Chapter 95

“Keep your wands ready. Whatever is back there should be a Rank 3, but I don’t know how often the Guild gets its assessments wrong. Stay close.” Wil ordered. Not drawing his sword, he pulled out a small object from his bag of holding.

Astrid, even standing next to him, couldn’t see what it was, but it glowed with a bright, golden light that shone through his hand, illuminating the surroundings. Seeing her curious look, he opened his palm, showing her a small, gold coin, sitting in the middle of his hand.

The gold coin was thicker than the currency she was familiar with, and rather than the symbol of the Emperor of Illyria, or the Lion of Ur, a seven-pointed sun was etched on its surface. Astrid could feel a divine power within it as it glowed with an inner light.

“A talisman?” Astrid asked, guessing that it was an item dedicated to the sun god, Primaris.

“Just something that I picked up, I used something similar in Aachen. You’re still in the lead, this is just in case things go south.” Wil said, closing his hand into a fist and sealing the gold coin within. He gestured towards the dark interior of the cave, indicating that he would follow.

Raising the golden wand in her left hand, she kept its power ready. Her boots crunched on the cave’s hard ground as she stepped forward to explore the darkness. Meter by meter, the darkness was driven back by their light, and soon they had left the smoking corpses of the undead wolves behind.

The cave was long, but narrow. The entrance had led to an open area, where the wolves had attacked them, but the inner cave was separated by a passageway with a low ceiling. The cold air wafted against Astrid’s face, her silver hair billowing behind her. She cautiously ducked down, careful to keep her wands ready.

The inner cave was another open area, the walls bare, while the floor was covered in bones and remnants of small animals. The smell of decay was stronger here, and the temperature dropped severely, cold enough that Astrid could see her breath.

Each step deeper into the cave caused the cold to become more intense, and the bones on the ground became larger, from rodents to larger deer, foxes, and other animals that Astrid couldn’t identify. Their bones were picked clean, and they gleamed white in the light.

She winced when her foot crushed one under her foot, the loud ‘crack’ echoing throughout the cave.

Finally, when the cold had become nearly unbearable, she could see a faint, bluish green light in the darkness in front of her. Cautious, she raised the golden wand in her left hand up high, channeling its power strongly.

The golden light erupted from the wand’s tip, a wave of power that formed a sphere around her for several meters. The darkness evaporated, and Astrid could clearly see everything within the cave around her.

The cave floor was covered in the bones of the dead. Nothing lived here, the vegetation drained of life. Vines hung from the ceiling, black and decayed, the vitality long gone. The air was dry and cold, but the sickly-sweet smell of decay remained.

In the center of the cave was a body, a human, the corpse intact and untouched by rot. Dressed in an adventurer’s garb, including thick and heavy clothing, it was grasping a large piece of amber in its hand, the item laid on the ground, the man’s fingers clasped tightly around it.

Hovering above the body was a small wisp of light, the source of the bluish-green glow that she had spotted before. Reacting to her magic, the wisp fled back into the little darkness that remained at the edges of the light, disappearing from her sight.

Thinking that the danger had passed, she was just about to lower her wand when Wil’s voice spoke urgently from behind her.

“Don’t!” He spoke, his voice echoing on the cave walls, just as a figure burst out of the darkness where the wisp had fled.

A ghostly apparition, with the appearance of man, leapt towards Astrid, its hand outstretched. Dressed in rags, its body had a bluish green hue, while its eyes glowed a bright red. It snarled as it lunged at her, and she could feel the cold emanating from it. Each of its steps left footprints of frost on the ground.

The creature slammed into her barrier of protection provided by her wand, its body immediately beginning to burn, the smoke rising from its flesh, as it struggled to penetrate it. Snarling in fury, it took one shaky step after another, forcing itself forward, driven by its overwhelming need to consume the living.

Startled by its ferocity, Astrid was too stunned to respond, her hand shaking as she stared at the maddened, glowing red eyes of the monster.

“Astrid!” Wil shouted, shaking her out of her shocked trance. Reacting on instinct, she raised her right hand, the wand pointing directly at her enemy, just as it was about to breach the barrier.

