The figure’s robes were covered in glyphs that were hard to discern from a distance. He came to a stop dozens of feet away from us, robes swaying slightly in nonexistent wind, his face covered by a hood.
But his hands, with long, furry fingers clutching a wand of some sort, were quite visible.
From out of the trees on either side of the figure came floating orbs of gray flame. They came to a stop on either side of him, though their gray flames didn’t reveal much more about his appearance.
Nimbus turned to face the hovering figure, thumping his foot against the mud. “Who are you? Did you set this trap for Aaron?”
“Not for the boy specifically, no,” said the hooded figure with a shake of his head. He glanced at me, though I still couldn’t see his face under the hood. “But upon scanning both of you, it appears I was fortunate to catch the Codexer rather than you. That Inscriptionist Discipline … it could be problematic.”
“You scanned us?” I tried to get into a more comfortable position in the netting, but it was a losing battle, so I gave up on that fairly quickly. “Are you a Codexer?”
The hooded figure wrapped his fingers around the shaft of his wand tightly. “Don’t insult me with that word, boy. If I wasn’t using this puppet, I would strike you dead where you stand.”
“Technically, Aaron isn’t actually standing at the moment,” said Nimbus, glancing up at me. “He is being suspended above the ground by that weird netting that you presumably set as a trap for him.”
The hooded figure snorted. “The net was originally a trap for you, rabbit, but as I said, disabling the boy’s Inscriptionist Discipline is most handy, I would say.”
I managed to draw my stylus from its holster despite the awkward position I was in, but when I tried to cast a spell, I got a strange error notification informing me that I couldn’t cast any spells thanks to the glyphnet holding me. “glyphnet?”
“A simple trap that you can purchase from most Codex merchants,” said the hooded figure. He gestured at the netting around me. “The runes inscribed on rope negate all spellcasting from Codexers under a certain Chapter. This particular glyphnet was designed to ensnare Codexers at Chapter Two or lower, so you won’t be able to use any spells to defend yourself or your Codex Beast.”
I grimaced but realized that the hooded figure was probably telling the truth. I had never heard of glyphnets before, but the notification I got in response to trying to cast spells while inside it was all the proof I needed that he was not lying to me.
Nimbus, however, hopped in front of me and his forehead started to glow with a golden sheen. “Aaron might not be able to cast spells, but I think you have forgotten about me! Arcane Pulse!”
A golden bolt of mana erupted from Nimbus’s forehead and hurtled toward the hooded figure like a lightning bolt.
The hooded figure, however, just waved a hand and one of the gray flame orbs rushed in between him and Arcane Pulse. Nimbus’s bolt of mana struck the orb head-on, but the flaming orb did not get knocked down or backward from the attack.
Instead, the fiery orb hung in midair for a second before it glowed gold and unleashed a blast of golden energy that heavily resembled Arcane Pulse. The energy blast hurtled through the air toward Nimbus but Nimbus jumped backward at the last second, avoiding a direct hit.
The energy blast slammed into the muddy path in front of us and exploded, sending mud flying into the air all over the netting and me. I sputtered and spat mud out of my mouth as it fell all over me and the netting, getting more of its gritty and slimy texture in my mouth.
While I coughed out as much of the mud as I could, Nimbus peered around me and growled. “What the Sheol was that?”
The hooded figure gestured at the gray flame orb hovering in the air before him. “This is a Bleakflame Wisp, typically used for training new Codexers in non-dungeon areas. Its special ability allows it to absorb and cast the last spell used on it back at its foe, often stronger than it originally was. They make great shields, in case you just realized that.”
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Nimbus and I had seen those Bleakflame Wisps hovering around the forest on our way to the exit, but we hadn’t gotten close enough to scan them because we didn’t want to risk a fight. It looked like we had been wise to do that, though now it meant we had no idea how to deal with them.
Fighting our way out of this situation wasn’t an option. A glance at the timer showed me that we had about 50 minutes left before we failed to leave the room. That meant that we still had time to figure out how to escape from this man’s trap.
Thankfully, I had the throwing knives from the last room in my inventory. If I could just get even one of them, then I could probably cut my way out of the netting and escape.
But there was no way I could do that while our mysterious captor was watching. I needed to buy time to pull out a throwing knife from my inventory, so I decided to keep him talking.
Looking at the hooded figure again, I asked, “You said your current body is a puppet. Does that mean that this isn’t actually your true form?”
