Arbiter's Word (Alchemist's Fire Book 1)

by Ogden Fairfax

  Another wracking sob coursed through me, causing my bruised neck and ribs to feel like I was being strangled and pummeled once more. I prayed, begged for a do-over, to undo my mistakes of the last few days. Maybe if I'd been smarter, maybe if I'd thought things through better, maybe if I'd just listened to the smartest woman I knew, none of this would have ever happened. Amber stood near me, leaning one hip on the arm of the big chair. In the time between the ambulance ride and when she'd shown up, she'd dressed in a smart outfit that would have impressed a board room full of executives. She held a clip board and filled out forms on it with a cheap pen she'd gotten up front.

  I tried to get the sight of Grace's limp form on my kitchen floor out of my mind by going through the events after I'd woken up in the ambulance. Amber had gone through the story as soon as she was allowed to see me. She had called 911 like I'd asked, and the police arrived just in time to see the massive gray man about to stab me. If they hadn't been handcuffing some teen graffiti artists a few blocks away, they'd have been too late. They'd shot him, and one of the bullets had taken the knife out of his hand.. He'd still tried to kill me, and the officers had kept firing until he'd gone down.

  I remembered waking up in the ambulance, seeing a medic who told me not to move and gave me a shot in the arm that made me sleepy. I'd wanted to ask if Grace was okay but couldn't get the words out in time before passing out again. I'd woken up in the Emergency Room, but this time it wasn't Dr. Peters who greeted me. I asked him if he knew her, and he said the name sounded familiar but that she probably worked a different shift than him. I couldn't remember his name. I'd asked about Grace, and he'd told me that he wasn't allowed to tell me anything since I wasn't family. I gave him Grace's Grandma's phone number so they'd have someone to call about her.

  Grandma Bee was a kind old woman who walked with a cane decorated with those star-shaped stickers that teachers use to reward kids for good behavior. She'd walked in as Amber had started filling out paperwork, and I'd choked on my attempt to ask about Grace.

  “Oh, sugar, she's still sleeping. Doctor says she bumped her head pretty good, and it might be a while.”

  “I'm so sorry, Nana Bee, It's all my fault, I—”

  “Hush, now. I spoke to one of the police that was there. She said that man was big as a horse and held you up like a puppet on strings. Wasn't nothin' you could do.”

  “But I--”

  “I said hush. I know you want to blame yourself but you probably saved her life by being enough of a problem for that man to let the police get there.”

  I had to remind myself that Amber hadn't called him a man, but a clay golem, I fell silent before my dumb mouth could get someone else hurt or worse. Bee patted me on the hand. “I'm going back to Grace's room. If you want, you can come too. I told the doctors you're family.”

  I nodded and Grace's grandma walked out, star-studded cane glittering like a sequined dress. When I'd been allowed to get up, I walked with Amber to Grace's room in Intensive Care. I stopped in the doorway when I saw her. She was lying there, head wrapped in gauze, one eye swollen and deep purple from the bruise on her dark skin. Suddenly confronted with the real results of my carelessness, I froze, and couldn't move any closer. Bee sat beside the bed, praying with her head bowed while holding Grace's hand, I backed away from the door before Bee saw me, and that's how I'd wound up in the side waiting room down the hall.

  “This is my fault.” I said to Amber.

  “Now isn't the time.” she said.

  “That guy was there because I screwed up the coin thing.” I groaned.

  “For all we know he could have been there because he heard there was a hot Kobold taking a shower.

  “He said why out loud, though.” I protested, not sure why I was fighting to be at fault. Somewhere, a distant part of myself knew I was being stupid.

  “Guys like him are a dime a dozen. They can be forced to do or say anything, doesn't mean it's true.”

  “Okay, sorry.” I said defensively.

  “Oh for fuck's sake.” Amber tossed the clipboard onto the wooden coffee table next to her and moved to stand directly in front of me. “Look at me, Chance.” When I didn't look up fast enough, she reached and pushed me back so I wasn't resting my elbows on my knees, forcing me to look at her. “Do you want me to break a rule? Because if I hear you whine or apologize any more, I'm going to be the first Kobold in history to give their alchemist a bloody nose.”

