There was a sound at the door and Hump jerked up from his doze. Across from him, Celaine straightened on the plush sofa they’d been occupying, rubbing her tired eyes and fixing on the door. Dylan slept soundly on the floor nearby, undisturbed even as Bud stepped inside. Bud had returned alone.

“How are things?” Hump asked, a note of trepidation in his voice. “Sorry, one second. Dylan! Bud’s back.”

The druid stirred awake, staring up at the knight from the floor, head resting in his hands. “Bud… Something bad happened, didn’t it?”

The knight looked even paler than before. “The news wasn’t good.” He closed the door softly. “One of Emilia’s brothers died in the fighting, and her mother is critically injured. Emilia’s staying with them in the main house for now, but she plans to speak with us tomorrow. She told us to make ourselves at home and to ask the servants if we need anything.”

Hump cursed under his breath. “Damn it! The Silver Sprig hasn’t regained any of its power.” He stood, grabbing his staff from where he’d leaned it against the coat stand. “There’s a pond outside and a nice garden. I’ll get to work on it now and see if I can restore some of it today. I might be able to help.”

Nisha hopped stood up from where she’d slept beside Dylan, sleepily following him, while Celaine came at him in a rush that was too fast for him to react. She grabbed his wrist.

“Stop!” she said. “You need to take a breath, Hump, and think.”

“I don’t have time to think,” Hump said, massaging a painful headache. The few minutes he’d slept hadn’t been enough. “I can’t stay here and do nothing if there’s a chance I can help Emilia’s mother.”

“It will take you days to restore the leaves, even if you were in top form,” Celaine said softly. “You’re exhausted, not thinking straight, and desperately need to sleep.”

“I…” Hump croaked, shaking his head. Deep down he knew she was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. “What if it’s too late?”

“If you really want to help, you need to be efficient,” Celaine said. “How long could you keep going if you started empowering the sprig now? You’d pass out long before you finished and then need even longer to recover.”

“Celaine is right,” Dylan said. “Killing yourself or causing a bad case of essence overuse will help nobody.”

“And Lady Rike is not in immediate danger,” Bud said. “She has the best healers available tending to her. Emilia guessed you’d react this way and she specifically asked you to stay here and sleep.”

Hump took a shuddering breath, recognising the truth in their words. He’d been running on a concoction of willpower and desperation, and though his instinct was to act, he could feel his essence was depleted, his body craving rest. Not amount of pushing himself would restore the Silver Sprig in this state. He simply didn’t have the strength left.

“Same goes for you, Dylan,” Bud said.

Dylan rose to his feet and clicked his neck, then stretched out the stiffness from lying on the floor. “I was about to ask, is there anything I can do?”

“No, truly. I appreciate you all waiting up for us.”

“Will you be going back to be with Emilia?” Celaine asked.

Bud suddenly laughed. “No. Absolutely not.”

Celaine raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like there’s another story to tell here.”

Bud’s face scrunched into an embarrassed grimace. “To put it kindly, her father was not all too pleased to see me.”

“Care to elaborate?” Dylan asked.

“He drew his sword and had it to my throat faster than I could blink. Fortunately, Emilia defused the situation quick enough to still be here.”

Celaine and Dylan both chuckled, but Hump was in no mood for it. He was furious. Beyond furious! All the effort they’d gone to, all the battles Emilia had fought, and this was her reward. This was no time to be laughing.

“Damn everything,” Hump muttered bitterly, clenching his fists. “The warlocks, the gods, all of it. We fight so hard, and we come back to this?”

Dylan put a hand on Hump’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re a good person, Hump. I’m sure Emilia would appreciate you being so angry on her behalf.”

“She would be,” Bud said. “But do not let your anger at these warlocks cloud your judgement. It was the gods that led us back to Elenvine.”

“Yet they did not save their own people,” Hump said. “They let their cities burn.”

“What do you hope to gain from this?” Bud snapped. “You cannot blame the gods this time. They were there for us, they blessed our Chosen.”

“Yet Tobias Godfrey turned on them,” Hump said. “The greatest of Lady Light’s Chosen.”

