The village of Millbrook was exactly the kind of place Kaelen had imagined when people said "small village." Thirty houses, one general store, one church, fields stretching in every direction. Population maybe two hundred, everyone knowing everyone else's business.
The kind of place where a corrupted well would be obvious and terrifying.
"Doesn't look corrupted to me," Kaelen said, studying the town square from the edge of the village. Everything appeared normal—people going about their daily business, children playing, chickens wandering freely.
"That's because the corruption is subtle," Lia replied, studying her detection runes. "See how everyone's moving a little slower than normal? How the colors seem slightly muted? That's low-grade shadow contamination. It's affecting them, just not obviously enough for them to notice."
Kaelen looked closer and saw what she meant. The villagers did move sluggishly, like they were wading through water. Their expressions were blank, not quite focused.
"How long until it gets serious?" he asked.
"Depends on the source strength. If it's just residual contamination, could be weeks before anyone gets seriously ill. If there's an active source..." Lia's runes flickered. "Then we've got maybe days before people start dying."
They approached the village center, where a stone well sat in the middle of the square. Several villagers were drawing water from it, completely unaware of any problem.
An older woman noticed them approaching. "Can I help you travelers?"
"We're here about the well," Kaelen said, trying to sound official. "We received reports of possible contamination."
"Contamination?" The woman frowned. "Well's been fine for fifty years. Best water in the region."
"Magical contamination," Lia clarified gently. "It wouldn't taste or smell different, but it could make people sick over time. We just need to check."
The woman's frown deepened, but she nodded. "Village elder's over at the church. You should talk to him first. Procedure, you understand."
They found the village elder—a man named Tomás—in the church, supervising repairs to the roof. He was maybe sixty, with the kind of weathered face that came from a lifetime of outdoor work.
"Shadow Hunters?" he said when they explained who they were. "Didn't think our little report would actually get attention. Thought we'd be too small for the official network."
"Everyone's important," Lia said diplomatically. "Can you tell us when the problems started?"
"About two weeks ago," Tomás said. "Nothing dramatic. Just... people getting tired more easily. Sleeping longer. A few cases of headaches that the healer couldn't explain. My daughter—she's the one who suggested something magical might be wrong. She's got a bit of sensitivity to these things."
"Is your daughter here?" Kaelen asked.
"Out in the fields with her husband. I can send for her if—"
"No need yet," Lia interrupted. "We'll inspect the well first, then talk to people if we need more information."
They returned to the well. By now, a small crowd had gathered—word traveled fast in small villages.
"Everyone back, please," Kaelen said, trying to project authority. "We need to examine the well. It's probably nothing, but better safe than sorry."
The villagers retreated, though they didn't leave entirely. Curious eyes watched from windows and doorways.
Lia knelt beside the well, her hands glowing with diagnostic magic. Kaelen kept watch, one hand resting on Soulrender's hilt. Not that he expected an attack—this was supposed to be a simple mission—but Ronan's voice echoed in his head: *Complacency gets you killed*.
"There's definitely corruption," Lia said after a minute. "It's coming from deep down, not from the water itself. Something at the bottom of the well is leaking shadow energy."
"Something, or someone?" Kaelen asked.
"Can't tell from here. We'll need to go down and investigate."
Kaelen looked down into the well. It was dark, deep, and narrow. Not an appealing prospect.
"I'll go," he volunteered. "You stay up here and monitor. If something goes wrong, you can pull me up."
"If something goes wrong down there, I won't be able to reach you fast enough," Lia protested.
"Which is why we're bringing rope," Kaelen said. "And communication crystals. And you'll have a barrier ready to deploy if needed. It'll be fine."
Lia looked skeptical but helped him prepare. They borrowed rope from Tomás, tested its strength, attached it securely around Kaelen's waist. Kaelen activated a light rune on his wrist and took a deep breath.
"If I tug twice, pull me up immediately," he instructed. "If I tug three times, that means I found something interesting. One tug means—"
"Just go before I change my mind about this plan," Lia said.
Kaelen grinned and climbed into the well.
The descent was slow and uncomfortable. The walls were slick with moss, his armor scraping against stone. Twenty feet down, thirty, forty. The light from above became a distant circle, and the shadows pressed in from all sides.
Soulrender hummed against his back, responding to the ambient corruption. *Something here,* it confirmed. *Old magic. Forgotten magic.*
Fifty feet down, Kaelen's boots touched water. He pulled out his light rune, held it higher, and looked around.
