Chapter 7

"Come, you two. You're both going to be fine, but you need all the rest you can get," she said, leading them up to two of the beds. "You won't be bothered here. Just lie down and call out for Granny if you need anything."

Damien and Sylph slipped into the beds, and Granny pulled the covers over them, clicking her tongue the entire time. After one final inspection, she nodded.

"Good. Don't get up until I come get you," Granny instructed, turning and making her way over to the patient she'd originally been helping, muttering under her breath the entire time.

Damien was in no mood to argue with her. The soft pillow welcomed him as he once again slipped into a deep sleep.

It was with little surprise that dreams didn't come to him. Damien found himself sitting on a familiar grassy hill. He was, as usual, completely naked.

However, his brain was functioning normally again.

With a thought, Damien's usual clothes sprang back up around him. He stood up, brushing imaginary grass stains off himself, and turned. Henry stood behind him, shadowy fire licking up his dark features.

Several eyes blinked at Damien's scrutiny, disappearing and popping back out at random places over Henry's body. The Void creature actually looked sheepish, if such a thing was possible for it.

"Thank you," Damien said. "I would have asked you to do this once my brain stopped spinning, so I appreciate you beating me to it. Are you going to start talking, or do I have to ask the questions myself?"

"You already know the answer to your biggest question," Henry replied.

"The Corruption was too fast. I didn't have time to wait for your permission to take over—you or Sylph would have been killed."

"And I'm not going to complain about you saving our lives. I'm not that stupid. But…how long? Have you been able to take control yourself from the start?"

"No. It wasn't until the portion of your soul started to meld together with mine."

Damien ran a hand through his hair. "So, your goal really isn't to destroy the world?"

"Not yet," Henry said. "I wasn't lying when I said there was too much I wanted to do. I am not Herald. But after what we just saw with the Corruption, I fear that we might have to change our plans. If the Seeds are already emerging, then this Cycle is farther along than I'd thought."

"We can worry about that later," Damien replied. "This might be selfish, but I'm more concerned about personal issues than the rest of the world at the moment. The contract I made with Herald doesn't apply to you in the slightest, does it?"

"Not at all," Henry confirmed.

"What have you done outside of my body?"

Henry's face rippled into a grimace. "Housekeeping, mostly."

"More specific, please."

Henry paused for several seconds. He considered Damien's words. Then he let out a sigh.

"The boy you fought—Jayce. He came to try and take revenge on you while you were unconscious. I took care of the problem before it could manifest itself."

Damien drew in a sharp breath. "Ah. Killed him, then?"

Henry nodded.

"You know, I should probably be angry or horrified about that," Damien said, scratching the back of his head. "But he was a raging asshole. If anything, the only concern I've got is you killing random people. I don't think anybody is going to miss Jayce. Does that mean you've corrupted me or something?"

"I thought you would have been angrier. Your younger self would have been shocked."

"My younger self hadn't seen half the things I have," Damien said.

"And I've nearly died multiple times. It twists the perspective a little."

"Not nearly," Henry corrected. "You did die once, when you met Herald the first time."

"Wonderful," Damien said, swallowing. "I'll unpack that later. Look, I appreciate your honestly. I'm well aware you could just lie to me. But please don't go killing anyone else unless it's absolutely necessary."

"You aren't going to try to get me to agree to a new contract?" Henry asked.

"Why would I? You've got no reason to take one, and I trust you, as dumb as that is. If you were going to go against me, you would have done it by now."

Henry tilted his head, observing Damien silently. The boy sighed and rubbed his nose. "We've got a bigger issue than this. Whisp knows that Jayce disappeared and has somehow linked it to me. Is there any possible way she could know what you are?"

"None," Henry replied. "She was nowhere in the area when I took care of Jayce. She's strong, but she's just a mortal. There's no way for her to have noticed me."

"It's not that surprising she figured out Jayce died or went missing considering she's the acting Dean. I suppose she didn't specify anything about him being alive or not," Damien mused. "It's possible she's hoping to get me to admit to something. I don't know. We just can't have her digging around in my head."

