I used the same Water-Blood dual-Affinity spell on Elizabeth, soothing the burns on her arms but without much headway in the healing department. She had spiritual wounds from the magical backlash that were trickier to heal than the physical ones. As the pain alleviated, she sagged and started to cry instead of the previous maddening screams. She would need Mind magic to recover from the trauma. The mishap was quite severe.
Meanwhile, Barbara used another chunk of quartz to summon more spikes to cover the other flank. The swarm that had accelerated to try and breach the gap suddenly found themselves impaled on the sharp crystal spikes, then the second row was pushed into the trap by the others behind. They lost momentum and halted. The other flanks scored way fewer kills because the rats weren’t stupid. The only that killed several was the cloying fog because the rats weren’t afraid of a little mist. Their loss. Angry squeaks and attempts to cross the field of sharp crystals slowly was all they could do. The ones near the wall of fire were going to the sides, to join their fellow mutant rodent on their attempts to carve themselves a nice chunk of people meat.
The sound of metal striking rock inside the ring reached me and I noticed Mrs. Blatherwick had discarded her enchanted necklace and the communication medallion to get rid of some resonance. She was spent by the episode and would be utterly useless during the incoming altercation. Tied to the back of the accountant satyr widow, Isaac started to lob low power firebolts on the packs of monster rats trying to cross the crystals. Forcing the rats to move quickly as they attempted to dodge the firebolts was enough to hurt them without damaging the defense as it made them cut themselves on the edges of the crystals. Eleanora and Barbara joined him, casting attack spells on the rats. The accountant satyr helped her wife out of the barrier and I used my second casting to heal the electrocuted satyr.
The man-eating rodents were just a minor nuisance in the grand scheme of things. But they signaled something nastier than the idea of being nibbled to death. That civilization had gone to shit, again. The abandoned outpost, the dead bodies, the lack of a single sentient creature in {Detection}’s unmodified range. Ignoring the ones that already spawned deep in the Labyrinth underneath us, of course.
The stalemate continued for a while. The apprentice [Mages] seemed content with keeping the rats at bay and slowly whittle their numbers.
Maddened by hunger and afraid of the magic, the rats decided to cut their losses and sate their hunger on their own. It happened when about half the swarm had perished to the students’ spells. The survivors descended into a feeding frenzy and started to fight among themselves for the corpses of the other rats.
“Elly, withdraw the fog by half, please. Let them get the bodies of the ones who died in it,” Isaac’s request still sounded like an order. The girl with the ruined right flank nodded and did as asked. As the fog withdrew, the rats swarmed their dead brethren.
After what felt like hours of combat, the few surviving rats that feasted on their dead withdrew to safety. The stench of blood and rat feces and burnt hair was unbearable. Our group sat to rest and recover their depleted MP reserves as I returned to Barbara’s side and told her of my plan.
Basically, I wanted to heal all their wounds and regenerate their mangled limbs. It was high-tier healing magic, though. If everything I did before hadn’t revealed to them the magical aberration I was, this certainly would. But I felt it was the right thing to do. I could very well deal with the consequences later. If the ruined keep was anything of a hint, the rest of the country was also in ruins. Healers would be in great demand and I had enough clout to keep them from trying to monopolize or control me. Worst scenario, I would set mom loose to get another crown for her collection. My argument made, I waited for her answer. I didn’t have to. One look at Elizabeth’s ruined skin was more than enough.
“Please, Nethe. Do it,” she said out loud. The others looked at us with a puzzled expression. “Heal them.”
“As you wish, mistress,” I said like the good minion I was. I extended ribbons to touch every person in our group. The only among them that was unscathed was Barbara. After I had contact with all of them, my cover opened to reveal the overlayed spell diagram. Magic flooded the diagram and it projected in front of me like a hologram. The layers separated and rotated into position. “{Mass Regrowth}!”
The nightmarishly complex spell combined Water, Blood, Soul, Mind, Divine, Light, and Flesh magic. Its first stage numbed their bodies and locked them in place with a minor paralysis effect. Notifications popped telling me none of them resisted that part. Then it flooded them with spiritual and magical energies, courtesy of my combined resource, Energy. The spell created tissue mass for them to replace what was lost and forced their bodies back to their perfect shapes. No scar or mark was left on their bodies, not even the old ones. Their minds healed and refreshed like they had a year of psychotherapy on a tropical resort. After a couple dozen minutes, the paralysis worn out and feeling returned to their bodies. They felt like they’d awoken from a nap on mom’s downy bed.
