Mark of the Fool

Chapter 534: The Traveller

Was she really there?

For a time, Alexs mind seemed to freeze.

The battle had stressed it. The Marks punishment had pushed his nerves to the limit. Everything hed just learned from her book had filled his mind, bringing it close to being completely overwhelmed.

And now, this Alex sat cross-legged in the middle of a ritualistic circle, in a domain of the Endless Hells with the Saint of Alrica woman he prayed tofloating before him.

A woman whod died over three hundred years ago.

It was too much, and he wondered if his sanity had finally fled.

For her part, Hannah Kim looked just as confused as he did. She took in her surroundings like someone awakening from a long dream and spoke a single word hed never heard before as her eyes traced the circle below.

The symbols at the circles edge was what she seemed most focused on before her attention turned to Alex.

The woman startled.

And the young wizards mouth opened and closed like a beached fish. It cant beyoure dead. Baelin said nothing could bring back the dead. He said aloud, talking more to himself than to her.

Bewilderment clouded the Saint of Alrics expression. Her brow creased, and as her form flickered, dread fell over him again. And just for a moment, that feeling of something being close to him that shouldnt be, returned. He opened his mouth to speak.

But she spoke first, andthis timeher words were in the common tongue. Who are you? Where am I?

Silence.

Alex cleared his throat. Well, um, Im Alex Roth from Thameland. From, uh, Alric actually. You are Hannah Kim, the Traveller, arent you?

More silence.

Alric? she frowned at the burning walls around them, distrust clear on her face. These are the hells.

I know, I know, but things are a bit complicated. He pointed to the circle. See? We took your artefact from Kaz-Mowangs palace.

The Saint of Alric looked down, gasping when she saw her belongings. Her hands flew to her cheeks. Oh my goddesses, you found my phone!

Yeah, Iyour what now?

My phone. I thought Id never see it again, even if I did manage to come back. I cant believe this! Oh! She looked at Alex again, lowering her head and giving him a little curtsy. Im the Travelleroh wait, you used my name. Well, Im Hannah the Traveller. Thank you so much for finding my phone andfor bringing me back for a bit. You did what I have been trying to do forforhow long have I been dead?

About three hundred years, Alex told her. Were in another cycle.

Ohthat longIve been struggling for that long?

Struggling with what? Alex asked. I dont even know how this is possible, you tell

Suddenly, that dread spiked again. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Hannahs form flickered briefly, but a wave of divine calm flowed from her spirit, banishing alluneasiness.

My time will be limited, so we have to work fast. She gave him a warm smile. Im dead, so my questions dont matter as much as yours do, child of Alric. If you summoned my sword, that means you went through a lot of trouble to read my book. You know what it contains, and Im sure you have a lot of questions.

Yeah, but Alex paused. Okay, tell me this. How are you here?

His mind raced. Her spirit was back from the dead. Did that mean he could see his parents again? Could Selina?

The Traveller looked at him for a long moment, as though she was gazing through his soul. She sighed. If you read my book, you know about my power. I could go anywhere with it in life. When I woke upon the other side, I still had my power. It was part of my soul. So Ive been trying to use it to leave the afterworld. It never seemed to workbut somethings changed lately. My spirits been growing stronger, different. The last few attempts I made to travel beyond the afterworld nearly worked, and then when you lit the beaconwait

Her breath hissed. You have my power! You must have formed a bridge between me and the world of the living!

Rightsince I have your power, the beacon mustve been a lot stronger than you intended

Why do you have my power?

Alex paused.

Alright, Ill try to be quick, because its a long story.

And Alex told his story: getting Marked as the Fool, leaving Alric, their encounter in the Cave of the Traveller, finding her book and touching her power with his own. He talked about how Alric had changed and how the Generasians had come to aid Thameland.

He talked of his search for answers about dungeon cores and having unknowingly taken up her quest.

Im worshipped in Alric? she said, her tone was amazed. Thatsthats something I never imagined. Butmaybe that explains a few things. Many deities gain power from faith, and now people are praying to me. But I only felt strong changes very recently.

Something struck Alex like a thunderbolt. Hannah, theres been a few of us that have completely stopped praying to Uldar. My girlfriend and I pray to you directly: youre getting all of our faith. You deserve it a hell of a lot more than Uldar does, I have to say.

Hannahs cheeks reddened slightly. Thats probably why I feel so much stronger. Im gaining divinity.

Yeah, maybe, Alex said. I dont know how any of this wor

Another pulse of dread.

Hannah grimaced. Its pulling.

Whats pulling? Alex asked, a chill running down his spine.

The afterworld, she said. Im not supposed to be here and its pulling me back hard. My time is short.

Hannah locked eyes with him. If youre taking on my quest, then I need to warn you about something. Youll find it in my memory shard, but its better if I just explain it to you right now. Her face was grim. The church is working against you.

I know, theyre keeping secrets

Thats right, thats what I meant, she pushed on. Kelda and I had a theory: theres a reason why you dont really see successful Fools in the history books. When we were investigating the dungeon cores, there were people watching us and anyone else who was working with us. They moved in the shadows. Spycraft, that kind of thing.

Her jaw clenched. Theres a secret arm of the church, we think. We could never confirm it for sure, but we had a lot of evidence that convinced us that what the church says, isnt actually the way things are. One time, we were attacked by a group of people that were really well trained in divinity, stealthcraft,and combat.

