Moe Eisen looked at his empty shop. He had packed away everything he could carry

in a pack on his back. Everything else had been given away. He had asked Larry

Kobach to strip everything he needed out of the shop, and spread the word around

that he was pulling up stakes. He had gained enough money to live on while he

worked on Bernard’s cure.

The boy had helped them move the equipment and shelving out of the shop. Eisen

had cautioned him to take it easy, but he had only slowed to switch abilities when the

one he was using quit working.

The last order of business was to return the leaves he had been given. He had not

bothered to work on them while he was emptying his shop, and didn’t plan to work

on them at all once he had decided to leave Bern.

The consultation with the Green Light at Baldwin’s embassy had been frustrating and

hopeful. The man couldn’t cure Bernard with his power. That would take constant

concentration. One wrong thought and the spell caused fix would revert back to

Bernard’s new normal..

The Green Light did tell him there were people in Baldwin who might be able to

help Bernard if they could make the track overland to the other city state. That had

prompted Eisen to divest himself of his belongings to get money to travel on.

The Sharriff would not be happy at the news, but Eisen didn’t care. He would have

to get some other alchemist to look at his plant.

He had pulled out his old short sword and knife and strapped on the belt. He had no

illusions that their leaving would be peaceful. The kingpin would want some kind of

satisfaction for the lack of work on what he wanted broken down so it could be better

exploited.

He had warned Larry Kobach to stay clear of the devil weed. The last thing he needed

was problems at his shop, and troubles from the neighborhood, and the Sharriff.

Eisen took mental inventory of his plan, his remaining belongings, and what he

should work on if they found a way to heal Bernard. He could reopen a shop

anywhere. Healing Bernard would take special considerations and time.

And he didn’t like the pressure exerted to make him do the work.

Bernard came in to the stripped work space. He ran his hands over the new clothes

Eisen had gotten him. The old ones from his grandmother’s would not last the trip

without falling apart.

“Ready to go?,” asked Eisen.

“I think so, Pa,” said Bernard. “You didn’t have to sell your shop.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Eisen. “If the Green Lights can’t fix your problem, we’ll have to

find someone who can. By the time we return to Bern, I’ll be ready to set up a shop

somewhere else in the city. Larry will help me.”

“Are you sure about that?,” asked Bernard.

“If he doesn’t, I will do things to him like you never saw before,” said Eisen.

“I guess I can see that,” said Bernard. “The Sharriff is going to want his leaves

looked at when we’re gone. He will go to Master Kobach to get the next best

alchemist once we leave.”

“I told Larry to direct him to someone he hated,” said Eisen. “That’s the best I

can do unless I run across him and stab him before we leave.”

“Don’t say that,” said Bernard. “The Sharriff has ears everywhere.”

“And hopefully we’ll be leaving some of those behind us too when we leave

the city,” said Eisen.

“I like that,” said Bernard.

The front door of the shop slammed open. The Sharriff swept in, long coat wrapping

around his ankles. He puffed on a cigar wrapped with green and yellow striped

paper. He glared at the alchemist and boy monster. He pushed his hat back from

his face as he used the cane in his other hand to point at them.

“What are you doing?,” the Sharriff growled.

“We’re leaving the city,” said Eisen. “I thought you would be by sooner. Here is your

leaves back. Since that is the last order of business tying us to the city, we’re heading

north to Baldwin.”

“You can’t be serious,” said the Sharriff.

“I don’t see why not,” Eisen said. He held out the package he had been given at the

start of things. “Pressco is the next best alchemist. I’m sure he can handle what you

want done.”

“What if I want the best?,” asked the Sharriff.

“We’re everywhere,” said Eisen. “A lot of them are better than me.”

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“I can kill this boy to make my point,” said the Sharriff. “What do you say to that?”

“You’ve already killed him,” said Eisen. “And that’s why I am handing your leaves

back to you and telling you to have someone else experiment on them. I won’t.”

“You won’t defy me for long,” said the Shariff. He slashed his cane at Bernard. The

boy jumped out of the way, ready for the attack.

Eisen came in, swinging a right hand instead of drawing his army sword. He didn’t

have time to pull it clear of its sheath if he wanted to try to solve his problem before

he got killed.

The Sharriff pushed him away with a backswing of the cane arm. That was enough

to cause Eisen to stumble but he kept his feet under him as he prepared to face

the magician.

“You should have let us leave,” said Bernard. “Now we’re going to have to go

through you. And that won’t be pleasant.”

“Do you really think an old man and a stupid boy can stand up to the king of the

city?,” asked the Sharriff.

“I am not stupid,” said Bernard. “I am just angry.”

Bernard expanded until he was four times as tall as normal. He filled the work room

with his added bulk. He swung a fist at the man he hated. The wrecking ball of flesh

sent the Sharriff flying through the front window.

