Hump staggered back from the pillar of blue fire. Blazing cold struck him like hail in a storm. On instinct, he raised a hand to shield his face, peeking out through a gap in his fingers. The icy air howled, whipping at his hair and cloak, pressing him back away from the ice.

The pillar rose to the sky, so bright and cold, Hump couldn’t look directly at it. All around him, the air had turned to ice, glimmering like weightless crystals, enshrouding him in the mercilessness of winter. It sapped him of his strength, weighing down on Hump’s soul. He tried to stay standing, but the pressure was too strong. It bent him to his knees. Besides him, Celaine fell too. He could barely breathe, struggling against the pressure, and what breath did come chilled him to his core.

This was power. Real power. Such a great and harrowing force no mortal could ever comprehend it. It made his small magics look like forgeries, like a child’s rendition of the actual thing. And he was helpless before it. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t think; it took all his will just to keep from falling completely. This was not a moment for mortals to intervene. Kelisia, Goddess of Winter, was speaking to her Chosen; nothing else mattered until she was finished.

Hump understood that. He had seen god pillars before, just never so up close and personal. Never had it been so clear just how weak he was. An insect ensnared by a mere flake of Kelisia’s power.

But at the same time, he couldn’t look away, like a moth drawn to the fire. The power drew him in, calling to him. He wanted to soak in it, to breathe it in and be one with it. To have such might flow through his veins and feel the terrifying, deadly power for himself. He wanted to learn its secrets.

The ground hissed and crackled, and Hump glimpsed at the circle of ice and crystalised grass surrounding Bud. Three god glyphs were etched in the ice around Bud, each one representing a part of his blessing. And before Hump’s eyes, sharp lines carved themselves into the ice like fissures, forming a fourth symbol. When the final line was drawn, there was a flash of light. A new god glyph had taken form.

It was over in seconds. All at once, the frostfire flame shrunk back into Bud, the pillar contracting to a single point at the centre of the frozen circle, then vanishing without so much as a sound. With it, the icy cold was gone. All that remained to mark Kelisia’s visit was the icy circle around Bud, inscribed with her god glyphs. The air returned to normal before Hump could blink.

Hump gasped as he was suddenly released from the pressure of Kelisia’s power, and fell forward, catching himself on his hands. His heart raced. While the terrifying, fascinating power was gone, he could still feel a shadow of its presence, in the same way one could still see the sun’s glare if stared at too long. It lingered over him like a blanket of ice.

Suddenly, Bud took a deep, audible breath, his chest expanding beneath his armour. His eyes went wide, shimmering once more with frostfire light before returning to their normal blue.

For a while, the three of them remained silent, catching their breath.

Hump felt every bit of exhaustion at once. He wanted to curl up and sleep, and dream of the power he had just felt. He craved for it in a way that only wizards could. He’d touched the power of the world; even learnt to command little pieces of it, but he was no Chosen. The power would never be truly his. He’d caught the scent of the food, but never had a chance to truly taste it, and that craving bore a hunger so deep that Hump felt it might drive him mad.

He forced himself to bring his thoughts back to reality, not daring to follow the trail of his thoughts for fear of what it might do to him. Still, a hollow feeling remained in his chest, as if a piece of himself was missing.

He turned his attention to Bud, hoping to distract himself. The knight appeared withdrawn; his vacant eyes stared into space. “Are you there, Bud?” Hump asked.

Bud blinked slowly. He looked around in a daze, then blinked again.

“Oi! Bud!” Hump yelled. “Are you in there?”

Bud jolted, as if woken from sleep. He groaned, rubbing his temples. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.”

Celaine gave Hump an unamused look. “Real subtle.”

“We don’t exactly have time for subtlety,” Hump retorted.

Bud was looking at the ground around him, eyes stopping on the new god glyph. His mouth dropped open. “Kelisia spoke to me! That was really her!”

“Barely noticed,” Hump said sarcastically. “Did you notice, Celaine?”

Celaine smiled at him tightly. “Funny.”

Bud looked between them suspiciously. “Are you both alright?”

“Other than almost being frozen to death?” Hump asked. He shrugged. “Not too bad. It had to be the Frostfire Witch, didn’t it Bud? You couldn’t have been Chosen by the god of sunshine and rainbows? I’m bloody freezing.”

Celaine looked at him with wide, shocked eyes. “Hump! There’s stupid, and then there’s running your mouth after a god was literally just with us… I… I have no words. We need a new word to express just how stupid that is.”

“Erm,” Hump paused, glancing up at the roof of the cavern nervously. “Sorry. I, erm… I’m grateful to have had the honour to witness your might, oh great and noble Kelisia.” He leant closer to Celaine and whispered, “Better?”

Celaine waited a few seconds too long. Long enough to make Hump think he really might be smited or turned into an ice cube. Finally, she sighed. “You’re not dead. Let’s take that as a good sign.”

“How could that not be a good sign?”

She stared at him. “There are punishments worse than death.”

“Yeah,” Hump said quietly, glancing up at the roof of the cavern. Suddenly, all the poisonous fruit and plants looked twice as dangerous.

