The Heart of Alchemy

by James E. Wisher

  She groaned and opened her eyes. “Time to go?”

  He nodded. “Marius has begun. What, exactly, I’m less certain of. But whatever it is, I want to be far away before it gets bad.”

  She climbed out of bed, hair going every which way, and stretched, her back popping. “I’m ready.”

  Out in the main room, they found their so-called allies long gone. That suited Otto fine as he had no desire to waste his strength killing fools. He adjusted his sword and led the way outside.

  The dark streets were quiet enough for the moment. Following the thread he’d left, Otto turned north toward the palace. As they walked, he asked, “Just how bad will things get?”

  “I know little about the cult’s magical rituals,” Jet said. “Unopposed, the shroud will slowly spread until it covers the entire city. The only things that will stop it are killing Marius and sealing the hell gate he’s opened or running out of lives to power it.”

  “Are we going to have to worry about demons as well as undead?”

  “No. The gate is tiny, only big enough to summon corrupt energy. Summoning a proper demon requires far more power than Marius commands. I can’t imagine how much time he’s spent just to gather the magic needed for this ritual. He’s probably been working on it for decades.”

  Otto immediately ratcheted up his estimation of the danger. In his experience, the longer you spent on a project, the greater the potential for remarkable results. Investing decades on a single ritual was something he couldn’t even imagine. Of course, Marius was immortal now, so he had all the time in the world.

  They’d covered about ten blocks when the first screams reached him. They were faint but distinct. He couldn’t tell if they signaled horror, pain, fear, or something else. He didn’t especially want to find out either.

  He picked up the pace until they were nearly jogging through the dark. The screams only grew louder despite the increased speed. It almost sounded like the person making that noise was running right toward them.

  Otto stopped and turned to face the noise. Light blazed to life around him as he agitated the ether. They were still in the rundown part of the city and none of the locals seemed inclined to stick their heads out to see what was going on. Otto didn’t blame them a bit.

  Jet grabbed his arm and tugged. “What are you doing? We can’t stay here.”

  “We can’t escape either.” Otto drew his sword. “Better to face whatever’s coming now than when we’ve run ourselves to exhaustion.”

  Jet pulled her own dagger, her knuckles white on the hilt. While he appreciated the gesture, Otto expected little in the way of help from his companion.

  The screaming was nearly deafening when the creature burst into the light at a full sprint.

  Otto didn’t hesitate.

  A spear of ten fused threads lashed out, reducing the creature’s head to pulp, sending it crashing to the ground, and putting an end to its screaming. After all that noise, he’d expected more of a battle.

  Otto walked over and looked down at the remains. It had clearly been a woman once. Her clothes were torn and ragged and her feet bare. Her body had been twisted and distorted. Fingers were transformed into claws, teeth into fangs, and her skin was now rough and gray like stone.

  In the distance more screams filled the night.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “They’re called Screamers, for obvious reasons,” Jet said. “I read about them in one of Astaroth’s holy books. They serve as shock troops in his army. Running ahead of the main force and slaughtering all that oppose them. I got the impression they were supposed to be tougher.”

  “Don’t let this battle fool you. Against my magic, this one stood no chance, but against an ordinary soldier, I shudder to think what it might have done. Anyway, let’s get going. I’d just as soon avoid any more of them if possible.”

  It ended up not being possible. Otto was forced to kill two more of the Screamers before they reached the alley where his thread ended. Across the way, the Forbidden Garden glowed a dull yellow in the dark.

  “With all the undead running around the city,” Jet said. “Maybe the garden won’t be so bad.”

  “What do you want to bet?”

  Her laugh sounded nervous and brittle which perfectly described Otto’s nerves. After the long journey here, crossing the border, running and hiding, it was finally time.

  Otto conjured a platform beneath them and they rose slowly toward the palace wall. No shouts of alarm rang out and no guards came running. A quick look revealed that all the guards were clustered around the main gate.

  Perfect. Just as he’d hoped, Marius’s uprising served his needs well. They landed on the battlements and looked down into the garden. Or they tried to. The thick canopy blocked Otto’s view. They ended up having to walk a third of the way down the wall until what looked like an entrance, really just an arch made up of bent saplings, became visible.

  He lowered them down to the ground and they walked slowly toward the arch. There was no barrier beyond the thick growth, yet for all appearances, no gap wide enough to admit a person existed.

  Otto stopped and took a deep breath. A shield of ether formed around him. If Jet decided to follow, she was on her own.

  Steeling himself, he stepped across the threshold into the garden.

  Ten strides past the entrance and Otto already knew he was dealing with something beyond even his wildest imaginings. It felt like a million eyes were watching, but when he looked around, he saw nothing save trees. Even the sky was blocked out by the sprawling branches. No bird or squirrel, not even a bug broke the perfect stillness. An odd scent filled the air, faint, like distant perfume. It was floral, but unlike anything he’d smelled before.

  “Where do you think the Heart is?” Jet asked.

  It seemed she’d decided to join him. Otto had been so focused on what was around him that he hadn’t even noticed her.

  “If Lord Cheng was anything like the other Arcane Lords, I suspect it will be in the center of the garden. Probably on a glowing pedestal surrounded by lethal traps and monsters.”

