Journey to Volmyr (7)

Davish sits tiredly in a chair, hunched over, holding a warm mug of brew as the smoke rises toward his nose before being sucked in by them. Looking out a window that frames the clouds in the sky as they slightly part, allowing the sunshine to peek through.

"The storm's passed, one less issue to deal with...but I need that mine cleared; otherwise, we'll go bankrupt sitting around like pricks." Davish mumbles to himself.

Davish rubs his eyes and slaps his face, trying to keep himself awake. He finalises it with a hearty sip of his drink as it warms his belly, bringing a spark of energy back to his weathered body.

But peace is always short-lived.

"FOREMAN DAVISH!!! COME QUICK!!!" A Voice shouts from outside in panic.

Leaping to his feet, spilling the brew and burning his mouth in the process, Davish springs into action but not before stopping at the door and commanding back to the miners in the building.

"You lot watch our 'guests'. If they try anything, then kill them. Don't take any chances!" Spoken with authority, the miners nod in affirmation as Danish bolts outside, slamming the door behind him.

Outside, the damage caused by the storm is significant. Carts are broken, and buildings are damaged. It'll take weeks to bring it back to fully operational standard. However, Davish can see plainly why the miners panicked for him. The mine entrance that was barricaded up, keeping a layer of defence between the miners and the Kobolds, has been dismantled, with stray carts, wooden planks, beams and boxes thrown haphazardly, creating a gap just enough for someone or something to travel through.

Maintaining his composure as the foreman, a man everyone is currently looking at for guidance and reassurance doesn't waste much time deciding the best course of action.

"Right, check on the miners, make sure everyone is accounted for, then search every building top to bottom, cupboards, boxes under the god-damn building too; those little fuckers will hide anywhere they can."

Davish commands them away as he points for three miners to stay with him as the rest scatter around the mining encampment in a flurry.

"We'll stay here and block this hole back up. If any of the Kobolds got out, they sure as shit ain't getting back in." Davish says with hostility.

They begin hastily, albeit with difficulty, moving the heavy debris back to block the hole.

"How in Volmyr's name did those Kobolds manage to move these things out of the way? The storm would've blown the whole entrance open, so someone must've moved it; I didn't think Kobolds were this strong." Davish thinks, trying to understand the situation while straining and desperately moving the weighty beams and boxes.

A miner runs out from the building where the prisoners are stationed.

"Davish! One of the prisoners is gone!!" The miner shouts, his voice trembling in fear.

Davish drops the box he was hauling and turns to face the miner.

" Let me guess, That bastard, Garrick, that put his hands on me? And they ain't prisoners, only he is." Davish grumbles.

The miner nods while letting out a sheepish "...Yeah."

"Just focus on the Kobolds for now; he won't get far with his wounds." Davish says while waving the miner back to work.

"Must've slipped away during the storm, little bastard. Good riddance; hope I never see him again." Davish thinks to himself as a noise is heard from the mine.

The hairs on Davish's neck stand on edge as his body prepares instantly for danger.

"Did you hear that?" A miner asks.

"Get any weapon you can find, prepare for a fight!"! Davish shouts as he picks up a nearby pickaxe, gripping it tightly as the other three miners scramble for a weapon.

Another footstep echoes out of the mine as Garrick slowly comes into view.

"Y-You?! What the fu-" Davish angrily shouts before stopping abruptly.

Garrick emerges from the shadows of the mine, caked in a layer of blood with the head of a Kobold that is adorned with jewels and gold, throwing it at the feet of Davish. Garrick continues walking toward him before stopping a few feet away. Davish can only stare in shock.

"The Kobolds are dead. Now, get Kyra and Meetle in a warm room and looked after properly." Garrick weakly says with tired breath before collapsing.

Davish looks toward the mine before back at Garrick.

"There's no fucking way he cleared that entire mine by himself." Davish confusedly thinks.

"Uhh, foreman, what should we do?" A miner meekly asks.

Davish snaps himself out of it and focuses up.

"Right, you two, take him to Grensyl. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, so I'm gonna finish blocking the entrance, and no one moves anything until my say-so."

The two miners apprehensively and reluctantly grab ahold of Garrick, struggling to get a grip as their hands slide on the blood as they eventually manage to carry him away towards what would be the infirmary.

"Is this his blood or the Kobolds?" One miner asks the other.

"Do Kobolds even bleed red?" The other asks in response.

Davish shouts towards them.

"After you've taken him to Grensyl, move the woman and that gobby Gnome into the Infirmary with him."

The miners look back toward Davish.

"You got it, boss!" The miners shouted back before whispering to each other again.

"Davish is way too nice to this guy. Just last night, he strangled Davish, saw his face turn blue and all. Was pretty sure his eyes were seconds away from popping out their sockets." One miner quietly whispers to the other.

"You're an idiot. Were you even there last night?" the other miner retorts.

"Well, no-"

"Then shut up and stop spreading nonsense."

"That's what Branagan said!" He loudly whispers back.

"Just focus on your job and stop listening to Branagan; the guy loves to gossip, whether it's true or not." The other responds.

They disappear out of view into the infirmary.

With two having left, Davish and the other miner work twice as hard to block up the mineshaft.

"You think he killed those Kobolds? There were at least a dozen of those things in there." The miner asks nervously.

"Speak up, Joseph. If you got something to say, then just say it. I don't know if he cleared the mine or not, but we'll find out soon enough when either the guild gets here now that the storm is cleared or when I round up enough people willing to venture in there with me to find out the truth." Davish says with annoyance.

"It's just-" Joseph replies, but Davish cuts him off.

"You do a lot of talking, kid. I'm assuming that means I can count on you to join me in that mine when I gather people?" Davish snaps back at Joseph.

"Well..I..uhhh..." Joseph struggles to reply.

