Stella dropped her bag of shopping inside the tower’s front door and called, “It’s sundown! Are you ready to teach me some magic?”
A blackened skeleton snatched the bag and took it into the cellar. Another beckoned her toward a set of stairs in the back of the room. She started toward the stairs. Then she stopped short. A familiar pile of fur sat near the base of the stairs. It stared at her with beady eyes, and its colossal mouth cracked open to let its lumpy tongue lick its lips.
“Are you coming or not?” Elrick’s voice echoed from above. “I don’t mind skipping the lesson, but I don’t want to be kept waiting, either.”
“I’m coming,” Stella called, failing to keep the fear out of her voice. The evil sorcerer might have a good reason to keep her alive, but she doubted his pet had such scruples.
Elrick heaved a sigh and said, “Ignore Maw. Just get up here.”
The skeleton beckoned again, and Stella skirted quickly around the beast and up the stairs. “What is that thing?” she asked.
“It’s Maw. He’s no concern of yours.” He scowled. “He won’t eat you if you don’t let him. He only eats things that are dead. Or motionless.”
“But what is he?”
“I thought you wanted to learn magic, not biology. Your hour has already started, so stop wasting time.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He turned to walk further into the room. It was the same size as the tower’s first floor, and the walls were lined with shelves containing jars, pouches, bones, and rolled-up animal skins. That left plenty of space around the table in the center of the room. It was littered with various implements, such as knives and pliers, and a cauldron sat beside it, suspended by a metal grate over some logs. Elrick stopped by the table and threw a little fireball to light the fuel beneath the cauldron. Stella hurried over.
“Magic requires energy,” Elrick said. “Energy can come from many different sources, but they are generally grouped into four categories: thermal, chemical, potential, and kinetic. Thermal is simple enough to figure out, and kinetic takes too much work to harness, so we’re just going to focus on chemical.”
Stella frowned. “But what about potential?”
Elrick chuckled, throwing Stella off and causing her stomach to twist. “We might touch on that someday. That is if I don’t get tired of your questions and roast you before you can handle it.”
Stella stiffened. “Yes, sir.”
“Now, we have a potion to make. Go to the shelves and collect the ingredients. We need mouse fur, pillbugs, and grassroots. Go find them.”
With no hint as to the shelves’ organization and no help from Elrick when she asked, it took all of twenty minutes to gather those three ingredients. Then she had to scrape the mouse fur from the pelts, grind the pillbugs with a mortar and pestle, and chop the grassroots into a fine paste. Then there were more ingredients to find and prepare. Forty minutes in, a skeleton carried a large jar from downstairs with the final ingredient. It pulled an odorous, lumpy length of something out of the jar and laid it on the table. It was pinkish and about as big around as Stella’s wrist and long as her arm, though one end had been cut cleanly, exposing a hollow interior.
“What is it?” Stella asked, wrinkling her nose.
“The final ingredient is a pound of large intestine, minced. So cut off a pound and chop it into tiny pieces.”
“What did you call it?”
Elrick sighed. “A large intestine. It’s the last organ of the digestive tract, responsible for excreting solid waste. That would be why it smells.”
“An organ?” Stella’s stomach turned. “From what?”
“The type of creature doesn’t matter for the potion’s viability, assuming you can get a pound of it. Of course, some creatures yield better results than others. Predators tend to have more potent effects than prey animals, for instance.”
That didn’t answer her question. “I’m sorry sir, I meant to ask what type of creature this specific intestine came from.”
“A potent one. Now get chopping, or the lesson is over. My patience is wearing extremely thin.”
Stella grit her teeth and obeyed. It made her feel dirty, and not because of the organ’s history. The other ingredients had been perfectly innocent compared to this. She couldn’t help wondering whether she was chopping up the intestine of one of Elrick’s victims, one of the people he’d slain with a fireball as they begged him to hear their misdirected prayer.
She slid the finished product into the cauldron with the other ingredients. The potion bubbled and churned, growing thick.
Elrick regarded the potion, his grumpy demeanor mostly gone. “Chemical magic comes from combining the right substances for a certain effect. That often takes the form of potions, but not always. Some of the ingredients you used work together to make the effect, and others are to store the resulting energy in the potion. Energy is chaotic. It dissipates when stored. But, there are ways to slow down the process. Still, a potion like this only has a shelf life of a few weeks before it loses peak potency, and another week or so before it loses the rest.”
The potion started to glow a soft pink color, and Elrick smiled. “It’s ready.”
“What is it, sir?”
“A shrinking potion.”
Stella frowned. She couldn’t imagine what he’d want a shrinking potion for. “Why did you choose this one?”
“I’ll show you.” He reached into his cloak and drew out an emerald the size of his fingernail. “This potion has two uses. Can you guess what they are?”
“Shrinking the drinker and… shrinking something it’s poured on?”
