Chapter 114 - Click (End of Book 2)

Hump never expected to be so pleased to see Randall, but seeing the arrogant young lord standing at the prow of a reasonably sized fishing vessel, he couldn’t help but smile. Eight other boats were with him. Hump and the others had gathered up the wood they could on the island and come sunrise, they’d struck a fire that shot off enough smoke it would be visible for a dozen miles.

“Now that’s a sight, isn’t it?” Hump said, standing at the edge of their small island, the warm fire at his back.

“It certainly is,” Bud said. “Do I ever look that prancy?”

“Nah. Takes a special kind of pompous to look like that. You’re more…” Hump frowned.

“More what?” Bud asked sceptically.

“I’m trying to think of a more obvious word than large.”

“Striking,” Bud suggested.

Hump scrunched his nose and shook his head.

Bud shrugged. “Distinct. Menacing. Towering.”

“Bulging,” Hump said. “You’re kind of bulging.”

“I’m bulging…” Bud grumbled.

Hump nodded, stroking his chin as any wise wizard does. “That’s the word. Lose a bit of bulk and maybe you could prance about like a pompous arsehole too.”

Bud sighed, but he couldn’t hide his smile. “So glad to have you back.”

There were cheers as the boats pulled up to shore, and fisherman, guards, and adventurers rushed onto the island with food and water. Hump was pleased to see Skander back on his feet, and Lawrence was moving amongst everyone with the town physician, seeing to everyone that needed attention and ensuring nobody ate too much food at once.

Randall strode up to Hump grinning as if they were the best of friends. He extended his hand and Hump took it. “Good to see you alive, wizard. I’ll admit, I didn’t expect us to meet again.”

“I’m pleased to surprise you,” Hump said. “Bud mentioned you sent them off last night. Appreciate you turning a blind eye.”

“I hope it didn’t cause you too much trouble,” Bud said.

Randall waved the comments aside. “Think nothing of it. Helen’s as far in my father’s pocket as they come. I’ll throw her a few words of compliments and she’ll scuttle off back to Sheercliff happy as a kitten.”

Hump felt his smile strain. “Brilliant.”

“Now then, best to show my face around a bit. The people need their Chosen.”

Hump and Bud watched him pass, striding off toward a cluster of the townsfolk, a wide smile on his face.

“Forget what I said,” Hump said. “You’d need to take a few more hits to the head before you could prance around like that.”

Bud laughed.

They wasted little time getting aboard the ship. Once Lawrence and the physician gave the word, they were ushered on, spread out across the eight vessels. It took a few hours for them to make the trip back, and it was nearing mid-afternoon when they docked, a welcoming party already there waiting for them. Mayor Arnold greeted them each cheerfully, and Hump got a chance to meet the Lady Helen Astida that they others had told him about.

She looked far from pleased when she spoke to Vivienne, despite what Randall had said, but it was a problem that could wait. Today would be a day to recoup and recover, to feast and celebrate those that returned. Business could wait.

The following day started dark. Priestess Elowen hosted a funeral to for all those that had been lost, and the mayor announced a statue would be raised in the town square to commemorate them. A small gesture, but Hump felt better knowing Captain Winfrey and all those that had died would be remembered.

They went to speak with Helen that afternoon, and the atmosphere was tense from the moment they entered the command room. As pleased that she was for everyone that had been saved, Vivienne had disobeyed a direct order.

“As I’m sure you’ll understand,” Helen said, “I’ll need to pass this on to my superiors, along with those at the Wizard Society. I’m sure they will be very interested in the ruins you discovered in the lake too.”

“Of course,” Vivienne said. “Though I’d like to ask that you hold off on your report, at least for a week.”

Helen narrowed her eyes. “For what reason should I do you any favours?”

“We have information that will be of far more interest to your superiors than the actions of a wizard and some underwater ruins,” Vivienne said. “Give me one week, and you can have it.”

She frowned, looking over them, then over to Randall. The young lord paused a moment then nodded.

“Very well,” she said. “I’m listening.

Hump recounted what he’d seen in the other realm. After discussing it with Vivienne and the others, they’d decided it was too dangerous to keep to themselves. There were potentially hundreds of rifts connected to the human realm, and any one of them had the potential to grow large enough for creature’s to come through. It had to be reported, whether by them or by someone else, and Vivienne intended to spend as much time investigating the temple before she was called back to Sheercliff City, even if it was in ruins. It was only a matter of time before someone discovered what was buried in Fishers Lake. Too many people had seen it and talked.

Fortunately, with Randall on their side there was no issue getting a deal. He was right about where Helen’s loyalties lay. This had been an opportunity for Helen to prove herself, and with this information, she would.

***

Helen’s party left with Randall the following morning, leaving them the sole party of adventurers in town once more. Hump always found it interesting how quickly things returned to normal after disaster. Sergeant Fredricks had been made captain of the guard in Winfrey’s place, but it would be a while before the guardhouse was repaired. People cleared what was broken, tidied up the rubbish, and moved on with their lives.

They’d finished dinner at the lighthouse when Vivienne requested they share a private word in her study. He followed her up to the familiar room, a mess of books across her desk. She’d been studying the spell formation from the temple.

“Any luck?” he asked, nodding toward the pile.

She chuckled. “Gods no. I’ve yet to figure out what a single rune means. It could be years before I decipher the entire thing, if ever. No, I called you here for a different reason. I’m worried about you. With your permission, I’d like to run some tests to check the health of your soul.”

Hump paused. He’d expected her to ask—if anything he was surprised she’d waited so long. He’d told them all a little about what had happened in the gorger’s dungeon, but spared them the worst of the details. There was no covering up that it had been bad though, and a sustained attack on one’s soul was bound to leave damage.

