Curselock

Chapter 183: Friends

Glenny Red stood a few steps ahead of Jude and Spencer. They had drifted back so he could be alone with his mother. Or, at least, a statue of her.

Deep in the heart of Shoutwell’s dark district, for-hire assassins, thieves, poison sellers, and the like lived in the shadows. Some were a part of the local Umbra Guild, others were just looking for a “nice” place to lay low. There was crime, sure, but not out in the open. Those with less-than-savory skillsets didn’t make enemies here. There was no need.

Not when stealing from one or murdering another meant the whole force of the Umbra crashing down on you.

No, these shadows adhered to the very rules Glenny’s mom did. She was one of them, a high ranking member from what he understood. And so when she was killed in this city, her mark had long been cast. They respected her in the only way they knew, a guardian statue placed on overwatch of the whole of the district.

In other words, a show of strength and unity.

Who better to watch over the Shoutwell’s Umbra than the very woman who reached out in understanding from the Inquisitors? There used to be a time where all members of the Umbra were hunted and killed. Despite policing themselves, they were still thieves and murderers.

But sometimes even the Inquisitors needed their expertise. But that left openings for both sides. Blind spots that people of such caliber easily noticed and acted upon. That was, until the idea of ambassadors came about.

For the Inquisitors, they chose Annie Red. For the Umbra, they chose a man called Ashford. Both Annie and Ashford became an honorary Umbra or Inquisitor, for they were living both lives. It worked out well for years, even after Ashford died and a new ambassador took his place.

Annie eventually had Glenny. She took time off with her husband Carmon to start their family and inevitably returned years later. She easily took back her mantle of Ambassador, and got to work… until she died, backstabbed by someone she was trying to protect.

Both the Inquisitors and Umbra didn’t stop, hunting this man around the world and back. The man returned home at one point, only to be persuaded away. And that was when he ran into Glenny, Jude, and Leland and ultimately fell by their hands and thus ended the tale of Annie “The Chameleon” Red.

There was one footnote that was found after the fact, however. Ashford was alive.

Annie’s counterpart, the first Ambassador of the Umbra, was hidden away, growing in strength and reach. And when his master called, Ashford didn’t hesitate for his undying will was always eternal.

In a way, Glenny wasn’t surprised by this revelation. The Harbinger who attacked Ruinsforth, who killed hundreds, who helped a Witch steal Leland and Sybil, was, at one point, an equal to his mother. And that man almost killed his dad.

And that hurt.

Glenny’s stomach felt like fire, an ugly rage bubbling. Why was his mom the dead one and not this horrid excuse for a human named Ashford? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair!

His breathing hitched and roared, his eyes pulsing with a crimson glare. He twitched, a deep heat forming in his palms. The Sightless King’s power was his own. He had made it that way, he had stolen it and overcome it. So consuming the heat and banishing away the red was, in a way, easy. The question was: did he want to?

Yes, was his answer. There was no point in being angry, not without an enemy in front of him. Dull whispers, the Sightless King’s attempts to sway him off his path, assaulted his mind, each bending around his thoughts and forging new outcomes. He crushed them with a blank anvil. An anvil of nothingness, a piece of the Void made corporeal.

Reflection King Harlen had taught him how, but it was up to himself to make it his. The Legacy of the Chameleon, a lesser followed Lord with the strict archetype of the rogue. Invisibility, deadly critical strikes, enhanced perceptions, but most importantly, the innate ability to adapt to anything.

It took a while, but with the glass shard of information Leland gifted him from the Lord of Chameleon himself, the process had become streamlined. The Void was everywhere and nowhere, it touched all but nothing touched it. It was from this idea that Glenny adapted to the Void.

He had only acquired this power in the last few weeks, one day after Leland and Sybil were taken, actually. He was angry at the time for how powerless he had been in the fight with Ashford the Undying Harbinger and maybe kind of took an incredible risk.

The risk, however, paid off, and the Void was now his to “use.” What did this mean in practice? Glenny did not know. He had only touched on the outlying simple uses of Void, and how they pertained to the whispers in his head.

Back when he first was adapting to the Sightless King’s power, the Huntress had kidnapped him and thrown him into battle to live and learn. It had worked, and his talent for crimson forged weapons bloomed. The same could not be said for Void. Every attempt, every lackluster epiphany on the subject, left him no closer than before.

What he called an “anvil” was easy. When the voices came, he simply “dropped” an anvil on them and whisked them away. Truthfully, there was a lot lacking in this description of power and what it actually did. An “eraser” was closer to the truth of how the Void worked, but “anvil” worked out better in his mind since he saw the Sightless King’s power as a forge.

Glenny sighed, the whispers were gone and unable to come back for a while. Silence was a luxury at this point, and he always made the most of it. He turned, finding Jude and Spencer watching him somberly.

“Come on, let’s go,” he said, walking past them.

Jude Brown was out of his depth. Returning to Shoutwell was, well, not all that fun to him… but what had been fun lately? Nothing.

He wished it could go back to the old days when he, Leland, and Glenny rode caravans and killed monsters together. It had only been less than a year ago, but so much had happened. He found a harmonica, he learned to play, that harmonic was stolen, he bought another, he and the others killed some people, almost got killed in return, they met Gelo and Floe…

A lot had happened in such little time but now everything was slow. Don’t get him wrong, he really enjoyed seeing Gelo and Floe again so soon, but unfortunately the reason they had to return to the dungeon was awful. His mom had almost died, his dad blamed himself. Glenny’s dad almost died as well. Leland’s mom, too.

So they went to the dungeon to hide out and recover. Meanwhile Leland was missing. Taken, stolen, kidnapped. He wanted to leave! To run out and find him! But that was an ill thought-out plan. Where would he go? He had no tracking experience. If he found Leland, would he be strong enough to save him?

Jude didn’t know, so he trained. And trained. Both with Glenny and Gelo, and solo under advisement from his father.

While his dad didn’t know all the intricacies of being a berserker, he had been married to one for a long time. So they worked, father and son, together on rage manipulation, cooling down safety, and barbaric fighting style. And while that was fun, especially since it had been a long time since they worked together, Jude couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Leland was out there, alone. Separated from the team and most likely fighting for his life.

So when the opportunity to travel out of the dungeon with Spencer arose, Jude bit and he didn’t let go. They traveled to various of Spencer’s contacts, making use of portal magic to travel quickly. After the seventh contact, they had their lead. Shoutwell, Leland would appear in Shoutwell!

The plan was simple. Wait for the ship to arrive and take him! Portal him out of the hands of whoever had him and rush him into the dungeon before Aunty P. found out.

But when they arrived in the city, they quickly found that the ship wasn’t going to arrive for another few weeks.

Hurry up and wait had turned literal, and it crushed Jude more than he was willing to admit. And the guilt of enraging and forcibly being taken out of the battle still haunted him. Could his presence have helped Leland and Sybil? His mind told him no, but still. He had abandoned his friends because he couldn’t control himself.

He was a danger to himself and others. And once he knew Leland was safe and secure, he would leave the team.

He couldn’t, he wouldn’t put them at risk again. Maybe one day he would return, but for now, the rage was too powerful.

For now, though, he would wait for Leland to show up. He was ready, just like he knew the others were as well.