It had left Sam questioning just how powerful those other alchemists have been.
If only he had an opportunity to meet them.
Chasten came toward Sam, watching.
“I did what?”
“I suspect this is you, Sam, not the vrandal. The vrandal is a device of alchemy that has a power of its own, as you have experienced, but what you see displayed here is something else.” Chasten held his hand up, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then a hint of a green hue began to swirl around the garden, adding to what Sam had done. “There. I think we should be able to solidify it for now.”
“What did you do?” Sam asked.
“Nothing more than add to what you had done. It won’t hold indefinitely, and given what we see out there, I suspect they will try to pin us inside the Academy.”
That meant they were planning an assault. Not only did that involve Sam, Tara, and the teachers, but all the other students too. Most didn’t even know something was taking place.
“Does it have anything to do with the chamber hidden in the Academy where the Grandam—”
“You must refer to her by her name,” Chasten said. “She does not deserve the title after what she has done. We must all tear that honorific from her. Bethal. That is her name.”
Chasten was right. Sam did need to take that title from her, the same way she had taken so much from the Academy.
“Is that what this is about? She was after power here.”
He didn’t need to say it, but none of them knew if she had succeeded.
“This is about many things, Sam. The Nighlan seek power they don’t have. They want to control the unification of power that alchemy represents, especially as they don’t have anyone who understands it. Unfortunately, they have numbers we don’t have.”
“Tavran should be protected with the army, all of the users of the arcane arts, and all of the protections that have been placed, shouldn’t it be?”
Sam had seen those protections and knew just how fortified the city should be. If the Nighlan had managed to overpower even that…
Sam wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“It should. It was. It no longer is.”
Chasten strode forward, holding his hand out. The vrandal on Sam’s hand glowed with a bright green light, the power that he controlled flowing from him in a way that Sam wished he could learn and master.
“You wanted to be able to use your power,” Tara said.
“Yes, but I also want to understand it.”
“If it can do this”—she pointed toward the cloud of green in the sky that hadn’t changed all that much since he’d released the power of the vrandal— “then I think you need to. How do you still convince yourself that this is not the arcane arts?”
“Because it’s not,” Sam said.
Tara frowned at him.
Every so often, he could sense another attack. The assault persisted, the attacks striking at the cloud overhead but then deflected. When they did, Chasten raised his hand and added power to what Sam had placed. The defense held.
For how long, though?
Sam had mistakenly thought they had more time. How could he not? When Bethal had brought the last attack, they had defeated her. They’d won.
“Why do you think they’re attacking now?” he asked.
Tara shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought she’d be more patient. She’s spent all that time building up her threat, so I thought she would wait and prepare longer.”
“Unless she didn’t want us to prepare.”
The longer the Academy had to build their defenses, the more likely it was that they would gain the necessary knowledge to overpower the Nighlan and discover some way to defeat them. Then they wouldn’t have to fear the Nighlan as they did.
She might have feared the knowledge the almanac would provide. Learning that Sam had a way of reading the pages, and having others act on it, even if he could not, might pose more of a danger to the Nighlan than Bethal had expected.
Which meant they had to operate quickly. They had to be ready.
Chasten turned back to them. “I’m sure she didn’t want us to prepare. You two should head back inside. I don’t know how long this assault will last.”
“We can help,” Sam said.
Chasten smiled. “You have already helped. Had you not formed this sort of barrier, we would have faced much worse by now. I can hold it, and the others will see if they can eliminate the threat to the city.”
“The others?”
“I have notified allies of the attack. If we’d had more notice, I would have been able to summon them sooner.”
“Will the alchemists return to help?” That was who Chasten had to mean, though Sam thought that some of them had remained in the Academy. Okun was with them. He had been a part of helping to protect the Academy, so Sam would have expected that he would have helped notify them, as well.
“We have sent word,” he said, “and have tried to get them to commit to a greater presence.”
Sam snorted. It seemed to him that there had already been a presence that had returned to the Academy. With the alchemy tower opening, he had half expected to have other alchemy instructors suddenly begin to fill that tower, but there hadn’t been any. The only true alchemist within the Academy as far as Sam could tell, was Chasten. From what Chasten had said, he wasn’t even a true alchemist like what had once been in the Academy.
“What are they after now?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps the almanac. They may have decided that it is important.” His gaze lowered to the almanac Sam still clutched, and he sighed. “It’s unfortunate that the previous caretakers did not leave better records.”
“I don’t think they expected to be killed in quite that way,” Sam said.
Chasten arched a brow. “Perhaps not,” he said. “And perhaps it is merely their lack of preparation, but it does place us in a difficult position. We don’t have the same knowledge of alchemy as those who once served the Academy.” He looked around, then glanced up to the green haze that hung in the air. “They would’ve known what to do.”
