Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 7 Isaac Wexler.

The dark mage ran forwards out into the tunnel. Calling out to the woman he assumed to be a cleric he yelled “I’ll help what do I need to know about the monster?!” She startled, almost missing her next spell ‘oops’ the man thought and continued running towards the monster.

“Petrifying eyes, tough scales, tougher teeth.” She called in between spell chants. The warrior grunted as he dove out of the way of the monster’s snapping jaws. Another golden bolt slammed into the beast’s face. The mage ran towards the other side of the monster to help split its attention.

As he ran he pushed his magic to cover him in shadows completely. He hoped that it would help him blend into the ambient shadows and go unnoticed for at least a little while. Risked a glance at the monster’s face. He was now on the side not facing the cleric so its eye had gone unmolested.

He noticed that the eyelid was open but the eye seemed to be unfocused and dim. He saw his opportunity and dove for it. He lunged at the eye and grabbed his shortsword with both hands. He thrust it as hard and as deep as he could into the monster’s eye.

The monster roared and thrashed its massive bulk as soon as the blade made contact. By a twist of luck, or maybe a god of fate, the beast had been hit in the opposite eye a fraction of a second before he struck. It thrashed into his oncoming sword helping him stabbed into its brain.

The creature flailed, Its front leg stomped. Its massive paw came down inches from the mage’s foot. Its claws however caught part of his armor and went through them like butter. Two buckles blew apart in an instant and a gash a few inches long formed down the mage’s side.

“Fuck!” He yelled and jumped back, leaving his sword hilt deep in the monster. His focus faded and the shadow cloak dissipated slightly. He took a few more steps back holding his side. “Okay I think I did my part.” He whispered to himself and then started walking back towards the cleric.

About halfway there he pulled his shadows back in to conserve mana. He looked back at the monster to see the warrior still harassing it but it was rapidly losing energy. It was functioning on wrath and pain and little else. It must’ve had some serious brain damage at this point.

He could feel a connection with it but he couldn’t quite place why. He hadn’t felt it with the shadow-wolves but he hadn’t exactly had a brake to stop and think with them. Maybe it was because the monster was a creature related to his mana somehow. At least that’s what he felt instinctually.

He turned back towards the cleric and stumbled. He was losing blood and not slowly. “By the gods are you alright?!” The woman yelled and hurried over to him. “Hold still I have enough for another heal or two yet.” She moved the tip of her staff near his wound and chanted a spell in a soft whisper.

“May the blessing of my goddess heal this mortal’s injury.” A soft glow emanated from the staff and a golden strand reached out and touched the mage. He felt his wound stitching itself back together. It wasn’t pleasant but it was better than dying. He grit his teeth.

“Thanks.” He got out after a moment of steadying his breathing. She nodded to him and then turned back to the monster. He shifted slightly so he could see it too. They watched as the warrior was standing on top of it stabbing his halberd down over and over again. It wasn’t moving.

“We should be thanking you. Your assistance was greatly appreciated. I take it that’s your sword stuck in its eye?” She asked and turned back to him. He nodded and took a slow breath. He could finally breathe without feeling like he was going to pass out from the pain.

“Yeah. I should probably get that when your friend is done… uh… making sure it’s dead.” He replied. He turned to look at her. The first thing he noticed was her eyes boring holes into him. Then was her sharp features and pointed ears. “Is there something on my face?” He asked and smiled awkwardly.

“Sorry.” She looked away then back again. “I’m Aria Tr’Bore and that is Claus son of Rock. You are?” She asked in a formal voice, her eyes still sizing him up.

He started for a second. ‘What is my name? I don’t remember. C’mon think. Okay just pick something. “I…Isaac Wexler?” He said not very convincingly. ‘Shit now she thinks I’m lying. I don’t even know if I am lying. That name just felt right.”

“Uh huh… Well, Isaac. Thank you for the help.” She said cautiously. “What can we help you with?” She asked.

“Um, well, I was passing through and saw you two fighting. I figured that if you didn’t kill it I would have to fight it alone and I didn’t like those odds so here we are.” He replied honestly. He hoped his straightforwardness would garner some trust.

“Pragmatic.” She replied. He shrugged. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you out here?” She probed, squinting her eyes.

The mage, Isaac, figured a little honesty might help him get them to take him the rest of the way back to town and spoke: “One thing led to another and I woke up down here in a cave somewhere with little more than what I have on me and I didn’t even remember my own name. Isaac Wexler sounds right though.”

Her eyes opened wide. She seemed to be able to read him like a book for the most part and could easily tell he was telling the truth. “Okay let’s do a ritual to see your Status.” She recommended.

“What’s a Status? And what is this ritual going to do to me?” He asked, taking half a step back. The thought of some random magic he didn’t understand being cast on him was not a pleasant one.

“It’s an Identify ritual. I’m a cleric of knowledge so it’s kind of my thing. It will send some mana at you and probe for information like your name, strength, class, and other things like that.” She explained. “It’s entirely harmless and afterwards we can see if Isaac Wexler really is your name.”

“Am I going to have to do anything for this ritual?” He asked cautiously.

“No. I’ll just need you to sit in the circle for a few minutes once it’s ready.” She replied, smiling and nodding her head.

“Well… alright. But what about your friend that was turned to stone?” Isaac asked. They both looked at the statue of a young human man whose face was locked in a state of shock facing where the creature now lay dead.

“I would turn him back but that’s too high a spell for me. We’ll have to CAREFULLY bring him back to town with us and have a higher level cleric turn him back.” She stated somberly. Aria turned back to Isaac. “Let’s get this ritual over with and then we can all head back.”

“O..kay. What do you mean by higher level?” He asked while she got out a piece of chalk and started drawing a large elaborate sigil on the ground in a relatively flat area.

“How did you go invisible?” She countered, not looking up from her work. The warrior jumped down from the monster corpse and over to Isaac’s sword.

“I went invisible?” Isaac asked, confused for a moment. The warrior yanked Isaac’s sword from the corpse. “You mean like this?” Isaac asked and shrouded himself in shadow. The warrior started over towards them.

She looked up. “Yes. How did you do that without a spell chant? Most magic requires them. Shroud and Invisibility both being ones that do. Oh I guess I should explain. Shroud makes you invisible but only until you make contact with another living creature or mess with mana of any kind. Many thieves love the spell. Invisibility is constant as long as you are concentrating on it and have the mana to keep it up.”

“I don’t know that’s just how it works for me. I just focus on how I want my mana to move and it happens.” Isaac replied. She just stared. The warrior stopped a few feet away.

“Isaac?” She asked with concern clear in her face and voice. Isaac pulled his shadow mana back inside and reappeared.

“Huh I responded but I guess you couldn’t hear me. This magic stuff is weird.” He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah as I said I just kinda focus on the mana and tell it where I want it to go. I don’t really know how it works, it just does.”

The warrior, Claus, grunted and handed Isaac his shortsword back. The blade looked like a dagger in his massive hands. Aria just shook her head and refocused on her ritual.

“Thanks big guy. I’m Isaac Wexler. At least I think. Nice to meet you.” Isaac said and wiped some of the blood off the sword on his non bloodied side. Claus just nodded and turned to look at the statue of their third party member.

“Alright go ahead and sit in the middle of the circle. In about five minutes an illusion will show up depicting your Status and we can read it together.” Aria stated and stood up dusting herself off. “Claus, help me rig up something to carry the kid. It was his first mission too. This is a shitty start to his career. “

“Alright.” Isaac said and carefully stepped into the center of the ritual circle and sat down. Claus and Aria didn’t wait. They quickly moved towards their stone comrade and began tying ropes and unlit torches together.