Ethan Wright and the Alchemist's Order, (Book 2) (8 page)

Ethan grabbed the bow and some arrows from the table. Auren shoved some food in their packs as Ethan patted his pockets and chest as if he was missing something. Edison tossed Ethan his alchemy jacket.

“You’ll be needin’ this for sure,” added Edison, smiling.

Ethan caught the jacket and slid his arms through the sleeves. He instantly felt more secure having the jacket on, even with the damaged sleeve.

“What do we do about that jerk standing outside?” grumbled Auren.

“Who?”

“Eh, Mr … er, Marcus Grendlehorn?” stuttered Keavy. “Th’ Castellan ordered heem tae accompany th’ wee jimmies sae they don’t gie in onie mair trouble.”

“Oh … my — Marcus Grenwise is outside? Well, take him with you then. Cooperation with other squads is good practice,” said Edison cheerily.

Auren mumbled under his breath, displeased at the notion of anything that required teamwork with Marcus Grenwise. He huffed and snorted as he threw his pack over his shoulder.

“And what are you guys going to do?” asked Ethan.

“We need things to appear as normal as they can. Keavy will take Stanley and Availia to the Summer Sword while I get the Dead Hand bracelet back to the academy to protect it, hide it … whatever can be done. Xivon has many spies. He will, no doubt, be aware of the bracelet’s sudden appearance.”

“Why does Xivon want it so bad anyways?” asked Auren.

“Well, boys … this is what I didn’t tell the Castellan. The Mortuus Manus is special in a few ways. First, it forces you to tell the truth by threat of death — while this is useful, that is not the reason Xivon seeks such a device. The wearer cannot die, unless he lies.”

Auren stood at attention upon hearing these words. “Wait … what?” he asked in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

“Anyone who is wearing the bracelet can get wounded to the point of death and they will simply … continue on,” said Edison gravely.

“Like Stanley?”

“Well, sort of. But Stanley seems to have very little sensitivity to pain. The wearer of the bracelet can feel pain beyond the point of death. But if Xivon gets the bracelet, who knows what he could do with it,” replied Edison.

“So, he couldn’t die … unless he tells a lie,” concluded Ethan.

“Long as he kept eis gob shut, e’d be invincible,” stated Keavy while helping Ethan with his pack.

Ethan remembered how powerful Xivon was the last time he had faced him, and worse, finding out later it was only a trap and not the real thing. The thought of Xivon being unable to die horrified Ethan. “He
cannot
be allowed to get that bracelet,” murmured Ethan to himself.

“So you can understand why I didn’t tell the Castellan that bit of information; he would have wanted it for himself.” Edison noticed Ethan’s mind had started to wander as the Orobori stared off into the distance. “Ethan!” snapped Edison. Ethan jumped out of his trance and looked up at Edison. “Just focus on getting the new alchemist here as quickly as you can. Her name is Abbey Valisa, okay?”

“Abbey Valisa — got it,” replied Ethan agreeably.

“Remember, boys — a sword isn’t everything. Your sharpest weapon is your mind. We will see you two when you get back.” Edison nodded, as did Ethan and Auren.

***

“I can’t believe you two left me standing outside of that revolting …
thing
, you call an academy! It’s awful out there — dirty!” spat Marcus. “You shouldn’t be
leaving
me anywhere! How often do you get to work under a youth captain? It must be a huge honor for the two of you to have
actual
leadership around — I think I should have the two of you clean my boots before we leave,” he sneered.

Auren was furious and looked as if he were about to punch Marcus in the face. Ethan quickly interceded and pulled Auren aside.

“If you beat up Marcus, this trip will be over before it begins!” whispered Ethan.

Auren nodded hesitantly.

“I need to look at the map — would it hurt you to distract him? I mean, you know … without beating him up?”

Auren shrugged his shoulders. “What, like … be nice to him?”

“Well, yeah … can you?” asked Ethan, smiling.

Auren thought for a very brief moment. “Ah … nope.”

“C’mon, Auren — we need to do this for Odin,” begged Ethan.

“I can’t even stand to look at that jerk without feeling like I want to lose my lunch or punch him in the face … or both at the same time. How do you expect me to be nice to him?” complained Auren in a loud whisper.

“Just do it long enough for me to look at the map, okay?” muttered Ethan while pulling his pack off his shoulders.