  He looked back at Jet then past her, over her right shoulder. The garden entrance was gone.

  “No going back now.”

  Jet turned then snapped her gaze back to his, panic clear in her eyes. “How?”

  That was always the question with Arcane Lords and far too often the answer was the same. “I have no idea. It seems down the path is our only option.”

  Jet had her dagger out and her head jerked left and right as if trying to watch every direction at once. Otto didn’t bother telling her it was a waste of time and that ordinary steel would probably do her no good.

  “Try to relax. Your anxiety is stressing me out. Whatever is going to happen will happen no matter how ready we are. All you’re going to do is exhaust yourself.”

  “Easy for you to say. You have magic and mithril to protect you.”

  “You were free to wait outside.”

  “For Marius and his undead to show up? No, thank you. I’ll take my chances in here. At least the trees don’t want to eat me.”

  Otto wasn’t entirely sure that was true. He sensed no malevolence from the garden, but there was definitely something, some presence, that was aware of them. Its nature and purpose eluded Otto, but he would never assume good intentions.

  The path made it clear where they were meant to go. Hopefully not directly into a trap. As they walked on, he shifted his focus constantly between the ether and the physical world. Not that there was much difference. Everything in the garden seemed infused with massive amounts of ether. The amount of power in a single tree was more than he could have channeled in a year.

  He tried to think how Lord Cheng might have created such things and immediately gave up. Trying to think like an Arcane Lord was still as far beyond him as long division was a mosquito.

  Much like being underground, the constant, unchanging glow made it hard to tell how long they’d been wanderi
ng around. Far longer, it seemed to Otto, than it should have taken to reach the center of such a small area. It seemed like they were moving in a straight line, but he couldn’t assume his senses hadn’t been affected.

  He took a deep breath. The perfume was getting stronger and he took that as a sign that they were closing in on their final destination. Not that he had any way to prove his theory, but it was better than panicking. Which was exactly what would happen if he allowed himself to believe they were simply wandering in circles.

  Otto’s faith was rewarded a moment later when they found a modest clearing directly ahead. A glowing figure of a man in long, golden robes stood in the center of the clearing. On a pedestal made of twisted branches sat a bloodred gemstone the size of Otto’s fist. That had to be the Heart of Alchemy. Which made the ghost Lord Cheng.

  He stopped just outside the clearing and studied the scene with both his mundane senses and his magical ones. In the ether, Cheng glowed more brightly than the trees. It looked like he was made of pure ether packed so dense he was practically solid. His glowing, golden eyes bore into Otto like a drill.

  It was a challenge, pure and simple. Did he have the courage to step into the clearing and face whatever the long-dead Arcane Lord had in store for him?

  Otto certainly did. “Wait here.”

  With that he stepped off the path and into the clearing.

  Sensing movement behind him, Otto spun just in time to watch the trees close in, blocking off the path. Well, no turning back now.

  He strode directly over to the ethereal construct and bowed. “Lord Cheng.”

  “You have come for the Heart,” the construct said. “I congratulate you on claiming the Chamber. Lord Colt was always known for the… durability of his tests.”

  Otto stared for a moment. “How did you know I passed Colt’s test?”

  “The pieces of the Infinity Engine are separate, but still connected. What happens to one, the other knows. As the Heart’s guardian, what it knows, I know.”

  “Fascinating. I suppose you have a test for me as well. Shall we begin?”

  “We have already begun. You noticed the pleasant perfume that fills the air?”

  Otto nodded. “I’ve never smelled anything like it.”

  “I’m not surprised. I created the plant that gives it off. It is also highly toxic.”

  Otto touched his chest. He felt no different. “What do I do now?”

  “You must make a choice,” the construct said. “As long as you remain in the garden, the tree’s pollen will protect you from the poison. The moment you step outside, it will activate and you will quickly die. Your choices are simple. Stay here and spend the rest of your life as my companion or take the Heart and pray you can transmute the poison in your body before it kills you.”

  “That’s it?” Otto said, like the test was simple, but in reality, it was probably harder than defeating Colt’s steel construct. “I thought I would have to fight a living tree or something.”

  “That is not my way.”

  “No, I suppose it isn’t. Can you give me any pointers on how to use the Heart?”

  “Why do you think a simple guardian like me would know anything?”

  “You’re a simulacrum, right? You should know everything your creator knew, or close to it.”

  The construct smiled. “Congratulations. The reward for your perceptiveness is a hint. Alchemy is about transforming a substance from one state to another. That is why it serves as the Heart of the process for becoming an Arcane Lord. When you access the Heart’s power, keep that in mind.”

  Otto frowned at the indirect advice. Still, he suspected he’d get nothing else. When he went to claim the Heart, Cheng’s construct made no effort to stop him.

  The gem gave off a faint heat and weighed less than a double eagle. Peering at it in the ether revealed a complex matrix of connections far more advanced than anything he had ever contemplated. With the proper knowledge you could probably do just about anything with this thing. Pity Otto lacked that knowledge.

