The Heart of Alchemy by James Wisher (e book reading free TXT) 📕

But if he ended up having to spend any amount of time in the Dead Lands, the lessons he learned might make the difference between survival and death.

Now his time of study had come to an end. It was time to drop his teacher off and see if she could find Amet Sur’s capital. Otto didn’t even know the name of the city, only that it had a huge black pyramid that served as the first Arcane Lord’s palace. How hard could it be to find a city with both a portal and a pyramid?

As the anchor splashed down Lady White came to join him at the ship’s railing. “So this is where we part company.”

He nodded. “I don’t have any advice for you. I assume some of the locals are capable of speech. If you can compel them, they might be able to guide you to the city.”

She drew in a lungful of air and let it out slowly. That had to be a habit from when she still lived. “This place is rich in corruption. I will be at home here. Assuming I can find this city you seek, how do I let you know?”

Otto took two items out of his pocket. The first was one of the thin crystal sticks he’d prepared. The other was a gold coin engraved with an empowered rune. “Snap the crystal and you can send me a ten-word message. I can then teleport to the rune.”

She accepted the items and slipped them into a pocket of her robe. “Sounds simple enough. What’s the time frame?”

Otto shrugged. “It takes as long as it takes. We’ll be a month minimum returning to port. After that I’ll need time to recover and prepare for the next leg of the mission. Probably three months minimum.”

“I’ll do my best to be ready.”

The crew had one of the ship’s dinghies ready and Otto escorted her to the boat. Her warbeast loosed a soft growl at him but Lady White swatted it on the nose and it fell silent.

He turned at the sound of pounding boots. Jet was running across the deck towards them.

When she stopped, she said, “I want to go with you.”

“No,” Lady White said. “You’re still living, with all the weaknesses that come with that condition. There’s no food or potable water out there. And I can’t stop every time you need to sleep. Go with Otto and rejoin me when he does. If you still wish it, we can petition Astaroth to grant you his blessing then.”

Jet’s face fell but she bowed. “As you command, Lady. Good luck.”

Otto used his magic to steady the dinghy and Lady White climbed aboard with her warbeast. The unlucky sailors selected to ferry her to shore inched as far from the beast as possible without leaving the oars. Otto didn’t blame them even though Lady White was by far the more dangerous of the pair.

When the dinghy had moved away from the ship Jet said, “I’ll be below deck if you need me.”

She sounded depressed, but Otto doubted anyone else on the ship would share her feelings.

Chapter 44

Otto couldn’t begin to describe his happiness when Lux’s port appeared on the horizon. How long had they been gone? A bit over a year if he wasn’t mistaken. It felt like longer. He’d once heard a veteran of many battles describe life in the army as long stretches of boredom broken up by moments of sheer terror. That described the last year really well.

As the ship eased up to the dock Hans came striding over. “Orders, Lord Shenk?”

“We’re heading home, Hans. As soon as we’re tied off and our gear’s unloaded, it’s straight to the portal and Garen. I haven’t desired a home-cooked meal this much in a very long time.”

“I second that.” The sergeant grinned. “We really did it, didn’t we? We made it to the Celestial Empire and back in one piece. Most of us anyway. That’s a story I can tell my nieces and nephews. I can tell them, right?”

Otto laughed. “You certainly can. I suspect Captain Wainwright plans to tell every captain in the city.”

Axel and the scouts were coming up on deck, their packs slung over their shoulders. Corina was behind them and the rest of Hans’s squad, each of them heavily laden with their and Otto’s gear, brought up the rear.

“I need to talk to Captain Wainwright for a moment,” Otto said. “I’ll meet you on the dock.”

Hans saluted and went to join the others.

For his part, Otto strode across the deck to the helm where the captain was busy shouting orders to his men who were equally busy tying off the sails and doing other things Otto didn’t understand.

“Lord Shenk,” Wainwright said. “You’ve made my career with this journey. I can’t thank you enough for letting me command such a historic voyage.”

“You guided us there and back,” Otto said. “I could ask for nothing more. I may not have need of you and the ship for some time. Do you have plans?”

“I’m going to write a book about the trip.” He laughed at Otto’s expression. “With what you’ve paid me, I have plenty of wealth to hold me over for years. When you need us, me and the Sea Star will be ready.”

“Good enough. But I will thank you not to mention where we dropped off Lady White.”

Wainwright nodded. “I will be circumspect with the details. When I’m finished, perhaps you’d like to read it before I hire a printer.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Farewell, Captain.”

“Smooth seas, Lord Shenk.”

Otto climbed down the gangplank and joined the others. The group set out for the portal at a brisk walk. It seemed they were all as eager to get home as he was.

After a good night’s sleep in his own bed and so much food he could barely walk, Otto set out for the palace. It was time to put the Heart of Alchemy in place. He