9

The Eccentric Alchemist

A light spring breeze blew across the plains, carrying the lingering smell of fresh rain. Temperance splashed away in some puddles, ignoring Aviana’s call to focus. She was having too much fun to stop.

“Temperance,” Aviana’s voice going stern. “You have a job to do. Focus on it and not puddles.”

Temperance let out a deep exasperated sigh. “But, Avi, the puddle laws state all puddles must be jumped in when seen!”

“We have a job, one that you started might I add, and you need to help me look for Terrance.”

Temperance ignored her sister and splashed around more.

“That’s it.” Aviana’s voice rose more, sending a chill down Temperance’s spine. “I’m docking your pay.”

Temperance gasped and stopped splashing. “You can’t do that!”

Her sister’s eyes burned into her. “Oh, yes I can. If you don’t pull your weight on a job, you don’t get paid like everyone else on it.”

Temperance threw her head back and stomped her foot. “We’ve been traveling for hours, Avi! Playing in a few puddles isn’t going to hurt us.”

“You’ve played in every puddle since we left Windshire, slowing us down. This docking of pay is non-negotiable. Either you work or you play. Your choice.”

Temperance’s nose scrunched and she crossed her arms with a huff. “Ever since your lover cast that spell on your hair you’ve been in a foul mood.”

On cue, Aviana’s hair went from a silver color to a lime green. It’d done this every now and then, sometimes turning two shades in odd patterns. Temperance had tried to correct it, but her limited arcane use couldn’t trump Xalanath’s. He’s a strong mage!

Aviana’s lip curled at the sight of the new color and pushed on down the road. “That’s not the reason. I just know how to take a job seriously. Now let’s go.”

“Liar pants.” Temperance stomped out of the puddle and followed her sister.

“Why don’t we do something to occupy your bored mind,” Aviana suggested.

Temperance gestured to the puddles. “That’s what I was doing!”

“Something constructive.”

Temperance grumbled to herself. Puddle jumping is constructive.

Her sister pointed to a plant with a yellow flower head as they passed. “Can you tell me what that is?”

“It’s a dandelion, duh.”

Aviana’s eyes cut to her. “Don’t give me lip. What is dandelion used for?”

Temperance thought about this but found she didn’t know that answer. “I dunno.”

“They help fight loss of appetite, upset stomachs, body pains and aches, and reduce chronic dry skin issues.”

Temperance cocked her head. That was an interesting use for such a small plant. She wanted to learn more. You can never learn enough! “What other plants around here are useful like that?”

Aviana smiled wide, her eyes sparkling so much Temperance knew she’d done good by wanting to know. Temperance didn’t see her sister smile like this often. Or much at all when they were back home.

Before her sister could continue, the ground shook around them. They looked behind when they caught the sound of thundering hooves. Temperance’s eyes went wide. A cart at top speed thundered down the road.

Aviana grabbed her by the arm and yanked her off the road, the cart zooming by and the driver yelling at them, “Out of the way, peasants!”

Aviana bared her teeth. “Watch where you’re going, you whore shit!”

Temperance gasped. The things that came out of her sister’s mouth sometimes. “Avi, you’re so lucky we are only half siblings. Momma would have washed your mouth out with soap… or magically sealed it.”

Aviana snorted. “And had my mom been yours, you’d be acting a whole lot different.”

“I think I’d like having your mom as my momma,” Temperance said as they continued on. “She sounded like she was a lot of fun.”

Aviana smiled. “You would have liked her.”

Temperance noticed the sadness in her sister’s eyes. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to lose family like her sister had. Aviana had told her how she had lost her grandfather at the age of seven and then her mother when she was twelve. She had no other family besides Temperance and back home Aviana didn’t seem to have any friends.

She always avoided the conversation, but Temperance could tell she wasn’t very well liked back home. But it wasn’t like that in Windshire. She had all kinds of interesting friends. She wondered why back home was so different.

She needed to cheer Aviana up again. “That mean person interrupted your lesson. Please teach me more.”