The well bottom was roughly circular, maybe six feet across. The water was cold and dark, coming up to his knees. And there, half-buried in the mud at the bottom, was something that looked like a stone tablet.
Kaelen waded closer, careful not to slip on the slick mud. The tablet was covered in runes he didn't recognize—not modern script, something older. And it was definitely the source of the corruption. Shadow energy leaked from it like heat from a fire.
*What is this?* he asked Soulrender.
*A seal,* the sword replied. *Placed here long ago to contain something. The seal is failing, allowing corruption to escape.*
*What was it containing?*
*Unknown. But something powerful enough to require a sealed prison.*
That was not reassuring.
Kaelen tugged the rope three times—found something—then examined the tablet more closely. The runes were degraded, barely visible, but he could make out enough to understand the basic purpose. This wasn't just sealing corruption. It was sealing something *alive*.
*Oh no.*
He tugged the rope twice—emergency extraction.
Nothing happened.
He tugged again, more urgently.
Still nothing.
Kaelen looked up toward the surface and saw why. The rope was slack, hanging loosely instead of taut. Someone had cut it from above.
"Lia?" he called up. "Everything okay?"
No response.
Soulrender hummed a warning. *We are not alone.*
Kaelen spun, drawing the blade, his light rune flaring brighter.
Something was rising from the water behind him. Not solid—more like a shadow given form, all wrong angles and too many limbs. Eyes like burning coals stared at him from a face that wasn't quite a face.
*A shade,* Soulrender identified. *The entity sealed here. It has manifested.*
"Right," Kaelen said, backing up until he hit the well wall. "Any advice on killing it?"
*Do not let it touch you. Its essence is pure corruption.*
"Helpful. Thanks."
The shade lunged.
Kaelen dodged, slashed with Soulrender. The blade cut through the shade's form, and it shrieked—a sound that felt wrong in his bones. But it didn't die. It just reformed, flowing like liquid shadow.
*Physical attacks are insufficient,* Soulrender advised. *You must disrupt its essence directly.*
"How?" Kaelen dodged another lunge, losing his footing on the slick mud. He went down hard, water splashing, the shade looming over him.
*Channel my power. Direct strike to its core.*
Kaelen rolled, came up slashing. This time he let Soulrender's full power flow through him, shadow energy meeting shadow entity. The impact was like hitting a wall—both of them thrown backwards.
The shade recovered faster, launching a flurry of strikes. Kaelen parried desperately, each impact sending shocks through his arm. His Shadow Scars were burning now, responding to the ambient corruption.
He couldn't win this by trading blows. The shade was too strong, too fast, too durable.
But the seal had held it for presumably centuries. Which meant the seal was stronger than the shade.
Kaelen changed tactics. Instead of attacking the shade, he attacked the tablet. Soulrender's edge bit into ancient stone, and the runes flared with dying light.
The shade shrieked again, louder this time. It lunged at Kaelen, all pretense of strategy gone, pure desperation in its movements.
Kaelen kept hitting the tablet, cutting deeper, destroying the runes one by one. Each cut made the shade weaker, more frantic.
The final rune shattered.
The shade dissolved like smoke in wind, its dying scream echoing up the well shaft.
Silence.
Kaelen stood there, gasping, covered in mud and shadow residue. His Shadow Scars were at forty-three now—fourteen new ones from that fight.
But he was alive.
He looked up at the well opening. Still too high to climb without rope.
"Lia!" he shouted. "Lia, are you there? I need a new rope!"
Silence.
Something was wrong up there. Very wrong.
Kaelen examined the well walls, looking for handholds. If he was careful, if he was lucky, he might be able to climb out manually. It would be exhausting and dangerous, but what choice did he have?
He started climbing.
Fifty feet of slick stone, his armor weighing him down, his muscles screaming protest. He slipped twice, nearly fell both times, managed to catch himself on ledges he could barely see.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably only ten minutes, he pulled himself over the well's edge and collapsed on the ground, gasping.
The village square was different.
All the villagers were standing in a circle around the well, perfectly still, their eyes blank. Not afraid, not curious—just empty.
And in front of them stood a figure in cultist robes, holding an unconscious Lia.
"Hello, Kaelen Voss," the cultist said. "Marcus sends his regards."