Chapter Seventeen: Alchemy

“Will and Nick received the other items we needed. We will meet in your room tomorrow morning to discuss what we need to do for our next steps. Then, you can take a boat to where Arisa was drowned and look for the locket if you wish. I hope you know how to swim.”

Ash knew how to swim. His Uncle Derrick had taught him in the lake a few miles from the farm.

He had never tried diving that far, but he’d try for Lea and Holt.

“I’m too pretty to drown, so I’m not doing it,” Will grinned, tapping his face.

“Yeah, you’re a real catch.”

Rosalia, for once, did not giggle at Will’s joking.

“This is serious. We need to get that locket if we can. Those people deserve it. You have no idea what she told me. How horrible half-elves are treated.”

Will and Nick bowed their heads, looking chastened.

“The locket is secondary; if you can retrieve it, all the better. If you cannot, nothing significant is lost.”

Rosalia, for the first time, looked at Amalia with an incredulous expression.

“Those people are suffering! Their daughter was manipulated and then murdered for no reason other than existing. They deserve closure, and you’re acting like it doesn’t matter!”

“Mm. Indeed, and that would be because it doesn’t.”

Rosalia slammed her hand on the table, ears twitching furiously and eyes blazing,

“It does matter! She mattered, you hear me!” Tears spilled on the table.

“She did, yes. Horrible things happen all the time; you’ve experienced some of that. People have prejudice; it is a testament to your age that you have operated until now believing that not to be true. I would have thought the last vestiges of your innocence were gone the night your homes and families were killed.”

Rosalia stared at her as if seeing Amalia for the first time.

“How are you so cold?”

Amalia didn’t respond to the comment. Instead, she said,

“Get some rest, all of you. We have much to do tomorrow and a battle with a monster to look forward to.”

Rosalia stood up, storming away to her room. Will, Nick, and Ash shared a look.

Ash almost felt ashamed that he was happy that Rosalia was starting to see why he had such a problem with Amalia.

He left the table with the other two boys, heading to their room.

He tried to sleep, but his dreams were filled with fire, a woman with a blade, and burning eyes of hatred.

____________________

“Sleep well?” Will asked Ash.

He rubbed his eyes,

“Not very, but I’ll manage.”

The three boys began to get ready, using the washroom's scripted shower heads and soap to clean themselves. After they had dressed, there was a knock at the door.

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Will opened it and then gave an elegant boy.

“Gents, may I introduce the lady Rosalia, in all he radiant beauty.”

Rosalia entered, the tips of her ears blushing; she giggled and slapped Will’s shoulder.

“Stop that. Amalia is on her way.”

She sat down with the rest of them as Amalia entered the room moments later. She was dressed as she always was, in black robes and wielding her white staff engraved with strange markings.

“Good, you’re all here. Now then, Nick and Will were kind enough to pick up weapons for you all the other day and have them blessed by a priest of Light.”

She held a hand over the bed, and three swords in simple leather sheaths fell onto the mattress. Next, she brought forth a large metal hammer and handed it to Nick, who hefted it with a smile.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Light, but ain’t she a beaut?”

Will, Rosalia, and Ash laughed as they picked up their weapons. This sword was not wooden but very much metal, weighing more than Ash expected. He almost dropped it.

However, even the minimal training they received did wonders, and once Ash got used to it, he found it manageable.

“I don’t get it. The priest just said some weird nonsense in a strange language, and now the sword can pierce this night maiden?” Will asked, a dubious eyebrow climbing up his forehead.

“Precisely, Master Al’Seen. That, and a little help from the wraith oil, should do the trick nicely.”

“You had me get all those plants, and I don’t know what I needed those teeth for, but that’s just unsanitary.”

Amalia did not laugh at Will’s joke, but she did make several items appear out of thin air. The first was a simple black pot; the next were two vials. One contained several needle-sharp green teeth, and the second contained slime-colored liquid.

Along with that, she placed a pure white flower on the bed.

“It is said that when the Hero of Light died, the tears wept that day bloomed into these flowers. They are known as luminae’s. Pretty if you care for that sort of thing. For our purposes, they are often a key ingredient when crafting oils or potions.”

She pointed at Ash,

“You, Master Lorcan, will create these potions and oils for us. First, you will start with the wraith oil and then two healing potions. I will give you the ingredients for those after I see how you handle making the wraith oil.”

“You want me to handle this? Doesn’t it require some elar to use?”

Amalia shook her head,

“That is what the monster parts are for. This substance is undahul saliva, and the teeth are moon wraith teeth. Crushing them into a powder with the saliva and alcohol will create wraith oil. These are bronze-ranked ingredients, and the oil will be of the same rank, too. This is the beauty of alchemy; all you need are the required ingredients of your desired rank. If you cannot gather them yourself, you may procure them. It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: the higher the rank, the more expensive the ingredient.”

Ash stared at the pot,

“I don’t know. It can’t be that easy.”

Amalia tapped the pot,

“Heat is important, as is how long you cook the potion. For oils, you want low heat, long and slow to draw out everything from the flowers. There’s more to how it all works, but it is all you need to know for now.”

“Yeah, you’re big on need to know,” Will said, rolling his eyes.

“Indeed.”

Ash took the pot to a small table, setting it and the ingredients on top.

“Okay, but how should I put this over a fire? I don’t think the chef will allow me to use the kitchen.”

“No, they likely would not. I suggest building a fire just outside of town or on the beach. You need to go down there to retrieve that locket anyway.”

Ash nodded,

“Yeah, that’s right, I do. I’ll be off then; I have work to do.”

After nodding to them all, Ash gathered what he needed and left.

_____

Ash stood on the wharf in nothing but his small clothes. He was eyeing the waves with trepidation. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel cold. The air wasn’t bad this morning, and the sea was calm. Amalia had given him weird glasses with straps to wear, telling him he’d need them to see in the water. He put those on now.

Ash took a deep breath, then slid into the water.

He tread water for a while, feeling wet but not cold. Following what Holt told him, he swam lazily forward for a while. There was no need to rush and tire himself out.

It was easier to swim in the ocean than he thought. After being some ways out, he took a deep breath and dove. He saw why he needed the glasses. He could see the bottom, and there were random plants and other such things present, but no locket.

After coming up for air, he tried again.

A few more attempts, and he moved back a little ways. His skin was becoming pruny, but he couldn’t get Lea’s weeping face out of his mind.

In the end, it took him several hours to find the locket. It was tucked under a slimy plant, but he had been in the right area. Overall, he was lucky because there just weren’t many items down here.

After getting the locket, he climbed back up the wharf and let himself dry in the light of the sun that beat down on him. Tiny, made from brass, snapped the locket open to reveal a child’s photo of her family. Mom, Dad, and a little girl. All stick figures.

Each figure had a happy smile on their face.

At that moment, Ash desperately wished he had the power to bring the dead back to life. To restore some semblance of happiness to a broken family.

But he couldn’t.

All he could do was return a memento and put a young woman to rest before she harmed anyone else.