Curselock

Chapter 185: Family

Leland stared into the dungeon entrance. It was glowing red, meaning it was in use.

The group stood within a small cave on a small island, water pooling around their ankles with the soft blue glow of luminescent mushrooms nearby. The red and blue clashed, turning the cave a gentle tone of purple, not too different from how Leland’s own magic materialized.

They had only just arrived, stepping through a portal from Shoutwell to here, but their presence set off a rush of activity within the dungeon. They couldn’t see it, but the humans and Guardian Spirit Beasts within were making their way to the exit. Such was a limitation of dungeons. When more people wanted to enter, the people already inside had to exit first.

It took several moments, while Leland commended Glenny for thinking to suggest Floe and Gelo’s dungeon as a place of refuge. Eventually people exited. First was Roy Brown, Jude’s father and Legacy of the Bastion. He held the first half of a stretcher behind his back, a stretcher occupied by a broken man.

Leland recognized Carmon Red, Glenny’s dad and Legacy of the Blade Dancer, easily despite his mangled body. Carmon had battled against the Harbinger now known as Ashford, and lost. Horribly. Every bone in his body had been broken, his insides ruptured, and his brain knocked around. There was little doubt to anyone that if Ashford wanted Carmon dead, he would be.

Mercy or not, Leland had been the one to confront the Harbinger at the time. Seeing the aftermath was difficult. His chest tightened and he felt just as powerless as he did all those weeks ago. Leland hadn’t thought much of Glenny’s dad while he was in the Archon Valley or during his travels home. He didn’t think he needed to. Not with expert healers throughout the kingdom. Carmon’s wounds, while treatable, were something an actual healer needed to deal with.

He knew Touch of Regeneration wouldn’t do much. Not with the power difference between him and Carmon.

Roy continued through, pulling Carmon along and eventually the last human of the group. Lucia Silver, Leland’s mom and Legacy of Magic.

She had aged ten years since the last time Leland saw her. She had been shot out of the sky and removed from the battle at Ruinsforth. Again, he didn’t think he needed to worry about her, since there should have been healers around. Evidently Spencer took everyone and ran before healing could be administered.

Lucia’s hair had turned frazzled, from a nice auburn to near black with white speckles. Her wounds laid across her bare. From the base of her neck up and around her right ear, thick scarred veins had been left like animal tracks in a forest. An aftereffect, the leftover remains of a backfired spell. In this case, lightning. Her own lightning.

Leland watched her weakened face brighten as she exited the dungeon, seeing him was medicine enough. After Glenny took over the stretcher for her, she hugged her son with all her might.

They stood together, Spencer just a step away, for a long while, the purple glow of the cave highlighting them like moonlight in the dead of night.

Last to exit the dungeon was Diana Brown, Legacy of the Berserker and mother to Jude. She hobbled slowly, limping like her leg was made of powdered glass. The sheer look of determination shown across her face, the look of a woman broken and beaten but not down for the count. She had been asleep the last time Jude saw her a few days ago. He catapulted himself into her open arms.

She grunted in pain, her muscles all having been overworked and shredded during the battle with Ashford. Enraging for someone as powerful as herself, something akin to fighting in a burning box. Her body couldn’t handle the stress of rage, not without her mind to regulate. It was a shame and tragedy all Berserker Legacies faced, and she had long thought she had come to grips with her ailment.

Evidently not. And as Diana hugged her son, she resolved herself to make sure Jude knew how to correctly keep the rage at bay. No more half-assed lessons, no more leaving for years at a time on assignment for the Inquisitor. Her husband had filled her in on what happened after she lost consciousness in the battle, and retirement seemed like a bright and shiny future.

After, of course, she kicked Aunty P’s teeth in.

After, of course, Lucia, Spencer, and Leland got their turns.

“Sorry to break up the reunion, everyone,” Spencer said to the group, “but we should get back inside before something happens.”

And just like that, everyone entered the dungeon. A familiar scene of endless snow hungthe air. As far as the eye could see, there was snow. Other than what looked to be a frozen explosion of far-off string, the dungeon’s first hurdle was flat snowy wasteland. The string was, of course, not actually string. They were frozen-solid worms, each as thick as a lighthouse and as tall as a wizard tower. They reached toward the sky, jagged and arched, having been killed by the Guardian of the dungeon for little more reason than they annoyed her.

Floe and Gelo were waiting at the entrance. Both full grown bear and cub had the same white fur, but Floe’s was far more defined. White ice hung off her like hairs, each as sharp as a knife and as cold as the center of a blizzard. Gelo was much the same, but where her fur ended, faint wisps of hoarfrost coated like a fresh coat of paint.

