Eyes of the Alchemist

by Janet Woods

  His personal guards were similarly clad. They were joined by hundreds of other troopers who’d been hastily summoned from far-flung outposts by the drum- beaters, who lived within sound of each other along the route. The sky was thick with them. The down draught from the beating wings of the chargers scattered ash over the cobbles and filled the night with a whirring sound.

  Kavan broke away and detoured towards the High Place. He took something from inside his tunic and dropped it to the ground before rejoining his army. A cheer went up when the troopers formed ranks and wheeled towards the north. Within minitix, the long column was out of sight.

  Accompanied by the village crier, the silversmith tapped his way to the marketplace. The crier rang his bell. “Hear you one and all, the words of our lord’s advisor.”

  The villagers gazed in bewilderment at one another when Benlogan stepped forward. “The attempt by the followers of Beltane to assassinate Lord Kavan has failed, and the traitors have been executed. Cabrilan will shortly be under attack from the war demons of Beltane. The troopers have ridden out to repel the challenge, but if the attackers get through we must fight them off with every weapon we have.”

  A woman waved an iron skillet in the air. “I’ve heard them demons force themselves on every women they set their eyes on. I’ll give ‘em a good pasting with this if they come near my daughters.”

  Benlogan held up a hand as a hubbub started. “Fill every vessel you have with water, soak your homes in it if you can. It’s said the demons cannot survive in water.” The village became a hive of activity with people bustling here and there. Night fell, a peculiar night lit by a red glow. When they looked up at the sky, the surface of Bane was a seething, bright red mass.

  “Kavan has taken his troopers in the wrong direction,” a woman cried out in fear.

  But even as she spoke, Cabrilan began its slow turn, ready for its final swing towards Truarc.

  * * * *

  The sight of Kavan in battle dress had set Tiana’s heart beating faster. He had a strangely calm look on his face and his mouth twitched into a wary smile when he caught a glimpse of her. He dropped something, blew her a kiss and flew away.

  The something was a note weighted down with a perfumed red flower.

  Tiana,

  Light of my eyes, essence of my soul I go to fight the forces of evil, the war demons of Beltane. I beg you, conceal yourself in the alchemist’s tomb behind the fall. The water will protect you from harm, and eventually I will come for you there.

  My heart is yours.

  Kavan.

  Tears filled her eyes and her mind reached out to his. It was closed to her, preoccupied with the task at hand. She freed the message, anyway. Return safely, Lord Kavan.

  * * * *

  Kavan smiled to himself and spurred Shazah forward. Every inch of him was charged with energy and purpose. The waiting was over, the real enemy about to be engaged. He had no doubt he would return the victor. He thought of Tiana waiting for him and his heart filled with an indescribable joy. Suddenly, he was eager to get the battle over with.

  Gazing downwards, he watched Truarc change direction as Cabrilan turned. As he’d calculated, they were now poised to collide. Soberly, he thought, This is the last orbit. I must win this battle quickly and retrieve the fire stone. Then I must find the eyes . . . but where? The possibility of failure reared like a snake about to strike. He shook his head to clear the doubt away. He must not fail!

  Ahead, he saw the war demons. Hundreds of them were streaking towards them, their wings flaming red and trailing smoke. General Saayer was leading them on his night charger. His silver tunic glowed like flames in the light from the pulsing fire stone on his chest.

  “In his vanity, this man forgets to put his own strategy into practice,” Kavan whispered to himself as the troopers, undetectable in their dark garb, silently split rank to form an open-ended circle. By right, the first kill belonged to Kavan, especially on an occasion such as this when pride was at stake, as well.

  Kavan waited until Saayer was close before he drew his sword. “You forgot to tell me you intended to challenge me for the seat of power.”

  Saayer went for his sword, but Kavan didn’t intend to give him a chance to defend himself. One slash cut the man in half at the waist. As Saayer’s trunk parted from his bottom half, Kavan jerked the stone from the man’s chest and stuffed it deep inside his tunic.

