The field station was packed when Hump arrived. News of the expedition had reached the rest of the encampment, and everyone had come to pick up what extra supplies they needed. Following Kassius’ reward, spirits were high; a silver coin per kobold slain was quite the hefty reward after all.

Vamir had put Hump in charge of their supplies and provided him a few gold coins that he could spend on some of the more exotic potions. Along with that, Hump had his share of the heartstones from yesterday: six small ones along with a silver coin for the larger heartstones of the salamanders. He hoped to pick up a few of the things he’d forgone in the Bledsbury herbalist when he’d lacked the coin. Though looking at the stalls, his hopes of that weren’t high.

To the uninitiated, the market appeared to have everything one might need, from potions, to medical supplies, to weapons and armour. Though compared to some of the other encampments Hump had seen, this one was lacking. Bledsbury Dungeon was still too young for the specialist supplies to have arrived, so he’d have to make do.

First up, a light source. As much as he enjoyed his role as a human torch, he decided another solution wouldn’t be amiss. Like Bud’s frostfire, Vamir and Celaine likely had their own methods for light, but any villagers they found would have nothing. At least this way he could make sure nobody was left stumbling around alone in the dark.

The small mercies, Hump thought bitterly. He wondered if the children would ever get over the trauma of what they’d seen inside. He’d had a rough upbringing. There were times before the old man had found him when he’d had to steal to eat, or had his own food stolen by the older boys. Beatings had been a part of life. Yet it was nothing compared to the horrors the children of Hursdale must have glimpsed within the dungeon’s depths.

Hump brought out his spellbook and opened it to the centre page. It rarely opened to the same page twice, but at least it usually found what he wanted. This time…

Spellbook

Spark

Description: Convert essence into heat, igniting flammable material.

Classification: Chant

School: Evocation

Spell Tier: 0

Ability Rank:

1 – Produce a small spark. Requires a point of physical connection.

2 – Create a spark from a short distance.

3 – Create a small flame. Requires a physical connection.

Notes:

The most basic of fire magic, handy at producing a flame in any weather.

“Not helpful at all,” Hump muttered. He flicked to the next page, this time the book displayed Flaming Arrow. “I can’t even cast that spell. I need a light potion. I know you have one, my master made it often.”

The next page was titled Unicorn light.

Hump rolled his eyes. “Where am I supposed to find a bloody unicorn? Not that potion, the other one.” This time the page turned on its own.

Potion-Making

Bottle of Crystal Light

Description: A concoction that when shaken will produce a clear, bright light. Sudden exposure to the air will result in a blinding flash of light.

Ingredients:

Powder of Heartstone

Liquid Essence

Luminous Shroom

Snail Slime

Mammalian Blood (any species)

Note by Ajax:

A beautiful use of heartstones that I discovered on my visit to the desert city, Sisila. There they stand lanterns on every street corner, filled with this very elixir. Never have I seen a city so bright at night, nor any common recipe so closely guarded. But a wizard has his ways.

“Thank you,” Hump muttered. “Why was that so difficult?”

It was a clever little potion that didn’t take up much space or require any unusual ingredients but the snail slime. He could kind of wrap his head around the rest of it: Liquid essence was made by distilling essence water and obviously acted as the fuel for the potion; heartstone powder would seal in the magical properties; luminous shrooms at least glowed in the dark so were somewhat relevant; and blood would act as a catalyst to activate the potion. But honestly, in what world did snail slime have anything to do with light?

All that, along with the hardy glass vials he’d purchased to store them in, came to five silver—half a gold coin already down the drain. It amazed Hump how little so much money could buy.

In the end, Hump left the field station with the ingredients to brew a few useful potions for the rest of the party and purchased a few bits for himself. He’d found a couple of vials of essence elixirs, nothing special—if the old man saw them, he’d no doubt turn his nose up—but Hump didn’t have the luxury of choice. It would have taken him days of intense brewing to make them himself. He didn’t have days. He hardly had an hour.

He’d spent two gold at the end on Wizardfire. A potent brew that filled the body with heat and magic that no ordinary human could survive. He’d drunk it once, when he was younger and stupider and had the brilliant idea of sneaking a vial off the old man. It had nearly killed him and cost his master more money than Hump cared to think about.

But a wizard’s weakness came with his staying power. It was a long way down to the inner chambers, and Hump was betting on a long trip. In a pinch, he could release a few big spells and do some damage. After that, any more spells would put him at serious risk of hypothermia and frostbite. With a vial of wizardfire and two essence elixirs, he could at least extend his usefulness.

He checked on Prancer on his way out, giving the horse an apple. He was well tended for at the encampment’s stable, courtesy of the Adventurers’ Guild. Members went free, so once again Hump had exploited his master’s medallion. Just one more lie on the list. It was one of the many services they provided for their guild members, along with equipment storage, and of course, funerals. Free of charge. Everything an aspiring adventurer needed.