"I was thinking about that, actually," Henry replied. "There's a way to lock her out permanently."

"Keep talking."

"Runes," Henry said, pointing at Damien's chest. "Herald has the right idea. You might not be strong enough to resist her on your own, but runes are just gateways that guide the Ether through them. Your own strength is irrelevant. If we put a rune on you that deflects anything external that goes for your memories, it should stop her from seeing anything she shouldn't."

"Can't she just break through it? Runes aren't particularly powerful compared to normal magic."

"If it was just a blunt wall, probably," Henry said. "But if it was more like a slippery surface that made it hard for her thoughts to take purchase on you, it would be much more effective. She could probably break through it with enough effort, but it's much better than nothing. We're better off pretending its an ability I gave you than letting her root around in your head without putting up a fight."

"Works for me," Damien said, nodding. "I assume you've already got something in mind?"

"I do," Henry replied. "I've been musing over it for a while, but I didn't want to mention it in case she managed to pick it up. I've already got a rune circle in mind. It uses a lot of old, obscure runes that are likely to have been forgotten over the last few thousand years."

"Let's do it, then," Damien said. "We don't have all that much time before Whisp shows up. I've got some of the healing water from the school in my waterskin. Does it matter where you put the circle?"

"No, but the larger it is the stronger it'll be," Henry said. "Granted, this doesn't need to be very strong. It's not meant to take a full force attack."

"And I don't think I want to have it cover too much of my body," Damien said, tilting his head in thought. "Can we put it on my head, under my hair? Nobody could see it then."

"That would work," Henry said.

"Great. So that problem is solved, or at least delayed," Damien said.

"Now, on to the next one. What did you do to Sylph to save her?"

"I patched her up with pieces of the Corruption Seed," Henry replied.

"Then I broke her artifact and tried to bind her to the dead Seed instead."

"She's not going to turn evil or something?"

"Probably not, but I can't say for sure," Henry said. "This has never been done before. Ever. Millenia of existence, and I've done something completely unique. Isn't that fascinating?"

"It would be more fascinating if my friend wasn't at risk of turning into a rock monster who drools acid," Damien said dryly. "But I'm glad you did it. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if Sylph died."

"She's still got a chance to. If there's somehow some spark of the Corruption's control left, we're going to have to kill her. I'm on your side, but the Mortal Plane cannot be allowed to leave the cycle," Henry said, his tone turning grim. "Don't worry. I'll handle things if it comes to that."

"Thanks. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"It's not all bad, though," Henry said. "Her core has gone through quite the traumatic experience. Stuffing the Corruption's Ether into it likely expanded it significantly, and there's a very good chance she'll be able to gain access to some abilities that nobody else can. If she can control her new body, she'll be quite a powerful little mortal."

"Well, that's good at least," Damien agreed. "If it makes her stronger, Sylph might even try to find another Corruption Seed."

Henry scoffed. "You'll be lucky if another one even arrives on this continent. There is more than one landmass, you know."

"Somehow, that never even came to mind," Damien said. "What if the Corruption Seeds are already there?"

"It's incredibly unlikely. It takes time for them to arrive. The Corruption is not fast," Henry said, but he didn't sound particularly convinced.

"There's nothing we can do about it right now. It is very strange that not only did the Corruption arrive earlier than normal, but it arrived right next to us. That can't be a coincidence."

"The person who interfered with my summoning spell," Damien said, his skin prickling, "they're pulling strings again."

"It's a likely possibility," Henry said. "But what are they working at? I can't figure it out, and that irks me more than anything. I can't tell if they're on our side or the Corruption's."

"Or someone else's entirely," Damien said, pressing his lips together.

Henry shook his head. "Something we can worry about after we escape Whisp's eyes. It's going to take a minute for me to carve the runes into your scalp. You've already been sleeping for around an hour, so we don't want to waste much more time."

"Let me wake up," Damien said. "I'll ask to use the restroom, and you can do it there."