“No matter what I find, it’ll remain between the two of us,” she said. “I swear it.”

After a few moments more consideration, Hump nodded. “I guess I’ve been worried about that too.”

She smiled. “We’ll figure this out, Hump. You’re strong. I saw that when you first arrived, and I saw that again in your battle against the gorger. You’ll get through this, it will just take time.”

“I bet you gave Master Sethril this talk too, didn’t you?”

“Oh yes. But the damage to his soul wasn’t something I could fix.”

“This is?” Hump asked. “I’ve been marked by a dragon already. I almost lost myself to my own essence, Vivi. To hate. Are you sure it isn’t already too late?”

“We’ll find out. It will take some time, but we wizards always find a way, don’t we?”

Hump snorted. “Then yes. Test away. What are you thinking?”

“I think I’ll need to involve some artefacts for the real testing. Once the inquiry calls me back to Sheercliff City, I’ll collect the necessary tools. Until then, we’ll go back to those aura exercises from before and see what’s changed.” She stepped around to her side of the desk and took out a book from her pile, placing it in front of him. “Have a look at this.”

Hump opened it, finding a catalogue of spells inside, separated into chapters. “Was this my master’s?”

Vivienne shook her head. “No, this is mine. These are spells I’ve invented or redefined, and versions I stand by. I’m no expert in fire or earth, but I have a few lower tier spells of those affinities that would be useful to you. If any interest you, I’ll teach you.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” she said. “You’re Seth’s apprentice. I should have truly realised that sooner.

Hump stared at it, feeling a little bit of the hole inside him filling. “Thank you.”

***

Day by day, Hump felt himself getting stronger. He’d eaten more food than ever, replacing more than just the muscle he’d lost, and he’d mostly recovered his essence now. His training with Vivienne was going smoothly, especially so now that he could use his spellbook to cast and better memorise his spells, and he slowly felt himself returning to normal.

It was nights he didn’t like. Sleep came slowly, and he found it never lasted long before something woke him. He’d seen it in adventurers and survivors of other cruel fates before. The lasting damage that the horrors of the world could have on one’s soul, though he’d never expected it to afflict him. He’d grown up living this life, and long since accepted how cruel the world could be. It seemed knowing that didn’t make it any easier once that cruelty made you its target.

It was his egg that gave him solace. He held it close as he tried to sleep. It warmed him when his soul ached with piercing cold, the scars the gorger had left not yet healed. He’d not dared to open up to it again yet, fearing what his thoughts might do. The hatchling needed happy thoughts and experiences, and right now Hump wasn’t sure he could maintain that long enough to form a connection. So he contented himself in having it close. Celaine had explained that it had was the reason they knew he still lived. He wondered what would have been if they hadn’t come for him. How close he was to falling back into its clutches, even with their aid.

Eventually he drifted off as he always did. He returned to that dark place where there was no sound. Just him and the gorger, and the icy cold of its will.

The click of a door pierced the veil.

Hump jerked awake. He scrambled back until he smashed up against the wall behind him, his heart pounding as he searched the faintly lit room frantically. He searched for the threat. Then he spotted Celaine—not the gorger—staring at him from the doorway, wide eyed, his hand still on the handle. Light streamed in from the open window in the hallway behind him. It had to be nearing noon already.

He was home. He was safe. He was no longer the gorger’s prisoner.

“Sorry to wake you,” Celaine said. “I didn’t realise you were still sleeping.”

Hump breathed, trying to calm his racing heart. He gulped and licked his lips. “What is it?”

She frowned. “We’re heading back out to the temple, remember?”

“Ah, yeah right, of course,” Hump made a show of wiping the sleep from his eyes. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be downstairs.”

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Hump nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. It was just a bad dream. I’ll be downstairs in a minute.”

Her frown deepened. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong? You missed breakfast.”

Hump smiled. “Just tired. Five minutes and I’ll be down. Now you better get out as I’m not dressed under here.”

She didn’t laugh. She didn’t even pretend to smile. She gave him a long look then nodded. “We’ll be downstairs.”

She closed the door behind her, and Hump jumped as it clicked shut.

He took a long, shaking breath, and glanced at the other bed. He’d lied. He definitely wasn’t okay. Lucile sat there on the edge of the bed, propped up on her hands, her legs dangling over the edge. She was wearing a plain white dress and sat back as if bathing in the morning light.

She tilted her head, smiling at him. “Well what are you waiting for? Celaine said it’s time to go.”

***

Note

This was a long, loooong book. The word count is 50% more than Book 1, and by far the longest book I've ever written (Probably a bit longer than it should have been if I'm honest, but that's first drafts for you).

I do hope you enjoyed it. I've learned a ton of lessons from this one that I plan to take into Book 3, and am just generally looking forward to starting a new book. I've been working on this for 7.5 months now so it's going to be great to get to move forward. I plot Hedge Wizard with vague trilogies in mind, so every third book is a particularly important one. So I've got some big plans for this next book :)

I still have some outlining to do before I start posting Book 3, so I will likely post an announcement with blurb information this Saturday rather than a chapter. If things go smoothly, expect Chapter 1 next Tuesday and for the current schedule to continue. Worst case scenario, Chapter 1 will be released the following Saturday on 7th May.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Book 2, either in the comments, on discord, or through private messages. If you've got any questions or anything, feel free to drop a message.

You guys on patreon are the core of my reader base, and it honestly makes such a big difference having your support. Thanks so much for following The Hedge Wizard up to here, and I hope you enjoy  the next step in Hump's adventure.