"It's very dense," the wizard said, bobbing his hand as he estimated its weight.
"What material is it?"
Persimmius held it up to the light. The metal sparkled. Serena found it mesmerizing.
"Looks like some sort of reactant metal. It's thin, too, like a filament. I'd have to do an analysis to know more. Only problem is I'm not sure I have the right instruments here. The metals I work with are not as exotic as this one. It's certainly nothing I've ever seen before."
"And what of you, Serena?" Ensel Rhe asked. "Have you ever seen the like?"
The question startled her out of her trance. "Me? How would I have seen it before?"
"You were apprenticed to Ansanom, who must have worked with all manner of materials. Do you recall ever having seen this one?"
She considered the sparkling piece of metal. "No, I don't think so."
"Then it will remain a mystery for the time being," Ensel Rhe said. "I will pay you your fee, sorcerer, and conclude our business. I know someone else who can perform the required analysis."
Once the two settled, Ensel Rhe walked out. Serena meant to go with him, but she had one last thing to say to Persimmius first. She had to say it to his back, for he'd already turned away from her.
"I'm sorry, Persimmius. You may not believe me, but I didn't know they were going to blame it all on you. If I'd known, I would have returned sooner or never left. I know what happened was my fault and I'm sorry. I wanted to say that, and also, since I was sent away so quickly, I never got a chance to say thank you."
His head turned as he stopped what he was doing.
"I don't remember much about what happened. I remember the flames and how I couldn't stop them. But I can't remember much else. The one thing I do remember, though, was you saving me. I—I lost control of it. If you hadn't... Thank you for saving my life."
Serena turned to go. Partway to the door, the wizard's voice stopped her. Gone was the acidic tone. So much so, it almost sounded like the Persimmius of old.
"Stay away from it, Serena. I'm sure you know the Inferno still burns. Stay away from it, and under no circumstances attempt to possess it. I've tried many times since that day. It's too strong. Just let it be. Now, go."
The finality in his tone left no room for argument. Serena obeyed.
Outside, Ensel Rhe waited for her by one of the fallen columns.
"I have a task for you," he said, holding the velvet-wrapped metal filament out to her. He'd left the chest with the wizard. "I want you to take this to Aaron."
Lost in her thoughts, Serena only half-heard him.
"Do you know where Aaron is?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Then I would ask you to take this to him, in order to perform the required analysis. Where is he currently?"
"In the palace. They've got him working on something."
"I suspected they might. He's resourceful. He'll know how to go about determining this material's composition. Bring it directly to him and tell no one you have it. Especially an eslar woman named Ingrid Kane."
The name sounded familiar. "I met her when we first went to see the machine."
"What machine?"
Serena told him about it.
"I do not believe in coincidences," Ensel Rhe said. "There is a connection between Ingrid, this machine, and the metal which I stole from her."
"You stole it from her? Why?"
"For reasons which are my own. Bring it to Aaron and tell him to determine its composition and purpose if he can. That is all you need to know for now."
Serena crossed her arms. "Maybe that isn't all I need to know. I'll bring it to Aaron and ask him to examine it, but I'd like to know why you don't just bring it to him yourself."
"Ingrid and I have a history."
"Oh, really?" Serena winked at him. Her accompanying smile faded quickly under the eslar's hard stare. "Not that kind of relationship, I guess."
"She does not know I am in the city. Once she does, and discovers her chest missing, she will know it was I who took it. If I do not have the filament in my possession, then she cannot take it back from me."
"She can do that? Take it back from you, I mean."
"Possibly. Remain vigilant around her. She is dangerous."
Serena nodded.
"Now, will you do this thing for me?"
Ensel Rhe held the filament out to her once more. This time, she took it.
"Yes, I suppose I will."
"Good. I will escort you part of the way there, for I've business elsewhere in the palace."
Serena allowed Ensel Rhe to lead. She stayed close to him, though there seemed no need as people gave the eslar a very wide berth.
