Chapter 96 - When Hope is Lost (Patreon)

Celaine stared out at the lake wondering what on earth she was going to do next. The dark sky had cleared, and now the setting sun pierced through what clouds remained.

Hump was gone. The egg had lost its bonded, which meant she’d lost all reason to remain. The obvious choice was to return home with the egg and complete her mission—if Wizard Vivienne allowed her that is.

Best not to give her a choice.

Celaine had never revealed her ability to conceal her presence to the wizard. It would be easy for her to take the egg and vanish into the night. By the time anyone figured out she was gone, it would be too late. But something about that choice didn’t feel right. Her time away from Dorvul had been dangerous and stressful, but it had also been freeing. No family. No expectations. No strict rules. Out here, she was her own person.

She wondered what Vamir would say. Two months was all it had taken for their plans to fall apart. Two months, and she’d already failed.

Why did he look back? She’d played over Hump’s final moments a hundred times already. The idiot had turned back! They’d escaped the guardhouse, yet something had drawn his attention. The next thing she knew, he was overwhelmed by flesh prowlers. It was so like him. He was arrogant, careless, and had a cocky perspective on everything. Always taking risks that would have made even Vamir gawk. Now he’d suffered the consequences.

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, feeling the evening chill setting in and the cool touch of the mist rising from the lake.

Bud was still sulking in the lighthouse living room when she’d left, along with the rest of Randall’s party. Dylan, Vivienne, and the cleric were tending to Skander in the other room while the rest of them waited, heads in hands, staring vaguely at the floor. Celaine was surprised by how much she felt it too. The fury of failure, and the hollow sense of loss that she hadn’t expected.

After they’d escaped the guardhouse and Hump had been overwhelmed, they fled back to the inn. A few shades had followed them, but with the gateway closing most fled. Within a few minutes, the town was once again empty of monsters. A few minutes difference, and Hump would still be with them.

Stop being pathetic, she told herself. People die. That’s how it’s always been. Back home, they honoured their dead, they accepted it, and then they moved on, carrying their spirit in their hearts. She’d grown too familiar with these southerners and forgotten herself. This didn’t help anyone.

She heard the slight click of the doorhandle, and the clumsy, heavy footsteps on the gravel path that could only belong to Bud. Quickly, she straightened her legs and leant back on the grass, appearing relaxed. She certainly wasn’t going to let the knight know what she was feeling.

“Skander’s going to be alright,” he said, taking a seat beside her.

She glanced at him, not knowing what to say. Hump was always best at this. He seemed to find the right words when all seemed like shit. Bud stared out at the lake with dark, tired eyes, clutching the sigil of Kelisia he always wore around his neck as if his god would somehow give him answers. But she was no Owalyn. She was just a distant figure.

“Do you think Hump was right?” Bud asked. “Maybe there really don’t care.”

“What?”

“All my life I’ve been training to be Kelisia’s knight. It’s all I ever wanted. When my mother died, it was like I’d lost my home. My father hardly seemed to care and tried to marry off as quickly as he could. My time with Hump… it felt like I had found my path. As if all the bad things had happened for a reason, and now I was on a journey to do something great. Now I’ve never felt more lost.”

“I don’t believe anyone chooses our paths,” Celaine said. “Owalyn helps us to find our own, and she gives us the strength we need to become the best version of ourselves. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what that is.” She sighed. “At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.”

“Do you want to go home?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Part of me does. Part of me hates the idea.”

“Surely they’ll hail you as a hero to return with the egg alone. That was your purpose out here, was it not?”

“They’d host a grand feast beneath the Great Tree,” she said, smiling at the thought. The fires would blaze around its roots, the stars shining above. “Everyone would be there, apart from the one person that mattered.”

Bud seemed to think for a moment before saying, “Your sister.”

Celaine gave a slow nod. “The egg would be incubated in the Shrine of Eternal Flame, where it would remain until a new bonded was chosen. I hoped it would choose me, and that perhaps having a hatchling around once more might bring a part of her back and replace the dragon that she lost.”

“That’s a noble goal,” Bud said.

“Doesn’t feel right now that Hump died for it,” she said. “Do you think his death mattered?”

“He died saving people,” Bud said.

Celaine scoffed. “He wouldn’t think it’s worth it.”

