Alchemist Assault (The Alchemist Book 2)

by Dan Michaelson

  The man hoisted Daven to his shoulders and looked at Sam. Out of the darkness of the night, a burst of green streaked across the street toward him. Sam fell backward trying to get away from it, into the garden outside of the Academy.

  When he got to his feet, Luthian was gone. So was Daven.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Once satisfied there was no more movement on the street, Sam hurried toward the Academy. A part of him wanted to go after Daven, but he didn’t even know where Luthian had taken him. What he needed was help—something he should have done long ago.

  Sam headed up the stairs and saw a group of students in the entrance to the great hall. He knew one of them only a little, an olwand student in his alchemy class, but he looked away when he saw Sam.

  How many were like that with him?

  Too many.

  He hurried toward Havash’s room. When he reached it, he knocked, noticing several of the students looking in his direction.

  Sam ignored them, but he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that he had. He was an outsider here, even though he was now in the Academy.

  When Havash didn’t answer, Sam tried again, but there was still no answer.

  Maybe he was down in the alchemy tower, but he needed a different set of answers.

  The Grandam. She would believe him. Maybe she wouldn’t have before, but with what he’d gone through and survived, he had to think she’d believe him when he came with word of what had happened tonight.

  Sam made his way through the Study Hall, moving quickly until he reached the opening in the kitchen. He stepped out into the closet, smelling the sweet scent of grain, and then pushed it open to look out. It was empty. There was no sign of Okun or any of the other kitchen help.

  When he reached the hall outside of the kitchen, he hurried along a come up the stairs until he found the Grandam’s office.

  He knocked.

  As he waited, he looked around, not exactly sure what to expect here. He had no idea whether she would welcome him or whether she would be annoyed by his intrusion.

  After a moment, the door came open.

  “Samran Bilson. I didn’t expect you tonight.”

  Sam scanned the room again before looking over to her. “There was another attack in the city.”

  She flicked her gaze to him. “Another?”

  Sam nodded.

  “Are you certain of this?”

  “I saw Ferand. He attacked a…” He just realized he wasn’t entirely certain what to call Daven. The man had power and seemed to understand the vrandal in a way that even Havash didn’t, but what was he? Not one of the Nighlan, at least not the way they had been described to him. “Another man with something like this.” He held out the vrandal.

  “What happened then?”

  “Ferand took it off of him.”

  “Did he?” She eyed the device carefully.

  Sam had the sense that she was curious as to whether she’d be able to remove it from his hand as well. At this point, he wasn’t even sure he’d object if someone tried to take it from him. He wondered if his longing for more arcane magic was misplaced with what he’d seen and the powers that were involved.

  “I don’t know how he did it. This other man said it shouldn’t have been possible.”

  “No. What we know of the alchemy of the key suggests that it is not possible to separate it once bonded, though the head alchemists have never truly bonded it.” She looked up at him. “It begs the question as to why you did.”

  Sam shook his head. “I don’t know why I did. Been trying to figure that out myself.”

  She smiled at him. “I imagine that you have. Have you come up with any answers?”

  He traced his hand around the surface of the key. “No.” It wasn’t the reason that he came to her, though. Sam nodded. “There’s more. I saw Luthian.”

  Her brow furrowed, and she got to her feet. “Where?”

  “He was outside of the Academy. I tried to get this other man to the Academy to help him, but we were attacked before I had the chance. Luthian grabbed him.”

  “He stayed in the city,” she said softly.

  Sam nodded.

  “Show me.” The Grandam took his hand and guided him from the room. She guided him down the stairs, and they passed a group of students, including Gresham, which made Sam’s stomach sank just a moment. He didn’t want Gresham to have questions about why Sam was with the Grandam. It was bad enough that he was with her, but now they were heading out of the Academy, into the courtyard where she paused, her voice dropping below, carrying the coolness that matched the night.

  “Where did you see Luthian?” she asked.

  Sam pointed to the street. He could still envision the man scooping Daven off the ground and carrying him away. What had happened to Daven? Luthian was with Ferand, and after seeing the way Ferand was willing to attack, Sam couldn’t help but feel as if the two men together would be even more violent.

  She pulled something from her pocket and held it up. A white light bloomed, soft and powerful as it swept along the streets. As it did, there was a sense of energy that rolled across him. The vrandal pulsed even more intently, as if answering whatever she did—or rebelling against it.

  “Do you detect anything?” he asked.

  She started forward. “Luthian would be just powerful enough that he should leave a trail. If we can find the nature of his trail, we might be able to figure out where he ran off to.”

  “Should you get others?” She glanced over at him. There was a hint of irritation in her eyes, and Sam wanted to curse himself for asking. “I’m not doubting your ability,” he said quickly.

  “That would be wise, Mr. Bilson.”

