Chapter 426 - Heartkeeper

Extra long chapter today. Considered cutting it early as this is basically two chapters worth, but I couldn't decide on a good break point. Hope you like it! Had a lot of fun with this one.

Anara didn’t hesitate to issue a command in the face of the storm. “Back to the vault. We will shelter there until the storm passes.”

“My squad, protect his highness,” Doran ordered, grouping his parties around the prince.

“Nisha, stay right at my heels,” Hump said through their bond. “Stay close, girl. Stay close.”

He sensed her nervousness in return, but she understood. Despite her fear, she was focused, watching for any shades that might stray toward them, ready to fight if she had to. Ready to protect the pack.

The expedition bolted, their boots pounding against the stone ground as they rushed back toward the underground shelter. The wind howled around them, picking up in the crater despite the natural barriers. They were moving quickly, abandoning the fissure and racing back to the gorger’s vault. The wall of dust loomed in the distance, a colossal, shifting force that seemed to twist and coil in the sky, pulsing with essence in great forks of lightning.

And then came the howls from above. Not the wind, but the shades. All of them joining in a single, harmonious wail. The sound was eerie and vast, as if the air itself was moaning. The creatures still rose, caught in the unseen pull of the storm, their hollow forms stretched thin in the updraft, flickering like torn banners in a gale. Their eyes shone with blue light—the same look as when they were attacking, only now, they were flying toward the storm.

Sand poured in from above in streams. It whipped up around Hump, pelting him with sharp stings, forcing him to squint against the debris. The storm was still distant, yet it reached him here, billowing his cloak, roaring through the ruined village.

Hump kept pace with the rest of his party off to the left of the main force. They rounded the final bend toward the manor, where the doors were already open. Inside, they took the stairs down to the vault, pouring in through the heavy metal doors, the wind and shades howling behind them. Two by two, the expedition raced inside.

Squad leaders conducted a head count while Anara and her own party waited in the vault doors. When confirmation came that everyone was inside, the flower druid slammed the steel doors shut herself. The moment the heavy slabs shut, the wind outside went silent, but for the rattling of the roof.

Each of them turned their eyes up, listening to the sound. Hump took a shaky breath, glancing down at Nisha and stroking her neck.

“Seems we are not destined to return to Alveron today,” Prince Gregory said with a rakish smile. “The plan was always for us to stay in the Remnant Realm for the night, so there’s no need to be alarmed. We’ll merely look back on this in a few days and remark on the novelty of it all as we enjoy our drinks back in Elenvine!”

The prince’s words were reassuring, a reminder that despite the strange circumstances, this wasn’t a big change from what they’d prepared for. Hump was starting to find a growing kernel of respect for the young royal, and his ability to soothe his subjects, which surprised him. Before, royalty had always been felt aloof, more nebulous concepts than real people—even after he’d faced Kassius.

“Chosen of Osidium, please create some lavatories in one of the walls away from the room,” Anara ordered, taking charge. “Anyone short on food or drink, alert me. Take a break, have some food, then we’ll begin taking inventory for the treasury. Now that we have more time, let’s make sure we find anything of use. Wizard Humphrey, I’ll seek you out later for a report on your findings regarding the goddess.”

Hump nodded. “Whenever you’re ready, Marshal.” He turned to Marcela. “Do you need anything?”

She shook her head. “All of you take it easy for a while. I think we’ll do the same. Randall, Selene, are you good?”

“Just thrilled,” Selene said, pausing in place. The party leader of the support group had been walking away. “A fifth circle Chosen and I’m here constructing lavatories. I could have been in Fort Nordric, you know?”

Hump smirked, realising where she’d been going.

“Ah.” Marcela’s face seemed torn between amusement and pity. “If it’s any consolation, we appreciate your service. Isn’t that right?”

Hump joined the others in muttering his agreement, all of them nodding along as they focused on Selene.

The woman scowled. “You’re welcome.”

With that, she went to join the other earth users.

“You sure you don’t want to go with them?” Bud asked at Hump’s side.

Hump shook his head. “Best not. Wizardry might get in the way.”

