Isabella tried infusing Gaius with a fraction of her divine energy, but nothing happened.

  Still choosing to remain outwardly optimistic, Gaius said, "Talk about rock-hard, right?"

  "Now you decide to be fearless?"

  "You know what they say, every woman wants her man to be a rock. And I'm not very good at metaphors."

  Gertrude's arrival saved Gaius from having to hear Isabella sigh at his jokes.

  "Let's put those geomancy skills to a real test, shall we?" Gaius said.

  "Ah, so because I said I maybe could reverse a recent petrification, you decided to take it as an assurance?" Saying that, Gertrude sounded like a teacher whose ace student just failed a simple test.

  "Trust me, it wasn't the plan. Getting to see a master at work is a nice bonus." If there was one thing universal to all wizards, the amount the praise they received never equaled to the praise they thought they deserved.

  "I'll see what I can do," Gertrude said as she watched the rock overtake Gaius' chest.

  She opened her pouch and produced a handful of stone charms that vaguely resembled humanoid figures. Gaius could definitely feel magic in them. Understanding it was way beyond his ability.

  Gertrude surrounded Gaius in these charms, leaving two for herself. Those she started to wave above Gaius in what resembled a shamanistic ritual way more than it did an act of measured Mystlund magic.

  The power emanating from Gertrude was undeniable. Almost immediately, each of Gaius' limbs, even the ones already encased in stone, started to tingle with a low, electric buzz.

  He watched the petrification process slow down and even recede back down to his waist. It stopped there. Gaius raised his eyes to see Gertrude faint.

  Absorbed with watching the brown line of rock encircling Gaius move, Isabella barely managed to catch the wizard. She helped her stay upright, but it was clear that Gertrude didn't have enough strength left in her to finish what she started.

  Gaius was already working on his last words when Alessia entered his field of view. The witch had a misty vial in each of her hands. She exchanged silent looks with Gertrude, and as soon as the wizard gave her a nod, Alessia opened the vials with her teeth and placed them right under Gertrude's nose.

  Thick, vaguely lavender vapors escaped their glass prisons. They curled around Gertrude, who inhaled them with the voracity of a starving man at a feast.

  Without delay, her frame got firmer and livelier. She stepped away from Isabella and redoubled her efforts.

  The rock retreated down to Gaius' shins when the vials exhausted themselves and Alessia had to replace them with another one. This one got Gertrude through to the end, end even left her with enough vitality to help Gaius get up on his feet.

  Esven stepped into the illuminated part of the cavern, his movements deceptively clumsy once again. With the arbalest strapped to his back, he took a moment to admire Victor's clean chop.

  "I may have gone a bit overboard with mine," Esven muttered. "But you did well, kid. That leap was something else," he added in his usual cheerful tone. "And that wife of yours? Where'd you nab yourself a witch like that?"

  Esven followed up his words with a burst of booming laughter. Victor replied to that with a stifled growl before shuffling off.

  Gaius, who was observing this from a safe distance, tried a few practice steps to make sure his legs worked. He then hobbled towards Esven.

  "The kid's entire world view relies on his old lady being an herbalist. An honorable individual like him would have nothing to do with a witch, you see," he whispered while shielding the captain from the northerner.

  "So he's going around, pretending she's a delicate flower worthy of his pure affection?" Esven was clearly not approving of such approach.

  "The kid's not an idiot. He's pretending to be pretending he doesn't see how things really are. And we humor him. Because he's big. And because if we don't, his wife will hex us."

  "As herbalists are known to do," Esven snorted.

  "Now you're getting it," Gaius nodded.

  "You crazy foreigners with your crazy ways." Esven shook his head. And after a quick glance towards Alessia who was silently watching this exchange, addressed Victor again. "We don't get too many northern herbalists here, kid. My apologies."

  "Good," Victor said while wiping his axe's blade.

  With that out of the way and with Esven right in front of him, Gaius moved his face closer to the captain's. The mirrored surface of his shades could definitely explain how Esven survived his encounter with the basilisks.

  "Told you I was fine," Esven said, tapping the glasses. "Never underestimate the goddesses and their artifacts, brother."

