Peter and the Heart of Alchemy (War of Contractia Book 5)

by Tj Dixon

  “Where is that?” I ask.

  “Come closer and I’ll share the location.” The head tells me but before I can do so Sor interrupts.

  “There’s no need. I know where it is. Do you need anything else from us?” Sor asks sounding a little bored.

  “No.” The head answers with a frown. Then we are ported.

  “So this is the slaves’ entrance?” Rin asks.

  “Of course.” Sor shrugs. In front of us is a simple black iron door that reminds me of the classroom doors, except smaller. Much, much smaller, at perhaps a foot and a half high and three feet wide. You would have to either crawl or slide through to use the door. The smell here is awful. It seems the sort of place you wouldn’t even keep animals, but the black iron chains on the wall to either side of us suggest that slaves are kept here.

  “What brings students here?” A fearful voice asks from behind us. I turn and see a young woman wearing filthy rags. She is covered in sweat and smells like she hasn’t washed in days. She is also chained to the wall.

  “We’re here to guard the entrance.” I tell here apologetically.

  “Are you a slave?” Hermes asks with obvious embarrassment in her voice.

  “No, I just like it here.” The woman answers with a small laugh but from her aura I can tell she is on the verge of tears.

  “Sorry.” Hermes tells her with a wince.

  “Why are you here?” Rin asks. “There aren’t any other slaves here.”

  “I’m waiting to be punished for working too slowly.” The young woman tells Rin. Her voice is brave but her aura is shaking even harder now.

  “How will they punish you?” Rin asks fearfully.

  “If I’m lucky I’ll just be whipped.” The young woman says and there really are tears in her eyes now, though she forces them back just in time to keep control of them. We don’t dare ask what will happen to her if she’s unlucky.

  “It’s not like you didn’t know that there were slaves here.” Sor reminds us rather bluntly. Then she looks at Asuna and laughs. “And I’m not talking about your toy slaves.”

  “Asuna isn’t a toy!” I protest.

  “Is Angelika then?” Sor asks.

  “No!” I protest and Lucy coughs.

  “We’re meant to be guarding the entrance, not simply standing here chatting about your relationships.” Lucy tells me pointedly.

  “Tell her that then.” I say, pointing a finger at Sor who just laughs.

  “I doubt the enemy will even find this entrance. They’ll attack the main entrance whilst we waste our time here.” Sor shrugs.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Lucy warns us. “The imperial scum are a devious bunch.”

  “I’ll check if anyone is outside.” I say and closing my eyes I focus my senses. It takes a bit more effort to penetrate the wall but most of the warding has been removed so I manage to do so. “There are about thirty people out there. About ten women and twenty men. Most of them are in black mage robes attuned to fire. They’re casting something and I think it’s big.”

  “We’d better disrupt their spell quickly then.” Lucy says and before I can protest she has flung open the door and flown through it.

  “Damn it.” I curse and then fly through after her, scraping the floor with my chest and feet. I get back up and into the air just in time to avoid a flurry of fireballs. They hit the academy wall but even its lesser wards are enough to shrug off normal attacks like these.

  Lucy is now sending overpowered lightning and ice shards at the enemy. They are shielding, but their shields are already buckling. When those shields fall they will die. I can’t penetrate those shields to drain the enemy without going all out and like Lucy’s attacks mine will kill once the shield falls.

  I hesitate for a moment as I realise we are going to have to kill people, but it isn’t right to leave that responsibility to Lucy. I agreed to defend the academy and these people are seriously threatening it. If the academy is breached all my friends will be at risk too.

  About twenty of the enemy including all of the women seem to be acting as guards. They are busy attacking me and Lucy, but Lucy is shielding and I am dodging easily enough. The others are chanting and are arranged around one man in purple mage robes. The robes are attuned to dimensional magic and so is the spell that they are casting.

  I prepare to blast him with lightning but then Rin starts to slide through the door. A mage turns his attention on Rin and blasts her with a swarm of about fifty powerful fireballs. There’s no way Rin can shield against that many and in that position, halfway through the door, there’s also no chance of her dodging.

