Chapter 136 - The Path of Kelisia

Hump gazed into the pillar of frostfire of essence that descended from the clouds above, enamoured by its beauty, enraptured by its power. He had witnessed both the advancement of Celaine and Dylan now, the power of Owalyn and Krioc, but it paled in comparison to this. This was strength on another level. Kelisia the Frostfire Witch, and one of The Twelve.

There wasn’t a sound in the alley as all waited for Kelisia to finish with her Chosen. The cold was painful against Hump’s skin, even through his protective layers of enchanted gear, yet he did not hate it. He craved it. More than he had before. Even this sliver of her power was enough to change everything.

Time felt like it had slowed down, and when the pillar finally started to narrow and disappear, Hump felt himself in a daze. Bud was at the centre of it, on his knees and radiating Frostfire, his eyes close. The second half of his second circle was now filled with God Glyphs. It was complete. His third blessing solidified in runes sculpted from ice. Pure blue crystals covered the alley floor around him and formed a layer of frost over his armour. It shimmered with the traces of Kelisia’s power that remained, dissipating into the air like a universe of stars before their eyes.

Hump took in the God Glyphs on the ground, wishing he could understand the intent behind them. But their power was beyond him. His spellbook, on the other hand, could give him a glimpse of it. It shook, and out of habit, Hump placed his hand against it, excited to see what it revealed.

Bud’s eyes snapped open, icy fire flickering within, still brimming with power. For a long moment, everyone watched him in anticipation. Even Hump struggled to see him as simply human. He was a Chosen, one blessed by a god, and right now that power was still within him. In this moment, he was more than mortal.

He clenched his fists, staring at the essence that streamed off them in great icy streaks. Basking in the essence Kelisia left behind. Then Bud turned and looked at Hump. His eyes softened, his lips slipped into a smile, and all seemed normal once more.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” Hump said, trying to sound nonchalant about it.

He pushed himself to his feet, looking at the body of the man he’d just killed. “I am. It seems I was being foolish. Some people truly do have to die.”

Hump swallowed. That wasn’t ominous at all. Looking at the body of the man, he noticed the vial of the substance he’d sniffed and picked it up. It was still intact, a small amount of the powder still inside. Hump took some cotton wool from his bag and stuffed it in the top to keep it sealed, then slipped it into his pocket.

Bud saw the guards standing nearby.

“Greetings, my lord,” the leader said, marked by his red cape. “I am Sergeant Jeffrey Cobbler. We heard news of a fight in this area and rushed over, and then we saw Lady Kelisia’s god pillar…” he trailed off. “We are here to assist you however we can.”

“I see,” Bud said. “I don’t suppose you caught either of the two that fled.”

The man shook his head. “Apologies, but we saw nobody suspicious on our way here.”

“Right,” Bud said, turning around. “I suppose we should see what our prisoner has to say then.”

Hump blinked, remembering the woman that he’d captured. She was awake now, staring wide eyed at Bud, a fear that only gods could inflict. Even if she’d have been capable of escaping his bindings, he didn’t she would try it. Not now that she knew who she’d offended.

She struggled to sit up, but Hump’s earthen bindings secured her arms and legs in place.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “Please, milord, show mercy. Don’t kill me.” She started to cry, fumbling her words. “I… I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t mean to come after you, or offend the gods. He said you stole something of us. I just… I was just following orders.”

“Then you will answer our questions,” Bud said darkly. Hump wasn’t sure if it was some of Kelisia’s remnant power affecting his voice, or just a change to Bud himself, but there was a level of authority to his tone that he wasn’t used to.

She nodded, shaking with fear, even despite her fear. “I will, sir.”

Hump would have pitied her if she hadn’t just tried to kill them. This was likely the closest she had ever come to the gods, and right now, Bud was the embodiment of their power. And she had attacked him. If that didn’t make someone afraid, Hump didn’t know what would.

“Who is she, sir,” one of the guards asked. “What happened here?”

“We were attacked,” Bud said. “There were six attackers, and I think we killed three of them. This woman is a fourth.”

“Two more are on the rooftops,” Celaine said.

The sergeant studied the nearby bodies, stopping when they found the brute that Bud had slain. His face was still contorted, more beast than man. His flesh corrupted by essence.

“Gods above, what is this?” he murmured.

“A warlock,” Hump said. “And at least one of the men that escaped was one too. I suggest yo send one of your men to inform the temple guard. This woman is a rogue with some magical ability, and she cannot be allowed to escape.”

The guard glanced at Bud for approval, who nodded. “Do it, Sergeant. Wizard Hump is our party leader, if you trust my word, you can trust his.”

The man kicked his boots together and stood straight in salute, turning back to Hump. “Of course sir, my apologies.” He turned to the youngest of his men. “Len, find Captain Harris. He’s stationed on Barrows Street. Make it quick.”

“Yes, sir.” The young man hurried off.

“It’s five minutes away, sir,” the sergeant said. “I’m sure they will be here quickly.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” Hump said, turning away to hide his smirk. He could get used to this kind of treatment.

The rogue was breathing heavily now, looking between the four of them nervously. Celaine stepped closer, standing to Bud’s left side, boxing the woman in further.

“Why were you followed us?” Celaine asked.

The woman gulped. “The stone. Stu wanted us to grab it.”

“Stu?” Bud probed.

“The air wizard,” she said. “He was our boss.”

Hump stepped up beside them too. “And what is this stone? What does it do?”

She shook her head. Tears stained her cheeks. “I don’t know. Really. I’m just a grunt, they don’t tell me things. I’ve only been working for them for a few months.”

