Chapter One
Alchemy is civil, disciplined. It has rules. When you blend two components, you consistently achieve the same result. Magic is wild. Unpredictable. Blend two types of magic, and you never know what will happen. Even the same type of magic is different with every use. I preferred predictability. I lived by it. Alchemy was everything to me.
To my utter disgust, my life had just become magical.
“What am I doing?” I muttered to the tapestry cushions on the bench across from me.
I was in a carriage that I had insisted upon the purchase of. Unfortunately, I had to pay for it myself since my escort didn't have the coins for it. A traveling case of my most precious possessions sat on the seat beside me. Behind my carriage, a wagon full of my other belongings, including rare ingredients from Tabaa and laboratory equipment given to me by the Dragon King of Tabaa, followed us. Outside the carriage, large, pale-skinned humans rode on horseback—my escort. In any other kingdom, humans as guards would have been insulting to their charge. But the humans of Sconheit were another class entirely, grown big, strong, and brutal. I knew they could handle most anything that threatened me. Not Dragons, of course, but I doubted Dragons would try to stop me from answering a Dragon King's summons.
I had just left a Dragon King, but he wasn'tmyking. My home was in Sconheit, not Tabaa. Months ago, I had journeyed to Tabaa in search of some rare components for my alchemical experiments. Instead of herbs and resins, I found Okon warriors altered by terrible magic. They captured me for fascinating reasons that would have resulted in my demise or worse. However, before I could become one of their experiments—oh, the irony—the Dragon King of Tabaa and his stunning Lelurra mate rescued me.
I wasn't the only captive rescued, and so I did not feel beholden to the King. That being said, when Eliel, the King's Mate, asked me to help the altered Okon warriors get rid of the dark magic that bound them, I felt compelled to help. Mainly because the prospect interested me. Of course, I did not let this keep me from bargaining for payment. Those Okon men had captured me, after all. Asking me to help them was rude. Besides, an alchemist must find ways to pay for his experiments.
The case of the marrow magic thread intrigued me. The Okon chief, Nahel, had used another man's research to create silk thread from the bone marrow of immortals. His mentor discovered that bone marrow contains an immortal's magic. When white emperor moth larvae feed upon magical marrow, the threads of their subsequent cocoons are imbued with that magic. Thus, magic silk.
Nahel had taken silk made from threads infused with Eljaffna and also Ricarri magic—a silk blend, if you will—and embedded the threads into his warriors' skin. The thread strengthened them with Ricarri Metal Magic, but it also bound them with Eljaffna Controlling Magic—something I hadn’t known the Eljaffna possessed. The sneaky race had kept it to themselves, and with good reason. If it got out that Eljaffnacould control people by consuming their blood, no one would offer themselves as sustenance, despite the euphoria that was said to arise from an Eljaffna's bite. Without the blood, the Eljaffna would starve. I wasn't a cruel man, so I'd kept their secret.
Back to the Okon. The Dragon King lent me Nahel's notebooks and those of his mentor to help me create a cure for the infected Okon. The books were very illuminating. Unfortunately, the Dragon King of Tabaa refused to give them to me to keep. He was afraid that the knowledge would fall into the wrong hands. So, after I used them to help the Okons, he burned them. What a waste. Knowledge, even dangerous knowledge, should never be destroyed.
Although more powerful thanks to the thread, the Okon had been in constant pain. As I mentioned earlier, magic is unpredictable. The Ricarri Metal Magic didn't give them power over metal. Instead, it gave them increased strength while turning them into cold creatures with glowing blue veins. And to think those were Nahel's successes. He had failed many times before on non-Okon test subjects. I'm still unsure if I was abducted to be a test subject or a bone marrow donor. Neither would have boded well for me. But the King of Tabaa saved me, and then contracted to break Nahel's work. What a pleasure that was. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. I had great fun unwinding the threads of that moron's mess.
It took me a week, but I found the perfect combination of components to counteract the Metal and Control Magic. I devised a series of alchemical soaks that drew out the silk and the foreign magic from the Okons. King Raventar was so pleased that he invited me to be his guest at the Royal Palace of Tabaa. I, of course, accepted and had a glorious time exploring the crowncity of Ahanu while collecting all the rare ingredients I could find.
Then word of my prowess spread.
A messenger arrived from King Falken of Sconheit—my king. He requested my aid with a vague description of enchantments failing in the kingdom. There was no mention of compensation. That being said, the messenger—a warrior named Matthias—assured me that King Falken would meet my demands. Well, if he didn't, I would take my carriage and my wagon—a gift from the King of Tabaa—and go back to Tabaa to live in the royal palace. Or maybe I'd just go home. I had a house in the Algrine Mountains of Sconheit that was probably in need of some upkeep. Then I could return to my clan and my experiments in peace.
