Free Bound to the Abyss by James Vernon

our capacities.” Raising his free hand, the Magus showed off a variety of rings on each of his fingers.  
    “These are called Wells. Let’s say my cup here represents the Wells that I wear on my fingers. Once my own Sal-Eum is full, it begins to overflow.” The Magus tipped the pitcher over, pouring the golden brown ale down into his cup. “The Wells catch and store the overflow, allowing me to draw power from them later.” He paused, taking a long swig from his cup. “Or from my Sal-Eum.” Tilting his head back, he took a longer swig from the pitcher. “See.” He paused again, this time to belch. “Nothing complicated about it.”
    Ean found the whole explanation enlightening, but he was more curious about the Hound. The scars on his left arm were a testament to his own experience with one of the creatures, and that one had looked like a pup. Pushing his way closer to the Magus, he called out to him. “What happened with the Hound?”
    The Magus glanced at Ean briefly, then turned his attention back to the crowd and continued on with his story. “Well now, as I was saying, the Hound was focused on his meal and didn’t know I was there. I drew on all of my power, both my Sal-Eum and the power in my rings, and unleashed upon the beast streaks of pure energy.” He shot a little bolt of yellow energy out of his finger into the air. It fizzled out before reaching the ceiling. “The savage beast didn’t have a chance. Its body was torn to shreds by the energy before it hit the ground.”
    “Did you see any distinguishing marks on its body?” Ean was leaning in further now, his interest peaked. The Magus paused a moment underneath that stare, then let out a laugh.  
    “I was too busy worrying about ending up like the rest of the loggers to notice, boy,” the Hero slurred. “Why does it matter anyway?”
    “No reason,” Ean sighed in disappointment. “Just curious is all.”
      “No problem at all, boy,” the Magus said, leaning back in his chair again. “It’s only natural for a simple village boy to be curious about the rest of the world. Now how about I tell you the story about how I killed a whole pack of–?” But Ean was already making his way out the door.
    The sun had reached its midday position in the sky, which gave him plenty of time to make it to the bog ahead of the Hero. Ean wanted to find a prime spot to watch the idiot Magus get eaten. As he started making his way down the street, he couldn’t help picture the cocky man getting scooped up in the creature’s huge hands and made a meal. Of course, part of him felt a little bad about the thought; maybe the Magus would succeed after all. Deep in thought, Ean made it about halfway down the road when something struck him in the back. He was about to defend himself when Zin’s voice whispered in his ear.
    “What was all that about in the inn? You might as well have come out and said you’ve seen a Hound before.” Zin spoke in hushed tones, making his whiney voice difficult to hear. “The villagers are always looking for an excuse to punish you, so you better quit asking about the Hound. They’ll run you right out of the village if they even suspect that you have a connection to the Abyss.”
    “They were all focused on the Hero’s stories” Ean brushed off his comment with a wave of his hand. “Besides, I wanted to know if he had killed my Hound. It would have made me somewhat upset.”
    “YOUR Hound?” Zin shouted. Thankfully, most of the village was out of earshot. “I wouldn’t exactly call that mangy beast a puppy—an acid-slobbering killing machine is more like it. Even as young as it was, that creature was a menace.”
    “He wasn’t all that bad.”
    “Not that bad?” Zin let out a harsh laugh. “He chased me around the room, trying to make a meal of me, and he did a number on you when you tried to send him back.”
    Ean rubbed at his left arm. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t strong enough to control him at that point.