Chapter 16

I Couldn’t Resolve Whether Jack Was Right or Wrong.

Our last day of travel to Vicen’s temple was fraught with danger.

I’d spent some time this morning checking on any minor wounds that the prisoners of yesterday continued to endure. Most were afflicted with shock and I’d been able to remove that affliction with 1,000 mana points per person. Others suffered from deeper psychological afflictions I couldn’t begin to name. Battie planned on sending them straight to the Looking Light service for more indepth healing. Then to town specialists if need be.

Battie had given Jack and I firm handshakes. She thanked us again for helping their cause. A cause that made me consider not even finishing my quest to see Vicen. It was hard to go on the words of others, and not know things for myself, so Jack and I marched onward right after dawn.

The air was cool. Sunlight refracted in hanging dew drops in the canopy that was divided by the road. A road which led us straight into danger within our first hour of travel.

We first came upon a pair of Cavlaxs. They had the legs and tail of a bull, but the head of a giant fish. Layered, long fins splayed out as arms. Their eyes were cloudy, their temperament incited with rage, and their mouths filled with piranha teeth. Worst of all, they were fast. Their hooves propelled them so fast that their heads glided just off the ground and they homed in on legs when attacking.

I cast Silver Light Kite Shield to stop each one dead in their tracks. Their heads slammed into the shield which cracked and burst away on impact.

“Buggers are fast!” Jack said.

I cast another shield between Jack and a Cavlax. The monster stepped one foot to one side and easily avoided the shield. Before I could even blink, It clamped a mouth over Jack’s leg. The Pathogenik strained his lungs as he screamed in agony.

The other Cavlax determined finishing Jack off was the best course of action, as it veered away from me to change its target. I held my flagstaff as a spear and aimed at Jack.

“Agen’s Flying Mane,” I said, flowing mana directly into the rune marked teeth.

A beam of gold light blinked to life and formed the glowing shape of a spear. Where the spearhead joined the pole was a glowing bronze lion’s skull. A rib shaking roar sounded from the opening mouth and the spear sailed out of the mouth and through both Cavlaxs and Jack.

I watched Jack’s health rise in my Healing Lens Enchantment and the Cavlaxs’ health lower to near empty in my Monster Lens Enchantment.

The spear struck the ground and burst into motes of light that momentum scattered away. From those motes rose gathering light that coalesced into the form of a leaping lion. It fell upon the Cavlaxs with swipes of claws. The monsters’ mouths dropped open, releasing Jack. They stood, stunned.

One more Agen’s Flying Mane ended the threat.

“They were crazy fast,” Jack said once he was brought to his feet.

“Have some of this,” I said, tossing him a healing potion. “The potion is level one hundred. Fifty durability and fifty capacity. Hold on to it. It’s gonna last you a while.”

Jack took a swig of the seemingly bottomless potion.

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s not often I don’t have time to infect them.”

“Traveling in pairs is quite handy, wouldn’t you say?”

“With you, it’s been handy. Others, not so much.”

“I understand,” I said as we brushed ourselves off and continued putting one foot in front of the other.

The terrain was hardier. The road was less maintained and debris was scattered amid encroaching vegetation. Saplings grew from breaks in the dirt of the road. Pools of water bred sacks of frog spawn and clouds of gnats and mosquitos.

My waffle stitched cloak dragged through still water once, but I cast the moisture from the cloth by using the drying rune. After squeezing the fabric to be sure it was dry, I looked back up to see Jack raise a hand and signal for me to stop.

“What” I whispered.

A shadow passed over me. A moment later I saw one of Jack’s zombie birds ride a wind current above the trees. It leaned away from the road and veered out of sight behind the trees.

“More,” Jack whispered.

“More what?” I said.

“More prisoners.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yea. A ton more. At least fifty people.”

“Holy Felke,” I said. “Is your army still with us? Can we take them? How many men are guarding them?”

“Sixteen men,” Jack said.

“We have to do something,” I said.

It took some convincing, but Jack was eventually on board with saving the prisoners. With the army of Tuktuk he’d amassed, we were able to surround all sixteen men and prisoners. The men put up a bit of a fight, but the Tuktuk easily overpowered them.

Entire families were among the prisoners, and we encouraged them to reverse roles and take their captors prisoner. Before they could lead their captors into town, several of the prisoners had fainted. Among those were two small boys.

“Healer,” their father pleaded. “I’ll do anything if you help them. We’ve been walking for days without food.”

I threw open my mana bar and saw that each boy had a unique affliction symbol I hadn’t seen before. 3 lines climbed above their health bars like vapors. A blinking drop of water appeared superimposed over the lines. Several people tried to decipher the meaning of the affliction from over my shoulder. This went on for at least half an hour until I zoned out and watched a woman tip a waterskin to one of the boys lips. He drank and then his affliction began to abate.

“Dehydrated,” I said. “They’re dehydrated! Give them water first!”

When they were filled with water, their afflictions were nearly completely gone. Though it took at least an hour, they could finally use their words to tell us how thirsty they were and ask what was happening.

“We’re going to be fine, Elthred,” Their father said, addressing the oldest.

“Can we go home now?” The youngest said.

Their father’s answer fell upon them as tears instead of words. His eager nodding prompted the boys to start crying as well.

The rest of the group kept a firm eye on the 16 men. None would speak to us, and none mentioned Vicen.

After much discussion between the families, and Jack and I, we entrusted the families to escort the men to town. Before they left, Jack took Boule aside and he spoke to the monkey in private. Then Jack updated me on his plans.

“Boule is going to follow the men and infect them,” Jack said.

“What? That’s wrong,” I said. “You can’t infect men like that.”

“Lower your voice, Tosin. It’s for the safety of the families. They’re weak right now, even if they outnumber those men. Boule is only following them as far as Battie’s. It’s a measure of security. Boule will return to us right after.”

“What about those men?” I said. “They can’t stay infected, can they?”

“Do you really care what happens to sixteen men who kidnapped thrice as many families?”

I was speechless for a moment. I couldn't resolve whether Jack was right or wrong.