Curselock

Chapter 101: Drip

The boys stood around the glowing mushroom cave slightly put off. Despite not wanting to battle, they had prepared quite a bit. Leland even had his blue-fire flare out and ignited.

“I guess that’s that,” he said, canceling the weapon’s magical effect.

Glenny took a few steps toward the cave’s entrance. “I’ll scout ahead a bit. Maybe they are waiting outside.”

Glenny turned invisible and rushed ahead, only small ripples in the reflective pool of water at their feet giving any evidence he left. Nodding along, Leland re-ignited his flair and wandered to the exit tunnel with Jude. By the time the ripples settled, Glenny returned visible.

“Nothing. Blizzard is gone as well.”

“Maybe we scared them away?” Jude suggested. “Killing half of their people is as good as any reason to leave.”

Leland supposed that was true, they did, after all, take the poacher corpses into the dungeon with them. If their friends showed up looking for them and only found a few splatters of blood and a dungeon entrance, they might be hesitant to attack since the enemy was still unknown.

“Either way, we have some harvesting to do,” Leland said, setting down his pack. He quickly pulled out an empty sack and a few herbalism knives.

The others groaned but accepted their task. There was a patristic magical staff on the line after all. They worked fast and haphazardly, ruining a few of the glowing mushrooms or a chuck of radiating moss in the process. They didn’t discuss it, but it was obvious that the threat of an enemy attack was still high. Losing a few herbs to pick up the pace was worth it in their eyes.

Glenny had to agree. He and the cub didn’t talk much one on one, but it was quite apparent she was well-natured and respectful. “I do as well, but she’s where she needs to be.”

Leland glanced up at that. “You know, I’ve still got plenty of that magical letter paper back at the inn. You want a piece?”

Pausing mid step, Glenny tried his best to hide his face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

The trio headed up and out, finding a dark cool night. Well, cool was very much subjective to them. They had no doubt the actual temperature was below freezing, but after coming out of a snow and ice themed dungeon, the ambient air felt rather pleasant. Except for Jude, he didn’t feel a lick of cold, his armor acting like a thermal coat.

“So,” Leland mused, “anyone remember where that dock is?”

To the boys, three and a half days had passed. To the real world, only thirty six hours. If their calculations were correct, the next morning would mark the end of the herbalism competition.

“Or we could search the island for more herbs…”

They shared a three-way look. “Nah,” they all said simultaneously.

Glenny then looked up, finding a few stars peeking out of the cloud coverage. His cloak had long refilled in the dungeon’s forest night cycles, but nothing could beat the real thing. He took his time reading the distant balls of light, eventually coming to a direction.

“That way,” he pointed.

Leading the charge, Jude pushed through the island’s foliage and toward the water’s edge. Tracing the perimeter, they eventually came into view of the teleportation dock. A few minutes later, they each stepped back onto the mainland.

“That’s weird,” Leland said. “Wasn’t there supposed to be an official around when we returned?”

Jude scratched his head. “It’s cold, right? Maybe they turned in for the night.”

“There was a blizzard, look at all of the snow.” Glenny added, gesturing to the snow that lined the coast.

With little more to say, they left the dock and headed up the pathway through the cliff face. Eventually Frostford’s skyline came into view, along with the warm basking glow of lit hearths. As they got closer, the smell of firewood and the gentle haze of smoke wafted through the air. It seemed the town was doing well, despite the large piles of snow.

“Halt! Who goes there!” a voice bellowed from inside the town’s gate.

“Uh, competitors of the herbalism competition out on the island!” Jude shouted back.

There was a quiet grumbling from the shadowy gate before the same voice announced, “State your names!”

“Jude, Glenny, and Leland!”

A lantern outside the town’s walls suddenly lit with an orange flickering light. A moment later, the sounds of gears and chains echoed through the frozen landscape. The gate slowly rose, revealing two armed guards and a third with a clipboard and pen.

“Approach!”

The boys did, meeting the guard with the clipboard part way. The guard then pushed out the paper and pen and said, “Sign here.”

As the boys took turns signing, Leland asked, “Are we the first ones back?”

The guard’s eyes widened slightly. “Didn’t you hear the announcement? Someone was supposed to find you guys and inform you that the competition was called off. There is a magical deviant creating blizzards. We, that being Frostford, couldn’t, in our right mind, place adventurers in harm's way for the sake of herbs.”

The boys shared a glance. “Then what do we do with all of these?” Jude asked, holding up two sacks of mushroom and moss.

Glenny spoke up before the guard could reply. “What do you mean someone was ‘supposed to inform us?’”

“A Frostford official was occupied by a Legacy of Sound to the island. Even from here most of the town could hear the announcement.”

Gaping at the statement, Leland said, “They just shouted at the island that the event was called off? What if people were underground?”

The guard shrugged.

“Well did everyone make it back beside us?”

The guard looked at the clipboard. “Beside you three… one group of four never reported back. They could still be on the island, or they might not have bothered with informing us of their return.”

