Once I was deposited gently on the ground in the cavern, I looked up and watched as the giant hand receded through the black portal and then the portal disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is your curse gone?" someone asked. It was Kalistra.
I checked my player screen and then nodded. I was rewarded with another petting on my head. I heard someone snicker followed by a sharp intake of breath; it was probably Bjoukia who had laughed at me. Ah, well. No matter. I WAS CURED! And it felt GREAT! My Health was back to normal. My body was no longer afflicted with this unexplainable malaise which made my body sore whenever I pushed myself physically. I also received 1,000 experience points for completing Keras' quest!
"What now?" Rijana asked.
"We have to cleanse this place," Van declared. "We need to burn up all the bodies or else another Necromancer may use them to raise another undead horde," he explained.
Kalistra spoke up. "While you do that, I will look around and see if the vampire left anything here."
"Speaking of looking around, did you guys notice that the portal to return to Bristol is gone?" I pointed out.
"Actually, yes I noticed," Tescka said. The anti-magic barrier had removed her invisibility spell and she had not bothered to recast it. Yet. "Thankfully, I can take us back to the surface. Whenever you're ready," she added with a slight nod.
"Let's split up into two teams," I proposed. "Members and affiliates of the Church will be responsible for the cleansing of the bodies. The rest of us will search the cavern."
The cat girl's tail dangled in the air as she started toward the direction the two golems had come from. She was extremely happy to avoid getting close to the dead bodies again. Particularly since they smelled so awful!
Rijana, Bjoukia, and Bjoukia each departed in a different direction to cover the search more efficiently.
As I raised my hands to cast a Fireball, Tescka slapped my hand and interrupted my spell!
"You can't use that spell here," the elf mage admonished me for my foolishness. "Fireball has a burst effect and if it goes out of control, you may start an uncontrollable inferno that will burn all of us. Either stick with a torch or use something less flashy like a Fire Bolt."
"Fireball INTERRUPTED. -2 Health." I dismissed the notification and accepting her scolding gracefully. "Thank you for the warning." I was embarrassed at my lack of awareness of the danger. I should have realized this when Rijana expressly avoided casting Fireball even though the undead horde was the perfect target for this spell. Instead, she used another fire-based spell which appeared to be less powerful than Fireball but more controllable. "I'll use a torch," I agreed.
Van handed me his torch and took out another one from his sack. After the torch was lit, he slowly walked toward the closest pile of bodies. "Gods of the Law and Order, I ask you to grant your mercy to these innocent souls and guide them to eternal rest. Amen." The paladin lowered his torch until the flames touched the dead bodies. He held his torch for a few seconds until the pile was aflame.
Asuora and Doudan walked over to different piles and started burning them.
With a heavy heart, I followed their action and started cleansing the bodies.
We burned the piles slowly to ensure that all the fires were under control. We stayed and watched as the piles of decomposed bodies and skeletons slowly turned to ash. It was the least we could do to honor them.
Again, I was confronted with my own helplessness. Even though I was rapidly advancing my character, it mattered very little in the lives of these innocent people. What mattered more to these commoners was a safe home in a safe town or village or city to live in. This undead hunt crystalized the reason why I wanted to become the King--to protect the people of Britannia and to provide them with safety from evil in this world.
The cleansing took five hours to complete. When the last fire was finally extinguished, we were all covered in soot and dirt.
Tescka created a portal. One by one, we stepped through the portal and the mage closed it behind her, sealing the cavern forever.
#
I was surprised to discover the location of the portal: the Public Square. I turned around and waited for Tescka to step through and close the portal. I asked her, "Why?"
"It's the best location to return to in Bristol," she replied. "We're going to split up soon," Tescka reminded me.
I stared at her for a moment and finally nodded in understanding. Tescka will be returning to the Thieves' Guild. Van and the vampire hunters will report back to the Church. Rijana and the elves will report to The Elven Nation. What will I do? Probably go back to my room after dropping off our three captives to the Magic Guild. But first, there was something I needed to do.
