Bryus grabbed Avanda’s arms in order to stop them from waving around in front of her. “Don’t flail your arms about. You must move them in a gentle flowing pattern to the beat of the words. It should feel natural and smooth not chaotic and sharp.”
“I know. I’ll do it properly once we retrieve the Ergrauthian Spice. Until then, it doesn’t matter.” Avanda went back to practicing spells during their midday rest.
Bryus shook his head. “You will only have one chance at this after we obtain the spice, so you need to have every movement and word precisely in place and perfected, or else.”
“Or else what?”
Bryus lifted up his wooden arm that had caused him nothing but trouble since the moment they attached it. “We don’t want anything like this to happen again, do we?” Several newly sprouted leaves and limbs had grown since the last time she had looked at it.
“Are you blaming that on me?”
“Avanda, I’ve performed over a dozen limb attachments and all of them took. In fact, my head is the only original body part I was born with. And in all the spells used to attach these various parts, this is the first time the spell hasn’t worked. Care to tell me why?”
“No, I don’t,” she said honestly.
“And why is that?”
“Because you’ll get mad at me.”
Bryus actually appreciated her candor. He would much rather have her be honest than to lie or play word games with him. Pointing to his wooden arm, he spoke in clear crisp words, “This can’t happen again.”
“It was an accident.”
“It was carelessness.”
“You rushed me.”
“You could have told me you weren’t ready,” Bryus shook his head with disappointment. “These are the types of mistakes that give Alchemists a bad name.”
“What do you mean?”
“Unlike E’rudites, anyone can perform spells if they are taught properly. Therefore, there ends up being poorly trained Alchemists doing more harm than good. You know the type, they’ll cast spells first and see how they work later.”
“I hate those kinds of people.” She knew that he was teasing her, so she played along.
“Good, so in order to make sure you don’t get labeled as one of them, we will continue to practice the mixing of components, the proper pronunciation of verbal commands, and physical movements required to carry them out.”
Taking a deep sigh, she knew he was right. There was just so much to learn and his desire for her to understand the details seemed to slow her down from learning so much more. “Can we at least practice the explosion spell you taught me? I do so enjoy that one.”
Recalling the pain from the last time she had performed it, he declined. “No, We’re nearly out of powder and it takes too long to prepare more. You need to continue learning the spell needed to cleanse Varacon of Thorik’s grandmother.”
“Cleanse?”
“Yes, Varacon was virgin and pure until Gluic was stabbed. In doing so, she has tainted the dagger.
“Tainted? That’s rude to say.”
“Perhaps, but the truth is more important to say than worrying about someone’s feelings.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.”
“Would you rather have the facts or have someone lie to you to make you feel good?”
“Can’t you do both by telling me the facts in a way that doesn’t make me feel bad?”
“Why waste the energy? The fact is, Gluic must be removed so Varacon can be the priceless enchanted blade about which so many stories have been written.”
Avanda ears perked up. “What stories? Do tell.”
Bryus had an audience of one, eager to hear him speak of his favorite subject. His excitement began to gleam from his face as he prepared to tell his story with all the theatrics that he could muster.
Thorik interrupted their conversation. “Time to go. I want to get past that next ridge by nightfall. We should be at the Guardians within the next few days.
Bryus grabbed his items and stood up, never losing his excitement to tell the tale as they walked. “Long ago lived a beautiful princess…”
Avanda smiled as she listened to the story of two lovers fighting to free the other. Their day’s trek went by quickly as she dreamed about his fable, when they weren’t practicing her spells.
Chapter 40
Summon Swap