth left me, he left me in a darker world. A wizard at the very academy I called home tried to kill him, and the society covered it up. It was forgotten, Hump. Seth was forgotten, and his attacker, a Rank 5 wizard, was buried without a word. There are secrets in this world that we are not privy to, and I’d bet anything Seth learnt one of them that night.”

Hump remembered the introduction in his book, and the mention of secrets that would one day reveal themselves. “I’m guessing I’ll find out if I ever manage to manifest my soul.”

“I expect so.”

“And that’s why you’re here?” Hump asked. “To get away from the wizard’s society.”

She laughed. “Partially, I suppose. But no. I’m looking for the temple to find a secret of my own.”

“What secret?”

“The one the gods don’t want us to know. There’s a reason they destroyed all the relics of the past.”

Hump’s eyes widened. His heart raced. “You’re trying to break through the barrier of the sixth rank.”

“Yes.”

“It’s impossible,” Hump said. “No wizard has ever surpassed it. Our bodies simply cannot reach the seventh circle without the boon of a god.”

“Do you forget the legends of wizards of old? Wizards that could call down the stars and create mountains, that could rival the very gods with their power.”

“Stories,” Hump said. He found his mind going back to memories of Kassius and his own obsession. “This is a dangerous path, Vivi.”

“Every path has its risks,” she said. “Only the strong survive, Hump. Wizards—practitioners as a whole—we are ants in a world of giants. We can pretend we understand our small part of the world, but at any moment we can be squashed.”

Hump frowned at her, his anxiety building. “By any chance have you heard of the false gods theory?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear of that?”

“Kassius. Do you know it?”

She paused, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you believe it?”

She hesitated again, longer this time, assessing him. “Perhaps.”

“I can see why you didn’t want to discuss this with the others,” Hump said. “Bud would have had a heart attack.”

“I didn’t want to discuss it with you either, but I need you to focus.”

“They’re my party. We agreed to trust each other.”

“This is beyond warlocks and dark magic. You can’t put Robert in a position where he has to choose between you and his faith.”

Hump rubbed his face with a hand and groaned, slumping back into the chair. “We’ll deal with the spirits. After that, I can’t make any promises.”

“Very well,” she said, though he could tell she wasn’t happy from her tone. “Then moving on to the point of all this. I believe I’ve figured out the formation, but it still needs to be tested. You’re going to be the one to cast it during the attack, so I want you to do it.”

“My control—”

“Your control is an issue you need to get past,” she said. “I’m starting to believe it’s more a matter of confidence rather than the sudden increase in the strength of your soul. I heard you performed exceptionally against the flesh prowlers.”

“How complicated is the spell?” hump asked.

“Rank 3. It’s more complex than Kassius’ Binding of Thirteen, though it’s less powerful. Whoever designed it had skills far beyond mind.”

“I’ve not even attempted to cast Fire Ray yet, let alone a new spell.”

“You’re insecure.”

“I’m nervous about it blowing up in my face, yeah.”

She smiled. “Your power is your own. A wizard must believe in himself first, only then will the world obey him.”

Hump scowled. “Master Sethril used to say that all the time.”

She snorted. “Good. Glad he remembered at least one thing from the academy. I suppose he wasn’t completely useless.”

Hump smiled. “Words aren’t enough though.”

“Then start with Fire Ray,” she said. “You used it before. It’s time to get past this. Right now, you’re a glorified Rank 1 wizard.”

“And then what? How do we test it?”

Vivienne smiled. “That’s the simple part. We just need to summon a spirit.”