The encampment was in full motion now. Usually, dungeoneers were left to operate independently, but the Overseer’s orders were in: every able body was to be a part of the attack. The camp rang with steel as the smithies and armourers set about last minute maintenance.

Bud was sitting by their campfire, sharpening his sword. His armour lay in pieces on the ground around him, wiped clean but without the dirt and grime to cover it, the rust only came through stronger. “You get everything you need?” he asked.

“Just about,” Hump said. He sat down before the firepit and piled up some wood, then gathered a sliver of his will and muttered, “Spark.” A small flame burst into life. It was about the limits of his capabilities with fire. His spellbook classified his affinity with the element as ‘Poor’, and besides that, fire spells were too expensive for a hedge wizard. They were a closely guarded secret by those that had them, and restricted by the kingdom because of how destructive they could be. Only official vendors could legally sell them, and those didn’t come cheap.

He idly began to lay out his ingredients. “So… your name is Robert, huh?” he said to Bud.

“Robert’s my given name,” Bud said. “Though it’s my father’s name too, so my family and friends just call me Bud. It’s what I’m used to.”

“I always thought that it was a strange tradition to name sons after their fathers,” Hump said. “Doesn’t it get confusing? And why bother? There’s so many other names out there.”

Bud nodded seriously. “Oh yeah, it’s awful!”

“And Bud of Blackthorne has a way better ring to it,” Hump said.

“You wouldn’t believe the chaos a name can cause,” Bud said. “Letters delivered to the wrong room, meals going to the wrong person. For a while, my mother thought that my fiancé was for my father!”

Hump looked up from his potions. “No way! Really?”

“No you dolt.” Bud laughed.

Hump laughed too. “Gods know with you nobles. The life of a common man is so much simpler.” He filled up a small pot with the essence water he’d purchased and set it on the fire to boil. Then began grinding the luminous shrooms into a paste. “I never had to deal with any bloody royals before I met you.”

“You say that as if it were a bad thing,” Bud said.

“I still can’t tell if it was,” Hump said. “What’s the story behind you and Prince Kassius? I was sceptical at first, but he didn’t seem like a bad guy. Did something happen between you both?”

Bud stroked the whetstone along the edge of his sword, and the air rang with the sound of scraping metal. “He doesn’t like Chosen, and he doesn’t care who knows.”

“I hardly noticed,” Hump said sarcastically. “Surely that’s not all of it. He seemed to like you.”

Bud shrugged. “Maybe he does. But that doesn’t make him any less reckless. It’s a dangerous path to go against the will of the gods, and not a path I wish to join him on.”

“Aren’t I doing that too?” Hump said. “Wizards manipulate the world, control things the gods created. We try to replicate the abilities granted to their Chosen; powers that were never intended for us.”

“Maybe,” Bud said. “Or maybe the gods made the world in a way to make it possible to do as you do. I believe that it’s the intent behind the use of power that the gods care about. You’re a good person, you proved that in the dungeon yesterday, and in the command tent. That’s what matters.”

“And Kassius is not?” Hump asked.

Bud glanced around nervously, checking for anyone nearby, then whispered, “I didn’t say that.”

“Then why did you turn him down so quickly? He offered you a chance to meet the king. I don’t know much about royalty, but that sounds pretty impressive as far as incentives go.”

“I don’t think I was clear enough,” Bud said. “Kassius doesn’t just disrespect Chosen, he hates them. He hates the gods. People know it, but he’s a prince, so there’s nothing they can do. He feels the gods forsook him out of spite, and now he wants nothing more than to see the pantheon burn. Even if I did show up with Kassius to meet the king, I don’t think the king would be pleased to see me.” He said it so quietly that Hump could barely hear from right beside him. “Kassius came to Blackthorne Manor to see where our loyalties lie. There are rumours circulating of a rift between him and his father.”

Hump’s eyes widened. “This sounds a little out of my league.”

“Gods, it’s out of my league too,” Bud said. “And my father wants me to marry! I’m barely seventeen.”

“You’re serious?” Hump said.

He nodded. “It’s not unusual to marry at—”

“Not that!” Hump snapped. He leant toward his friend. “He really wants to overthrow the king?”

“What?” Bud snapped. “No. No, definitely not the king,” Bud said assuredly. “But the duke… It’s not public knowledge but Duke Malar has been ill for a long time. My father believes Kassius is trying to garner support for him to take the dukedom in place of his brothers.” Bud shrugged. “It’s probably just a rumour. People like to speculate, and Kassius is the youngest of his brothers and the only one amongst them that was not chosen.”

“Doesn’t sound farfetched to me,” Hump said. “It would be hard not to see it as spite to be the only one forsaken.”

“The gods have a plan for us all,” Bud said. “Kassius may not be Chosen, but he is still a prince. I wouldn’t blame you for taking his offer.”

“I’ll admit, I was more than a little tempted. Vamir bought me some time. Maybe I will still accept the offer after all this is over.”

