The warm ember magic let Jenny pass without inflicting any damage. She had squinted, not daring to close her eyes in this place. Once she was on the other side, movement immediately caught her attention. At the far edge of the room, a burrower propped itself up, mouth open in Jenny’s direction. A second one, curled by the wall, also started moving.
The glowing spit flew at Jenny, who ducked but kept running. She remembered the previous day and how more had shown up, but only after she struck the thing by the pillar. Lantern first, head down, and Biscuit hidden, Jenny dashed inside the tunnel.
Marks of the prior day’s battle marred the obsidian floor and the melted rock of the passage. The stone was charred in places and suffused with viscous dried blood; the lantern lay broken and bent by the entrance. Inside the tunnel, there were no other burrowers. Absent were those she’d killed the previous day; six of them, she had counted the lines in the crumbling scroll. Her discarded dagger, covered in glistening blood, still lay where she’d killed one of the worms.
Jenny didn’t stop to pick it up; she had no free hands and no desire to stop anywhere. She quickened her pace, glad the way was still open. When she reached the area with the holes in the path, she stepped carefully to avoid falling but didn’t stop.
From below, she heard the same slithering, wet slapping sound the things made when they moved.
Jenny didn’t look down; she jumped the last few holes. Soon after, she burst into the forge room, the torches along the walls coming to life at her entrance. In Jenny’s arms, Biscuit moved. The bundle of fabric jerked and spasmed. The rabbit let out an anguished, pained squeal, then fell silent again. Jenny wanted to stop and check on her pet, but not here, not until they were safe.
From the forge hall, Jenny ran toward the arena. She had given some thought to it. The orchard wasn’t the best place to go, even if they would still need to travel there for water and more fruits and berries. Instead, she ran through the gently curved tunnels that led to the arena.
More torches lit when Jenny entered the chamber. The armor still stood in the same place at the arena’s center. Jenny didn’t approach. Instead, she turned to her left and climbed the stone seats. She moved down the chamber, as far away from the entrance as possible.
The magical armor neither moved nor did it acknowledge her presence. She hoped none of the burrowers would follow her here, and if they did, the cursed construct would take care of them.
Jenny sat down, facing the entrance. She placed the torch on one of the stone seats nearby and the spear by the floor in easy reach. With care, she opened Biscuit’s cocoon in front of her. Biscuit didn’t look good. The burned skin around her paws and face was cracked and oozing blood. The rabbit’s eyes were open, but they were angry red, and leaking.
“You’re going to be okay, Biscuit,” Jenny murmured, fingers tracing slow movements on Biscuit’s back and hindquarters where she still had fur.
The rabbit ears moved in Jenny’s direction. Biscuit’s nose twitched. “Eehny, uaater.” The rabbit rasped.
In her haste to get the water skin, Jenny fumbled with the bag, almost letting it fall on top of the bun. Once she had it, Jenny cupped one hand in front of Biscuit’s mouth and poured water for the rabbit to drink. Jenny’s shoulders dropped, and she breathed deep, muscle relaxing while watching her pet slurp water one mouthful at a time. She still thought the critter was creepy at times, but Biscuit was very affectionate in a way that reminded her of the puppies some nobles chose to carry around.
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The rabbit finished drinking, and to Jenny’s surprise, Biscuit fell asleep as soon as she got her fill of water. Jenny looked at the door, the cursed armor, and the sleeping rabbit. No burrower had followed her here.
Jenny took the book out of her bag. With Biscuit out cold and still hurt, and monsters outside, studying the grimoire seemed to be the best use of her time. She opened the book, checking out the spells again.
Aqua Recant Sigil was helpful; it’s just not right now. The spell removed the need to drink water while its effect lasted. It could be beneficial later on, but it wasn’t what she needed.
Cinder Dance Rite was another helpful magic. With this one, Jenny could control nearby flames, even giving them a semblance of form, and attack enemies with them, but to control the fire, Jenny needed to focus only on the magic, which would leave her vulnerable to attack. Worse, she needed a source of fire to control.
Torrent Exile Chant was a strange spell. If Jenny understood the text, it banished creatures made of water back to their homes, though the description didn’t detail where that home was.
Inferno’s Might Blessing sorely tempted Jenny; it was at the top of her list. When applied to a weapon, the spell enhanced the damage it dealt. Even a tiny nick could cause grave injuries with this cursed magic.
Emberfade Curse was, as the name implied, a horrible curse. It eroded the target’s spirit and willpower. Jenny could see the use for such magic, but again, it wasn’t immediately useful.
Flamebind Dominion was a magic that Jenny was also tempted by. A different version of Biscuit Dominate Creature, but focused on controlling monsters made of fire. This spell would be primarily useless were it not for the next one.
Pyroclasm Gateway horrified and amazed Jenny in equal amounts. The spell created a magical gate to a world of fire, which she could go to or bring fire creatures from. The reason for some of these spells was evident in her mind. Aqua Recant removed the need for water in a plane of fire, pyroclasm to open a gate, emberfade curse to lower the creature’s willpower, and flamebind dominion to take control of the monster.
Blazeheart Fortification, this one was the direct opposite of the curse. It enhanced the target’s spirit and willpower.
Scorchfire Dart; Jenny wanted to learn this spell, but she needed a source of fire, which she had no way of providing for now. She looked at the burning torch on a nearby bench and the many others in the room; those would maybe work, but the many lessons beaten her by Father dearest wouldn’t let her do it. There were too many issues with lugging a magic torch everywhere, not to mention she didn’t even know if the torch would still work after the flames were absorbed by the dart spell. This was one of the reasons this one wasn’t on the top of her list. If it wasn’t for it, Jenny could imagine herself flinging fire at any enemy that dared to approach. Maybe in the future.
Conflagration Vortex was a horrifying magic that burned everything aside from natural vegetation. Jenny could see it, conjuring a firestorm to destroy everything in her path, but as excellent as that was in her head, it was too much destruction. Jenny needed to stay hidden, and conjuring fire storms to kill her enemies wasn’t the way to keep out of the church’s notice.
Eternal Ember Light was, despite its fancy name, just an illumination spell. The magic created a glob of illumination for an area, barely more than candlelight in intensity.
Phoenix Pyre Ascension was another cruel spell that tempted Jenny greatly, but she needed to keep concentration while the spell took effect, which posed the same problem as the cinder rite. Staying still, waving magic around while the enemies attacked you, wasn’t conducive to winning battles.
Like Jenny already knew, she flipped the pages until she was back at the blessing. She had a spear, and the magic was the best choice. Or so she hoped. It didn’t matter much in the end. It would take weeks to learn enough until she could cast any of those spells.