"Already on it," Henry said. The world started to fade with every word he spoke. "Keep an eye on yourself and Sylph around these mages. They seem friendly enough, but don't forget they're working with Whisp. I won't be able to do much after the rune since Whisp will likely be close."

Shadows rose from the ground and enveloped Damien. Something cold splashed against his skin, and he drew in a sharp breath, jerking upright in the white bed. He was completely dry. His mind still felt a little fuzzy, but it had improved significantly since he'd fallen asleep.

I really hate that sensation.

Henry let out a small chuckle and faded into the background. Granny spotted Damien as he looked around the room and shuffled over toward him with the help of her cane.

"Can I use the bathroom?" Damien asked before Granny could say anything, his words only a little slurred.

"Of course," Granny said. "Do you need help standing?"

Damien slowly swung his legs out of bed and shifted his weight onto them, leaning back over the bed in case they gave out from beneath him.

Luckily, he felt mostly steady. Damien slowly rose to his feet, then shook his head.

"I'm fine."

"That's great to hear," Granny said. She nodded toward a small wooden door at the other end of the room. "The bathroom is right over there" "Thank you." Damien made his way over to the bathroom, thankful that his travel pack was still slung over his shoulder. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him, locking it with a click.

A sharp pain erupted at the top of Damien's head. He grimaced, digging through his bag as the uncomfortable sensation traced lines through his scalp. He pulled the flask of healing water free and uncapped it, standing over the chamber pot and upending the flask over his head.

Damien grimaced as the cool water trickled through his hair and down his face, fighting with the burning sensation of Henry's handiwork. By the time he'd poured out about half of the water, the pain receded to a dull throb.

The water ran off his face tinted pink, which would probably make for an interesting discovery for whoever had to clean the chamber pot. It slowly started to turn clear again as flask emptied.

He shook the last few drops out of it, then capped the flask and put it back with a sigh. The pain had faded to a faint throbbing sensation that was almost unnoticeable unless he focused on it.

Damien shook himself off, rustling his hair to get as much of the water out of it as possible. Once he was satisfied that it didn't look soaking wet, he opened the latch on the door and swung it open.

He found himself an inch away from Sylph. She stepped inside, yanking the door shut behind her and locking it.

"Sylph?" Damien whispered. "What are you doing?"

"My companion is gone, Damien," Sylph hissed. "I need to speak with Henry."

"It's not safe right now," Damien replied in the same hushed tone.

"Whisp might be able to detect him."

Sylph's hands tightened at her sides, and she bit her lower lip. "Do you know what he did to me at least?"

"Kind of. He chopped the baddie up and used it like glue to fix you. He might have also smashed your companion to do so."

Sylph's eyes widened. "He what? How am I supposed to use Ether without my companion? I can't cast magic! I can't do—" Damien put a hand on her shoulder. Sylph closed her mouth and drew in a deep breath.

"Henry said you'd be stronger," Damien said. "Not weaker. The Ether is in a different form than what you're used to if I understood him correctly.

You just need to figure out how to use it again, but you'll be more powerful than you were before."

"Are you sure?" Sylph asked.

"He hasn't lied to me," Damien said. He paused for a moment.

"Recently. I think."

"Reassuring," Sylph said, but her face had relaxed. "Sorry. I was just scared that—" "You don't have to explain it. I know what you were thinking," Damien said. "I would have been just as scared. Just…keep an eye on if you're going nuts. There's a tiny chance you turn evil from this."

"Ah," Sylph said. "Well, that's great. Better than being dead, I suppose."

Damien nodded empathetically. Sylph turned, nearly smacking Damien in the face with her long hair and unlocked the door. She stepped outside, and Damien followed absentmindedly.

Granny caught his eye as the two of them left. She gave him exaggerated wink and chuckled to herself, shaking her head and turning back to a patient. Damien flushed, pretending he couldn't hear Henry's distant laughter deep within his mind.