“Scorching Ray!” She screamed, her fear driving the mana within her through the wand. A beam of fire burned through the air, striking the creature in the chest. It stumbled backwards, a hole burnt through its torso. Unfazed by its wounds, it ignored the attack and continued to struggle to reach her.

“Scorching Ray!” She yelled again, another beam of fire burning through the creature’s stomach. This time, the monster barely paused, its hands outstretched as it nearly reached her. The terror within her caused her heart to beat loudly in her chest. Her hands began to shake as she struggled to keep her aim steady on the monster.

From behind her, she had a glimpse of a golden object flying through the air, before striking the creature in the chest. In a moment, it was engulfed in golden flames, consuming its body in an instant. The cold around her was instantly replaced by warmth as the monster turned to ash.

With a ‘clink’ the golden coin fell to the ground, laying on top a thin layer of ash that coated the cave floor.

The cold and the terror were gone, replaced by warm golden light as Wil walked up next to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” Wil asked, and she nearly collapsed against him, grateful for his presence.

“Yes. What was that thing?” She asked, looking at the pile of ash that was once her enemy.

“A wight. Similar to a ghost, but more violent. You did well, another one of those ‘Scorching Rays’ would have finished it off, but I didn’t want to risk it reaching you. They can drain the life from the living with a single touch.” Wil explained, before stepping forward and picking up the coin from the ground. Brushing the ash off its surface, he examined it briefly, before placing it back in his bag.

Taking off his cloak, he wrapped it around Astrid’s shoulders, the warmth of the fur driving away the last of the chill from her body. Nodding at him gratefully, she tucked the clothing tight around her.

“Let’s have a look around, shall we?” Wil said flippantly, trying to take her mind off what she just experienced. Walking over to the body, he pried the amber out of its hand. A deep, gold colored piece, it was dense enough that Wil couldn’t see through it. The swirls and clouds within it created a beautiful image as he held it up to the orb of light.

“Here.” Wil said, standing up and handing her the item. Taking it from him, Astrid felt the warmth within the amber, the energy still vibrant, despite lying on the cold cave floor. Wil continued to search the man, looking for a sign of who he was, but the body crumbled to dust as soon as he touched him. The wight had drained the vitality from the corpse, leaving nothing behind.

Sighing, Wil stood up, shaking his head.

“We’ll have to ask the guild about this quest. I don’t understand how someone could have ‘spotted’ an amber piece, and not retrieved it. I wonder if this fellow was part of a group, and they left him?” Wil mused, before turning and looking at the cave edges.

Walking around, he picked through the debris, searching for valuables. Not finding anything, he was about to leave, when a glimmer of light, from metal embedded in the cave wall, caught his attention.

“What’s this?” He said aloud. Astrid, curious at what he found, moved next to him, looking at the cave wall. With a gesture, Wil had the orb of light float closer, shining upon the object.

Something small was wedged into the stone of the cave wall, a small part of it sticking out slightly. The glint of light Wil had seen was from its gold surface. Cautiously, Wil conjured a small hand pick. Hitting the rock wall, he gouged out the rock around the item, before letting it fall to the ground at his feet.

Unwilling to touch it, he knelt down, carefully observing it.

The item was a small gold ring, aged and plain, its surface scratched and pitted. If he had any doubts about what whether it was a mundane item, they were removed when he held his hand above it. He could feel the negative energy within, like an evil presence.

“Cursed.” Wil said, cautioning Astrid not to go near it.

“Was this the source of the Wight?” She asked, stepping back from the small gold ring.

“Most likely.” He confirmed, before rooting around in his bag of holding. Picking out a small container that held some rations, he dumped the dried crackers onto the ground, before placing it next to the ring. Nudging the ring with his hammer, he sealed the box shut, before placing it back in his bag.

“We’ll take it to the Guild. They might have someone who can break the curse or destroy the ring. Better to have them handle it, no telling what could happen if we try it ourselves.” Wil cautioned, standing up.

“Let’s get out of here. I believe we have a couple more notices left?” Wil asked, chipper as he led them out of the cave.