The Hedge Wizard

A banging echo rose from the depths of the dungeon, constant and ringing.

“It sounds like they’re mining something,” Emilia said.

“Yeah,” Hump said. “If it really is a dungeon or node that spawned here, which is seeming more and more certain, perhaps there are essence stone deposits.”

Hump strode forward, examining the imp corpse at the cave entrance in the light of his Burning Wisps. Small and red skinned, it appeared the same as those they’d encountered on the road to Fort Nordric.

“Or they’re expanding the dungeon,” Dylan suggested.

Hump glanced back at Dylan, brow furrowed in confusion. He’d never heard of such organised work from demons, let alone in a dungeon of all places. “Have you encountered this kind of thing from demons before?”

“On this scale, no.” Emilia shook her head. “But they take control of forts and organise raids to strike at vulnerable locations south of the river. And of course, they managed to assault Fort Nordric. But that was all combat—I never imagined they might be farming mushroom dungeons, let alone mining them.”

“Perhaps this node is more developed than Command suspected,” Bud said.

“Maybe,” Hump muttered, unconvinced.

“It all points toward strong leadership, doesn’t it?” Celaine said.

“More than that,” Hump said. “If this is really being cultivated as a food source, it could be a proper society.”

Dylan grimaced. “That doesn’t bode well.”

“All the more reason for us to destroy it,” Bud said.

The company remained outside while Hump and his party advanced into the cave as five. In the tight tunnels, they wouldn’t be able to make use of their numbers, and they’d be too exposed to traps. This way, they could confirm that it was safe for everyone else to proceed. Well, as safe as a developing dungeon could be.

Celaine took the lead as they descended, checking for traps and ambushes. With the shadows wrapped around her, it was like she glided down the slope, silent and weightless as a ghost. She was only a few paces ahead when Hump could no longer see her, even with the aid of the dark vision granted by his dragon blood and the light of his Burning Wisps.

Behind her, Bud and Dylan were next in line, while Hump and Emilia brought up the rear. It was a steep, spiralling descent. The tunnel was rough and textured—clearly chiselled out by hand. The same white tendrils they’d seen outside on the hill coated them like layers upon layers of cobwebs. If this was mycelium like Dylan seemed to think, then it was likely all connected and part of whatever lay at the dungeon core.

It hadn’t even been a minute until they found Celaine stopped and waiting for them up ahead. A web of the white tendrils blocked the tunnel ahead.

“Looks like it doesn’t like us being here,” Celaine said. “Not exactly the most powerful barrier though. If this is a dungeon or node or whatever, it must still be very weak.”

Dylan approached, inspecting the web of tendrils. They reached for him, twisting in the air like leeches, trying to find his body.

“Weak as they may be, it would be best if we deal with them now,” Dylan said. “They might be a problem if we come under attack, especially for the weaker members of our company.”

“I could burn them,” Hump said, directing one of his Burning Wisps at the barrier. The tendrils shrivelled back as its presence, trying to escape. Once it closed the distance, they blackened and burned, thick, acrid smoke filling the air.

Hump stopped. “Hmm. Maybe not the best idea. They’re easy to destroy but the smoke’s going to make it impossible for us to advance.”

“In which case, I can handle it,” Dylan said. “It might make whatever lies at the other end a little upset though.”

“What are you going to do?” Bud asked.

“For all this to function so far from the main body, essence and intent must be at play,” Dylan said. “I’m going to take it over.”

Dylan thrust his hand into the web of tendrils without fear. They wrapped around him hungrily, all the way up to his elbow. Dylan remained calm as he summoned the power of Krioc. Green essence poured from his arm and the tendrils gleamed with it. It spread, surging through them and spreading across all the tunnel walls around them in a surging wave, racing farther down the dungeon.

Soon, the entire tunnel was alight with Dylan’s power. The barrier blocking their way rescinded, shrivelling and collapsing against the walls like a dead plant.

“There,” Dylan said. “We should be good to proceed. There’s a presence in control, but Celaine is right about it being weak. Its intent was no match.”

“That’s very wizardly of you,” Hump said, grinning.

Celaine chuckled as she said, “You just need to stroke your imaginary beard and you’ll be a second Hump.”

“I think the credit there has to go to Master Vivienne.”

