Chapter 241 - The Hunt

Sorry for the delays. Back from holiday now. This post brings the advanced chapter count back up to 9, and I'll try and catch up to 10 this week.

Whitefall Grove turned out to be a section of white waters in a narrow river that connected to the main one running through Drakalyn. A bridge of entwined roots reached the other bank where low hanging trees formed a roof over a common gathering area.

“We don’t really have a tavern,” Celaine had explained as they walked. “Most families brew their own alcohol, so it’s at places like this where people share and try each other’s.”

The evening went well. They’d feasted on roasted boar, while Hump listened to stories of Vamir’s dragon blooded hunters and their quests. He realised that there was a competitiveness between them and the other trainee groups led by Vamir’s peers, Aric and Marisa. Hump was finally beginning to understand Vamir’s place in Drakalyn. It was his job to teach the youth the basic skills all of Owalyn’s hunters needed. While he was not the most talented Chosen, only having reached the third circle, his other skills were superb, and it was clear that everyone in the grove held nothing but respect for him.

Hump woke the following day feeling a little worse for wear. One of the hunters—Kelec—had brought with him a distilled spirit they simply referred to as Fire. It only took one swig for Hump to decide the term was fitting, and another few to realise it was in fact drinkable and tasted faintly of plums.

Hungover, Hump took out a vial of essence water he’d collected from the essence stone mine where he’d found Walt. An expensive hangover cure for sure. Even just a few months ago, he’d have shuddered at using it so frivolously. Now… well he needed to use it up. It wasn’t as pure as the water in the Temple of Moss, so he wanted to free up some vials to store more. The cool liquid cleared his head and after a short while he was ready to get to work on the enchantments on his boots.

It was his focus and control that had failed him yesterday, but his technique had improved with every stroke of his stylus. Now, it came surprisingly easily to him. His confidence grew as he finished the first formation, each rune and channel well formed, his intent clear. He took a breath, feeling good. Slowly, bit by bit, he continued adding formations, switching between boots as he went. By the end of the morning, he had a fully functional formation, albeit somewhat rudimentary.

He'd ended up settling for only four formations on each of the soles. It should do the job, though Hump was certain it would fall short of the real deal. Looking over his work, he couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied. They wouldn’t last long. Being on the soles of his boots made the spell simply to create an enchantment with, but it would wear out quickly. The bigger issue was if a rune was damaged and triggered another chain reaction, it would shatter the entire formation. There were far too many points of failure. Sections where he’d let too little or too much metal build up, leaving uneven channels or runes, and slight spacing issues between key parts of the formation. The issues were slight, but they could add up to a fault. And that wasn’t to mention the points where his intent no doubt slipped, creating less than perfect runes.

Already, he had some ideas on how to improve the enchantment for next time. Perhaps a metal plate at the back of the heel to act as an anchor, tying the runes to that instead of each other so that the point of failure was sturdier. Or a stabilising formation across the toes that would protect the runes from surges of essence. The books of the Daston library had covered some of these ideas, but without a teacher there was bound to be a lot of trial and error. For now, these would have to do. A more permanent solution could wait until after tomorrow’s hunt.

***

“They’re doing something.” Ado chuckled, watching Hump’s feet as he walked. “Is the spell really called Echoless Passage?”

Hump frowned at him and sighed. “It is.”

He laughed again. “Well, I’m honestly impressed that this is a first attempt. You’re quiet enough. Still probably a good idea for you to hang toward the back. Try snapping a stick underfoot.”

Hump stepped on a stick, cracking it under his foot. The sound was muffled, more like a dull tap than a crack.

“That doesn’t seem too bad,” Hump said.

“It’s not. There’s a reason that even skilled leaf walkers might use stealth enchantments. No amount of practice makes accidently snapping a stick in half quiet. In the hands—well, on the feet of a skilled hunter, an enchantment like this can make them completely silent.”

“And on me, passable enough to sneak around a dungeon?” Hump asked.

Ado shrugged. “Maybe. If you want my advice, save them for when you need to hide while stationary. Any monster powerful enough to be concerned about will likely be able to hear you. Even when you’re standing still, you make a lot of noise, but this enchantment removes most of that. Your breathing, the way you shift on your feet, they’re far less noticeable with these.”

