Alchemist (The Four Corners of Santerria)

  “I know. But if you do this I won’t tell anyone that it was you who let the Phantom through, as well as helped fugitives.”

  Ladre gave a weak nod. He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

  Lyle suddenly let go, dropping the ranging youth. Ladre hit the floor with a heavy thud and a curse.

  Lyle dropped his large foreleg to the floor, his talons clicking as his toes spread out to carry his weight.

  “When can it be ready?” Terry asked.

  “Er...I don’t know. It could be several hours, it could be a day. I’m not sure. It’s not been on in a while so I need to recalibrate it. It’s going to take longer as I’m the only one left to operate it now.”

  Terry nodded, satisfied. “You have until this time tomorrow. We need to sort a few things out anyway.”

  He gave a meek nod, remaining where he had been dropped.

  The matter sorted Terry turned her back on him and walked away. Lyle craned his head closer to Ladre, fixing him with his large, cat-like eyes and for a moment the fire elemental thought he would be dinner.

  “Lyle!” called Terry. Snarling, he withdrew.

  ******

  “How long are we going to be gone for?” Connor asked, sitting down. They had just arrived back at Lyle’s mansion. Terry had disappeared into the kitchen with his wife Jo as a distraction while the two men talked.

  Lyle sat down in his favourite chair. He sighed. “I couldn’t tell you but I’m hoping to be no more than three or four days if my contacts are quick.”

  Connor sat back, his expression troubled. “I want to help...” he shook his head, levelling his gaze at Lyle. “But if I go with you I will need to make up something to tell Jo. Also if it is Edward, I’m worried that he might come after her.”

  Lyle frowned. “We do not know if it is him for sure yet and I don’t think Jo is under any threat. If it has been Edward’s henchmen that have crawled out of the woodwork recently, they’ve only been after Terry.”

  Connor rubbed his hands, more out of worry than coldness. “But Jo isn’t like Terry. She is human. If someone stabbed her she would not heal as quickly as Terry does.”

  “I know.” Lyle said softly, he did understand. “Can she not stay with someone while we’re away? If she’s not in the house Edward would not know where to look for her.”

  Connor’s gaze drifted to the floor, lost in troubled thought. “I guess...but I don’t know if I want to take that chance.”

  “Listen, I think you should do what you think is best. There’s no way I would ask you to come without knowing that Jo was safe but at the same time I would not be asking you to come unless we needed your help.”

  Connor sighed, leaning forward and wiping his eyes with his palms. He suddenly felt overcome with fatigue. “You’re not putting me in an easy position here.”

  “I know. I’m sorry that I’m doing this to you.”

  “I know.” He gazed off thoughtfully for a long time. “I will come.” He finally said. He met Lyle’s gaze. “But I’m not going unless I can convince Jo to go to her sisters for a few days.”

  Lyle nodded his gratitude evident. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t figure out what I’m going to tell her yet.” He stood. “When are we leaving?”

  “Tomorrow at six pm.”

  Connor did not look pleased. “You don’t give much notice.”

  “I know.” Lyle stood. “I’m sorry but the sooner we go the sooner we’ll be back.”

  The Pyrovite gave him a grim look. “You’re not the best at reassuring people Lyle. Maybe once this is all over you should think about going back to being a general.”

  Lyle did not laugh as the young man left. He knew he wasn’t joking.

  Chapter 10

  Homecoming

  Connor rolled across the dusty ground. Strong hands grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. “Are you alright?” Terry asked.

  “Yeah, thanks.” He said, brushing himself down. He took in his surroundings before looking back to where the silvery portal rippled and pulsed in the air. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  He had stepped through the other end but had tumbled when gravity took over on the other side. For some reason the exit point had re-materialised three foot in the air.

  “I wasn’t either.” Terry replied. Darius sat on a nearby boulder, rubbing his elbow. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I just hit my arm when I came through.” He said quietly, not daring to make eye contact.

  Faye came through next, falling onto her front. She gracefully picked herself up in one fluid motion, without word or comment. Lyle was next – but he landed in a crouch. The portal shut behind him and the tear in the universe was sealed once more. Standing up he looked about.

  Connor did the same. “Where are we? This is definitely not Kalo Lake.” He had never set foot at Kalo Lake but desert in every direction begged that they were not where they were meant to be.

  Terry shrugged, shouldering her backpack. “We must have landed a little off. I wouldn’t be surprised since the portal wasn’t even at floor level.” She shielded her eyes against the sun.

  “We’re nowhere near the lake.” Lyle said. It was then that Terry saw the fear etched upon his face.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  He looked at her, his eyes wide. Terry had never seen her uncle so afraid. “Don’t you recognise it? We’re only three miles from the colony.”

  “What?”

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Connor exclaimed.

