Several hours later, Dmitri gently shook Claudia awake. She rose groggily but freshened up after splashing water on her face. “Do you want to continue?” she asked, indicating the bowl with the purified metal in it.

“Only if you are sure you’re up to it.” Dmitri replied.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” replied Claudia reassuringly. “I know my limits.” She gathered up the bowl and sat cross-legged in front of Dmitri and said, “You initiate the link again. You need the practice. This time, try it without entering that place in your mind first, clear your mind and reach for your magic, and then me immediately after.”

Nodding, Dmitri closed his eyes and reached out to his magic. The muted sensation was still there, but ignoring it, Dmitri reached out once again to Claudia with his mind. Her mind was open and waiting for him and they linked; the magic flaring up inside them both. Dmitri heard Claudia’s voice within his mind; “Feed fire and air into the metal.”

He did as she asked and the metallic liquid started to bubble and boil. Claudia poured in more and more of her own magic, but tinted with a part of the golden aura surrounding her, the aura that had previously been purple and wounded. The golden glow surrounded the bowl and permeated the liquid metal, causing it to glow as well. It bloomed with the brightness of the sun and then dissipated. The bowl was now filled with a bubbling golden liquid. Once again, Claudia’s voice rang out within Dmitri’s mind, “Feed more air into the mixture and use the fire to extract the heat.”

Dmitri fed more air into the mix and it started to steam. He used his fire elements to try and extract the heat but it flared up and liquid caught fire. “Extract it!” Claudia’s voice rang out sharply, then calmer, “Tell the element to take itself away.”

Confused, Dmitri tried to take the fire away from the mix. Almost instantly, the mixture began to solidify as Dmitri extracted the heat. Soon, there was little heat left in the mix and the content of the bowl was solid.

“You can release the magic now.” Claudia said aloud.

Letting go of the magic and the link that went with it, Dmitri inspected the bowl. The contents shimmered in the meagre light, it was solid gold!

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“We did it.” Dmitri said in awe.

Claudia leapt up and jumped on Dmitri in an exultant embrace. Surprised, Dmitri pulled back, but she pulled him closer and kissed him. At first he resisted but soon he stopped fighting it.

The sound of a throat clearing brought them back to reality and they quickly separated and turned to the source of the noise. Wayte was standing there, a wry grin on his face, “Am I interrupting something?”

Claudia’s face went beet red, “We, uh, had reason to celebrate.” She mumbled.

“Oh?” asked Wayte curiously.

Dmitri continued, “We performed a transmutation; one of the spoons into this bowl of gold. Look!” and he held the bowl out to Wayte.

Unprepared to actually see the result of such powerful magic, Wayte was stunned to be handed a bowl of solid gold. He took it and went out into the corridor to inspect it in better light.

“What’s going on?” asked Birkett who was standing guard.

“They did it,” replied Wayte in astonishment, “they actually did it!”

“Did what?” asked Birkett impatiently.

“Your patron, Arcaedus, asked her to transmute something. Look at this bowl, it’s full of gold,” replied Wayte, holding the bowl out for Birkett to see.

Birkett’s eyes lit up at the prospect and took the bowl. Thoughts of greed flitted behind his eyes, calculating.

“Go and tell Arcaedus,” ordered Wayte. “But I wouldn’t mention that she managed to do it only after you stopped abusing her,” he finished.

Birkett scowled at the implication but left anyway.

After he had gone out of sight, Wayte rushed back inside the cell.

“Arcaedus’ creature Birkett has gone to tell him what you’ve done,” informed Wayte. “Now quickly, is there anything I should know about that enabled you do it?”

“We cannot be separated,” Claudia said quickly, latching onto Dmitri’s arm.

When Wayte gave her a questioning look, she snapped at him, “Not because of that. The magic needed both of us. We will also need a long period of time with no interruptions.”

“Wait, that’s what you were doing earlier? When I brought in the midday meal?” Wayte asked astounded. “I couldn’t see you doing anything! You were both sitting across from each other, legs crossed. I thought you must have been meditating or something.”

“It doesn’t matter,” interrupted Dmitri. “Just make sure we’re together. Now you had best get out of here before they come down and find you talking to us.”

Wayte nodded and brought in the tray of food that had brought him into the cell this evening, “You had better eat, with Arcaedus and Draycott on you; you might not have a chance later.”

They thanked him and started towards the food. “Now I guess we’ll find out how Arcaedus can help us,” mused Dmitri.