Hump tested out what he was saying, standing motionless. “That sounds practically useless.”

“It’s not your job to stalk through the dungeon and find the guardian. You’re a Rank 4 wizard—just stand there quietly and don’t give yourself away until you get a chance to blast something.”

“That I can do.”

It wasn’t exactly what Hump had envisioned, though for a couple of days of effort he supposed it wasn’t a bad outcome.

***

“There he is!” Finnian said. “Our soon to be Dragon Keeper.”

He stood amongst a group of nine others at the edge of Drakalyn. Hump arrived side by side with Celaine and Vamir, having left Nishari with Myra for the day. As he approached, it was clear that Finnian’s attention was on him.

“Don’t be an arse, Finn.” Celaine snapped off an answer before Hump had the chance.

The man seemed taken aback at her sharpness. “Just a friendly joke. Come on, Cel, don’t be like that.”

She gave him a tight smile. “I was just joking too. In all seriousness though, we’re lucky to have him along. Trust me, I’ve seen him in action.”

“I’ve got to admit,” Vamir said, smirking. “I’m looking forward to seeing this new and improved Hump.”

“I’ll try not to disappoint,” Hump said.

He was introduced to the group. There were many familiar faces amongst them: Celaine’s uncle, Alir, her friend, Eva, and of course Finnian and his dragon, Aurora, along with another handful from the gathering at the grove the other night. All in all, they were fourteen people strong, with drastically varying levels of strength. Actually, looking around, Hump realised that other than Finnian, he was most likely the most advanced in rank. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“The goal today is to take out the dungeon,” Finnian said. “We hunt down its guardian, and then we take its core. If all goes to plan, we’ll be back home in time for dinner.”

Preliminary searches had revealed an acidic environment in the dungeon, filled with oozes, strange ghostly entities, and some sort of treants. All creatures that would likely not hold up against fire very well. As of yet, the dungeon guardian was undiscovered.

The plan he laid out was simple. Finnian would fly ahead of them atop Aurora and locate the dungeon core, then guide the rest of them through the outer domain. They would avoid conflict where they could, quickly reaching the centre of the dungeon. It sounded easy, and in theory, Hump supposed it should be. This was a new dungeon after all and shouldn’t be any more powerful than the one in Bledsbury. There, nobody had been above the third circle, so Hump could see where the confidence came from. A fifth circle Dragon Keeper like Finnian shouldn’t have any trouble.

Hump was, however, concerned about some of their weaker members. Eva was only of the first circle, and there were a handful without blessings at all. It seemed to be a concern Celaine shared.

“Eva, stick with us today,” Celaine said as they set off, entering Leafhaven Forest—the section of woodland directly behind the Great Tree. “She’s another archer like me, and this is her first time going for a dungeon core.”

“I’ll be fine, Celaine,” Eva said. Hump noted her bow. “You make it sound like I’ve never been on a hunt.”

“You’re a good fit anyway,” Hump said. “Other than Vamir, the three of us are ranged fighters. It’s good to keep us together in a group this size.”

Eva snorted. “No need to beat around the bush with me. I get it. I’m in over my head here, but I’ll do what I can. Just try not to blow me up or anything. Celaine mentioned she’d had some close calls.”

“Did she now?” Hump smiled toward Celaine. “I guess now’s a good time to mention when you wanted to chop my hands off.”

Vamir winced. “That sounds like something she’d do.”

Celaine rolled her eyes. “I didn’t chop them off, did I?” She looked at Eva. “He was losing control of the magic in my dagger here. It was a choice of chopping them off or letting him kill himself.”

“Clearly not,” Hump said. “Seeing as I still have my hands and am not dead.”

It was unsurprisingly easy to hunt with a dragon. Controlling the sky was even more powerful than Hump had considered. The speed at which information could be gathered and exchanged was something usually only Chosen of Vesta or druids with powerful shape changing powers could achieve.