“We could ask,” Dylan offered. “I’m sure they’ll find a use for you.”

Hump turned and glared at his two friends, much to their amusement.

“Come along you three,” Emilia said, arm in arm with Celaine. “We’re hungry.”

***

Celaine shifted against Hump as he wrapped an arm around her, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. They were on a bench stashed between a rack full of axes and a display case of strange wooden masks.

“What’s that around your neck?” Celaine asked.

Hump blinked, glancing down. He tugged the goddess’ amulet from beneath his battlerobes, frowning as soft pulses of light radiated from its core. The essence stone suspended within the silver rings thrummed with power, the glow casting faint, shifting shadows across his fingers.

“It’s activated,” he muttered.

Celaine lifted her head, peering at the artifact with narrowed eyes. “You kept it?”

Hump winced at the accusation, quickly scanning their surroundings. The others were still a ways off, checking in with the rest of the expedition. He exhaled and lowered his voice. “I didn’t keep it,” he insisted. “We were in a hurry, so I put it on for safekeeping. I never activated it.” He frowned at the amulet. “The essence from that storm must have triggered something.”

“Sure sounds like you kept it. Can you tell what it does?”

Hump focused on the amulet. Now that it was active, it felt different—not just an artifact, but a living thing, humming with potential. Tentatively, he willed his essence into it, expecting resistance like before.

Instead, it welcomed him.

His essence slipped into the runes like water through an open gate. The artifact drank it in, and suddenly, his body felt light. The channels in his core steadied, yet his essence moved with unnatural fluidity, coursing through him in waves. His mind sharpened, his perception expanding as if his very soul had been refined.

“Anything?” Celaine asked.

Hump blinked, adjusting to the sensation. “It’s an amplifier,” he murmured. “A strong one. Feels like it stabilises my essence flow while boosting capacity.”

He poured more essence into the runes, crossing his fingers that the Book of Infinite Pages might be able to identify the artifact and provide him a more detailed account of what it could do. Only, he sensed something else instead. Power surged within, then suddenly, Hump sensed something on the other end.

Overwhelming force poured through the artifact and into Hump’s body, raw and unfiltered. His soul burned with the force of the essence. His channels ran rampant through his body, impacting him in sharp twangs of agony.

And then, a voice, loud and booming in Hump’s mind.

“WHERE ARE—”

The words crashed through his mind like thunder, shaking his very being. The presence on the other side wasn’t just strong—it was enraged.

Hump gasped, ripping himself free of the connection. His heart hammered. A cold sweat broke out along his spine, and his head ached.

His spellbook shuddered at his hip.

Nisha was off his lap in an instant, her hackles raised, a deep snarl rumbling from her chest. She stared at the amulet as if expecting it to strike.

Celaine grabbed his arm, steadying him. “Hump, what just happened?”

He swallowed hard, fingers trembling as he unlatched the Book of Infinite Pages and flipped it open with stiff hands.

“I’m… I’m not sure yet,” he muttered. He exhaled sharply. “I heard a voice, then my book managed to identify it.”

His spellbook glowed as fresh ink spread across the page. The artifact had been identified.

ITEM INDEX
Heartkeeper

Inscribed: To the one that stole my heart.

A dual-bound artifact, eternally linking two souls through its twin. Its core function is to tether two souls across any distance, creating an immutable link between them. The artifact functions as a power amplifier for the wielder, an essence reservoir that passively absorbs energy from its surroundings, and a conduit that allows the wielder to draw upon the essence of its counterpart in times of need.

Hump read the entry twice, his stomach sinking deeper with each word. When he finally looked up, his mind clung to one inescapable conclusion.

Someone—someone—was still bound to this artifact. And they were likely still alive.

“Well?” Celaine prompted, shifting impatiently beside him.

Hump hesitated, staring down at the glowing amulet in his palm. “The good news is that I know what this is,” he said. “It’s called Heartkeeper.”

Celaine raised an eyebrow. “That… doesn’t sound too bad.”

