Alchemist (The Four Corners of Santerria)

  “That’s a long way down...” he muttered.

  She growled impatiently.

  “I find its best not to think about it and just jump.” Connor shouted, the wind howling behind him.

  Darius felt it pushing him but he hung on tight. “It’s alright for you, you always know you’ll be able to fly!”

  Connor shook his head. “That never makes it any easier to do no matter how many times I do it. I’m still scared of falling.”

  The ground shook beneath them as Terry’s body began to shudder, forcing the two men to cling on tighter. A sprawl of tentacles writhed there way free from her underside, wrapping their way around and rocky outcrops.

  “Terry wants to go so if you’re going to jump you’d best do so now.” Connor shouted, picking his way to where Darius stood.

  “But...”

  Before he could begin again, Connor had leapt onto Terry’s shoulder and flung himself off, lighting into a fireball that sped off down the mountain side. Terry glanced sideways at Darius again and growled in encouragement. But the boy stood there, frozen in terror. Growing impatiently, one of her tentacles whipped around and grabbed him by the arm. With a flick, she sent him sailing into the void. Darius’s screams echoed through the mountains as he fell.

  Raising herself up, Terry dove down the cliff face, digging her claws into the rock to break her speed as she gathered momentum. Her tentacles whipped in all directions, grabbing rocky outcrops ahead and holding on as her body sped passed to cut her speed. The tentacles behind her would then let go and race on to continue the process. Other tentacles smashed through dangerous outcrops that lay in her path. She reached the bottom a few minutes later.

  She found Connor sitting on top of a boulder some distance away. The Pyrovite had been smart enough to give her a wide berth in case she had miscued and tumbled down the mountain side. Any collision would have spelt instant death for him had it happened. He waved a lazy hand in greeting, which she acknowledged with a growl. She then turned her attention to one of her tentacles. It had been damaged in the descent and now laid, rather painfully, on the ground, its top third sporting a gushing wound. Concentrating on it, her dull copper skin began to knit itself back together, staunching the flow of dark blood. Her muscle itched as all the nerves and tissue sewed together. Seconds later the process had finished and her tentacle was like new. Not even a scar remained. She tested it by flicking it about. Satisfied, they all withdrew within her body.

  A scream caused Connor to look behind him. Darius struggled to his feet, shaking violently.

  “Are you okay?” Connor shouted, over the roar of the river that raced passed them.

  “No! I told you it would hurt!” he shouted, shutting his eyes and winching. His skin flushed with colour and he drew in a sharp breath, completing the reassembling of his body.

  “Sorry but I don’t think there any other way down.” Connor shouted as he clambered down from the boulder.

  Darius looked at him, bereft of forgiveness. “The sooner we are out of these bloody mountains the better. I’m not climbing another one.”

  “I don’t think we’ll need too. We only came over that one to get into this valley. There was no other way round as far as I could see. Now we just need to follow the river, it will take us to the other end.”

  Darius’s shoulders slumped.

  “What?”

  “If you had told me that in the first place I would have aimed for the river. It would have been far less painful.”

  Connor gave him a questionable look. “Why didn’t you just do that anyway?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why didn’t you just land in the river? It’s right there.”

  Terry grumbled as she walked up to them.

  Darius looked at Connor for a translation. “What did she say?”

  “She said to climb on.”

  “I can swim.”

  Connor climbed up one of her legs. “The waters are moving really fast, you might get lost, no matter what shape you take.”

  He sighed. “No matter what I do I can’t win...” he mumbled to himself as he made his way over to where Terry waited.

  With them both safely onboard, Terry strode into the fast flowing, icy current.

  Chapter 17

  The Long Walk Home

  The journey down river had been a long and freezing one. Terry had only emerged from the waters to end Connor’s ceaseless complaining. Fortunately for her, the fast flowing waters had eased as the river poured out into the foothills of the Gyris Mountains, making the swim for the banking easier than it had been earlier in the day.

  Connor flicked the water from his soggy sleeves as he squelched up the gravel. Terry shook herself like a dog, sending spray everywhere. Darius had to cover his face to avoid getting showered.

  The tips of Terry’s sharp armour fell back against her body. The metal glinted brilliantly where the setting sun caught the water. Terry growled, looking at Connor.

  He glanced at his watch. “It’s just gone six.”

  Darius hurried over to him. “Which way do we go now?”

  “I didn’t think we were going any further tonight.” He looked at Terry who growled and shook her head; a very human expression.

  Darius looked out over the tall grasses that lay beyond the top of the gravel banking. “How far do you think we’ve come?”

  Connor looked at Terry for an answer as she plonked herself down. Her reply was little more than a low rumble.

  “About sixty.” He shrugged. “I think that’s what she said anyway.”

