The pain didn’t take long to subside. Hump had been lucky, and as far as he had seen, that’s what it came down to for most adventurers in the end. Those with good luck, lived longer, got richer, and got stronger. The ones without it got dead. Bud and the others could talk it up to the favour of the gods all they wanted, but to Hump, there was no explanation. Some had it, some didn’t, and it ran out on everyone eventually. Today, he’d had it… if taking a dagger to the ribs could be considered luck at least.

Celaine had landed an arrow through the spearman’s neck just as she’d promised. Considering the horror he and the other bandits had inflicted on the region, that was as good an end as he could have asked for.

Hump surveyed the encampment from a dry patch of grass against the hill while the others saw to those that had been captured. Three men, six women, and five children—it was an awful fate, but at least they would all make it. The same couldn’t be said to the bodies already buried nearby. One of the women reckoned as many as twenty could have been captured and killed, and that’s not counting those that had been left on the road where they’d died.

Once those in immediate need were tended to, Celaine and Dylan left to track down the remaining bandits, and Hump went to start inventorying the encampment, guided by one of the women that had been captured. She’d asked about Carly, and Hump was pleased to report that she’d survived and was resting in Milton. It was one bright spot in the whole mess.

He and Bud didn’t talk much as they set about investigating the encampment. Hump could tell he had something to say, but he honestly didn’t care. Normally he let things slide with him. He was a righteous knight, dedicated to honour and courage to a fault—usually, Hump liked that about him. Today though… that could have proved fatal. Hump couldn’t help but agree with Celaine’s sentiment. He was a hypocrite. When it mattered, he’d hesitated to get the job done, and it had almost got a party member killed. If Bud wanted to wallow in self-pity, Hump wasn’t going to stop him.

It turned out, calling them bandits was a push. There were enough arrows stored here to supply a battalion of soldiers. The tradeswoman had explained that was actually the case. The food and arrows captured here had been intended for one of the dungeon fortifications. Milton connected to Southsea and Sheercliff, so almost all supplies for the region passed through. Added to the warlock and practitioner, it seemed like a targeted disruption; something that Countess Daston would no doubt be displeased to hear. It also meant that most of the goods here were stolen, and the guild didn’t allow them to loot such things.

Hump was picking through the warlock’s chest when Celaine returned.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’ll be fine. Nothing broken at least.” Hump said. He didn’t look back as he took a vial of something purple and evil looking from the chest, scrunching his nose at it.

“Good,” she said. “We caught most of the ones that got away. Killed two, found one wounded on the trail that we brought back, along with three others. Hopefully the guards will be able to use them to figure out who the two or three that got away were.”

“I’ve not much faith in guardsmen if I’m honest,” Hump said.

She snorted. “You don’t have much faith in anything.”

Hump shrugged his agreement—hard to argue with that.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“That vial she snorted,” Hump said. “It reminded me of the one Vivienne used in the temple. Thought she might have another, but she doesn’t. Other than that, a bunch of crappy potions, and this.” He held up a strange essence stone, carved into the shape of a circle, with a small indent at the bottom. There was a rune on it. “My book wasn’t able to identify it. That rune’s not Alveronion.”

“Same as Kassius’ maybe?” Celaine said.

“That’s what I was thinking. Makes you wonder though—what’s it doing here. He mentioned a group. He mentioned their need for budding wizards. I wonder if she’s involved.”

“Bit of a stretch, no? Surely there are better ways to make use of a Rank 2 wizard.”

“Maybe. But warlocks have been showing up in Sheercliff, and three dungeons have opened. That doesn’t happen. It’s never happened. My master and I dealt with one warlock in my time as an apprentice. Something about all this isn’t right, and it’s making me nervous. A part of me thinks we’d be better off packing up and leaving.”

“We need to push our limits, isn’t that what Vivienne said? And you said this is where the coin is. You really want to miss out on that?”

“Too much is going right. Countess Daston is on our side, Sir Isaac, even just Vivi. Somethings got to go wrong soon. I can feel it.”

Maybe he was being paranoid. Lucile had just shown up again, whispering in his ear. He’d had his soul tugged on, and of course, there was always his spellbook to worry about. If people were hunting warlocks, it might not be as hard to pick him out of a crowd as he’d like. Vivienne couldn’t sense anything wrong with his soul, but what about Sir Isaac or an even more powerful Chosen? What about the investigators from the Wizards Society?

Some good news came before they left, and it was not in the form Hump expected. Dylan had been acting strange ever since he’d returned to the encampment, and it didn’t take long for Hump to sense why. The druid was about to receive his fifth blessing—a minor blessing, but it was progress.