Bud watched him for a moment. “Why didn’t you take his offer? He’d be able to give you everything you need—access to spells, money, teachers. If you work long enough for him, perhaps he might even give you that castle you always wanted.”

“I wanted to hear your side of it first,” Hump said. “A prince for a liege lord would be great, amazing even, but I don’t want to deal with any skeletons in the closet.”

“And what do you think now after what I’ve told you?”

Hump looked away from him and back at his equipment. “I’m a hedge wizard, I go where the coin takes me. And rumour is only rumour. He seems passionate about saving those imprisoned in the dungeon, which makes me think he’s not a bad guy. That’s about as much as I can hope for from a prince. Besides, I can understand being angry at the gods.”

He added the mushroom paste to each of the vials, a pinch of heartstone powder, a droplet of snail slime, and then filled it up to the top with liquid essence. Then while that rested, he set about working on his next potion, Second Life.

“Maybe,” Bud said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “Something about him makes me feel… I don’t know. He gives me goosebumps.”

Hump arched an eyebrow. “Goosebumps?”

“Yeah.” Bud nodded. “Just whatever you do, be careful of him.”

“I will be. My gut says the same thing.”

“Same thing about what?” Celaine asked, appearing from behind the nearby tents and wandering up to their campfire.

“Erm…” Hump opened and closed his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say, but he felt as if he were thinking through a cloud.

“You look like a fish. What’s the big deal?” Celaine’s green eyes moved between them suspiciously. “Why do I feel like I’ve just walked in on something I shouldn’t have.”

Hump snorted. He stoppered the vials full of the components for Crystal Light with cork that had been soaking in pig’s blood, then dropped it into the pot of boiling essence water where it rested half submerged. Bud carried on sharpening his sword.

“Well?” she asked.

“Careful, Celaine,” Hump said. “You almost sound like you’re interested in what we have to say.”

“Funny that.” Celaine smiled sweetly. “You sound exactly like you don’t want any lunch.” She held up a bread roll stuffed full of meat and cheese. “Did he sound like that to you too, Bud?”

Bud looked at the food, then at Hump, then back at the food. For a long moment he seemed to be deliberating something, and then he nodded with the wisdom to match any wizard. “He did sound rather rude, didn’t he? He’s been in a bit of a mood all morning. I’m sorry you had to walk in on that.”

Celaine grinned and handed Bud one of the bread rolls. “What a shame. To think this will have to go to waste.”

Bud took a bite. “Mhm. He’s really quite self-centred,” he said, chewing happily.

Hump stared at his friend with his mouth wide open. Never had a betrayal stung so much. “I guess neither of you will be wanting the potions I worked so hard to make,” he grumbled. “That’s fine. I’ll just keep these lifesaving potions to myself.”

“I think you hurt his feelings,” Celaine said.

Bud took another bite. “So worth it. I didn’t have any breakfast.”

Hump lifted one of the vials from the boiling pot and dangled it before Celaine’s eyes.

Celaine sighed. “Fine. How about a trade? Just because you’re looking extra pitiful this morning.”

Hump frowned. A bread roll for potions wasn’t exactly a good deal, but he was hungry, and the food did look good… “Fine.” He picked up the second vial too and handed them both to her. “The brown one is crystal light. I know it doesn’t look like much now but when shaken vigorously it will light up for about thirty minutes.”

“That’s handy. No more human lantern.”

“Exactly.” Hump nodded. “The red is called Second Life. It’s a combination of a blood clotter, Pain Away, and a strength potion. A recipe one of my predecessors picked up from the berserkers of the Iced Meadow. If you’re hurt, drink it and it will keep you in the fight. It won’t do much for injuries, but it will dull the pain and lessen the bleeding until you reach real medical care.”

Celaine held them up to the light, studying it. “That actually sounds useful.”

“Of course it’s useful.” Hump smirked. “I’m a wizard after all. Now give me my lunch.”

“A hedge wizard,” she corrected, holding out the bread roll. “And the only one in the kingdom dumb enough not to accept Prince Kassius’ offer on the spot.”

Hump snatched it from her and took a bite. “Are you kidding? If I’d accepted, I’d be missing out on all this fun.”

Celaine smiled. “What’s the shiny potion?” She nodded toward Hump’s open potion pouch.

“Wizardfire. Something in case of emergencies.”

They had finished eating when Vamir returned. Despite spending the morning in strategy meetings with the other party leaders, and a dungeon expedition fast approaching, the man was as calm and collected as ever.

“Well children,” he said cheerfully, “Everyone ready to go?”

Bud and Celaine nodded, but Hump hesitated.

“Actually,” Hump said, “before we do this, I want to know why you didn’t tell us you were both Chosen.”

Celaine and Vamir both stared at him, silent.

Bud’s mouth dropped open. “Wait! What?” He turned to Celaine and gawked. “You’re Chosen?”