This is now the full chapter. The new section begins at the ***
“Are you sure about this?” Bud asked.
They were around the back of the lighthouse, standing atop the small bluff that overlooked the lake.
“Not like I have a choice,” Hump said. “Vivienne needs to maintain the lighthouse’s formation during the attack. I’m the only other person ...
2022-02-01 23:38:38 +0000 UTC View Post“You knew this temple was out there and told us nothing?” Bud snapped. “Why would you keep that from us?”
Impatience flashed in Vivienne’s eyes as she cast a glance around the square. “Not here. We’ll talk once we’re back in the lighthouse.”
“No,” Bud growled. “This can’t wait. Did you or did you not know there was something out there?”
“Of course...
2022-01-30 01:25:39 +0000 UTC View PostDylan revealed nothing on the way to Hestia’s Temple, no matter how hard Hump pressed. Instead, he asked them to wait until after their business with Priestess Elowen was complete to discuss the essence stones with Vivienne. It was frustrating, but Hump reluctantly agreed. He’d known Vivienne long enough to give her the benefit of the doubt, however he couldn’t help but feel nervous. He...
2022-01-26 01:42:08 +0000 UTC View PostHump gasped a deep breath, becoming suddenly awake. His heart shuddered with the flow of essence. Warmth pulsed through him, radiating from the essence stone in his hands all the way to his core. No, it was more than that. The power stormed through him, irrespective of his will. From his core, it flooded the rest of his body, spreading out through his channels, filling his muscles until every o...
2022-01-12 01:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe three of them were in Hump’s room. Celaine seated in a chair by the desk, and Bud by the door, while Hump sat on his bed. They’d returned late, their training running into the evening so that they’d missed the last call for dinner. Instead, the innkeeper had been kind enough to give them a share of the kitchen leftovers that usually went to the staff.
There had been...
2022-01-09 01:48:52 +0000 UTC View PostMayor Arnold and Captain Winfrey had already arrived when Hump returned to the sanctuary with Vivienne and Madeleine. They spent a long time discussing the logistics of locking up a High Priest. Nobody was happy about it, but Vivienne eventually brought them around to see the necessity. Right now, Albry was compromised. Until they understood to what extent, he was too dangerous to be unmonitore...
2022-01-05 00:43:03 +0000 UTC View PostHump stared at Albry’s unmoving body; the image of those black eyes fixed in his mind. Essence had filled them, just as he had seen it in the cave.
“Gods above, Skander, you’ve assaulted a High Priest. Are you insane?” Randall burst out, the abruptness of his voice setting Hump once more on alert. He still stood behind Madeleine, her shield ready in case Hump launched another ...
2021-12-19 02:54:38 +0000 UTC View PostAlbry stood before the altar, illuminated by essence. It rose off his body in streams of blue and silver, filling the sanctuary with light and cloaking him in power.
Something was wrong. He was too strong to be a first circle Chosen. The pressure radiating from him was too much. Not enough to make him a real threat, but the strangeness of it put Hump on edge. Even as Vivienne bombarded hi...
2021-12-15 01:33:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe temple loomed before them, grey stone against a grey sky. A pathway led down the side, away from the town square and to a garden around the back where Hump could see Fishers Lake.
“Are you sure about this?” Bud asked. “Albry has made it clear that he views you as the enemy. I can’t imagine he’ll cooperate.”
“I see no choice anymore,” Vivienne said. “I can accep...
2021-12-12 02:47:22 +0000 UTC View Post“So how did you spot me?” Skander asked.
“You were hardly camouflaged,” Celaine said.
The man sighed. “Perception ability, eh? Guessed you’d have one from the look of you but I didn’t expect you back so soon. Albry told us you lot were going to be away for a while. Don’t you have some demons to summon or something?”
“We’re the ones asking the question,”...
2021-12-08 00:58:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe villagers held the ceremony in the morning. It was unlike anything that Hump had seen, but beautiful in its own way. They laid the bodies out on a single, long raft that they’d constructed overnight and early in the morning. The bodies were covered in flowers and surrounded by food items and trinkets to take with them on their journey. Isaia had also carved formations into the wood, each ...
2021-12-05 01:03:51 +0000 UTC View PostEssence exploded from Celaine in a burst of green fire. Instinct propelled Hump back as a wave of pressure that swept through the cavern. It felt like needles against his skin. Like a sword at his throat. Yet he didn’t look away—couldn’t look away. He stared at Celaine, eyes grabbed by a force that allowed for nothing else, and in that moment he knew with complete certainty that his life ...
2021-11-30 23:49:38 +0000 UTC View PostThere was one thing left to deal with before entering the cave.
Bud chanted a prayer of purification under his breath, the blue radiance of Heart of Frostfire manifesting around him. It enshrouded him in frosted air, flickering up into a flame-like tip over his head. The very presence of his aura stirred the spirit into action. It abandoned its feast, retreating into the tunnel, ...
2021-11-28 01:25:45 +0000 UTC View PostBlood rose from the pack leader’s wounds and mouth, forming sharp streaks of red in the air. Its power built, an assault on Hump’s soul. He slammed his staff into the ground and leant heavily against it, gritting his teeth as his essence was thrown into turmoil. He formed a barrier from his will, envisioning it around himself and pressing back against the attack.
He didn’t waver. As...
2021-11-23 22:33:39 +0000 UTC View PostWizard that he was, Hump decided his time would be better spent preparing a formation rather than gathering firewood for the trap. In hindsight, he hadn’t considered that would leave him only a few dozen paces away from a den full of man-eating monsters, alone, and carving lines into the dirt.
Smart move, Hump. Smart move.
He was too far away now to hear the creatures ins...
