Chapter 72 - Warlock

Hump’s mind raced as he searched for any excuse that would come. All he drew was a blank. His mouth fell open, he fumbled for words—any words—but they did not find him. “Erm…”

Failing his own words, he glanced at Celaine for help. She was studying Vivienne intently, her body tense. Of course she’s ready for a fight… Hump thought. She’d never shown much talent at smoothing things over through words.

“I should have known better!” Vivienne snapped. Hump cringed as she stormed to her feet. She paced to the window at the back of the room, then returned, arms folded behind her back and eyes blazing. “How could you have been so foolish, Hump?”

“I—I…” he stammered.

Vivienne gave him no chance to defend himself. “—I’ve been staring at it every day for a week, and it didn’t even cross my mind! It’s not just a trap, is it?”

“It? What?”

She rolled her eyes. “The formation! Are you not listening? It’s not just a trap, it’s an assimilation binding. Gods above, it’s so obvious to me now. All this time I’ve focused on how the runes would function to create a trap without fully understanding their intent. They don’t just trap a creature, they bind it. They pin it down and rip its soul free.”

As long as this was the only part she was angry about, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Hump cleared his throat. “Then, do you think you can figure out how it works before the next wave?”

“Perhaps. Yes. We’re already close.” She frowned, then turned on Hump with sudden realisation. “You didn’t answer my question. What happened to you in the dungeon? Why is your soul so strange?” Her eyes darkened. “What happened to the soul of the dragon?”

There it was. The question he’d tried so hard to avoid.

“The dragon was the mother of the egg,” Celaine said. “Hump activated the formation and used her power to save us.”

“To save you?” she frowned. “What on earth was left to fight with the dragon bound in such a formation?” Her frown deepened, and she stepped back, pressing two fingers to her brow. “You said that Prince Kassius was the one to use this formation. A formation designed to harvest the soul of another being.”

Hump rubbed his face with his palm. “Kassius betrayed us. We were attacked on the way to the dungeon by bonefiends, but there had been no reports of necromancers so we thought they must have been drawn in by the dungeon domain. We were wrong. Prince Kassius arrived a day later and lent his aid to the expedition. It was only as we neared the dungeon core that the undead returned, forcing us to retreat. Only… Kassius remained. At the time we thought he was saving us, but it turns out he was in command all along.”

“We found him again in the dungeon core chamber,” Celaine said. “He was trying to absorb the dragon’s power. A dragon that died to a wound from his very blade.”

“Kassius caused it all,” Hump said. “Yet I fell for his act entirely. I don’t know how I could have been so stupid. I thought he was a hero, but when I activated the formation, I witnessed some of her memories, including her death. Kassius was the one to slay her, and it was her death that spawned the dungeon.”

“Is Kassius dead?” Vivienne asked.

“As far as the world is concerned, yes,” Celaine said. “Hump thinks differently.”

“Something happened after I drew on the dragon’s power,” Hump said. “It was enough to defeat Kassius, but something else appeared. Or someone. Time seemed to have stopped, and the world turned completely grey. Then a rift to some dark void appeared and a shadowy figure stepped out and took Kassius’ body with him.”

“Did it know you saw it?” Vivienne asked calmly. “Did it realise you were watching?”

Hump frowned. “I don’t think so. Do you know what it was?”

“No. But if it was as you say, then it must have been powerful. I know of no magic that can affect the flow of time.” She slumped back in her chair and let out a sigh. “I also don’t know what to do about you.”

“He’s fine,” Celaine said quickly. “We’d have noticed by now if something was wrong.”

Vivienne shook her head slowly. “He is most definitely not fine. The soul is a fragile thing, and this scar runs deep. Forcefully changing it in any way is dangerous, and the results are always unpredictable. Does anything feel different?”

“My affinity with fire has improved.”

“Anything less… obvious? Have you felt any physical or emotional change?”

Hump shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing obvious.” He hesitated, glancing at Celaine. “I do feel angrier than normal on occasion.”

Celaine turned to him. “You do? I thought we agreed to be open about these things.”

Hump grimaced. “It was nothing drastic. I’m not even sure if it’s an effect of my soul damage.”

“What else could it be?” she asked.

Hump smiled suggestively at her. “Who knows?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t annoy you.”

Hump snorted, then all humour left him. “How bad does it seem?”

“Well, the damage isn’t obvious. It was only when I took a closer look that I really noticed it, so I expect it would take someone very powerful to sense it. As for its effects, this is beyond me. Beyond anyone at the academy I imagine. We don’t study warlocks—we kill them.You’d be handed over to the church the moment anyone caught wind of you.”

Hump gulped. Her words were like a knife through the air. “And you?”

She folded her arms and gave him a hard look. “You should have been honest with me from the start.”

“If I’d have told you when we’d met, you’d have been convinced that I’d killed Master Sethril! I know what’s happened to me, Vivi. I know what I am! How can I admit that?”

She sighed. “I can empathise with your… apprehension.” She glanced at Celaine. “You and Robert both knew this?”

Celaine nodded.

“And Robert is fine with it? Partying with a Chosen from beyond the Pantheon is one thing, but I didn’t expect him to be so willing to work with a warlock.”

“From what I’ve seen of Bud, he judges people on their merit,” Celaine said. “Hump might not look it, but he did a lot of good things back in the dungeon.”

“What do you mean by ‘might not look it’?” Hump grumbled.

Celaine smiled innocently.

Hump pointedly ignored her. “So where do we go from here? Will you still train me?”

Vivienne bit her lip and frowned. “How much do you know about warlocks?”

“I know that it’s a term for practitioners of dark magic,” Hump said. “So spells that twist and corrupt souls, death magic, and obviously the absorption of other souls.”