Floe, the size of a large barn, had to lay fully on her belly and chin to be remotely near human-height. She said, “Leland! Good to see you are not dead.”

Her voice emanated like a fog horn, yet warm like a lit hearth. Leland gave her a cheeky smile. “Me? Dead? Preposterous!”

Lucia was hooked onto his arm with her own and showed no signs of letting go. “Floe has been very nice to us, Leland. I’m glad you’ve been making powerful allies. I met a Guardian Spirit Beast once and well, we were kicked out of his desert for not bringing gifts.”

Floe solemnly nodded. “We are territorial beings. But your son, and the other boys, helped my Gelo, so our home is theirs.”

Gelo took the moment to step over to Leland and sniff him. “You smell different… Mother, what is this smell?”

Leland frowned when Floe breathed in deeply. “Hmm. I do not know.”

“We were just at sea. Maybe salt?”

“No. I know how the ocean smells. This scent is older. More primal.” Floe paused, sniffing again. She looked at Isobel. “This one has the smell as well.”

Isobel looked quite put off. “Er. Uh. Well. Thanks for inviting me in.”

Floe paid no attention to that. “This smell…”

Leland eyed Isobel. “Did you just say ‘thanks?’”

She scowled.

Gelo asked, “Perhaps you fought some interesting monsters?”

Humming, Floe said, “Yes. Some sort of monster. That is what I most closely connect your scent to.”

“Ah,” Leland said. “That’s probably the Archons then. We interacted quite a bit with one. Helped her leave this world even.”

Roy and Spencer had been quietly talking to Diana a few steps away, but even they paused to listen to Leland. The others were much the same, except for Jude and Glenny. They didn’t know much about Archons besides that they existed.

“You met an Archon?” Lucia asked, looking quite incredulous.

“Well, three. The first two didn’t talk much…” he trailed off, not wanting to talk about those. “Sapphire, the third’s name, was quite nice. She protected us when the Sightless Cult and the Clergy of the Golden Lambs attacked us.”

Everyone’s eyes were wide open. Except for Isobel, Leland, Floe, and Gelo that was.

“Y-you fought with the Clergy?” Roy asked, his jaw somewhat slack. “Are they the ones that captured you? Were they working with that Harbinger and Witch?”

Leland squinted for a moment, confused. Then he realized they didn’t have a clue what actually happened to him, Sybil, and Isobel. So he started at the beginning, explaining everything from the moment they were teleported.

“You were able to cut your way out of the Void?” Glenny asked, leaning in with quite a lot of interest.

“No, not really. I just kind of messed with the mana until it broke.”

Glenny deflated and Leland continued explaining what happened.

The next question came from Spencer and Lucia, the two mages. They were interested in the Archons, and Leland told them about the Lord of the Void and how the Archons are actually semi-autonomous golem type things until they finish their work and become sentient beings part of a hivemind.

“Well that proves wrong most theories about them,” Spencer muttered. “And to think I almost wrote a thesis on them years and years ago…”

Diana, however, through her broken voice, asked, “What do you mean the Lord of the Void ‘told’ you?”

Isobel rolled her eyes at the question. Well, mainly at Leland. “You haven’t told them?”

“No,” he said with a bit of a start. “Secrecy was what got me so far… But all of that is out in the open, now, huh?”

Jude and Glenny were more reserved. “You told her?” Jude asked, pointing at Isobel.

Leland answered with a nod.

“And she didn’t kill you?”

Isobel scowled. “I’m not a monster.”

“I beg to differ,” Glenny said, the words flowing out of his mouth without him even realizing it. “You destroyed your log cabin just so I couldn’t sleep inside when you kidnapped me!”

Lucky for everyone, Carmon was asleep.

Diana, however, was not. “You kidnapped him?” she demanded.

“To make sure he wasn’t going to die,” Isobel said, waving her hand nonchalantly. “He’ll look back on that time favorably in a few years.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then he might as well take revenge.” Isobel looked directly at Glenny. “Make sure to come at me while I’m asleep. It’s your best chance.”

Glenny muttered something no one could hear.

Floe snorted. “Humans.”

Leland sighed. “Let’s not start any thing we are going to regret.” He locked eyes with everyone, one at a time. “I wouldn’t be here without Isobel. So, regardless of her attitude, I trust her with my life. Completely.”

She gave him an unreadable look. The others gave her various looks of contempt.

“Anyway, to answer your question, Diana, I am a Harbinger.” Leland paused for a moment. He trusted everyone here with his life, but still he felt like someone was going to attack him for the declaration. “I’m not going to say who my Lord is because that is a rather important thing that can’t get into the wrong hands. But, I can say most other Lords respect my Lord and vouch for her ‘goodness.’ She is not Vile.”