  Gaius was working on an appropriately biting response to that, when Esven asked, "You're the map guy. How long till we catch up with Lucius?"

  "You mean till we reach his last known location? Shouldn't you know that?"

  "It's one thing to read a report. Actually being here is another beast entirely."

  "What do you mean reading a report? I thought you gave me your notes."

  "How stupid do you think I am? After Lucius disappeared and I was appointed to replace him, no way would I succumb to the same insanity and follow him down here," Esven said, apparently missing the irony in his words. "No, I was sending adventurers and mercenaries in my stead. I figured the different handwriting would give it away."

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  "And I figured you had multiple scribes to write down your adventures," he said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. The best I can give you is we're probably close."

  During this snappy exchange, the others gathered around the two of them.

  "What exactly do you mean by probably?" Gertrude asked.

  "You see, my good wizard, whoever drew the map shared the captain's infatuation with those two goddesses and their shapely figures, and spent way more effort on drawing them in various provocative positions than on producing an accurate map. And while that explains Esven's choice vocabulary, it doesn't really help us find our way this deep underground."

  "What's our move, then, boss?" Victor asked.

  Isabella was the first to reply. "All this adventuring stuff is new to me. I'm more used to shining Sister Moon's light on threats to the faith, not dealing with beasts that can kill you with their gaze. But it seems to me, all we need to do is keep going down. And once we see certain death, we'll know we're there."

  Giving the knight a peck on the cheek echoed by Alessia's annoyed groan, Gaius took point again. The others fell in line. They were getting used to following him.

  Acting as a leader was a new thing for Gaius. When he first became Gaius the merchant, he masked his natural aversion to taking risks with cowardice, something most merchants were guilty of.

  But there, underground, he once again had to strain his flexible psyche to become the guy who got things done. Someone the rest of his group could use as their beacon.

  And now that Isabella expressed so well what they needed to do, he had no choice but to be that leader and act as if she mirrored his own thoughts.

  Gaius led the way, inspiring others with his cautious yet confident stride. That lasted a good quarter of an hour until he stopped by a natural wall and stared at it like it was the first time he's encountered such an odd geological wonder.

  His shoulder pressed to this wall, Gaius moved a dozen paces to one side, returned, and paced in the opposite direction.

  "What's the problem here?" Esven asked.

  "Remember when I complained about the map not being entirely accurate? Well, even if we account for that, there should be a tunnel around here. Beyond that tunnel is where the map ends and where your last report mentions a trace of Lucius. But as you can clearly see, there's no tunnel and no trace."

  The captain touched the wall and gave it a kick for good measure.

  "And you're sure we're in the right spot?" Gertrude asked, putting her nose right up to the wall and willing her light orb to illuminate a good chunk of it.

  "I may not look like it, but I can read a map without getting distracted by a bunch of scantily clad goddesses," Gaius replied. "If it's anywhere close to correct, the tunnel should be around here."

  "Then stand aside." The wizard wasn't so much asking as she was stating what was going to happen. She shouldered Gaius and Esven away and leaned forward while chanting to herself.

  There were no visible effects to her spell. Gaius could still sense a faint trace of arcane energy emanating from Gertrude. He couldn't pinpoint the exact spell she was using, just that divination was involved.

  In about a minute or so, Gertrude stopped her chanting and turned back to the group.

  "Yup, there's a tunnel there alright," she said. "It's hidden by a solid chunk of rock. Come, look." She invited the others to join her and with her light orb focused just right, pointed at the barely perceptible border between the cavern's natural rock and the very much believable forgery of it blocking their way.

  "Seriously, what kind of savage blocks the way by erecting an actual wall. Just use an illusion like a normal person," Gaius lamented.

  "Illusions. Tools of fair magicians who can't conjure the real deal," Gertrude snorted.

  "Can you break through it?" Gaius asked.

  Gertrude gave herself a fair bit of breathing room again. Her fingers were exploring the surface of the rock like it was the most breathtaking thing and not a dull flat surface. "Why waste energy on that if you can instead do this." Gertrude's finger found a well-obscured depression. As she touched it, the newly-erected part of the wall slid back, opening up the very passage Gaius was looking for.