"Exactly. So shut up and stop asking questions." Davish replies.

After roughly ten or so minutes, Davish and Joseph finish blocking the entrance to the mine. They sit down and take a breather as they wipe the sweat from their brow.

"Stay here, Joseph and keep watch. I'm gonna round up some lads to venture in there." Davish calmly says. "And sorry about snapping earlier. This is just an ugly situation, and I'm the unfortunate bastard in charge of dealing with it."

Joseph chuckles a little before slightly smiling.

"It's fine, boss, nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry for asking too many questions." Joseph replies timidly.

Davish pats Joseph on the shoulder and nods as he leaves for the infirmary.

Despite the terrible circumstances, the weather is nice, peaceful and still, with the sun casting gentle warmth on his face.

Davish places his hand near the door to open it, but it swings open with force as he does. A miner stares at Davish and wastes no time speaking to him.

"Ahh, Foreman Davish! Grensyl needs to see you; it's about that guy." The miner hurriedly says.

"This can't be good." Davish drumbles back.

Davish enters the 'surgical' room of the infirmary. In reality, it's a spare room generally used for tools and storage, but since the Kobold attack, it has been emptied and used to perform more invasive procedures.

Blood coats the walls and floor, making it look like a horror scene. Garrick lays unconscious on the table, the clothes on his chest cut off, showing his chest and abdomen. Grensyl stands over him, blood up his arms and covering his apron.

"Davish, you're here, good. Come over here and see this." Grensyl hurriedly asks.

Davish walks over to Grensyl, seeing puncture wounds on Garrick's body that leak blood with every laboured breath.

"Yeah, he supposedly fought Kobolds; they have sharp teeth and can bite. You wanted to show me that?" Davish asks with confusion.

"No, not the wounds, the runes. I thought it was just a culture thing, but last night, I kept thinking about it." Grensyl says with astonishment as he points towards the slightly glowing runes that coat Garrick's body.

"The runes? They glow, but it's not uncommon for runes to help with magic." Davish says with a level of annoyance.

"Magic, yeah, but check this out." Grensyl says as he picks up a nearby square gem roughly two inches by two inches and has a deep purple colour.

"This is a gem used for powering basic machines like lights. Pretty expensive to recharge and generally not worth it for the average person to get. This gem is one from my fighting days long ago, was sitting around in a drawer, and this guy got my head thinking way back." Grensyl speaks fast, with anticipation and excitement.

"Calm down, Grensyl, I can barely keep up. I know what energy gems are; why is that important?" Davish asks, trying desperately to get to an answer that doesn't even interest him.

Grensyl holds the gem near a run on Garrick's body. It glows brighter and brighter before it becomes 'fully charged'. Grensyl hands it to Davish, who holds it in his hand.

"It's warm. How'd he charge this if he's unconscious? Doesn't a magic wielder need to concentrate on putting their magical energy into it for it to work?" Davish asks, his interest peaked.

"Exactly.

Even the most basic gems that can store magic still need someone to channel magic into them for it to 'store' properly." Grensyl says with shock.

"That's odd, but why is that so important that I need to know?" Davish confusedly asks as the gem in his hand gets hotter, eventually singeing his hand as he drops it.

"Ahh, fuck!" Davish yelps.

Grensyl places a metal bucket over the gem and pushes it to the corner of the room.

"Now check this out!" Grensyl says with anticipation as an explosion occurs under the bucket, blowing the sides out slightly.

Davish looks on in shock.

"What just happened?" Davish confusedly asks Grensyl.

Grensyl lifts the bucket, showing gem fragments scattered and lodged inside the bucket.

"I don't know how he is doing it. He's not conscious, but somehow, he isn't just charging the gems up, but he's exuding enough potent magic to 'supercharge' the gem, causing it to crack and eventually explode. You know what this means, Davish?" Grensyl asks, wide-eyed.

"No...what does it mean?" Davish asks..

"His magic is unstable." Grensyl plainly replies.

"Unstable? Explain it for an idiot like me, Grensyl. You spent time around mages; I didn't." Davish loudly replies, almost at his wits' end.

Grensyl takes a breath and returns to sewing up the puncture wounds on Garrick.

"Okay, so think of magic like stamina; both work the same way. We use stamina daily and eventually recover until we reach 100%; then, it levels out when we get our maximum limit. Magic does that, too. We expend mana, and when recovering, the 'mana pool' replenishes until we reach a limit, and then it caps out." Grensyl speaks faster again.

"So he's getting past 100%?" Davish asks, puzzled.

"You ask like it's normal. People can't do this; there isn't a way for magic to 'leak' like this. If someone's body doesn't stop producing magic at 100%, they end up turning into that gem over there. He is past 100% and still producing magic. Enough is leaking out It's causing gems to explode, so it's not a tiny amount leaking either.

"So he doesn't get near gems, and he'll be fine then." Davish asks.

Grensyl looks at him, offended at his reply.

"Keep him away from gems? You not listening to a word I'm saying? He is a magical anomaly; what is happening to him ISN'T possible. Mages have wanted to find a way to do this for centuries. Once you safely remove a limiter, you can infuse magic from outside sources and supercharge your magic."

Davish looks at Garrick, then back at Grensyl.

"He said he cleared that mine himself." Davish quietly mumbles.

Grensyl chuckles slightly in reply. "Killing a dozen or so Kobolds is light work for someone like this."

"Then why is he so injured?" Davish asks, perplexed.

Grensyl shrugs his shoulders. "He's young, so he might not be good at magic yet. It needs to be trained to improve, like running to improve our cardio."

"Okay, fix him up. I'm bringing his female friend and Gnome over here. Check on her when she gets here. I'm gonna get a group together to check that mine out." Davish says with authority.

End chapter.