Aviana smiled again. “Only if you help keep an eye out for Terrance clues.”

“I promise.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Hours passed and no signs of Terrance or the settlement still. Aviana was beginning to think they were on a wild goose chase at this rate. Temperance’s complaining about aching feet mixed with Aviana’s constant changing hair didn’t help matters either. Xalanath is so dead for this stupid spell.

“Avi, can’t you turn into an animal that I can ride?” Temperance asked.

Her face twisted. “Why would I shapeshift into something so only you can rest? I’m not carrying you.”

Temperance whined and complained, but stopped after a while when it didn’t change Aviana’s mind. At least Aviana got to shove some more medicinal knowledge into her sister’s mind. She also got the chance to teach Temperance about environmental variants on both animals and plants, since the unique properties of the area around Starglade had such a heavy effect on nature.

Temperance gasped when Aviana’s hair turned the same shade of blue the one lock she had was—the only lock of hair to stay unaffected by Xalanath’s spell. “I like this color for you!”

Aviana twisted a lock of hair. “I do too, for once.”

The two of them rounded a bend in the overgrown road, and before them stood a ruined settlement. This stopped them in their tracks.

“Avi, is this place your beloved told us about?” Temperance asked, her eyes wide.

“For the last time, we’re not involved.” Aviana took several cautious steps forward. “But I would bet this is that place.”

“It looks so… sad.”

Aviana nodded, though focused more on scanning the area. Her hair stood on end. Something wasn’t right.

Wood creaked from one of the closer houses and a small person jumped out a window, a human boy from what Aviana could tell from this distance. He ran for them with a large stick of some sort, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Aviana instinctively pulled Temperance behind her and place her hand on one of her scimitars, but when she realized how ill-equipped the boy was for fighting she removed her staff from her back instead. Would be best to not kill the boy if this is a misunderstanding.

The distance between the two of them and the boy lessened until he was close enough to swing his strange looking stick. Aviana blocked with precision, refusing to strike the boy unless she needed to. He looked all of ten, dirty to the point she almost didn’t realize how pale his skin way, and malnourished.

“You get away from us right now!” he yelled. “I won’t let anyone hurt the others.”

Aviana continued to block. “Boy, please calm down. We’re not here to hurt anyone. We’re loo—”

“I don’t believe a word you’re saying,” the boy said. “I won’t fall for your lies, weird half naked lady.”

Her brow cocked while Temperance laughed. That was a first of that insult, if you could call it that. Aviana stepped to the left while deflecting, but unfortunately Temperance moved the opposite direction, exposing her to the strange boy.

Seeing her unarmed, the boy went for her. Temperance screeched and ran, the boy swinging wildly. “Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! I didn’t do anything wrong. Aviana, save me!”

Aviana watched the strange sight as they ran in a circle. She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

Then the inevitable happened, he caught Temperance and smacked her on the head. She stumbled and then fell, crying out in pain and then sobbing. Instinct drove Aviana to jump in. It told her to teach this ill-mannered brat a lesson, but she also knew her lessons for hurting her sister were far too harsh for this child.

Aviana managed to rein her emotions in and grabbed the boy’s stick. “That’s enough!”

The boy stared at her wide eyed, his knees shaking a bit. “Let go!”

He tried to pull his weapon out of her grip but he wasn’t strong. Aviana ripped the wood from his hands, the motion sending him on his rear. She fixed the boy with a hard stare, his eyes still wide with fear. “How dare you attack an unarmed person like that. That was uncalled for.”

“Give me back my sword!” He did his best to sound strong and undefeated, but his voice cracked.

“You’ve been bested, boy,” she said. “You didn’t wield this properly so now I’ve taken it.”

Aviana checked on Temperance. She complained when Aviana touched the tender spot on her head, but luckily the boy hadn’t broken the skin. She turned to him again. “Apologize to my sister, now.”

“I won’t.” He shook. “You can’t win.”

Aviana admired the boy’s determination, but it was going to get him killed with the wrong people. She knelt down in front of him. “I bested you. You’ve lost.”

