The Witching Hour
"You're hurt," Hannah said as soon as I reached the main group. "It's fine, It'll heal with abilities," I said. "Everyone's accounted for. We can keep moving as soon as you're ready," Hannah said. "Yeah, sorry. We'll be delayed by 25 minutes, I need to hide in a hole," I said. "Can't we just pump you full of potions?" Marcus said. The man was becoming more and more comfortable joining in our conversations. I liked him, not friendly exactly, but direct and with not a whiff of hesitation for bringing up issues or ideas. "I'd rather not. I won't be at full power if I don't recover all my stored spells and stuff," I said. "Uh, guys, the forest is on fire," Zack said.
Well fuck, of course the fire was spreading. The next dozen minutes or so were spent by spellcasters throwing ice and water on the fire, which even in the damp woods was starting to spread more and more quickly. I ended up casting the dispel magic spell a lot more than the icicles, but that couldn't get rid of the natural fires that had spread out of the magical fires. But we managed. At that point I could actually feel that I was being kept upright only by Emma's potion.
Then I made it like Minecraft- I asked some spellcaster dude who had an ability to move earth around to dig me a hole, and dragged the canvas of my tent over my head to, for the first time in the Tower, activate my Hide in a Hole ability by literally hiding in a hole. I could sense Artemis moving farther away each time I checked on her, and I remembered that the traitor was still out there. Here, alone and safe, I finally allowed my mask to drop, and as soon as it was off I started shaking and had to hug my knees to stop myself from screaming.
I didn't do much but let time pass in the hole, avoiding all dangerous thoughts through empty meditation. I barely noticed when the healing kicked in, I still felt shaken by it all. Then there came a scratching from the journal, just as I was almost patched up. At first it brought all of it back. I had never asked for this. I never wanted to be fucking responsible for people. If I made mistakes people would die. I had lived my whole life avoiding situations where I could make mistakes. It had been a life barely worth living, but at least this fear wasn't there. But then I checked the log.
Log
Trait gained- Trauma Trait 'Trauma' transformed by ability- Vengeance. Vengeance target: The Goblin Hag
And as if by magic, the shaking stopped. It went in stages. First, I stopped shaking. Then, my breathing calmed. And, finally, a cinder of cold rage stoked to life in my heart. I wasn't sure I was actually traumatized by the Hag as such, it felt more like the whole situation was to blame, but I was happy to take the advantage. My Vengeance ability transformed any potential trauma I could acquire into a vendetta, and if I killed the target of it, I would gain a benefit, instead of a permanent penalty. Well. That had been the plan all along.
I crawled out of my hole a changed man, literally, and found the Guild taking a break, with several members using their own recovery abilities, others simply snacking on leftovers from the Hotel. Zack was drinking, of course, and Hannah was sharpening her sword. She looked at me first, and I saw a strange glow in her eye, one that I hadn't seen before. It was something between magic, decay and the spark of emotion. When I emerged, covered in dirt but healed fully, all the other eyes in the impromptu camp once again turned to me.
"Let's get our friends back," I said, not loudly enough to be a command or an order, just so that the nearest people to me could hear it. The spoken words traveled through the ranks quickly, and we were on foot and ready to proceed within a minute. And we were off again.
We took more care this time despite ourselves. While nothing had really changed in relation to our ability to actually hide from any but the drunkest of sentries, the previous ambush had shaken all of us. So I led at a casual jog, with the rest of the strike force behind me. Hannah and Zack kept up for the sake of camaraderie more than anything else, the rest of us forming a rough wedge formation.
"It was a delaying tactic," I said, just as I realized it. "Then it worked," Hannah said. "Whatcha talking about?" Zack said. "It makes no sense. The traitor alone could not have taken all of us on, there is simply no way. So either there was a high value target he was after, or else it was just a delaying tactic," I said. "Both," Hannah said. "I get it, if he managed to off you we'd be fucked," Zack said.
Only then did I realize that that was still true. We weren't actually navigating through the woods, we were just following the supernatural compass of my Party ability. If I died or was otherwise lost to the Guild, there was no telling if they could get back.
"I guess I won't die then," I said.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. "Better not. I haven't even thanked you for saving my life the last time," Hannah said. "Don't keep count," I said, "you'd win." "How would you thank him," Zack said. "Well, how does a damsel usually repay her savior?" Hannah said. "Please let's change the topic," I said. "Right. So if it was a delaying tactic, shouldn't we run faster?" Zack said. "Won't do us any good if we're too tired to fight. I doubt it's going to be just a few dozen shadow monsters down there," I said. "Nerd," Hannah said, "And no, I wouldn't win. I just hit things with a sword. You literally kept my soul in my body when I'd given up on it myself."
