Ethan Wright and the Alchemist's Order, (Book 2) (9 page)

Marcus gasped a faint breath as his face remained pale. He choked down a gulp of saliva that had formed in the back of his throat, yet his body remained as rooted as the sad lady had been before he disturbed her resting place.

She pulled and wiggled the sword up and down while trees could be heard cracking and splintering just behind her.

“Marcus, GET UP!” yelled Ethan, frantically motioning him to get out of the way.

“Move it, you idiot!” commanded Auren.

Marcus snapped to at the sound of Auren’s taunt. He thought about going for his sword which was resting at the feet of the sad lady. He decided to leave it, and instead turned and ran in the direction of Tirguard. His figure disappeared in the cold air of the night.

The statue heaved upward on her sword and the tree gave way. It cracked as large splinters of wood flew through the air. The tree came crashing down into a fog-filled hollow. The sad lady pulled the sword back again, as if getting ready for another go.

“WAIT!” yelled Ethan. “We’re sorry about …
him
— we didn’t mean to disturb you, or the cemetery,” he begged.

The lady paused and looked at the boys. “You—” said a deep smoky voice that chilled the air. “You are the Orobori — it is forbidden to interfere with the will of the Oroborus.”

“Do you recognize me?” asked Ethan, walking toward the statue.

“You’re Ethan Wright — you will be very powerful someday. When you die, you may rest in the protection of my graveyard … if it is your wish.”

“Ah … thanks,” answered Ethan awkwardly. “Stone lady … do you know my brother? Do you know Isaac Wright?”

“It is forbidden to interfere with the will of the Oroborus,” repeated the sad lady. She stepped back on top of her stone base, plunged the sword back into the ground and rested her arms back on the hilt.

“Do you know where he is — is he still alive?” asked Ethan aggressively.

“I will wait for you,” echoed the voice as her eyes shut. A tear fell from her eye just before stone formed back over her eyelids. She reverted to a statue that looked as if it had not been disturbed for a century.

Auren grabbed the blazing miracle torch, walked up to the statue, picked up Marcus’ sword and handed it to Ethan. “You got a sword now — guess Marcus was good for something after all,” muttered Auren.

Ethan stared up at the sad lady, hoping she would move again and tell him about Isaac, but she stayed motionless.

“Ethan, we should probably—”

“We should go,” interrupted Ethan, smiling. “We should find a place to camp soon.”

Auren nodded and the fat cat let out a
GRUNT
as she rolled in the dirt.

Chapter 7
A Run-in with Torture

The chill grew as the cool night lingered. To ease the cold, Ethan and Auren built a fire using one of Wegnel’s miracle torches. The fire popped and crackled as the glow reflected off the eyes of the Orobori. Ivy sniffed around and then ran into the woods. Ethan figured she was off to look for food or find some dirt to roll around in.

Ethan pulled the strange map from his pack, telling himself how lucky it was that Marcus Grenwise had not attempted to keep it. He remembered how Odin had found the map in the strewn mess on his father’s desk. The map had been intended for his brother Isaac, so Ethan recognized the importance that his father Thomas placed on the item. The Orobori had spent countless hours studying the map on countless evenings before his head hit the pillow. He knew it could be his only chance at seeing his brother again — that is, if Isaac was still alive.

“Figure anything out with that map yet?” asked Auren, chewing on a biscuit he had pulled from his pack.

“No, not really,” sighed Ethan. “Well, maybe there is this one thing though,” added Ethan as he examined it more closely. “I could have sworn there was a
‘W’
… or maybe it was an
‘M’
in the middle of this Oroborus symbol.”

“What, is it gone now?” asked Auren, leaning in to get a view of the map. “Looks like a zero, or an
‘O’
,” commented Auren. “So, you didn’t notice that before?”

“I don’t know,” said Ethan. “This might sound crazy, but … I think it’s changed.” Ethan leaned in, looked more closely at the map and then held it farther away from his face. He tried to capture the light from the fire to illuminate the map, in order to get a better glimpse of the details of the mysterious character in the center of the Oroborus symbol.

“Changed? Maps don’t
change
,” teased Auren. He waited for Ethan to laugh, but no laugh came. “You … really think so?”

“I’ve stared at this thing for hours at a time, Auren. I’m almost certain this symbol was different before,” replied Ethan insistently. “But … if it
has
changed — why?”