The smell of greasy meat wafting through the door at the end of the infirmary brought a rumble to Damien's stomach. He and Sylph wordlessly made a beeline toward it. A small kitchen sat on the other side of the doorway, separated from a wooden table by a long countertop.

Simon stood before an oven, inspecting something within it. The others sat at the table, chatting amongst themselves. Tenbi raised a hand in greeting as the two students walked inside.

"Are you two feeling a little better?" Tenbi asked.

"Significantly so," Damien said. "My head doesn't feel like a bowl of scrambled eggs anymore. Granny works wonders."

"I'll say," Volt said. "I bet you guys are hungry, and I'd love to hear about what happened now that you can see straight."

Damien's stomach grumbled its agreement without waiting for his brain to approve it. He and Sylph sat down next to each other at the table. A moment later, Simon strode out from the kitchen area. He set a large plate of sliced bread and butter down on the table before everyone. The mage returned to grab two more plates—one piled high with a multicolored salad soaked in a brown dressing, and the other a cutting board with glazed meat piled high on it.

"I thought we were going to wait for Whisp to arrive," Tenbi said.

"She could have gotten here an hour ago," Simon said. "Whisp will show up whenever she wants to and not a moment sooner. No point waiting."

The rune circle on Damien's head grew warm. His lips pressed together, and Sylph shot him a worried glance. He wiped his expression and gave her a nearly imperceptible nod. A moment later, the air behind Simon crackled with dark purple energy.

A wormhole opened up, and Whisp stepped through it, her motley cloak rippling behind her. Her gaze swept over the room, pausing on Damien for an instant longer than everyone else. A slight frown crossed her face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"You're right about that, Simon," Whisp said. She sauntered over to the table and pulled out the chair beside Damien, sitting down and pulling the huge metal gauntlets off her hands. She set them down on the ground beside her feet.

"Wash your hands," Yaga told Whisp. "I know where you stick those things."

Whisp rolled her eyes. A wave of dark fire crackled over her hands and a small puff of smoke rose into the air as she incinerated anything that might have been left over on her skin.

"Happy?"

"No, but I suppose it'll do. Don't you have an example to set for the students?" Yaga asked.

"They've gone on a quest with me," Whisp said dismissively. "Nearly died from what Granny told me. They can live through me dropping the dean act for a bit. I'm not even the real dean anyway."

"Whisp," Simon said sternly, pulling out the chair on her left and sitting down. "Are you drunk?"

Now that he mentioned it, Damien did notice a slight flush in the woman's pale cheeks. She rolled her eyes. "Only a little."

"You need to lay off the bottle," Simon said wearily. "You've got a reputation to uphold."

Whisp just grunted. She grabbed a strip of meat with her bare hand and took a large bite out of it, curling her nose up at the disapproving glances from the other mages. Damien and Sylph both grabbed food for themselves, and the other mages followed suit.

"So, any idea what we went up against today?" Tenbi asked. "None of us have ever seen anything like it, and it was one tough bastard. Nearly killed me."

"And me," Yaga said, nibbling on an unbuttered slice of bread. "That acid was dangerous. If it wasn't so dumb, I don't think we would have stood a chance."

"I didn't get a great look at it," Whisp said. "Holding up the teleportation block over such a large area took up nearly every ounce of concentration I had to give. We're lucky there was just one of them."

"There were two, actually," Volt said. "One was apparently significantly weaker. It went after the kids, but it died after the main one did."

"Hm," Whisp said. "A younger one, perhaps? Or it had the ability to split itself. Do we have any idea why it was targeting children?"

"None," Simon said. "Nor do we know what happened to any of the people the creature got its hands on. I don't think it's anything good, though."

"Not the best topic for dinner," Tenbi said through a mouthful of salad.

Damien couldn't help but agree with her. He speared some salad on a fork that had been set beside his plate and shoved it into his mouth. The vinegary dressing was the perfect complement to the slightly bitter greens.

"Well, I'm sure the two of you are happy," Whisp said, glancing in Sylph's direction. "You earned a ridiculous amount of contribution points and all you had to do was nearly die."