Bud sighed. “No, he wouldn’t.” He unclenched his fist and held up Kelisia’s sigil. “I’m still hoping he’s alive. Whatever the reason, that creature kept the other townsfolk alive. It needs living people for something.”

Celaine stared at him, her eyes slowly widening. “You’re right. It kept them alive for something, which means there’s a chance.” She practically jumped to her feet as an idea came to her.

“What is it?” Bud asked.

“Follow me,” she said, rushing back to the lighthouse.

As she opened the door, Randall and the others stood in the hallway outside Skander’s door, Vivienne blocking their entry.

At the sight of her, their faces seemed to soften.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Randall said. “He died an honourable death. That’s what matters.”

Celaine scoffed. “If that’s what you think, you don’t know Hump at all.”

Randall rolled his eyes and turned back to Vivienne.

“The four of you should return to the inn,” she said. “Get some rest. I’ll keep an eye on Skander.”

“We can wait,” Randall said. “At least until he wakes up.”

Vivienne shook her head. “That wasn’t a suggestion. Go. Rest. Return some time in the afternoon tomorrow. We have our own problems to deal with.”

Randall glanced back at Celaine then gave a curt nod. “We’ll return in the morning. Alert me if anything happens during the night.”

They left quickly, Celaine hardly able to wait for them to leave the lighthouse before heading further inside. She’d hidden the egg at the back of a cabinet in the living room, and removed it, placing it in her lap. It was hot to touch, and the scales were sharp against her hands. Staring at it, she felt a comfort. There was no greater treasure in the land.

“What are you doing?” Bud asked.

“If Hump’s alive, the bond won’t be broken,” Celaine said. “I’m going to try to bond it myself.”

She reached out to it, both with her hand and with her soul. She drew upon her brilliance, feeling the light of Owalyn fill her. She pressed it into the egg, searching for any sign of response. If fate decided this was her destiny, then that was that. She would have what she had always intended, whether the elders liked it or not. She would be the new Dragon Keeper.

But there was no response. There was nothing. There was only one reason she would feel nothing.

“What is it?” Dylan asked.

She was surprised to find herself smiling. “The bond isn’t broken.” She looked across the four of them. “Hump is still alive.”

There was a long silence.

“If that’s true, then may the gods show him mercy,” Vivienne said.

***

Hump awoke in the dark, cold to the bone and with a headache piercing his skull like he’d never experienced. He coughed, groaning as he rolled onto his side, suddenly feeling pain flare in his leg. He reached down and felt what he could only think were teeth marks.

He opened his bleary eyes, blinking at the near complete darkness around him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, and that was when he realised, he felt hard earth beneath him, and darkness all around him.

His heart hammered. Where the hell am I?

He stood, stumbling on his injured calf but not caring in the slightest. He stepped blindly into the dark, reaching out with his hands in search of a wall. It only took him a couple of half steps to find smooth stone. He followed it methodically, forcing away the growing fear within him. He was just in a room somewhere. Obviously, he’d been hurt, and taken somewhere safe. This was the physicians hut, or the lighthouse’s cellar.

Moment by moment his fear grew. When he’d finished the full circuit, he realised there was no door. No window. There was nothing but stone and earth.

He pressed his back into the wall, placing his palms on it behind him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to calm his raging heart. It wasn’t over. He was surrounded in earth and stone. He could still escape.

He called upon his essence, ignoring the icy cold that lanced through him. Right now pain was the last thing on his mind. He reached for the earth around him…

And it resisted.

“No,” he muttered. “Gods, this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.” In a panic, he smashed into the wall. He clawed at it, fought to tear through the smooth surface and dig. His nails and fingers stung and bruised, until finally he gave up.

He’d been entombed alive.

His legs gave out beneath him, and he fell to the floor, pressing his hands against his face, thinking through any possible solution he could. He didn’t have his staff, his spellbook, or his potions. His master’s medallion was gone, and even his clothes had been taken.

Everything hurt, whether from cold or injury.

The next few hours were the longest of his life. He shouted until his voice was worn thin. He threw fire and explosions at the walls, searching for any weakness.

Time lost all meaning in the dark, and when he finally heard the faint sound of trickling dirt, he had no idea how much time had passed. It was enough that he felt hope as much as he did fear.

But when the glow of red essence shone in through the gap, that hope faded. The wall fell away to reveal a door, and there, the beast beyond the gateway stood.

Oh, this isn’t good.