Auren huffed and quickly caught up to Marcus. “Hey … so, what’s it like to be a captain anyway, eh? It’s got to have some pretty nice perks or somethin’,” asked Auren awkwardly. He looked back at Ethan, only to be signaled to keep talking to the youth captain. “You ever come out here at night before?”

Marcus sneered. “Why? You scared of the dark?”

Auren clenched his fists and took a deep breath. “Of course not … just wondered how often you …
people
… leave the city at night. There’s got to be loads of dangerous creatures out there.”

Ethan, seeing that Marcus was distracted, began to browse the map for the location of King’s Point. He was having a difficult time seeing the map in the dark, so he pulled out a miracle torch and tapped it on the side of his pack. Brilliant light erupted out of the alchemist torch and Ethan shone it on the map.

“Hey!” yelled Marcus.

Ethan looked up to see Marcus right in his face. He quickly attempted to stow the map in his pack, but it was snatched up by the youth captain.

“What’s this? A map?” he sneered. “Not a very good one, either,” he jested, shoving the map back at Ethan’s chest. “You won’t need a map. I know the way to King’s Point — been there a few times. Like I said, it’ll be an honor for you two … being around me. Not that I want to show you anything, but maybe you’ll learn something for a change, just from being around greatness.”

Auren snorted at Marcus’ remark while Ethan sighed in relief at getting the map back in his possession. He shoved it back in his pack and followed the youth Guard captain out of the postern gate at the north wall of the great stone city.

Ethan clasped the top fastener on his alchemy jacket. They clicked from top to bottom, pulling his jacket shut. The fabric hardened slightly as an eerie feeling crept down Ethan’s spine. It was strange, leaving the walls of Tirguard at night. It made Ethan feel troubled — like danger lie ahead. He felt even more bothered having Marcus leading them to King’s Point.

“Now then, if any trouble comes, I don’t want you two messin’ things up. You do as I say and we’ll come out on top every time,” bragged Marcus, sticking his chest out and striking a statuesque pose.

“I’m not telling you again, Marcus, you’re not in charge — you’re only with because the Castellan said you need to tag along,” muttered Auren.

“But I know where I’m going, and you’re following me — which makes me the leader,” boasted Marcus with his nose in the air.

They continued walking, but did not get very far before a new argument ensued between Marcus and Auren. It seemed avoiding conversation altogether was the only way to side-step any potential fights.

Just ahead, on the right side of the trail, Ethan saw a dilapidated structure emerging from a roil of fog. The smell of moist grass and earth filled Ethan’s nose as he walked toward the scene that lay before him. He felt drawn toward the mystery that nestled in the chilly night’s fog.

Auren and Marcus continued their argument, which was currently on the best dessert in the market district. Ethan interrupted Auren’s point on how pumpkin spice cake tasted good on the way in and the way out. “That’s enough! I see something over there — we need to check it out,” he said as he pointed at the large iron gate that now showed through the fog.

Marcus immediately cut in front of Ethan to ensure himself a prime view. “That’s the old cemetery — you can just see it from the top of the walls when we patrol the city. You would know that if you alchemists actually performed any
real
duties in Tirguard,” belittled Marcus.

Ethan walked around Marcus and toward the cemetery to get a better look. He saw it was much smaller than he had initially observed. Stone spires surrounded a small iron-rod gate which was covered in vines. Ethan pulled at the vines, uncovering carvings on the weathered stone. “Looks like it says something —
‘The Saints of Tirguard’
,” he read aloud. “What do you suppose it means?” He glanced at Auren, who was trying to stick his head through the bars of the gate.

“I’m not sure, but it looks like there aren’t very many of them — you know,
the
deceased
… ‘bout four of ‘em. Room for a couple more in there I’d imagine,” replied Auren, counting the headstones. Auren noticed Ethan seemed mesmerized by the carvings.

“Who cares?! It’s just a stupid cemetery with stupid dead people in it,” whined Marcus. “Let’s just get this over with!” Suddenly a loud
SNORT
echoed nearby. The hairs on the back of Marcus’ neck stood on end. “What was that?!” he exclaimed in a whisper.

“What, Marcus — you scared?” ribbed Auren.

Marcus shrugged off the comment after he had surveyed the area and spotted no immediate danger. “Stupid oaf,” he mumbled under his breath.