We heard the chanting before we hit the enemy camp.
Then we saw the green flames belching colored smoke to the sky at five points of the encampment. Finally, we could see the full thing.
It was, in brief, too much. There were hundreds of goblins, the majority of our foes. The hag was standing at the center of the goblin camp, and if I could make a guess, the exact middle point between the pyres. The camp, or the village was made with a strange amount of craftsmanship. There were actual buildings, dozens of them, but they seemed to be made of wicker and willow branch. It looked sort of like a bunch of massive bulbous baskets were set around in a semi-random pattern, with a large wicker house on two leg-like poles dominating the rest in size. They were all squeezed in among the trees- some hanging wedged between them, some hung on branches by wires and ropes, others- rolling gently to and fro on the ground.
And if you looked closely enough, you could see the other set of the Hag's troops. The shadow creatures were hiding, of course, in the shadows. Each one of them could have been a piece of discarded clothing, a bundle of branches, or a simple trick of reflecting fire-light, but I knew what to look for, and there were many here.
With each step, I expected that we would be noticed and swarmed, but as I came closer, I realized that every single eye was turned to the ritual in the middle of the village. I was surprised to see that none of the captives were restrained. I heard the hag's harsh words from where I was standing, by the power of her voice, or some magic I knew not.
"You can save them, girl," she was speaking to Artemis. From my slightly elevated position I could see Artemis standing right in front of the Hag. She must have been scared, but you couldn't tell by her posture or her voice, that rang out loud and clear. "Why the fuck would I believe anything you say, bitch?" Artemis said. Her voice was harder to make out, but as every other person was stone silent, it carried still. The rest of the captives were standing nearby, and they seemed to be unnaturally restrained. They swayed softly in the darkness. "Because I have all the power here," the Hag said. She walked up to a man I had only spoken to once. Giorno was his name, and he was a part of the administrative council. The hag placed a clawed hand on his face and he immediately started screaming. Green steam came off of his face, and when it stopped, he sagged, and moved over to the Hag's side of the clearing. "Bullshit. You don't even have the power to control yourself," Artemis said. Her voice broke this time. She hated losing people so much. "Then my bargain should be easy enough for you to bear. You have a class of leadership. Not many of those running around. And you are willful. So taking a piece of my will into your soul should hardly break you," the hag said. "What are you talking about?" Artemis said. "It is just so brutish when I force it upon humans. It just breaks your weakling minds. I want a servant, not a puppet," the hag said. "Why would I willingly join you? There's no way my allies will live if I'm under your control, is there?" Artemis said.
The Hag's head snapped suddenly directly to me.
"Early guests, have we? Perhaps there is another who could take your place here," the Hag said, "Come, Alex Vorhal, if you wish to change places with the Artemis woman." "Alex, stay the fuck away," Artemis said.
Sigh. I fucking wished I could do that.
"If I cast a spell, attack. I'll probably survive long enough for you to do your thing. I'm going alone," I said. "Alex," Hannah said. "No time to argue," I said. "Fine. Understood. Don't do anything stupid," Hannah said.
And I walked into the camp of the Goblin Hag. I had marched to what I thought to be certain death before, but not like this. I was within smelling distance of armed and ready monsters- jeering and sniffing loudly, baying for blood as I passed, only held back by their mistresses' will.
"You keep saying you're not our leader. So I figured I would ignore your order so that you know I'm listening," I said. My artificially boosted willpower and the magical anger in my heart were the only things that kept my voice from shaking. "Fuck you, Alex," Artemis said. "Ah! Banter and camaraderie. Like fine raw meat turns scrumptious through fire, they turn so delicious through despair and betrayal," the hag said. "What would a creature like you know about friendship? If someone so much as gave you a hug, you'd dissolve into a puddle of tears," I said. "Alex, maybe don't taunt the super powerful hag?" Artemis said. She hadn't really seen this side of me before. Right. "What do you want. It is getting late and my friends are waiting for my return," I said, turning to the hag. "Insolent brat," the hag said, but with a chuckle that bordered on hunger, "You both are in my power now. And so you will play my game. One of you will take my brand, and so will become vessels for a portion of my person." "Or else what?" I said. "Or else I kill your friends, and force the brand upon you both. There are a dozen knives at each of their backs," the hag said. I had my HUD ability up. Every goblin in the camp was above level ten, and the Hag herself was level 18. Higher than me, but not madly so. "I think you know that we won't become your serfs," Artemis said.
The hag smiled, and her mouth opened to rows of shark-sharp teeth.
"Well, well, well. If you are so insistent on looking my gift horse in the mouth, I suppose there really isn't anything stopping me. No oath was given, no promise made. Forgive me, queen of Sapphires," The hag said, and lunged at us with arms raised.
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