The hooded figure sneered at me. “You are correct about that. The puppet I am currently manipulating by its strings is one of the dungeon bosses that would have spawned when you and your rabbit reached the end of this room before the rest of your Party. I would have entered this dungeon with my actual body, which would have made it infinitely easier to complete, but you and your friends ruined our plans for this dungeon and you didn’t even know it.”
I blinked at the hooded figure without understanding. “What are you talking about? We were the only people who entered the dungeon.”
The hooded figure scoffed at me. “There is more than one way to enter a dungeon, you know. I had been preparing for weeks to enter this particular dungeon, analyzing its every detail, preparing to complete it, but fate screwed me over and let you fools enter before me. Because of the rules regarding newly discovered dungeons, that meant I was locked out of the dungeon until you four manage to either complete the dungeon or die trying. That’s why I am angry with you. Despite being such a weak Codexer, you have somehow managed to ruin our plans without even trying.”
I swayed in the netting, which must have been attached to the ceiling of the room somehow, though the ceiling was too high up for me to see it. It didn’t help that there was a lot of fog overhead, too, so I wouldn’t have been able to see it either way. “We weren’t intentionally trying to screw you over. We were just trying to escape from the bandits trying to kill us.”
The hooded figure nodded. “Oh, I am well aware of the bandit known as Wolfbrand and his corrupted Forbidden Discipline. It amuses me that you think he is that scary, but I suppose you are all very weak. To my people, however, he might as well be an annoying gnat who is lucky he hasn’t gotten squashed yet.”
I raised a questioning eyebrow at the hooded figure. “Does that mean that your people are going to take care of him for us?”
The hooded figure shook his head. “He isn’t worth the time or effort to eliminate, and besides, even gnats can be useful. If he succeeds in his plans, then that will create an opening for us to take advantage of. But even if he fails, our plans can still continue, so we won’t be bothered either way.”
I scowled at the hooded figure. “What are Wolfbrand’s plans? What’s he planning to do to the North Forest Codexium?”
The hooded figure waved a hand dismissively at me. “It doesn’t matter. You aren’t going to live long enough to see what he’s trying to do, anyway. At least, once I am done with you and your rabbit, of course.”
I bit my lower lip and shifted my position in the netting again, though it did little to make me feel better. I was mostly doing it to put my right arm behind my back so I could pull out a throwing knife from my inventory without the hooded man seeing. With a thought, I reached into my inventory and pulled out one of the throwing knives, gripping its smooth wooden handle with a tight grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nimbus glance at me briefly but fortunately he returned his attention to the hooded figure, perhaps realizing what my plan was. I probably should have communicated telepathically to Nimbus, but I didn’t want to divide my attention between two different conversations at once and risk the hooded man noticing.
As I spoke again, I started trying to cut the netting as silently yet quickly as I could. “Again, I’m sorry that we got this dungeon before you. But you clearly know the rules about new dungeons better even than we do, so you know that if we complete the dungeon, the rewards will be ours. And, I mean, I get that you are upset about not getting the rewards from a new dungeon, but you can always try it again after we complete it. I’m pretty sure that the dungeon gives achievements for the second people to complete it. Right, Nimbus?”
Thankfully, Nimbus did in fact seem to understand what I was getting at because he nodded, “Uh, probably, Aaron. I mean, whatever rewards you get for being the second person to complete the dungeon are probably not going to be anywhere near as good or rare or powerful or valuable or anything as the rewards you get for being the first to complete the dungeon, but it could be good for getting more Words to help you get to the next Chapter in your Codex, at least.”
The hooded figure glared at Nimbus, which was good because it meant he was paying less attention to me. The netting felt looser behind me, but I still needed to keep cutting it.
“Typical humans and your shortsighted Codex Beast companions,” said the hooded figure with annoyance in his voice. “I’m not interested in the dungeon’s rewards.”
Surprised, I briefly stopped cutting the glyphnet and looked at the hooded figure. “You aren’t? What other reason could you have for wanting to be the first to complete the dungeon if not because of its rewards?”
The hooded figure shifted his gaze back to me, and for the first time, I saw glowing white eyes within the shadowy hood. They did not look human at all.
“Because the Node Network must not be completed again.”
Codex Quest (The Codex Wars Book One) is now officially available for preorder on Amazon! Here's the link:
Release Date: July 15
?? Preorder Price: $0.99 (will be $5.99 after launch)
fully edited and expanded version of the story, plus additional improvements.