  Demons surrounded him. Tongues of fire licked against his tunic. His troopers closed in around him. Lacking guidance, Saayer’s charger reared. The general’s bottom half spiraled downwards after his trunk. Kavan grinned as he sliced at the war demons. Tiana’s face came into his mind and his blood began to sing. The lady was worth fighting for, even if she wouldn’t approve of the fact. Soon she’d be his. And if by some chance he couldn’t save the world, he’d die happily with her in his arms.

  “My life for Lady Tiana,” he shouted out, and thought his heart would burst from pride when his troopers took up the battle cry.

  Chapter Eight

  Grateful as she was for the food and shelter Tiana couldn’t bring herself to stay at the watchers’ camp for more than the time it took to recover her strength.

  The motion of the swaying tree-top, where her bed, a comfortable covered basket of woven twigs was located, induced a mild nausea. She had two companions for the night, females who curled together in the fork of a branch.

  From them she’d learned the watchers ate sparingly. Born in twinned pairs, they hunted when needed and supplemented a diet of goat and fish with wild herbs and fruit. She’d noticed that the older ones were not twinned, but they wouldn’t be drawn on the reason why.

  The watchers appeared to be more human than beast in nature, but their bodies were covered in thick fur. Everything seemed to interest them, but only from a curiosity level. They had no desire to emulate the Cabrilan and build houses or live in towns, preferring a solitary life in the forest.

  The next day, when she descended by rope ladder from the tree, she was confronted by Atarta’s skin, scraped clean of flesh and stretched between two trees to dry. It was peppered with holes from the watcher’s arrows. Her twinge of remorse was replaced by guilt when she remembered the carnage the animal had caused.

  A pair of the watchers approached her. “Lady, if you have no use for the animal’s skin it will make fine purses for herb gathering.”

  “It is yours.”

  “We must give you something in return.”

  She shook her head. “Your hospitality has been reward enough. Have you heard news of the battle?”

  “A war demon fell in its death throes to the ground below the High Place. The demons are too many, and Kavan’s troopers are being beaten back. There are many injured.”

  Fear speared through her. “Have you received news of Lord Kavan?”

  “None, Lady, but we fear for his safety in these troubled days. We wish there were ways we could help, for since Lord Kavan came to power those who once hunted us for sport must now leave us in peace. We have not the will for warfare.”

  These were peace loving and timid creatures, aggression was not a natural part of their nature. “What will you do if Kavan fails to beat the demons back, watcher?”

  “We are about to retreat to our chimera lands. The demons live for the sport of cruelty, but they’ll not brave the bogs to come after us. At least we’ll survive until the collision shatters the world into dust.”

  Bogs? She had not seen any bogs in her glimpse of the chimera. “You’re so sure of a collision, then?”

  “Cabrilan has turned early in its orbit. Take a look at Truarc tonight. The line of convergence is a trail of silver dust, clearly visible. This is the magnetic force of the two planets pulling each to the other.”

  “Can nothing be done to prevent the catastrophe?”

  “The solution is in the head and hands of Kavan, and his thoughts are occupied elsewhere.”

  Anger sent dark fingers to squeeze at her
heart. Her future and that of her children was in dire jeopardy. As the thought was released she experienced a thrust of maternal longing and curiosity. What would her genes mixed with those of Kavan produce? She buried the speculative thought in her mind. She’d not received the training necessary for motherhood and now was not the time to hanker after a future she’d dismissed out of hand. “What purpose will destroying us achieve?”

  “Revenge, and victory over the alchemist for past wrongs.” The watchers bowed. “Who knows what motivates the hearts of the Gods? We must go after we have broken our fast, Lady. You’re welcome to join us in the chimera lands. You’ll come to no harm there, and we’ll return to the forest in spring if Assinti decrees.”

  She shook her head. “It sounds as if my skills might be put to better use here. There are those injured who might be needful of my attention. It matters not where or when our spirits depart our bodies, but perhaps I can send some of Kavan’s troopers back to him. It could turn the tide in our favor.”