  When he looked back, he found a rather nervous-seeming Jet watching him from the edge of the clearing. Since there was nothing more for him to do here, he strode over to her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “No, and neither are you.” He explained about the poison and how to deal with it. “It all comes down to me figuring out how to use this thing. If I do it right, we live. If not, we die.”

  “Great. Nothing to it, right?”

  Otto remained silent. Transforming the poison would be the most complex and difficult magic he had ever attempted. He’d said it half in jest, but right now, he really would have preferred to fight a tree monster.

  There was no more sense of being watched as they made their way back to the edge of the garden. Beside him, Jet fidgeted, adjusting her hair, then her clothes, then back to her hair. You’d think she was meeting her lover after a long absence. Otto rubbed the smooth surface of the Heart. If he screwed this up, the only thing they’d be meeting was their doom.

  The walk out took far less time than the trip in. Or maybe Otto was so distracted the path felt shorter. Either way, when they reached the end he stopped and gathered himself. The moment he moved beyond the trees, the countdown began.

  “Wait here,” Otto said. “If I survive, I’ll signal you to come out and I can repeat the process on you.”

  “And if you don’t?” she asked.

  “Then you have to decide if you prefer death or spending the rest of your life in an enchanted garden with only the spirit of a long-dead Arcane Lord for company. You could also wait and hope for Marius to raise you as an undead.”

  “I’ll just hope you succeed.”

  Otto nodded, filled the Heart with ether, and took the last step forward. He had the briefest impressions of an empty courtyard before pain unlike anything he’d ever known stabbed into every inch of his body. Even breaking through his personal magical limit felt like a tickle compared to this.

  Fear and pain being wonderful motivators, he plunged all his senses into the Heart. He followed the crystal matrix all the way into its core and was promptly pumped out like a spurt of blood. Letting his awareness ride the ethereal flow, Otto’s consciousness was sent back through his hands into his blood stream.

  Once there he quickly found the problem. Tiny flecks of something other than blood filled his body. That had to be the poison. But there was so much of it. Every second more damage was done to the surrounding vessels. How could he deal with all of it in time?

  The answer came a moment later. He ran a thread of ether through one of the specks of poison then used a variation of the spell that allowed him to find someone by using their blood. At his command, the ether sought out everything like that fleck of poison.

  Instantly, the magic carried out his will. There was so much information his mind could barely comprehend it. Now that he had the poison marked, he needed to destroy it.

  No.

  What had Cheng’s simulacrum said? Alchemy was about transformation. He couldn’t destroy the poison, he needed to change it into something else.

  Gritting his teeth against the pain, Otto ran a second thread through a red speck that belonged in his blood.

  Now. Change!

  Power flowed from the Heart into his body. For a moment it was like being one with the ether.

  Bliss washed away the pain.

  A moment later it was gone, leaving Otto feeling slightly hollow, but still alive. Even better, he didn’t feel drained like he usually did when he used too much magic. Having the Heart as an intermediary must have banished the exhaustion. Considering how much he had left to do, he wasn’t about to complain.

  “You’re still standing,” Jet said from the edge of the garden. “Did you figure it out?”

  Otto’s answer got drowned out by a huge roar mingled with explosions and crashes coming from the direction of the palace gate. Sounded like Marius was getting close. Otto glanced at Jet. She wasn�
��t really his problem. He could become one with the ether and return to Port Han in an instant.

  He shook his head. No, she’d tried to do right by him and Otto respected that. He couldn’t leave her poisoned and trapped and dependent on whatever small mercy Marius could summon.

  “Yes, I understand the process. You need to understand that it isn’t going to be pleasant.”

  “I didn’t think purging a magical poison from my body would be fun. Are you ready?”

  Otto turned to face her and nodded.

  Jet took one step past the garden’s edge.

  Her whole body went rigid.

  Otto drew ether through the Heart and sent it into her along with his sight. Now that he knew what to look for, finding the specks of poison took no time at all. Binding and transforming them required a few extra seconds.

  Behind him, the crashes had turned to roars while the explosions grew ever less frequent. Sounded like the undead were winning.

  He had little focus to spare. Guiding a rush of ether, Otto transformed the poison into blood cells. When he blinked his vision back to his body, Jet looked okay, but her expression was still stiff and fixed in a grimace.

  It took him a second to realize she was looking beyond him.

  Otto slowly turned to find Marius, flanked by dozens of undead, all humanoid, but also no two exactly the same. It was a veritable banquet of horrors. Surely even Amet Sur would have been impressed by such a selection.

  Marius and his entourage stopped about five paces short of Otto. “So you survived the Forbidden Garden. I must admit I am impressed.”

  “Thank you. The Cult of Astaroth has been a great help, even if things didn’t work out exactly as planned. I’ll be heading back to Port Han at dawn.”

  “You might be, assuming you hand over whatever you found in the garden along with the betrayer cowering behind you.”

  “Who are you calling a betrayer!” Jet stepped out from behind Otto. “Lady White will have your head for this rebellion.”

  Marius chucked. “She is a long way from here and in no position to do anything even if she wanted to. I control a third of the city and my forces are expanding by the hour. The emperor, miserable coward that he is, has fled before me. Astaroth clearly favors my path and no one will take this victory from me.”