Tears now stained his dirty freckled cheeks. “I have to win. I have to protect everyone.”

Aviana placed a hand on his head. “Who do you have to protect?”

“The other kids that live here…”

Kids? What about adults? Come to think of it… Aviana thought it strange not a single adult showed up during the commotion. She could think on that in a moment. For now she needed to reassure the boy to calm him and explain why his actions were so dangerous. “And that’s very noble of you, but you lost this time because you rushed in without knowing who you were up against. Luckily, I’m not an enemy, so you’ll be able to learn from this and you can get better.”

He looked up at her with big brown eyes. “You’re really not going to hurt me?”

Aviana smiled. “Of course not. I never was. We’re only here because we’re searching for someone.”

The boy looked down at his feet and thought for a moment before looking at Temperance. “I’m sorry I hit you.”

Temperance rubbed her head. “I’ll forgive you. Just don’t hit me again, okay?”

He nodded. “I won’t.”

Temperance knelt down next to the boy. “What’s your name?”

The boy looked at her, his cheek tinting a bit, piquing Aviana’s interest. “William. But everyone calls me Billy. What’s your name?”

The young redhead gave him a dazzling friendly smile. “Temperance.”

Billy smiled. “That’s a pretty name. Like you. How old are you?”

“I’m nineteen. But Avi always says I’m nineteen going on five, whatever that means.”

Billy nodded. “I don’t know what that means either.” He looked to Aviana. “You said you were looking for someone?”

She nodded. “Yes, an older gentleman by the name of Terrance.”

Billy frowned. “I don’t know anyone by that name. But my brother Roderick might! He knows everyone who comes through here. But he has to, since he’s in charge.”

Aviana’s brow spiked. “He’s in charge of this town?”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, he’s the toughest here, so everyone made him leader.”

“Who is everyone?” She was getting a strange feeling from the way this boy spoke about this odd settlement. It didn’t help he’d only specified only protecting children a moment ago.

“The other kids. I told you that’s who I was protecting.”

There it was again. “What about the adults?”

He blinked. “There aren’t any. Well, except for some of the older kids, like my brother.”

A ramshackled place with little to no adults and a bunch of children, what kind of settlement was this?

“What happened to all the adults?” She wasn’t sure if it was safe to press, but she really wanted to know.

“They’re dead,” came a new voice.

Aviana turned to see a young man of tan complexion around Temperance’s age standing a bit of a ways off. His hand rested on the hilt of an undrawn sword. Behind him, two boys and one girl, maybe a few years younger, stood behind him, rusted weapons drawn. Like Billy, they too didn’t look well off.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Aviana said, standing so she could address them properly.

The young man’s eyes fell to the flimsy stick in her hand and then Billy. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I’d be lying if I felt comfortable seeing my brother in tears surrounded by two strangers.”

“You must be Roderick then.” Aviana smiled and then placed a hand on her stomach, her hand covering her navel, bowing with her free hand facing out and to the side of her. “My name is Aviana. Your brother is safe. Neither of us harmed him, though he’s lucky. He chose to attack first and ask questions later.”

Concern flashed across Roderick’s eyes. He turned a stern look to Billy. “Is that true?”

Billy lowered his gaze. “Sorry, Brother. I just really want to be strong and protect everyone like you…”

Conflict flickered across his face, pulled between reprimanding his brother and admiring his passion. Aviana understood his position intimately.

“Next time, think before you act. You could have been seriously hurt for doing something so rash. Call out to us next time someone approaches. That way you can learn from us how we’d handle a situation.”

Billy frowned and continued to stare at the ground, his shoulders slumping. Roderick walked over and knelt down, placing a hand on his brother’s head. “But I’m proud of the courage you have. We’ll need someone like you to keep everyone safe.”

Billy looked up with a big toothy grin. “These two girls are really nice, Roderick. They’re looking for someone. Can you help them?”

“Since they chose not to harm you, when most would”—Roderick’s eyes darted to Aviana’s weapons on her hips—“and had the means to, I will hear them out.”