“No, not on its own.” Hump wet his lips, choosing his next words carefully. “Unfortunately, I think it may be linked to the husband of that dead goddess. One, that upon activation of this amulet, was suddenly alerted to its presence and decided to take it out on me.” He took a slow, measured breath. “I think he may have just noticed that someone’s been rummaging through his wife’s things.”

“Oh.” Celaine’s entire expression shifted—her lips pressed into a tight frown, her gaze flickering down to the artifact like it might explode in his hands. “…Oh.”

Hump let out a nervous chuckle. “So… what do we do?”

“Put it down for a start!” Celaine snapped. “We should give it to Anara.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not active.”

“Hump. You are not keeping that.”

Hump winced, clutching the amulet a little tighter. “But it’s really powerful.”

Celaine groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Owalyn give me strength. What is it with you and picking up artifacts that make people want to kill you?”

Before Hump could answer, the rest of the party returned, their steps quickened by Celaine’s raised voice.

“What happened?” Bud asked, his eyes flicking between them. “Who’s trying to kill Hump this time?”

Celaine threw a hand toward the amulet like it was proof of Hump’s latest crime. “He pissed off another god.”

Bud’s face paled. “What did he say this time?”

“He didn’t say anything,” Celaine said, pointing at the amulet in Hump’s hand. “He looted the corpse of a god’s wife.”

Bud’s eyes were wide as moons as he stared at Hump, then to the amulet in his hand.

“Bud, are you alright?” Emilia asked, concern creeping into her tone.

The knight took a single step back—then stumbled. Dylan and Emilia caught him before he could hit the ground.

“Bud!” Emilia gasped.

“I’m alright,” Bud said quickly, shaking his head. A shaky chuckle escaped him. “For a second there I thought Celaine was being serious.” He forced a grin. “What did he really do?”

Silence.

Celaine sighed.

Hump sighed.

Even Dylan sighed.

Bud looked between them all, the color draining from his face. “…No way. Really, Hump?”

Hump lifted the spellbook in his lap and patted the open page. “You had best read this,” he said dryly. “And try not to be so dramatic this time.”

***

It wasn’t much later when Marshal Anara came to find Hump, bringing Prince Gregory with her.

“Wizard Humphrey, apologies for the delay,” Anara said. “Are you ready?”

Hump nodded. “Of course, Marshal. In fact, there’s been a development. One that’s rather pressing.” He lifted Heartkeeper, letting the soft glow of its essence stone catch the dim light.

“I recovered this amulet from the fallen goddess. It’s an artifact—an immensely powerful one. But more importantly, it appears to be linked to a god.”

The quiet that followed was palpable. Anara’s expression remained unreadable.

Hump continued, “I believe this is one of a pair, binding two souls together—husband and wife.” He hesitated, feeling the weight of his next words. “And the husband is still alive.”

Anara’s eyes narrowed. “And you believe this why?”

Hump exhaled sharply. “Because when I activated the amulet, he almost blew my soul apart trying to reach me.”

Prince Gregory let out a low breath. “Did you tell him?”

“No, your highness,” Hump said.

“I severed the connection immediately.”

“Good,” Anara said. “The last thing we need is a god to show up while we’re here, ally or not. A god’s involvement in any matter is cause for concern. A dead god, certainly. Her presumably furious husband? Even more so.”

“There’s more,” Hump said grimly. “I believe this god would be no ally of ours. It seems that the goddess was killed by Osidium.”

Anara’s expression darkened. Prince Gregory stiffened beside her.

“Explain,” she said.

Hump nodded. “His essence still lingers in her petrified arm. I had Chosen Selene of Osidium confirm as much. She sensed his power immediately.” He hesitated before adding, “If that’s the case, then in all likelihood… he was the one that destroyed the village.”

Anara didn’t respond right away. Instead, she inhaled deeply, gaze shifting toward the ruins, then back to the vault where the goddess’ body remained. When she finally spoke, her voice was low, steady.

“I see. This is quite the development indeed.”

“We must decide what to do with the artifact,” Prince Gregory said. “I presume you don’t want to keep it, Wizard Humphrey?”

Hump shook his head, hearing Celaine’s voice in his head, telling him to give it away. “No. I think it may be beyond me.”