“Well … maybe this map has some type of alchemical properties associated with it. Was Isaac an alchemist? If so, maybe your father knew he’d be able to see what is so special about this thing,” said Auren earnestly.

Ethan thought for a moment and then chuckled at Auren’s comment. “How many alchemists do you think are out there, anyways?”

Suddenly, the chubby feline came waddling out of the nearby brush and hissed. Her ears were perked up, as was the fur on her back. She hissed again at Ethan and Auren as they focused on the map.

A
whoosh
was heard. Ethan was forcibly yanked toward the fire, causing him to drop the map on the ground. Auren quickly picked up the map, wondering why Ethan would be so careless with such an important item. Ethan quickly recoiled his hand and gave a feeble groan.

“AAAHHHHggg!” whimpered Ethan in agony, slumping over while holding his hand.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Auren quickly leaned over and pulled Ethan upright. An arrow was protruding from Ethan’s hand. The fletching was made of metal, which prevented the arrow from exiting the wound. Blood started to drool from the gruesome opening. “Oh … oh no.” Auren panicked.

Ethan’s face grew pale as he looked at the wound. He looked just like Auren when he had travel sickness in Wegnel’s petunias. Just then a small
click
came from the arrow’s shaft. Ethan examined the arrow and was instantly overcome with alarm.

“Pull it out, now!” yelled Ethan. But it was too late. Barbs extended from the razor-sharp arrowhead and started threading their way toward the fletching. “No!” screamed Ethan. “It’s
moving!
” He reeled in pain as the torture device twisted its way closer to his hand.

Auren covered Ethan’s mouth in caution. “Torture device,” whispered Auren. “It must be an Aegis. But … Edison said they like to watch their work — we need to move!”

Auren jammed the map in his pack, grabbed their weapons and pulled Ethan over his shoulder. Meanwhile, the barbs on the arrow continued to twist toward their goal of ripping an even larger hole in Ethan’s hand. The circular alchemy symbol might as well have been a target painted for the archer. Auren ran into the woods and in moments found a large tree that had fallen, its roots in the air. He put Ethan down just on the other side, hoping he was out of sight from their unknown attacker. The chubby cat ambled stealthily behind a mound of dirt. With her ears back and her tail down, she became as streamlined as possible and peeked over the mound, looking for the assailant.

“Get this thing out of me!” breathed Ethan, now feeling woozy from the pain. “Hurry … please!”

Auren lit a miracle torch on its lowest setting, shining light on the wound. He tried bending the shaft in an attempt to snap the arrow in half. He discovered that it had a strong metal core and would be impossible to break, even with his great strength. “You’re good with this …
stuff
, Ethan, what do I do?”

“Dunno,” mumbled Ethan. “There’s small gears inside … cut it off me … or … I don’t know… dent the shaft or somethin’.” The barbs were now closing in on Ethan’s hand; soon they would crush through flesh and bone.

“Ah … I don’t know….” Auren thought for a moment, and suddenly got up and ran.

“Auren! Wait,” shouted Ethan in a panic, “don’t leave me!”

To Ethan’s relief Auren soon returned with a large rock and set it on the ground next to Ethan’s arm. He took the wounded hand, pulling the arrow through as far as he could until it stopped at the fletching. He held the longer end of the shaft down on the rock and drew his sword.

Ethan winced in pain but quickly accepted Auren’s simple plan. Auren raised the sword high above his head and struck it into the shaft of the arrow. To Ethan’s relief, Auren’s aim was true. The impact created a large dent in the arrow shaft. Ethan’s assumption about the metal workings inside was correct. The shaft clicked and crunched but continued to twist the barbs together, all while making a horrible grinding noise.

Ethan looked at him with approval. “Do it again, hurry!”

Auren pulled off the weights that were attached to his sheath and quickly inserted them into his sword. The blade grew heavy, even for Auren. He looked at Ethan and nodded — Ethan nodded back, as if to say he was prepared for whatever would happen next. Auren raised the sword high over his head, swinging fiercely. A much larger dent resulted, as the arrow shaft continued to weaken. Despite the small gears grinding and scraping the core of the shaft, the barbs continued to close in. With little room to spare on another successful swing, Auren did not hesitate. He used all his might and struck the shaft a third time, breaking off the arrow’s head, leaving the broken shaft just short of Ethan’s flesh.

