Chapter 90 - Second Rank Wizard

This is now the full chapter. The new section begins at the *** 

“Are you sure about this?” Bud asked.

They were around the back of the lighthouse, standing atop the small bluff that overlooked the lake.

“Not like I have a choice,” Hump said. “Vivienne needs to maintain the lighthouse’s formation during the attack. I’m the only other person that can cast it.”

“You won’t be casting anything if this blows up in your face,” Celaine said.

Hump smiled tightly. “Thanks, Celaine. You are forever a well of wisdom.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying that believe it or not, I’d rather you avoided blowing yourself up. If there’s any doubt—”

“There’s not,” Hump interrupted. “There can’t be. It’s been almost two months since Bledsbury, it’s time I learn to properly control my power. The longer I stay afraid of it, the harder it will be to overcome it in the end. If I’m to make progress, this has to happen.”

He heard the door to the lighthouse open, Vivienne and Dylan’s footsteps crunching on the gravel path.

“You’re confident?” Bud asked quietly.

Hump nodded. “I’m certain.”

And that was the truth. It was a trick wizards learned early on in their training, to trick the mind into believing something that was completely contrary to reality. His master’s favourite method was to drop him in a freezing cold stream and force him to believe with absolute conviction that it was warm. Hump had never managed to hold it more than a few seconds at a time, but it was a lesson that stuck. It was absurd, ridiculously difficult, and few wizards came anywhere near close to mastering it, but now it served him well.

When Vivienne rounded the corner, she looked ready for business. “Are you ready?”

“Good to go.” Hump stood up from where he leant against the lighthouse and walked toward the edge of the bluff. The lake was a good ten feet down below, calm as he’d seen it since they’d arrived.

“I wouldn’t suggest this if I didn’t think you were capable,” she said.

“And I wouldn’t agree to it if I didn’t think I was,” Hump retorted. “As I said, I’m good to go.”

She knew as well as he did that external encouragement meant nothing when the problem was one’s own power. At the end of the day, either he was going to do this or he wasn’t. No matter how confident Vivienne might be, it made no difference. If his will lacked resolution, if his intent failed, or if he let his essence slip from his direction, there was only one outcome he could expect.

Peering down at the lake, he felt eyes in his back like knives. Of course there had to be spectators… If he was going to blow himself up, Bud and Celaine needed front row seats. He knew they meant well, but it was an embarrassing way to go if he failed. Fortunately, that embarrassment wouldn’t last long.

He’d cast Tier 3 magic before. Chicken Fix was one he’d used a few times on broken bones, but it relied on a spell formation to control the essence rather than his own will. River and Waves was just a technique to envision and channel essence, rather than an actual spell.

This was different. It relied on nothing but his own abilities. Sure he’d managed it when pumped up on wolf dragon essence, but all he had now was his own.

No more distractions. It’s time to focus.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his mind to distractions, envisioning the essence that coursed through his body. He was surprised to find everything was normal. There were no turbulent waves, he hardly even felt nervous. Vivienne was right; if he didn’t trust himself, he could never advance. He needed to get past this. No, he’d already moved past it. Against the flesh prowlers, the shades in the cave, and against Randall. When push had come to shove, the magic had come. His control was there, and he had no reason to fear.

All doubt was cast to the river, and he turned his focus to his power. It willed it from his core, circling it around the rest of his body, following the paths of the river that were now as much a part of him as the rest of his body.

He took off the essence channel bracelet from his wrist and tossed it aside. The time for support was over. He’d practiced Focused Blast a hundred times since Bledsbury. Fire Ray was the same spell with extra steps. All he had to do was infuse it with fire essence. He’d never risked it in his two months training. Fire was innately chaotic, and unlike Fire Blast that released the power in a relatively controlled explosion, the whole point of Fire Ray was to build it up and focus it into a concentrated beam. Of all the spells to blow up in his face, it would be that.

He began the same way he always did, fixing the image of the formation firmly in his mind. Imagining each channel—each rune—and envisioning essence flowing through it. He drew upon the heat within him, and fire essence rushed to his call.

It came more easily than expected. He’d still not gotten used to how different it was to his old self. Fire reacted to him with the slightest nudge of his will, eager to obey him. As it flowed through him, it stirred up his channels, filling them with waves that he did nothing to calm. There was no use fighting against it, instead, he had to work with it, nudging it into the right direction.

As the essence reached his staff, the runes along the shaft began to smoulder, black smoke rising from them. The smell of burning filled the air, and his focus flared like a raging furnace contained within the heartstone.

It wasn’t enough. This was no quick cast spell barked off in a fight. Vivienne needed to see a full activation. In terms of combat usage, it was slow and impractical, but that wasn’t the point. There was a proper way to perform magic, the way they taught it at the academy. Every channel of the formation had to be used to its fullest potential, only then was the spell ready.

Hump saturated the channels with essence. It moved to his will, obeying each command with ease. His confidence grew and he threw caution to the wind, letting the essence build. Then, when it was ready, he took aim at an empty patch of water down below.

“Fire Ray,” he said calmly.

Red hot flame burst forth, no wider than a tree trunk. Heat blasted at Hump’s face, the wind roaring past him as a line of red pierced the lake. The water churned, bubbling and hissing from the sudden heat, steam rising into the mist. It lasted only a few moments. As the essence of the spell faded, the beam narrowed and then vanished, the final remnants of power vanishing like embers on the breeze.

Hump grinned. He’d done it.

Behind him, the others were smiling too. Bud looked more relieved than him, and even Celaine seemed like a weight had left her.

