Chapter 496 - Essence Surge

Hey guys. Book 6 of Hedge Wizard is out on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited today (Comes out Wednesday so for those where it's not yet midnight it may still be a little longer). There's been some major issues with new releases getting delayed ratings and rankings on launch in the last couple of weeks, so if you have a spare minute to leave an honest review it would be very appreciated. Will make an announcement post later with the new cover too.

Here's a link to the US store: https://www.amazon.com/Hedge-Wizard-Progression-Fantasy-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0DNNHX7K8

Thanks, hope you like the chapter!

Pipto led Hump straight to the bridge. The corridors of the skyship were quiet with the ship’s passengers limited to only expedition members and essential crew, but the bridge was packed. Altari crew members crowded the chamber, hands flying across large plates of runic formations and rune-embedded walls, essence channels glowing with power. The floor hummed with essence. Runes flared in layered, interwoven sequences, dozens of formations working in perfect synchrony. Hump’s skin tingled with ambient magic, the air thick with it. In only a glance, he could tell this was the single most complex artifact he had ever witnessed.

There were so many formations activated at once that he couldn’t begin to identify what did what, only that operating such a complex artifact required incredible precision, teamwork, and knowledge.

Captain Hadbur stood at the helm. Draped in his usual flowing blue silks, his curved sabre at his hip. He had a series of levers and a wheel on a pedestal before him, along with various essence panels depicting illusions of light displaying various numbers and lines.

He turned to them as they entered, calm professionalism giving way to immediate concern. “Wizard Humphrey, what brings you here?”

“Apologies, Captain,” Pipto said. “There’s news that I thought couldn’t wait.”

Hump stepped into the room. “Nishari flew on ahead and spotted smoke in the distance. Thick columns that spanned too much distance to be ordinary. I think Nassuga is burning.”

The captain’s expression darkened. “Essence surge!”

The crew paused only briefly before all sprang into action.

“Prepare the ship for impact!” Hadbur barked. “Sound the alert. Arm the defences!” He shifted into the altari tongue, issuing a rapid stream of orders. The crew responded immediately, each person moving swiftly—faster than before, but the organised feel of it never changed. The room was alvie with motion, a blur of hands, runes and essence. They were and orchestra, and the captain its conductor.

Hump waited for a pause before speaking again. “It wasn’t smoke, was it?”

“No,” Hadbur said grimly. “It’s the city activating its essence wards. It only happens when an essence surge is detected nearby. If we’d made port even three hours earlier, we’d be safe behind Nassuga’s defences. As it stands…” He looked through the great glass windows toward the horizon. “We’ll have to take it head on.”

“Is Nishari safer in the air or onboard?” Hump asked.

“Call her back, and quickly. Our own wards will be raised soon. It’ll be rough, but the Crown of the Winds has seen its fair share of essence surges. And if we survive it, we survive richer.” A savage grin lit up his face.

“What can I do to help?” Hump asked.

“Find the Runesmith Enari and follow his instructions,” Hadbur said. “We may have need of your strength. Pipto, make sure he gets there.”

“Yes, Captain.”

They moved fast. As they reached the upper deck, Nishari descended from the sky, her wings folding as she landed beside him, chirping happily as she rubbed against his side.

Hump gave her a quick stroke. “Good job, girl. Now get inside.”

Before descended, he glanced back once more at the distant sky. The faintest haze coated the blue sky he activated Spirit Sight, and it was suddenly so obvious. Essence poured across the world in a thousand different currents, all the elements fighting together in chaotic currents. There was so much, it was almost blinding to his dragon eye, the brilliant essence obscuring everything around it.

Crew members rushed across the deck, unfurling strangely curved sails, almost like hammocks. Others placed out buckets of spent essence stones, tying them to the rail around the deck.

“What are they doing?” Hump asked.

Pipto stared at him from the door. “Preparing for the surge. We open the ship’s essence core to refuel its reserve. Essence stones will pour from the surge like hail too. We collect what we can. If you’ve got any runestones, leave them out and they’ll refill on their own.”

Hump’s thoughts went to the storm in the Remnant Realm—it had been much like this. A surge of dust and essence. In its wake, the ground had been coated in essence stones, and shades and warlocks alike had descended upon the harvest.

His thoughts turned to Walt and the lich’s phylactery.

“I need somewhere safe to leave something. It’s too valuable to risk losing. Is there a place that can hold it?”

Pipto nodded and led him to a series of metal cages built into the outside of the bridge, each with heavy bars to keep them shut. Many were full already, but Pipto found one for Hump to place the phylactery inside, then passed on a warning to Walt about the soon-to-come influx of essence. All this time Hump had been imbuing it with essence bit by bit, perhaps this would speed things along.

Pipto secured it shut, and then they made their way below deck. One of the crew’s voice echoed over a communication artifact in the corridor. “All passengers to quarters. Brace for impact. Runesmiths and holy ones to the rune room.”

“This way, Hump,” Pipto said. “Quickly. It’ll be on us faster than you expect.”

They descended a narrow spiral staircase, the clang of their boots echoing through the metal spine of the ship. As they reached the central deck, Hump could already sense that there was more essence in the air. He turned instinctively toward it just as Pipto started to direct him. At the very centre, a great steel door was open on its hinges, revealing a compact chamber lined with runes and formations. A dozen altari were gathered inside—Runesmith Tatsi, Prince Marcoff, Princess Urella, along with Runesmith Enari who kept everything on the ship running. Hump’s companions were among them too.

Celaine walked over as soon as she saw him. “Where have you been?”