  I dart between Rin and the fireballs and throw up a hasty but powerful shield. I intended to put almost all my power into it, but as the fireballs hit my shield I realise my mana supply isn’t even dented. Sure that I’m going to die in the blast I close my eyes but the fireballs just bounce off my shield. Confused but with no time to worry about it I grab Rin with flight magic and shout to the others through the queen’s gift.

  “Don’t come through!” I mentally shout and pray they obey me. Unsure how my shield survived the earlier attack but sure another hit would take it down I focus my efforts on avoiding the increasing attacks that are aimed our way. Under so many attacks I pull Rin closer to me and put my left arm around her back. Rin’s body feels warm as it presses against mine, but the deadly ice shards she launches against the mages below us are anything but warm.

  Then three shields fall to Lucy’s lightning attacks and the mages behind them are reduced to charred corpses. It is looking hopeful, except that I sense the spell is close to completion and it seems even more powerful than I first realised.

  Desperate I find the focus to blast a single lightning bolt at the purple robed man. It hits a powerful shield, but to my surprise the shield shatters like it wasn’t even there. The man and his protective robes are reduced to a cloud of ash by my lightning.

  I wouldn’t have thought that lightning could reduce someone to ash and yet I don’t even feel drained. I don’t even feel like I’ve used magic, let alone shielded fifty fireballs, broken a powerful shield and reduced a man to ash with lightning. I do feel a little sick at the thought of having killed someone again though.

  The mages around the man I just killed port away and a moment later so do the rest of the surviving enemies. All that is left is one small ash cloud and three charred corpses. Where there was grass there is a thick layer of black ash and in the distance is a much larger cloud of ash darkening the afternoon sky. It is so dark that it feels like the sun is about to set.

  “We should get back inside quickly.” Lucy tells us urgently and darts towards the slave’s entrance. “It will be a problem if we get caught out here when the ward is restored.”

  I quickly follow Lucy, still holding Rin tightly against me. In the back of my head I am waiting to get scolded for holding her close to me like this. Lucy darts back into the academy. I would have beaten her but getting through that small door with two people at a time is impossible so I slow down to split my flight magic in two.

  I am about to fly Rin through first, but I sense a powerful shield rise up and cover the entire academy. It isn’t like the ward that normally just shields the academy from being damaged. This ward also slams the door shut and holds it tightly shut. Not that I dare attempt to open it, because I am too busy recombining the flight magic and then dodging the lightning that is striking at us from the academy walls. The ones that hit the ground leave craters each at least five foot wide and some twice that.

  Suddenly ten huge continuous lightning bolts leap out of the academy. Of course the lightning strikes continue to blast at me as well. I weave in and out of the lightning bolts in a desperate attempt to keep on dodging, but they are getting way too close for comfort. So close that my hair is standing on end and my skin is tingling. It is also much harder to dodge the lightning strikes.

  “Port us somewhere.” I tell Rin urgently.

  “I can�
��t port. There’s a port block and a port barrier up.” Rin tells me.

  “Then hold on tight.” I tell her and feel her arms hold onto me but not very tightly. “Tighter than that.”

  “Ugh…” Rin mutters, but then I feel her arms squeezing tightly. Now that I don’t need to focus on her with my flight magic I put every bit of focus within me into getting away from the academy without getting blasted. I don’t bother shielding, because one hit from any of these attacks would be instant death even with a shield up.

  Dodging and darting like an insane bird, I slowly edge away from the academy a few desperate feet at a time. Even though I’m flying as fast as I’ve ever flown the progress is painfully slow. If it was just me I’d have been tempted to take more risks to get away faster, but with Rin here I don’t dare.

  Suddenly we are ported and the attacks have stopped. We are floating above a field of ash still so we can’t have gone far, but it is far enough. I breathe a sigh of relief but Rin is still holding on tightly so it is hard to breathe.

