Chapter 57 - The Haunted Town

Tambria was a region of green grass, rolling hills, and farmland, with stone walls made of piled rocks marking the boundaries between the fields. Out here, no users of magic could have made them, meaning that each of them was painstakingly constructed by hand.

They followed the narrow path through the fields and over the hills, passing the occasional trader or farmer as they went, but for the most part they were completely alone. It was this part of being a hedge wizard that Hump enjoyed—the cool breeze, warm sun, and the freedom to go anywhere and do anything.

With Sheercliff City so close, bandits were uncommon, though they’d been warned to keep an eye out for monsters. Fortunately, the trip went without problems. They crested a shallow hill, and there it was. Fishers Lake glistened like a mirror in the afternoon sun, so large that Hump couldn’t see the other side of it. There were a few small islands of greenery spread out across the great lake, and woodland surrounded it, still fresh and green even as the summer came to an end. At this distance, the boats on the lake all looked like ants, slowly moving across a vast plain.

The town itself was small, constructed in a divot of flat land along the curve of the lake shore, with a few of its buildings housed on supports that stretched out across the water. There was a wooden dock, stretching out to an island near the shore, creating a sheltered area to dock the ships. Most were fishing boats, but there were a few larger vessels that Hump guessed were used to transport goods and people to the other towns around the lake. There was a lighthouse to the left of the town, atop a rocky bluff that protruded out into the lake.

As they rode closer, the occasional farmer out of the field stopped and watched them, one sending one of his boys on ahead to the town, no doubt informing someone in the town of their arrival.

“They don’t look very happy to see us,” Bud said.

“I doubt they see many strangers arriving by horseback here,” Hump said. “They’ve had two of their people go missing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all on edge.”

“They’re going to love us then,” Celaine said. “Three kids showing up to investigate missing people is just what they need to inspire confidence.”

“Those three kids do include two Chosen,” Hump said, smiling. “I think they’ll quickly come around.”

“The town guard is gathering,” Celaine said, pointing to where four people stood waiting for them, the farmer’s boy behind them. They were geared in old chainmail cuirasses that looked little better than Bud’s, and each carried a simple wooden spear.

“Let me do the talking,” Bud said as they approached. “Hello there!” he called. “We’re from the Adventurers’ Guild to fulfil a request sent by your mayor.”

“About bloody time,” one of the men muttered.

“Quiet Tarril,” another snapped, stepping forward to meet them. “I’m sorry about him. I’m Sergeant Fredricks. It’s very good to have you here. I hate to ask, but could you please show me proof of your membership.”

Each of them pulled their medallions out for him to see and the guard inspected each of them diligently, ensuring each were warm to touch.

“Thank you,” he said. “Apologies for being so upfront about it, but we had a group through a few weeks ago claiming to be adventurers, only to disappear on us during the night. Bastards didn’t pay a penny for their stay.”

“I can assure you, we’re truly adventurers,” Bud said. “I’m Robert Blackthorne. These are my teammates, Wizard Hump and the Huntress, Celaine. We’ll do whatever we can to assist.”

“The gods know we need the help. Mayor Pilton is already aware of your arrival. He’s asked me to escort you straight to him if that’s alright.”

“The sooner the better, sergeant,” Bud said. “Thank you.”

“Very good. This way then, if you would.”

“Are you really a wizard,” the farmer’s boy asked as they passed. He was staring intently at Hump’s staff.

Hump grinned. “You tell me,” he said, channelling essence into his staff. The focus shone blue and he whispered, “Spiralling Light.”

A small ball of white light popped out of his staff and orbited around it like a firefly. The cantrip was all but useless in a practical sense, requiring too much focus to warrant use over a standard Light spell, but it was enough to make the boy’s mouth drop open, his eyes wide as moons. Hump cut his essence to the spell and followed the rest of his party into town, the sergeant leaving his men to go about their business.

His grin widened as he heard the boy excitedly talking with the guards.

