The Tower's Alchemist (The Gray Tower Trilogy, #1)

by Alesha Escobar

  ***

  We pulled up to the first checkpoint, where the diverging road leading to the factory was barricaded. Several German soldiers and trekkers stood before us. The Maquisards lurked further down the main road, just far enough to not be detected, but close enough to rush in if we needed them. We followed one of the soldier’s instructions and turned off our headlights, waiting for him and a second soldier to approach.

  “Identification, please.” He collected our credentials and inspected them. His partner shined his flashlight on us and examined us with an expressionless face. I kept mine as calm as possible, knowing that many Maquisards were imprisoned or tortured in the process of stealing and counterfeiting papers and identities for missions such as this.

  The soldier with our credentials took the papers back to his booth to examine them in detail, and two other soldiers came forward with their flashlights and weapons ready. Just ahead, an armored car faced us, and a second one patrolled the vicinity. The tank roamed on the other side of the factory grounds.

  He came back and handed us our papers. “You’re early—we were expecting you two hours from now.”

  “Look,” Bernard glared from his passenger side seat, “if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have come at all to this backward town. However, since we come on the express orders of the Führer, I want to quickly get this done.”

  “You’re aware of standard safety procedure?” The soldier directed his question toward Ken, who was in the driver seat. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to speak with a foul Ortsgruppenleiter.

  “Of course,” Ken answered in German, following Bernard’s lead. “The weapons are ‘as is’?”

  “You’ll have to ask Lieutenant Korbin...he’s just ahead.” He saluted us and returned to his booth, signaling toward the other men to set the barricade aside and for the armored car to let us drive past.

  We drove down the narrow road and approached the second checkpoint at the factory gates. This time we were instructed to park our car off to the side of the road and present ourselves at the gate. Ken and Bernard flanked me as we walked toward Lieutenant Korbin and his guards. He saluted us, and we saluted him in return.

  “Good evening, Ortsgruppenleiter Adalrich. I’ll be your escort throughout the factory and can answer any questions you may have.”

  “Very good,” Bernard handed him our papers. “You may call me Fritz. As you can see, I brought along my assistant, Josef, and our nurse Hilda.”

  Korbin’s gaze went between the papers and our faces. “May I ask why you need the nurse?” He handed us our papers.

  “It seems you failed to examine all my information.” I opened my bag and displayed its contents. “I’ve also been trained in advanced chemical science, and will be collecting samples of the chemical agent. As volatile as it is, we still have to ensure its integrity.”

  He viewed the chemistry kit with interest. “Is...it true, those chemicals were made by a wizard?”

  “It seems you need to be sent out into the fray more often.” Ken peered into Korbin’s eyes. “I’ve seen it melt men’s flesh and expose bare bone. I’ve heard soldiers cry for mercy with their last breath while the spell consumed them. I don’t think the devil himself could have made anything more virulent.”

  Korbin’s face blanched and he quickly motioned for us to follow him through the gate entrance. “How much more do you expect the generals will move? We’ve already used half.”

  “If we can weaken the Allies this easily in three months,” I answered. “I predict we won’t need much to finish the task.”

  Two guards stood at the building’s double doors just ahead. Korbin hailed them as they saluted us, and we passed through the doorway unmolested, gazing at the stars above as we stood in the open courtyard of the factory. From where I stood, I remembered that to my right were the two westside exits, and to my left I’d find the emergency exit if I needed to use it. Dozens of soldiers stood sentinel on the balconies of the second and third stories, either facing the courtyard or pacing up and down.

  Bernard pulled out a notebook and pen, trying to ignore the intimidating sight. “Lead us to the weapons, Korbin.”

  Korbin took us into a small room on the first floor that allowed access to the basement level. I could sense a ward on the reinforced door. Korbin unlocked the door and ushered us in. When the lights flickered on, we saw that the basement was bigger than we had thought, and the stockpile of chemical weapons stood in the middle of the room, about two hundred “cubes” of material stacked high, forming a pyramid.

  The fact that they packaged it this way made me certain that the chemical agent was in powder form. I needed to test its physical and magical composition, and if I could, swipe a sample. However it would all mean nothing if I couldn’t neutralize it.

  “You’ll have to be careful with it,” Korbin told me as he went over to a locker and took out a pair of warded gloves.

  I took out my own pair of gloves. “Just leave me to my work.”

  Bernard pointed toward some notes posted on the locker. “You see those procedural rules? I think they ought to be posted right outside at the door, not on the storage locker.”

  Korbin walked him over toward the notes. “Since whoever would come to test or transfer the chemicals would have to come to the locker first, I thought this would be the proper place.”