He stood to address Aviana. “As you already know, I’m Roderick. I keep everyone safe here along with some of the older kids. Who are you looking for?”

“Mister Terrance!” Temperance chirped. “He’s some crazy alchemist guy we were sent to find.”

“Old bald man with a long beard?” Roderick asked.

“We didn’t get a full description, but it sounds like you know him,” Aviana said.

He nodded. “I do, but before I tell you more, why are you looking for him?”

Protective to a fault. He took his role seriously, even for those not part of their odd settlement. Terrance must have gained their trust somehow to earn it.

“It’s because I’ve been gone so long,” an older voice said.

Everyone turned to see a tall, bald, half-elven man of light tan complexion with a long gray beard and blue robes approaching. He had kind blue eyes, like you’d expect from an elder who wanted nothing more than to share his stories with young children.

“You must be Terrance,” Aviana said.

He nodded. “And you’re Aviana.” Aviana opened her mouth to question him, he silenced her with a held up hand. “I knew your mother. You’re a spitting image of her. Minus the delinquent hai—”

He made a face, as did all the kids around her. Aviana sighed. “It changed again, didn’t it?”

Temperance squealed. “It’s purple!”

Of course it is…

Terrance nodded. “I see. Let me guess, that whelp Xalanath is behind this?”

“How could you tell?” The sarcasm rolled thick off Aviana’s tongue.

The old man reached into a pouch hanging off his side and pulled out a small vial containing a violet liquid. “If you’re willing to trust an old alchemist, this will do the trick to dispel that prank of his.”

While she didn’t trust him, she was curious about his potion. And if he really did know her mother, she wanted to find out how much. She wanted to find out just how much of a master alchemist he was, and why he was so important to Siverath. “I’d like to inspect it first before agreeing to anything.”

A half smile slipped up his face and he tossed it to her. Aviana caught it and looked it over, swirling the liquid and taking a long look at how the mixture sparkled.

Temperance attempted to take it. “It’s pretty, I want it!”

Aviana kept it out of the young woman’s reach. “No.”

Temperance crossed her arms and huffed.

Aviana uncorked the bottle for a brief moment to waft its scent to her nose. It’s sweet with a tinge of floral. This finished her analysis and she concluded the concoctions had been made with three flowers, and elemental water. “Lilacs, cherry buds, and violets, are the main ingredients. This would be a dispelling potion with”—she swirled the potion more—“a small side effect due to the violet flowers.”

Terrance clapped slowly. “Impressive. I hadn’t prepared for you to be able to identify a concoction by looking at it.”

“Not all can be.” She winked. “But my mother made a similar one all the time. Hers turned your nose colors for half a day.”

Terrance snickered. “Mine turns the tongue purple for a full day.”

A whole thirty-six hours. Could she live with that over ever changing hair for the gods knew how long? Yep. Aviana uncorked the vial, the floral scent wafting into her nose, and gulped down the potion. A tingling sensation rushed over her and then… nothing.

Aviana stuck out her tongue and Temperance giggled. “It’s purple! You’re like the giraffes in my books!”

All the kids around her leaned closer to take a look, interested in the power of the strange potion. Aviana also wasn’t feeling any other side effects, so she determined this man to be the real deal.

“Now,” Terrance turned. “If you two would follow me, I believe you can help us. We have a few sick children that need help. It’s why I’ve been away so long.”

“Wait, we didn’t give permission for this,” Roderick protested.

Terrance stopped and faced the young man. “Boy, you stand in the presence of two Shikala. There are no safer people to be around than that clan.”

Roderick looked to Aviana and Temperance and then back to Terrance. “Am I supposed to understand what’s so special about that term?”

Terrance sighed. “Honestly, I give you all books and tell stories so often, one would think you’d learn from at least one of those situations.” He shook his head. “Dragon worshipers, boy. Dragon worshipers.”

All eyes fell on Aviana and Temperance again.