“What about the powder that this man used?” Hump asked, holding up the intact vial. There was still a little of the substance left at the bottom.

“That was the first time I’d seen it, honest,” she said. “The man’s name was Doyle. He was Stu’s second.”

“You must no something useful,” Hump said. “This man, Stu, is he in charge or does he work for someone?”

She bit her lip. “They’ll kill me if I talk.”

Hump squatted, leaning in closer. “Do you fear them more than the wrath of Kelisia?”

The woman stared at him, eyes white. She was younger than he’d realised, maybe ten years older than him. It seemed likely that she’d been telling the truth about joining only recently.

“Stu took orders from someone,” she said quietly. “Not today though. He saw you entering through the gates somehow and wanted the stone for himself. I don’t know why.”

Hump frowned, staring her in the eyes. He believed her. Somehow, the man must have had a way to locate the stone. A tracking artifact, or maybe a black stone of his own.

“Your skills seemed good,” Bud said. “Good enough to be a legitimate adventurer. Why would did you join them?”

She turned her gaze down. “My party were killed while out questing. Nobody else would party with me, and the guild didn’t step in. Then I was approached by Stu. He offered me power and coin if I worked for him.”

Evil bastards, Hump thought. This wasn’t the first time he’d heard of gangs recruiting adventurers that had come under hard times, often it was the adventurers that started the gangs in the first time. A gang of warlocks was something new though.

“I’m sorry about your party,” Bud said. “But this was not the way. You must know what you did was evil.”

The tears formed in her eyes once more. “I had no choice,” she whispered.

“There’s always a choice,” Bud said, stepping back until he was leaning against the alley wall. He looked frustrated.

“These people that Stu is taking orders from,” Hump said. “Did you ever meet them?”

She shook her head. “Never. Stu always went himself.”

Hump frowned. “Do you know where he met them? A description, a name, numbers. Anything that we could use to identify them.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Hump sighed. “But they were warlocks, weren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“The same warlocks behind the recent deaths in Sheercliff.”

She nodded.

“And the priestess?” Bud asked. “Was this group responsible for her death too?”

The woman stared at him. “Gods have mercy, I don’t know anything about a priestess. You have to believe me. I’m just a grunt. I’ve told you all I know.”

Hump stepped back and leant against the wall beside Bud. “I don’t think we’re going to get anything more out of her.”

“It’s something,” he said. “I want what Sir Roderick will make of her.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if she wasn’t the first grunt they’ve round up,” Hump said. “Might be worth a few coin for us though.”

Bud gave him a look.

“What?” Hump said. “We got attacked. We deserved to get paid for it.”

Hump and Celaine did a quick search of the bodies while they waited for the guards to show up, though the thugs didn’t have anything of interest. Only the vial of powder he’d recovered from the brute might be useful. Whatever it was, it seemed to be readily available amongst the warlock group if a member of this level had some.

Soon, they heard the sound of footsteps, and the young guard appeared once more, this time with five temple guard with him. Captain Harris introduced himself, speaking to Bud with respect. They briefed the man on what had happened, and he noted down a report, seemingly recording every detail. When asked, Hump released the rogue from his bindings. She didn’t try to run, cooperating at every turn. The guards had manacles with them that blocked off essence channels, preventing the use of magic. Something every wizard feared.

“I will be sure to include your names on the report, Lord,” Harris said. “If anything comes up, I’ll send a message to inform you.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Bud said. “Be safe out there.”

“And you.”

The guards would keep watch over the area until people arrived to remove the bodies, so the three of them left to return to the inn. They needed to inform Vivienne about this information quickly. One thing stood out to Hump above anything—if the warlocks had been able to identify them entering the city gates, then the black stone must be trackable. If that was the case, perhaps it could be used to locate other warlocks too or bait them out of hiding.

“So, what did you get?” Celaine asked.

“A defensive blessing,” Bud said. “Ice to shield me against harm, to to strike back against those that will seek it.”

“Let me see if I’ve got a more understandable explanation.” Hump opened his spellbook, the ink still shining faintly with essence. The blessing was already there on the page, the God Glyphs recorded in perfect detail below.

BLESSINGS

Armour of Ice

Description
The ability to manifest ice around one’s body, layering it upon skin or clothing to resist physical and fire attacks. When struck, the ice bursts, striking out against the attacker in a blaze of frostfire.

“It sounds like a powerful defensive ability,” Hump said. “It also doesn’t specify exactly what kind of ice manifestations you can do. I wonder if you’ll be able to create more than just armour.”

“We’ll need to wait to find out,” Celaine said, pointing ahead of them. Vivienne and Dylan were approaching quickly, the woman, Eliana, that had been with Abraxus walking with them.

“We saw the god pillar and came over,” Dylan said. “What happened?”

“We were attacked,” Hump said, he glanced at Eliana.

“Speak freely, Hump,” Vivienne said. “Abraxus and I may not get on, but Eliana is a good friend, and we are all on the same side.”

“In which case,” Hump continued. “We were attacked by warlocks. We managed to kill three of the attackers, at least one being a warlock, and captured another that was not—she is now in the hands of the temple guard. Unfortunately, the leader and one more escaped.”

“Are any of you hurt?” Vivienne asked.

“I’m a little bruised,” Celaine said, revealing the red lines where the brute had clawed her neck. “Other than that, no.”

Vivienne pressed her lips together. “We had best return inside and find a place to speak freely.” She gave Celaine’s neck a closer look. “And let’s get that cleaned up before anything nasty can set in. Eliana, would you join us back at the inn?”

“Of course,” she said. “I’d like to hear every detail.”