“Excellently done,” Vivienne said. “Let me officially be the first to congratulate you. Not a person in Alveron can deny your abilities as a Rank 2 wizard. That was an exceptional spell, and a powerful one at that. How do you feel?”

“Good,” Hump said, eyeing his staff. Both the focus and runes still glimmered faintly. “I can cast the spirit binding.”

“Perfect,” Vivienne said.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Bud said. “You don’t have one of these summoning spells, do you? Because if you did, it would be beyond illegal.”

“Of course not,” Vivienne said. “But I know the perfect place to find one.”

They all looked at her curiously, and then it dawned on Hump.

“The temple library,” he said.

Vivienne smiled. “We’re fortunate they’ve kept such pristine records. We’ll have our pick.”

***

Elowen agreed for them to summon a spirit on one condition—Randall’s party also had to be present. Her condition was something Hump supposed they should have expected. It made sense. They were performing a dangerous summoning; they should have every possible Chosen present to make sure nothing went wrong. That left them with only one choice. It was time to inform Lord Randall of their findings.

Vivienne stayed behind and began perusing the church library while the rest of them headed over to the guardhouse. Predictably, Madeleine was inside, watching over Albry. The priest still hadn’t awoken since the altercation in the church.

It hadn’t taken much convincing for her to agree to take them to speak with the others. One of the guards took over her watch and she led them to the mayor’s office. Hump was surprised to find the dining hall inside had been converted into a command office. Maps of the town, islands, and villages around Fishers Lake covered the table, along with what looked to be other bits of research. They’d been busy.

“What are they doing here?” Randall asked, rising from his seat.

Skander sat nearby, his feet up on the table, legs crossed and playing with a dagger. Lawrence and the archer had both put whatever books they were studying down to listen.

“You asked us to keep you informed,” Hump told him. “We’ve made some progress and thought it might interest you.”

Randall looked him over, scrutinisingly. “Meaning you want something from us.”

Between the four of them, Hump and his party briefed over the most important points, leaving out a few unnecessary details such as the fact that Vivienne was searching for the underwater temple long before anyone else arrived. Randall’s frown seemed to deepen as they passed over Elowen’s realisation that they were dealing with more than just a summoning.

"These gateways," he said. "Can they be closed?”

Hump paused for a moment, considering his response. In truth, they didn’t know the answer to that. If killing the caster or destroying the formation wasn’t enough, how exactly did one repair a tear between realms?

He decided it was best to sound confident. “If we can find the source of the ritual, we can destroy it.”

“Then surely we can just follow one of these shade creatures back,” Randall said.

Hump smiled. “That’s been tried. Unless any of you can fly, the shades are too fast to follow across the lake. Which is where our latest plan comes into play. We intend to trap a shade and use a series of artefacts to follow it back to the source, once there are no other shades left to run interference. Everything’s in place, all that’s left is to see if our spell works.”

“Well I can tell you right now we’re not going to be the test subjects of whatever dark magic you plan to use.”

Hump snorted.

“You won’t be the test subject,” Bud said. “But we do need your help. More specifically, we need all the Chosen available to ensure this is done safely.”

“Come now, Robert,” Randall said. “Out with it already. What are you intending?”

Hump told him.

“No. Absolutely not,” he snapped. “You’re talking about summoning a demon. This is the blackest of magics.”

“It’s a simple spirit summoning,” Hump assured him. “There’s nothing dark about it. This is no undead soul or evil entity; it will be a creature of nature.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Randall said. “I don’t trust your wizard tricks.”

“Which is why we’re here,” Dylan said. “Seven Chosen is more than enough to fully control the environment. With all of us present, we can destroy the formation immediately afterward. We need to do this, Randall. Otherwise it’s impossible to know if the spell will work when the real attack comes.”

“There must be another way,” he insisted. “Skander can find anything.”

“Unless he’s got a blessing that makes him swim faster, tracking isn’t an option,” Celaine said.

Randall glanced at Skander, who shrugged. “She’s a better tracker than me. I’m inclined to take her word on it.”

Randall clenched his jaw, turning to Bud and Dylan. “You’re both behind this?”

They both nodded.

“I don’t see another way,” Bud said.

Randall eyed him thoughtfully. “Robert, we are brothers of Kelisia, blessed to destroy dark spirits and purge the land of evil. I need to know that this isn’t just the witch’s idea. That you are truly sure.”

Bud frowned, thinking long enough for Hump to feel uncomfortable. “I like this no more than you do but I don’t see any better alternatives. Not unless you can call upon more resources from Sheercliff.”

Randall tutted. “That isn’t happening. There’s nobody to spare, not with monsters spawning all over the region.”

Bud sighed. “In which case, what I do know is that we must find out where the shades are coming from. This gives us the best chance of getting it right the first time.”

Randall glanced at Hump. “He puts a lot of trust in you, wizard. How sure are you that you can even pull this off?”

Hump shrugged. “I trapped a dragon using similar methods a couple of months ago. This should be a piece of cake.”

Randall blinked, surprise filling his face. “A dragon?”

“Well, it was an undead dragon.”

Randall glanced back at Bud. “Is this true?”

Bud grinned and nodded. “As I told you before, there’s a reason we partied up. Hump’s good at what he does, and he does it for the right reasons.”

Randall let out a sigh, glancing at Madeleine and Skander for their approval. When they both gave a nod, he gave his own answer, “Very well. We’ll help you.”

“Perfect,” Hump said. “We’ll do it tomorrow night. Always best to summon evil spirits when it’s dark.” Everyone balked at him, which just made Hump grin. “Kidding. Noon should be fine.”