"Not a bad trade," Damien said, watching his words carefully. The rune on his head grew warm again. Whisp's eyes narrowed. She turned away and grabbed a slice of bread, applying a healthy amount of butter to it.

"Are all of the high-level quests this difficult?" Sylph asked. "I don't know how much stronger we'll get in school, and I'm not confident I could defeat one of those things at any point soon."

"Not even close," Volt said, chuckling. "Most of the quests that students get offered are vetted to make sure they aren't too difficult. Don't get me wrong, they can be dangerous, but you should be fine so long as you aren't stupid. Blackmist doesn't want to kill you, after all."

"There's a shortage of good adventurers," Simon said, nodding in agreement. "Too many pompous nobles and upstart commoners. The front lines grow closer and closer to us with every passing day."

"I didn't know that," Damien said, blinking. "We're getting pushed back?"

"The monsters are getting more aggressive," Yaga said. "None of us fight on the front lines, but we've been called to assist more than once."

"Do you know why?" Sylph asked.

"It's hard to tell. We don't have a team strong enough that are willing to risk their lives on a scouting mission," Volt said. "At one point, there was a huge forest at the edge of the frontlines. The closer you get to it, the harder it is to use magic. The forest seems to have some effect on the Ether around it, and that gives monsters a massive advantage over us."

"Maybe stop scaring the kids," Tenbi said, pursing her lips. "They went through enough today. No reason to give them nightmares."

"They're students at Blackmist not toddlers," Whisp said. "However, I wouldn't go around giving away information like that to everyone. It might not be classified, but it's pretty close to it. We don't need the general populous running around like headless chickens because they think the monsters are coming."

"Judging by what we fought today, they're already here," Simon said grimly.

The worried look in the man's eyes was almost enough to make Damien want to tell him that there would only be four more of the Seeds, and it wasn't likely Simon would ever run into another one. Almost.

They lapsed into silence, and the rest of the meal passed quickly.

Damien felt Whisp's stare burning into him whenever he looked away from her, but he did his best to ignore the woman. Once they'd finished, everyone brought their dishes to the kitchen sink.

"Whelp, that was a fast quest," Volt said, rubbing his hands together. "I suppose we can do another sweep for the kids, but I don't think we'll find much. Do you need a lift back to Blackmist?"

"We'll be fine," Whisp said, walking back to the table and pulling her gauntlets back on. "It's a long-range teleportation, but nothing I haven't done before. I didn't drink so much that I can't use basic magic."

"Suit yourself, but I'd hardly call teleportation basic," Volt said. He nodded to Damien and Sylph. "It was a pleasure meeting the two of you. If you become adventurers, make sure to give us a note. If you managed to stay alive with one of those stone monsters on your tail, you've got to be quite skilled."

"Blackmist only creates the best," Whisp said, putting a hand on Damien and Sylph's shoulders. "But we should probably be going. We don't want to overstay our welcome."

The door swung open, and Granny poked her head inside the room.

"Ah. Leaving already, are you?"

"We got work to do, Mom," Volt said. "We saved you some food, though. It's on the counter."

"Good. It was my food you were cooking in the first place," Granny said. She gave Damien and Sylph a wide grin. "You two stay safe, okay?"

"We'll do our best," Damien said, trying to keep the flush from returning to his face. The woman winked at him.

"We'll be heading out as well," Whisp said. "Thank you for treating my students."

"It's my job, Whisp. It wasn't so long ago that I was treating you," Granny said.

"No," Whisp said thoughtfully, "I suppose it wasn't. Take care, Granny."

"Come by to visit more often," Granny said. She shifted her weight on the cane and smirked. "Just not too often."

Simon and the others raised a hand in farewell. Damien tried to hide the fear in his expression as he returned the gesture. Cold energy crackled to life around them, and purple light filled his vision.

Wind rushed past Damien's face so fast that his cheeks rippled. He squeezed his eyes shut, but that didn't stop purple twirls of light from dancing on the inside of his eyelids. His body twisted and contorted into strange shapes that shouldn't have been possible.