  I stammered, caught between the shock at hearing her words and just not knowing what else to say that wasn't an apology.

  “We will talk about this later.” Amber said again. “Say it back to me.”

  “We will talk about this later.” I repeated.

  Amber huffed out a breath in frustration and picked up the clipboard and cheap pen again. “Once I'm done with this stupid fucking form, you're going to put on your big-boy-pantaloons and say 'see you later' to Grace. And then you and I are going to get to work.”

  “Okay.” I said.

  “And show some fucking balls, you pansy. You're the one in charge here, not me.”

  “So what if I told you to leave me alone?” I shot back.

  “Better, but no. That's a law even you can't overrule. Messing with idiot alchemists is an ancient tradition so sacred and universal among Kobolds that I'm not even sure you could comprehend the amount of cursing I'd throw your way if you tried.”

  “You do a lot of cursing already,” I said.

  “I mean the other kind.” She waggled the fingers of her pen hand. “Bad luck, impotence, eternal diarrhea and the like.”

  “Have you ever actually given someone eternal diarrhea?” I asked.

  “There's a guy in Hong Kong who thinks I did, but he just has IBS, poor bastard.” She gave me a wink and I couldn't help but smile before feeling bad for the guy. “Yeah, okay, I gave him the IBS, but only because he groped me on the flight we were on.” I laughed and then winced at the pain in my ribs.

  “I wish Dr. Peters had a potion or something.”

  “I'm sure a lot of people feel that way about Doctors, genius.”

  “Where do you think she is?” I asked.

  “You probably won't ever run into her here anymore, unless she decides to see you. Court royalty thing. And...that's the last form.”

  “I'm not sure I can face Grace like this.” I said.

  “Well, look at the bright side, with here eyes shut, she might only think you're half as ugly as you look right now.”

  “She can't even hear me.” I said.

  “Never stopped that creepy prince from putting a smooch on sleeping beauty.” Amber cracked. “Come on, you'll feel worse if you don't. I'll get you some coffee and catch up with you.” With a gentle hand on the least-bruised part of my back, Amber led me back to Grace's room. Bee was still bowed in prayer, but looked up when she heard Amber's knuckles gently tap on the door frame. I stepped into the room as Amber turned to complete her coffee tun.

  “Who was that?” Bee asked.

  “That's Amber. She's my...assistant.”

  “Like a nurse?”

  “Sort of. She's been helping me deal with...my life, lately.” I knew it probably sounded like she was more than an employee but I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it at the time.

  “She's pretty.” Said Bee. “You like her?”

  “She takes some getting used to. She's getting coffee.”

  “A lot of young men could get used to a girl like her.” Bee smiled. It reminded me of Grace's when she thinks I'm worthy of showing some wit. “But I know you're sweet on my Grace. Pretty sure she's sweet on you too, with all the time she spends around you. Probably neckin' on that couch.” I felt my cheeks get red in an instant.

  “I, uh--” I said, words freezing halfway between my head and my mouth.

  “Darn, I was hoping embarrassing her would get a reaction. The doctor said he doesn't know if she can hear us until they measure her brain waves.” Bee was back to paying attenti
on to Grace.

  I walked over and took Grace's other hand in mine. She was warm, and with the screen showing her heartbeat, it was comforting to know I could feel that sign of life in her, still. I let go long enough to pull a chair over and sit next to her a while and just hold her hand. After a while, Amber came back with a pair of tall paper cups full of steaming coffee. She set one on a counter before reaching for Bee's hand in introduction.

  “You must be Grace's grandmother. I'm Amber, I work with Chance.” She said, sporting her “super professional” mode. “I brought you some coffee.”

  “Bless you, Amber, it's a pleasure. I'm Nana Bee, or just Bee.”

  “I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances.” Amber said, somberly. “Chance, you almost ready to go?”

  I looked at Amber as she sipped from the only other cup of coffee, and realized she didn't get me one. “Uh, yeah. Juse a second.”