"We thought we'd seen the last of you," Serena said as they crossed a street, "the way you just left us at the gate."
"I told you before we entered Brighton that our relationship was at an end."
"Apparently not," she said, spreading her arms wide in an expansive gesture, "for here we are."
He grunted at that.
"So what business do you have at the palace? Or should I not bother asking because you aren't going to tell me? It wouldn't hurt you to share once in a while, you know. I'm sure whatever you have planned is very dire and secret, but if you're asking for my help now, who knows what other assistance you might need from me in the—"
"I go to visit my daughter."
"Oh. She's here? Well, obviously she's here if you're going to see her. I didn't know. She's sixteen, isn't she? A year older than me. You think she'll remember you? It's been seven years, but I'm sure she will. Unless she didn't like you. I read that children who don't like their parents often block their faces from their minds as they grow older so eventually—"
"I've no idea if she remembers me, though I will find out shortly."
"I suppose the better question might be if you remember her. Oh, I don't mean her appearance, though she'll obviously look older. But her personality has probably changed. She might even be an entirely different person, especially after you left—Oh, well, you know what I mean. I wonder if she—"
"I recall Aaron often remarking on your propensity for chatter. Many avenues lead to the palace. Once we are out of the Slums, we will each take our own route. I value silence."
"Humph." Serena obliged him until they finished climbing the steps out of Lower Brighton into the upper section of the city, whereupon she said, "You must miss her."
"I do not," he said. "I am sinjee, and so gave up such feelings a long time ago."
Sinjee? Serena had never heard the word before. "What is that supposed to—?"
But Ensel Rhe already walked away, taking his own direction as he'd suggested. She would have repeated herself, louder this time, but thought better of it. Far from his usual monotone, the eslar's last words had hung heavy with such sadness she'd no ready response, other than to watch him go before she started to make her own way to the palace. Aaron had not wanted her to visit him there for fear the machine would adversely affect her. Earlier, she hadn't thought it a very good idea, either. But the fresh air of the city and walking about had reinvigorated her. She felt, if not fully recovered, then at least well enough that she considered detouring past the palace and going to see the Inferno. A quick skip across Bright Bridge and she'd arrive at the site of Persimmius's old workshop. Thinking on it, she almost thought she felt the Inferno's heat already.
She stopped and took a deep breath. Others in the street passed her by without noticing, though some flashed her looks of annoyance at the interruption she caused to traffic. She stared back at them, not in challenge, but to study them and wonder if they'd been affected by the fire. What she'd told Persimmius about not remembering much about that day was true. In its own way, not knowing had helped her. Revisiting the site might let loose a flood of memories she was better off not remembering. But, if not now, when? It had been two years, time in which she'd grown stronger and more disciplined. Ansanom might have been a twisted murderer, but h
e'd also been a demanding teacher. Her skills had flourished under him. Surely her control had as well.
Serena moved out of traffic and found a place to sit. She really shouldn't go. She might feel up to the challenge now, but she'd other things to consider. Like Ensel Rhe's metal, for one. It remained an unknown, and who knew what effect it might have on the Inferno. Or what effect the Inferno might have on it. It might melt it. Serena shuddered to even think of that. Such an occurrence would win her no favors with the eslar mercenary, nor the woman from whom he'd taken it. Serena figured if Master Rhe feared the woman, then she should too. Still, Serena didn't see the harm in walking over to the old workshop and at least taking a look. As long she kept her distance from the Inferno, no harm would come of it. She needed to determine the device's current disposition, anyway, if she were to eventually bring it to Aaron for study. She liked Aaron, maybe too much, and she wanted to help him. He had enough to deal with right now. If she could do this one thing for him, then she was going to do it.