With the dungeon growths dealt with, they continued their descent, eventually coming to a hollowed out chamber. It was large enough that all thirty-four of their company could have fit inside comfortably, if not for the baskets and barrels against the walls on either side. Many of them were filled with mushrooms like those they’d seen above.

“This must be where the fellspawn store their harvest,” Bud said.

Emilia inspected one of the closed barrels, taking the lid off and finding it empty. “Can’t be the only place. There’s not that much here, and you notice how the banging has barely gotten louder? This place could be bigger than we thought.”

“Oh, it’s big alright,” Dylan said. “I can sense the node somewhere beneath us, but it’ll take us some time to reach it.”

“Brilliant,” Hump said. “Might be time to call in the reinforcements. If there’s other chambers like this, we’re going to need the help clearing them out or we’ll be here all day, and this will make for a good location to establish a base.”

“Hump, do you want to—” Bud stopped himself as the sound of scraping metal came from nearby.

They all turned to the tunnel as a fellspawn stepped into the chamber, ankles chained together. It walked with the lumbering, unsteady steps of an undead creature, its eyes fixed ahead, completely blind to them. In both hands it carried an empty basket.

Only once it was in the chamber did it stop and sniff the air. Its eyes were pale grey, with an even whiter slit pupil at the centre. For a moment, Hump wondered if it was blind, but then its eyes found him, a flicker of red gleaming within.

The creature screeched, dropping its basket and throwing itself at them in wild frenzy. Emilia drew her rapier from its sheath and pierced the creature through the eye and into its brain before Hump could even react. She plucked it back and flourished it, splattering blood from its blade across the ground and leaving it clean, then sheathing it just as the creature hit the ground.

“What delightful creatures,” Emilia said.

Celaine snorted. “At least they’re easy to kill.”

“No problem.”

With a thought, Hump signalled for Nisha to jump around at the cave entrance and let loose a burst of fire. He caught an image of the company watching her with surprise, and then she was racing toward them on her own. He grinned as she rushed into the chamber, slamming up against his legs in her excitement before sniffing the fellspawn.

“This time don’t eat it,” Hump snapped.

She gave him a cheeky look, tongue hanging out, though at least for now she listened.

With the company fully gathered, they entered the next tunnel where the fellspawn had appeared from. It was cramped enough that they could only travel two abreast, so they proceeded cautiously with Celaine scouting at the front.

Soon, the sound of more chains and activity came from ahead of them. Bud signalled for Henrietta to wait and then the five of them advanced, coming to a barn-sized chamber filled with a tapestry of mushrooms, from towering spires, delicate fans, spiralling orbs, and voluptuous umbrellas, each bathed in an ethereal luminesce. Amongst them, the slave fellspawn were at work, harvesting the mushrooms in baskets and barrels. The creatures trudged heavily, each step a struggle, burdened by chains between their ankles. There had to be forty of them at work.

Bud signalled for the rest of the company to follow and they gathered just inside the opening of the grotto, readying their weapons. As of yet, they were unnoticed by the fellspawn.

“There’s no other demons,” Celaine whispered. “We definitely saw an imp before.”

“Seems they’ve just abandoned these fellspawn to die.”

“That’s possible,” Bud said. “Demons are tricky though—it could be a trap. Though imps in particular are cowards. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they retreated deeper into the dungeon. They won’t want to fight us if they can avoid it.”

“Whatever demon leads them won’t let them hide forever,” Emilia said. “They’ll be preparing a fortified position. We’ve seen it often before. It only takes one smart demon to get the rest in line.”

Hump sighed. Monsters were always dangerous, but intelligent monsters even more so. He hated fighting in their territory, but theoretically, they were more than powerful enough to handle a situation like this. The dungeon itself had a weaker presence than Bledsbury, though the deeper they went, the more chaotic the essence within became.

“How do we proceed?” Henrietta asked.

“There are mushrooms here that could eat a person,” Dylan said, pointing at a particularly large one. “Don’t get too close.”

“Every one of these fellspawn must be purged,” Bud said. “Prepare yourselves. Celaine, Emilia, and Dylan—I want you to rush the tunnel on the far side. Block it off and make sure nothing makes it out. Henrietta and myself will advance with our frostfire activated, freezing the mushrooms around us. The rest of you advance behind us and avoid getting eaten by mushrooms.”