As small gears and parts tumbled from the broken shaft, Ethan quickly grabbed the fletching and started to pull. The pain was dreadful as he tried to work it through his bloody hand. He wanted to scream. Auren quickly dropped his sword to the ground, took hold of the torture device and gave Ethan a look that the Orobori would never forget. Ethan knew what Auren was going to do and nodded to his friend to perform the task of extracting the arrow. Auren took a firm grip as close to Ethan’s hand as he could and pulled. Ethan let out an exhausted gasp of anguish as the jagged end of the broken core ripped through the center of his alchemy symbol.

“You alright then?” asked Auren as he ripped off part of his undershirt to tie off Ethan’s wound.

Ethan, in fact, did not look good at all. His face was pale and sweat was dripping from his brow. He felt weak, but gave Auren a small grin as he mustered the strength to raise his head. “I think so — thanks, Auren — not sure what I would’ve done without you here.”

Auren finished tying off the wound and Ethan made a feeble attempt at squeezing the injured hand — blood oozed out of the makeshift bandage Auren had just contrived. “Not so sure I can use my hand though,” he gasped.

“Don’t move it, Ethan — gotta stop the bleeding, just hold it still,” ordered Auren, finding his sword with one hand and extinguishing the miracle torch as fast as he could with the other.

The two sat quietly in the dark, hoping their attacker had left. After an hour had passed and no sound came from the woods, Auren thought it was safe to talk.

“How are you doing?” asked Auren quietly.

“Probly a fair bit better than Odin,” mumbled Ethan.

“I don’t know about that — sure he’s fine … ‘cept for the insane part of it, that is,” chuckled Auren. “I can’t imagine it’s
that
difficult, though.”

Ethan rolled his head to face Auren. “Difficult isn’t the word for it,” uttered the Orobori. He huffed and rolled his head back to the center of his pack, looking for a comfortable position. “He’s basically splitting himself in two. Half here, in Alfhemir — the other, back home in Enterom. Being in two different places is the easy part — being in two different times at once … now that must be incredibly difficult.”

“He’s not in two times!” whispered Auren. He thought for a moment, as it looked as if Ethan were too tired to argue. He stared up at the sky, and then it suddenly hit him. “We’re on a different world, Ethan,” murmured Auren in awe.

Ethan smiled. “I know.”

“And there’s a completely different race of people here,” he added.

“I know.”

“And time moves by so fast here … if I stay too long, I could be older than my own father!”

Ethan chuckled. “You think you would still get in trouble for staying out too late?”

“Yeah … Mum would never allow it,” Auren smirked. He rolled his head over and looked to Ethan. “You’re right, you know.”

“About what?”

“About Odin. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like to be here and back home at the same time. You think when we get him a replacement he’ll remember everything that happened … you know, on both sides?”

Ethan thought for a moment. “Dunno — he’s not trained to do this sort of thing, and … he’s not an alchemist. No tellin’ what’s going to happen when he merges back with his other self. The sooner we get the replacement, the less memories he’ll have to deal with.”

“Don’t worry — we’ll get him a replacement in time — before any permanent damage is done,” said Auren reassuringly.

Ethan yawned as Auren grabbed the miracle torch. He lit it at the lowest setting and checked the dressing on Ethan’s wound. The bleeding seemed under control so he extinguished the torch. “You get some rest then, I will stay up and keep guard,” whispered Auren. Ethan replied with a warm thanks to his oldest friend, let his eyes drift shut and fell asleep.

Chapter 8
Well, I Declare

“Don’t worry, you’re safe here,” said the woman with a snort, showing Ethan the alchemy symbol on her palm.

Ethan’s eyes were blurry. He tried to prop himself up, but winced at the pain of his freshly bandaged hand. He gave up his efforts and lay back down with a groan. The plump woman was buzzing industriously around the room, gathering different types of goop and mixing them inside a small vat. She giggled as she adjusted her spectacles.

“I simply love alchemy — you know my mother started teaching me when I was a young girl — couldn’t wait to take Wegnel’s place someday — bind with an Oroborus and ask the
mysterious
question. They’ll answer anything, you know. Still haven’t decided exactly what to ask — maybe the meaning of life … hmm … or even the best brownie recipe — just not too sure. And now I’m healing none other than the Orobori — Mum would be proud.”