The god pillar descended with all the energy of the world, an all preserving force of nature. Unlike Owalyn’s, though, this was warm and full of soothing energy. He lifted his chin, bathing in it, feeling his vigour return to him and the pain in his chest fade. Around the encampment, men and women fell to their knees, heads bowed in prayer, tears streaming down their faces, thanking the gods for coming to their rescue in their time of need. In that light, their wounds were healed and their souls soothed. Hump supposed that at least this time, he didn’t mind the gods taking the credit. These people needed them.

Hump snuck to the side as Dylan’s blessing took form, the second portion of his third circle filling with god glyphs. His spellbook shook, but he chose to wait. To bask in the power of a god just a little longer. He longed for that power more than ever. The power to protect people. The power to face down creatures like the gorger as if they were nothing. The power to heal his own soul.

But it never lasted, and when the god pillar vanished, he was left feeling empty. Birds flew to Dylan as he opened his eyes, filling the air and chirping, landing on his shoulders. He caught one on a finger and petted it, his eyes shining with the essence of nature.

“Congratulations, my friend,” Bud said, though he had a hint of awkwardness on his face. Hump understood it well. The knight still lacked his third blessing. He’d fallen behind all of them. Perhaps if he’d fought well, the blessing today would have been his.

“Thank you, Bud,” Dylan said, his voice almost melodic, carried on the air like a bell.

“You’re pulling ahead of me again,” Celaine said, smirking.

Dylan laughed. “Not for long I’m sure.”

Hump’s spellbook shook again, and he took it from his belt, opening it to the newly forming page, the ink still shining with essence.

BLESSINGS

Nature’s Spring

Description

Manifest the power of nature, healing and empowering the body as well as those around you. Allies replenish their strength and their wounds heal more quickly, and growth related abilities are activated more quickly.

Dylan came to stand beside him, looking at the page. “It’ll be useful. I’ll be able to move more into a supportive frontline role, while the rest of you deal the damage. I prefer it that way anyway.” He stared at the blood on his hands. “I don’t like killing.”

“No… I can’t say I much like it either,” Hump said. Then he looked at the captured people, and thought of the horrors they must have faced. “Someone has to do it though.”

It felt like a long way to go before they could return to Sheercliff. They gathered what supplies they could and started the journey to Milton, taking with them the four bandits that Celaine and Dylan had managed to capture. Fortunately, the bandits had enough supplies for everyone to go full, and Dylan’s blessing had taken care of their wounds. It was an awkward trip, made even worse come nightfall. Hump was pretty sure the only thing that kept the bandits alive was the presence of Chosen and the brief visit of the gods.

Hump was making progress with Rock Missiles when Bud came to join him, slumping down beside him with a sulky look on his face.

“I didn’t handle myself well today,” he said.

Hump smiled at him and shook his head, shrugging it off. “It’s tough to take a life. It’s a commitment that there’s no turning back to. I don’t blame you for hesitating.”

“Well you should,” Bud said. His gauntlet chinked as he clenched his fist. “Celaine was right, I am a hypocrite. Kelisia this and Kelisia that, only to hesitate when I need to make a decision for myself. I’m ashamed. I want you to know that, and I want you to know it won’t happen again. I’ve done a lot of thinking today, and I need to change. I need to grow up and face the realities of the world, like you’ve been telling me since we met.”

Hump sat back on his hands and sighed. It was a cloudy night, but he glimpsed a few stars beyond the trees. “Just don’t change too much. I know what Celaine said—at the time, I agreed with you too. I don’t know if I’ve just gone all mopey because Krioc showed up and soothed our souls, or not, but I like you the way you are. It’s good to have someone around with heroic ideals. I’ve seen what happens when people do this for too long. They get angry and bitter, and eventually they forget what the point in all this is.”

Bud scoffed. “You could have died though.”

“I didn’t.” Hump shrugged. “We got lucky today, and sometimes that’s what counts. Improve, but don’t change who you are. Next time you have someone on the ground and defeated, make sure you disarm them properly or knock them out. Kill them if you have to, but don’t kill them if you think it’s wrong.”

“The man deserved it.”

Hump nodded. “He did.”

“The gods would have wanted his death, whether by my hands or by an executioner’s.”

“Probably.”

“All I did was force his blood onto another person’s hands.” He sighed. “I owe Celaine an apology too. She was pretty shook up after it all. You had her worried, you know?”

Hump grinned. “What did I tell you back when we first started travelling together?”

Bud frowned and then shook his head. “You told me a lot…”

“There’s nothing girls like more than a man injured in the line of duty.”