Chapter Eighteen

Ash had trouble starting the fire. The breeze kept blowing it out. He kept trying, and by the fifth try, he had one going. He started small because he knew the heat needed to be managed. He also made tongs out of two sticks to move the pot when it got hot or push the fire around.

First, he added the alcohol, a dark stout. He wrinkled his nose.

How can people drink this stuff? Ash thought as he unstoppered the undahul saliva, and he gagged. The smell of the alcohol would be preferred.

Using another stick, he stirred the saliva in. Tapping the side of the pot with the stick to shake off some of the liquid, which was turning a sickly green, he picked up the motor and pestle Amalia had given him. He added the teeth to it, which he was thankful didn’t have much of a smell.

He added the luminae flowers to it. Biting his inner lip, he brought his brows together as he pounded and crushed the ingredients. The teeth began to turn into powder, and the flowers began to release juices. Amalia hadn’t told him when to add the mixture, but he kept pounding and grinding it.

Occasionally, he would stir the alcohol and slime mixture in the pot. It was heating up nicely, but it was beginning to bubble. Growing worried that it would grow too hot, he took the pot off the fire, hoping the residual heat would be enough.

Once he felt like the slime and alcohol were thoroughly combined, he added the crushed luminae and powdered teeth.

There was a flash of white as something in the mixture detonated, and Ash turned his face away quickly as smoke tried to blast him in the face. He coughed, waving the smoke away from his face.

He looked into the pot. It was a glowing silver-white oil now. He frowned because he had no idea how it had become an oil nor how it felt so…magical. It was magical, the glow made that unmistakable.

Except Ash hadn’t done anything to make it so. Amalia had told him it was the monster ingredients, but that didn’t explain how are why it worked that way. He sighed, rubbing at the side of his forehead.

Amalia refused to tell them anything she didn’t think they needed to know. Even things like this, that would very likely be needed to save their lives.

Instead of showing you how to do it the right way, she would let you fail, and then, if you were really lucky, she would tell you what you did wrong. Then you could extrapolate from that what the right thing to do was.

Ash didn’t mind making mistakes, he knew that would be inevitable. It’s just that he was never given the chance to not make them to begin with. This wraith oil could have turned out poorly, and for all he knew, it had, and that would mean the ingredients had been wasted. Luckily, he had a feeling he had done it right.

He pulled out empty potion vials from his pack, carefully pouring the liquid into the vials, adding a stopper.

Everything he had needed to do out here was done.

Putting away his stuff, he headed back.

___________

“You have the locket?” Rosalia asked him hopefully.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

She was sitting on the edge of a bed, bouncing her feet off the floor.

Ash curled his lips into a smile, nodding.

“I did.”

“Excellent. We will need it to summon the maiden.” Amalia stated.

Rosalia cocked her head,

“How? Besides, we need to take it back to the parents, we promised!”

“Mm. You’ll end up breaking that promise since it will be hard to keep after we burn the locket.”

Rosalia’s mouth fell open, and she stood up.

“What? We will not be doing that!”

Nick pulled on his beard,

“It doesn’t sit right with me, burnin’ what they promised to give back.”

Will crossed his arms,

“Why do we need to burn it? You acted like it didn’t mean anything before.”

“I did. If you couldn’t find it, we would have had to retrieve some other item of value to her or use a person as bait. This saves time.”

Will held his chin with a thumb and forefinger,

“Getting my fat hamster to move on its wheel in my brain here, but let me see if I have this right. You’re saying we need to burn the locket so the night maiden will show up so we can kill it?”

Amalia nodded,

“It appears that hamster is getting its excersize Master Al’Seen. You have it right.”

“We should just use something else! I’m sure Mr. Holt and Ms. Lea have something!” Rosalia exclaimed, clenching her hands together in front of her chest.

Amalia was already shaking her head,

“I was willing to try another object should you not have been able to retrieve the locket, but it would have had less chance of working. This locket had been special to the deceased since she was a little girl. It will certainly work, so that is what we will use.”

Rosalia clenched her fists, tears forming in her eyes,

“You knew we would have to do this. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“What purpose would that have served? There was no sense in upsetting you unless young Master Lorcan here succeeded in retrieving it.”

Rosalia’s lip quivered,

“You’re so cold. Why are you like this?”

Amalia said nothing. She stood up, walked toward Ash, and handed him a bag.

“Inside, you will find a cura rose, furoian dust, and pure water. Use all of it to create healing potions. These,” she tapped the vials of wraith oil Ash had made, “are decent. Use a little more heat next time. This should help.”

Out of nowhere, a small black burner appeared, and a script glowing red lined the side of it.

“A portable burner. It should be more suitable than a beach fire.”

Ash frowned. He couldn’t help but wonder whether she had it before. He sighed, deciding not to buy trouble at every opportunity.

“Thank you.”

She said nothing, turning to address everyone else.

“Tonight, you will be fighting the night maiden. It is time to decide the roles you will play in the coming confrontation.”

Will smiled,

“As long as I get to stay in the back and shoot it with my fast-moving death sticks, I’m good.”

“You need to decide the following roles: tank, damage, healer, and support. Given none of you have mastered any healing techniques yet, you will be unable to fulfill that duty.”

“Why do any of us need to fight? You could kill the maiden like that,” Will snapped.

Ash nodded, pointing at the other boy.

“What would you learn if I did that?”

“My guts don’t pay rent, but I still prefer not to have them evicted via monster claws. So how about we skip the super dangerous lessons?”

“You will never reach bronze rank if you shy away from fights. Tanks draw attention, keeping it on them; I will add a script to your shield, Master Al’Smith, which will help repel the maiden’s attacks. Master Lorcan, you shall play support. Miss Va’Sear shall be damage, along with Master A’Seen. I would normally allow you all to discuss and puzzle it out yourselves, but I want to move along after tonight, and you need the time to practice.”

Rosalia crossed her arms,

“I say we buy those more expensive ingredients and return the locket. We promised.”

Amalia raised a black brow,

“Oh? With what money might you purchase these ingredients?”

Rosalia opened her mouth, looking away,

“I thought you’d purchase them…”

Amalia did not laugh.

“Why would I do such a thing? I have only purchased what I have so far to further your training. Purchasing more expensive ingredients when there is no need to would be a waste of funds. Funds we will need should we wish to reach our destination.”

Rosalia clenched at the bed sheets, trembling with rage.

“Don’t you have a heart?”

Amalia looked at her,

“I assure you that my heart functions purely. Now, I suggest you rest as well as you can. The fight ahead will likely be trying.”

With that, Amalia left the room.

Ash hoped they would all still be alive by the night’s end.