Hump sipped his tea, ate his cake, and answered a few more of Countess Daston’s questions. In the end, he left the meeting feeling uncertain. While he tried not show it, the truth was he was nervous. Warlocks were bad enough, but if the being he’d encountered in Bledsbury Dungeon was truly involved, it might be time to quit while he was ahead. Whatever fate befell Sheercliff, it was not his problem. He had enough of his own things to deal with as it was.

“Are you returning to the training grounds?” the countess asked him.

Hump shook his head. “The others should be finished up now. I expect they’re waiting for me in the gardens. How much of our conversation can I tell them?”

“I shall leave that up to you. I intend to share the possibility of a riftwalker’s involvement with the rest of the city’s leadership, but not that the information came from you.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll show you out,” she said, leading the way.

She guided him through the estate, telling him of the many paintings, statues, and other ornaments they passed. Hearing about it all, Hump suddenly didn’t feel so apprehensive about accepting such precious gifts. Compared to the rest of her estate, it was truly inconsequential. Even walking through the halls, it redefined what Hump thought wealth meant. This was a woman at the top of the world—a sixth circle Chosen of Imira. She had power, wealth, prestige: everything one could dream of.

That does not make her right, Hump thought as they roamed the halls. He did not believe in prophecy. Simply because she said something was so did not make it true, and there was no way to prove otherwise. No way to tell if different actions he could take would change the outcome at the end. If he left and the entire city was lift and the warlocks succeeded in whatever their plan was, that did not mean they succeeded because of him, and it certainly didn’t mean some god had decided it would be so.

The gods did not care. If they did, they’d come down to the city and do the work themselves.

They reached the entrance hall, and a servant opened the front door. Outside, Hump noticed Vivienne and Graham approaching the estate on foot. The two appeared exhausted, their faces pale, and an odd look to their eyes—particularly Graham’s.

“That was good timing,” Countess Daston said. “How did it go?”

Graham opened his mouth but caught himself, his eyes flicking to Hump. “May I speak freely?”

“Please do so.”

He took a breath. “The interrogation is being conducted by brutes and savages. It is deplorable, sickening, and I will not return."

Countess Daston sighed. “Duke Malar has placed General Bennet in command of the investigation, Graham. I have spoken to my cousin, and he wants a neutral party in charge for the sake of cooperation amongst the city factions. There is nothing I can do. The prisoners are under his authority.”

“Then my involvement shall remain in the research labs. I was able to test my artifact. It is working. The results for both warlocks were consistent with previous experiments.”

“Good. What’s left to do?”

“I have a few final details to implement to the plans, and then I will send them along to Isaac and the local enchanteries as you instructed.”

Countess Daston nodded. “Thank you, Graham. I know this is more than you signed on for when you came to work for me, but I could not have done this without you. With some luck, we’ll be able to equip the captains of the temple guard at the very least.”

She turned to Vivienne. “Did the prisoners yield anything useful? I must admit, my sympathies are rather low for the man that attempted to murder my daughter.”

“Nothing as of yet,” Vivienne said. “Inquisitor Eliana attempted to use mind magic to get them to talk, but it failed. General Bennet has moved on to direct attacks against their souls, however they appear to be resistant to such strategies too.”

Graham shook his head in denial. “What has the world come to? For us to descend to such… barbarism. There are always better ways.”

“If you think of one, be sure to inform me,” Countess Daston said.

“There are still the black stones,” Vivienne said. “I still believe they are our best chance at tracking down warlocks in the city. They are the only thing we have that connects all of them together.”

“I thought we had already exhausted our options in that area.”

“That isn’t technically true,” Graham said. “We must be overlooking something. We’ve tried sympathetic magic and all sorts of tracking spells and blessings, but as of yet, the stones are unresponsive. I now wonder if perhaps a warlock is necessary to activate them.”

“It would explain the lack of results so far,” Vivienne said. “If we are correct about them being communication artifacts, they must send out an essence signature, similar to long-distance communication magic. If we can record that signature, we may be able to identify other activations across the city.”

“You wish to try and use the prisoners to activate the artifacts?” Countess Daston asked.

Vivienne nodded. “It comes with a risk, of course. The prisoners may use them to communicate, or if we are wrong about their function, gods know what they might do. I believe neither the general nor Pantheon will be keen to accept it. Which is why we came to you first.”

Countess Daston sighed. “They will not like this.”

“If we can detect the essence signature of communicating stones, it could help us to focus our search. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than opening every door in this city.”

After a moment’s thought, Countess Daston said, “I agree. This would be easier with your help, Graham. They trust you.”

“My lady, I am happy to help with lab work, but I will not be involved with the prisoners again. Wizard Vivienne has been involved in this every step of the way. She is more than capable of testing this alone.”

“They trust you, Graham,” Countess Daston said. “You’re the only Chosen in Sheercliff well versed enough in wizardry to make this work.”

Graham shook his head. “I will not do it. This… it’s wrong.”

“Very well,” Countess Daston said. “I will speak with Sir Roderick and see what he has to say. I need not warn you to be careful, Vivienne. You already make them uneasy.”

“Good,” Vivienne said. “Obvious distrust is at least honest. I know what to expect.”

“I suppose that’s true. Return tomorrow. I’ll send a letter to him now and arrange to meet with him as soon as he’s available. Graham, inform me once arrangements have been made with the enchanteries.”

“I will, my lady.”

Countess Daston returned inside after that, and Graham wished Hump and Vivienne goodbye before heading to his labs. Now alone with Vivienne outside, Hump’s spellbook suddenly shook. It drew Vivienne’s eye immediately, and then she noticed the box under his arm.

