As Delph spoke with Havel, Damien and Sylph made a beeline out of the town. They dropped by a store near the edge of town, where they were lucky enough to catch the man as he was peeking through a window. After buying supplies for another week of travel, they took to the road. The two avoided any people they ran into as they put as much space between themselves and the scene of the fight.
“What in the eight planes was Delph doing there?” Damien asked in a hushed tone.
“No idea,” Sylph said. “But it’s not good for either of us. Do you think he suspected… you know?”
Damien passed the question along to Henry, who let out a thoughtful hum. “I don’t know. Your professor is… interesting. I’ve reviewed several books in your library, but none of them had any mention of the magic he uses. He’s also strangely obsessed with both of you. The bigger problem is that I don’t know if we can take him in a fight, even if I took over your body.”
“Wonderful,” Damien muttered.
Good job, Herald. I don’t suppose you’ve got a solution for this? You can kiss any hope of stopping the Corruption goodbye if Delph realizes what you are.
The runes on Damien’s hand grew warm. He paused, then let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m just getting told to go find the next Corrupted monster.”
“Figures,” Sylph grumbled. “Although – what else would we do? I suppose we could stop and just train normally, but would that be okay?”
A stab of pain shot into Damien’s chest as Herald made its displeasure known. He staggered, catching himself before he could fall and letting out a curse. “No. Herald is very much against that. And, as much as I hate to say it, he might be right. We can’t let those monsters appear everywhere.”
“About that,” Sylph said, casting a glance over her shoulder before she spoke again. “Why was it there? Isn’t this thing supposed to work slowly? Overtly announcing its presence twice doesn’t seem to fit that at all. We can’t be the only ones hunting it now.”
Damien shook his head. “I don’t know. Nothing makes sense, but we know how to kill them and where to find them. All we can do is hunt as many as possible before the next school year. Herald will probably let me know in a very polite manner if something is going so badly with the Corruption that we’ve got no other choice.”
Sylph nodded. They continued along the road, superstitiously checking back on the town as it receded in the distance, but there was no sign of Delph. Before long, it receded into the distance.
They traveled until nightfall before setting up camp and sleeping through the night. The following morning, they followed the lead of Herald’s rune circle, making their way through the dense grass and towards whatever Corruption awaited them.
The days ground on, but there was no sign of Delph. Henry even checked the surroundings several times, but it looked as if the professor hadn’t bothered tracking them. The tension slowly left their minds, although some of it remained.
After around five days had passed, the green grass surrounding them started to turn brown. The sun grew hotter and the wind died out. What had originally been a pleasant walk quickly turned uncomfortable.
As they made their way through the yellowing plains, the runes on Damien’s hand grew hot. A few minutes later, he nearly fell straight into a thin gap in the ground. Sylph grabbed Damien, pulling him back to safety.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Damien said, squinting into the darkness below them. “Another one?”
“If it works, don’t fix it,” Sylph said. “I’m assuming this is our target?”
Damien moved his hand around, but it was a formality and they both knew it. It grew ice cold the moment he pointed it any direction other than the small hole before them. Sylph hopped down into it, sliding down the thin, rocky slope and vanishing into the darkness.
He slipped down as well, bumped into her back when he reached the bottom. Sylph steadied him and the two squinted in the darkness as their eyes slowly adjusted. Damien was completely unsurprised to find two pillars in the center of the dark room, each covered in runes.
Henry? I think you’re up again.
Henry gently took control of Damien’s body and directed him forward. He inspected the pillars, then brought a mote of purple light to Damien’s finger and started to trace it across the rough stone.
“This is interesting,” Henry said through Damien’s mouth. “The damage is in the exact same locations. Not only were these portals damaged by someone, but it’s likely that it was the same person.”
“More mysteries. Wonderful,” Sylph said. “I almost miss when the only problem was killing someone before they killed you.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get a chance to do that pretty soon. I’m expecting Herald to pop us out right in front of the Corruption again, so be on your feet.”
Sylph nodded. Henry finished drawing the runes and sent a pulse of Ether into them. A purple portal crackled to life before them, drawing in the air in the room with a loud woosh. Henry returned Damien’s body to him as he and Sylph both jumped forward, vanishing into the portal.
They’d gone through the room much faster than they had with the first one, not even bothering to inspect it too closely. Behind them, the portal flickered and faded away. The room fell back into darkness.
Several moments passed. A small ball of gray light formed in the corner, behind a large fallen rock. The rock shimmered, shrinking downwards and growing humanoid features. The stone turned to armor and a tattered cloak as Delph appeared where it had sat.
“Well done, Havel,” Delph said, brushing the dirt from his legs. “One of your finer concealments. I assume you picked up what I did?”
“The boy has an incredibly powerful companion,” Havel said. “It was controlling his body.”
