Chapter 81 - Skander

“So how did you spot me?” Skander asked.

“You were hardly camouflaged,” Celaine said.

The man sighed. “Perception ability, eh? Guessed you’d have one from the look of you but I didn’t expect you back so soon. Albry told us you lot were going to be away for a while. Don’t you have some demons to summon or something?”

“We’re the ones asking the question,” Dylan said, rest his staff on Skander’s chin.

Skander just laughed. “Or what? You going to poke me with your stick?”

“Maybe,” Dylan snarled. “You don’t want to find out. Now tell us why you’re here.”

Skander laughed louder. “Alright, alright. You got me. Randall wanted me to keep an eye on the witch, so that’s what I did.”

“Wizard,” Hump corrected.

“Witch, wizard, same thing. I don’t care either way, so long as many shiny coins find their way into my pocket. Taking a nap while doing it is just a bonus.” He glanced up at Celaine and nodded a challenge. “Only reason you caught me.”

Celaine smirked and folded her arms. “I’d almost be convinced if you weren’t wriggling about like a worm.”

Skander scrunched his nose. “Oh she’s not very nice is she?”

Hump shrugged. “She has her moments.”

Celaine turned her sharp glare on him, and Hump gave her a smug smile.

“Stay on topic,” Dylan snapped. “What did he want you to look out for?”

Skander gave him a patronising look. “This is Randall we’re talking about. There was no master plan.”

“You’re hardly here to see what she’s having for breakfast though, are you?” Hump said. “There must be more to it than that. Are you trying to find a way into the lighthouse? Believe me, you’d be better off giving up that line of thought now. I’ve tried.”

“Obviously nothing so grand as breakfast. Just here to stick my nose in and see what’s happening. And I’m pleased to report there’s no spirit summoning! You’re all safe to go about your day.”

Hump almost laughed.

Almost.

“Did you really think there would be?” Dylan snapped. “My master has done more for this town than anyone.”

Randall nodded. “That’s certainly one opinion on the matter.”

“You must know by now that something’s off about Albry,” Celaine said.

“Oh, the man’s a bag of nuts,” Skander said. “Just between the five of us, I’m thinking the witch might not be so bad after all.”

“Gods, I really am going to whack you if you keep this up,” Dylan growled.

Skander scowled. “Would you relax! You’re the ones that interrupted my nap. You let me out of this thing and I’ll be gone in a puff. Don’t tell anyone this happened, and I might even make it worth your while.”

Celaine raised an eyebrow. “How would you do that?”

“Dunno. Can I interest any of you in three and a half dried apricots?” He wiggled around, slipping his hand into his trouser pocket and pulling something out. “Oh, and an apple core. Fresh from this morning.”

Celaine groaned. “That’s so gross.”

There was s a sudden snap to Hump’s right, and he turned to look in that direction. There was nothing but forest. As he searched, there was another snap, drawing his eyes back to where he’d just been looking. A broken twig now half dangled from a tree trunk.

Hump smiled.

“Tell you what,” he said, turning back to Skander. “You tell us what you were doing out on the lake last night, and we’ll let you go.”

“Hump!” Dylan snapped, dragging him to the side. He lowered his voice and whispered, “We should bring him back with us. Master Vivienne will want to speak to the man who’s been spying on her, I’m sure.”

“We can hardly hold a Chosen hostage,” Hump said back. “Besides, if she wants to speak with him, he’s staying in town. It’s not like he’s going anywhere.”

Dylan held his eyes for a moment then let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine.”

Hump walked back to the rogue. “So what will it be? Want to talk to us, or to Wizard Vivienne. She’s even nastier than Celaine.””

Skander pressed his lips together and looked them over. “How do you know about our trip anyway?”

“You’re one of two parties in town,” Hump said. “How do you think? The point is, we know you make one, and we know you didn’t bother stopping by Lakewood to give us a hand with the monsters. What was so important?”

“To be fair, you didn’t send us a note or anything,” Skander said. “We’re not psychics. At least, I’m not. Sometimes I think Mad might be, but she’s just crazy!”

Celaine rolled her eyes and stepped away. “This is going nowhere. Let’s just take him back to Vivienne and leave him tied up in a room for a couple of days. He won’t think he’s so funny once he’s hungry.”

“You forget, I have an apple.” When Celaine opened her mouth, Skander hurriedly said, “Kidding! Just kidding. Gods. Look, we were out there because Albry suggested we give the place a look around. That’s it.”

“If that’s it, then it’s not good enough,” Hump said.

Skander bit his lip thoughtfully.

“We’re on the same side here,” Bud said. “We all want to help Fishers Lake and put a stop to these attacks. Do you really think we’d be talking like this if we were behind all this?”

Skander tilted his head as far back as he could and stared up at the knight. “I’ll be honest, mate, the speech isn’t particularly convincing when you have me tied up in what can only be described as suspiciously skilled ropework.”

“Last chance before we take this inside,” Hump said.

Skander clenched his jaw. “Fine. We found something on one of the islands. Don’t know what. But that’s it. Now will you let me go already?”

Hump frowned at the man. “We’re going to need a bit more than that. What did it look like?”

“Some pretty glass trinket,” Skander said. “It was kind of pointy, but beyond that I don’t know.”

“That’s impossible,” Dylan said. “I’ve been to the island. I would have found something like that.”