  “I’ve just seen what he can do. And Ferand. When Tara was with me…”

  “Ms. Stone is capable. There is no doubt about that, but she is still learning. There are many things she cannot yet do.”

  Sam wondered how Tara would react if he told her what the Grandam said about her. Would she take the compliment, or would she be upset about being told there were things she couldn’t do?

  The Grandam straightened and squeezed her hand around the item there before looking at him. “I think it’s long past time for you to return to the Academy, Mr. Bilson. I think I can follow Luthian on my own—and without distractions. This is delicate work, and finding him is of the utmost importance. I would rather do this without someone nosing around in it.”

  He glanced toward the Academy. It was time for him to return. He slipped back into the Academy grounds, through the garden, and up to the door. He heard voices in the garden, and was tempted to go and see who it might be, but there was a part of him that worried it might end up being Gresham, and Sam didn’t need any more trouble with him. He had already assaulted him and didn’t need a highly trained user of the arcane arts wanting vengeance for something that Sam had done to him.

  Instead, he hurried inside.

  He headed toward the tolath tower, seeing no one, and hurried into the Study Hall.

  He needed to find Tara. It was the time of night when he suspected that she would not be in her room, and given how they had been heading to the library, he started there first. He saw several glowing lights that suggested the arcane arts, but when he waited, watching to see where they were and what they might do, he didn’t seem to be any pattern that would be consistent with Tara. After a while, Sam headed away.

  He debated which way to go.

  Finally, he decided to head down to the alchemy tower. He wasn’t expecting to see her there but was surprised to find Tara practicing in the alchemy room. She looked up when he entered, the white light surrounding her pulsing for a moment before fading.

  “Where have you been?”

  Sam took a deep breath, letting out slowly. “It’s a long story. I made my way out into the city, and—”

  “How?” She frowned at him. “The city is closed to us. They have it secured. You shouldn’t even have been able to get out.”
>
  Sam nodded slowly. He worried about what would happen when he finally went to Havash to tell him what had happened. “I know. And I found something,” he said. He looked down at the vrandal and then frowned again. “Well, I found several things. Alchemy and how I can penetrate through alchemy barriers with the vrandal, and then somebody who knows about this.”

  “Why don’t you start with telling me what a vrandal is, and then you can go on there.”

  When he told her what he’d encountered, first about Daven, then the lantern, and finally about following him through the city, she grew increasingly quiet. When he was done, she breathed out in annoyance.

  “So let me get this straight,” she said sharply. “You went out into the city knowing the Nighlan have attacked, something you probably wouldn’t have been able to do on your own. You then saw more of the green light you attributed to alchemy and went toward it, only to luckily learn that this wasn’t anyone dangerous. At least, that you know of. Then you and this strange person were attacked, and Ferand grabbed him.”

  “Not Ferand. Luthian. Ferand was there, too, and now the Grandam is looking for them.”

  She shook her head. “That might’ve been the only thing you did tonight that makes any sense.”

  “I’m sorry, but Daven knew how to use this,” Sam said, holding up the device. And he knew more than Havash, which wasn’t entirely surprising, especially knowing that Havash was not an alchemist. Chasten was. That was who Sam needed to go to. “He was trying to teach me how to control it, and I think if I can find him, I might be able to learn how to fully control the power in it. When I can do that, we can use the book and train together more.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t a part of all of this? I know you think he is an alchemist, and maybe some separatist group that is working against the Nighlan, but—”

  “I know what I saw. He wasn’t with the Nighlan. And he knows things.”

  “You need to show me this place,” Tara said.

  “What place? Where he was attacked? The Grandam is out there now trying to track down Luthian, so I don’t think it’d be a good idea for us to go looking for him.”

  “Not that. The room. If that lantern lets you communicate with the others he was with, then we need to find it. Havash should know about it too.”

  She was right. The issue for him was that Daven hadn’t wanted to bring the lantern out. He had been concerned that they would lose the lantern and that someone would get ahold of it who shouldn’t. Then again, Bardall needed to know that Daven had been taken.

  That would be why he’d go back. He didn’t know whether there was any reason for him to trust Daven, but he also didn’t have any reason to harm him. Sam wanted to offer him whatever help he could, especially if Luthian were after him.

  “We can go later,” he said. “Probably not tonight.”

  She looked disappointed, but she didn’t argue with him. For that, he was thankful.

  After a while, she headed out of the alchemy tower, leaving Sam with the vrandal along with the almanac. He stared at it for a long time. They were connected, but if what Daven had said was true, then it wasn’t entirely about that.

  After a little while, he stood, headed out of the alchemy tower, and then decided to take the main stairs rather than through the Study Hall.

  His stomach rumbled with hunger. He stepped out carefully through the door near the kitchen, poking his head around and looking for anyone who might be watching but found it empty.

  When Sam reached the kitchen, he tested the door for a moment, thankful that he had access to it without having to worry about anyone getting angry with him doing so.

