Chapter 101 - Treasury

Hump rushed to his feet before he knew what he was doing, pressing his hand against Lucil’s mouth and muffling her screams.

“Lucil, please, you need to stay calm,” he said quickly. “I’m not going to hurt you. We’re on the same side. Please, you need to listen to me for a moment.”

She fought him and he cursed. There was no strength to her body, but she also showed no hint of understanding. No sign that her mind had returned and that this was more than simply instinctual fear.

Hump hushed her as calmly as he could, looking past her to peer into the cave, toward the doorway he knew was out there in the darkness. He waited for the gorger’s footsteps to echo through the chamber, for the click of the lock he had grown accustomed to, and the red glow that lit its way.

“Please, Lucil. You have to understand. You have to be in there. If you keep screaming, it will come for us, and then there’s nothing I can do. The only way we can survive is if we work together and we stay quiet.”

She seemed to stop fighting, or she ran out of strength. Hump couldn’t tell.

“Tell me you understand,” Hump pleaded. “Tell me you’re still in there.”

Tears welled in her eyes. The screams stopped but she was still breathing heavily, like a caged animal. He so so much confusion in her eyes. So much terror. Emirai’s mercy, how did he explain what had happened to her? How did he help het? How much did she even understand?

She met his eyes and in them he saw understanding.

“Lucil?” Hump probed.

She nodded shakily.

Hump let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I’m going to take my hand away. I know you must be terrified, but you can’t scream. There are monsters around and we can’t let them hear us.”

A tear ran down her cheak but she nodded again. Hump to his hand away and she stepped back from him, until the walls pressed up behind her. She crumbled to the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest, reminding him of the terrified villagers they’d found in the kobold den.

He didn’t know what to say. He was terrible at this. Celaine was the one to comfort the villagers before, and Bud was the one to give them hope. Hump… he was just a hedge wizard. His master hadn’t trained him for this.

“I know what happened to you was terrible,” he said quietly. “It will only get worse once it realises what happened, which is why we need to get out of here. Do you understand, Lucil?”

She was silent for a long few seconds, then, without looking up, said, “What’s your name?” Her voice was barely a croak.

“My name?” Hump said, the suddenness of her question catching him off guard. “Hump. My name is Hump, short for Humphrey. I’m a wizard.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and took a long, quivering breath, then let it out. “Where—” She broke into a violent fit of choughs, choking and dry heaving. “Gods above,” she wheezed. “What happened to me?” She looked at her skinny body and her eyes went wide. “I look like death.’

Humo frowned, not sure how much to tell her. “Do you not remember anything?”

“I…” he trailed off, holding her head in her hands. “I don’t know what I remember.” She pressed her eyes shut. “It hurts to think.”

Hump hesitated. Perhaps it was better she didn’t remember, at least for now. It seemed his moment’s thought was enough for her to catch on that he was hiding something though.

“Hump?” she said. “Please, just tell me what’s going on?”

He decided to start with only what she needed to know.

“We were both trapped by a creature known as a gorger,” Hump said. “You a little longer than I. From what I’ve seen of its power so far, I’d put it somewhere between Tier 5 and Tier 6 in strength.”

“I… I remember being with my party,” she said. “We were searching for these spirit creatures. They’d been attacking the town. Is everyone okay?”

Hump hesitated. Perhaps it was better she didn’t remember, at least for now. It seemed his moment’s thought was enough for her to catch on that he was hiding something though.

“Hump?” she said seriously. “What happened to my party?”

“They’re fine,” he lied. “They managed to escape and reach the town. My party were called in once news of a more serious attack came out.”

He couldn’t tell her that she had caused their deaths. That she had used them as sacrifices to open a gateway to another world, and then stepped through to the very beast that now held her prisoner. Not here. Not when both their lives relied on them remaining sound of mind.

It felt wrong, but he didn’t know her. From their brief encounter, she seemed tough. She reminded him of Celaine in a way. Despite all the horror that had happened to her, she toughed it out. She was an adventurer. It was part of the life that bad things happen. Which only made him feel worse about not telling her.

“How do you know my name?” she asked. Then frowned at him. “And why are you naked?”

“We were briefed on your encounter when we arrived at Fishers Lake,” Hump said, which was somewhat true. “And everything I owned was taken when I was captured.”

He snuck to the end of his cell, peering out of the gateway at the cavern beyond, looking both directions into the darkness. Lucil had dropped the only lightsource on the ground. A stick of red crystal a few inches long. He grabbed it and held it out, looking in each direction. It was a large cave like area. He seemed closest to the door Lucil came through, and the tunnel went on to the left.

“Do you know how long I’ve been here?’ she asked.

“I’m not sure how long I’ve been here yet either,” Hump said, trying to avoid the question. “Time passes differently here. I know you must have a lot of questions but right now we need to move. Can you walk?”

She pushed herself to her feet and nodded.

“Then follow me. Hopefully something comes back to you soon or we’ll be walking around blind.”