“But you are an alchemist,” Tara said.
Chasten smiled tightly. “Perhaps outside of these walls, but inside… I was overmatched. Why else do you think that I didn’t stay?”
“I don’t know,” Tara said. “I figured to have an opportunity to make money. Well, real money.”
“Do the instructors want wealth?”
Sam hadn’t given much thought to the instructors. Havash had never spoken of anything regarding money other than to mention the stipend that he would be eligible for as a student. He hadn’t even considered the possibility that the instructors were paid, but why else would they teach? Why else with a stay within the Academy?
“What about the army?” Tara asked. “My mother has sent some messages to suggest that the Nighlan are moving along the western border.”
Chasten glanced over, arching a brow. “Has she?”
“She’s not on the council anymore, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have connections,” Tara said.
Chasten shook his head. “I didn’t doubt you, Ms. Stone. We don’t have access to the council. At least, I don’t.” He glanced toward the door of the Academy. “I suspect Havash has his little ears inside listening, but most of us do not.”
Sam wasn’t sure if he was telling them the truth or not. Chasten would have alchemy that he could rely upon and that alchemy would likely allow him to listen in on whatever he wanted.
“Why did the Nighlan decide to attack now?” Sam asked. “I understand they were moving on the Academy. They think there must be something here that they want,” he said, “and I know that Bethal was after whatever power is locked away inside of the Academy, but I still don’t think that she succeeded.”
“We don’t know,” Chasten said. “Which is why you and Ms. Stone need to keep studying the almanac. We need to know whatever we can about it.”
Sam n
oticed Tara watching Chasten with a wrinkled brow. Was she suspicious of him?
He was an alchemist, and he had been here, helping to defend the Academy, but maybe he wanted access to the almanac as well.
Knowing as they all did the key to the vrandal and how that was instrumental in reading the almanac, maybe Chasten wouldn’t be able to use it without Sam, or someone like him, helping.
“We have already gone through a considerable portion of it,” Sam said. “But we don’t fully understand it.”
Tara shifted her focus to him. It was helpful for Chasten to know that they had read through the almanac, but he didn’t need to know that they could use the various patterns they had already come across. They would keep that secret for now.
“I was hoping we would have more time in the alchemy tower to study without others present.”
“Havash has felt it important to return the Academy to its full functionality,” Chasten said. “And that includes the alchemy tower.”
“Who will be the alchemist in charge?” Tara asked.
“I will,” he said. “At least, until another can return. We need a true alchemist to lead.”
“You don’t want the role?”
Chasten watched her for a moment. “No, Ms. Stone. I do not want that position. I never have. I can be a caretaker, nothing else. But I will offer whatever protection I can to the Academy. Now…” Another blast struck, and Chasten looked up toward the green glow. “The two of you should go back inside where it will be safe. I will hold this until we get the necessary help.”
“Are you sure you can?”
Chasten smiled at them tightly. “I might not be the same kind of alchemist as the Academy once knew, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” He held out several different metallic objects, and Sam smiled to himself. They were items he suspected Chasten had created in his shop. “They will be in for a surprise if they continue their attack. Don’t worry.”
“We could help.”
“Trust me, Sam, you already are.”
Tara took his hand and pulled him toward the Academy. “Come on,” she urged when another attack struck.
Sam let out a long sigh and followed.
The door closed behind them, which Chasten must have sealed. The awareness of power suddenly disappeared, leaving Sam with the memory of what he’d been feeling outside, but not the same sense.
“What are you going to do?” he asked, turning to Tara.
“I don’t know how many more of these attacking patterns I’m going to be able to do. Maybe none. Either way, I would like to know whether there’s anything else in the almanac. I’m sure you would too.”
“We have both been trying to read through the almanac as quickly as possible to uncover whatever secrets it has, but most of these patterns are incredibly complex, and I can’t do anything other than read them to you.”
“Then I’m going to have to focus.” She glanced toward the now closed door leading down into the alchemy tower. “Maybe it’s time for me to claim an interest in alchemy.”
“You don’t already have one?”
She shrugged slightly. “I never did before. I was always more interested in angulation and traditional arcane arts. But if all of this is somehow tied to alchemy, along with whatever we can read in that book,” she said, nodding to the almanac, “then it might be time for me to commit to that tower.”
“I’d have to commit to it, too,” he said.
“You won’t be able to,” she said. When he looked up at her, she shrugged. “First-year students can’t be a part of the alchemy tower.”
“Even students who have been a part of helping defend the Academy, and who have an item of alchemy practically attached to them, along with an ancient and possibly sacred book?”
“Well, maybe that person might be able to be a part of the alchemy tower, but you’re going to have to get permission.”
“Seeing as how Chasten is going to be the professor in charge, I hope we have an inside track.”
“You would think so,” she said. “I’m not exactly sure.”