Elizabeth looked at her hands in disbelief. Eleanora flexed her right hand while Isaac climbed down from the accountant’s back. Mrs. Blatherwick picked her necklace and medallion and stowed them in her robes.
“Thank you, Nethe,” Barbara made a show of showering me with affection. Then she met her fellow delvers’ eyes. “I don’t have to say we expect you to keep this a secret.”
Intimidated, they nodded. Isaac raised his hand, though. “If you could do this, why didn’t you do it earlier?” His face read, ‘I’d been tricked’.
“I was hoping competent healers on the surface would’ve healed you without my interference, Isaac. But I promised you, hadn’t I? Barbara and I judged by the state of this guard outpost that the rest of the kingdom is in similar state. Obviously, thousands of people are hurt out there. That led us to believe we wouldn’t find someone else able to heal your injuries. I also ask none of you inquire about us any further. Barbara and I have our reasons to keep a low profile. And no, nothing we told you during the delve was a lie.”
Isaac bowed. “I reaffirm my vow. You have my word, Netherbane and Barbara. I will do anything in my power to aid you two. You have my eternal gratitude and friendship. And House Hamilton’s too, even if I’m the last one alive,” he delivered the last statement with a somber tone seeped in realism.
“Me too!” Eleanora said. “We’ll be friends forever!”
Elizabeth was still staring at her hands, trying to find the lightning-scarred patterns. After a nudge from her friend, she too vowed to keep our secret. The two satyr women, who witnessed the Unicorn King’s Spear, just nodded. Mrs. Blatherwick was finally gang-pressed to manifest by the glares of the three noblemen.
“You had plenty of chance to do us harm, Netherbane. Yet at every instance you proved to be more… humane than most of our peers,” the teacher declared. “I see now what Miss Dorlaminn saw in you. If the Academy stands, you have my unconditional support.”
If the Academy stood, indeed. Which was part of the biggest question of the moment. I summoned mom’s book and climbed on it as Barbara ducked her head to remove the dust cover’s strap from her shoulder. “I’m going to scout for a moment. We should prepare to move before more carrion eaters arrive. The Labyrinth entrance is unguarded, something could spawn near it and come out.”
As I moved away, I considered the contented mood despite all they went through. Sometimes what they said didn't match their expressions. I had to turn the cogs in my brain for a while until I figured it out. They were holding it in. The dread, the despair, the pain. I had no idea if it was an explicit agreement or just some unsaid social contract between them, but they were stoically keeping their cool. At what expense, it remained to be seen.
Focusing Detection into a cone for more range, I scanned my surroundings with both my many eyes and the information Perk. The destruction seemed to spread from the Labyrinth entrance. It felt as if the underground maze worked as a conduit for the divine energies, carrying them all the way from the other continent where the fight took place to here. I could see the Royal palace stood, and so did the Academy’s main building. These buildings had obvious magical reinforcements and resisted most of the damage. The city and the very land were utterly ravaged. In some isolated places, columns of smoke rose. Ruined buildings, toppled trees, even the lake sported a few new islands caused by the upturned land. I was sure, hopeful even, that the death toll on the surface wasn’t as massive as down in the Labyrinth. But I would be hard-pressed to find a group of people that survived unscathed. Maybe the King and his retinue in the Palace, but the Academy didn’t have the same luck or reinforcement budget. The dorms, for example, were ruined. With the survey done, I went back down and relayed them what I’d found out.
They immediately decided to set out for the Academy, with only a stop by the Goddess’ cathedral which was on the way. We took two days to navigate the rough terrain of the upheaved road on foot. We found broken wagons, discarded cargo, dead horses. Very few dead people out in the open but they existed. The gatehouse leading to the city proper had crumbled under its own weight. People were climbing the rubble pile left by a fallen section of the wall to get in or out of the city. No guards in sight. Some people pointed at us and whispered, surprised at seeing Academy mages out here. Nobody dared block our path although the desperate and destitute eagerly came and peddled their misery. We ignored them and went onward. Stopping to help a few was an invitation to get crowded and then mugged. The groups of refugees staring at us as we crossed the wall were just waiting for some idiot to take the opening salvo.
