The Heart of Alchemy by James Wisher (i like reading books txt) 📗

Chapter 3

After a morning spent studying one of the handful of books he could find on the Celestial Empire, Otto set out for the warehouse to collect Corina. The streets of Gold Ward were quiet at this time of day and he saw only a pair of carriages, their passengers concealed by closed curtains, as he walked toward the gates.

Given his position, Otto really should have taken a carriage as well, but he found he enjoyed the fresh air, even when it held a bitter chill like today. Happily, it took little in the way of magic to keep him comfortable. The guards nodded to him as he passed into the business district. He’d made the walk often enough that they hardly even flinched at his appearance anymore. That was both a relief and a concern. As the old saying went, familiarity bred contempt.

He shook off the stupid notion for the waste of mental energy it was.

The business district, unlike Gold Ward, bustled with activity. What it gave up in wealth, it made up in energy. The streets practically vibrated with excitement. Vendors shouted at passersby in the hopes of getting a sale. Messengers ran past at full speed, ignoring everyone and everything in their quest to earn a good tip. Life, it seemed, had at last fully recovered from the effects of the war.

It never ceased to amaze Otto how resilient people were. Reports from the rest of the empire agreed that things were getting back to normal in the provinces as well. Even Straken seemed calm. Hopefully it wasn’t the calm before the storm.

He reached the warehouse without incident and pushed the door open. No stench assaulted him today, thank heaven. Ulf seemed to be between experiments at the moment. In fact, he found Ulf, along with Hans and his squad, seated around a table enjoying their lunch. Everyone started to stand when they saw him, but Otto waved them back.

“Where’s Corina?”

“Here, Master!” She came running out from behind one of the giant suits of armor.

“Ulf, have you seen Allen or Sin?” Otto asked.

“I believe Allen is at the tavern. Sin left an hour ago on some errand or other. Was there something I could help you with?”

“Yes, you can give them a message for me. I want them to look into a baron named St. Croy. Start with the servants, they’re always good for a little gossip. Tell them I’ll want a report in one week.”

Ulf nodded. “I’ll tell them as soon as I see them. Is this nobleman trouble?”

“Too soon to say. His niece has her eye on the emperor and I want to know more about them. If all they want is imperial favor, that’s harmless enough. If it’s something more, let’s just say I’d like that information.”

“We’ll do our best.”

“Good. Corina, time to go check on the ship.”

Hans and his squad finished wolfing down their stew and stood.

“We’re ready, my lord,” Hans said.

Otto had intended to leave them to rest this trip, but didn’t feel like arguing. The little group collected their heavy wool cloaks and they set out for the portal.

The trip through the portal took only an instant. When they emerged in Lux, a gust of wind nearly knocked Otto off his feet. The clouds were so black it felt like day had turned to night. No guards emerged to greet them and Otto couldn’t find fault with their decision. Only the poor devils on duty could be seen at their posts on the wall and at the gate. It took both men to push the gate open against the howling wind.

As soon as they were outside the walls, the storm grew even worse. After ten paces, Otto conjured a barrier around them. It took fifteen threads’ worth of ether to seal the storm out, but once he was done, they all stood up straight and walked with ease.

“I see why you didn’t want to sail until spring,” Corina said.

It was less that he didn’t want to than it was that the storms made it impossible.

Aside from some trash blowing down the street, the city looked empty. They made the trip to the docks in record time and soon found the Sea Star in her dry dock. No workers appeared and no sounds reached them over the wind.

“Guess they took the day off,” Hans said.

Otto muttered to himself. Given what he was paying the shipwrights, they could stand a little cold and wind. They were working inside the ship, after all.

“Lord Shenk!”

Otto turned to see Captain Wainwright waving at them from the entrance of a nearby shed. At least it looked like a shed; it was actually the size of a small house. The workers stored their tools in it and ate their meals out of the cold.

They hurried over and slipped inside before the captain closed the door behind them. “You picked a miserable day for an inspection,” Wainwright said.

“It wasn’t this bad in Garen. How goes the work?”

“Good. The crew’s making a quick job of it. When storm season ends, we’ll be ready to sail. In fact, I’ve been plotting our course using that map you gave me. Would you like to take a look?”

Otto very much wanted to take a look and they all gathered around a rough-sawn table where the centuries-old map was held down by a pair of planes, a drill, and a hammer. Otto winced until he remembered it was just a copy and the original was still safe and sound in the armory.

The line Wainwright had plotted followed a course far south around the tip of the Dead Lands then back north before ending in the middle of a sea labeled The Demon’s Pit. A rather ominous name that hopefully sounded worse than reality.

“Why does the course stop there?” Otto asked.

“That’s where we run out of food.” Wainwright scratched his scruffy gray beard. “We need to decide where we’ll try and gather more.”

Otto eyed the map and shook his head. So much about the