“But not involuntarily, I think,” Delph said. “It gave control back to Damien as soon as that portal was repaired. They’re working together.”
“Was that it, then? The companion defeated the Void I detected?”
You are reading story My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror at novel35.com
“That’s possible,” Delph said, pulling his armor down and peering at the stone in his chest. It crackled with energy. “But that’s not all of it. There was no reaction before Damien and Sylph passed through here. Damien hosts the Void.”
“Well, shit,” Havel said. “That’s not good, boss.”
“Thank you for the apt analysis of the situation,” Delph said, pulling his armor back on.
“So, what now? Report to the Dean?”
“Absolutely not,” Delph said, scoffing. “The Dean is a bumbling fool with the power to destroy a nation. He’s worthless for anything with any degree of subtlety required, and we don’t want to demolish the kingdom trying to defeat Damien. We don’t know just how much power that companion of his can draw, but attacking it head on would certainly be a horrible way to find out.”
“Who, then? Can the two of us handle this alone?”
“Best not,” Delph said, frowning. “We need to determine the level of control that Damien has over his companion. We’re thinking of the worst case scenario, Havel. But consider the alternative. If Damien dominates the Void creature…”
“He’s a kid, boss. It’s not possible. The Void is likely just letting him have free reign until it’s in position to execute its true desires.”
“We’ll see,” Delph said. “He could be what we’ve been looking for, Havel. I’ll not throw this opportunity away due to fear.”
“So what, then?” Havel asked. “I can’t reactivate this portal. Are we just going to wait for another surge of Void energy and then hope we’re fast enough to catch them?”
“No,” Delph said. He let out a heavy sigh and massaged his forehead. “We need a portal expert. It’s time to go see my brother.”
***
Damien hit the ground in a roll. He sprung to his feet, skidding to a stop inches away from a wall. Sylph appeared with a small flash beside him. A gentle breeze brushed through his hair as mottled sun shone down through the gaps in the towering forest canopy above him.
“Uh… is this the right place?” Damien asked, turning in a slow circle. They were surrounded by greenery. Soft moss covered the forest floor and the trees were spaced out enough that there was easy to see in the soft daylight. “Henry, do you see anything?”
Henry entered Damien’s shadow, rising up from the ground and crossing his arms. “Let me check. I’ve got my suspicions, but I want to confirm them first.”
He darted out into the trees, vanishing from sight within moments. Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance before making their way over to a large tree and sitting down. Neither of them let their guard down, but the delicate chirp of birds and the comforting the shade of the trees made it hard to imagine that the Corruption had been in this place.
Henry returned several minutes later, slipping up from between the tree branches and alighting on the ground beside them. “I don’t detect the Corruption. However, my suspicion was correct. Herald sent us to another location where a Void creature was bound.”
“Shit,” Damien said. “Is this one Corrupted too?”
“I can’t tell,” Henry admitted. “I didn’t get too close. As soon as I recognized the Void aura, I came back. I’m afraid we’ve got the same problem as with Harriot. The bindings are weakening.”
Damien pressed his lips together. “Fantastic. So if we do nothing, it escapes. Whether it’s Corrupted or not, that’s still bad news.”
“Wouldn’t Herald want them to escape?” Sylph asked. “If they weren’t Corrupted, that is.”
“Almost certainly,” Henry said. “Which leads us to the very likely chance that Herald believes this one is Corrupted as well. I believe the bindings have also weakened more than the ones on Harriot. This will not be an easy fight.”
“Do you think you can take over?” Damien asked.
“It’s possible, but dangerous,” Henry said. “As I am now, I’m barely putting any energy out. There wouldn’t have been a problem in the past, but if that professor of yours is still watching us, he might pick it up.”
“Do you think he followed us?” Damien asked, glancing around the forest.
“It’s hard to say,” Henry said, giving him a shrug. “He’s very good at hiding his location and seems to be able to travel at an incredible speed. I’ve been able to spot him before, but my senses are still muddled from your human spark. There’s also the chance that he’s allowed his presence to leak out at times, giving us the feel that we can detect him when we really can’t. If I was at full power, it would be no issue at all. However, with the current constraints of your body…”
“Gotcha,” Damien said. He rubbed his forehead and let out a sigh. “Then we might have to try to handle this on our own. You can obviously come out if there’s no alternative, but at least some of the bindings are still there, right?”
“Some,” Henry agreed. “But they’re much weaker than Harriot. I’ve got to wonder if this is happening to all of the Void creatures, or if its just some of them.”
“A question for Herald, maybe,” Sylph said. “If he’s able to detect the Corruption this well, it might be time to press for some more information. He should know if all of the Void has been Corrupted.”
“After this fight, then,” Damien said. “Let’s go. Lead the way please, Henry.”