“Why don’t we get into the Study Hall and keep an eye on what’s going on down there?”
She frowned at him. “You can be a little devious sometimes, you know. I like it.”
She took his hand and pulled him up into the tolath tower, triggering the entrance to the Study Hall, and they made their way toward the alchemy tower. When they reached it, they started to open the door, when they heard voices inside the common area.
They hurriedly triggered the door closed again.
“This is going to be trickier than I thought,” Tara said.
Sam stared at the closed door. Not just tricky, but he was losing his places within the Academy one by one. First the library, and now the alchemy tower.
What would be next?
Chapter Five
They hadn’t figured out everyone who was moving back into the alchemy tower. Sam was determined to get those answers, if only so that he could know who he would have to deal with when he inevitably managed to get into the alchemy tower, which he was determined to do. He and Tara had spent the better part of the last two days trying to sneak into the door, but every time they opened the door into the common room, they heard voices. It forced them to hurriedly close it back up.
It was late evening. Well after the tenth bell, and a time when everybody should be back in their own tower. He had come down to check in on the alchemy tower and was waiting on Tara. She hadn’t shown up yet, but he was certain she would. She knew where he would end up.
He hadn’t opened the door. Not yet. This was the only time of day when the alchemy tower was empty. So far, students hadn’t moved fully back into it. They just used it during the daytime, but that was bad enough. At least they could come here to work and practice what they read in the almanac, but they required that they stay away from their own tower. Sam had taken to asking Tara to create several different barricades over the doors so that they wouldn’t be surprised, but they also had to be careful that they didn’t block it closed. Tara claimed that she knew ways of sealing them temporarily, and then it would fade over time. At least, that was what she claimed.
He could feel her use of the arcane arts coming behind him. He turned away, anticipating her slipping through the halls when he realized that it wasn’t her.
Tara had a distinct signature to her arcane arts.
It wasn’t coming down this hallway, but it was back in the main part of the Study Hall.
Sam hurried up the stairs, and then he paused, focusing on what he could detect of that power.
He had felt it before. Arcane arts had a signature to it, an energy that he had come to recognize. In this case, he had felt it somewhere, though he wasn’t exactly sure where. As it passed him, he waited a moment.
It had been gone for a while when the door slipped open.
Tara stood on the other side.
Sam nearly stumbled down the stairs.
“There was somebody else in the hall,” he said.
She nodded slowly, her nose wrinkled and irritation. “Tracen,” she muttered. She pushed past him, closing the door behind her. “Thankfully, he doesn’t know about all of the Study Hall, but now that they have returned to the alchemy tower, he has been coming through here.”
“I didn’t realize he knew about it.”
She shook her head. “I told you. Others knew, they just stayed away. There weren’t easy access points from their towers.”
“Now we have to watch out for him?”
“I think it’s more you have to watch out for him. I am a known entity.”
“Should we keep a secret, or should we surprise them?”
“I think, for now, we keep it quiet. Eventually, we are going to want to make sure that they know you are here, if only so that somebody doesn’t pull something stupid and try to blast you.”
“I was expecting you sooner than this.”
She nodded, and she pulled somethi
ng out of her pocket before holding it out to him. “It might be better that I came a little later. Otherwise, I would’ve come across him when I was trying to come down to this door. They haven’t found it yet. I’m hoping they don’t, but Tracen is smart.”
“What about the other wannabe alchemists?
She snorted. “They aren’t going to like you very much.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t react like that,” he said. “They are interested in alchemy. I suppose that’s probably rare enough?”
“It always was before, but then there were others here who sort of dictated who had access to the alchemy tower. There aren’t those same checks now.”
“What is that?” Sam asked, nodding to the note she had.
“It’s from my mother. It seems she has news about the Nighlan moving. They are concentrating forces along the entire western edge of Olway. The second and third armies have gone to defend against them, and it sounds like the council has convinced quite a bit of Academy graduates to help.” She looked over to Sam. “I don’t remember a time like this before. It seems to me that they are scared.”
“You don’t think they should be?”
“Oh, I’m sure they need to be. I’m sure that it is dangerous. And I’m sure that the council thinks they are doing the right thing sending the armies, but what about Tavran? What about the Academy?”
“I suspect they’re more concerned about losing all of Olway to the Nighlan.”
He looked down into the alchemy tower. “Should we go down there?”
“I don’t know. I might not actually be in the mood for it tonight.”
He nodded. “I understand. We can go back.”
“No. You stay. This is something that you need to work through, isn’t it?”
“Eventually,” he said. “But I’m okay with waiting. I don’t want to do this without you, anyway.”
She smiled tightly. She stopped at the door, pausing for a moment, before leaning forward and kissing him. “Thanks, Sam.”
Alchemist Illusion (The Alchemist Book 3) Page 5