  She ate a frugal breakfast with them, exchanged a tearful goodbye, and then moved back to her vantage spot on the High Place. The usually serene blue canopy of the sky was filled with dark shapes and choking drifts of smoke.

  Horrified, she placed a hand over her mouth when a charger spiraled down, parting company with its rider on the way. Someone swooped under the trooper and hauled him across the back of his own charger. The trio headed towards the market place, where a great deal of activity was in progress.

  Grabbing up her sack she headed down the slope at a stumbling, reckless pace. She shuddered when she passed a decomposing war demon and pressed her hand against her nose to shield herself from the stench.

  The physicians were treating the casualties as fast as they were able, using the covered stalls as consulting rooms. They were unused to battle-wounds, unsure how to go about healing the badly wounded. The harder cases were put to one side and left to die, whilst those they could save were stitched and bandaged.

  Moving into a vacant stall next to one of the physicians Tiana rolled up her sleeves and crouched over a badly burned trooper who’d been shoved to one side.

  “My Lady Tiana,” he whispered, his welcoming smile becoming a grimace of pain. “You must not attend me in this disgraceful state.”

  “Hush,” she said and engaged his eyes. “Our joined spirits will heal you and you’ll go back to help your lord achieve victory. Do you believe me?”

  “Yes, Lady,” he murmured, his mind opening to hers.

  Her hands pressed gently against the blackened flesh.

  Time flowed into time. Wound followed wound until Tiana was sickened by the sight and smell of blood. After a while her body ached from crouching over the wounded. She stood to ease the cramp from her spine. Immediately, a bowl of soup was placed in her hands. “Eat, Lady.”

  “There are others who need this more,” she protested.

  “My man be seeing to the needy. If you drop from exhaustion who will help the badly injured?” the woman said gruffly. “How be my little Santo?”

  Tiana turned a weary smile her way. “I never learned your name.”

  “It’s Athene, lady.”

  “Well, Athene, Santo has grown quickly into manhood, but don’t ask me how. He’s apprenticed to the spirit of the alchemist, and is possessed of considerable magic. If we survive he’ll grow to be a powerful influence in shaping the future of Cabrilan.”

  The woman’s mouth fell open. “Glory be, wait till I tell my man. That’ll serve him right for turning the boy from our hearth. He’s had his regrets, mind, but too late for that, I say. Now, eat that soup whilst I sort out some of these troopers.”

  Athene carried a bowl of water and a cloth over to a wounded trooper. “Let me wipe the muck from your face whilst my lady refreshes herself. Don’t you be Francy, the son of the lamp maker? A cheeky pup as I remember. Now, don’t you give my lady none of your lip, or Lord Kavan will hear of it.” She squealed when the trooper pinched her rear.

  The soup gave Tiana the energy to continue. Athene became her unofficial helper, and made sure she was kept supplied with nourishing snacks and drinks. Tiana couldn’t keep count of the troopers she tended and one face blurred into the other. It was late afternoon when she reached the last patient.

  When she bent over him her smile faded. A jagged wound with cauterized edges gaped open from neck to navel, exposing his innards. “Fetch a physician, I need advice,” she whispered to Athene.

  The trooper’s hand closed around her wrist. “I got in the way of a demon’s tail. It tried to gut me, but didn’t quite succeed.”

  “Who cauterized the wound?”

  “The demon. When they get riled up they burn.”

  Thank Assinti for small mercies, she thought.

  “The physician left me for dead. Cure me Lady, as you did the others. Lord Kavan needs me.”

  Conquering the need to gag with a slow intake of breath, Tiana thought, the cauterization might have stopped him bleeding to death, but with a wound like this, this youth must have kept himself alive by will alone.

  “I will need to scrape the cauterization away or the wound won’t knit.”

  He took a deep, juddering breath. “There’s a sharp dagger in my boot.”

  A physician handed her a scalpel. “He won’t be able to stand the shock, but use this if you must. It’s sterilized. I’d give you a hand, but . . .” He shrugged. “May Assinti be with you both.”