“Good job, Bernard,” said Eisen. He pulled his sword. “I think you took him by

surprise.”

“Let’s see if I can beat on him some more before he thinks of a way to deal with this,”

said Bernard. He ran to the front of the shop. He ducked back as agitated air sliced

through anything in its way.

Eisen went the other way, going out the back of the shop. He circled around as the

noise of a collision filled the air. He wondered if Bernard had knocked the front of

the shop down on their enemy. Was his new body that strong?

He reached the corner and looked out on the street. He frowned at the destruction.

Bernard had knocked part of the wall out on the street. The Sharriff stood in the

middle of the road. He puffed on his cigar as he stabbed with his cane. A section of

brick and mortar came apart under the blast.

What would Bernard throw next was a question Eisen was not prepared to guess the

answer. He decided that he should try to end this fight with one blow. He just had to

come at the target off line so he was coming from the back.

He couldn’t take a blast of magic like Bernard. His old bones would break under the

abuse.

Eisen tried to be swift but silent. He didn’t know how much the Sharriff was paying

attention to the world around as bricks flew through the air at his head, but he didn’t

want the man turning at the wrong time. One of those blasts would put him out of the

fight.

The alchemist closed on his enemy. He grimaced as the magician started to turn. He

must have heard footsteps through the racket that had already occurred on the street.

The cane swept toward him. He brought his sword up and down. The cane dropped

to the ground from the counter blow.

Then Bernard was there. His giant fist struck in a blur of motion. The Sharriff was

sent flying through the air, and into a clothing shop.

Eisen didn’t want Bernard to keep fighting. He had already seen too much. He should

be spared more bad experiences if that could be done.

The old alchemist didn’t know how he was going to do that with the Sharriff standing

up and throwing his bent cigar down. He glared at the two of them.

“When I am done with the two of you, you will know worse horrors than the

Underworld!,” the Sharriff screamed.

“Deal with me while I’m on fire!,” Bernard screamed back. Then he exploded into

a giant fireball hurtling across the space between them. The magician had just enough

time to raise his hands before he was slammed through the shop and out the back.

Clothes on display and material on shelves caught fire at the monster’s boy passage.

Eisen picked up the Sharriff’s cane. He swung it against the corner of the burning

building. He did it again and the wood snapped apart. He threw the two pieces away.

He needed to get Bernard and escape the scene before the Guard arrived. The last

thing they needed was to be held up while Bernard’s time was ticking away.

The alchemist circled the building instead of plowing through it like his ward had

done. He frowned as he came on the battlefield on the next street. The two of them

were slugging it out in the middle of the road. Exploding fire bursts and shields of

green light moved back and forth until Bernard’s power ran out and his flame

vanished and he shrank to his normal size.

“It looks like the shoe is on the other foot now,” said the Sharriff. He looked battered,

burnt, and part of his hair had been creased away in the fight. His clothes was covered

with ash and had been torn along the seams. “We’ll see who takes a beating now.”

Eisen pulled his knife and threw it. He didn’t expect it to do much, but the blade

found a leg and stabbed in. He nodded as he rushed forward.

The Sharriff turned to face him, yanking at the knife. He grimaced at the pain. His leg

trembled as blood poured down from the wound.

“That was a mistake,” said the Sharriff. He switched the knife to his other hand so he

could reach down and clamp down on his wound. “Blood magic is the most potent

magic around. I think it is time I deal with the both of you in a way that you will be

an example for the rest of the city.”

Eisen didn’t wait for him to cast his spell. He rushed forward and stabbed out with

his sword. You had to be alive to cast spells.

His blade sank into a miasma and remained floating in the air. He tried to pull it

back. It refused to move.

“You’ll learn what it means to disobey me,” said the Sharriff.

Green fluid sprayed him down. That added to the fog as the acid ate at him. He raised

a hand, watching it melt from the corrosive he was covered with. He looked at the boy

glaring at him. More acid fell on top of him.

Eisen’s sword came free. He stabbed forward again. This time the blade cut into

flesh. He stepped back as screams filled the air.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” said Eisen.

More acid covered the Sharriff. His body and clothes turned into a puddle in the

street. Whatever he had planned to do stopped with his passing. The miasma of his

magic cleared away. Eisen ignored the screaming faces coming apart with the red

cloud.

“I think that is enough, Bernard,” said Eisen. “We should go.”

“Right, Pa,” said Bernard. “We don’t want to be around when the Guard get here and

start asking questions.”

“It couldn’t be helped,” said Eisen. He looked at the burning clothing store. “We

definitely don’t have the funds to pay for the damage we caused. Grab your pack and

we’ll head to the train station and start out. We’ll need horses, or a public carriage

outside the city.”

Bernard ran around the burning building, the gear for his acid slowly coming to a stop

in its spin as the power wound down.