Chapter 497 - Trials of the Lich Queen

Sorry this one was late. Caught a cold travelling, and combined with jetlag it just made this chapter really tough.

Small editing note - I've not mentioned Dylan's spirit companion since chapter 51 of Book 6. I added a few references to it in the edit for Book 6, and will need to include a few more in this book so far. But when Shimmer shows up, that's what it is.

Essence stones coated the deck like scattered jewels, shimmering with every colour Hump could imagine. They rolled gently with the breeze, clacking as they bumped into each other. The air buzzed with essence, tinged with the scent of woodsmoke, soil, and rain. While most of the stones were small and faint, all of them combined to fill the air was a constant power, and there were a few amongst them that shone brighter. Hadbur hadn’t been exaggerating when he said they could get rich off this.

“Hump,” Karo said, standing near the door. Acalin and the rest of his party were nearby, working with the crew to start collecting stones.

“What are you doing?” Hump asked.

“Watching for elementals,” Karo said, staff held loosely in one hand as his eyes scanned the deck. “The surge drives them mad.”

“Why would there be elementals here?” Prince Marcoff asked at Hump’s side. “We’re not—”

Before he could finish, the air rippled. Essence stirred, condensing into a single point. there was a flash of lighting as a body took form, its centre pulsing like a heartbeat. The wind screeched, a torrent of air exploding outward.

Essence stones scattered over the deck.

Marcoff stumbled back with a startled cry. He raised his arm to shield his face, the prince’s composure lost in the sudden blast.

With a thought, Hump cast Shield, the blue barrier forming before the doorway, sealing them off from the worst of the elemental’s fury. Lightning lashed against it, sending ripples across its surface, but its power was far too weak to be a true threat. Rather, Hump watched the creature through his spell, fascinated. It was beautiful. Intent and essence given form and consciousness. Hump had read about them in books and seen artistic depictions in old tomes, but he they were beings that many considered myth. He never thought to see one with his own eyes, let alone see its birth before him.

As the elemental began to get distracted and turn its attention elsewhere, he shaped his Shield to surround it, imprisoning it within the barrier where it could do no harm. It continued to lash out, seemingly not fully understanding its situation. The beings Hump read about had been said to have full sentience—the ability to speak and think. This one seemed lesser.

Nishari stepped out of the door and approached it, snarling. She leapt back and forth, thinking for Hump to release it and let her hunt.

“Not now,” Hump told her.

She glanced back and let out a long, high pitched whine.

“Why do you always want to eat things?” Hump asked.

“That’s what they do,” Celaine said. “Putting things in their mouths is how they learn about the world.”

“Good thing we don’t have elementals where we are,” Hump said. “Can’t imagine the wolf dragon population doing well if they started biting down on every one they see.”

“What do we do with it?” Emilia asked, stepping up beside Hump with the rest of the party.

“Kill it!” Marcoff said. “The creatures are dangerous, especially for a skyship. Thing might start a fire.”

“We do usually kill them,” Karo admitted grimly. “There’s no other way. They’re unstable.”

“Seems a shame to kill it,” Dylan said. “It’s just a little spirit. It doesn’t mean to hurt us.”

“You’re familiar with them?” Karo asked.

“Not elementals specifically,” Dylan said. “But it’s reacting the same way many things do when they’re surrounded by unusual things—fear, leading to it lashing out.”

“Whether it means to or not is irrelevant,” Acalin called over as he approached. “That little spirit will grow quickly. It wants these stones, and the more it feeds on them, the stronger it becomes. Give it a few hours and it’ll be strong enough to push me. A few days, and it might become a serious threat.”

“Let me try something,” Dylan said. “Can you let me inside, Hump.”

“Sure.” Hump opened the barrier without question, allowing Dylan to pass through.

“I really wouldn’t,” Acalin said.

Too late. Hump closed the Shield behind Dylan. The elemental turned its full attention onto the druid, lashing out with wind and lightning, but Dylan stood there taking it. Green essence rose from him, filling the space within the Shield until it encompassed them both.