“What did Lady Kelisia have to say?” Celaine asked.

“She granted me a new blessing,” Bud said. He had the widest smile Hump had ever seen on the man. “As a reward for my efforts in purging true evil, she bestowed upon me a new boon to help me on my path.”

“She must have liked our work,” Hump grumbled. “Doesn’t quite seem fair that only you get a reward.” Celaine nudged him with her elbow and glowered at him. Hump sighed. “But I suppose that’s just the way it is for us wizards. I am not worthy of her grace.”

“You’re so much more agreeable with the threat of being smited hanging over your head,” Celaine said. She stood and walked over to Bud, extending her hand. “Let me be the first to congratulate you, Bud. Such a blessing is a great honour, and you deserve every bit of it.”

Bud took Celaine’s hand, and she helped him to his feet. “Thank you, Celaine. I couldn’t have done it without you. That was an amazing shot.”

Celaine smiled.

Hump frowned at her. “You weren’t that nice to me after I saved your life.”

She glanced back at him. “Your point?”

Hump shrugged and crossed his arms. “Nothing,” he grumbled. “Just thought I’d mention it.”

She ignored him and looked at Bud’s new god glyph, still inscribed on the ground. “What blessing did she grant you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Heart of Frostfire,” he said. “It allows me to draw upon the essence of frostfire for strength, empowering my body and making me more resistant to attacks.”

“That’s amazing,” Hump said. Though he didn’t just mean the ability. He wandered over to the god glyph on the ground and studied it in wonder. “All that power in this one mark.” He tried to sense something from it, to glimpse some minute aspect of its workings. But there was nothing. No essence at all. It was as if it were simply ice.

The Book of Infinite Pages shook on Hump’s hip. He glanced at it, frowning. Carefully, he removed it from his belt and held it flat in his hands. The book opened to a blank page, and ink began to swirl on the surface, taking form before his eyes.

God Glyphs

Heart of Frostfire

Description: Draw upon the essence of frostfire for strength, empowering the body and making it more resistant to attacks.

Beneath the description, he drew an exact copy of the god glyph, and the rest of those in the circle. He’d find time to study it later.

“What are you doing?” Celaine asked.

“Just making a note of it,” Hump said, snapping the book shut. “Studying these things is how we wizards first learnt to use magic.” He returned his book to his belt and looked at Bud. “Can you try it out?”

“Sure,” Bud said. He closed his eyes and began muttering a chant under his breath. Hump felt a gentle breeze stir around the knight, carrying with it a chill. His body shimmered with blue light, and that same fire burnt within his eyes once more. His veins shone through his skin with pale blue light. He flexed a hand and stared at it. “I definitely feel something.” He drew his sword, and flame burst from its scabbard, larger than before. Bud startled and held it away from him. “Whoa. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

Hump scratched his chin. Even now he didn’t sense anything different. The frostfire was colder than before, and brighter, but other than that it seemed the same as before. In the end he shook his head in frustration and gave up. Kelisia’s power was beyond him. Perhaps a greater wizard had already deciphered the secret, though Hump doubted it.

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Vamir said out of nowhere. He was standing nearby, watching them from between the trees. There wasn’t a mark on him, but he looked tired.

“So busy, we impressed a god,” Hump said.

“I gathered,” Vamir said. “The big blue pillar kind of gave it away. Congratulations though, Bud. Receiving a blessing on your first dungeon is really quite the feat.”

Bud grinned. “Thank you. It’s a relief to know that I walked the right path in coming here.”

“Well there’s still a way to go on that path,” Vamir said, “I’m afraid we don’t have time to celebrate. I found the kobold den.”

“How?” Celaine asked quickly. “You’ve only just gone.”

Vamir grinned. “Ah, my young apprentice, when will you cease to be surprised at my skills.”

Celaine blushed. “I’m not surprised! I just want to know how.”

Vamir noticed the injury on Celaine’s shoulder and concern flashed on his face. She turned away before he could get a proper look, but Vamir strode forward. “Wait.”

“I’m fine,” she said, but she let him have a look.

“It looks like a clean cut,” Vamir said. “I don’t think there’s any poison, but Hump, give her that common antidote just in case.”

Hump nodded. Celaine winced as he applied part of the salve directly on the wound but didn’t even flinch when he applied the bandage. “If it suddenly starts to hurt you need to tell me.”

“I will,” she said. “But it was just a scratch, really. We’ve got more important things to do than worry about it. So how did you really find their den?” she asked Vamir.

Vamir tapped the side of his head sagely. “Careful and precise calculation.” Celaine crossed her arms and glared at him. “And I may have followed one of the kobolds back.”

Hump laughed.

“What about the other scaledbrute?” Bud asked.

“Dead,” Vamir said. “Judging from the fact that you’re all alive and our budding young knight levelled up, I take it the other one is dead too.”

Hump nodded. “We didn’t get its heartstone yet.”

“It can wait,” Vamir said. “Villagers first. I don’t want to give what’s left of the kobolds a chance to do anything nasty. And all that fighting must have got the notice of some of the other dens. Best we get moving before reinforcements arrive.”