Curselock

Chapter 16: Respite

Leland was the first to awaken. He sat up, his body feeling like mush that had been ground in a mortar and pestle. Slowly he looked around, feeling the wind in his hair, smelling the iron of blood.

Oh right, he thought. The battle.

Slowly he looked around, finding Glenny and Jude both breathing easy but not yet conscious. Leland slipped his ring of regeneration off Jude placing it on Glenny’s finger. He wasn’t sure if the Chameleon Lord’s internal organs were damaged but from the look of the Berserker Lord, his wounds had all but healed.

It was then, across the lush plateau, Leland spotted movement. Near the single tree close to the cliff’s drop off, was a young man. His clothes were disheveled and ruined, his leg wet with a particular liquid, and blood leaking from the back of his head. His hands and feet were also bound, frozen solid in a block of heavy ice.

Standing with a grunt, Leland got to his feet and started over. It was then he saw the absolute fear in the young man’s eyes. Tears welled in dried ducts, he shivered with something other than cold, and he clambered away as his savior drew close.

It was then Leland realized Onryo had no clue who he was, after all why would a noble look to the filthy commoners he passed on the street? Why would he interact with them? He had a bodyguard to protect him from that. But now that man was dead.

“I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Leland Silver. My parents are—”

“The Inquisitors Silver!” Onryo blurted out, relief shining through his wide eyes. “I thought our case was passed to another team?”

“Your case?” Leland asked, chipping away at the block of ice with his pocket knife.

Leland followed his gaze, finding the butchered corpse of the last remaining Icewillow. “No? We just came across the dungeon entrance and recognized your guard. I’m sorry for your loss by the way.”

Onryo’s face didn’t change, he simply waved off the statement. “So what? You three are just adventurers?”

“Yeah. Three friends in the right place at the right time to help someone in need.”

“I will have to write a letter to the head of the Inquisitors then. That thing over there should never have come into contact with me. In fact, I should have received notice that he was even within one hundred miles of me.”

Leland saw that as a bit self-centered but held his tongue. Instead he split the ice around a trapped hand, freeing an icy blue appendage.

“Looks like you are going to need some anti-frostbite pills. Might be a special order in Liontrunk but I’m sure one of the many alchemists will have the reagents in stock.”

Abruptly, a black flame sparked in Onryo’s hand. The young man held it out, threatening Leland with a magical attack.

“Tell me who you are or I will blast you!” he yelled. “The truth this time!”

Leland sighed, his posture slumping like a loose custard. Was this really the time to do this? He supposed it was, actually. Glenny and Jude were still passed out, now would be the time to strike first. That was if Leland actually had ill intentions and if the black fire was deadly.

The flame was nothing but a ruse, Leland knew. It was an illusion, a simple hoax, the most basic spell of the Lord of Spirits, which just so happened to be Onryo’s House Legacy. The heatless fire had important properties when fully realized. But the low ranked version being shoved in Leland’s face was nothing but a parlor trick at this point.

“Ah!” Leland said. “Spirit Fire! I’ve never seen any myself, until now I guess, but the rumors are true! It does tickle my mind a bit. I don’t want to look away!”

Onryo’s face fell. “But you can look away?”

“Indeed.”

The spell fizzled away.

“If it's any consolation, I didn’t lie to you. I am the Inquisitors Silvers’ son, and those still asleep are my best friends who I trust with my life.”

Last thing Leland wanted to do was give Onryo a reason to look at Glenny any differently. Explaining their connection could prove worrisome for both parties.

“I… see…” Onryo finally said, Leland still chipping away.

Soon a second hand was free, two feet coming along not long after. Once out and away from the ice and cliff, they ventured part way to Glenny and Jude. The frostbite slowed the young Master, but he was able to fully walk, albeit painfully.

“This seems close enough. Wait here,” Leland commanded.

“What? Why?”

“In case you try to harm someone again, it won’t be the sleeping ones.”

Onryo froze. “I’m not going to try that again. You would have killed me already if you were going to. And I don’t think I could stop you from kidnapping me.”

Leland rolled his eyes and walked off. He reached Glenny, slapping his face lightly while swiping his ring of regeneration back.

“Huh? Wha?”

“Hey there sleepy head. It's time to wake up and grill us some breakfast. Surely its day outside the dungeon by now.”