“I can’t believe he’s just taking that,” Meli said. “I thought Dylan was more of a healer?”

“Not really,” Bud said. “If anything, healings one of his weaker aspects—at least in terms of emergency healing. When it comes down to a fight, Dylan’s as tough as they come.”

Dylan’s essence flowed from him in gentle waves, meeting the elemental’s wild power not with force, but with empathy. His presence seemed to calm the storm.

“There, there, little fella,” Dylan murmured, holding out a hand. “No need for that.”

The spirit twitched, confused. Another arc of lightning flared, but this one was weaker. Then it seemed to change. The whirling essence around its body dimmed slightly, its shape softening. The shrieking wind settled into a breeze that rustled Dylan’s hair and robes, and a vaguely humanoid shape formed of essence floated in the air before Dylan, the two face to face. Dylan knelt and picked up an essence stone on the ground, then held it out for the creature. It floated closer, then wrapped its entire body around the stone. Essence glowed within it as it quickly absorbed it, taking only seconds until there was nothing left.

Dylan grinned. “That’s better!”

Hump lowered his Shield, ready with another if the creature got angry again. “Now what?

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Acalin asked. “I’ve never seen one calm down after a surge.”

“Seems calm,” Celaine said. “Or at least curious. Better than angry.”

Dylan smiled. “Shimmer, come out.”

Essence shimmered in the air beside him, and in a burst of green light, his fox spirit appeared, perching delicately on his shoulder. Shimmer blinked once, then tilted its head at the elemental, nose twitching.

“Can you talk to this little guy?” Dylan asked softly.

The fox leapt without warning, energy coiling like a spring. Dylan jerked forward. “Not what I meant!” Dylan said, grabbing the fox out of midair and hugging it to his chest.

“Did Shimmer just try to eat it?” Celaine asked, deadpan.

Dylan grimaced. “Uh… yeah. Seems like it.”

“Maybe it’s hungry too,” Bud said helpfully. “Give it an essence stone.”

Dylan dug into his pouch and pulled out a small, faintly glowing shard. Shimmer snatched it from his fingers like a starving dog, the glow in its eyes intensifying as it drained the stone. Its whole body brightened, swelling slightly before settling again, content.

“Well,” Hump said, relaxing. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Try not to get eaten.”

As Dylan coaxed Shimmer to behave and offered more stones to the curious elemental, Hump moved across the deck to the metal cage bolted near the railing. He reached inside and retrieved the phylactery. It was a mirage of essence, shimmering like a rainbow trapped in polished obsidian.

Hump took it out and immediately heard Walt’s voice in his mind. “You scored, kid! Why didn’t you do this sooner?”

“First time I’ve encountered an essence surge,” Hump said.

“Well find another one. This will take me a while to stabilise. Give me a few days and I’ll show you around.”

“Got it. let me know if you need anything.”

The city of Nassuga still shone with the dome shield that surrounded it—a blue, translucent barrier that encompassed it entirely. Such a thing would have been impossible in Alveron, but here, Hump wasn’t too surprised. Urandel had a similar barrier, only he hadn’t seen it at full power. Yet even this had not been perfect. Though the worst had passed, the barrier bore the scars of the essence surge. In several places, it had fractured, letting enough of the surge through to set parts of the city ablaze. Scorch marks blackened white and brightly coloured rooftops, and smoke rose in places. But the damage hadnt spread far, the people of the city swift at putting out fires and repairing the ward.

Now with the surge over, like much of the deck of the skyship, the city had become a harvest ground. Even from the distance Hump saw tiny figures on the streets and rooftops. Essence stones glimmered faintly, scattered throughout, though they seemed far from as dense in number.

“The city shield absorbs a lot of essence from the surge,” Karo explained as they entered the skyport—similar to the others Hump had visited, it was built into the island’s edge. “It makes it so that there are far fewer stones, and those that do appear are fainter. Also the captain withdrew our barrier just before the surge ended. Always catch a few more that way, though it takes good timing. End it too early and the ship takes damage.”