  I scooted closer to Grace's ear and leaned in to whisper while Amber chatted with Bee.

  “Grace, I have to go, but I'll be back. I'll be here as soon as I can if you need me. I promise.” I stood up and saw Amber and Bee both looking at me. “What?”

  “Nothing,” said Amber. “Just waiting on you.”

  “Bee, can you please call me if she wakes up, or anything changes?” I asked.

  “Of course, sugar. I'll keep you posted. Amber, thank you for the coffee. And Chance, you be nice to this girl, you hear?”

  I nodded, and Amber and I left the room. We made our way down the hall to the elevator lobby where Amber hit the button to bring one to our level. As we stood to wait for the elevator, Amber calmly stood, twisting her hips and letting her arms sway like she was listening to some music I couldn't hear. The doors opened, we stepped in, and started our descent toward the parking level. Amber said nothing as I checked my phone. Something occurred to me when the doors opened to reveal the parking lot.

  “How come the cops never questioned me?” I asked.

  “I told them I was your lawyer and that you'd send in a sworn statement once you're feeling better.”

  “Isn't pretending to be a lawyer illegal?”

  “Pretending to be a lawyer is something kids do to feel confident when they're being bullied on the playground. What I'm doing is practicing law without a license. Which I would be in trouble for if I didn't have a law license.”

  “Do you?”

  “Technically.” she said, giving me a wink.

  21

  Amber made me drive home while she rode in the back seat. Once I was on the highway toward my apartment, she dug through a shoebox looking at different articles of clothing for her small form. Settling on a tiny robe and wizard hat complete with yellow stars and shiny gold thread, she started to unbutton her top. I decided it was safer to keep my eyes on the road, and focused on dealing with the early-morning traffic. Unfortunately, it was still only around five in the morning so there wasn't much traffic to focus on.

  A flash of deep blue light came from the back seat, reflecting on the inside of the windshield. After getting used to the flashes of light from the stone tablet, I was able to see the shape of the flash as it changed from an outline about the size of a fully-grown young woman to a glowing silhouette of a feminine figure the size of a doll. I heard Amber rustling around in the shoebox again until she climbed atop the center console, closing the silky blue robe with little wooden toggles through tiny button holes. She held a plastic straw like a wizard staff as she watched me drive.

  “You're not going to bask in the heat of the seat warmer?” I asked.

  “Nah, we're almost there, and I'm full up already.” She said. “But I will need a ride from the car to your door.”

  “Hood, pocket, or sleeve?” I asked.

  “Pocket. No offense, but you kind of need a shower.” She joked.

  “I probably do.” Between the sweat, blood, dried tears, bruises, and ever-present sidewalk salt residue on my jean cuffs, I probably needed one pretty badly. I pulled into the apartment lot and waited for Amber to get situated before heading for the door. I could feel her tiny form bump against my stomach from inside the hoodie pocket as I walked, but she didn't complain. I wondered if she was holding her breath since she'd commented about my cleanliness earlier. I started to feel bad about how I must smell terrible when Amber jabbed my belly with the straw, which stung a bit since it was one of those pointy ones you get from places that serve bubble tea.

  “Stop it, jackass.” she chided me,

  “What did I do?” I asked.

  “You're starting another pity party. It's a real turn off. I won't be able to concentrate and teach you if you keep making that 'someone just kicked my puppy' face.”

  “My best friend was thrown at an oven by a seven-foot-tall Golem.” I said.

  “But that's not what you're beating yourself up about right now, is it, genius? I bet it was my wisecrack about your stanky pits.”

  “...yeah.” I said, stopping as I reached the door of my apartment.

  I expected to see the broken door as it was last night after the golem had kicked it in. Instead, it looked like a new door had already been installed. It looked just like the old one, but the doorknob was a bit more shiney and new.

  “Your key still works.” Amber prodded me again with the straw, and I came to my senses enough to unlock the door with my keys and step inside. There was no sign of the struggle, but the things I knew had been damaged by the golem's assault were all replaced. My coffee table, oven, kitchen and living room floors, even my couch had been replaced with new, slightly upgraded variants.

