Curselock

Chapter 52: Glorious Return

Inquisitor Isobel, otherwise known as the Huntress, watched her young apprentice double over vomiting. The sight, while disgusting, was incredibly informative. The parasitic cloak wrapped around Glenny was quite intriguing. Energy and stamina enhancing artifacts were nothing out of the ordinary when it came to magical items. They all worked relatively the same way and allowed for storage of energy for later use.

The cloak, however, was special in the Huntress’ eyes – and not just because it was a parasitic item. With normal enhancing items, they needed to be refueled by the wearer. Hours upon hours had she refilled her own rings and necklaces over the years, often delegating the responsibilities to whichever lower ranked Inquisitor she was working with at the time.

The cloak, however, held no function. It was impossible to manually add energy to the shroud and instead required starlight to refuel. A bizarre advantage but not quite unheard of. Isobel knew of rare items that dealt with the stars but as far as she knew, none were parasitic in nature.

That was why she was pushing Glenny so hard – to understand the cloak’s, as well as the Sightless King’s, power. The two unique powers would work well together, she knew. At least, once the cloak evolved, once it ate enough of Glenny’s energy.

“Tell me,” she said once his lunch stopped pouring from his throat. “What do you know of parasitic items?”

“Rare—” he spit out a seed or something. “Expensive. Sometimes cursed.”

Isobel hummed with annoyance. The boy had been getting on her nerves lately, which, while not out of the ordinary, still annoyed her. “Keep going,” she eventually said.

“They feed on the wearer’s lifeforce and/or mana and eventually evolve when given enough.”

“And these evolutions, what are they like?”

“They are usually positive but sometimes the new effect can be detrimental to style or path.” Suddenly a golden bow appeared in the Huntress’ hand. It glowed slightly, but the high noon sun camouflaged the weapon’s true aspect. “Take my bow for example. It is a parasitic weapon. Quite the powerful one, might I add.”

Carefully, Glenny accepted the bow from his kidnapper. He treated it like a sacred item, like if he broke it, he’d be excommunicated from the country. That was if the Huntress didn’t kill him out of spite.

She laughed at his hesitant inspection. “Would you believe it started out as a spear? Before it evolved, I mean.”

“What—” Glenny took a second look at the weapon. “How does that make any sense?”

“I’ve had it for nearly fifty years at this point. Got it as a kid, you see. My Legacy, while not proper, has ways to use melee weapons. After obtaining the spear, I spent the next ten or so years practicing a new form of combat. But suddenly, it evolved, transforming into the very bow you see now.”

Glenny eyed the weapon then its master. “So it’s only evolved once?”

Isobel shook her head. “Nope. Well, not quite. It evolves with every human I kill, small changes I mean. I named it Stealer’s Spear back when it was still a spear. It takes on different elements from the people I kill – an effect that was kept from the initial evolution.”

“So the golden glow—”

“I hunted a band of light magic Witches not long ago. The power still hasn’t run out.” The Huntress paused for a long moment. “I wonder what element I would get if I killed you?”

Seeing through the threat, Glenny snorted and handed back the weapon. “So when the cloak evolves, it could change completely.”

Isobel frowned at the reaction. “Yes and no. The cloak’s ability will always be similar after evolution. It could change forms, yes, but the additional energy it provides you will most likely stay. It may, however, grow in ability. Once we know the full extent of its power, things will be more clear.”

Having been nodding along, Glenny suddenly paused at her words. “Full extent?”

The Huntress smirked. “It’s a parasitic item, it will be more useful than an energy battery.” Something then caught her eye in the sky. She held her arm out. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Suddenly a great hawk landed on her forearm, the sudden momentum causing her to lurch. It towered over her, easily doubling or tripling her size. Still, she held it on her arm with perfect stability. Isobel quickly pulled and threw a dead rat from her pocket. The hawk gobbled up the treat.

Glenny suddenly felt his stomach spin. “You keep dead rats in your pocket?”

“Don’t you?” She asked, raising her eyebrow.

She ignored his poignant look and focused on the bird. Leaning in, she whispered to the oversized animal. It cooed back, quietly chirping while giving Glenny the stink eye. Eventually Isobel leaned back, a frown across her lips.