“I see you received your rewards,” she said. “Are you pleased?”

“Very,” Hump said, grinning. “Who knew saving nobles could be so profitable? I understand you had a hand in deciding what I would receive.”

“I did. You are truly the most fortunate young wizard I have ever met—there are very few techniques combining earth and fire, and of those only a fraction are available for purchase. To hold a Tier 6 battle magic technique at your age and rank… you may be the only one in Alveron. People would kill for it. Remember that. Keep this secret closely guarded.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” Hump said. “I’ve got plenty of secrets already, don’t worry about it.”

She snorted. “Of course, you do. If you’d like some help later, we can have a look together this evening.”

“That would be great.” He paused a moment, then said. “Are you sure you want to risk all this, Vivi? Pushing all these Chosen and inquisitors may backfire.”

“This city has treated me well,” she said. “And so has Countess Daston. If anything, I’m better protected here than anywhere. Abraxus won’t simply give up on the tribunal because I leave Sheercliff, and next time I won’t have anyone to step in.”

“Then let me help,” Hump said. “Use me to test your theory. After what happened at Stonebark Forest, I’m sure I fulfil whatever requirements the black stones have if that is indeed how they work.”

“No,” Vivienne told him. “There’s enough suspicion on me already, and that extends to the rest of you. We must get through this using official channels. Believe me, Hump. If anyone gets a hint of what you are, there will be no hesitation. Abraxus, the Pantheon, and all the other factions have one thing in common—they’re all furious and out for blood. You must keep your head down.”

“What about your head?” Hump asked.

“I’m acting on orders.”

“You should at least discuss this with Dylan. He won’t like what you’re doing but knowing him he’ll want to come with you. At least then you’ll have a Chosen working with you. That might help.”

Vivienne smiled. “Your concern is flattering, but I’ve navigated political circles for most of my life. Focus on keeping yourself out of trouble.”

“About that,” Hump said. “Countess Daston seems to think I may have a role to play in all this by the end of it. I told her about Kassius and the shadowy figure I saw. She mentioned the term riftwalker—have you heard of them?”

“No,” Vivienne said. She glanced around, as they heard voices in the garden. “We will speak on this later. I still have things to do.”

She left, and Hump joined the others. They parted ways with Marcela and Corvin’s parties, heading down to the Lower city.

“So what did you get?” Celaine asked.

Hump tapped the box under his army and smiled mysteriously. “You’ll have to wait and find out. I’ve got a lot to tell you, but we need to get back to the inn first.”

“You always have to do that,” Bud said. “Now I’m really curious.

Hump shook his head. “Not here. Really, things are a lot more grim than we thought, and from the sounds of it, it’s not going to get better for us. Let’s get our quest earnings and then head back. We’ll talk there.”

They started toward the carriageway. The roads weren’t empty for long, and soon they were in a short line to descend the cliff. The winds were strong and cold up there, but the view of the city cast in the shadows of the setting sun was spectacular.

“Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to bring up today,” Emilia said once they were alone in the carriageway. “It’s probably best we do this now before you tell me about your meeting with Countess Daston.”

Hump looked at her. “Is everything alright?”

She smiled. “Everything’s fine. In fact, I hope this is good news. I spoke with my brother and he’s already given me permission. If it would be okay with all of you, I’d like to officially join the party.”

Hump stared at her, along with the rest of his party.

“What?” she asked, looking between them nervously. “Is that a problem?”

“Not a problem,” Hump scratched his head. “Honestly, it hadn’t crossed my mind that you might be leaving.”

“Same here,” Dylan said.

“Let’s do it today,” Celaine said. “Collect the reward and have them register you with our party at the guild.”

“Are you sure?” Emilia asked. “I don’t mind if you want to talk it over this evening.” She looked at Bud. “Nor if you’re against it.”

“There’s no need for that,” Bud said. “We couldn’t have handled Stonebark Forest without you. Clearly, we work well together.”

“And it’s nice having another practitioner to balance out these Chosen,” Hump said.

They went to the vault first, situated by the guild house on the adventurers’ campus. It was strange to watch the vault clerk hand them their eighty gold, divided across five cloth pouches—enough gold to last Hump a decade if he wanted it to. And enough that he almost felt like he was doing something wrong by taking it. He could give up his staff and live the easy life, staying in inns and having someone cook for him each day instead of eating soggy jerky and stale bread by a campfire. Yet this was the life he chose, and lately it felt like he was getting rather good at it.

Registering Emilia was a simple matter, officially making her their fifth party member. And then it was back to the inn. They gathered in Hump’s room, Bud remaining by the door to ensure it stayed shut, and the others crowded around Hump who sat on the edge of his bed. He set the wooden box down beside him.

“Spark,” Hump said, setting the candle on his desk aflame.

“We had this discussion when we first formed our party,” Hump said. “I think before getting into everything else, it’s time to tell you a little more about us, Emilia.”

“Now you’re making me nervous,” she said.

“As Celaine put it so well in the past, we’re going to be a party and that means we need to fully trust each other. It’s time to clear the air, and I think once we’ve done that a lot more about my conversation with Countess Daston will make sense.”

“You’re not about to tell me you’re all goblins in disguise, are you?”

“If only.” Celaine pulled out the seat under his desk. “You may want to sit down for this.”

Emilia did so, eyeing her suspiciously.

And they told her. Of Celaine’s dragon blood, Hump’s soulbound spellbook, the dragon egg, and the details Hump had left out before about the monsters that had imprinted his soul. They laid it all out.