“Nishari spotted the surge,” Hump said, brushing the sweat from his brow. “I went to warn the captain.”

“I’ll get back to my duties,” Pipto said.

“We’ll need to finish our chat once the surge has passed,” Hump told him.

The altari gave him a grin before rushing back the way they came.

Hump stepped into the chamber, his eyes drawn to the wall of pulsing runes and channels. Some he recognised from the bridge—not their function, but the distintive formations themselves. He wondered if the two locations were connected—all part of one vast system.

At the heart stood Runesmith Enari, his orange robes fluttering slightly in the charged air.

“Come,” Celaine said, tugging him by the hand toward the group. “Runesmith Enari is assigning roles.”

As they stepped closer, Enari’s keen gaze locked onto him.

“Hump,” she called. “Hump, Hump, Hump. I didn’t know Hump was a name.”

Hump frowned at her. “I didn’t know Enari was a name. Is that relevant to the essence surge?”

“Oh right, the surge. Yes. Put your hand on that stone. I’ve been told you would serve best as an anchor, so keep your hand on there and don’t let go.”

“What does it do?” Hump asked.

“Everyone will be providing essence to the ward array placed over the ship,” she explained. “The other runesmiths will guide it to me. You, however, I may draw upon directly if the flow falters. It shouldn’t be too much. The ship can provide enough essence on its own, but the problem with a surge is that there can be unpredictable flares. We’re here to fix any weaknesses before they become a problem.”

Hump nodded. “Understood.”

Hump stepped forward and pressed his hand to the stone at the centre of the assigned formation. Instantly, it latched onto him, drinking his essence, not painful, but firm. Around him, the rest of his party got in line behind runesmiths, forming a circle as they offered up their own essence. It would have been a great place for a trap. All of them gathered together and testing a strange formation. The thought had Hump pull back a little. He tested how much control he had over the flow, gently increasing and decreasing it with a slight effort of will.

Enari activated the rune room. Hundreds of runes all around the box chamber lit up at once, on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Everything shining with essence. A wash of light and colour, streams coursing through the runework in a dazzling display. Hump felt the other elements resonating in the chamber, harmonious. Then the defensive ward flared to life, a dome of shimmering white and blue light erupting from the room and disappearing into the walls of the ship, expanding outward, clear in Hump’s mind through the stone.

He stopped when Captain Hadbur’s came out of the communication artifact on the wall once more. “Brace for impact.”

For a few seconds, there was a change to the essence in the air. It lost its calm, whipping back and forth frantically, tingling on Hump’s skin. Then the ship shuddered, groaning like a wounded beast. Hump stumbled, almost falling but keeping his balance with his staff. Essence splashed over the ward like liquid fire.

The ward held, but the pressure only grew. Essence battered the ward. The ships essence reserves flowed up to reinforce it, but it was only moments before Hump felt Enari drawing on him.

Nearby, one of the altari stumbled. Then another dropped to their knees. The drain was building. In response, Dylan’s blessings expanded—he took on the Aspect of the Tree, his roots connecting to each of them, improving the recovery and efficiency of their essence reserves.

“How often do these usually ask?” Hump asked, breath tight in his chest.

“Minutes,” Enari said through clenched teeth. “Must focus.”

Another altari dropped to the ground. That was three down already, another nine to go, plus Hump’s party. Minutes? At this rate, Hump wasn’t sure they would last.

As the ship endured the bombardment, more cracks opened up in the ward. It was damage that Hump was familiar with—much like his Shield spell. Enari threw essence into the cracks, patching them over and reinforcing them. It was an inefficient process that seemed to only make the web of damage worse as time went on, the size of the ward over the ship making it even more difficult to repair.

More altari faltered. Some collapsed entirely, their bodies spent from channelling essence too quickly. Hump gritted his teeth and leaned in harder, pouring more of himself into the stone. The essence in the room became more chaotic, so many elements fighting against each other. The intent of the world became wild and unpredictable, making his own efforts less efficient. But in there, he could hear the familiar sounds of earth, fire, and nature, whispering too him like a long lost friend. He whispered back, and they came for him in a storm. He let the essence pass through him like a funnel, channelling it into the stone.

Nature stirred to his call. Fire coursed through his veins. The earth pulsed beneath him, the strongest of all the elements here thanks to the stones that allowed the skyship to fly. It felt almost peaceful. As he opened himself further, the burden lightened.

When the surge finally passed, Hump opened his eyes to see the rest of his party still standing strong. Their blessings filled the air with auras of shadow, ice, and nature, while a red shroud hung over Emilia. Half the altari were on the ground now, catching their breath, but Runesmith Tatsi, Prince Marcoff, Princess Urella, and Runesmith Enari remained standing.

Enari released the central stone and stumbled back. Hump stabilised their back with his left hand, holding them upright. The other altari collapsed to the ground, all of them appearing exhausted, yet Hump didn’t miss their eyes. They looked between Hump and his party appraisingly. Hump could guess their thoughts. They had all been a part of one grand formation—he had sensed their essence, and they had sensed his and his friends’.

Hump paid it no mind. “Are you alright, Runesmith Enari?”

“I am fine,” Enari said. Then his eyes widened. “Are you? I took more from you than I intended.”

“I’m fine,” Hump said with a smile. “I take it the surge is over?”

Enari nodded, still seeming a little shocked.

“Good.” He looked at his party. “Are you all ready to go?”

“Go where?” Bud asked.

“I left Walt on the deck,” Hump said. “Apparently everyone gets rich if we survive an essence surge, so I want to check out the deck. Also, Nisha’s in the hallway and getting very impatient. She seems to think we’re playing without her.”