“Well yes, I suppose that largely explains it. It’s a fairly broad term that the church probably use a little too liberally these days, and not entirely accurately, but that’s the gist of it. The name actually stems from the War of the Firmament and is used to define people whose souls were enhanced to turn mortals into weapons. The legend goes that Loften, God of Craft, was the first to perfect this method, and that under his guiding hand the concept of war forever changed.”

“You’re saying that I’m a weapon?” Hump asked.

Vivienne snorted. “Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—your transformation was not performed by Lord Loften. You are no weapon, Hump, though that does not mean you have not changed. However, while the soul is fragile, it is also adaptable. Not all changes to it are bad—Chosen are the perfect example of that. What we need to do is find out where you fall on the spectrum.”

“And how do we do that?” Hump asked.

“I don’t know. And with time as pressing as it is, I’m not sure we’ll have the chance to figure that out before the next wave comes.”

“This is an extremely roundabout answer to a simple question,” Celaine said. “Will you train him or not?”

“That depends on a question of my own,” Vivienne said patiently, not taking her eyes off Hump. “What type of change do you think this is?”

Hump adjusted in his seat. “I don’t know. When the dragon imprinted me, a think it took a piece of me with it. Something that made me, well… me, is no longer there. I don’t know what part of me that was.”

“What do your instincts say?”

Hump thought back on the moment he and the dragon were one. The emotions he had felt when her power coursed through him, all to destroy the egg. And what Bud had told him as they left Bledsbury behind, that perhaps she had left a part of him to help protect her child now that she could no longer do so herself. “My gut tells me it was a good change. It also tells me to protect the egg no matter what.”

Vivienne nodded. “Then until we figure out a method to understand it better, or you begin to display evil tendencies, I’ll continue to train you.”

“I’m glad,” Celaine said. “This is the first bit of progress with the dragon egg for two months, and that bond is extremely important for its youth. I think we need you.”

“I’m glad I could help,” Vivienne said, giving Celaine a genuine smile. “In fact, now that I know this, I believe we’ll be able to more effectively solve your control issues, Hump.”

“How so?”

“Progressing in your River and Waves technique for a start. You’re already well versed in it, and a Tier 3 essence circulation technique is as good as you can manage at your current level. Your soul is already stronger than most—taking it to the next step will both help you to better understand the changes you’ve experienced and utilise that advantage.”

***

Hump scrambled back out of range from Dylan’s vines, his footwork messy enough to almost trip him. He caught his balance on his staff and glared at the druid. His body stung all over from where at least a half-dozen of the attacks had made it through his mediocre defence.

“Do you have to make it hurt?” Hump snapped, rubbing his arm gingerly.

“A little pain helps to keep you motivated,” Dylan said. “At least, that’s what Master Vivienne said. If it’s any consolation I do feel bad about it.”

Hump sighed. Last night’s discussion hadn’t left his mind. “Did Vivi say anything else to you?”

“She may have mentioned something,” Dylan said.

“Nothing bad though?” Hump watched the four vines at his side nervously as they swayed back and forth. They reminded him of coiled snakes ready to strike.

“Only that you were a warlock.”

“What—”

The vine to the far left lashed out, a blur of motion through the air. Hump fumbled to raise his staff in time to block the blow, but he was too slow. A sharp pain stung on a finger of his left hand and Hump shook it as if that would stop the pain. “Ouch! Gods Dylan, show a little mercy.”

Dylan winced. “That one was my fault. You’re slow today. You need to concentrate. I can tell you’re not focused.”

“How can I focus with a bloody duel against Lord Randall coming up? And everyone knows I’m a warlock now. Believe it or not, it’s kind of distracting.”

“I thought wizards were supposed to be able to ignore distractions and focus.”

Hump glared at him again. “Yes.”

“Good. Then let’s continue.”

Hump opened his mouth to retort, but Dylan raised a hand to signal his next attack. The vine swept through the air with his motion. This time, Hump struck at it confidently, using the staff techniques that Dylan had drilled into him over the last week, and projecting his shield beyond the reach of the focus. He barked a word, the air shimmered, the near invisible barrier knocking aside the vine and vanishing in a burst of essence particles.

Hump grinned as he returned to his defensive stance, his staff’s focus crystal directed toward his opponent—or opponents in this case, if four spindly vines could be called as such. He wasn’t able to cast the spell silently like Vivienne, however he could still sense how effective it was. There was hardly any essence wastage, and while there was some risk carried when using a spell that relied on timing and execution, it would considerably increase his endurance. He’d also found that compared to the static defence of a standard Shield, Parry Shield was fast enough that it left him time to retaliate. His defence was improving, that was a fact, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased.

“Better,” Dylan said. “Adjust your grip though—you’re sliding your hands together again.”

Hump spread his hands out along the weapon, already channelling more essence to it. With all the training combined, he was already feeling fitter. The morning runs no longer left him half dead, and he’d already grown more confident in melee combat. His earth magic was coming along a little slower. He’d decided to start with Earthen Grasp, and while the Book of Infinite Pages had helped to show him how to properly weave his essence to create the spell, it didn’t make up for the months of study one usually needed to properly learn a new spell, particularly one of Tier 2.

They were interrupted halfway through their usual hour by the arrival of one of the town guards. The woman had sprinted down the road and arrived out of breath.

“Has something happened?” Dylan asked.

“Mayor Arnold has requested Wizard Vivienne’s assistance at his office,” she said. “Lakewood has been attacked. Two dead, and another missing.”

“That’s not right,” Hump said. “The spirits aren’t due till the end of the month.”

“It wasn’t spirits,” she said. “They didn’t see what did it, but the bodies they found were torn to pieces. The mayor will explain everything, please get everyone together and come with me.”

“We’ll be right there,” Dylan said.