  “We’re safe now.” Rin tells me but there is doubt in her voice. We can’t get back in the academy and the town is gone. I quickly consider our options and then focus my mind on the Hoshi town. I port us there. It uses a lot of mana but that is normal. What’s not normal is how my magic earlier didn’t even use any.

  “Can you let go?” I ask Rin as now that the danger is gone I am really conscious how hard it is to breathe like this. Rin goes bright red and letting go she takes a couple of steps away from me.

  I look around and see the Hoshi house is still intact but the rest of the town isn’t so lucky. Many of the buildings have been burnt down, split in half or reduced to rubble. I can’t see anyone in the town and even my senses don’t reveal anyone’s presence. I then focus my senses on the Hoshi house.

  “Oh no…” I gasp as my senses reveal some very different presences to the ones I hoped to find.

  “What?!” Rin asks urgently.

  “There are only goblins here. I’m going to try contacting Dairon.”

  “Hurry!” Rin urges.

  “Dairon?” I ask through the queen’s gift. The mind stone is silent and I fear the worst. After a few moments though, I hear Dairon’s mental voice.

  “Peter? I tried to contact you, but there was something blocking the magic.” Dairon tells me.

  “Are you all safe?” I ask urgently.

  “I wouldn’t say safe, but we’re alive. Is everyone safe at the academy?” Dairon asks. Rin looks at me urgently and I nod with a smile. She breathes a sigh of relief.

  “Yes. Or at least they were. The academy was attacked. I got trapped outside with Rin. Where are you?”

  “We evacuated the townspeople, villagers and Hinata to Utopia Camerona, but it isn’t safe for elves or faeries to go there, so I’m hiding with the Aer sisters and the faeries. Jenny and Jimmy are with us too.”

  “Where are you hiding?” I ask urgently.

  “It isn’t safe to tell you over the mind magic. The enemy are probably listening in to us.” Dairon warns me.

  “Can you send the faeries to get us? We’re in the Hoshi town just outside the main house. … … Dairon? Dairon?” I shake my head in frustration as I am only answered by silence.

  “What’s wrong?” Rin asks in a panic again.

  “I lost contact. Someone must be blocking our mental magic.” I tell Rin.

  “So what do we do? The goblins must have noticed us by now.”

  “Utopia Camerona.” I tell her reluctantly. If it was just me I’d rather take my chances in the wild, but I can’t risk Rin’s life like that and her mother is there too.

  “Do you have the power to port there from here?” Rin asks and reminds me of a vital flaw in my plan.

  “No. Not without a port boost.” I admit.

  “I don’t suppose we’re going to get one of those.” Rin tells me.

  “I know. This is where Lucy, Sor or Elucia would come in very handy.” I chuckle quietly.

  “There’s a port block up.” Rin tells me.

  “Then we’d better kill some goblins and take it down.”

  Chapter 18 (Multiple)

  (Hermes)

  Lucy flies straight through the small door but then it slams shut behind her. She spins in horror and whispers. “Peter…”

  “What happened?!” I ask Lucy as I push against the door.

  “It’s useless. It won’t open. The main ward is sealing it shut. The mind stones the queen gave us can’t penetrate that ward either.” She tells me sadly.

  “What happened to Rin and Peter?” I ask desperately.

  “They were right behind me.” Lucy tells me, looking down at the floor.

  “We need to tell the head that they’re trapped outside!” I insist.

  “We do, but she can’t let them in.” Lucy tells me.

  “Why not?” I ask angrily but it is Sor who answers me.

  “The main ward has been fully activated. To do that requires a sacrifice and will last for months.” Sor explains sounding and looking very calm.

  “Don’t you care?! Peter and Rin are trapped out there with who knows how many enemies!” I shout at her, furious at her attitude.

  “Do you know how many slaves had to be sacrificed? Not that I care about that either, but Peter and Rin at least chose to risk their lives. The slaves certainly didn’t choose to die, but die they did.” Sor tells me with a shrug.