Roy and Diana glanced at Jude, noting he wasn’t surprised. They understood. “Continue,” Diana said.

Leland took a deep breath. “As I understand it, every Harbinger has a spell or ability that creates a halo above their head. What this halo does is different for each Legacy, but for mine I have the opportunity to petition other Lords for a piece of their power.”

“What!” “That’s impossible!” the Browns said at the same time.

Floe and Gelo looked confused, the whole “Lord” thing being lost on them since they were beasts and not human.

Lucia and Spencer were a bit subdued, but each saw the limitless potential their son possessed. Each had their own theories about Leland’s true power, but now having it all laid bare left little room for the imagination. They both smiled at him.

Glenny and Jude stood resolved next to Leland, both smirking at everyone’s reactions.

Isobel stayed silent.

“Here, how about a demonstration?” Leland asked, stepping away from his mom and toward Carmon. “Now, recently I learned how to do it invisibly, but I’m going to ignore that so everyone can see the full effect.”

Lucia and Spencer bubbled with pride.

Grimoire in hand, Leland pressed his palm into the page, invoking the contract with the Lord of Nature. As he did, he explained the contract and what it cost him. Above a violet halo gently misted purple into his hair.

“Glenny and Jude helped me with this contract,” he said. “I was tasked with helping the Champion of Nature to uproot a Light Architect’s Lighthouse. It was in a nest of crystalline scorpions not too far from this dungeon, actually.”

“A Lighthouse? Really?” Roy asked. “Those things are horribly difficult to destroy.”

“Not to mention dangerous,” Diana said, frowning a bit.

Leland nodded. “Yes, I completely agree. And since then I make sure I fully understand what a Lord is asking me to do when I make a contract. Putting others in danger for the sake of personal power is not a goal of mine.”

Isobel snorted. He gave her a blank look.

“Anyway, what I received in return is the spell, Touch of Regeneration. A nature-based healing spell not a part of the Legacy of Magic, as far as I know.”

“Most healing magic isn’t,” Spencer said, nodding.

Leland crouched beside Carmon’s stretcher and tapped him with a green and purple glowing finger. There wasn’t much reaction, but Leland felt he was breathing a bit easier. He looked at the others and continued on about his contracts, all the while tapping Carmon every few minutes.

“The Lord of the Void asked me to help an Archon, Sapphire, return home in exchange for a teleportation spell.”

Spencer whistled. “That’s amazing!”

“I can only use it once a year.”

“Oh…”

Lucia frowned at her husband. “That’s still an amazing utility spell to have, Leland, don’t mind him.”

Isobel said from the side, “He used his yearly cast on Sybil, not himself and definitely not me.”

Lucia, Roy, and Diana blinked a few times, slowly realizing that the princess was not with them. Leland explained, “She should be in the castle now.” He shook his head. “I know she is there.”

With that said, most of the tale was explained. He briefly mentioned the Sightless Cult and Clergy again, and how Isobel killed most of the ones that attacked them and how the Graverenders and Sky Dwarves killed the others.

“Then we got on a ship and here we are.”

From beside Leland, Carmon spoke softly. “S-sounds like a true a-adventure!” He fell into a coughing fit.

“Dad!” Glenny shouted, his cloak wrapping around him before he fell into his own shadow. He reappeared a few steps away, in Leland’s shadow. “Dad! Can you hear me! Dad!”

Carmon’s eyes could hardly stay open. Still, he said, “I hear you… A-are you okay?”

Glenny started tearing up. “I-I’m fine. You’re the one not fine!”

“I-I’ll live. Especially now that we h-have access to healing m-magic…”

Glenny looked at Leland, thick drops of water in his eyes. Before he could say anything, Leland said, “I’m here, don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere for the time being.”

Glenny accepted the statement and plopped down beside his dad.

“’For the time being?’” Lucia asked.

“I have to know if Sybil is okay. Some stuff happened out there, to her, I mean. And—”

“She kissed him,” Isobel said from the side.

Leland sputtered to a stop, a groaning sound radiating through his throat. Internally, his mind spun, looking for countless ways he could enact his revenge on someone much stronger than him. Especially someone who could hunt rather well.

“Did she now?” Lucia asked, her voice turning fluttery. “The girl really took my advice, huh.”

“Mom!”

Spencer snickered. “You really must have impressed her.” He gave Leland a slap on the back. “Sybil’s such a stubborn girl. You really must have left an impression.”

Leland’s face fell into his hands, his skin reddening.

And like a predator finding wounded prey, Isobel added, “It must have been all of that morning training he did. Every girl likes it when a guy has stamina.”

And just like that, Leland changed his mental planning from “revenge” to “utter annihilation.”