“Are your powers gone?” Seth asked.
“So much is gone,” Humbuggle said. “Many aspects of Humburgh were sustained by the power of the Wizenstone, along with the protections hiding this treasury.”
“The pocket dimensions!” Seth exclaimed.
“The pocket dimensions are designed to unravel slowly in the event that the sustaining power of the Wizenstone is lost. Those dimensions are collapsing, including the island with the arena, but the people there will be thrown free.”
“What about the gladiators?” Seth asked.
“All of the combatants will be freed,” Humbuggle said. “Some have been there for eons. Most will lack their memories. Those memories will also be roaming free.”
“What will happen to this place?” Seth asked.
“My treasury does not rely on the Wizenstone for structural or electrical support,” Humbuggle said. “But the spells hiding it have dissipated, and the magical defenses are down. This treasure house is now vulnerable.”
“Don’t you have any power of your own?” Seth asked.
Humbuggle looked down at his hands, flexing them. Seth had not noticed so many liver spots before. “The absence of the stone is aging me. I’m not sure how far it will go. I haven’t relied on my own power for so long that it has atrophied. I can do some basic things. Disappear, for example. It will take time to regain my former skills.”
The treasure box shook, then hopped twice.
“Your memories are restless,” Humbuggle said.
“I can still claim them?” Seth checked.
“Yours for the taking,” Humbuggle said. “Consider it a gratuity for services rendered.”
“All my senses tell me that I shouldn’t trust you,” Seth said.
Humbuggle shrugged. “You’ve been deceived by demons in the past. Even without your memories, your instincts are admirably tuned. Whether or not you trust me, for now I am willing to speak the truth.”
“You could have picked a lot of people,” Seth said. “Why me?”
Humbuggle smiled. “I have lived an extremely long time, and I have met many individuals. They come in so many varieties, but there are patterns. Almost all of those willing to risk their lives to win the Wizenstone are the sort who would wreak havoc with its power after they obtained it. By their nature, the Games recruit contestants who should never wield tremendous power. You can witness the same principle in your world as candidates aspire to high political offices.”
“I get what you mean,” Seth said.
“I’ll share a secret,” Humbuggle said. “Demons do not like it mentioned, but being a demon is not a natural heritage. Nobody is born a demon. Did you know that?”
“Don’t demons have children?” Seth asked.
“Less frequently than you might suppose, but yes, some do,” Humbuggle said. “And the babies are not demons. They must be trained. They can choose to become demons. But not one demon started out the way they ended up. They grow monstrous over time. Any thinking being can qualify. It’s why there is so much variety among demonkind.”
“You used to be a normal dwarf?” Seth asked.
Humbuggle nodded and tugged on his beard. “Long ago, once upon a time, I was a mere dwarf. Like all demons, I gradually evolved into the role. It worked for me. Did it make me happy? I have never met a happy demon. But powerful? Very few could compete with me in my prime.”
“Would you go back?” Seth asked. “To being a regular dwarf, I mean.”
Humbuggle’s eyes grew almost wistful, and he looked again upon the painting of the sunrise. “If such a thing were possible? Maybe, Seth. Maybe I would. But it would be like cramming an oak tree back into an acorn. I have become something else.”
“I still don’t understand why you picked me,” Seth said. “Except that I wasn’t after the Wizenstone.”
“I chose you because you have real power,” Humbuggle said.
“Because I’m a shadow charmer?” Seth asked.
Humbuggle chuckled. “That was a gift from Graulas. Useful, I suppose, but ultimately insignificant. Real power, lasting power, comes from knowing who you are.”
Seth laughed. “But I lost my memories.”
“Exactly,” Humbuggle said. “And without them, you might have regrown in a totally new way. Except you didn’t, even in the Under Realm with Ronodin to guide you. We like to imagine our identities are fixed, while in reality so many adjust like chameleons to fit the circumstances around them. We tend to develop based on how we are nurtured and to go where we are directed. Even rebellion is a reaction to what we are taught, and it follows its own predictable patterns. But there are also individuals with a deep sense of self that refuses to be denied. They hear an inner voice that overrides tampering. This rare individual will grow to a similar outcome no matter the influences. I can’t explain how this innate compass originates, but I recognize that you have it.”
“Why were you looking for that quality?” Seth asked.
“Because a person like that can see possibilities others cannot,” Humbuggle said. “This task required a certain caliber of character. Somebody with the inner strength to enact what most would consider unthinkable.”
“You saw that in me?” Seth asked.
“I made an educated guess,” Humbuggle said. “Even without your memories, you resisted focused attempts to lead you down alternate paths. It gave me hope you might be who I needed.”
The treasure chest rattled.
“Should I open it?” Seth asked.
“If you wish,” Humbuggle said. “Don’t forget, you won the Wizenstone. Even without the stone’s magic, the value of the gem is high.”
Seth collected the two halves of the Wizenstone and placed them in his satchel. They no longer emitted the same inner light, but they remained beautiful.
Seth faced the treasure chest. Using his power, he willed it to unlock, and the lid flew open. Seth sensed a presence emerge, much like the presence he had perceived in the cottage whom he had named Reggie.
Who locked me up? the presence asked.