More than half the buildings were utterly destroyed, mere piles of debris. The whole place stank to high heavens. Of the half that somehow stood, none was intact. The few functional ones were taken over by squatters. Blood splatters were common, as well as fat stains where bodies were left for too long. In some places, we could see people half-buried under the rubble, the living too worried about their own survival to uncover the dead. Sallow faces, hungry stomachs. These people could’ve climbed out of a coal mine how dirty they were. And the smell. The stench of sunbaked blood and carrion, feces, and death. I think I already mentioned the smell but I could feel it even without sensory organs.
The Matriarch’s cathedral was the least damaged building in the outer city, the previously-mentioned two siege-reinforced enclaves notwithstanding. And it was full of people both inside and on the square outside of it. The priests dutifully moved between the groups, giving a soothing word, or checking on the children. Our group of students and our chaperones didn’t even enter the temple. I handed the bodies of Atrion and their wives along with a pouch with platinum coins. Next to the wall, I made a pile with the loot I had stored. The two satyr thanked us and said their goodbyes, joining the host of wounded supplicants crowding the place.
*
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*
As one of the least-affected enclaves in the city, the Academy was in high alert. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and the walls were fully manned by guards and students in equal measures. At the sight of our approach through the main road, the gates opened and a few teachers rushed out to meet us. I didn’t recognize them but one. Mr. Collins, Barbara’s spellcraft teacher, rushed forward like he’d seen the dead being reborn. They moved fast; each step propelled by magic.
“Agatha!” He shouted, riding high on his emotions. Apparently, that was Mrs. Blatherwick’s first name. “You’re alive!”
“Yes, the few of us survived,” she shouted back as the teachers reached us.
“Any news of the others?” He asked hopeful. Blatherwick shook her head. It’d been five or six days since the tremors.
“No, just us. Our group was lucky to lose only two students. I don’t know about the others. Maybe they were deeper than us? We encountered a special feature and decided to return earlier.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
With her head down, Elizabeth grasped the other two girls’ hands. They’d lost two friends down in those tunnels, not to mention their own wounds which lingered in their spirits and memories only. No matter how strong the mental healing I performed, nothing short of making them forget would ever erase it.
Cormack extended his arm, showing us the way back to the campus was open. The other teachers parted to make a sort of corridor for us. “That must be it. Come, you must be tired. We had trouble of our own but I doubt it could compare to what you went through. Welcome home, students.”
Like a sudden gust of headwind, the survivors lost all momentum. Reaching a safe harbor pushed all the emotions they kept bottled for the sake of survival to the fore. Barbara fell on her knees, weeping. Eleanora and Elizabeth hugged each other and trembled as they sobbed. Angered, Isaac punched the enchanted gate hard, surprisingly making no sound as he almost broke his knuckles.
They sagged, showing how tired they were. Mentally exhausted, the greeters took the newly arrived survivors inside. Soon we split up as we went back to our own living quarters. Barbara traipsed as she made the long walk all the way to the back of the campus.
We soon found that the only facility that was completely intact was the main building. The ancillary constructions and dormitories fared about as well as the rest of the city. Hastily erected stone buildings stood like a sore thumb, the naked, messily mixed, and smooth stone obviously shaped by magic. It looked like a child played with a painter's pallet but the colors were all different kinds of stone. As we went, the portion of the original buildings that survived became smaller and smaller.
Some large tents were strewn on the lawn, looking like field hospitals or temporary housing. As I peeked inside one, it became clear these tents were both as the wounded students were unable to leave the infirmary. Even with magic and magical healing, people still nursed their wounds the mundane way. The reasons were plentiful. The massive number of wounded, the need to conserve some magic, and the other uses, not to mention inefficiency, lack of solidarity, and other factors.
Even between the still standing buildings, the field hospitals, and the hastily erected housing blocks, it hadn't room for more than sixty percent of the student body. Several ruined buildings were abandoned, with nobody around.
The mood was dour, solemn, and painful to watch. We were the only survivors from the delve to return so far and I had no hopes the others would ever show up. their mortal remains were probably sinking on shitty sands on the other side of the world by now. And the delve was a PRIZE for the talented. A way to nurture them and let them gain some levels in a SAFE environment. Most of them were noble or wealthy scions.