He slammed to a stop abruptly, staggering forward and nearly falling flat on his face onto the black stone beneath his feet. Damien drew in a gasp and tensed as his stomach turned over. Bile rushed up his throat, but he forced it back down with a shudder.

"I appreciate you not throwing up," Whisp said dryly. "My clothes are expensive."

"No problem," Damien said, glancing at the portals surrounding them.

He could see the tips of the mountains surrounding them in the afternoon sky.

"When do we get our quest rewards?" Sylph asked.

"Straight to the point. Admirable," Whisp said. "You can visit Auntie any time. The credits are already tied to your name, and she's got your gold waiting for you as well."

"That's convenient," Damien said. He yawned loudly. "Thank you for the quest opportunity, Dean Whisp. If you don't mind, I think I'm going to head back to my room. I'm pretty exhausted."

"Actually, I'd like to speak with you for a moment," Whisp said.

Damien's blood ran cold, but he kept his expression neutral. Sylph shifted to stand beside Damien. Whisp glanced at her, then nodded toward the portals. "This won't take long, Sylph. Damien will catch up with you in a minute."

Sylph frowned and shot a look at Damien. He gave her a small nod.

After one more glance at Whisp, Sylph turned and headed into one of the portals, vanishing. Whisp rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"It's not often that I see students bond as closely as you two have," Whisp said. "That's the goal of the living conditions, of course. But Sylph just looked at you to make sure you were okay with meeting me alone. The dean of your school, and she doesn't trust me. Isn't that amusing?"

Damien let out a polite chuckle. Whisp rolled her eyes.

"You need to work on your lying. That was horrible," she said.

"Sorry," Damien replied automatically. He grimaced, but the dean let out a small laugh.

"I'm not your enemy, Damien. You don't have to be so guarded around me."

If Henry hadn't been hiding, Damien was pretty sure the companion would have let out a loud scoff.

"Of course, Dean Whisp," Damien said. "Why would you say that? I don't consider you my enemy. You're the head of my school!"

"Standing head," Whisp corrected. "But that's not what we're here to talk about, is it?"

"I'm not entirely sure what we are here to talk about."

"Damien, you're not going to get anything out of playing coy with me.

You've done something that makes it hard for me to get deep into your thoughts, so you're clearly trying to hide something."

"Does this have something to do with that accusation you made regarding the missing student?" Damien asked. "Because I still don't know what you were talking about when you mentioned that."

Whisp blinked. She squinted at him for a few moments. "Hmm. Either you've done something incredibly effective at keeping me from reading you, or you're telling the truth. To be honest, I'm actually leaning toward the latter."

"That doesn't surprise me," Damien said. "Sylph can vouch that I didn't leave my room until we went to class, and she was with me that entire time.

I couldn't have done anything to another student, much less someone who nearly killed me the first time we fought."

"Yes, Sean told me about that. He would have been punished severely had he not mysteriously vanished. And, frankly, I wouldn't trust a single thing Sylph had to say about your location. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who offed the kid."

"Offed him? I thought you said he was missing?"

"We don't know for sure," Whisp said. "We'll find him eventually, one way or another. But are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?"

"I'm not sure what you want," Damien replied. "Honestly, I don't understand why you wanted me and Sylph to come on this quest. Aside from being bait, we didn't really do all that much. Threatening me doesn't seem like it was necessary."

Whisp pressed her lips together. "I suppose a threat probably wasn't the best way to do it. I had it on good word that you had to come on that quest."

"Really? From whom?"

"If you aren't sharing your secrets, then I won't either," Whisp said, chuckling. "I already said this, but I'm not your enemy. I can't make you talk without employing some methods that would certainly get me in trouble, so I suppose we'll leave things here. I hope you got whatever it was you needed out of the quest, Damien. If you decide you want to talk, just give Delph a shout. He'll put us in touch."

A purple portal churned to life behind the dean. She stepped backward into it, and the portal snapped shut, leaving Damien alone in the obsidian courtyard.