  Terry regarded them with her large, cunning amber slit eyes but said nothing.

  Darius was crestfallen. “You mean after all that we’re still over three hundred miles away from Marrich?”

  “Yeah.”

  Darius sighed as he sat down. “It’s going to take us days to get back at this rate.”

  “We’re not going back to Marrich. We’re going to find Terry’s father and uncle, remember?” Connor said as he started picking about the driftwood further up the banking. “They should be looking for us by now.”

  Pushing himself up, Darius crunched through wet pebbles to where the Pyrovite was. “And then what?”

  Picking up a stick, Connor turned back to him and shrugged. “I don’t know what you want to do but I’m going back with Terry. Then I’m going to find a way back to Earth and we’re going to stop Edward.” He turned back to his task, pulling another twisted stick free from amongst the smooth black pebbles that clutched it. “I should have been back days ago anyway. My wife will be worried sick.”

  “And how will you stop Edward? Do you know anyone with temporal technology?” his eyes shined with desperation.

  Connor raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. How are you two alone going to stop Edward?”

  Connor looked at Terry, who had lifted her head at the remark. Her gaze met his for a moment before flitting back to the water elemental. She regarded him curiously.

  “We won’t be alone. We have Lyle, we have Faye and we have the Alchemists.”

  Darius looked unconvinced. “You’ve not exactly got a team anymore though, have you? Faye hates you and her father won’t let her go back.” He said, gesturing to Terry.

  Terry’s antennae twitched slightly but otherwise she remained motionless.

  Connor threw up his arms. “I still don’t know what you’re getting at.”

  A smile crossed the young man’s face, but it was one of desperation, not humour. “What I’m getting at is you have no plan!” he exclaimed. “I grew up hearing the story of how you stopped Edward ten years ago! I thought you were both legends that is why I came to you when Faye went crazy!” He turned, gesturing all around him. “But here we are. We are in the middle of nowhere with no way to get back to Earth and no plan to stop Edward.” He laughed. “You’re not the people I was led to believe!”

  Connor’s gaze narrowed. “What ex
actly did you expect?” He stepped closer to the water elemental so they were almost face-to-face. “Is that why you came with us to find Rilario? Did you think it was an adventure?”

  “No, of course not.” He replied, shaking his head.

  Connor looked down at him. “Then why did you say what you just did?”

  His eyes widened and the familiar terrified boy returned. “I’m just...scared...ok? I’m sorry.”

  Connor turned away, shaking his head. Terry watched him return to his task before returning her gaze to Darius. She stared at him for a long while, regarding him silently with ancient eyes. Finally he could stand it no longer and turned away.

  Several minutes later Connor had managed to gather enough driftwood to create a small fire. Stepping back, the Pyrovite lit it with a fiery spark from a flick of the wrist. He went into his backpack and dug out two small pork pies. Without comment he threw one to Darius.

  Terry’s antennae pricked at the sight of food. Rising onto her six clawed feet, Terry turned and headed to the river; wet gravel crunching underfoot. Watching the flow of the water for several moments, she suddenly began slashing at it.

  “What is she doing?” asked Darius, watching as he chewed on a mouthful of the soggy pastry.

  Connor also turned to watch. “Fishing.”

  True enough, a few minutes later she returned, dropping half a dozen fish by the campfire. She squeaked then returned to where she had been sitting some distance away.

  “Thanks.” Connor said after her.

  She squeaked in reply. Closing her eyes she turned away from them, rolling up into a tight ball.

  Seeking out a couple of large, flat rocks, Connor placed them over the low flames. He then laid two fish across the top of them. “It might not be much of an oven but it’ll do.” He said, giving a slight smile.

  Darius shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m so hungry I’d eat them raw if I had too.”

  The following day the three of them set out on foot. Despite having scoffed some fish Terry had reverted back to her human form. They had all been small fry. It would have taken her hours to catch enough to fill her stomach – time they did not have. Fortunately the weather was promising a hot day ahead. The sun was beginning to peak over the hills to the east and a light breeze stirred the long emerald grasses in ripples, as if it were a green sea.

  Terry caught Darius looking at her. “What?”

  “You smell like fish.” He smirked.

  She laughed. “So do you.”

  “I forgot to bring my toothbrush.”

  “It wouldn’t have made much difference for me if I had all the toothbrushes and toothpaste in the world.”

  “I never thought I would say this but I think I prefer what you normally smell like.” Darius added, peering at the sky.

  “Which is?”

  “Metallically...is that a word?” He asked, giving her a puzzled look.

  “Thanks, you know how to make a girl feel special.”

  He laughed. “I’m only joking! You don’t usually smell like that, only if you’ve turned into your primeval form.”