Still groggy, Glenny squinted with an irritated eye. “I take it we all survived?”

“Quite. I don’t know how much longer Jude is going to sleep though. I figured it best to let him wake naturally.”

“Oh right, Jude…” Glenny’s eyes befell the deep breathing giant caked with dried blood.

He shifted away, trying hard not to wake the man. With the human weight off his chest, Jude moved in his sleep. Then he started snoring. Both Leland and Glenny frowned but said nothing.

“Packs are by the stairs. Also, wave to our tagalong when you walk by.”

Glenny perked up at the words, his vision going out long. He sighed deeply, swallowing pent up nerves as he went. He waved but his eyes found the mangled body of his mother’s killer. He stopped cold, replaying the glorious memory of the kill over and over again.

Then tears started forming. He hid them well from Leland, walking off towards the obscured staircase while taking his time to retrieve his pack. Killing the Witch that ruined his family was a good thing? Right? Right? …right?

Droplets fell from his eyes when he asked himself a question. Why do I still feel guilty? Why do I still burn inside?

Leland returned to Onryo, tossing him the ring of regeneration. “Put that on, it will help with the pain.”

“This isn’t a trick right? I’ve heard about taking magical items from strangers. I’m not that gullible.”

Rolling his eyes and saying nothing, Leland started cutting the grass with his pocket knife despite the young Master’s muttering. At some point things became silent except for Jude snoring. Glenny eventually came over and started a fire. He roasted cuts of lion, his eyes low and tired.

“You know,” Leland began, making sure to keep his voice naturally positive. “Staring at a fire isn’t good for you. Why don’t you check your gains from the battle. Mine were quite something.”

Glenny thought for a long and hard moment, eventually agreeing and summoning the mirror of his Lord. He stared at his reflection.

“You okay there? We are going to need you in fighting shape, Glenny. We’ve still got to clear the dungeon.”

Onryo’s head flipped to Leland. “W-what do you mean?! We can’t leave through the entrance?”

Leland shrugged. “We could, but I’m inclined to keep going. There should only be one more boss. One more boss with the loot of years of monster breaches.”

Glenny’s eyes slowly widened at the implications. He smirked. “Can we do it?”

Leland laughed. “Of course we can. I’ve got my magic, Jude’s got his axes, and you’ve got something even more special.”

“I do?”

“Of course. You’ve got your tongue!”

Glenny just stared at his friend, disbelief repeating the statement over and over again. He watched Leland’s smirk turn into something more, something evolved. Then he heard brisk laughter. But it wasn’t coming from the man in front of him, but rather the man behind. Jude, fully awake and sitting up, laughed like a maniac.

“See? Even Jude thinks you’re special.”

Glenny’s face hit his palms. “I’m going to murder both of you in your sleep.”

That caused Jude to laugh even harder. Leland spoke up, “It’s not that embarrassing. The trademark ability of the Legacy of the Chameleon is very useful—”

“Useful at catching bugs out of the air!” Jude screeched.

Glenny looked to Leland who simply shrugged. “That’s one of its many uses, yeah.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“What? You can’t believe you strangled a man with your elongated tongue, or that we are teasing you about it?”

Glenny deliberated for a moment, a smile appearing briefly before a pout smothered it. “Both, I guess. It was traumatic and now you are both making fun of me? My two best friends in the whole world? Making fun of me during such trying times?”

Jude’s smile fell and he hopped to his feet. Leland, however, became suspicious. Then Glenny shared a wink with the Lord of Curses, thus solidifying the plan.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Glenny. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just that the ability is really cool, albeit weird… and I suppose I’m a bit jealous. Like, the coolest thing I can do is jump really far. Even Leland can summon birds! Why can’t I get anything cool like that…”

Leland’s eyebrow was raised like Glenny’s.

Jude continued. “I really am sorry. I didn’t realize you were insecure about your ability. I thought that, well you know, since your mom and everything…”

“’My mom and everything?” What does that mean?”

“E-eh, just that- err, that she’s really amazing and famous and stuff. And you two share the same Legacy, so I thought that… I mean…”

Leland started laughing, which broke Glenny’s composure. Both boys laughed hard, especially when Jude’s face twitched with uncertainty.

“Oh,” Jude finally said. “That’s not very funny. I thought I really did hurt your feelings.”