Fog rolled through the cemetery and traveled past the headstones in the graveyard. Ethan removed his hand from the cold stone of the spire as a dreadful chill rolled down his back. He had never liked cemeteries much, so he was agreeable to Marcus’ suggestion to leave.

The three continued on until they noticed a statue of a woman on the other side of the cemetery. The woman looked as if she was frozen in time, with tears streaming down her face in permanent stone. She had both arms resting on a giant sword that was embedded deep in the ground in front of her. The sword was longer than Ethan was tall. She sat high upon a large rock that could have been lodged in the ground since the beginning of time. Vines and other plants had grown around the rock, up the sword and even covered parts of the sad lady.

“That’s an incredible statue,” said Auren, looking up at the woman. “That sword is huge — wonder if it’s real — looks real. It’s as wide as my head! Not really realistic for such a small lady to carry such a large sword though. How would you lift it?”

“She’s beautiful,” mumbled Ethan to himself as he stood in admiration.

Marcus drew his sword and walked up to the statue. He took a good grip on his sword and started his backswing.

“What are you doing?!” yelled Ethan. “Wait!”

Suddenly a loud
SNORT
followed by a nasal
HISS
came from a black and white blur that shot out from the bushes nearby. Only Ivy stood between the Grenwise boy and the statue.

“Ivy?” exclaimed Ethan.

Marcus kicked the chubby feline out of his way and began to swing as the alchemy cat tumbled to the side. “You two are holding us up for some dumb statue? Want to know if this sword is real? Let’s find out so we can get moving!” replied Marcus, swinging full bore into the giant sword of the stone lady. His sword cut through the rolling fog and collided with the sad lady’s sword with a loud
CLANK
. The large blade did not chip or give way, and to Ethan’s surprise Marcus’ sword held firm as well.

“There! It’s real … now let’s go already. I wanna get back in time to watch the Summer Swor—”

Just then the statue started to crack. Flakes of stone popped and crunched, while bits of debris crumbled. Ethan and Auren stared at the face of the sad lady. The stone covering her eyelids cracked slightly and then, to their surprise, opened. Ethan and Auren backed away slowly while Marcus, with his back turned to the statue, wondered why they suddenly had shocked expressions. He turned slowly after hearing the sound of grinding stone from the now-moving statue. The sad lady stood tall on the ancient rock and gripped the handle of the giant double-edged sword. More crumbles of stone fell from her skin and flaked off the sword as she pulled it from the ground. The sword bore the length of a small tree and employed death-bringing steel. She used all her body weight and drew the sword back, letting the tip rest on the ground.

“Wait!” begged Ethan, staring at the sad lady. Ivy quickly took her place by Ethan’s side as the Orobori put his hands up in an attempt to let the statue know they had meant no harm.

The moon shone light on the sad lady’s cracked stone lips as she opened her mouth. An emphatic breath was taken in — followed by the loudest noise Ethan had ever heard. A thunderous
SCREECH
ripped past the boys, dropping all three to their knees. They quickly covered their ears and the deep penetrating sound turned to a ringing inside their heads. Marcus dropped his sword as tears rolled down his face. The scream sent a giant shockwave tearing past the boys, knocking them flat to the ground. Ethan was trying to decide if it was better to hold the ground, keeping himself from sliding uncontrollably, or continue to cover his ears. Ivy simply tucked her head under part of the Orobori’s alchemy jacket. Auren grabbed the ground with his hands and wedged his ears between his arms, but continued to slide backwards. A lit miracle torch rolled past Auren’s head, singeing the ground as it passed. Suddenly the shrill scream ended. Marcus, afraid to uncover his ringing ears, slowly got back to his knees. He was trembling in fear as he stared up at the sad lady.

She reaffirmed her grip on the large sword and launched a massive swing. The sword was so long and heavy that it took down several small trees as it traveled toward its destination, which was Marcus Grenwise. Ethan instinctively went for his sword, but remembered that the large-nosed Captain still had possession of the blade. Instead, Auren drew his sword, trying to intercept the enormous swing of death that was coming toward the undefended captain of the youth Guard. But Auren was not going to make it in time. The monstrous blade came around, slicing through tree after tree. Luckily, it came to a tree that it could not cut through. Perilously close to Marcus’ head, the sword stuck.