Captain Hadbur advised them to remain on the ship that night, and Hump did just that. He had enough to distract himself with as it was. That evening, while Walt finalised his work on the new room, Hump snuck into the library so as not to disturb him. Using the Timestop Hourglass, he slipped into slowed time and worked in solitude.

By now, the library had become a junk pile of artifacts. Most of what he’d made was scrap, but every mistake taught him something. And slowly, steadily, his skill grew. The cluttered corner beside his enchanting table was stacked high with heaps of crude rings, copper bracelets, half-finished charms, worn boots, steel scraps, and essence stones drained of their power. Pretty much anything he could lay his hands on to test his inscription work. They were coming along well enough. The charms he’d made to maintain the illusion spell over his companions to make them look like altari never lost its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, most of it would remain her for a while. Taking things out of the phylactery was draining. One or two items were manageable, but beyond that it started draining a concerning amount of essence. So he let them pile up. Perhaps one day he’d melt them down and reuse the materials—better that than taking them out two at a time for the next year.

He was sitting cross-legged, recovering some essence following another two hours, when Walt finally appeared looking unusually pleased with himself. The little blue goblin like creature had a wide grin, his single eye beaming.

“Is it done?” Hump asked, perking up.

Walt showed his teeth. “Oh, it’s done. You’re gonna want to see this, kid.”

He led Hump through the grand hall toward the rear of the library, through a thick, rune-etched steel door that somehow Hump hadn’t noticed before.

“Was this always here?” Hump asked.

“No! It was a mirror before.” Walt practically bounced with excitement.

The door opened silently, green flames flickering to life in the chamber beyond, shadows still clinging to its edges, shrouding the walls. Yet from what he could see, they were carved with runes he did not recognise. And at the centre, a figure stood. Naked. Head bowed. Its bloated, greenish flesh sagged with rot, skin split and seeping. Silence and unmoving.

Hump’s eyes widened. “What is this?”

Walt pointed at a plaque mounted on the wall. “I’ve deciphered it. it reads:

“To my dearest daughter, Irila, on the day of your birth.

“I once told you that the world was not ready for you. The truth is, I was not ready to let you go. You are my blood, my joy, my pride. You carry my budding power, but that alone is not enough with enemies like ours. To walk the path of gods, you must endure, you must fall, and you must rise again.

“So I give to you this gift. These trials are for you to earn your strength and claim the freedom you so wish. Pass all three, claim your prizes, and you will not need my blessing,

“You will be your own.”

“That must be a message from Gius, Lich Queen Irila’s father,” Hump said. “We found his eye in her lair.”

“We did?” Walt asked.

Hump nodded. “I saw a vision from the eye of him being killed by Owalyn. He was a minor god of the plague.”

“That explains the plague zombie.” Walt laughed. “I told you it was good, didn’t I?”

“You did.” Hump returned his gaze to the plague zombie in the middle of the room. “I’m not sure how good though. I liked the library more without that thing in it.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Walt said. He pointed at another plaque on the wall nearby. “This one reads:

“Trial of Persistence: The flesh will rot, but one’s spirit must not. This spawn is born of my will, shaped from rot and bone. Strike it down and it will rise again. Hone your skills, sharpen your craft and find a way to truly unmake it.”

“Any idea how strong it is?” Hump asked.

“No idea! I prefer to leave that to you, kid. Good luck. Never know though, there might still be a prize in it for you.”

He had a point. Whatever the god had left behind, it might still be here. More likely, Irila had claimed it for herself, but there was no harm in attempting the trial anyway. It gave him a place to practice his magic at least. Somewhere he didn’t need to worry about destroying.

“Do you not find any of this strange?” Hump asked.

“Strange how?”

Hump shrugged. “This is a gift from a god to his daughter. Makes them almost seem normal.”

Walt laughed again. “You think this is normal?” he asked, gesturing at the bloated undead figure in the centre of the room. “He gave his daughter a freaky zombie thing for her birthday! That’s not normal, kid. How do you think he even made it?”

“No idea,” Hump said. “I’m willing to bet it was pretty grim though.”