“You’re sure?” she asked the animal.

The hawk gave a loud call.

The Huntress then turned to Glenny. “It seems our timetable has accelerated. Leland and Jude found a way to storm the sewers.”

“That’s good, no?”

“They didn’t find the heart of the Sightless Cult.” She cursed a few times, kicking at the snow. “Your friends really are dumb, you know that?”

Glenny sputtered a response. “What—”

“They were supposed to sit back and wait for us to arrive. I’d have dismantled the cult the moment they poked their head out of their holes. But now the Sightless King’s vessel is awake.”

Finding his spine frozen, Glenny muttered what few works he could. “That’s bad, right?”

Isobel looked at him while fishing through her pockets. “Yes, that is bad.”

She eventually found a small sapphire orb and tossed it before her. It hovered midair, resonating with the surrounding coldness. Slowly it began to vibrate, eventually forming a shimmering portal beside itself.

“Time to make our glorious return,” Isobel said. “Or, at least, your glorious return. They didn’t know I was in the city.”

Glenny didn’t hesitate, the thought of seeing his friends propelling him through the portal and back to Shoutwell. The Huntress arrived a moment later, bird in hand, and instantly pushed him into the underbrush. Before he could protest, an open hand shushed all conversation.

She quickly peered through the leaves and trees and said, “Find them,” to the hawk.

As the massive bird took to the air, it was then Glenny realized the overcast sky had been dyed red. Sightless King red. He suppressed a shudder, finally looking at where they had arrived. He estimated a twenty minute jog to the city wall, but for some reason he felt it was impossible. There was a humming, a gentle whisper in his ear – in his soul.

It vibrated with gnawing reverence, like an addict searching for their poison.

“He’s calling,” Glenny heard himself say, not even processing the meaning of his words..

The Huntress looked at him then back at the city. “So it seems. Up for the challenge?” Her words were spoken with a smirk, but her tone fell flat.

Glenny didn’t answer, prompting Isobel to appear before his eyes. He stumbled from the sudden gesture, falling to his butt.

“I need to know,” she said. “Are you going to be able to fight? I’m going to need it.”

“Y-you’re going to need my help?”

“Did you think I was training you out of the goodness of my heart?”

“More or less,” Glenny muttered.

“Well I wasn’t. Shoutwell’s going to be destroyed and there’s only a few around that are able to fight.”

“What about the guard—”

“The guard is the most useless protection organization out there,” the Huntress scoffed. “Do you think they have any idea how to deal with this?” She gestured toward the city.

Glenny hesitated at the showing. “Where are Leland and Jude?”

She rolled her eyes and looked to the air. Spotting the hawk circling on the other side of the city, the Huntress quickly sprinted off, leaving Glenny to follow. It took the better part of two hours but the pair eventually reached a small village.

They were met with crying. Villagers shed tears while packing their bags and loading their wagons. They moved quickly despite their haunted dispositions, only packing the essentials.

The Huntress ignored them, and the worried looks she received, and stalked up to the inn where her hawk had landed. With a great toss, she threw a handful of rats up to the large bird before it cooed and took off back to its home.

Quickly walking through the inn’s silent lobby and up the stairs, the Huntress seemingly picked a room at random and knocked. She gave Glenny a quiet look before taking a single step back and pushing him forward.

Alkin was the one who answered. “We told you we’d be out—” His eyes went wide. “Glenny!?”

That started a round of commotion and the iconic sound of breaking pottery. Glenny peered around the young noble, finding Leland and Jude sprinting past broken mugs and yeasty ale. Without a word, the trio were wrapped in a group hug, two of which slobbered heavy tears.

“W-we th-thought you- you were d-dead!” Jude managed to say.

Leland was a bit more reserved in his words, only tightening his arms around his friend.

Somehow, despite being trapped by two sets of appendages, Glenny was able to glare at the Huntress. “You didn’t tell them you kidnapped me? What the hell!”

Isobel only shrugged.

Jude and Leland went still. They both slowly turned to the older woman taking up the hallway.

Then, Glenny heard a muttered whisper and a snap.