Bud closed his eyes and pressed two fingers to his head. “I can’t do this right now. I just… I can’t. I’m retiring for today. I will see you all tomorrow.”

Hump clenched his jaw. For a second, he wanted to spill everything he knew about the gods. Her family were martials—not even amongst the ranks of Chosen—and now her brother had died and her mother been wounded to protect the manufactured order of things. It wasn’t right.

Celaine caught his eyes and mouthed, “Well done,” giving a shake of her head.

You’re being ridiculous, he told himself. Control yourself.

Hump took a deep breath, envisioning the River and Waves, to which he threw all the emotions he was starting to lose control of. Celaine was right. He was too tired for this. Now wasn’t the time to make decisions.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Sorry,” Hump said before the knight left the room. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper and let my frustrations out like this. Let me show you to your room. We had the servants prepare a bath. I’ll heat it for you.”

Bud smiled at him. “Thank you. And there’s no need to apologise. We’re all exhausted, and I know you’re just worked up over Emilia. I get it, really.”

“Yeah,” Hump said quietly. “Come on, it’s this way.”

Once Bud was settled down, Hump retreated to his own room, Nisha following quietly at his heels. The moment they reached the bed, she hopped up and curled into a warm circle against his side, fast asleep in seconds. Sleep didn’t come so easily to Hump. He sunk into the far too soft pillows and bedding, his mind racing with everything that had happened. Battle, pain, loss, and all the new discoveries. So much had changed with the success of the warlocks. If what Hump had learned was accurate, two seals remained. Two seals, and the old gods would be free.

Yet what was worse was the unknown. He did not agree with the methods of the warlocks, and every one of them had given up much of their humanity for the power they’d gained through their dark arts, but in a way, they shared a common enemy with him. Or at least, the him that trusted in the creator of the Book of Infinite Pages.

As bad as it sounded, Hump know longer knew if he should stand in their way. Perhaps things would be easier if the old gods returned.

When sleep finally took Hump, he dreamed of the great battle he had seen when he’d gazed into the Eye of Gius. A memory fragment from the War of the Firmament. He saw Lich Queen Irila’s father, a god long dead, wielding unimaginable power as he unleashed a wave of sickly green essence. The earth crumbled, life withered, and the air filled with the desperate screams of thousands. The haunting echoes of their agony chased him deeper into his nightmares, leaving him no escape.

***

Hump felt like he’d been trampled by a horse. Every muscle throbbed, his limbs were stiff, his chest was cold as if his blood had thickened into icy sludge. He took a deep breath, wincing as the stiffness lingered. After a few minutes of self-pity, he forced himself up, careful not to disturb Nisha, wanting to get started on recharging the Silver Sprig, and desperate for a drink and some food. He was famished. When they’d arrived, he’d hardly eaten, but now he felt like he could eat a horse.

Quietly he made his way out of the room, pausing by a window as he passed. The sky was still cloaked in darkness, but hints of dawn were beginning to brighten the horizon, casting faint hues of blue and orange.

Hump wandered down to the kitchen, where leftovers from yesterday’s meals still sat on the counter. He helped himself to a generous portion of bread, cheese, and cured meats, barely tasting it as he wolfed down each bite. As he chewed, he glanced out through the sliding doors that led to the garden and paused. Bud sat alone outside, his back straight but his shoulders hunched, eyes fixed on the fading stars above.

Curious, Hump went to join him, stepping onto the wooden deck where the knight was seated.

“You okay?” Hump asked.

Bud glanced at him, and Hump caught the glimpse of pain in his friend’s hollow eyes—a look so lost that it unsettled him.

“Did you sleep?” Hump said, concerned. “You look terrible, and I mean beyond needing a haircut.”

A small smile touched Bud’s lips. “I slept. Woke up about an hour ago.”

“And thought you’d enjoy the sunrise?”

Bud nodded. “I needed some time to think.”

Hump took a seat on the deck beside him, taking another bite and staring at the slowly rising sun.