“You are such a showoff,” Celaine said, smiling.

“You can’t say that. When travelling with two Chosen, I’ve got to make use of every opportunity I get.”

For a small fishing town in the middle of nowhere, it was very well maintained. The buildings were mostly made of stone, tightly packed against each other to fit as many in along the cobblestone road. Hump heard a marketplace down toward the lake and spotted a bell tower in that direction that seemed the highest point in town.

The mayor’s office was at a corner of a crossroad near the town centre. It was three-stories and perfectly square, with a pyramidal roof.

“You can tie your horses up here,” Sergeant Fredricks said, gesturing at a fence along the roadside. “I will make sure they are properly tended.”

He showed them inside, leaving them with the mayor’s secretary. A young woman that didn’t look much over twenty, with a cheerful face, and curly brown hair. She wore a smart shirt and a skirt with squares on it.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, leading them up to the second floor. “It’s been an absolute nightmare. People are scared to go off to their farms, you know. And the poor families,” she put a hand on her chest and looked back at them. “They’ll be relieved to know help has arrived.”

Sarah knocked on the door and peaked her head inside. “Mayor Pilton, I’ve brought the adventurers for you. Shall I show them in.”

“Yes, thank you, Sarah,” said the man inside.

She held the door open for them and smiled. “There you go. Do you want any water or anything?”

“That’s quite alright,” Bud said. “We’ll speak to Mayor Pilton first and get all the important things out of the way. Refreshments can wait.”

The mayor was sat behind a desk of dark, polished wood. He was a broad man with the beginnings of a bear belly, a stern face that looked sharp with his glasses, and thinning blonde hair. He stood up as they entered and greeted them. Standing beside him was a man armoured like the guards they’d met outside, though his equipment was clearly of better quality. He carried a sword at his hip, and from the confidence of his stance, Hump thought he knew how to use it.

“Thank you for coming. I’m Arnold Pilton.” He gestured to the man at his right. “This is the captain of our guard, Winfrey Pesh.”

The door slammed open behind them, and Hump turned to see an old priest in black and red robes storm inside. “Ah, Priest Albry, perfect timing. I was just introducing us to our guests.”

Albry stormed up to the mayor’s desk, completely ignoring Hump and his party. “Arnold, I thought I told you assistance from the Adventurers’ Guild was unnecessary.”

“Come now, Albry. They’re here, and we need the help. I don’t want to discuss this again.”

The priest’s face twitched, but he nodded. “Very well.”

“To help is what we’re here for,” Bud said. “Might I say you have a lovely town. The stonework is spectacularly done. Where I come from, we mostly use artificial stone, so all of our buildings look the same.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mister…”

“Forgive my manners,” Bud said. He introduced them again.

“Blackthorne, did you say,” Priest Albry asked. “As in, House Blackthorne?”

“Correct,” Bud said. “Robert Blackthorne is also my father’s name.”

Albry tilted his head forward and peered at Bud through his glasses. “I see. A Chosen of Kelisia are you?”

“Indeed,” Bud said.

“Then perhaps you can be of some help after all,” Albry said. “The purging of spirits is one of Goddess Kelisia’s most important tasks,” he explained to Mayor Pilton.

The mayor let out a breath and nodded. Hump noticed the dark bags under his eyes. “Good. I’ll admit, when I saw your… inexperience, for lack of a better word, I was rather apprehensive. It’s reassuring to know that you know what you’re doing.”

“We’re all iron ranked adventurers, Mayor Pilton,” Bud said.

“Arnold, please,” the mayor said, waving his hand.

“Arnold then.”

“We were in fact invited to the guild by Overseer Oswald,” Hump added. “You’re in good hands. I’ve made sure to purchase all we’ll need to figure out exactly what type of spirit entity you’re dealing with here. If it’s a ghost, we’ll know quickly.”

“Good,” Arnold said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Very good. Just tell me what you need, and I’ll make sure you have all the assistance we can give.”