Skander frowned. “I didn’t tell you the specific island.”

Dylan blinked. “I’ve been to all the islands. I’ve been searching for clues for months.”

Skander shrugged as best as he could. “Should have looked harder.”

“Just a trinket?” Hump said. “No essence stones. No formations. Nothing to hint at what might be causing this.”

“Just a trinket,” Skander said. “I’ve talked. Now let me go. You want to know more, go talk to Albry.”

Hump paused for a minute, considering what Skander had just told them. More than that, he realised that the rogue wouldn’t have revealed this if his only motivation was to escape. He was up to something. “Alright. Dylan, unbind him.”

“Hump, really, I think we should—”

“We made a deal with him, Dylan,” Hump said. “He held up his end. Now we need to hold up ours.”

Dylan sighed and gave the rest of his party a look.

“We can’t keep him,” Bud said. “All the support we’ve gained in the town so far won’t last if we illegally imprison a Chosen.”

“Fine,” Dylan said. His vine slowly unravelled as he said the word.

Skander hopped to his feet and brushed off his clothes. “Right. Gentlemen, Lady, I shall bid you farewell. It’s been a pleasure.”

As he turned, Bud called after him. “Skander, I was serious about us being on the same side. If you can convince Randall to talk—”

“Let me give you one last piece of advice,” Skander said. “Randall’s not an idiot.” Skander tilted his head. “Well, he is an idiot, but he’s not entirely devoid of logic. More importantly, he’s an arrogant bastard, which means the only thing that matters is power.”

“There’s no time for us to fight,” Bud growled.

“The duel’s happening,” Skander said. He looked Hump up and down. “You gave me a nasty fright with that spell of yours. Didn’t know wizards could do stuff like that.” His face broke into a grin. “You want to talk to him, show him you’re worth talking to.”

In a burst of smoke and shadow, he vanished.

“Is he gone?” Hump asked Celaine.

Her gaze lingered on the distance, trailing something Hump could see. After a few seconds, she nodded. “He’s gone. Looks like he’s going the long way back to town.”

“Good.”

“No it isn’t,” Dylan snapped. “My master’s not going to be happy when she learns we let that man leave after spying on her.”

Hump smiled. “I don’t know about that.” He raised his voice. “What do you think? Was there anything more we should have asked?”

“That sufficed,” Vivienne said out of nowhere. They all turned in her direction, her illusion fading away in a trail of essence, revealing her standing in place beside the tree with the snapped twig. “I think we best go inside.”

***

Hump was surprised to find hot tea waiting for them in the living room. Clearly Vivienne had noticed their return even before Hump’s Essence Blast.

“I know of there were more killings,” Vivienne began. “How many dead?”

“A little over twenty,” Dylan said. “I don’t have an exact number.”

Vivienne sighed. “Well I’m glad to see you all back safely. How did it go?”

They spent the next twenty minutes explaining the events of Lakewood, their encounter with the pack of monsters, and their findings in the cave. Occasionally she interrupted with a question or probed them for additional detail, but generally she listened quietly.

“Fortunately, there was a sliver of good to come out of all this,” Hump concluded. “While my book was unable to take a recording of the formation itself, I’ve made a copy.” He placed the book on the table and opened it to the correct page. “I’ve never seen runes like this. Any idea what language they could be?”

She shook her head, still studying the book. “My best guess is as good as yours. It certainly appears to be a summoning ritual of some sort, but it’s a step above the usual cultist.” She frowned. “I was certain we were dealing with more than simple cultists though. A summoning wouldn’t explain the rising essence in the lake to this degree.”

“We found spirits in the cave,” Hump said. “The same spirits that attacked last week—there’s no doubt about it. This is too much to be coincidence.” He placed the violet crystals on the table one by one but stopped as he reached the fourth, hesitating. He remembered Dylan’s strange look in the cave, almost as if he’d seen the crystal before. He lowered his hand. Vivienne didn’t need all four, he’d keep the last one for himself.

“We also found these,” Hump said. They were in the core of the formation. I think they’re some sort of essence stone, but if that’s the case then I’ve got no idea what type. I thought you might know.”

Vivienne leant in for a closer look, her face wrinkling into a frown. “I don’t, and that’s disturbing. You said the entire cave was saturated in this power?”

“Yes. The only thing I can think of is that essence poured in through the summoning portal, though I’ve never heard of anything to this extreme.”

Vivienne held one of the stones up to the light. “It’s rare, but not unheard of. There was a summoner outside of Tinix before the city was claimed by the Fallen Lands. He’d been summoning from the same place for so many years that he managed to create a dungeon.”

She placed the stone back on the table. “You’ve done well to bring all this back. With a bit of luck, I might be able to figure out exactly what these stones with some of my equipment here. We’ll also need to speak with Priestess Elowen. She’s likely the most knowledgeable of anyone in Fishers Lake when it comes to summoning rituals. Perhaps she’ll recognise the language. I have some contacts in Sheercliff City that may be able to assist if she cannot.”

“About that,” Dylan said. “We met Mayor Arnold on our way back into town. Priestess Elowen has been confined to her chambers on suspicion of heresy. Albry has taken back command of the temple.”

“It’s always one thing after another, isn’t it?” she sighed. “I think it’s perhaps time I have a word with our High Priest.”