  Bernard trailed off, going down a list of changes he wanted implemented, and grabbed the notes off the locker and went through them. He was probably looking for that research laboratory I needed.

  As Ken stood as lookout near the door, I set up my warded chemistry set on a table in the corner and took out my silver knife. I carved a fortified symbol of protection around the seat I’d be sitting in—a plaited symbol that looked like a three-leaf clover.

  I put on my gloves and went over to the pyramid to grab one of the cubes from the top. All of the packaging was secured with a ward, but the chemical itself was another matter. I brought it back over to the table and sat within my protective symbol. I snipped open the plastic bag and frowned at the stench already assaulting my nose, but it didn’t stop there—somehow the black grainy powder stirred on its own, and spread as if a wind had blown it. I used one of the beakers from the chemistry set to trap it.

  I could already feel the powder graze against the beaker and try to rise into the air. It made me wonder if their wards were strong enough to completely contain this. I fed more energy into my own protective symbol, and the chemical settled back down. It almost felt alive; it just moved and swirled on its own. I could even feel it push against my protective magic and pulsate like a beating heart. I would seriously have a problem if this stuff broke through and ate my face off.

  With trembling hands, I took my silver knife and made three smaller plaited symbols on the surface of the table. I transferred the powder over to the symbols, dividing it into three. I already knew that heat catalyzed the chemical into what we called The Plague, and now I could feel its grainy texture that resembled a darker version of cane sugar. I scooped some of the powder into a warded vial, which I then sealed and dropped into my pocket.

  I flashed a nervous smile at Ken as he paced back and forth, listening at the door and making sure Bernard kept Korbin preoccupied. Now that I had the chemicals separated into three distinct piles, I placed a few drops of Aqua Fortis on the first one. The powder turned red and fizzled, but the substance didn’t decompose or transform. I almost gasped when I saw the powder inch its way on the table top toward the border of the protective symbol and beginning to weaken it. I gripped my silver knife again and carved an upside down triangle symbol for Water (I figured that I would try the opposite of what catalyzed the powder), as well as a crescent moon, which would reinforce any spells done with the silver knife.

  Since I tasted no metallic essence in the powder, it meant some type of protein was present, and that it could decay. After placing a few drops of Aqua Vitae on the next pile, I carved a second upside down triangle, but th
is one had a cross sitting on top—the spell of Putrefaction. If this one didn’t work, I’d have to try to get us out of here without getting shot down by the German Army.

  The powder fizzled with the effect of the water and the spell, and the powder made one last push against my protective symbol on the table and broke it. A small cry escaped my throat, but I fell silent when the powder turned black-green, and decayed before my eyes. Korbin and Bernard finally came over to watch. I held a match to the putrefied powder.

  “Has anyone touched this?” I made my tone sound aggravated.

  “N-no,” Korbin shook his head. “We’ve all been keeping protocol. Is something wrong?”

  The powder went up in flames and disintegrated without incident. I had neutralized the chemical, and Korbin was none the wiser. “If you value your life, you will tell me who meddled with this.”

  Korbin knew nothing of alchemy, how the chemical was made, or how it worked. By accusing him or his men of tampering, I was shifting the focus from what I was doing and turning it on him.

  “I swear to you, none of us have.” He turned to Bernard in a silent plea.

  “I believe there is no reason to question Lieutenant Korbin.” Bernard rested his hand on the man’s shoulder.

  “However,” Ken approached with a stern expression, “you should go ask your men what they’ve been doing within the past two weeks.”

  “Of course.” Korbin saluted and rushed past Ken. He went straight for the door and headed upstairs. I shot Ken an annoyed glance—why did he send Korbin out?

  “Please tell me you know how to destroy this stuff.” Ken shut the door and locked it. He reached for his pistol.

  “It’s going to take almost all my strength, but I can do it. Why did you make Korbin leave?”

  “There’s a commotion going on up there. If the real Fritz Aldarich’s also arrived early, then we have trouble coming.”

  When we heard the footsteps of a group of men come down the stairway, and Korbin’s voice demanding us to open the door, Bernard withdrew a small radio transmitter from inside his coat. He clicked it on and repeated a single phrase: “This is Papa...it’s time to put the baby to bed.”

  I sped around the pyramid, carving my water and moon symbols into the floor. Then I came back around and splashed my Aqua Vitae all over the packaged chemicals and onto the symbols, trying to ignore the banging outside the door, and concentrated on repeating the neutralization.

  “Go stand by the door!” I shouted toward Bernard and Ken. They’d have to be as far away from it as possible. “As soon as I neutralize the chemicals, be ready to open it.”