  Darius stood, looking bemused. “Which colony? Your home?” He looked between Terry and Lyle. “Why is that a problem?”

  “Never mind. We’ll tell you later.” Terry hurried passed him. Connor, Faye and Lyle close behind.

  “Where are you going?” Darius called. Realising that they were not going to wait for him, he jogged to catch up with Terry. “What is going on?”

  “Nothing, but you’ll have to run.” That said, she was off at a loping sprint. Left unable to argue the young water elemental was forced to give chase.

  Four times during the course of the day they encountered patrols. The first three were humanoid Alchemists but the fourth consisted of four primeval Alchemists. They avoided detection by hiding in a narrow, water filled gully they had come across moments after sighting the patrol. They had hid in the water, to mask their scent and had left no footprints as their approach had been over rock from the west. Fortunately the primeval Alchemists were also down wind of them and had not caught their smell. But everyone knew when they made cold camp that night that it had only been by chance that they had not been caught.

  It was close to midnight by the time they stopped – Terry and Lyle having been desperate to put as much distance between the group and the colony. They had travelled about fourteen miles, deliberately moving over as much rocky terrain as possible to avoid leaving tracks, but it had seriously hindered their progress. There had also been times when they had no other choice but to cross sand. They knew that it would only be a matter of time someone found their tracks or picked up their scent. Every Alchemist had a unique one - especially a young queen. Once it was detected her father would know that they were out there in the desert somewhere. Their only hope of success was to out run their own people and return to Earth within a few days as planned.

  They made came at the top of a small, rocky hill, there west and south sides hidden by a jagged, rocky outcrop thrust outwards. The east and north were more exposed, but the top of the uneven hill dipped down into a slight depression – it would be hard for anyone to spot them if they were sitting or lying down.

  Darius and Connor were fast asleep when Terry returned from her perch at the top of the rock formation, searching through the darkness for any signs of movement. She sat down next to Lyle. “There’s no one out there.” She whispered.

  He handed her a slice of cooked steak from her backpack. “Thanks.”

  He ripped a
chunk out of his own slice. Chewing he said, “Enjoy it, it might be your last for a few days. We’re at least forty miles from where I thought we would be. There won’t be enough food to last the trip if we keep travelling at the pace that we have been going.”

  “I think we should have sent someone through to check first before all leaping through at the same time.” She said, having swallowed a mouthful.

  He nodded regretfully. “It’s too late now. I hope we did the right thing running from your father. He’s not going to be pleased when he finds out, not with either of us.”

  Terry sighed. “That crossed my mind too. But if we did go to the colony, we would have been stuck there for days.” She wiped her tired eyes. “I’ve not seen him in nine years; he can wait a couple of more weeks.”

  “We should have gone to the colony.”

  The two of them looked round to Faye, who had been sitting quietly by herself. Looking first to Lyle and then to Terry she said, “I think this was not a good idea. You say we would have lost days going there. We will now lose days from travelling so slowly to avoid your kind.”

  Terry shrugged. “There’s no point in hiding anymore. Someone will find our footprints or pick up our scent. It’ll only be a matter of time. We might as well move flat out tomorrow, so we won’t lose days.”

  “She’s right.” The old general agreed. “It is speed we need now, not stealth.”

  She regarded them with her still eyes for a long while, without word or comment. If she had remained still any longer Terry thought she would turn to stone.

  Finally she said, “You two and Connor should go on without us. He can fly so he can stay out of any Alchemist’s way and you two can outrun any of us. Darius and I would only slow you down.”

  Terry looked at her uncle. Even in the poor light she could see as clear as day and as ever his face was an unreadable mask. She looked back to Faye. “And where would you go? I don’t trust leaving you here with Darius.” She leant back on her hands. “There is also this business about wanting to flood Earth and you lying to us about the war.”

  Faye inclined her head. “The war turned out to be a lie, yes.” She said coolly, as if it was not a big deal. “But I only told you what I had heard. Most of my people, where Darius and I lived, believed it. It was common knowledge.”

  “Why would someone make up such a thing?” Lyle asked; his curiosity piqued.

  “I do not know.” Faye said, without emotion.

  It was impossible to tell if she perpetrated the lie herself or if she was just played the fool like everyone else, like she claimed. Terry could not tell. “Darius said he had not heard anything about this supposed war. I imagine if what you’re saying is true someone else must have mentioned it to him.”

  Faye sighed, rolling her icy blue eyes. “Darius lives under a rock. He is a fool. Most people do not like him, nor speak to him.”

  “If you say so.” Terry replied, making no attempt to conceal her doubt.

  Lyle stood. “And what would you do if we did leave you behind? I do not know this boy who travels with us but he has so far done and said nothing to make me believe that he means anyone any harm. I worry what you might do to him.”

