“Boil it down till just dry—it should be white as new-fallen snow. I’ll come back for the next step. If the product isn’t white, you’ll have to start over at step one.”
“Then I shall focus intently on seeing the gold spinning,” Lucky said. “On another matter, Kelvin would like to speak with you.”
“I’ll go see him now,” Alexander said, fading away and reappearing in Kelvin’s workshop, which was still under construction.
“Alexander, it’s good to see you,” Kelvin said, turning away from his supervisory role. “I have things to show you. Come.”
He followed Kelvin into a well-locked and magically protected vault. It contained all manner of items, from weapons to clothes to jewelry, and everything was enchanted to one degree or another. Kelvin selected a staff from a rack of other staves and held it up for Alexander. It was about six feet long, shod in silver on either end, and carved with runes over every part of its surface. It was well-made and potently enchanted, but its bright, pure white colors told a greater story—this staff was made from the vitalwood tree, a conduit to the realm of light itself.
“I call her Luminescence,” Kelvin said proudly. “Isabel gave me the idea in her fight with the scourgling. The staff will produce ordinary light in varying intensity from a dim glow to sunlight bright, but that’s not where its real power lies. Every few hours, you can call forth the Maker’s light. Near as I can tell, it’s just as powerful as Isabel’s light—it makes people want to stop fighting, disrupts spell casting for both wizards and witches, and it banishes most demons outright.”
“Sounds like a potent weapon,” Alexander said. “I’m impressed.”
“The truth is, the wood itself wanted to be what she became,” Kelvin said. “I had a number of other ideas, but every time I picked up the branch, none of those ideas felt right and this one always did.”
“Then it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be.”
“I hope so,” Kelvin said, replacing the staff and picking up a finely crafted, though slightly undersized dagger. “I call this Demonrend. It will banish any demon it draws blood from. Commander P’Tal tells me it’s balanced perfectly for throwing, but still long enough to wield effectively by hand. I made her from a fallen star I found decades ago. I’ve been waiting for just the right project for that hunk of metal and this seemed perfect.”
“Thank you, Kelvin. I was going to head straight to Karth from Tyr, but I think I’ll come to you first.”
“I hoped you would, as does Commander P’Tal. His wound is all but healed and he’s anxious to resume his duties.”
“I’ll bet,” Alexander said. “Is Lita still following him around?”
“All the way here to Glen Morillian,” Kelvin said with a chuckle.
“He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to miss her when he’s mended.”
“I suspect you’re right,” Kelvin said.
“I hope to see you soon,” Alexander said, fading into the firmament.
He found Lacy sleeping fitfully aboard the Regency warship. Her quarters were comfortable, but there was a guard at the door.
Alexander slipped into her dreams, but not as himself. Instead, he conjured an image of Lacy’s father in the distance, beckoning to her.
“You must go to Ithilian,” he said, in a forlorn, desperate way. “You’re going the wrong way.” With that, he withdrew from her dreams, while she continued to toss and turn. It would be so much easier just to talk to her in person, but Alexander didn’t want to risk her safety by putting her in a position to tell lies she wasn’t able to sell.
***
“Dissolve the material in a quart of distilled water, then add a dilute solution of caustic soda in small amounts, stirring constantly until balance between acid and base is achieved—do you know what that means?”
“I do,” Lucky said, chuckling. “Any alchemist worth his salt would.”
“All right, boil the mixture down until it’s just dry, then add another quart of distilled water. Boil it down again until you have black granules.”
“And then?”
“Then you’ll need an oven that isn’t made out of metal, capable of producing high heat over long periods of time.”
“I’ll consult Kelvin on the matter,” Lucky said.
Alexander faded away and returned to Tyr. He’d started sparring with Anja himself, though at slower speeds than she was capable of due to his injury. His leg was mending well, but it was still sore, especially when he