“The world feels like it’s upside down,” Bud said eventually. “All these years, I have trained to fight the evil of this world, only to find that evil has pervaded even that very top of our people. I cannot think of what could drive Godfrey to such depravity. And you were not wrong with what you said—the very fact that he forsook his oath to Lady Light means that for whatever reason, something is keeping the gods from interacting with us directly.”

“Why is that?” Hump asked.

“It must be. It’s obvious. If Lady Light could have stopped him, she surely would have.”

“I can certainly see the logic there,” Hump said. “There are two explanations I can think of: Godfrey could have been acting under the orders of Lady Light—”

“Absolutely not. This betrayal is too deep. What could it possibly achieve? Even if it meant that Godfrey was able to locate the strongholds of the warlocks and bring them down, it would not be worth the damage he has done.”

“I agree,” Hump said, nodding. “Which leads me onto my second idea: Godfrey found a method to conceal his intentions from Lady Light until it was too late.”

“Impossible. We Chosen share a bond with our god. Kelisia is a part of me, and my soul is bare to her.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

Bud chuckled, though there was no humour to him. “I wish you could experience it. You would understand if you did. The light Kelisia grants me… it is so warm. When I feel her shine through me, I know everything will be as it is meant to be.”

“Still terrifying,” Hump said. “But that aside, it does raise some questions.”

“Like what?”

“For one, if a Chosen forsook their oath, I assume that they would lose their blessings.”

Bud nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Well, after this, that’s not so clear. Godfrey killed the queen, and then fought his way out and escaped. Obviously, his powers remained.”

Bud furrowed his brow. “How would that be possible?”

Hump shrugged. “Circles and blessings are embedded directly upon the soul. Most likely, they remain. In which case, Godfrey would only need a new way to power those abilities to replace his connection with Lady Light.”

Bud frowned and shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense though. He was a ninth circle Chosen. It’s impossible for a mortal—even one as powerful as him—to utilise such powerful blessings without the divinity provided through his connection to Lady Light.”

Hump hesitated. The opportunity to share what he knew with Bud was tempting, but the knight was obviously sensitive to such a topic. But perhaps if he didn’t say everything outright he could test the waters, and get a feel for how Bud might react.

Bud noticed his pause and his face hardened, eyes narrowing in frustration. “What?” he demanded. “If you’ve got any ideas, tell me, because for the life of me I cannot imagine what would turn someone from their oath. This is no simple job—Godfrey dedicated his entire life to Lady Light and Alveron, and he was rewarded for it. To throw that all away…” Bud shook his head. “I simply cannot imagine it.”

“What if… What if Godfrey discovered something? Maybe the gods were not entirely forthcoming with their reason to select their Chosen and grant them blessings.”

Bud let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. “Always with the conspiracy theories. This is ridiculous, Hump, even for you.”

Hump chewed on his gum. “What if it’s not entirely baseless?”

“What do you mean?” Bud narrowed his eyes. He pounded a fist against the deck. “Kelisia grant me patience, what in the world are you saying?”

“Don’t say her name now,” Hump warned, glancing nervously at the sky.

Bud scoffed. “Oh, now you’re worried that she’s listening?”

“Yeah. Cause if she is, I really might get smited.”

“Enough. Out with it, man. What aren’t you saying?”

Hump sucked in a deep breath and met Bud’s eyes. For a few seconds, he lost himself to his thoughts. This may very well end their friendship. It might do more than that—it might make an enemy of the best friend he’d ever had.

“I’ve come across multiple sources,” Hump began, trying to phrase it delicately, “all indicating that the blessings Chosen receive aren’t the boons we think they are, but rather, they are bindings designed to control a person’s soul. To stop them from progressing, and to preventing them from ever ascending to be gods themselves. The circles, the blessings—they act as chains. Chains that bind people with talent to the will of the gods, so they can rule over us indefinitely, with no challengers to their authority.”

Bud’s eyes shimmered. He clenched his jaw so tight Hump thought his teeth might break. And Hump’s heart hammered so hard, he wondered if he’d just made a terrible mistake. He could have talked with Celaine. He could have waited and thought this through properly. Instead, he’d let his emotions get the better of him. So much for wizard’s logic.