The boys shared a look. Leland gave an impressive sigh. “What about the rewards then? We have a lot of mushrooms.”

“Frostford will buy all acquired herbs at a market price.”

“But the staff…”

“If you wish to buy the first place parasitic staff, you could meet with Frostford’s mayor.”

Gritting his teeth, Leland grumbled, “We can enter, right?”

“Yes,” the guard said, standing aside.

The boys took it in stride, walking past the guards with their chins held high. They might not have won the competition’s items, but they did have plenty of other treasures to sell.

They found their inn and entered their rooms with little fanfare. The town was mostly asleep, and they chose to get some sleep before the sun peeked over the horizon. In the morning, they gathered in the inn’s common room for breakfast.

“Warm bread is a pleasure I’ve forgotten,” Leland mused, pulling apart his roll and dabbing up plenty of butter and honey.

“I know the feeling,” Glenny said, smiling to himself as he gobbled down a poached egg on toast.

“I wish Gelo could taste this,” Jude muttered into his potatoes. “These have cumin on them…”

For some reason, the boys ate two more portions of food much at the behest of the innkeeper. And when the common room started to vacate, they also sat around chit-chatting. Relaxing was something they much needed, along with planning out their next steps.

“I’ve got to help a Legacy of Nature with a quest,” Leland said. “I’m assuming you guys are willing to help?”

Jude and Glenny looked at each other then back to Leland. They blinked in rapid confusion.

“’Willing to help?’”

“Well yeah. It’s my contract, I didn’t want to automatically assume you two were willing to help.”

“Of course we’ll help, Leals,” Jude scoffed. “I think I’m offended.”

“Me too,” Glenny coughed.

“What?” Leland asked.

“We are your best friends, of course we’d help you with some quest.”

“Oh, right…”

Leland slumped into his seat, trying to hide his smile. Despite his lack of progression, Jude and Glenny once again proved that they didn’t care nor were willing to leave him behind. He’d realized it before, but for some reason, now it felt like gospel. They were in this together, and he needed to realize it.

“Thanks guys,” Leland muttered.

“We also need to start thinking about how we are going to sell everything,” Glenny said, ignoring Leland’s words. “We can’t sell them all here, especially with the volume we hold. This town, officially, doesn’t have a dungeon or any ruins nearby. We can’t exactly sell magical items, not without attracting unwanted attention.”

Jude agreed with that, but had a question of his own. “Where’s this quest for the Lord of Nature, Leals? Is it on the way to a new town or city?”

Internally, Leland touched upon his Legacy, specifically the portion of knowledge hidden within his mind that dealt with the curse Harbinger Halo. He found the portion relating to the Lord of Nature and the quest to protect one of his followers.

“I need a map,” he said, flopping out of his chair before heading up stairs to his room.

He returned with a folded up table map, one of the continent and its many locations of interest. It was somewhat outdated, but the major cities and towns had been around for decades if not centuries. Finding a town near where the quest took them would be simple.

“It’s here,” Leland said, placing his finger decently close to Frostford.

“In the mountains,” Glenny said with a shudder, remembering his time in some nondescript mountain after being kidnapped by the Huntress.

“Looks like it—” Leland’s words died in his throat as Jude’s cup suddenly tipped over spilling water across the map and onto the floor.

“Guh,” Jude grunted. “How did—”

The water suddenly twinkled with deep blue magic, shutting Jude up and causing each of the boys to take a long step backward. The puddle of water on the floor grew with crazed speed and impossible gravity. It balled-up forming into a vertical blob of liquid before stretching into four appendages. Skin appeared from within the blue glow, quickly followed by the texture of fabric. Eventually a face formed, and a man stepped from the mass of water with a splash.

“Are you Leland Silver?” the man asked Jude.

Jude, for what it was worth, only gaped a little before pointing at Leland.

The man turned. “My apologies. Traveling such a distance in such a way loses some precision. I should have appeared through that cup.” He pointed to Leland’s cup of water. “Anyway, my Lord says you have something to show me?”

Leland nodded and picked up Jude’s empty cup. Slowly, with mana and lifeforce, he created a bead of water along the tip of his finger. The drop fell into the cup and he held it out to the man.

The man took the cup, stuck his finger into it, swiveled around the single drop of liquid, then tasted his finger. “I see,” he muttered before suddenly bursting into a wave of water.

As the boys cleared the water from their eyes and wrung out their hair, the water in question silently pooled together and drifted toward the door.

One of the few remaining patrons in the inn hobbled to her feet and opened the door. The water floated outside where it popped. The patron returned to her table, and gulped down the rest of her drink as she muttered something about “irresponsible mages.”

“That was weird,” Glenny said.

Jude nodded along but Leland said, “Want to go test out my new contract spell, Shield of Water?”

An impish grin appeared on Jude’s face. “As long as I get to throw pebbles at you.”