  I carved another plaited protection symbol and a single large Putrefaction spell at the foot of the pyramid. I fed all my energy into devouring the chemicals. Ken swung the door open, and the loud hisses and smoke billowing from the stockpile caught Korbin and his men off-guard. I heard screams of horror as we were all lost in a temporary blindness, and I could hear the guards retreating from the basement shouting a warning to the other soldiers that we had activated the chemicals.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Bernard ran toward me and grabbed my wrist.

  I coughed as some of the smoke rushed toward my face and flew up my nostrils. I tried looking around for Ken, but I could hardly see anything, and Bernard would not let me loose. As we ran upstairs and into the room that would lead us back out to ground level, my legs felt weak and my arms began to shake. The Putrefaction spell required a lot, though I knew I needed to hold on longer so that we could make it out of the factory alive.

  “Go on!” Ken shouted behind us as he propped the basement door open with his foot. “The Maquisards should be here.”

  “Come up, Ken!”

  “I’ll catch up! Just go!”

  With reluctance, I stepped ahead of Bernard and opened the ground level door just a bit The scene was absolute pandemonium. Maquisards and German soldiers gunned each other down amidst three separate gunfights, and no one gave reprieve to the injured who were caught in the crossfire. The Maquisards took the first level and created a barricade near the entrance. They also took the east side.

  The German officers trapped on the second and third floors returned gunfire, and snipping anyone who crossed their path. When someone launched a grenade into the courtyard, causing the gunfire to cease and forcing many to take cover, I saw our chance to run straight for the exit. We quickly made our way through the courtyard and dashed toward the double doors.

  “This way!” A young man, who hastily introduced himself as Claude, ushered us past the barricade and led us through. He shot two soldiers with his rifle, and Ken and Bernard also fired when a few stragglers emerged from the west grounds. We made it through the gates, but instinctively flinched when we heard the tank on the other side of the factory fire a shot. We picked up our pace when we heard it rolling north toward us.

  “What happened to our car?” I ran alongside Claude as I gazed at our vehicle, now engulfed in flames. Just a few feet away, the second tank stood still, with nearly seven bodies of Maquisards and two German soldiers lying on the ground.

  “Don’t worry.” Claude motioned for us to head down the road toward the first checkpoint. “I have a car down the road waiting for you, now go!”

  “Tell them to pull back now,” Bernard said. “We’ve done what we needed to do.”

  Claude remained with us until the car was in sight. He parked it just behind the barricade that now stood deserted. Claude handed Ken the key and bid us farewell as quickly as he had introduced himself. He turned and headed back toward the factory, and all I could think was, if he were anything like me, he’d buck Bernard’s order to retreat and continue fighting.

  “Bernard, did you find out anything about the laboratories?” I ran with them toward the car, away from the gunfire and smoke of the melee.

  “I didn’t find much, but you’re going to want to look at Dijon, Reims, and Nice.” He looked at me apologetically, almost as if expecting me to be angry.

  In truth, I was glad to at least have this lead. Despite the chaos at the factory, destroying the chemical weapons gave me a sense of relief, since it meant no one else would have to fall victim to them. At the same time, I knew I would have to pinpoint the exact location of the laboratory in order to make it to Heilwig.

  We reached the car, but suddenly halted when another car pulled up beside it. I immediately grabbed Bernard and Ken, pulling them backward. The way I held their arms and pulled them away told them that something was wrong.

  “Noelle, who is that?” Bernard’s gaze fixed on Marc, who stepped out of the second car.

  Ken recognized Marc and drew his gun. “Get another spell ready.”

  I immediately laid a spell without a word, though by this time my body felt like it was on fire and my mind could barely focus. Although I did as he said, the spell I laid wasn’t an offensive spell, but an Air spell.

  “Step on the glowing symbol,” I commanded them.

  “What does it do?” Bernard backed away as Marc approached. There would be no use in trying to send Marc flying away—he’d only be back in a few seconds.

  “It’ll protect you. Now, both of you do it quickly.” I felt horrible lying to them, but I’d rather them be angry with me for sending them away than dead. They backed onto the symbol, and as soon as they touched it, a blast of air shot up and sent them flying in opposite directions into the nearby trees.

  As I stood ready to cast another spell, I tried sizing Marc up to see if I was a match for him. I mentally reached out, but quickly recoiled when I felt his toxic magical energy emanating toward me like a heat wave. I didn’t know if he had let his guard down or if he wanted me to feel the breadth of his power, but it made me queasy to know that he had gorged on over ten wizards.

  And if I didn’t kill him, I’d be next.