Not to mention the hit to the delving community, Adventurers, explorers, and the economy they generated. But that was an issue for later. Now we needed to pick up the remains of our lives and start over again.
Barbara plodded forward, her tired legs whining with stress. She only moved because she dreaded being admitted to one of these field hospitals. I beamed her an empathic "yes" to her unspoken question. I would heal everyone if she asked me to. She gripped my spine and never asked. We surely would have a lot of challenges going forward. The lich's vessel was almost drained and it would take long to recover. We, Netherbane and Barbara, couldn't spare the magic to heal everyone. And once the floodgates opened, it would be impossible to stop.
Minding the situation of the campus already behind us, it was no surprise to know that Barbara's former dormitory was just a pile of rubble. On the lawn across the pathway a massive brick (with rectangular holes for windows, some with makeshift curtains) of stone not unlike all the others but twice as big as the next one stood, temporary housing for the outcasts of the Academy. But I knew Barbara wouldn't count as one for too long. Not after what we displayed in the delve.
A familiar adult walked out of the stone brick's door. Mrs. Cormack waved at us with her left arm. Of the right one, only a stump remained. "Ambrose!" She shouted. "Welcome home!"
As if summoned by a spell, the few existing curtains were thrown open and almost all windows had now curious faces.
"Barbara!"
A familiar annoying brattish voice rang from the second floor. Jerrick "Ron" apparently survived although he had a huge section of his scalp entirely bald. I felt bad but part of me, my jealous corner, wished he'd perished.
Barbara reached the door and wobbled on her feet. She was truly spent. Mrs. Cormack picked the halfling up and cradled the tiny girl on her arms like a child. I was uncomfortably pressed between the two women but didn't protest. Slowly, silently, and without much energy to spare, Barbara was slowly sobbing and slobbering on the dorm mother's shoulder.
*
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*
She had lost everything not on her person.
Her room had burned down along with an entire side of the dorm. That was the reason Jerrick was half-bald. The fight between the deities happened when everyone was at the dorm. Most students managed to save their textbooks and some clothes, but Barbara lost everything.
Now the annoying (in my humblest opinion) youth was in her new and drool shaved-stone room, offering all kinds of help. I suspected he was being goofy on purpose to cheer her up. Laying on a makeshift stone desk, this Bibliomimic could only watch.
Barbara beamed him a wry smile, "Thanks Jerrick. But I am fine. I just want to rest."
He reached out to grab her wrist but held back and quickly pulled back his grubby appendage. Barbara didn't notice or decided not to react.
"I... I just want to halp," he stuttered and squealed as his voice broke at the end.
Her smile warmed up as she stared softly into his eyes. "I appreciate your candor, Jerrick. I am elated to have a friend like you," she said quoting some novel she read. "But I have everything I need. I just need some time to put my thoughts in order. A few days, at least."
"I understand. Stay safe," He was like a puppy who saw his favorite toy get smashed by a carriage. Jerrick wilted visibly and hunched his back as he silently made his way out of the room.
As the stone door swung closed, she stared at me. "Was I too harsh?" Barbara pouted when she sensed my mood. "Nethe!"
Her eyes watered. She was concerned about hurting Jerrick's feelings but she had no idea what kind feelings he had. Poor Jerrick was truly "friendzoned". Barbara didn't put him there consciously. She just wasn't romantically interested in him. The ball was on Jerrick's court, gathering dust because he couldn't decide if he should go on the offensive or straight to the showers.
She threw herself on her cot, enjoying the fact that even a small piece of furniture like that was king-sized for a halfling like her. I kept my mind still and worked on my mental Proficiencies, giving her the time and space she needed. I bet it was how Nenandil felt and acted most of the time around mom... me.
Barbara slept a day and a half. I used a simple Water spell to keep her hydrated and let her rest. Mrs. Cormack came once to check if she was still alive, a real concern given our circumstances. It wasn't unusual for traumatized soldiers after war or surviving delvers to do stupid things. Especially after witnessing the horrors of the world.
When she woke, I already had some light bread out for her. The soft and fluffy, although somewhat bland, confections were easy on the stomach but a few were still as filling as a real meal. On the stone desk protruding from the wall, a plate with the small loaves laid next to me. After washing herself with a tub of water on the far corner of the room, Barbara changed into clean clothes and came to eat.
