Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 8 | Vrängr Down

"What the hell is going on," Thad asked himself, pacing back and forth on the deck of the boat. "First we meet back up with one of my former friends and she has no memories, and Vrängr is suddenly wiped of his memories when trying to give Agent 34 back his,"

"Maybe he was cursed?" Sercon suggested. "Braunick could've placed a hex on him that wiped his memories whenever he tried to give Agent 34 back his,"

"Yes, seems logical," The dwarf said. "But the problem with that is it takes energy to keep a hex up and running for a long period of time, and who knows how long he has had the hex placed on him," 

"Yeah, the longer you keep a curse placed on somebody, the more energy it takes, especially a curse of that type," Sercon stated, lowering himself down on top of a barrel. "And for him to keep it running from across the waters? Even harder,"

"But you also have to keep in mind he did the same thing with Agent 34 and his curse," Thad stated. "If he can keep a physical curse running, he can also do a mental one,"

"But a mental hex of that size? One capable to wipe years worth of memories within minutes? That has to be damn strong, Thad. Nothing that any of us are capable of. He has to have some other way of providing him energy,"

"That's ridiculous," The dwarf said. "Right?" He wasn't doubting that Braunick did have other ways of a power source than himself.

"But the good thing now is that Vrängr can fight Braunick and not feel guilty about turning on him after all these years, right?" Sercon said, trying to crack a joke.

Thad just stared at him with a big frown. "You're pathetic." The dwarf went downstairs to where everyone else was in the boat, Sercon trying to pull more cheesy jokes and get the serious dwarf to loosen up and laugh a bit.

~ ~ ~

"How's he doing?" Thad asked. 

"He can't remember anything!" Arenia said frustratingly. "And he keeps hitting on me. It's creepy," 

Thad walked into the room they were keeping the elf in, Arenia following. He was lying in a bed with his eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. Agent 34 and Ismara stood over in the corner, Marque sitting on a stood by the door.

"Oh hey, cutie is back," Vrängr said when he spotted Arenia who ducked behind Thad quickly. It didn't work very well because Thad was only to her waist.

Agent 34 scowled at Vrängr for hitting on Arenia. He hadn't liked the elf before he lost his memories and certainly didn't like him after.

"Vrängr," Thad asked. "Do you know anything? Your name? Your friends? Your past?"

"Nah dude," Vrängr said. "I don't remember anything, Where am I?"

"Agent 34, can I talk to you outside?" Thad asked, rolling his eyes at the delusional Vrängr.

"That's a cool name—can I be Agent 33?" The elf asked from the bed, a smile widening on his face.

Agent 34 followed Thad outside into the hallway of the docked boat. He looked up and down the hall to see if anyone was nearby listening and began to speak only when he made sure no one was nearby.

"We need to find that last gem," The dwarf whispered, leaning in.

"Why? What's the point?" Agent 34 asked, shrugging his shoulders slowly.

"Because if we keep at least one gem away from Braunick he can't receive ultimate power. Do you know how powerful one person can be if they have all twenty gems? There's absolutely no way of ending the terror they can spread unless they stop it themselves," The dwarf clasped his hands together, sighing slowly. "This isn't the time and place to discuss this, but it's our best bet now that Braunick managed to take out one of our strongest members. Do you have any lead whatsoever as of where he hid the gem?"

"Fáolar?" Agent 34 cocked his head slightly. "I'm assuming it's somewhere near the Zena. He couldn't have made it far during the storm and the battle going on at once,"

"Yes, yes, but that place had to be crawling with our soldiers turned evil by now. There's no way we can go there without getting torn apart, but it's our only shot. You are going to get a few people to go scout the area, look for the gem if you can. The rest of us will go find some survivors by the main land. Deal?"

"Got it," Agent 34 nodded.

"That was the good news," Thad said. "Bad news was, Braunick placed a hex on Vrängr that wiped his memories whenever he tried to give your members back. Your memories are most likely gone forever,"