“Leave it with me,” Anara said, taking the amulet. “We’ll keep it in storage for the remainder of this expedition. Upon returning to Alveron, I will bring it to the high priests. In matters of the gods, it is best to leave the decision to them.”

“Agreed,” Prince Gregory said.

“Well done, Hump,” Anara said, giving him a reassuring smile. “You did well bringing this to me. Thank you.”

***

After the storm had settled and the expedition huddled in the vault for the night, Hump found himself seated against the stone wall, idly scratching Nisha behind the ears as she lay curled at his side. He was exhausted, his mind still reeling from the revelation of the Heartkeeper’s twin. But rest was fleeting. He noticed Prince Gregory approaching, his posture composed, his steps deliberate.

At first, Hump thought nothing of it—until the prince made a beeline directly toward him.

“Good evening, Wizard Humphrey,” Prince Gregory said, his tone cordial.

Hump started rising to his feet out of instinct, but the prince lifted a hand to stop him. “Please, remain seated.”

Awkwardly, Hump complied, though he remained tense. Nisha, picking up on his unease, watched the prince warily, her tail flicking against the stone floor.

“That was good work today,” Prince Gregory continued. “Particularly with the goddess. Your insight was invaluable.” He paused, considering. “I’ve often heard tales of wizards’ exploits, but my role does not provide much opportunity to observe your craft firsthand.”

Hump huffed a quiet laugh. “It’s not a particularly interesting one,” Hump said, “Lots of reading books. The spells only come at the end.”

Prince Gregory smiled. “I imagine that’s what makes the difference between a hedge wizard and a true practitioner. A shame my cousin didn’t have your patience.”

At that, Hump’s fingers twitched. He kept his expression neutral, but alarm bells rang in his head. Where is this going?

“Yes,” he said carefully. “I fought alongside Prince Kassius in Bledsbury Dungeon. He was very skilled.”

The prince chuckled, though there was no mirth in it. “Just a shame he was a damn warlock.” His gaze flickered with something sharp. “You’d never have guessed. I’d heard of his distaste toward Chosen, but it wasn’t something he ever displayed outright.”

Hump stiffened. “You’re leaving me in a predicament, your highness. The official story is that Prince Kassius died heroically.”

“I’ve been informed there’s more to that tale.” Prince Gregory’s voice was quiet, but firm. “You played an integral part.”

“Ah. I see.” Hump exhaled slowly, suddenly aware of just how much attention was now fixed on him.

Prince Gregory studied him for a moment, then asked, “Tell me truthfully—do you know if my cousin is dead?”

Hump swallowed. The weight of the question settled over him like a stone. He glanced down at Nisha, feeling the warmth of her fur against his hand. He was torn between the orders he’d received in the past, and the heir to the throne pressuring him for answers. He decided to trust the prince.

“I… don’t know,” he admitted. “Truly. You’re correct that Kassius was a warlock. He struck a wolf dragon with a weapon that turned her undead. She was carrying Nisha’s egg at the time.” He ran a hand down the little dragon’s back, grounding himself. “He infiltrated our group to claim the soul of the wolf dragon. I turned the formation he was using against him, and the dragon burned him, but he was still alive.”

Prince Gregory’s posture remained still, his attention unwavering.

“At that moment, a black rift opened,” Hump continued. “Like the one we use to enter the Remnant Realm. A being stepped through—something… powerful. It was shrouded in shadow, so I could not make out its features. I think—” He hesitated. “I have wondered if it was a god that took him.” His voice dropped lower. “They took Kassius back through the rift with them.”

Prince Gregory’s fingers curled at his side. “I have never heard this. Not from anyone.”

“I was the only witness,” Hump said. “And I was told to keep it to myself.”

Gregory’s jaw tightened. “You’re sure?”

Hump nodded. “Yes.”

The prince let out a slow breath. “That’s problematic.”

Hump frowned. “How so?”

Prince Gregory’s gaze turned thoughtful, calculating. “With Duke Malar’s passing, along with many of his sons, if Kassius is alive… he could very well inherit the dukedom. At least, without substantial proof of his betrayal.”

