Chương 53: Tim’s Rage

"Hold him down," Giddeon said as Tim writhed around. Alex's music wasn't helping anymore and he was on the verge of running, attacking, or most probably both. He'd quickly gone insane with rage when meeting up with Giddeon and Alex. Something in the mine was affecting him. Aaron and Paige held down one arm each, being careful to avoid the sharp claws on the ends of his fingers. They had grown in the hours between rescuing him from the jail tent and hiding in the cave.

There were several moments where Aaron thought Tim would break free. His strength and determination were unnatural, especially for someone whose body was weak and damaged from years of suffering with this curse.

"Hold his mouth open," Giddeon yelled at Alex, who quickly obliged. He pinched his nose and pulled upwards whilst pressing his forehead down. His neck extended, causing his mouth to fall open as he gasped for air. Seizing the moment, Giddeon opened up a small metal vial and poured it down Tim's throat. There was only a small amount of brown liquid inside, but it filled the room with a strong and sweet herbal scent. The effect was almost instant.

Tim's thrashing calmed down to a weak struggle, then stopped completely. His eyes closed and he snored as a thread of saliva dribbled down the side of his mouth. The four of them let out a collective sigh as the struggle ended. Cuthbert hopped up and sat on Tim's chest. He slowly rose up and down with each tired breath. Aaron felt exhausted. It was a relief that Giddeon had created this safe area for them to recuperate.

Giddeon had created a pile of rocks with his earth spirits, which looked like a cave-in near the main path. There was no risk of any peacekeepers reaching them for now. Although there was nothing stopping anything deeper in the mine from coming up. There were occasional screeches and whistles, but they sounded distant. At least for now.

"When did he start behaving like this?" Giddeon asked.

"Since we arrived at the farm, but it's been getting worse the closer we get to the relic," Aaron replied. Giddeon grunted thoughtfully.

"Then we need to be quick. If Tim was right, the relic is only a few minutes' walk further down the main path, or a little bit longer following this tunnel."

"We can't carry him asleep," Aaron said.

"No, we can't," Giddeon agreed, "he should be better after the sleeping potion wears off, especially with Alex's influence." The bard had been helping to calm Tim down, but the magic was weak without his lute. The hope was that over a couple of hours, it would amount to a meaningful effect whilst Tim slept.

"Then we have some time to fix whatever happened to Aaron back in the camp," Paige said.

"What happened?" Giddeon grumbled.

"We had to fight a Soulforger. He had an enchantment on his armour which drew attacks towards it, making it impossible to wound him. I drained some of the mana powering it and was able to take him down, but I've somehow incorporated the effect into myself. Any attack nearby homes in on me," Aaron explained. He originally wasn't sure what had happened, but his Curse Lore now gave him some insight into the effect. It was an enchantment, but designed for armour. When applied to a person, it was acting like a curse.

"Hmmm, that's not helpful. You need to get rid of that mana before it becomes a permanent part of your soul," Giddeon said.

"PERMANENT!" Aaron shouted, "How do I do that?"

"Segment that mana, channel a spell and use it on something. You'll transfer it into another object. It's similar to how Ectomancy works. We create souls within ourselves shaped from our mana and then push them outwards," Giddeon explained.

"Fair enough, doesn't sound too difficult," Aaron said as he closed his eyes and started channelling his Osteokinesis runes. His dagger would be a suitable vessel for the curse for now.

"Wait, not now!" Giddeon said, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking him until he opened his eyes. Aaron cancelled the spell.

"Why not? I thought you said it would become permanent. I don't want to be an arrow magnet," Aaron replied, in an annoyed tone.

"Because these creatures are attracted to your magic. Do you want an entire cursed mine full of cruel, distorted creatures knowing exactly where we are?" Giddeon said. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"No, you're right." Aaron was so distracted by the thought of this curse becoming permanent that he completely forgot about the danger.

"How long do I have to get rid of this enchantment on me?" He asked.

"Usually a couple of days. You'll know when you're running out of time because you'll start to struggle finding and segmenting the mana from the enchantment. Check regularly to be safe," Giddeon said. Aaron nodded. He felt reassured enough for now. As long as he could check regularly, he would be able to dispel the curse into his dagger if he needed to.

"How do you know about draining powers from enchanted armour?" Aaron asked.

"I've studied necromancers for years, I know how they work. Draining mana remnants not only gives you the mana, but can drain powers under certain circumstances." Giddeon replied.

"What circumstances?"

"When the power isn't bound to their soul, so enchanted armour, boonstones and so on," Giddeon explained. Footsteps echoed around them. They clanged with the sound of plate armour with each step and were accompanied by deep, booming voices. The four of them silenced themselves and looked at each other wide-eyed. The noises came from far away, probably from the main tunnel. The cave-in was between them, but they didn't want to risk giving themselves away by speaking.