Elrick snorted. “Both are the intended purpose, obviously. But potions have a hidden purpose, a far more useful one.” Holding the emerald in his left hand, he put his right over the cauldron and spun his fingers over it, as if trying to swirl it steam. Then, a glowing swirl rose from the potion, gathering under his hand. As it did so, the potion lost its pink glow, fading into a dull mud brown. Elrick pulled the energy away from the potion, directing it into the emerald. Once it touched the gem, it all rushed in, as if sucked into the stone, and a green glow emanated from Elrick’s hand. Stella stared at it. She couldn’t think of anything she’d ever seen as beautiful as that glow.
“It loses a little energy in the transfer,” Elrick said, “but it’s worth it. Gems are much better at containing energy than potions. I chose this shrinking potion because it’s a high-energy potion, good for a demonstration.” He shook the gem for emphasis. “This is the most useful thing you can learn right now. A potion can only do one thing of itself, but this energy can fuel any spell you can think of, assuming you have enough of it.”
Stella looked into the cauldron. “What about this stuff?”
“Never mind that. The skeletons will take care of it. Speaking of which, the hour’s up. The skeletons will show you to your quarters.”
Before she could say anything else, a pair of skeletons dragged her up another flight of stairs, where she found a labyrinth of bookshelves. The library’s ceiling was twice the height of the other rooms in the tower, and the bookshelves stretched to the very top. Instead of torches, glowing orange orbs were fixed to the shelves at intervals, providing a constant orange light. The skeletons led her through the maze of shelves until they reached a place where it dead-ended against a wall. A straw mattress lay there on the ground with a wolf pelt on top of it.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The skeletons retreated a few paces, then fixed themselves in the walkway, blocking her from leaving the space. Stella shrugged and lay down on the bed. It’s been a long day, she thought, I can start my observations tomorrow.
The morning came, and Elrick sent her back into town with another short shopping list and a reiteration that she wasn’t to return before sundown. Tarant waited at the front door to escort her throughout the day. They were starting nearly two hours later than they had the day before, but that still left a lot of time to kill before Stella could get back into the tower. So Stella decided the shopping could wait until later.
They went to get breakfast at the Vulcan’s Hearth inn. The dining hall was quiet. Lucinus, the innkeeper, sat behind the bar. As he arranged glasses, he threw frequent amused glances at a bearded man in a ragged brown tunic. The bearded old man was methodically sweeping the floor: moving chairs, sweeping crumbs out from under a table, replacing the chairs, and moving to the next table.
The rest of the dining hall was empty, except for one table, where two people sat in stark contrast to each other. One was a burly man with a long mane of red hair wearing a red and yellow vest. A wide smile stretched his beard as he wolfed down his breakfast. The other was a frail woman with badly-kempt hair and a hollow expression. She poked at her food, rolling it around on her plate instead of eating.
Tarant smiled. “Brilliant. Audacio and Luna are here. Come on.” He dragged Stella over and they joined the table. “You look happy, Audacio.”
“I am,” the burly man said. “I have successfully made Fidus sleep in. If I can replicate it on an assembly day, I’m sure to win our war.”
“How did you manage that?”
Audacio pulled a small vial out of his vest pocket. “I bought this sleeping draft from an Ortu. I slipped a little into Fidus’s drink last night. Just to make sure it works. It didn’t take effect right away, but he still sleeps now.” He chuckled and put the vial back in his pocket. “Scorpon doesn’t stand a chance, now. Leona will be victorious very soon!”
Lucinus brought over two plates of sausage and scrambled eggs, setting them in front of Stella and Tarant. “How’s the apprenticeship going, Stella?”
“Slowly,” she said. “It seems like I’ll be spending more time in town than in the tower.”
“Tower?” Audacio asked. “Apprentice?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Tarant said. “Audacio, Luna, this is Stella. She arrived a couple days ago. She’s Elrick’s new apprentice.”
“Impressive,” Audacio said. “You must put in a good word for Leona when you next speak with the sorcerer.” He smiled. “Then you can laugh with me when Fidus gets the news of Scorpon’s defeat. I can just imagine his face. It will be glorious.”
“Sure,” Stella said. She had no intention of doing so, mostly because it wouldn’t make a difference. Elrick despised the people who threw themselves at his fiery rage. He didn’t care about their petitions.
Luna dropped her fork and leaned forward, her hollow expression replaced by urgency. “While you’re at it, ask him to send my boys back home.”
Stella bit her lip. “Did he take them?”
“What? No, they went missing last week. Their names are Alkaid and Mizar, and they’re four and two years old. Their home is Dubhe, just a few leagues away. Please, please get Elrick to send them home.”
“Didn’t you search for them?”
Luna shook her head urgently. “There was no trace to follow. They just disappeared. The sorcerer is my only hope.”
A cough sounded from across the room, where the ragged man was still sweeping. “Who’s that?” Stella asked.
Tarant shook his head ruefully. “Ladon. He’s a cleric of Thuban. Poor guy. He came here years ago, thinking he could convert people away from Elrick. Instead, he sleeps on the streets and does odd jobs for food. You’d think he’d give up, but he’s stubborn.”