2021-11-20 23:24:03 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re safe now,” Celaine whispered. “It’s alright. Nobody’s going to hurt you. Is there anyone else down there with you?”
“No,” the girl said back. “Where’s papa?”
Celaine’s face twinged but she forced a smile back onto her face. “What’s your name?”
“Sessil,” she said after a moment. “Where’s my papa?”
Celaine glanced back in H...
2021-11-16 23:01:33 +0000 UTC View PostHump tasted copper; it clung to the back of his throat, coating it like oil. The sensation—the stench—was nauseating. He couldn’t turn away from the girl’s bloodied flesh. The red wound around her neck where her head had been torn from her.
His heart was like thunder in his ears. Adrenaline coursed through him. He felt the urge to run to the boat and flee. To paddle away from this...
2021-11-13 22:37:31 +0000 UTC View PostHump was surprised when the guard led them down to the docks rather than Mayor Arnold’s office. They found him down by the lake alongside Captain Winfrey, and a middle-aged man that Hump he didn’t recognise. There was no sign of Albry or Randall’s party, something Hump was grateful for.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Wizard Vivienne,” Arnold said, walking over to them. “My ...
2021-11-10 00:39:09 +0000 UTC View PostHump’s mind raced as he searched for any excuse that would come. All he drew was a blank. His mouth fell open, he fumbled for words—any words—but they did not find him. “Erm…”
Failing his own words, he glanced at Celaine for help. She was studying Vivienne intently, her body tense. Of course she’s ready for a fight… Hump thought. She’d never shown much talent at...
2021-11-06 23:15:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe outer church went silent as all eyes stared at Randall. The young lord’s wand glimmered faintly with cold blue light, held with all the arrogance that Hump had come to expect from most nobles. The echoes of his challenge still rang through Hump’s head.
The silence broke when the rogue burst into laughter.
“What are you snickering about, Skander?” Randall sneered. “This...
2021-11-02 21:46:33 +0000 UTC View Post“There must be more to it than that,” Hump insisted. “He couldn’t simply leave and say nothing. Besides, you travelled with us more than once since then. You’ve had time to press him for answers.”
Something on Vivienne’s face made Hump feel anxious—a slight hesitation and a shift in her eyes.
“What is it?” Hump said stoically.
“I did press him,” Vivienn...
2021-10-30 22:04:17 +0000 UTC View PostVivienne’s approach to spellcraft was vastly different from Master Sethril’s. Where the old man would demonstrate a technique and leave Hump to flounder about trying to replicate it for weeks, Vivienne taught him the intricacies of the spell bit by bit. He’d been able to use his spellbook to see how his essence should be used, but that hadn’t spared him. It was worse than it sounded. Fa...
2021-10-26 21:33:37 +0000 UTC View PostThey gathered in Vivienne’s study after lunch. A cozy room on the second floor with just enough space to fit them all in. A rounded bookshelf covered the back wall, shaped to fit the building’s curvature, filled with an impressive collection of books on everything from magical theory to mathematics. While the three of them found seats on a couple of plush sofas, Vivienne sat behind her desk...
2021-10-23 19:48:58 +0000 UTC View PostVivienne wielded a wand—a duellist’s weapon, designed with ease of carry and style in mind more so than practicality. Its small size meant that it required more specialist components and enchantments to compete with a staff, and of course, that made them far more expensive.
She balanced her wand delicately between her fingers as she waited for Bud and Celaine to join her on the field....
2021-10-19 21:51:36 +0000 UTC View Post“Have you got a plan?” Bud asked. He and Celaine were sat on the grass of a shallow slope down near the path that led back to the town.
Hump handed his bag containing the dragon egg, potions, and other equipment to Celaine, then placed his old potion pouch on the ground beside her. From inside, he took out two handfuls of stones that he’d collected as ammunition for Rockshot 2021-10-16 21:02:19 +0000 UTC View Post
“The lake is the key,” Vivienne said. “I’m convinced of it. We’ve attempted to follow the spirits back to wherever it is they come for, and at the very least it’s deep within the lake. Either underwater or on one of the many islands spotting it.”
“They’re too fast for us to follow by boat,” Dylan said. “During the third wave last month, I was part of a crew stationed...
2021-10-12 11:00:51 +0000 UTC View PostCelaine refused to let her discomfort show as Vivienne’s aura bore down on her. A hunter could not show fear in the face of a predator, and this wizard was far from the greatest predator she had met. She came from a land of dragons, and if a dragon saw you as prey, then they would treat you as such.
She stood rigid as her soul felt as her soul was compressed within her. Her connection t...
2021-10-09 21:24:15 +0000 UTC View PostHump had experience with shaping exercises. His master had taken him through them almost every morning, and ever since leaving Bledsbury Dungeon, Hump had carried on the practice.
What Vivienne wanted was something more.
“We’ll begin with Hide Object,” Vivenne said. “I assume you’re familiar with it.”
Hump grimaced. “Familiar is a strong word.”
V...
2021-10-05 20:38:15 +0000 UTC View Post“Seth was far from an orthodox wizard,” Vivienne said as she searched through a large wooden box, jumbled full of what Hump could only describe as expensive looking random junk. “The purpose of these tests is for me to understand what you are capable of. I’m not looking at your ability to recite rituals or cast complex spells, instead I want to see how strong your core wizarding attribu...
2021-10-02 15:10:28 +0000 UTC View PostHump woke to banging on his door. “What is it?”
“Sergeant Fredricks is here,” Bud said. “You should come down.”
Hump groaned. “Okay, I’ll be right out.”
Sitting up, Hump rubbed his eyes, his head pounding. After they’d returned from the lighthouse in the morning, he gave the others a briefing on his meeting with Vivienne before the three of them had gone to...
2021-09-28 20:57:17 +0000 UTC View Post