Hump stared at him, his stomach sinking. He had been so focused on surviving that day, on ensuring Kassius didn’t succeed in his ritual, that he hadn’t considered the consequences beyond their group. What would it mean if the heir to a dukedom returned? A cousin to the heir to the throne.

“Thank you for this,” Prince Gregory said. He turned to Nisha. “And thank you for letting me say hello, little one. I’m sure we will speak further in the future, Wizard Humphrey.”

“Whatever you need, your highness,” Hump said.

Hump watched him go carefully. For all the prince’s noble status, he seemed genuinely thoughtful—concerned for the bigger picture, for what this meant for Alveron. It was good to see a future leader with such earnestness.

But Hump had been fooled before.

***

The expedition spent the night in the vault, sheltering from the raging storm outside. Even buried beneath stone, they could hear the wind howling through the crater, the eerie wails of the shades as they were drawn upward, lost to the storm’s power.

Sleep did not come easily. Hump dozed in short, restless bursts, the weight of the day’s revelations pressing on his mind. The storm, the goddess, the amulet—his thoughts swirled like the winds above, refusing to settle. The very essence of this realm left him too uneasy to truly relax.

By the time the winds finally died down, hours had passed—most of the night, he guessed. The silence that followed was almost as unsettling as the storm itself. No distant cries of shades. No shifting wind. Just an unnatural stillness.

Anara wasted no time. She roused the expedition, her voice cutting through the lingering grogginess. “Up. We move now. There’s no telling if another storm will follow.”

There were too many unknowns about what had just happened, and Anara clearly had no intention of waiting around to see if it would happen again.

Hump followed the others up toward the vault doors, stepping cautiously out into the ruins of the ancient village. What they found made him stop in his tracks. The entire landscape had changed. Every inch of the village was blanketed in tiny, glistening stones, like a field of crystallised hail. The ground shimmered, the stones pulsing faintly with power. Hump crouched, picking one up between his fingers.

Multicoloured light flickered within, shifting so rapidly that his eyes struggled to follow the hues—blues, greens, reds, purples—every colour imaginable, blending and twisting like light in oil.

“Essence stones,” Hump murmured, breath hitching.

Celaine strode past him, stopping to inspect a larger fragment, nearly the size of her fist. She turned it over in her hand, her eyes narrowing as the essence within pulsed against her fingers. “They must have come from the storm.”

Hump rose to his feet, scanning the village. The streets, once teeming with drifting shades, were eerily empty. A few had returned, their dark forms gliding soundlessly between the ancient buildings, their attention focused entirely on the scattered stones. He watched as one shade hovered low over the ground, its face hovering over a pile of essence stones and siphoning it of essence in a pale streak.

Where had the rest gone? Dragged away by the storm’s force? Or had it simply led them to greater sources of essence above?

“Leave the stones,” Anara ordered, her sharp voice cutting through the quiet. “We regroup at the fissure and make our way back to the surface.”

Not wanting to leave without a souvenir, Hump pocketed the stone and followed the rest of the group. It was easy going. They didn’t encounter any shades along the way, the creatures far too interested in the now plentiful food source.

Soon, they were back on the surface. The sky was clear, the barren wastelands stretching endlessly before them. But unlike before, where the land had been little more than a lifeless expanse of rock and dust, it now pulsed with a new vibrancy. The very air shimmered with drifting motes of essence, light pooling across the plains in waves of iridescence. Shades swept across the land in numbers Hump had never seen, not even when they were drawn out of the fissure before they had entered the ancient village.

It was as if the storm had breathed life back into the dead world. This must be how the creatures of this realm survived all these years.

“Look over there,” Faelor, the arcane archer of Marcela’s party, said.

The expedition turned to see a flock of shades scattering to the skies, followed by flashes of magic.

“None of our force should be this far out,” Marcela said to Anara.

“None of them are,” Anara said, staring into the distance. “This can only mean one thing… warlocks.” She turned to the expedition. “Change of plan. Prince Gregory, it seems you’re going to get a chance to hunt warlocks after all.”