The old man stopped to face them. “Peace and joy are the result and reward of effort,” he recited, then went back to sweeping.
Stella raised an eyebrow. “You guys just let him hang around?”
Tarant looked confused. “Why wouldn’t we?”
“What about that monster you were telling me about? Saturn, right? Why doesn’t it eat him?”
Tarant shrugged. “He probably smells nasty. Too much Thubanism might give him a stomachache.”
Stella bent over her food to suppress a skeptical gape. Just how brainwashed are you, Tarant? she thought. He created fantasies to explain away the disturbing realities of his cult, and when contradictions arose, he bent the fantasies to make them fit. It was as if his entire existence relied on the benevolence of the evil sorcerer.
“You never told me your story, Tarant,” she said slowly. She wanted to provoke his talkative manner, so she hid her concern and disgust behind a mask of mild curiosity. “How did you end up as a fa— priest?” She shoved some food in her mouth and watched him expectantly.
The fanatic smiled reminiscently. “It’s pretty simple, actually. It was my aspiration from the moment I could speak. When I was five, I went to Elrick during an assembly with the other hopefuls, and he gave me these.” He gestured to the burn scars on his face and hand. “Afterward, I told the priests my dream, and they made it happen. They raised me up to be one of them, and here I am, living the dream.” He spread out his hands. “I’m stuck at Mediet, but besides that, what else could I want for?”
Stella coughed, nearly choking on a bite of her sausage. Tarant thumped her on the back, and she managed to get it down the right pipe, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m fine,” she said, wiping her face. “I just didn’t chew well enough.”
Tarant took her at her word and roped Luna and Audacio back into conversation. Stella listened, but only as a way to pass the time. Tarant clearly wasn’t going to let any of Elrick’s weaknesses slip, but she still had several hours to kill. Those hours passed much as they had the day before: gathering the items on her list, and watching Tarant’s absurd joviality as he interacted with the people who’d come to Vulcan on purpose to offer their lives to his idol.
At sunset, she returned to the tower, handed off her shopping to a skeleton, and climbed the stairs to the potion room.
Elrick stood by the table again, a paper in his hand. “You’ll be making another shrinking potion tonight. Here’s the ingredient list. You know what to do.” He handed her the paper and leaned against the table, arms folded, watching her.
Stella found the ingredients much more quickly this time. She had most of them brewing in under twenty minutes. That only left the intestine. A skeleton laid it out on the table for her, but she hesitated. That thing could easily be a human intestine. Chopping it up would be desecrating a corpse. It would be taking advantage of one of Elrick’s victims.
I did it last night, she thought. I cut up a pound of this very intestine. It’s not like I’m killing people myself to use their organs. And it’s not like they need it anymore.
The potion was finished just a few minutes later, bubbling with a pink glow.
“You’re going to pull out the energy this time,” Elrick said. “Hold your hand in the steam.”
Stella obeyed. The steam rose in a warm current between her fingers, leaving a thin layer of condensation on her skin.
“Now close your eyes. Extend your mind to feel the warmth of the potion. Do you feel it?”
Stella screwed up her face in concentration. She didn’t feel it. She’d drawn energy from a cookfire once, but she didn’t feel anything like that from the potion. She sensed the fire below the cauldron, but— there! The potion’s energy had a different sort of warmth. The fire was bright, hot, and chaotic, but the potion was subtle and organized. “I found it,” she said.
“Good. Now pull it out. Swirl your hand over it and lift slowly. Twist it up into a ball.”
As Stella did so, the energy emerged from the potion like a cloudy snake, coiling up over the fading surface. The energy sent tendrils of warmth up her arm, invigorating her. This was much more energy than she’d gotten from the cookfire all that time ago. It even seemed to be bigger than the ball of energy Elrick had harvested from last night’s potion.
Stella stared in awe at the power she held, a smile tugging at her lips. It felt like she could do anything: fell a tree, move boulders, or even freeze a lake. She could run for miles with this energy.
Elrick smiled and held out a dull sapphire. “Now guide it to this.”
Stella pulled the energy to his hand. The gem sucked in the energy, leaving Stella feeling hollow.
“Good work,” Elrick said. “Now off to bed.”
“Hold on,” Stella said. “That was only half an hour. Our deal was a whole hour.”
Elrick scowled. “I don’t have anything else to teach you tonight. You can go study in the library instead.”
“That’s not the deal. At least let me watch you work.”
Elrick squinted at her. “No. If you want another half hour, then make another potion.”
Stella bit her lip. After feeling that energy, she wasn’t opposed to repeating the process. “Alright. But you’re going to teach me other things, too, right?”
Elrick sighed. “Yes, fine, but another day. Just get on with it.”
Stella nodded and went about collecting the ingredients while some skeletons cleaned up the waste from the first potion. She still didn’t have any clue on how to kill Elrick, but she’d figure that out later. For now, she wanted more of that energy.