“Our information from the guild states that you’ve had a number of ghost sightings over the last few months, and more recently had two people go missing.”

“Three,” Mayor Pilton growled out, clenching his fist. He frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, it was a stressful afternoon. We lost a boy last night—nine years old—I spoke to his parents shortly before you arrived. It was… far from pleasant. The poor boy had only stepped out to feed the cattle, and that was the last they saw of him.”

“Only nine years old,” Bud said solemnly. “I’m very sorry to hear that.”

“I only pray he’ll be the last,” Winfrey added. “I’ll have my people gather a report on the last locations where the victims were seen, along with ghost sighting areas. I can have that for you tomorrow.”

“That’s the best place for us to start,” Hump said. “Any commonalities between the attacks would be very helpful in figuring out what we’re dealing with, and how we can prevent another attack. Were the attacks in the same area?”

“No,” Winfrey said. “We’ve had two in the town, but the boy last night was from one of the farms further along the lake.”

“All at night?” Hump asked.

“Yes. Unlike before though, the previous two went missing on the night of the new moon.”

“We’re still a few days away from that,” Celaine said.

The mayor nodded. “I’d hoped we would have more time. We’ve been salting the doors, Albry has been leading the priests in blessings of protection over the town, yet the sightings have only become more frequent. And now this—an attack before the new moon.”

“Those are good steps to take,” Hump said. “The new moon is odd though. Ghosts aren’t typically affected by the moon’s cycles. We may be dealing with some other type of spirit entity. Where a ghost is typically a wandering soul, bound to our world through some emotional attachment that prevents it from passing over, spirits can be far more sinister. Can you describe the creatures?”

“Black hooded shapes that have been floating in the sky. Nobody has seen one up close.”

“What do you think?” Bud asked.

Hump shrugged. “It fits the description of a wraith, though it’s impossible to say for certain without seeing one. Even then, spirits are difficult to identify. We could be dealing with anything from a wandering soul looking for vengeance to a summoned apparition.”

“It’s that damned witch, I tell you,” Albry said. “Her and her beast. Ever since she arrived in town, things have been going wrong. My priests and I were at her doors yesterday, yet she refused to speak with us.”

“Albry, please,” Arnold said.

“I warned you about her, Arnold,” Albry said. “She’ll be the death of us all.”

Arnold rubbed a hand over his face.

“This witch,” Hump said. “She wouldn’t happen to be Wizard Vivienne Sharonne?”

“That’s right,” Mayor Pilton said. “You know her?”

“I do,” Hump said. “It was our search for her that brought us here actually.”

“Gods have mercy,” Albry said. “You’re with her! No, Arnold, as High Priest of this town I forbid you from allowing these people to stay. They must go and go quickly.”

“Albry, what in the world has gotten into you,” Winfrey snapped. “Just last night a boy went missing, and you want to send away the first sign of help we’ve had.”

“You do not understand the forces at work here,” Albry said. “You cannot understand.”

“I think I understand well enough,” Arnold said.

“Very well,” the priest said, making his way back toward the door. “Accepting them into our home will bring about another attack. Mark my words.” He slammed the door shut behind him.

Hump blinked. “Well he seemed happy to meet us.”

“I’m sorry about him,” Arnold said. “He’s a good man, and he cares about the people here. His ways can be a little… archaic at times. Vivienne has been helping the town with medical supplies since she arrived. Albry believes we should seek Emirai’s help through prayer rather than use the aid of ‘dark’ magics.”

“I see,” Hump said, unable to keep the excitement from his voice now that he knew that Vivienne was still in town. “Where was Vivienne last seen?”

Arnold nodded. “She’s holed up in her lighthouse, as far as we can tell. Ever since Albry started putting on the pressure, she’s been coming to town less. Most of the town is staying away now out of fear she might curse them.”

“Nonsense as far as I can tell,” Winfrey said. “She’s been nothing but good to us. Ever since the Priest Kundle died, and Albry took his place, he’s been turning the people against her.”