There were nods of affirmation all around. Celaine, Emilia, and Dylan advanced along the right, the druid in the lead and guiding them around any threatening foliage. Hump followed Bud and Henrietta on the left, weaving around mushrooms that grew in the way, most soon frozen solid in the presence of their frostfire auras. His left hand went to the large pocket of rocks at his hip, ready to go when the fellspawn noticed them.

Nishari stuck at his side, keeping perfect pace with him. Her excitement was enough that he felt it too, and he realised this was their first time hunting together. The thought sent a thrill through him.

They were halfway through the chamber when the creatures sniffed the air. A few turned in their direction, the glimmer of red filling their eyes as they screeched. The small, skinny creatures raced at them with nothing but their slender claws and frenzied rage for weapons. The sluggishness was gone from their movements now, but the chains around their ankles tripped some of them as they rushed toward them.

Dylan, Celaine, and Emilia carved a path down the right side easily, reaching the tunnel and blocking it off before the main fight began. Heavy infantry took up position ahead of Hump. He withdrew a handful of rocks from his pocket and started tossing them at the creatures using Rockshot, killing them instantly.

Then the creatures were upon them. They slammed into the heavy infantry, falling limply to their blades while the light infantry came around from the side, forming an L shaped line. The archers hung back, Beatrix calling for them to hold their fire. In a space like this, the risk of striking their own men was too high and clearly the fighters needed no help.

The massacre was quick and efficient. The stench of rancid blood soon filled the room, making Hump’s stomach churn. Still the creatures threw themselves at them, screaming as they died.

Nishari rushed forward, leaping at a fellspawn that managed to flank around the left of their line. She barrelled into its chest before Hump could stop her, the weight of her body crushing it to the ground where she tore into its throat. It died swiftly, its panicked kicks going still in mere seconds. Atop her kill, Nisha stood proudly like a cat with a mouse.

“Good girl,” Hump told her. Watching her, he felt conflicted, both proud at what she’d grown into, and sad at what almost seemed like a loss of innocence. She’d killed something—it was stupid. He knew that. She was a predator after all, but these fellspawn were humanoid. It just seemed odd.

Behind the battle, Celaine, Dylan, and Emilia harried the flank, carving their way through what remained of the creatures with ease. A woman screamed behind Hump, and he turned in time to see one of the smaller mushrooms grabbing at her foot, trying to swallow her. Before he could react, Gideon was there, hammering down at the base of it with his spiked mace and dragging the woman free.

Not a single creature escaped.

The fight was over in only a couple of minutes. It was the kind of slaughter that left Hump feeling wrong, even if it were a bunch of demons they’d killed. Clearly the creatures hadn’t wanted to be here either, but what else were he and the rest of the company supposed to do? Even the sight of humans drove the fellspawn into a frenzy. There was no negotiating with them.

While the others gathered the heartstones, Hump searched the room. There was a hollowed out section of wall near the back where he found a dozen pickaxes. From the rubble on the ground, it looked like they’d been digging out the grotto to further expand it.

Henrietta and Bud made short work of the mushrooms, freezing everything they could and creating a room of crystal statues. The air became cold and took on a mineral smell.

“That should kill most of them,” Dylan said.

“What we failed to kill will die off once we destroy the node anyway,” Hump said. “Better to save our strength than do anything more.”

It was just as they gathered to enter the next tunnel, that Hump sensed something strange. Essence—but he couldn’t tell where from. He looked around, seeing nothing at first.

“Something’s in here,” Celaine said, readying an arrow on her string. “I hear footsteps.”

Everyone looked around, searching for the source. A shuddering shook the room, the earth itself rumbling. Mycelium stirred above, wriggling like worms. Rocks and dust crumbled from above and Hump saw cracks appear.

He reached his essence to harden it and reinforce the roof, when a fellspawn appeared out of nowhere, standing right before them. It was larger than the others, its naked upper body bulky and stronger. It carried a barrel in its arms as it raced toward them.

Celaine shot it, and it fell to the ground screaming. Behind it, an imp appeared a moment later, breaking its own invisibility spell. It had a fireball already in hand and threw.

Hump raised his Shield on instinct, just as the fireball struck the fellspawn and barrel. There was a flash of light, the air thudded against Hump’s Shield. A thunderous boom echoed as the barrel exploded into pieces, smoke and dust hammering at Hump’s defences. The churning grew stronger, almost knocking Hump from his feet.

Above, a great tearing crack shook the room as the roof collapsed.