Essence of Gluic

Avanda arrived back at the tower at the base of the bridge, which spanned the Squalid Waters, looking for Brimmelle and Bryus. The last time she had seen them was when Grub was spotted and she had chased Thorik into the battle. But now, they were nowhere to be seen.

  “Bryus? Fir Brimmelle?”

  There was a distant complaining from Brimmelle that could be heard.

  “Brimmelle? Is that you?” she yelled.

  “Down here!”

  Peering over the edge of the bridge, she found the two missing members in the top of a tree. Bryus’ arm had flourished into a nice size tree in the water, near the shore. His arm was the top of the primary center trunk, locking him into an uncomfortable position as he hung from his shoulder at the peak of the tree.

  Laughing at the sight, she struggled to keep a straight face at the scene. “What happened?”

  Wedged between two large limbs, Brimmelle didn’t find the humor in the situation. “Your friend decided to cast a spell. And we all know how those usually turn out.”

  Bryus looked at the predicament with some displeasure. “Are you sure you cast the spell correctly to attach my new arm?”

  Avanda knew exactly what he meant. “You instructed me. You were there.”

  “True. How about the boiling of my hair? Was there any contamination during the boiling?”

  Avanda wanted to avoid the specific step. “Why, what happened to you and Brimmelle?”

  Bryus didn’t allow her to change the subject. “By now I should have some flexibility in the new arm, but I haven’t as of yet. I should have started being able to feel sensations with it, but all it does is itch toward the upper end.” Bryus was going step by step through every possibility of errors. “I’m not sure what went wrong.”

  “Something always goes wrong,” Brimmelle complained. “Avanda, have Grewen get over here and pull me out of this tree!” Brimmelle shouted.

  “No, I’ve done this many times before with great success.” The Alchemist gave a nod or reassurance. “Even my daughter has performed this spell without any issues.”

  “What exactly happened here?” Avanda called down to them.

  “Avanda! Go get help.” Brimmelle ordered.

  “I will.” But she instead waited for Bryus’ answer to her question.

  “I gave it plenty of time to adjust onto my arm,” Bryus mumbled to himself before glancing up at the female Num. “I simply cast a spell to root the wood deeper into my arm. But instead of rooting deeper into me, it pulled me off the bridge and it rooted itself in the river and began to grow like crazy.”

  “And in doing so, he knocked me over with him,” Brimmelle said. “Now go get us some help.”

  Chapter 28

  Uncovered