He headed right first, deciding to investigate the tunnel before anything. It stretched on about a hundred paces before he found another cell. Albry’s emancipated corpse was inside, now nothing but skin and bones. He was dead, which Hump supposed was merciful. From the looks of it, once the gorger had drained him of all the lifeforce it could, it had simply left the body to die on its own. Likely dehydration was what finally did it—a horrible way to go. Hump guessed the gorger had been feasting on Albry after their sessions.

“That’s High Priest Albry!” Lucil said, horrified.

“We were both captured at the same time,” Hump said.

Seeing the corpse, it seemed the severity of their situation became clear in Lucil’s mind. She stepped back, panic once more in her eyes.

“No, no, no,” Hump said, practically panicking himelf. “Don’t get like that. We’re going to get out of this. I promise. The gorger’s gone after the town again. It’s distracted, and hopefully a long way from here. Keep it together and we can do this.”

“I’m fine,” she said quietly. “I’m together. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. You’re already doing fantastic.” Even as he said it, Hump realised how close he was to breaking himself. Only a mixture of desperation and determination to get Lucil out held him together. “Come on, let’s head back that way. There’s a door.”

Hump led the way, holding the red crystal overhead. Stone steps led up to a metal doorway above. It had a large bolted lock.

“Do you have a key on you?” Hump asked.

Lucil pulled out a key around her neck without hesitation, then stared down at it, confused. “How did I know where it was?”

“You’ve used this door before,” Hump said. “You brought me food. Or, this place’s equivalent at least.” He inserted the key but struggled with the lock.

“Here, let me.” Lucil took it and adjusted the key, then turned with the same heavy click. “A few memories are coming back after all.”

Even now, the sound instilled Hump with anxiety. It was the sound before his torment began. He gulped and forced the thought down. “Do you think you can find your way around? I want to find my stuff.”

She heaved the door open, revealing a tunnel on the other side. The walls were smooth, as if the gorger had carved them out with earth magic. There were only a couple of doors along the way, and a wall of solid stone on the far end.

“I guess we can figure it out.”

They moved through the tunnel. Lucil opening each of the doors as they went. This was no evil castle, it was more like a stronghold at the heart of a fort. Nothing but necessities. It was a place to survive. As inconspicuous as it could be to avoid others finding it.

As they wandered the rooms, they encountered no resistance. Two were empty, and only a few paces wide in any direction, reminding him of his own cell. One was full of old and broken bones, that reminded him of the cave. It seemed the gorger kept pets. The next opened to the largest room yet, the gorger’s treasury, if it could be called that. There were chests of stone with no visible lock, and display cabinets made of uneven glass panes.

“Quickly,” Lucil said. “I have a terrible feeling about this. Something is wrong.”

Hump nodded, rushing inside. “I need to find my staff and spellbook. You should see if you can find some weapons for yourself.”

The content of the cabinets seemed random. Some appeared to be artefacts, while others were clearly non-magical. Wooden charms, a necklace of human fingers, a vaguely human skull with fangs instead of teeth. He tried to open one of the chests, but it seemed to be sealed with some kind of magic, for he saw no lock anywhere.

As he rounded one of the displays, he spotted a pile of clothes in one corner and hurried over. Searching the pile was an eerie feeling, like he was sifting through the belongings of those long dead. He wondered if the townsfolk had lost their clothes here too, then forced himself to think of himself. This was a time to be selfish. He found his robes and boot amongst them.bThe robes were torn apart and of no use anymore, but the boots weren’t any worse off than before. He considered donning it anway, when he spotted a pale green robe on a peg nearby. Clearly something the gorger prized above the rest.

Hump took it and wrapped himself in it. It was of good wool and lined with fine linen, far better quality than his old one. While it was a bit long for him, it would certainly do for now.

“I think I found something,” Lucil called.

He hurried over to her to find a corner section with a series of weapons racks and wall mounts, stuff full of all sorts of weapons. Hump spotted a basket full of staffs and spotted his own amongst them. He took it eager, stroking the polished wood, eyeing it for any damage.

“This is it,” he said. He looked at the other staffs. None were very impressive. He supposed only the weak wizards would get trapped here by the gorger. He picked out one that seemed to be of decent quality and handed it to Lucil. “You’re a sorcerer right, this one might do for you.”

She took it and gripped it in both hands. He felt her essence stir and the four runes lit along the shaft, then shone yellow in the focus at the top. She seemed to come alive a little with the awakening over her power. She stared into the focus, and the hollowness of her eyes faded.

“This will do me,” she said.

“Good. Now I just need to find my spellbook.”

There was a bookshelf nearby, and Hump suddenly sensed something. There was a slight thud, and his eye was drawn to the spellbook on the table. He walked over to it, barely recognising it to be his own. It was opened to a page on foundation magic, nothing a gorger would be interested in. It jerked again, and Hump could sense it through their bond, like a jolt of lightning to his core. Something he hadn’t felt since it had first bonded him.

As he took the book, the pages whirled, opening to a new page.

Spellbook
Compact Spell Formations

Description: Wield the spell formations of this book as if they were your own.

Hump stared at it, too tired to feel truly excited, but it was enough to stir some eagerness. Another piece of proof that this hadn’t been for nothing. He’d grown stronger. His soul had grown stronger. And his book recognised that.

At the same time, it reminded him that his time here had changed him. He wondered how much.