"Feels like I'm eating a cloud," the voracious girl snorted between bites.
"I didn't lose as many friends as the others," she stated ruefully, the meal-induced mirth gone for a moment. Or better, the shallow mirth induced by the meal was washed away, revealing the sour conflict in her mind. The implication of her statement was that she didn't have many friends to start with. Even with what happened, she still left the Labyrinth with a larger social circle than before entering.
"I want to get stronger, Nethe. I don't want to feel powerless like that anymore. I want to be an [Archmage], someone who can help people. Not this." A victim or perhaps a refugee, she meant. "Can your mom help me? Teach me?" Her hand went to the staff pendant. "I know she already did help, but I need... I want more than just artifacts."
A sense of urge lingered at the edge of her consciousness.
"My parents. The nearest Labyrinth entrance was here at the capital but I still worry about them. Are they safe?"
Mentally, I nodded in approval of her plan.
"How's she? She must be very busy with this upheaval. A lot of prayers, that's for sure."
It was well-known from the church lore that the Matriarch reincarnated from time to time, living as mortals of great power. That she alone rejected the heavens to live among her people.
She went from surprised to happy, then to concerned. "Is the Goddess free?" Barbara frowned as she sensed my sorrow.
I conjured the massive floating tome. Barbara could comfortably sit on it and fly away.
She rubbed her hand on the encyclopedia, then looked at me. She bit her lower lip and slightly narrowed her eyes as they flooded with worry. "You..."
"... are the Goddess," she stated with gravitas.
She ran her hand over my cover. "So, the reason my prayers were never heard..."
Two wet splatches marred the rough stone tabletop. Barbara's emotions ranged far from elation, to resentment, and everything in between. I gave her some time.
She stared at me without moving for a while, then nodded.
I still suspected Bit had somehow extended the time mom could stay.
Predictably, Barbara was having a hard time processing everything.
"Do you want to go look for them? Nenandil and Pandora?"
My feelings on that were a mix of disappointment, worry, dread, and a small dash of hope. We could travel north and go visit Doris in Fulgen. She would surely know where her daughter was. I doubted Nenandil wouldn't have at least visited her if she was free to roam the world. But that's why mom released the aspects of her previous lives. The lack of response from them was concerning but the world was huge. I was sure they were busy doing something very urgent or even fine combing everywhere for signs of the two missing parts of my whole.
I still wouldn't abandon Barbara. Nenandil had the Attributes of an elder dragon and Pandora was indestructible. I was sure the two were fine as much as I was also eager to reunite with them. But Barbara was a key part of this tapestry as well, and the most elusive piece. Until we finished Lorna's game, I had to focus on her.
Startled by my sudden (and worried) proposition, she shook her head then stared at me. Barbara snorted. "Sounds like you're proposing to marry me." I snorted too, to disguise how close she got to the truth. I felt a cold shiver on my corner bindings. She sensed my fear and picked me up. "Of course. But I have a little request now that I heard your confession. May I talk to the Goddess?"
*
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*
I, Netherbane, would never learn what the two talked about. As my consciousness returned, I scanned the room and gasped, suddenly extending my senses outward to make sure I was still in the same place.
I was on an ornate hardwood desk, and the room was dressed for Royalty. It looked cramped because it didn't become suddenly bigger, but the makeshift cot was replaced with a halfling-sized four-poster bed, a large wardrobe, vanity, and dresser made of the purest white wood covered the corner and sides opposite to the bed, and silk curtains and tapestries hung from every wall.
I whistled. I morphed a mouth and small lungs to whistle. I heard a laughter and I found Barbara hiding under the duvet. She jumped out of it and I took a good look at her. She wore robes made of iridescent silk with gold and silver trim, worthy of an [Archmage] along with boots made of dragon leather.
With a little twirl, she showed her full outfit. "So, how do I look?"
She shrugged. "Nothing? This room isn't in the dorm although it is there at the same time," she explained poorly as she went to the wardrobe and threw one of the three doors open. The other two held clothing, this one was a corridor. On the other side, I could see the normal bedroom. "Only those I allow will ever find their way to this side of the room. Better yet, I can take it with me. Come!"
Barbara picked me up and walked through the wardrobe door. On the corridor wall, a sign hung from a lamp, pointing the way we came with the words "To Narnia".
Classical mom.