“Well if anyone knows the problem,” Hump said, “it will be her.”

“I’ll show you there myself,” Winfrey said.

“That’s it, is it?” the mayor asked. “Good. Very good. I’m here if you have any further questions.”

“We’ll do that, Arnold,” Bud said. “I’ll stop by tomorrow and inform you of our findings, whether we have any or not.”

“Perfect, Robert. Thank you all for your help. Albry may be a bit stiff, but the rest of us know we need more than just prayer if we are to protect our town.”

They followed a dirt path along the lake shore toward the lighthouse. It was a narrow, smooth white stone tower, with a large, windowed room at its top where the light was held. Right now, it was off. It was about a mile away from the main town, built on a rocky cliff that protruded into the lake. Sergeant Fredricks had stepped in line with Winfrey as they left the mayor’s office, and gave them an explanation of the various areas of the town. The bell tower Hump had seen on the way in was a temple of Hestia, a lesser goddess of crops and fish.

The wind howled as they stood before the lighthouse.

“We’ve had no luck getting inside,” Winfrey explained. “At first we tried knocking, but after weeks without a response, we attempted to force our way in.”

“It’s like the door is made of solid stone,” Fredricks added. “We even brought axes to try and chop it down—not even a scratch.”

“Any ideas?” Bud asked.

“I’ll try the old fashioned method first,” Hump said.

“The old fashioned…” Celaine trailed off as Hump walked back up to the door, grabbed the knocker, and banged it as hard as he could.

He stepped back, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, “Vi! It’s Hump, Sethril Woodrow’s apprentice. Are you in there?”

They waited for a minute in tense anticipation, but all that answered them was the howling wind.

“I guess we go with the magic solution then,” Celaine said.

Hump sighed, stepping back from the door. “It was worth a go.” He frowned at it, looking over each of the double doors for anything that might explain its strength.

He pressed his palm against one of the doors first, expending a little of his essence to try and get a sense for the formation protecting it. Immediately he felt the door resist. “I’m not surprised you couldn’t get in; it’s warded against forced entry. Wizard Vivienne is powerful, an ordinary axe wouldn’t have a hope of marking it.”

“Can you break it?” Bud asked.

“I’m not sure,” he murmured. Then he saw them, eight tiny runes, one in each corner of the double doors. “Ahah!” He knelt for a better look, then opened his pouch and pulled out a jar of white powder and a spoon.

“What is it?” Winfrey asked.

“Runes,” Hump said, scooping out half a spoonful of powder and positioned it over one of the corners. He blew, showering the rune in powder. It stuck to the surface and glowed with blue light. He did the same for each of them. While he couldn’t understand them, he hoped the extra details might be enough for his spellbook to identify them.

Curiously, he touched one of the runes closest to the floor, reaching for it with his essence. The moment his power connected with it; heat shot up through his finger. He tore his hand back, hissing in pain. He sucked his finger as the pain flared as if he’d touched a hot coal.He felt his book shake at his hip and hoped that it had been able to gather more information than he had, though he didn’t want to open it with prying eyes around.

“Any luck?” Celaine asked.

Hump nodded. “I’ve got what I need. I’ll have a think tonight and we can come back in the morning for another attempt.”

“Is that really it?” Fredricks asked, surprised. “I thought there would be more… I don’t know. Magic stuff.”

“I’m far from the wizard that Vivienne is,” Hump said, “but whatever ward she’s put in place, it will be fuelled by a finite amount of essence. I’ll be working on a way to wear those defences down and breach them. At best, Wizard Vivienne will realise her formation is being attacked and come to investigate, and then she’ll recognise me.”

“What if she doesn’t come?” Bud asked.

“Then we can assume something has happened,” Hump said stoically. “In which case, we’ll need to send for support. If something happened to Vi, it’s beyond our abilities to deal with.”

“Are you ready to return then, Wizard Hump?” Winfrey asked.