  She smiled. “You just keep on digging yourself into this hole, don’t you?”

  “Maybe when we get home we should create our own brand of perfumes.” He mused, staring back at the sky. The bright sunlight had certainly lifted his mood from the night before.

  Connor gave him a funny look from the far side of Terry. “That’s a very random thing to say.”

  “We were talking about smells and it’s just came to me.” He shrugged. “I mean, think about it. Terry has a stronger sense of smell than anyone else, so she can pick out the best fragrances and we could market them.”

  “I never knew you had a degree in marketing.” Connor replied.

  “We don’t need one as long as we find the right fragrance.”

  Connor snorted a laugh. “I don’t see it working somehow.”

  “Says the IT consultant.” Put in Terry. “We all know how exciting fixing computers is.”

  “Excuse me? I have a job!” Connor rebuked. He pointed at her. “You got fired from your last one.”

  Terry shrugged indifferently. “I don’t need a house and I don’t need money. I can hunt and I can dig, that’s all I need.”

  “Yeah, I know you can live underground.” A smile peeled his face. “You could be queen of the Wombles if you ever decided to move back to Earth!” he laughed. Darius burst out laughing too.

  “Shut up!” she shouted, giving him a hard shove. Connor was still laughing as he ran forward a few feet. But the humour abandoned him when he reached the summit of the hill. Terry and Darius also fell silent.

  In the valley below, a peach and black mound smouldered, casting long, low plumes of grey smoke.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Darius asked.

  “Yeah.” Terry replied.

  “This is the second time this has happened.” Connor said quietly, his gaze fixed on the blackened mound of charred flesh. He couldn’t tear his gaze away despite the horrific sight.

  Terry soaked up the scene around the briary. The lush grasses had been muddied with commotion and blood. Bow and spears lay scattered among the few fallen that the opposition had failed to collect to add to the flames. She drew a deep breath, the smell of rotting flesh filling her nostrils. It told her all she needed to know. “This couldn’t have happened more than five or six hours ago.”

  Darius suddenly became uneasy, looking about in all directions.

  Seeing his panic, she said, “Whoever did this is long gone.” But she scanned the surrounding hillsides with her eagle-eyed vision once more time just to be certain.

  “Still, I think I’ll feel safer the further we are away from here.” Connor said anxiously.

  “We should go down there first and have a look.”

  She suddenly realised how ashen Connor had turned.

  He drew an uneasy breath. “I don’t think I want to go down there after the last one.”

  “Okay.” Terry said. She looked at Darius, who shook his head. “Alright, I’ll be back shortly. Keep an eye out.” And so she went on alone.

  A strong, putrid smell filled her nostrils as she approached the smouldering briary. As an Alchemist she was used to the smell of death because of all the creatures and people she had slain over the years to fill her stomach. Usually she ate her prey as soon as it was dead and quite often, while it was still alive and freshly caught. She felt the hunger stir in her, but it was muted. Her skin itched slightly, her body ready to shed the guise of human flesh for her true form. Why was this happening more frequently? Stopping, she closed her eyes. She drew a deep breath, the smoky air rushing into her lungs. Then she exhaled, opening them again. The sensations were gone. She turned her nose up at the stench. This time her stomach knotted in revulsion. Definitely all here now, she thought.

  She began looking around the battlefield. Broken spears and bows littered the muddy ground with the odd tribesman lying among the blood soaked grass blades. Whatever happened here, the fight had been one-sided.

  She crouched alongside one of the bodies. The tattered blue headband the man wore told her that this had been the Iok tribe, one of several that lived in the borders between Alchemist territory and the Southlands. Terry sighed and wiped her eyes, suddenly feeling tired. Who had done this to them? And why were they so many miles away from home? None of it made any sense. She had never heard of the tribes venturing so far south before. She stood up. Gingerly placing the tip of her shoe on the body, she rolled him over. Blank, glassy eyes stared at the sky. She crouched down, examining the wound on his stomach. She felt at the torn bloody flesh and felt. He was killed by a blade. An Alchemist blade. Terry stood and went to examine another one of the bodies that had not been added to the cairn, only to find the same thing. Her worst fears had been confirmed. It was exactly the same as the previous tribe they had found slaughtered in the desert.

  Returning to the hillside she was greeted only by questions
. “What did you find?” Connor asked, walking to meet her.

  She shook her head, looking back down the hill. “It was Alchemists.”

  Connor froze. “What? Who?”

  “I couldn’t tell, I couldn’t get a scent. All I could smell was burned flesh.”

  Her friend gave her an uneasy look. “It has got to be the same people.”

  “I don’t know.” She said, walking on the way she had originally intended. “But what I also don’t understand is how this tribe got so far from home.”