  Peering inside the tunnel that led to uncharted parts of Siembra's underground, Esven whistled. "That's mighty impressive magic, ma'am," he said.

  Gertrude turned to him and stated in a dry, academic tone, "Magic? Young man, a novice wizard knows how to use magic. A good wizard knows when to use magic. And a great wizard knows when not to use it. And far be it from me to espouse my own greatness, but there's nothing magical about locating a hidden switch."

  "I see." Esven stretched the last syllable to its limit while staring directly at Gaius.

  "You do?" Gaius asked, surprised by Esven's reaction.

  "Oh yes. It's a Mystlund thing. Must be. Your people love their clever little proverbs, don't they? And here I was, thinking you were just a bit of a pompous windbag."

  Gertrude was laughing with her eyes when she said, "Oh no, it's very much a learned skill. With so many wizards running around, it quickly becomes second nature to try and appear smarter than you actually are for any young Mystlunder."

  "Don't get me wrong, I love learning more about your country," Isabella said with her eyes on Gaius. "But what now?"

  "Now we follow your plan, rush in and hope for the best," Gaius said.

  "I liked it more the way I put it."

  "Same here," Gaius agreed. "So let's go and do just that."

  At this point, Victor moved forward. Or rather, Alessia prodded him along.

  "Here goes," the northerner said with everyone looking at him. "This Shadow, he started off as Lucius. Meaning he was a guy at some point. And this wall here, we can assume Lucius put it here to prevent others from stumbling onto his lair. This means there's got to be a lair somewhere down there. One likely undisturbed by anyone other than Lucius." He clearly wasn't used to being the center of attention. All this strategizing went counter to his recently adopted barbaric persona. "What I'm getting at is we just follow whichever tracks we find past this point and they'll surely lead us where we need to go."

  "I'm not very good at tracking people," Gaius admitted, omitting the part where he was quite adept at avoiding pursuit.

  "I can give it a shot, then," Victor said. There wasn't too much confidence in his words.

  Alessia came to her husband's rescue. "Don't listen to his mewling. Victor could track a snowflake in a blizzard. He just doesn't think it fits with his image."

  "I'm nothing compared to our hunters back home," Victor cut her off, proving her point in the process.

  "Go right ahead then," Gaius invited Victor into the tunnel. "I'll be right behind you and make sure you don't step into anything nasty."

  The northerner had enough trust in Gaius to give his undivided attention to finding traces of human, or at the very least humanoid, activity. Seemingly random scratches, barely noticeable impressions in the rocky surface, occasional droplets of moisture were all of great interest to Victor who followed a path visible only to him with his nose low to the ground.

  Moving side by side with him, Gaius soon heard the signature clang of Esven from behind.

  Upon approaching Gaius, the captain said, "This magic thing. It's something else." He threw a quick glance towards Gertrude. "How come you're not a wizard, like that lady over there?"

  Gaius asked Victor to hold on and took a moment to examine the path ahead. So far, everything looked like the same old cavern as before. He gave Victor a sign to go ahead and ordered his light orb to follow the northerner.

  "You watched one stone wave and my miraculous recovery, and suddenly you realize I'm no wizard? About time, I say," Gaius whispered back to Esven.

  "Maybe," the captain shrugged. "Having seen another Mystlunder in action, I can see that comparing you to her would be like pitting me up against an elven sharpshooter. An embarrassment for everyone involved. Now, back to my question, how come you're not like her?"

  "I know it's rude and all," Gaius said, "but how old do you think she is? About sixty?" Esven nodded. "Try more like two hundred. Wizards are notoriously long-lived."

  "And the problem with that is?"

  "The problem is that for all her advanced age, she probably graduated from the academy a decade, maybe two ago. And she'll be sending all her research back to pay off her dues for another hundred still. They don't just let you become a wizard in Mystlund. They make you work for it. And that's not my style. Give me one normal lifetime to do as I wish, and I'll die a happy man. No amount of power is worth all that hassle."

  Before Esven got a chance to share his thoughts on this rather philosophical question, the sound of Victor's voice put an end to the discussion.

  "I think there's something here."

  Story Facts - Chapter 32