Page 123 of Thorns & Fire
‘Do you think they got all this equipment from Drevenor?’Torj asked, stepping further into the workroom and noting a large furnace at the back with multiple layers for different heat intensities.The air shimmered around it, and the glow of the coals illuminated tongs, crucibles and moulds on the nearby workspace.
‘They couldn’t have taken all this without it going unnoticed,’ Wilder replied, examining an herb rack where several types of plants and mushrooms were hanging to dry.
Torj stopped in his tracks.‘Shit...’he muttered.
Wilder was at his side a second later.‘What?’
Torj pointed to the tiny, unassuming vial sitting in a wooden rack.Its contents drifted within the confines of the glass.
‘Fuck,’ Wilder hissed, staring at the black ribbons swirling within.‘I haven’t seen it in years...And I’d hoped I never would again.’
Torj grunted in agreement.‘You and me both, brother.But here it is.Shadow magic, in the flesh.’
‘We knew they were using it in some form...but it’s different, seeing it for yourself,’ Wilder said slowly.
‘Should we take it with us?’Torj considered the bottle.He didn’t want to touch the damn thing.He’d dealt with enough darkness to last a lifetime.‘We don’t know how volatile it is...’
Wilder seemed transfixed by the substance.‘It’s too dangerous to leave here.I’ll take it to Audra as soon as we’re back.’He wrapped the glass in a discarded rag and pocketed it, before turning to survey the rest of the laboratory.‘What are we looking for, exactly?Let’s get it and go.’
Torj rubbed the back of his neck.‘I’ve never seen it in a vessel,’ he admitted.‘Only what it looks like when it’s been used on weapons.But it’s got a strange shimmer to it, and it smells like oranges.’
Wilder stared at him for a moment.‘Smells like oranges?Got it.’
Torj continued his exploration of the workroom, rifling through piles of parchment for clues, noticing that one of the crucibles was still warm to the touch.‘They can’t have left here too long ago,’ he said to Wilder.
‘I’d come to the same conclusion,’ his friend replied, passing his hand over a stove.‘The furnace is still hot.’
Carefully, they navigated the landscape of ongoing experiments, careful not to trigger any reactions.Scouring the clutter, Torj wondered if working in chaos was an alchemist trait in general.He was picturing Wren hunched over her bench when he detected the faintest hint of citrus in the air.
Following his nose like a hound, he reached the back of the workroom, where a greying sheet covered something.He reached for the fabric—
‘Elderbrock?’Wilder called, a note of alarm in his voice.
Torj whirled around.‘What is it?’
Wilder was pointing to the ceiling, where vapour was billowing from the vents.‘Time to go, I think.’
Torj ripped the sheet away from what turned out to be a crate of vials.He recognized the substance instantly.‘This is it—’
‘We gotta go,’ Wilder called, not taking his eyes off the increasing clouds of vapour pouring from the vents.
Torj wrenched the lid from the crate and, shouldering his hammer, grabbed as many vials as he could, stuffing them in his pockets.
‘Torj!Now!’
Torj launched into action, sprinting towards the door with his friend.They wove through the various stations, not caring about disturbing the equipment this time, knocking over several cauldrons in the process.
‘Fuck,’ Wilder shouted.‘I can feel that stuff on my skin.I—’
A thunderous sound shook the whole room.
And Torj looked up in time to see the solid iron door to the antechamber crash closed.
CHAPTER 50
Wren
‘Between the storm and silence lies the breath that changes the world’