Hump stared up at the lighthouse apprehensively. Vivienne was strong—stronger even than his master. He knew of no wizards with her breadth of knowledge on magical forces, nor her skill at controlling essence.

“She’ll be fine,” Bud said, meeting his eye. “I’m sure of it.”

Hump nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

Winfrey left them as they returned to town, leaving Fredricks to show them to an inn. The mayor had already taken care of any necessary payments, so they enjoyed a hot meal and the three of them returned to Hump’s room.

“So what did we really learn?” Celaine asked.

Hump opened his spellbook and shook his head. “I think too much of the formation was obscured. It’s only been able to record the eight runes on the outside. Of them, only the one I touched is identifiable.”

“And?”

“Some sort of combination of fire and protection,” Hump said. “It’s complicated. At least twelve runes went into its formation, and they’re beyond my understanding of runesmithing.”

“So there’s nothing you can do?” Bud asked.

“Not nothing,” Hump said. “I was serious about wearing down the defences to break through. It will take some time, but I have all the equipment I need to create a formation of my own that should hopefully speed things up.”

“Hopefully?” Celaine said.

“There are no certainties when messing with someone else’s formation,” Hump said. “I have some guessed of the type of ward she’s created, but for all I know she has enough heartstones behind it to keep it powered for months. Until I start, I won’t know for sure.”

“What about the ghosts?” Bud said. “How do you propose we go about figuring out what’s attacking the town.”

“First step—identification.” Hump pulled out a crystal on an enchanted tripod that he’d purchased at the guild. “This is only common quality, but if a spirit comes close, it lights up. We can use its colour to determine what kind of spirit we’re dealing with.”

“Did you consider that it might not be a spirit at all?” Celaine asked. “I don’t know about you two, but I thought that Albry guy was suspicious.”

“He’s a priest,” Bud said. “He might be a little too… what’s the word?”

“Fanatic,” Hump said.

“Insane,” Celaine added.

Bud gave them both a look. “Dedicated, is what I was going for, but fair enough. The point is, whether we like him or not, the gods wouldn’t have allowed him to reach his position if he didn’t have the interest of the people at heart. Hestia may not be a particularly well-known god, but there’s a reason she’s so popular among agricultural workers. She cares for the common folk.”

“Just keep it in mind,” Celaine said. “I’m not saying he’s behind it, I’m just saying it’s fishy.”

“Fair enough,” Bud said. “So we have a plan. We try and get through to Wizard Vivienne tomorrow, if that doesn’t work, we start looking into this spirit situation ourselves. Winfrey will have that report on previous sightings for us, we can start by going to each of the locations. We should also discuss with Arnold when to report this to the guild if Wizard Vivienne really has disappeared. In that scenario, we’ll need to request reinforcements.”

Hump frowned. “Let’s just see how tomorrow goes first and then decides.”

Bud nodded. “Anything else?”

“What do we do about tonight?” Celaine said. “Mayor Pilton said attacks happen around the new moon, that means there could be another attack tonight.”

“If there is, this should detect it,” Hump said. “I know of no magic that could protect the entire village from attack, so the best we can do is react when it comes.”

***

Hump awoke to a loud bang in his room. He jumped up in bed, heart racing, peering into the darkness to see Celaine’s s glowing green eyes staring back at him.

“Wake up!” she said. “There’s spirits out over the lake. We need to go.”

“Wuh. Ghursts?” He blinked back the tiredness.

“Up, Hump!” she yelled, storming over to his window and opening the shutters.

Hump slid out from under his blanket and peered out over the lake. The lighthouse’s beacon shone with a radiant blue light, beaming out through the mist so that even the clouds glowed with its eerie light. Dark shadows swept through the sky toward it, like torn cloaks caught in the wind, encircling the lighthouse.

He turned to stare at his spirit detector; the device hadn’t activated.

Hump’s blood ran cold. “That shouldn’t be possible.”