Chapter 13

The Alchemist

The small passage meandered around the place.

Up ahead I heard a man scream, "Intruder!" followed by the sound of breaking glass and the thump of something hitting the ground.

I came out of the hole and into a room fifty feet across, in the center was a large pot sitting on a tripod over a fire. On the other side was a man in white clothes and wearing a cone-like hat. There were several bookshelves full of books and there were glass beakers and tubes all over the place with various liquids traveling through them. The man was drinking potions. I moved my attention to within ten feet and saw Cynwyd trying to stand up in a puddle of liquid. Each time she tried she fell.

I decided to walk around the perimeter of the room and attack the man.

The Alchemist, if he was the Alchemist, finished his first potion and grabbed another.

Thoros came out of the room and observing the situation, followed me around the perimeter. Cynwyd scooted her way out of the puddle and stood up. At that moment Adamis came out of the hole, and seeing the situation, the Alchemist finishing his second potion, he took out his cross bow, an arrow already knocked, he lifted it, took aim, and fired. I followed the arrow across the room, and it hit the Alchemist's bottle, causing it to shatter all over. The arrow then hit the wall.

I then ran towards the Alchemist, ,my sword out of its hilt. Thoros followed. Seeing Cynwyd running towards him, I sprinted harder and when I reached him, I tried to grab the potion from his hand, but when I did, he opened his mouth.

It all happened so fast, the only thing I noticed was a point of light coming from his inside his mouth, his teeth began to glow, his skin gave off a searing heat, and fire sprouted from his mouth, engulfing me in flames. I then fell unconscious, feeling my body burn as I did.

Next thing I knew I was drinking a potion which Cynwyd gave me. I felt my wounds heal seemingly impossibly fast. I lifted my head to see Thoros throwing his net onto the Alchemist, Adamis swinging his long sword at the Alchemist's head, but the net pulled the Alchemist down. At that point the net appeared empty, but the middle of it was bulged as if an invisible man was inside.

I stood up to the surprise of the net being burned, and the man turning visible again. The Alchemist leaped upwards and Thoros bore down on him with his hammer, striking him in the head.

Instantly, the Alchemist fell to the floor, as if he were a puppet whose strings were cut. Adamis jumped on top of him, his hammer out, ready to strike him if he spat fire.

I ran over to him, the last of my burns closing up. I knelt down and checked the man's pulse. The pulse was weak and getting weaker. "Come on!" I yelled at Thoros. "You had to hit him that hard!"

"Who cares?" Thoros asked. "We got our guy."

I looked around for any potions to heal him. I saw one last, light blue potion marked, "Cure Light Wounds."

I made a grab before it before Cynwyd could get it. "Hey!" She yelled.

"We have to save him! He can't die!"

"Let us tie him up at least." Adamis said.

They tied him up, and I fed him the last potion. The wound from the hammer blow slowly closed up.

"Why does he have to be kept alive?" Thoros asked.

I stood up from the Alchemist and replied, "What if he has the cure for the substance afflicting the people of the Borderlands?"

"What makes you think he'll co-operate?" Cynwyd asked us.

Adamis sat by the Alchemist, his sword out and with the point at his throat.

"Nothing." I replied.

The Alchemist groaned. "What? Where am I?"

"A cave." Adamis replied.

"What? I don't remember…don't remember coming here."

"Why did you poison the Borderlands?" Thoros asked.

"I what?" The man asked softly; his head rocked back and forth in utter confusion, as he tried to get his bearings. "Oh no. The Insanity Potion. I always test my potions on me before handing them out to the public."

Adamis took out the paper with the Fire Riddle on it and asked, "Why did you write this?"

The Alchemist looked at it and replied, "I don't know. I don't remember much. It's all like a bad dream."

"Why did you move?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Was it because of the pools of various liquids?" I asked.

"I think so. Yes, yes it was." The Alchemist said.

"Which of these books are more valuable than the rest?" I asked, I looked at the hundred or so books on the shelf. A thought occurred to me, "How did you get all these books down here?"

"What do you mean which ones are more valuable than the rest? They're all valuable! Can't we have the orcs help us carry the books out?"

So, I collected the books while the the others questioned Findax. Then, when I was finished collecting as many books as I could Findax led us to an elevator.