  “A human sacrifice? How can you not care about people being sacrificed and not care about your friends?” I ask in disbelief.

  “What friends?” Sor asks. I just stare at her. No matter how hard I try there’s no way I’ll ever understand this girl. I look at Asuna and Angelika, and Yu Kii, Emma and Emi. At least they appear as stunned as I do, and like me they seem lost for words. Only Emi seems willing to stand by Sor and even she is clearly shaken. Then I look at Lucy.

  “Peter will be fine and there’s no way he’ll let anything happen to Rin.” Lucy tells me firmly.

  “They’re both probably dead already. The ward isn’t just defensive. It has enough offensive power that anyone nearby would be killed in moments.” Sor shrugs.

  “My master is not dead.” Lucy tells Sor with a look that could freeze fire.

  “You may as well face reality. The magical assault that the academy would have launched against him would be impossible to survive. There would be a port block and a port barrier too so he couldn’t even port to safety. Even I would have died.” Sor says with another shrug.

  “He’s alive.” Asuna says confidently.

  “Think what you want. This is pointless.” Sor shrugs and then ports away with Emi.

  “He’d better still be alive, or I’ll really kill him.” Lucy mutters. “I’ll inform the head. Everyone else return to Peter’s room.”

  Lucy ports away and I port back to Peter’s room. Asuna, Angelika, Yu Kii and Emma port in right after me. Being in this room and yet knowing that Peter is gone and not even knowing if he is alive… Rin too… Before I know it there are tears falling down my cheeks.

  “Trust them.” Asuna tells me and I nod but I can’t stop my tears. I sense everyone’s eyes on me but it doesn’t matter. I’m too upset to do anything but cry. I sit down on Peter’s bed and bury my head in my hands.

  “They’re alive.” Yu Kii says but there is no more way she can know it than Asuna, Lucy or I can know it. Then I sense Lucy port in.

  “We’d better be the ones to tell the rest of the club. It would be worse if they find out from someone else. This room is too small for the whole club. Let’s have everyone meet in 2A. I’ll port everyone there.” Lucy tells us. Then she ports away again. Emma ports away first and then Angelika. Yu Kii and Asuna look at me and then each other. Yu Kii smiles and Asuna nods. Then Asuna ports away too.

  “I can stay here with you.” Yu Kii tells me. “We don’t need to go.”

  “I should go.” I sniff and wipe my eyes but more tears fall.

  “You don�
��t have to.” Yu Kii tells me and puts her arms around my chest. “There’s no need to be strong. There’s nothing wrong with crying, but I promise you that we’ll all see Peter again.”

  “How can you know?” I ask through my tears. Even though she doesn’t answer, the gentle warmth of her arms and her body feel comforting for some reason. My tears slow.

  “This is Peter and Rin we’re talking about. The ones you should really feel sorry for are their enemies.” Yu Kii reminds me. I laugh, though there are still tears in my eyes.

  (Peter)

  “Fifty two.” I tell Rin.

  “Damn, you beat me by five.” Rin tells me as she lets the final goblin fall to the ground. They came to us so we didn’t even need to enter the Hoshi house.

  “You really don’t show them any mercy. Impaling them on ice spikes is pretty brutal.”

  “Because cutting them in half with wind slices and scorching them with lightning is just you being nice?” Rin laughs.

  “At least they die almost instantly.” I protest.

  “Then you’re just a more efficient killer than I am.” Rin tells me.

  “Thanks. Anyway the port block is down now, so how about we port away before anyone else raises one?” I suggest.

  “Sounds good. You’ll have to port us though, because I’m almost out of mana.”

  “Me too. I guess we’ll have to walk.” I sigh.

  “Where to? It would take forever to get to Utopia Camerona on foot.”

  “To somewhere safe. Any suggestions?” I ask.

  “I probably have enough mana to port us to your swamp, but once we’re there I’ll be totally out of power.”

  “My swamp?” I ask confused.

  “It was part of the Hoshi land but I made a deal for it, so it belongs to you now.”