Firebrand

Chapter 422: The Next Step

The Next Step

It was a new fiveday, and Martel began like most mornings in the apothecary. As he entered, the resident apprentice turned and nodded at him in greeting. "Hullo, Martel. Mistress Rana was out last night, gathering herbs. I started, but if you could dry those?"

"Certainly." Martel took position at his worktable and looked through the plants. It was an eerie sight; they looked familiar, yet he did not feel certain he could recognise them. He picked one up; it resembled coltsfoot, but the colour was wrong.

"Oh, these have been infused with magic. Have you dried those kinds of herbs before?"

Martel looked at Nora, shaking his head. "Just ordinary ones."

"Right. Well, the process is the same, but it will feel different. You'll sense the essence of magic, I suppose you could call it. Be gentle when you pull the water out, or you might disturb the magic as well, making the herb useless. I don't have to warn you what Mistress Rana will think of that."

"Indeed you don't." Martel closed his hand around the plant, letting his magical sense fill it. He understood what Nora meant: the herb almost felt alive, as if it could grow and sprout on his palm. It tingled with power.

As gently as he could, Martel let his magic connect with the water present inside the green and yellow flower. He pulled on it, dragging it out to form drops on his skin. It took him a while, much longer than any ordinary herb, where he did not have to worry about his magic interfering with another force. Water being the opposite of his natural talent did not make it easy either, though he was accustomed to the process by now.

At length, he felt satisfied and tied up the plants in the rafters. A trained watermage could probably have emptied the herb of every bit of moisture, but Martel lacked the talent for that. Still, he had reduced what could have taken days to hours.

"Another thing, before I forget," Nora suddenly spoke up. "Mistress Rana is asleep right now, but she asked if you could return this afternoon and see her in the laboratory."

"Sure." Martel glanced at her. "Do you know why she wants to see me?"

"I don't think you need to worry," Nora laughed. "Her jaw wasn't clenched when she told me to tell you. Probably she just wants to discuss the next step in your training."

"Ah, I see." He grabbed another plant and began drying it out.

***

Next bell, Martel stood with the other acolytes in the Circle of Fire. When Moira arrived, the magical items in her hands revealed a continuation of the lessons from the previous fiveday. Three staves for the other students; one wand for Martel. As he took position away from the others to begin practising, he remembered what Master Alastair had told him. He could see how some of their training under Moira fit with what Martel had been told; a lot of their spellwork focused on honing their basic fire magic.

Whether it had increased their range, he could not tell, given that the circular walls of their chamber did not allow much distance; he wondered if they would at some point change location. He could also see how channelling magic through a ruby could increase their power, as desired by the legions.

But having Martel train with the sapphire did not seem aligned with the current military doctrine. Presumably, he would never use water magic in combat. He wondered why Moira had decided to let him practice this; he half expected she simply wanted to see him struggle with the element opposite his affinity. But she had been remarkably quiet during his previous attempts with the sapphire. Perhaps it was at the behest of Master Alastair, wanting him to improve his general abilities with the elements.

Regardless, Martel set to work. Water was not his friend. It came to him with resistance. Doing normal spellcasting, Martel had more or less overcome this obstacle; discipline and practice had bent the element to his will. Now, channelling through the gem, it felt like starting over. His magic moved at a slower pace through the silver to reach the jewel; instead of ice shaping around the tip of the wand, at best, he made a few drops appear. He even felt one of them as it trickled down the wood to reach his hand. Releasing the spell, nothing happened. No magical bolt of water flew out to hit the wall. Staying focused, Martel tried again.

***

At fifth bell, he made his way back to the apothecary, passing through it to the stairs in the back. He knocked on the door to the laboratory before entering. Inside, he saw Mistress Rana holding a mouse in a tight grip, a small vial in her other hand. "Come inside, boy," she muttered, her attention on the animal. Carefully, she dripped the contents of the flacon into the critter's mouth.

Hoping he had not been summoned to be the next creature testing her potion, Martel approached while staying silent.

The mouse squirmed, but could not avoid drops of the liquid entering its mouth; satisfied, the alchemist placed the creature back into a small cage. "Still alive. That's good."

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. There is much left to teach you about alchemy, but time is running out, which means we must prioritise. While there are still some useful recipes I would like to teach you personally, something else must take precedence."

"Yes?"

"A lot of herbs are blossoming at this time of year. Now, for simple potions, you can use ordinary plants that any old fool can harvest. You simply awaken their dormant magic as you need it. But more complex elixirs need reagents where the magic is fully realised already at the time of gathering. Other factors may influence their potency and uses as well."

"Such as the light of the moon," Martel considered.

"Very good. Yes. For this reason, we shall pause our work in the laboratory. You may resume working Manday mornings again instead of afternoons. Instead, we shall go gathering on Soldays. I spoke with Mistress Juliana, who said you have no classes on that day, only your chore in the workshops."

True, though Master Jerome had given him leave to practise enchantment during that bell. Still, Martel needed and wanted to learn herblore. It was obvious that this was the next and necessary step in his studies of alchemy. "I'll be ready, mistress."

"Good. Our first journey will be this Solday. Meet me in the entrance hall as soon as you can after first bell. We'll have to leave the city, so it'll take all day. We'll be back late at night."

"Understood."

The alchemist turned around to look at the cage. The mouse lay on its back. "Still too soon to try this recipe on a human, I guess."