They made fast progress through the forest. It was many miles to the dungeon, so the need for caution was low. For now, they relied on two scouts, Kelec and Terran to search the area ahead of them, while the rest of the group remained tightly grouped and on the lookout for rogue monsters that might be lurking. Whether put off by the size of their group, or the dragon in the sky, their travel went undisturbed.

It was immediately clear when the dungeon was close. An acrid stench stung at Hump’s nostrils and throat. Immediately, Astrid, one of Celaine’s fellow hunters and an alchemist took out masks for each of them, dabbing a small amount of liquid onto each of them before handing them out. Hump put his on, the cloth mask covering his mouth and nose, a sweet, floral scent obscuring everything else.

“Those should last a few hours,” Astrid said. “If the smell of ninra petal fades, tell me and I’ll give you a new one.”

“What does it do?” Hump asked.

“It purifies the air. This noxious gas shouldn’t have any effect through it.” She hesitated a moment, then added. “Be cautious with fire magic here, wizard. These gasses are often highly flammable.”

Hump thanked her, and they continued. The signs became clearer quickly. Plants started to droop, until they reached a section where trees had lost their green entirely in favour of sickly yellows, oranges, and purples.

“Reminds you of Bledsbury, huh?” Vamir pointed at the ground ahead of them. “Watch the puddle.”

A pool of toxic looking brown sludge steamed in their path.

“It does?” Eva asked.

“There was a grove in the dungeon,” Vamir said. “I’ve never seen anything like it underground, but there were a lot of corrupted plants.”

Hump could see the resemblance. There were no bulging trees this time. Instead, it was as if the trees had partially melted, their trunks becoming deformed shapes that merged with each other, bits of leaves and branches sticking out of mounds that had once been trees. In places, small beady eyes stared out. Bits of beak, feathers, or scaled skin. Animals caught up in the monstrosity.

There was a sudden movement—one of the younger hunters in the group, drawing back their bowstring and aiming at the shadows. Just as Vamir told him to wait, the man loosed their arrow. All of them stared into the shadows beyond.

“I saw something,” the man whispered, nervousness in his voice.

“That doesn’t mean you shoot, Byron,” Vamir said. “It could be—”

Vamir stopped mid-sentence. He shot forward, a short blade leaving its sheath at his hip, trailing silver as he carved a path through the air before Byron. Mist parted, and a flying snake appeared right in front of the hunter’s head. Vamir sliced it cleanly in two, decapitating it and letting the pieces fall to the ground. Hump had forgotten just how fast Vamir could be.

Byron stumbled back, gasping as he stared at the snake’s body.

“Nice job,” Alir said. “That looks like a deathglider. I’ve never seen one with a mutation that makes them invisible like that.”

Well, that didn’t sound good. Any snake with death in the name could only be bad.

Hump readied his staff, coming to stand beside Byron and readying a Shield spell on his lips, just in case.

“Are there more?” Hump asked.

“There’s more!” Celaine shouted. “Shield up. Everyone gather around.”

Hump started forming his dome the moment she said the words. Small impacts struck the outside of it, snakes appearing in small bursts of vapour, winged body’s collapsing to the ground from the impact. Dozens of them launched themselves against the shield like arrows, though they couldn’t penetrate. Around Hump, he noticed other hunters staring at the barrier cautiously, slowly beginning to relax as they realised it would hold.

“I could convert this to a Fire Shield,” Hump said, turning to Astrid. “How explosive is this gas?”

“Erm.” Astrid’s eyes glossed over the shield. “Explosive enough that I wouldn’t try it. Depends how strong this spell is.”

“Save your essence for later, Hump,” Vamir said. “We can handle this much easily enough. Everyone chose an angle. Hump, drop your shield when I say so and we’ll kill those closest to us. Give us a few seconds, then raise the shield again. Let’s not take any risks.”

Hump nodded. “When you’re ready.”

Around Hump, the hunters moved to the edge of his dome, their weapons ready. There were many similarly short blades to Vamir’s amongst them. Everyone reached their position and waited.

“Five seconds,” Vamir said. “Kill what you can in five seconds, then back out before the snakes can launch themselves again.”

Nods went all around.

Vamir smiled, his swords glinting silver. “Drop the shield.”