image [https://i.imgur.com/eutH0mJ.png]

My eyes fluttered open, and Renna was standing over me with a very concerned look on her face. She got out of that fight unscathed. On the other hand, I was in a very dire state. My torso was in all kinds of pain from getting crushed and then stabbed. Not to mention all the cuts and bruises I had received from being flung into those barrels. Probably had a splinter or two to top it all off.

“Chip!” she yelled. “Chip! Are you alright?”

I tried to stand up to mask the extent of the damage, even though my white shirt was already mostly red. That old sense of pride, I guess.

“Don’t worry about me, miss,” I said. “I’ve been through worse. That part wasn’t true, though.

“Chip,” said Mr. Underbrook. It was his first time uttering a sound since the fight had started. “That was foolish.”

There was something about the way he said it. I thought he’d be angry. Back on the ship, whenever I got a bit out of hand, Captain Clinks would yell at me like nobody's business. This time it was different, though. He was disappointed.

Renna didn’t take kindly to Mr. Underbrook saying that. She suddenly jumped up and turned in his direction.

“You can’t say that!” she yelled, leaping to my defence.

“Nah, it’s alright, miss,” I said, “I can’t be rushing in all headstrong.”

It reminded me of a conversation I’d had with Captain Clinks thousands of times. Only this time, my strong head had very nearly killed me.

I spat out a wad of blood and saliva and took up one of the chairs by the table we had just been fighting all over. It’s a miracle that thing was still standing.

“Renna,” spoke Mr. Underbrook with that same disappointed tone, “don't encourage that kind of behaviour. The boy will get himself killed. I may not be a fighter, but I've seen enough people die to know that charging into battle like that does not work. Foolish!”

Not wanting to add more fuel to the fire, Renna fell silent. She decided to change the subject to the more pressing issue of the direct forward—getting out of that place.

“Would you like me to unlock your door, Hal?” she asked Mr. Underbrook.

“Please,” he answered, himself calming down a touch.

Renna moved over to Junk on the ground and put an ear to him, carefully.

“He’s still breathing,” she said.

“I see,” replied Mr. Underbrook. "Please let me out, and then let’s check on his friend over there.”

“Gladly,” said Renna as he easily unclipped the correct key from Junk’s belt.

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She moved over to Mr. Underbrook’s cell door, slid the key in, and turned. The lock opened with a large clinking sound, and Mr. Underbrook was finally freed.

He stretched his legs for a time before regarding Renna and offering her his hand. Wordlessly, she took it, and they shook. Already, I could tell there was a lot of respect floating around that room.

The two of them moved over to the orc’s body, but you didn’t need to be a surgeon to realise he was already gone. He looked like burnt toast by then.

“That was an interesting technique,” said Mr. Underbrook. “I’ve not seen anything like it.”

“It’s a standard spell taught to the priests of Bun,” said Renna. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Nothing,” I said with a chuckle, which was followed by a groan due to the pain in my stomach. I had to pause to let the pain subside before continuing. “What do you call that one, anyway?”

“Radiance,” she answered, as if I’d just asked her what day it was.

“Interesting,” said Mr. Underbrook. “I’ve known many a spell to harm and many to heal. It’s quite rare to find one that does both so effectively.”

“It’s effective, yes, but I’m afraid I’m quite spent. I need to rest before I’ll be much use in a fight again. I think we all do,” she said with a glance towards me.

Mr Underbrook nodded his head. “Agreed,” he said. “We can’t afford any more fights this day.”

“How did you get out of the cell? Were you hiding the key this whole time?” I asked her, as I suddenly remembered how the whole affair had started.

“I just...” she started to answer before pausing. She sighed heavily and then continued, fully aware of how unbelievable the true story was.

“When I opened my eyes, I was holding my hand up and open in front of me. There was this sphere of a kind of magic I have never encountered before. I was mesmerised by its glow. It just kept spinning and spinning in the palm of my hand. Eventually the energy dissipated and that key"—she pointed accusingly at the key that had been left on the floor near her cell. “That thing was what remained. I didn’t know what to do at first. I just sat there staring at it. When it didn’t try to kill me, I did the only thing I could think to do. I used the key on the door. Then the door opened.” She paused before saying finally, “That’s it.”

A silence filled the air now. Each of us wanting to say it, but none daring. Eventually, Mr. Underbrook was the one to speak up.

“Arkhe,” he said.

“Yes,” said Renna sharply. “Yes, that’s right. In Bun, we are not well acquainted with divinity. You must tell me all you know of this god.”

Mr. Underbrook considered the request for a time before speaking again.

“I will tell you all I know in due course. I’m afraid that now we simply do not have the time to spare,” he said.

Renna did not answer, but it was clear this answer did not satisfy her. I couldn’t blame her. I also wanted to know what was happening to her—to all of us.

Also sensing Renna’s discomfort, Mr. Underbook started to explain a bit more. “Ms Eilfir-”

“Please, Renna,” she said in a low voice, looking away from him.

"Renna,” he continued softly. “I have no idea why Arkhe would want with us. I also don’t have a clue about these stones or what their effect on us will be.” He paused to glance down at the subtle green glow that was coming from her hand. His eyes then dropped to see the blue glow coming from his own left palm. He shook his head and continued. “What I do know is that Arkhe is great and very powerful. They are among the upper echelon of gods and have strength unfathomable to us mortals. What I do know is that they are a being of chaos and secrets, not malice. Whatever this is, we had better trust it.”

Renna still did not answer but seemed to mull all this over in her mind.

“And I think it goes without saying that we don’t mention this to anyone. I’m not sure about how things work in Bun, but in Yteria, someone claiming to have actually spoken to a god would be laughed out of town if they weren’t burnt for heresy first,” he added as a final note.

First Renna nodded, and then I followed suit. I didn’t know anything about gods, but even I knew the only ones who said they could speak to the gods were the local town’s raving madmen.

“Alright,” said Renna, turning her attention to the matter at hand, “what do we do now?”