I held up my hand to draw their attention. "Did you find anything while searching the cavern?" I asked.
"Yes," Kalistra replied while Rijana and the elves shook their heads. "There was an alcove in between the stands for the golems. It was a little space on the wall at mid-chest level. I found this box." She took the box out of her sack and showed it to me.
I saw that it was a small red box approximately two inches long on each side. I cast Detect Trap on it. The motes of light appeared and stayed on the lid of the box. The light turned red and lingered for a few seconds before finally dissipating. "It's trapped," I announced. "Detect trap SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP." I dismissed the notification.
"My employer is an expert in removing traps. Perhaps, you should pay him a visit," Tescka suggested.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Or you could remove the trap with magic," Rijana suggested.
I looked at the two and made a decision. "I'll hand the box over to the Magic Guild along with our prisoners," I replied. The Double Cross Society's Hideout was located outside Bristol, and I wasn't ready to leave the city yet. Besides, I had to turn the unconscious over to the Magic Guild. "Before we split up, can you take these men to the Magic Guild?" I asked Van, Asuora, and Doudan since they were carrying the unconscious mages.
"Technically, they broke Bristolian law by helping the vampire create an undead army. They should be handed over to the Watch," Van pointed out.
Rijana shook her head. "They were charmed by the vampire. Without free will, these mages cannot be held responsible for their illegal actions," the mage rebutted. "I agree with my pupil that these mages should be turned over to the Magic Guild."
The paladin turned toward me. "I will agree to turn them over to the Magic Guild only if you can guarantee that the investigators from the Watch and the Church will be able to interview and question these men."
"Certainly," I agreed. "I will make this a requirement for turning these three mages over to the Magic Guild."
Van nodded.
I turned toward Tescka, Rijana, Bjoukia, and Bjoukin. "Thank you for your help. I wouldn't be able to lift Keras' Curse without your participation in the Undead Hunt." I bowed deeply to them.
With a faint smile, Tescka turned invisible.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Bjoukin said and offered a friendly wave.
Bjoukia gave me a friendly pat on the back and a kiss on the cheek; she earned the scowl of her brother.
"We'll continue our magic lessons tomorrow. Since you reached Level 7, you now have access to Fourth-Tier spells," Rijana noted.
"I look forward to your instructors, teacher," I bowed again. I turned toward Van and the vampire hunters. "Let's go to the Magic Guild." I led the way with Kalistra walking to my right and the other three behind me. Since it was already late in the evening, the streets were empty. However, I activated my Spirit Sense to ensure that no one tried to ambush us. Thankfully, we arrived at the entrance of the Magic Guild without any incident.
However, standing in front of the doors was a mage in black robes. The hood covered the person's face.
"Greetings, Guildmate," I said in a calm voice and offered a polite bow. I held my anger in check. I was prepared for a magic duel with this mage if he refused to move out of the way. There was no reason for him to bar entry into the building and I was not in the mood to play games tonight.
The hood was pulled back, revealing a middle-aged looking man with razor-sharp blue eyes, dark brown curly hair and a slight beard. "My name is Taulk, a Dark practitioner. What did you do to my brothers?" he demanded to know while pointing at the unconscious black mages.
"These Brothers were charmed by a vampire. They have been bound and knocked unconscious to ensure their cooperation and personal safety," I explained.
"Is this the truth?" Taulk's eyes narrowed at the unlikely tale. His right hand rested on the wand tucked through his belt.
I reached under my tunic and pulled out my Truth Stone. "As the holder of a Truth Stone, I cannot lie," I replied.
The mage's eyes widened in surprise. It was unheard of for a guildmate to be also a member of the Church! "Let's bring them to our healer," Taulk said after a moment of silence. "Please follow me." He walked through the automatic doors and waited impatiently for us to enter the building. Once we joined hands, Taulk said, "Medens!"
The world turned into a kaleidoscope as we teleported. Finally, we arrived at a corridor. Through the doorway before us, we saw a clinic full of beds.