  Faye’s eyes widened at the accusation but she kept herself in check. “I will go my own way. He will not be harmed.” She glanced at Terry. “You have my word.”

  Terry looked at her uncle, who reflected what she felt in his expression. Looking back to Faye she said, “Get some sleep, you’re both coming with us.”

  ******

  Terry found herself being shaken awake. She opened her eyes to see her uncle crouching beside her, the predawn light breaking behind his head. “What is it?”

  “It’s nearly dawn. We need to get moving.”

  “I thought you were going to wake me earlier so you could rest?”

  “Its fine, but I’ll need to rest this coming night.”

  Terry nodded. “Alright.” Rising, she quietly helped him wake the others. After a light breakfast they headed off into the wilderness, disguised under the last shadows of a vanishing night.

  By lunchtime they had encountered four more patrols. The first two they had avoided easily, but the other two had cost them more valuable time. The third patrol had consisted of two Monoglyphs – a cousin by evolution to the other Alchemist breeds. They stood at thirty foot in height, heavily armoured and robot like in appearance. The party had hidden under a rock shelf to avoid detection. But fate had a twisted sense of humour and the Monoglpyhs had decided to take their break at the foot of the hill where they lay hidden. And a long break it had been, it was two hours before they finally moved on. When it was finally safe to break cover Terry commented that she would be having words with her father when they officially returned home. Patrols had only used to be allowed a half hour break, as far as she recalled.

  The next evening the party stopped at the foot of a small rocky hill, making camp in a depression. They were more exposed tonight but the hour was growing late and exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on everyone.

  Connor and the others had fallen asleep quickly. Lyle had been the first to drop off.

  Terry perched on a high rock, granting her the gift of a view of every direction. She sat there for hours, as still as a gargoyle, watching as keenly as a hawk. Her only companions this night were the stars, as they slowly wheeled over her head. From time to time she would steal a few moments to gaze at them. Terry loved the stars. They made her fell small, even in her primeval form. It was those moments she realised how trivial all their lives were, how small her nation, her race and her regency all were. Her thoughts turned to home. She missed her home and she missed her father.

  A cold breeze blew over her, distracting her from her thoughts. Did she just hear something? She stood, listening carefully while her sharp vision scanned the horizon. There was only silence and darkness. Thinking she had imagined it she sat back down.

  Then it came again, a cry on the wind. It had been nothing more than a faint echo, lost over leagues and rocks, but it made Terry’s chest tighten. She leapt from the rock, landing in a crouch. She sprinted toward the camp as quickly as her feet would take her, arriving in mere seconds.

  “Get up!” she said loudly, not caring if she was heard. “Get up!” she shook Lyle.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked, sitting up.

  “He knows were here.” She said, shouldering her backpack and heading off.

  “Who? Your dad?” asked Darius, half asleep, half confused.

  It came again and Lyle was up. “We must go.” He said to Darius, dragging the youth to his feet by the arm.

  Darius wrenched it free. “Wait! Let me get my things.”

  Connor forced his bag into his hand. “Forget it! Move!”

  And they ran.

  ******

  The rocky landscape had given way to vast sandy plains.

  Not long after they started running Terry had transformed into her true form. She looked similar to Lyle in appearance accept she stood at nearly sixteen feet in length and had darker armour. She had run nearly all day, ferrying Darius and Connor on her back. Such was her haste that Darius had nearly fallen off twice. Connor had grabbed him the first time and chastised him for not holding on properly. The second time he did not act, merely shaking his head. He made no attempt to hide the fact that his patience was beginning to run thin. Darius couldn’t blame him given the circumstances. Instead of making a scene about nearly falling he simply corrected himself and stayed quiet. Lyle ran a short distance away in his primeval form, carrying Faye.

  The party did not encounter anymore patrols that day. By sunset the landscape had began to turn hilly, the sands giving away to brush and grass. In the distance they could see the mountains, although from this distance they appeared hazy, despite the clear sky. The first stars were beginning to dot the horizon in the east, signalling that night was well on its way.

  Terry and Lyle had slowed to a walk. A few farmers were st
ill tending the fields, despite the time. One stopped briefly, gazing at the strange group of travellers from the hillock he worked on. If he was surprised there was no evidence of it in his expression. He resumed his work. The other farmers did not even bother to waste a glance upon them.

  These were a poor people living on the edge of Alchemist territory. They did not care for the creatures passing through nearly on a daily basis as long as they did not bother their crops, and all farmers knew that Alchemists barely ate anything other than meat. So they paid them no heed.

  A short distance beyond the fields a town came into sight. Terry and Lyle both stopped. A yawn cracked Terry’s face, exposing twelve inch, razor-sharp teeth to the world. Crouching, she let her weary travellers dismount.