“Because dragons are the bestest! Temperance beamed. She bounced toward Terrance. “Mister Terrance, can I help you and Avi? Can I? I really want to help. Please? Please, please, please!”

Terrance glanced to Aviana, eyes wide and unsure how to handle the bubbly and eager redhead. Aviana nodded. “Yeah, she’s always like that.”

Temperance cocked her head. “Always like what?”

Terrance patted her on the head. “Fun loving.”

“Yep, that’s me!” She smiled wide. “So, can I help?”

A raucous laugh escaped him. “Yes, I’m sure we can find something for you to help with. Come along everyone.”

Aviana helped Billy up and they all headed into the dilapidated settlement. As they did, Aviana noticed curious eyes peering out from different buildings. They’re all children. All those she noticed, ranged from anywhere around the age of five, to mid teens, maybe fifteen or sixteen. The older children, while seeing Aviana and Temperance accompanied by Roderick and his band, looked ready for an altercation of some sort. The smaller children on the other hand appeared frightened of the girls’ presence, though still curious, as children were. None approached them however.

In the center of the town stood a tall building, untouched by the same plague of decay the other buildings suffered. As they drew closer, Aviana noticed the pulsing runes scattered across the different surfaces of the building. Upon closer inspection, she determined them to be protection runes. This must be how they stay safe as a last resort.

Terrance entered the building, Aviana and the other following. The moment she step foot in, the pungent scent and sounds of sickness overtook her senses. So many children lay about in makeshift beds created from furniture that looked as if it had been scavenged, cleaned, and repaired to the best of one’s ability outside of those types of occupations. The downstairs would be rather cozy, had it not been for this fact.

A low burning fire crackled in a nearby fireplace, and teen scrounged away in a small kitchen in the far back.

“I was helping these children rebuild this place when so many came down with a strange illness,” Terrance said. “I’ve done what I can, but there is only so much my form of alchemy can do. But you”—He faced her—“If you’ve followed in your mother’s footsteps, you may be able to help these children.”

Aviana nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She went to the closest child, around the age of five or six, and knelt next to his shivering form. His eyes cracked open and he coughed, but appeared too weak to do much more. Aviana pressed her hand against his forehead and immediately recoiled. His skin burned too high.

Lifting his chin and arms she checked for any blistering and rashes, to find quite a few. She touched his face against and did her best to be gentle while encouraging his eyes to open. The whites of his eyes were red.

Aviana moved to the next child, a girl in her early teens. She also had the same symptoms. As did the next two children she checked.

“What do you think?” Roderick asked, stepping farther into the building, his eyes intent on her.

“I’ve encountered this illness before,” Aviana said, still looking over the children. “Several decades ago it befell the Thunderblood orc clan. I was able to cure it with little issue, though crafting the medicine takes time, and these children need some relief immediately.”

She stood and faced the others. “I need a few of you to fetch yarrow and elderberries. This will aid in reducing their fevers. After we prepare and administer that, I’ll have to search for some manayupa and a few other rarer plants to mix with some vitality potions.”

One of the older boys stepped forward. “My mother was a medicine woman here. She taught me many things before she died, so I’ve been aiding Terrance where I can. I could handle the proper prep of the yarrow and elderberries if you want to start your search for the more important plants for the cure.”

Aviana nodded. “That’s a better plan. What’s your name?”

“Henry.”

“Well, Henry, I’m keeping them in your capable hands.” She looked to Temperance. “This illness reduces appetite and if these children are going to get better, they at least need to stay hydrated. I want you to collect dandelions.”

Temperance’s usual carefree demeanor changed to a serious one. “Don’t worry, Avi, I’ll bring back enough for everyone.”

Pride swelled in Aviana’s chest.

Terrance stepped forward. “I’d like to accompany you, Aviana. I believe I can offer you some valuable assistance.”

Aviana gauged him for a moment. She didn’t distrust him, but the way he looked at her gave her pause. “I would not say no to the help of a master Alchemist.”

Terrance clapped his hands together. “Then let’s get to it.”