Her mind made up, she followed Illuminating Way until she crossed Bright Bridge. At the other side, she delved into the neighborhoods there, following a road whose buildings inspired a sense of nostalgia as she recognized storefronts, inns, and taverns. She swore the same street performers occupied the same street corners, as she stopped to laugh at a comedic display put on by a familiar man and woman. She dropped two drams into their collection pot before moving on. She stopped next at a bakery to sample some hot meat pastries, and again at the next performer, a juggler who somehow managed to keep seven balls moving through the air, all while he moved his feet to a rhythm strummed by his seated companion. Realizing she was stalling, she made another donation and forced herself to walk in the direction of the Inferno. Only a block away now, it amazed her that people went about their everyday business with something so powerful so close. That last block, though, the crowds grew sparser in dramatic fashion. One moment she walked along with others; the next, she was very nearly alone, as individuals or small groups peeled off into shops or side streets on their way to some other destination. She took her last steps with no one around her at all, stopping when she stood before the Burning Block.
It was a full block, too, charred and blackened, without a single structure rising across its wasteland. Finding the Inferno amongst such carnage was easy, for there it was in the very place she'd left it, right at the block's center, still burning after all these years. The street opposite it still had its structures intact, but their fronts were dark and sooty, and looked as if no one had occupied them in a long time. People loitered about in front of some of them or at street corners. One such fellow sauntered over to ask her a question.
"Tourist, milady?"
Serena shifted her gaze back to the Inferno. "No, I live here."
"The way you're starin'...like you've never seen it before. All those people come into the city from Norwynne, thought you might be one of them."
There were people standing about in groups, many pointing at the Inferno, who fit the man's description, for they'd the look of Norwynne refugees about them, with mismatched clothing, unshaven faces, and a general look of sadness about them which Serena had come to recognize from her time amongst them. It made sense they'd fill part of their day exploring and sightseeing, though Serena never would have imagined the Inferno becoming one of the city's attractions.
"I wouldn't get much closer," the man said. "Gets too hot. Might burn you up!" He let out a cackle.
"Oh, I've seen it before. It's just been a few years. Excuse me."
Serena crossed the street. Even this far away she felt its heat, like a hot wind blowing across her face. Across the way, she spotted some boys clustered together. One detached himself from the group and ran into the wasteland, heading directly for the Inferno. He didn't make it far before turning around to rejoin his fellows. Soon, another repeated the exercise, each one trying to get just a little farther than the last. As each boy returned, a round of laughter greeted him before another was sent out. Serena almost envied them their game, with no expectation of actually reaching the magical device. But she'd not come here to play. She took a few steps into the charred remains of whatever had once stood here, thankful she'd chosen boots for her feet and not something flimsy. No one noticed her. But she wasn't particularly close yet, for even the boys with their dares had gone further.
Serena took a series of deep breaths, focusing herself on the sight of the magical device's burning light and nothing else. Then she walked forward a few steps. The heat worsened to the point where she just broke into a sweat. Another handful of steps, and droplets slid down her back. Serena thought the laughter of the boys had gone silent, though the pounding of her heart beat such a rhythm she had a hard time hearing anything above it. She took another deep breath and a few more steps. Behind her, she heard someone shout a warning. The person's exact words were lost amidst the rush pummeling her ears. With light from the Inferno unwavering before her, it was as if she were once more amidst its flames as it consumed everything around her. In her mind, she remembered the screams now, and almost faltered. But she was not going to turn around. She let the heat buffet her for one last moment, letting it soak into her, and then she shut it out. Reaching deep within, she surrounded herself in a protective field which immediately restored the temperature to a normal level, while dispelling the memories of that day. Serena noticed the boys again, this time staring at her, as well as some others at the other side of the Burning Block who had stopped to see what she was doing. Serena put them from her mind. She hadn't wanted an audience for this, but neither did she have the luxury of cordoning off the entire area.