  The trooper didn’t make a sound when she cut away the crisped flesh, just stared at her through dark, tormented eyes. She drew the raw sides of his wound together, and holding it there, gazed into his eyes. The shine was dimming. There was no time to lose. “My strength is waning but your will is strong. Join with me and don’t let me go. I’ll do my best.”

  Each time the youth began to fade she found the strength to bring him back. Each time she faded she was drawn to give more of herself. Perspiration poured from her, but the trooper would not let go as the battle for his life went on. His hands gripped hers so tightly she thought her bones would be crushed into powder. Then, just when she thought they’d lose the battle, another force joined with theirs. Santo! She thought gratefully. Gradually, the wound knit into a puckered scar and the trooper’s hands relaxed.

  “Here, Athene said, thrusting a glass of liquid at him. “It be a fortifying brew made from herbs. Get it down you.”

  The trooper gagged on it, but the color returned to his face. “Just like my mother used to give me when I had the gripes,” he whispered and staggered to his feet. “Lady, you have given me my life back. What can I do in return?”

  “I would ask you to rest, but I know you wouldn’t take any notice. I’ve had no news of Lord Kavan,” she whispered. “Can you tell me how he fares?”

  “He’s gone into the very jaws of Bane.”

  Her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at him, her heart pounding. “You mean –”

  “Aye, Lady. He’s gone to confront the God Beltane head on.” His teeth were a proud gleam in a warlike face as he bowed slightly. Young though he was, the trooper’s actions were those of a hero. “I go to join my company. Is there a message you’d like me to convey to my Lord when next I see him?”

  His faith in Kavan was touching, but perhaps this youth knew the strength of the man better than she. Her head spun a little with exhaustion. She kissed his cheek, then slumped on to a stool and pulled the temple badge from her robe. “Give him this and tell him . . . “ she smiled slightly, “Tell him Tiana is proud of his troopers, especially the one who stands before her, and she awaits the moment the rocks become sand.”

  His weary young face split into a proud smile and he bore her hands to his lips. “We fight in your name. My life is yours, Lady Tiana.”

  When he was gone Athene placed some bread in Tiana’s hands and slid fruit into her pocket. “A young man waits outside to escort you back to the High Place. He looks a bit like my Santo.”

  Tiana smiled w
hen she set eyes on him. “He is your Santo.”

  The woman gave a small scream of recognition when he stepped out of the shadows, laughing all over his face. “It do be you, Santo. A man grown. How can this be? Can you forgive me for abandoning you?”

  Santo gave Athene a hug. “Our parting was written on the page of my life. I’m grateful for the love and care you gave to a crippled child, but my destiny was all mapped out for me. You were but a small part of it.”

  “Praise be to Assinti,” she said wonderingly.

  Tiana’s hand was taken in his. “You must rest now, my Lady.”

  “With Kavan in danger, how can I?”

  He showed her how with a click of his fingers. The world went dark.

  When Tiana woke it was still dark and she was on the High Place. Warmly wrapped in Kavan’s cloak she floated just off the ground in a large bubble. Carefully rotating it so she was upright, she pushed downwards with her feet. The bubble gave a soft pop and disintegrated.

  She nearly gasped at the icy feel of the air in her lungs and pulled the cloak over her nose. The smell of Kavan’s fragrance was strong in her senses and she connected instantly with him.

  “Assinti help you in your quest, my Lord.”

  “It will take more than Assinti. My strength is almost spent.”

  “My strength is yours to command.”

  He sounded weary. “It won’t be enough, Tiana. Hide from the demons in the alchemist’s cave behind the fall. If all else fails I’ll try to join you there.”

  His voice faded from her mind, leaving only fear. She gazed up at the sky. The crescent of Truarc was a pale sliver, her people unaware of what was happening on Cabrilan. She saw the silver track the watchers had mentioned, and shuddered. Perhaps it was better to remain unaware of the impending disaster.