When we entered the clinic, a man wearing a white robe approached us. He looked at the three unconscious mages among us and nodded. "I am Zielke, the healer on duty this evening. Please place these men on any available bed in the room," he instructed. Once he saw that the guildmates had been placed on beds, he asked, "Please tell me what happened."
Taulk turned toward me.
"We were forced to knock them unconscious. They were charmed by a vampire," I explained.
Zielke's brows knotted. "Did you destroy the vampire?" he asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
The healer breathed a sigh of relief. It was almost impossible to dispel a vampiric charm unless the vampire was destroyed. "We should be able to dispel the charm shortly. Will they remain hostile?" he inquired.
I shrugged. "I'm not sure," I answered honestly.
"Please stay here until we could be sure then," Taulk requested politely.
I turned toward Van and the vampire hunters.
They nodded.
"Let's begin," the healer said and approached the closest unconscious mage. Zielke put a hand on the man's chest and cast Dispel Magic. A white light surrounded the man briefly and then dissipated. Zielke slapped the man's cheek roughly.
The man woke up. "What happened?"
"You were charmed by a vampire," I said. I pulled out my Truth Stone. I looked at his caption and his name read, "Gonzi." I immediately administered the truth oath. "Gonzi, do you swear upon the Law and Order and tell the truth and nothing but the truth upon penalty of death?"
The man hesitated for a moment.
"Well?" I demanded.
"I swear," Gonzi replied and felt his heart struck by a beam from the truth stone.
"Were you creating the undead horde voluntarily or were you charmed into doing so by Trenton?" I asked.
"Voluntarily," the man said quietly and looked away. Gonzi knew this admission made him look terrible in the eyes of the church official.
"What about your companions?" I asked.
"Voluntarily," he answered.
"Why were you charmed by Trenton?" I asked.
"He discovered that we were planning to flee. He charmed us to make us stay inside the cavern," Gonzi replied.
"Did you murder any of those people?" I asked.
The disgraced mage shook his head. "No, we're innocent. Trenton went mad and killed them to drink their blood."
"Did you capture Lazarus?" I asked.
Gonzi's eyes widened. "How did you know about Lazarus?" He started to panic.
"Answer my question," I demanded harshly.
"Yes, we did," the mage admitted.
"Why did you force Lazarus to turn Trenton, your own apprentice, into a vampire?" I asked. It was a critical question with serious consequences for the three mages arising from the answer.
The rogue mage took a deep breath before he answered. "We wanted to study the process of a human being turned into a vampire," Gonzi replied softly.
I exhaled a deep breath. From this incident, I realized that the black mage didn't care about human lives. His only concern was to study vampirism. He was essentially an evil scientist and I knew that the paladin in our midst will have a problem with that.
Sure enough, Van interrupted my interrogation and made the situation more difficult. "If Trenton killed all those people to feed on their blood and you were the ones who turned Trenton into a vampire, then you are equally responsible for their deaths. This is now a church matter and I demand these three to be handed over to our custody," he announced.
I held up my hand before Van tried to do anything rash. "I'm going to report to the guild leadership. I will ask them to hand these three over to you," I replied. "Please stay here and guard these three until I return," I ordered.
Van, Asuora, and Doudan nodded.
I was thankful that the trio was willing to obey my order. It was a stalling tactic to prevent them from forcefully dragging the three mages over to the Church. If a fight broke out, the Dhampirs could easily use an anti-magic bead inside this building and create havoc for the Magic Guild. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the guild took this as a declaration of war by the Church. In order to prevent another guild war from breaking out, I will need to convince the Guildmaster, Xon 'Tein, to turn the rogue mages over to the Church.
Taulk was not happy but he kept silent. He couldn't fault Van's logic. In the eyes of the Law and Order, his guildmates were murderers. And members of this branch of the Magic Guild were still subject to the laws of Bristol. If the guild tried to protect these rogue mages, it could trigger a disastrous guild war that the Magic Guild was too weak to win.
I turned toward Taulk and Zielke. "Please stay here and revive the other two mages," I requested. "I will leave now." Once I saw their nods, I quickly left the clinic and used the power word, "recondo!"