Alex shuddered: he remembered seeing someone with the Thameish delegation who surprisingly, had perfect control of his body language. The man had given him the impression that hed been reading the people around him. II think youre right. By the Traveller

Hannahs radiance flared as he used her name. She blinked in surprise, looking down at her hand. ...huh.

What happened there? Alex asked.

You used my name in the way you would a deitys, like you were invoking itI felt power for a second. Just a tiny, tiny bit of powerbut I felt it.

Alex filed that away for later. Interesting, but what I was going to say is that we also came across someone that was probably from that secret arm of the church. Do you know where to find them?

She shook her head. Wherever they are, theyre very good at hiding and their agents take their own lives when theyre captured. We never were able to track them down.

Wow, theyre really committed to their cause, if theyre taking their own lives thats still a good lead, Alex mused. I wonder if the Saint knows anything. I might be able to get the other Heroes to ask him on the sly.

She looked at Alex sharply. You mean the other Heroes know about this?

Yes, Alex said. All of them except the Saint.

And theyre on your side?

Yes.

Then youre already doing a lot better than we were. Kelda and I didnt have many allies, and none who knew exactly what we were looking forsometimes I regret all the secrets. But, you should look at the church closely. Try and find out if theres anywhere specific they could be hiding. Theyd need space to train warriors as elite as the ones we faced.

Right Alex nodded. I might be able to look for the

Another wave of dread.

The Traveller grimaced. The pulls getting stronger.

He looked at her with concern. Wait, waitplease. He clasped his hands in prayer. Traveller, I ask you, please do not depart yet. I pray to you.

Her radiance flashed again, and that dread diminished.

By my goddesses, that feels weird, she shuddered. But Ill take it. Quick! Whatever questions you have, I want to help you. I dont want you to fail like I did.

Alex swallowed, looking down at her book. You said in your journal that you realised something about the Mark of the Fool. What was it?

Her eyes turned sad.

But Alex pushed on. I read what happened to Kelda, and I cant imagine what that was like for you. I can imagine what she went through though, being a warrior and having all that taken away because of her Mark. I get the desperation she mustve felt because Ive been there too. And with what happened to her, I know you might not want to tell me but please, I need to know.

He jabbed a finger at his marked shoulder. This thing makes no sense. Uldar made all the Marks to be effective with no weaknesses. Why does this one have so many constraints on it? How many lives has it ruined? How many Fools died because monsters, or even the damned church tried to kill them, and they couldnt even defend themselves? I just had the fight of my life, trying to defend my companions and this Mark tried to destroy my mind for it. Why? I have to know what you know, please.

For a long silent moment, the Traveller stared down at Alex.

Emotions warred on her face: regret, guilt, hope, grief, fearand finally resignation.

Fine. Dont make the same mistake as Kelda did, but you deserve to know. All the Fools did. She took a deep breath. How should I explain this Hannah touched the sleeve of her robe, pinching the fabric.

Tell medo you know what a patch is?

Alex frowned. Like on a piece of old clothing?

Something like that. I couldnt remember if I wrote about that in my book She took a deep breath. In my old world, theres something we use called programs. Theyre a bit like spells, except theyre made by a central, um, company. Uh, place. Then users of these programs use them, but they cant change them.

Okay Alex said slowly. But, whats that got to do with the Mark?

She frowned, looking as though she was sorting through her thoughts. Well, when a company puts out a program and they want to change it, they release something thats called a patch. Its new codeuh, a new piece of a spell that goes over top of the old spell and changes it.

Alex could have been blown over by a stiff breeze. So youre saying that somebodychanged the Mark? That it was different before?

She nodded. After Kelda heard about patches, she spent a long time examining her Mark: the very fibres of magic it was made of.

You can break it down? Alex asked. Even archwizards havent been able to do that.

She had the Mark, she had my knowledge, and she had to build some very specialised equipment using materials you cant even get in your world. But she built them and used the Mark to get good enough at using them to examine her Mark and mine.

She tapped the Mark of the Saint, which still shone on her soul. Mine is one complete piece of magic: the original version is the one that existed in my time and I imagine still exists today. But hers and yours? Theres signs that theyve been patched. Someone changed the Mark of the Fool after it was originally made, Alex. Its been altered.

What? Alex cried, jumping to his feet. Someone tampered with it? You mean it wasnt always so restrictive?

We didnt find that out. Hannah shook her head. All I can tell you is that it was changed after it was originally made.

But who could have tampered with it?

The Travellers expression turned grim. Thats the thing about patches, Alex. They almost always come from the person or company who created the program in the first place.

So, Uldar. Uldar himself likely changed it? Alex was stunned. But why?

And that's the right question you have to ask. Go seek the answer to that very question.

Wait, but, from the sound of it thenKelda found a way to remove the patch?

...the process obliterated her soul.

But did it work? Alex asked.

The Traveller took a deep breath. Swear to me you wont go looking.

Im not swearing to anything! Please. Ive got to know.

She sighed.

...for a moment, Keldas Mark began changing. She looked so happy. But, yes, if you want it put simply, it worked. We were able to remove the patch for the briefest of momentsthen, the very worst happened. Her soul was destroyed.

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