  “I tried to fix up the place as best I could, but when you don't know the specific model number of stuff, it gets hard to summon it once your recipe book gets as big as mine. The new floors were just for style, though.” Amber did her usual climb out of my sweater to slide down the seam of my jeans to the floor. The hem of her robe poofed outward like a parachute as she descended to stride across the new tile floor.

  “This is very different from what Bee probably remembers renting to me.” I said.

  “Think she'll mind? You paid for the upgrades.”

  “I did?”

  “Paid.” she said, making air quotes with her tiny fingers. “You go shower. I'll get things set up, but before you do, can you quickly 'zothify this for me?” I looked to Amber and she was pointing at a small brick of gold about the size of a Lego brick. Too tired to argue, I walked over, picked the brick up and put it on my tablet. In a flash, it was gone, and I felt the rush of energy start to climb up my spine and into my head. Instantly, I felt a bit better, as if the energy itself helped me handle all the aches and pains I was feeling. I also felt my nerves start to calm down.

  “Feel a bit better?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” I said. “Thanks.”

  “Good. Now go shower, you bum. You could knock a buzzard off a crap wagon.”

  I smiled and headed for my bathroom, eager to start what wound up being a long, hot shower. Amber had put fresh towels on the towel rack, and set out a little bar of handmade soap, but the main thing I focused on was letting the heat sink in to my bruised neck and chest. It hurt at first, but the water lulled me into a hypnotized state of calm. In fact, I was surprised that even though I was in there for at least ten minutes, the tiny water heater in my place never ran out of hot water.

  I emerged from the shower to find a set of clean and folded clothes waiting on the bathroom counter, and tried to recall hearing the bathroom door open, but it was still locked when I finished dressing and tried the knob.

  Outside the bathroom, I found Amber dragging the stone tablet to the center of the new coffee table, letting it fall with a little thunk.

  “Took you long enough,” she said, but her grin told me she wasn't mad, but excited. “Time for some Transmutation Tutoring for block-heads.”

  I moved to sit at my couch, with the tablet sitting right in front of me. Amber stepped up onto the stone surface and started to pace
around the edge of the bronze design in little high heels that matched her tiny wizard costume.

  “Okay, so, quick refresher.” Amber's little heels clicked on the stone. “You know how to use this hunk a' junk, and you know that it takes energy to make more dense stuff and returns energy to make less dense stuff. Right?”

  “Yeah. Grace and I figured that out. Already.” I said.

  “Did you try messing with heat or electricity?”

  “I used it to charge my phone once, and summon cold beer.”

  “God, you're such a fucking bachelor.” She put her hands on her hips, “How did charging the phone go?”

  “It took a lot out of me.”

  “Show me.” She stomped on the tablet with her shoe, and an old flip phone appeared with a flash of her signature pale blue light. “Charge this bad boy up.”

  I picked up the flip phone, and tried to turn it on, seeing it was dead. I set the phone back on the tablet as Amber stepped off the lines. In a flash, the phone was gone, and then a second later, a new one appeared that looked identical. I picked it up and turned it on. It was fully charged.

  “Wow, that took way too much energy from you.” She said. “Put it back.”

  I did as she ordered, and the phone disappeared. A second later, another phone, this time one with a screen that slid to the side, flashed into being.

  “I want you to try again, but really focus on just the electrical energy. You're converting Azoth into moving electrons, not filling the whole structure with tiny lightning bolts.”

  Her analogy was actually pretty spot on for how I'd imagined charging the devices the first times I messed with batteries. Taking her advice, I picked up the phone and transmuted it, dead battery and all, into Azoth. Then, focusing on imagining moving electrons in the battery, I summoned it again. The drain on my reserve was much less than before, and the phone was at full battery.

  “That was quick. You're either a natural or a fast learner.” She seemed genuinely impressed and I tried not to swell up too much with pride. Some of my ego was brought down a peg when she added “But you're still using too much. Let's keep at it.”