Chapter 13

Humans

30,001 Mana Points.

The path away from town was wide enough for several wagons to travel side by side. Our trek took us uphill for hours on end. That gave us a lot of time to talk, and Jack was both envious and curious about my allegiances. Rightly so since I’d taken quite a bit of time at the temple this morning.

“Meuraali, Boera, Ohooah, Dier Durke, Ponto, Heshbone, Namat, Krinn’t, Galadeanius, and Luhtue,” I said.

“That’s quite a lot of gods, Tosin,” Jack said.

I side-stepped an exhumed root. Jack kicked a stone off the path and into the bramble.

“There are about forty three more deities I’m aligned with,” I said. “Six of those are with legendary adventurers.”

“Son of Felke,” Jack said. “I could never dream of having that many alliances. I’ve searched far and wide. Vicen is the only one with promise. So I’m hoping.”

“I’m sure there are some less than savory gods out there looking for people willing to get their hands dirty. There’s always plenty of options.”

“I’ve got a hard enough time fighting off a bad reputation as a Pathogenik,” Jack said. He spit into the woods off the path. “I've had enough challenges with this class. I don’t need anymore. Besides… I’m already on a questionable sort of quest as it is.”

“Questionable quest?”

Jack fell into one of his silences. I was content listening to the squish of soft earth beneath our boots. The road held pockets of mud which sometimes slowed us, and often turned Boule into a walking mud ball. The back of Jack’s cloak eventually turned into a mudslide after Boule clambered up to his shoulder, having tired of trudging through the mud.

We traveled uphill for days, not once revisiting the topic of Jack’s quest. Our campfires were kept low and I cast Oreen’s Respite to protect us as we slept. The spell obscured us from view in a protective shield. It was designed for traveling and would alert us if attacked or disturbed. The best part was that the spell was also an illusion of a simple low pine tree with reaching boughs that provided shelter.

Boule seemed happier out in the wild. It was strange seeing the zombie familiar have emotions. Jack seemed more relaxed the further we were from other humans. My bet was that Boule reflected Jack’s emotions.

The little monkey would disappear from time to time. I’d worry a bit, but Jack would simply shake his head and wave my worries away. Every time Boule returned, he’d bring a bird with him in his mouth. Usually a crow, but there were a few cardinals and a woodpecker too. Each of the birds had bald spots and bite marks. They flew from his mouth up to the forest canopy and perched still as stone, waiting with unending patience. Jack never acknowledged them, but he knew they were there. I sometimes caught threads of green flickering light, sparking from his fingertips. Then I noticed that he’d sometimes cast out his nearly invisible mana bar. That was something that took me a few days to catch on to.

I woke one morning to find Jack meditating in front of our dwindling campfire. Arcs of green electricity snapped silently at his fingertips. Boule was absent. When I sat by the dying fire with Jack, he ended his spell and opened his eyes. I took that moment to flow open my mana bar and check the mana lens enchantment. Jack’s mana was at 35%.

“You’ve been using a ton of mana,” I said. “Why?”

Jack paused and scratched the back of his neck.

“I’ve been amassing a small army,” he said. “Infecting monsters and animals. Mostly birds. A lot of monsters too, though.”

“I see the birds,” I said. “Where are the monsters?”

Jack held out an open palm to the woods. Green filaments of light veined out from his fingertips. He closed his hand into a loose fist as though pulling on the end of a spider’s web. After a moment, forest debris rustled in the shadows of the woods. Boule came alive in a burst of energy. He shook mud and leaves from his fur, he hopped from one foot to the other, and he cackled and shrieked as monsters came out of the woods.

“Holy Felke,” I said, rushing to my feet and equipping my flagstaff. A hundred articles bobbed, buoyed as though upon an unseen, disturbed pond.

“Relax Tosin,” Jack said. “They’re friendly now.”

These were monsters who had spent much of their lives near water. Most of them were small bears with webbed feet. Vapors of their breaths rose from mouths without lips. Mouths without skin. Without cheeks. All they had were long thin teeth that imprisoned sandpaper tongues. Their eyes were frog’s eyes that were squeezed out until they hung down at the end of an arc of sclera.

“What are they?” I said.

“These are Tuktuks. Amphibious.”

“They’re all infected?” I said. Jack nodded. “That’s why Boule has been disappearing every once in a while.”

“Precisely,” Jack said. “Were it not for Boule, we’d have run into every single one. The birds keep my eyes open.”

“When the birds find a monster, you send Boule to infect them,” I said.

The Tuktuk stopped at the edge of our camp. Leaves and sticks cracked beneath their feet as they swayed stupidly. The rising sun cast beams of light through the trees, highlighting the monsters’ breaths. More plumes of breath rose amidst the dewy forest behind the Tuktuk. Feet scraped against forest debris as more monsters came forward.

“How many are there?” I said.

“Thirty,” Jack said.

“No wonder you’ve been using so much mana.”

Jack laughed and turned his fist out. When he opened his palm, the Tuktuk all turned and sauntered back into the forest.

“How dangerous are they?” I said.

“They’re a pain in numbers,” Jack said. “Let’s start packing. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

I began to gather my belongings. Boule scrambled over to help Jack roll up his bedroll.

“You said the other day that there are more than monsters to worry about on the road to Vicen’s temple,” I said.

After a moment, Jack said, “We’ve been… …lucky so far… Boullerd is helping to keep them at bay for the meantime.”

“Them?”

“Humans. You must have heard by now that people go missing on the island.”

I nodded grimly. Are humans responsible for missing people? A thousand questions assailed me. Questions that I wanted to mull over as we continued our journey.

“Do you mind putting out the fire?” Jack said.

I cast Kecher’s Lament to be sure the fire was out. Spellbook in hand, and careful not to cut myself on the protruding crystals, I flipped to the page with the rune and sent 100 mana points into the spell.

Water beaded in the atmosphere above the fire pit. The beads of water grew larger, pulling moisture out of the air until large bubbles began to come together in the shape of a mermaid. The water-made mermaid dove into the fire pit with a mournful wail. The fire pit hissed and steamed. Though the spell was used purely for healing, I’d found it was an awesome source of water collection.

I turned my thoughts back to what Jack had said as I continued packing my things.

Humans. Boule’s been keeping humans at bay.

“Wait a second,” I said. “Is Boule out there infecting humans?”

Jack’s back was to me. I couldn’t see his reaction. He’d paused in packing the rest of his things. Without turning to me, he said, “did you see any humans among the Tuktuk?”

The forest was deep and cut with shafts of morning light. There wasn’t a Tuktuk in sight. The canopy held no zombie birds. I would have surely seen a human zombie among the monsters if there had been any. Right?

“No, I didn’t see any humans,” I said. “That’s good.”

Jack paused again.