Returning her focus to the Inferno, she took one last deep breath and let it out before she started walking again. In a few steps she'd passed the furthest point any of the boys had reached. The ground crunched under her boots as she stepped on ash and blackened remains. Foundation stones outlined the squares and rectangles of buildings burned away. She almost made out the cobbles of side and back alleys between them, but too much debris from toppled buildings and dirt and dust had settled in, obscuring most everything. The Inferno guided her like a beacon and, as she drew closer, called to her. The Inferno did that. As if a thing alive, it had spoken to her those years ago, or so she had believed. It wanted—no, desired—her, like a person gasping for air. She felt it tugging at her, urging her forward. She wondered if Persimmius had ever felt the same thing. He'd never said anything about it to her, and Serena for some reason had never shared this particular aspect of her own experience. She'd not withheld such information from him intentionally, but it had always seemed something intimate, meant to remain exclusively between her and the Inferno. Like a secret, telling others would spoil it.
The closer she drew to the Inferno, the higher the temperature rose. While she did not feel the increase, she knew because, here, smoke rose up from the very ground and the air itself shimmered from the waves of heat emanating from the device. Serena knew if she relaxed her magical defenses even for a moment, the Inferno would utterly consume her. For some reason, this did not scare her. She'd no time to dwell on that as she came to stand before it. It lay on the ground right where she'd left it two years ago. No one had been able to get this close to it since, so why shouldn't it? Three golden circlets spiraled around a single ruby, it had the look of wealth about it even without the arcane runes scrawled along the circlet's length and etched into the gemstone. Despite the flames dancing across it, it did not melt. Neither did it appear damaged in any way despite the years it had laid here literally on fire. The runes themselves glowed, but faintly.
Serena looked up from it. The fringes of her magical shield danced with flames now. Through the shimmering veil she saw more people standing about, watching her. She did not begrudge them their curiosity. But she suspected these people had not been present when she and the Inferno had done their damage. Those from Norwynne certainly had not. They'd not seen the flames, felt the burning hea
t, nor heard the screams. Also, they obviously did not recognize her. Or maybe they did. The lies her mother had spread had painted her a hero. That didn't matter right now, though. She wasn't here to save them from anything. She'd come to put a stamp of finality on this episode in her life. She'd let the Inferno loose on her city. Now, she meant to bottle it back up.
She knelt before the device and, in a moment of decisiveness, before any more doubts surfaced, reached for it. The instant her fingertips touched it, the Inferno blazed to life. Fire engulfed her. Flames sprang up from the barren earth all around. People standing at the fringes of the Burning Block might have cried out in surprise and alarm. Serena was cognizant only of the flames sweeping over and around her and nothing else, as she realized two years of study and advancement in the ways of sorcery meant nothing after all. One moment she felt in control of her world. In the next, she'd no control at all; the Inferno's power surged through her and erupted forth. She tried to rein it in, her thoughts focused solely on the gemstone from which the Inferno's magic sprung. But rivulets of power, which had only seeped from the device before she'd touched it, became raging torrents now. Even trying to halt the flow of just one proved impossible as it threatened to overwhelm her. Now she realized what had really happened the last time, as she felt her strength not just ebbing away, but disappearing altogether. Another few moments of resisting and she'd expend herself. But she'd no idea what else to do. She was not going to let it burn out of control like before. Desperate, Serena clutched the Inferno tighter, drawing it to her breast, as if that might help staunch the flow. It did not. Still, having it so close, gripped in the embrace of her body, lent strength to her effort, as if she might physically stop it. Only when she'd fully smothered it with her body did she feel the cool sensation emanating from the pouch containing Master Rhe's mysterious metal. Not understanding, but recognizing the disparate reaction, she freed the filament from the pouch and gripped it with one hand while her other kept a firm grip on the Inferno. As soon as she touched the metal, something changed. The Inferno grew no less bright, but Serena felt the flow of energy lessen. Not so much it seemed it might stop, but the multiple chaotic torrents merged, one into the other, until only a single flow remained. That one flow lessened enough for Serena to level her will against it and narrow it down to a small, steady rivulet. She took hold of that sole rivulet and, with one last push of effort, staunched it, so that the Inferno, which had burned for two years without pause, was extinguished.
The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two) Page 22