"The bats must have cleared and they're patrolling the mines again," Paige whispered. The footsteps became more distant and the echoing voices faded away.

"Did you find out anything about the relic?" Aaron asked.

"It's some sort of cursed item of immense power. Probably made by a powerful Necromancer. Its magic has infected the mines and the land above, corrupting the creatures here into murderous, enraged beings. They're just like the corrupted spawned from dragon-scorched land, but there was no dragonfire here to burn Althea's spirit from it. Whatever magic is within that relic contains the same abilities as dragonfire to burn out the very soul around it. With regards to its appearance, I have no idea.

That's where you and Tim can help. Also in navigating the mine. I wasn't able to find out much about the tunnels." Giddeon said.

"I don't really remember much about the relic, other than it being large and shiny. But as for the tunnels, it's been a long time, but I think it will come back to me once we get moving. I can also sense the curse in the relic," Aaron said. Giddeon huffed and hesitated, "I never thought I'd have to work with a Necromancer to do my job. It feels wrong."

"Aaron isn't bad," Paige interjected.

"I know," Giddeon said, "but Necromancy is wrong. It spawns corruption and twists life into cruel and unnatural beings."

"Not my Necromancy," Aaron replied. Giddeon grumbled.

"Perhaps so. And maybe a Necromancer on our side is what we need to understand and beat this enemy at their own game. But don't think for a moment that I won't put you in the ground if you betray me." He glared at Aaron, but he got the impression that it was just to save face and keep up his tough facade.

"I'm here for my brother. As long as you are too, there is nothing I could do to betray you," Aaron said. There was an uncomfortable silence after that. Although Aaron sensed an element of respect and trust between them. Everything was on the table and they understood each other. Aaron interrupted the silence.

"I want to see if I can learn about Tim's curse. I have a new talent called Curse Lore and I'm hoping it will help us learn what to do when the time comes to cleanse the relic." Giddeon and Paige didn't respond, which didn't mean well for Aaron's confidence in them. They seemed distracted, eating and polishing their weapons. Aaron lifted his sleeping brother's hand and inspected his nails. Alex was still sitting with his hand on Tim's shoulder. He had his eyes closed in focus. The nails were black and long.

They didn't resemble human fingernails anymore, but instead were animalistic like talons or claws. They curved over in short hooks at the end. There were black fern-like lines running down his arms, from his nails to his chest and up his neck. His skin was thicker around his hands and wrists, resembling scales, or leather hide. It had a waxy feel and slight sheen in the light from Giddeon's orb.

Whilst the nature of the affliction was uncertain, Aaron was pretty certain that the origin was a Necromancer, given its relation to the relic and all the corrupted creatures in the area. He had suspected this was necromancy since Giddeon, a career necromancer hunter, got involved. But the thought hit him hard in their moment of downtime. He felt nauseous, and his heart raced as he thought about the implications of a Necromancer being involved.

Were they aware of Aaron, and could they sense his power like he could sense the relic? Is the voice in his head, which attacked his psyche a necromancer? And why would someone put such a cruel curse on a relic? To defend it or to spread corruption? Perhaps they even intended to corrupt and create more Necromancers. Aaron shuddered and pushed his thoughts aside to focus on Tim. The curse was that of corruption and transformation.

He was becoming a corrupted creature and the proximity to the relic was accelerating it.

"I wish I spent more time practising Curses," Aaron said to Paige, "I don't know enough and I have no idea how to cure him."

"It was more important to hone your other combat-focused abilities. Without your mastery over these creatures and healing abilities, we wouldn't have even made it this far," she replied.

"Leave the relic and curse to me," Giddeon said, "Cleansing the relic is simple. We destroy it!"

"Won't we just risk cursing someone else as well? It only messed with my magic when we attacked it," Aaron said.

"Yes, it will most certainly try to defend itself. We must be ready for a fight," Giddeon said.

"How will destroying the relic help Tim?" Aaron asked.

"When we attack the relic, the power in Tim's curse will be forced to return to bolster its defences. It will have no choice but to take it back. When I interrogated some of these soldiers, they spoke of organised attacks and intelligent corrupted beings fighting them. I suspect the relic is sentient. I'm confident that it will take back Tim's curse if forced to fight for survival," Giddeon explained.

"Okay, you seem to know what you're doing," Aaron said, although it was too late now to lose trust in the old man.

"And how come the soldiers haven't tried to destroy it yet?"

"Oh, I'm certain they have, but they don't have two light spirit-producing Ectomancers and a Necromancer," Giddeon said, grinning.