  It was dark, only a single alchemy lanterns glowing in the far corner. He tiptoed inside, pulling open one of the cabinets when he heard someone clear their throat.

  Sam spun around.

  “Okun,” Sam said, breathing out and clutching his hand around the vrandal. “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”

  “I should say the same about you sneaking into my kitchen.”

  “I’m hungry. I lost track of time because…” He looked around him before leveling his gaze on Okun. “Something happened tonight.”

  Okun leaned on the counter, watching Sam but saying nothing.

  “I met someone.”

  “That fourth-year student that you have been running around with might be a bit disappointed to hear that.”

  “Not like that,” he said. “This is something different. I met an alchemist.”

  Okun said nothing.

  “Somebody who came to the city to deal with the Nighlan.”

  “Then you had best leave them alone.”

  “Do you know anything about it?”

  “I told you. I don’t have much talent.”

  “You took on the Secundum.”

  “Because I saw what he was trying to do to you.”

  Sam watched him. There was more to Okun than what he wanted to acknowledge, though he didn’t know if the cook would even admit anything to him.

  “I never really thanked you for it.”

  “And you don’t need to,” Okun said.

  “I still feel like I do.”

  Okun frowned. “You just keep learning what you need. I have a feeling that whatever business they were after here isn’t quite done.”

  “The man I met tonight said that it wasn’t only about the almanac.” There was no point in denying that he knew about the almanac or that he knew about the key. He wondered if Okun would give him the same courtesy. “He claimed that the almanac might be a part of it but that there was probably something more.”

  “And you think that’s true?”

  “I don’t really know. They obviously think it’s worth risking the Academy.”

  “That’s only if you think they fear the Academy.”

  Sam frowned. His stomach rumbled again, and Okun turned, heading to a cupboard, where he pulled something out and handed it to him. It was a loaf of fluffy bread. Sam took a chunk and chewed slowly.

  “They chase power. That’s about it. That’s all I know. That’s all I need to know. And it’s their pursuit of power that makes them dangerous. They think there is something that will make them stronger and make it easier for them to spread, they are going to do whatever it takes to get it. And they have plenty willing to serve them and serve that purpose, especially if they think it will give them more power.”

  Sam hadn’t even considered that before. Maybe that was true.

  If so, what did it mean for who else might be involved?

  “That’s why you stayed here. You are looking for anybody else who might be involved.”

  Okun smiled tightly. “You keep looking for answers that I don’t have.”

  He shifted as he said it and looked around slightly.

  Sam frowned at him. “Fine. You don’t have to tell me anything. If you do see something or hear about something that I might need to know about, would you let me know?”

  He frowned before nodding once. “Take that and get out of here. You need to get some sleep.”

  As Sam headed out of the kitchen, he couldn’t help feeling as if it was not just sleep that he needed, but maybe understanding and an insight into what more Okun was involved in. Could he be connected to Daven?

  Or maybe he was just what he said. Somebody who knew things and wanted to protect the Academy. Either way, Sam trusted him.

  He only hoped that it wasn’t misplaced.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The lessons taught in angulation had suddenly shifted. Professor Clarice had begun to teach a very different type of session, going so far as to describe various patterns of angulation that could only be described as attack patterns. Sam sat listening and struggled to believe what he was hearing.

  “This is a welcome change,” James muttered at one point.

  Sam looked at the others in the classroom, all softly glowing with their connection to the arcane arts. Even James did.

  “You k
now why we are learning this, don’t you?”

  “Because they want us to progress? Or maybe there’s something on the next exam they aren’t telling us about yet.”

  “It’s because of what happened,” Sam said. “They are preparing us.”

  And it meant that the instructors were more concerned about another attack.

  He went on to mathematics and found a more aggressive approach to augmenting and adding applied mathematical duplicate power to the arcane arts than he had before. From there, botany offered him various poisons, dangerous compounds, and the counters to them, along with mixing the arcane arts in that. By the time he reached alchemy, he half expected Havash to go into various uses of the arcane arts and attack magic, but he continued to go on about his theoretical approach of using the power.

  At least that had some consistency.

  Sam ate dinner, looking at the others, and overheard conversations around him that suggested that even the upper-level classes had been somewhat similar.

  When he was done, he looked around the dining hall, watching for his sister. He needed to check on her. He hadn’t had an opportunity to speak to her in what seemed like an eternity, and given that his entire reason for being in the Academy was tied to her, he hated that he did not have that chance.

  She was getting up.

  Mia set her tray at the back of the room and headed out.

  Two other students were with her, but if Sam could get her alone…

  He slipped after her.

  They were heading toward the library.

  He followed and thought that maybe he could sit at her table, have an opportunity to chat with her, but the other two sharan students looked in his direction, frowning at him. Sam didn’t know either of them well, but neither of them was first-year students.

  What was Mia doing spending time with older students anyway?