My decision would be made shortly. We had arrived in the crown city of Eberein. Here, the wealth of the kingdom was made manifest by many scientific and magical advancements that Tabaa snubbed. Tabaa was a traditional kingdom, valuing the old ways more than the modern practice of tinkering with magic and science that many other kingdoms adopted. It made Sconheit seem like another world—a world I was more comfortable in. I had even contributed to the advancement of Sconheit myself. But sometimes being the only forward-thinker in a kingdom of traditionalists could be a good thing. Entertaining, at the very least. In Tabaa, I was a genius. Here in Sconheit, I was one of many.
Which begs the question: Why did King Falken send for me? He probably had a handful of alchemists in his palace at his beck and call. Some of them could even be Volpers. Sconheit was one of the few kingdoms my people called home. Of course, I was a Master Alchemist, and that was a rare achievement, even inSconheit. Perhaps the King's problem required more talent than was available to him.
The magnificent, magical architecture of Eberein soared on either side of my party. It was summer, so the buildings had shifted into more airy versions, with open windows, high ceilings, and balconies full of plants. Magic bloomed along with the flowers, powering everything from basic wards to complicated machines. It turned the city into a living thing, pulsing with energy. I'd forgotten how wonderful that was. As we approached the palace, the buildings shifted into greenery, a ring of parkland serving as a buffer between the Royal Palace and the city. We rode down the main road through the park, directly to the palace gate. The palace rose behind a high outer wall, its white stone towers shimmering with a protective ward. I suppose the outer wall made it a castle, but they called it a palace, and who was I to contradict the Dragon King?
Marching back and forth along the palace's wall walks were uniformed horns—soldiers in the King's army. I had been to several Dragon kingdoms, and all of them had a Horn Army, a Talon Force to keep order among the citizens, and a Hall of Teeth to rule on criminal matters. Some even had a Hall of Scales that helped citizens in need. No matter how advanced or traditional the Dragon Kings were, they adhered to those standards. They were what kept Serai at peace and the Dragons in charge.
The park's trees stopped thirty feet from the castle wall, leaving a ring of bare land to make defense easier. We passed through that land, stopped at the gate, and Matthias spoke to a gate guard. I paid them no mind. My focus was on the palace, which I'd never seen from such proximity before. Tabaa's palace was formidable, but this was an architectural masterpieceenhanced with magic and science. A wide keep formed a foundation for six towers. They surged into the sky to stab the clouds with iron spears, holding pennants of blue and gold—the kingdom's colors. Under the eaves, sculptures sprang out of the walls, mostly boars—the kingdom's animal. Ugly creatures, but they did their job well, making a fearsome showing that turned the sweeps of curling metal and carved stone into something menacing instead of boringly beautiful.
As the sun set, the roof tiles dimmed from white to silver, shutting down for the night. The energy they absorbed from the sun had already been sent to the palace's solar storage to be used by machines such as lifters, ovens, and heaters. Even as I watched, some of that energy was used to light the palace, glows appearing in windows and lights coming on all over the courtyard and throughout the gardens.
The grandeur implied wealth and importance, while those brutal boars shouted a warning that all should be wary of the man who held this wealth and status by claws and teeth. I rolled my eyes at the lot, impressed by the architects more than the king. I had never met the man, but I'd heard he was a reasonable sort. Hopefully, we'd get along. Honestly, his personality didn't matter as long as he offered me a price worthy of my skill.
We made it past the gate, rolling up to the base of the palace stairs to come to a stop. Matthias opened my door, and I climbed out without hesitation, my furred tail twitching behind me. Before me, a stretch of steps led to two ridiculously tall doors. Who in all of Serai needed that kind of clearance? No one, that's who. What a waste of wood and space. I straightened my coat, pulled down my shirt cuffs to peep just beyond my sleeves, and stared at the central boar's head that hung above the doors.It was large. And fanged. So aggressive. With a deep sigh, I went up the steps.
Before I reached the doors, they burst open, uniformed men scrambling to hold them wide as they pressed themselves back, out of the way. A massive Dragon man barreled past them, blond hair swept back in a sleek, modern style—short and no-nonsense. He wore a tunic of blue silk embroidered with gold boars, but over that, gold and blue pauldrons rested on his shoulders, and matching gauntlets covered his lower arms as if he were going to war. It should have looked ridiculous. Instead, the armor added to his bulk and presence, enlarging him to divine proportions.
I lifted my eyebrows as I inspected him. What a fascinating specimen of Dragon virility.
The Dragon King stopped on the last step before me and cocked his head. His eyes caught the sun, the brown orbs coming to life with striations of golden amber. “You're the Alchemist?”
I nodded. “You're the Dragon King?”
He grunted. “Come with me.”
Instead of going into the keep, the King led me around the side of it. But he stopped after two steps, his stare going to my traveling case. “You can leave that here. Someone will take it to your room.”
“Thank you, but I'd rather keep it with me.” I drew the case closer when a servant approached.
The King nodded at the servant, and the servant backed away. “Very well. This way.”
