Author's Preface
After collecting enough poison from the toad, they retired to the campsite. Merritt seemed excited to see them, having been deprived of social interaction. Casimir felt a twinge of jealousy when Tristan left them to collect pine resin. Leaving him to synthesize the salve over the fire with Cornelius, and Merritt hovering around like a pest.
Casimir placed the pot over the fire, since Cornelius had already measured out and rendered the sawberry root and pine resin during their last outing here.
“The process is about the same as the restorative tea, but there is a tighter margin of error, so I’ll do it.” Cornelius shooed Casimir away.
“You don’t trust me to get it right?”
“Not on the first try, and even if we do have extra, I want to be done with this,” Cornelius added the pine resin into the pot, followed by the toad poison and ground sawberry root. The mixture smelled of pine with a medicinal undertone.
Casimir sat back and watched Cornelius carefully stir the solution. His Aether remained steady without any spikes or dips. Is my control that bad?
“I didn’t get to ask this before, but how was your apprenticeship with Awldriver?” Casimir asked.
“I didn’t do much. She had me measure and label ingredients for her.”
“Did you learn a new pattern?”
“No, because she was busy with the aftermath of Bryson’s death. She left me alone most of the time, then came back near the end to give me an advanced alchemy book.”
“Your uncle did the same with me.”
“I can imagine he was probably busier than Awldriver.”
Merritt laughed. “Sounds like you two got ripped off. It couldn’t be me.” Merritt said proudly. “I got to hang out with the coolest and funniest warden.”
“Oh, really, what was his name?” Casimir asked.
Merritt placed a finger underneath his chin as he pondered. “Wallace? Ward?”
“Warnek?”
“Anyway, it is not important. We spent the whole time patrolling while he told me about his old war stories.”
Of all the wardens he could have been paired off with!
Cornelius squinted his eyes. “Isn’t he that creepy one?”
“He just has a morbid sense of humor, but he is very funny.”
Tristan returned with his collection of pine resin and began processing it in his pot.
Meanwhile, Cornelius removed theirs from over the fire and set it on a stone. “Ah, it is done.” Cornelius smiled proudly at their creation. “Casimir, there should be some tins in my bag.”
Casimir fished through the satchel, pulling out a stack of metal tins. He handed them over to Cornelius, who carefully poured the amber-colored liquid into them.
“You two are already done?” Tristan asked.
“About so, we just need to wait for them to cool. Don’t worry, we won’t ditch you,” said Cornelius.
“Thanks, I will try not to take up too much of your time.”
At around three o’clock, all of them completed their assignment and started packing. Casimir looked up at the dull sepia sky. That fog does not have any intention of moving.
Merritt got up onto his feet and stretched. “Finally, I’m starving.”
“Well, it was a long day, but it is over.” Cornelius dusted off his hands, while Casimir got their bags.
When everyone was ready, they started their journey back to the main campus. Cornelius and Merritt were in front while Casimir hung back with Tristan.
“You seem to be in better spirits,” said Casimir to Tristan, quietly marching beside him.
“Right, thanks for letting me tag along, or else I probably would have stayed in my room.” He lowered his head and sighed. “I keep thinking back to that day. Was there anything I could have done differently?”
“There is no point in looking back. You can only move forward.”
“I know, but the longer I stay here, the more I think back at the signs and wonder if all of them were warnings not to come here. Bryson and I wanted to become Weavers to help our moms and our little town of Ashberry, but now I’m alone, and I wonder if it was worth it. ”
Casimir paused for a while before saying, “I can’t answer that, but to me, you two had an admirable goal. Whether or not you want to carry on that dream is for you to decide.”
After a “hmm” from Tristan, their conversation and the group travelled deeper into the mist.
Cornelius lit the way with Spark as they now inched their way forward because the visibility had gotten worse. “Dreadful.”
This seems familiar. I don’t think we are too lost. Casimir looked down at the ground and noticed their previous boot impressions in the snow. He moved to the front and tapped Cornelius on the shoulder. “We can follow our old tracks back to the campus.”
“Good, lead the way.” After giving the okay to Casimir, Cornelius shot a glance at Merritt.
“Okay, as long as he can get us out of here.” Merritt joined Tristan in the back.
Casimir followed their prints and the disturbed underbrush. The fog thickened into a dense smoke the closer they got home. Casimir weaved Searing Hand because Cornelius’ light was no longer enough. He yawned. This is taking forever.
Suddenly, he heard a thud behind him and turned to see that Tristan had collapsed on the ground.
“Hey, what is the matter with you?” Merritt kneeled beside Tristan and shook him. It was enough to rouse him up, but Casimir could tell from his lethargic expression that he was in no condition to move.
Tristan’s eyelids drooped. “I don’t know. It is as if all my strength left me.”
“Look, I’m tired too, but we can’t rest here.” Merritt grabbed Tristan’s arm and pulled, only to lose his grip and fall over.
“This isn’t good.” Cornelius looked down at the red glow around his hand, slowly dying. “Something is sapping my Aether.”
What? Casimir sensed the Aether around them, and it was as Cornelius said. Their Aether was leaking out of them and being sucked into the mist. He released Searing Hand, rushed over to Tristan, and lifted him onto his shoulder.
He turned to Merritt. “Can you still walk?”
“Yeah, but…” Merritt staggered up onto his feet. “What is going on?”
“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here.”
“You think we can last that long?”
“We don’t have a choice.”
They picked up the pace, but it only accelerated the inevitable. Next to fall was Merritt, then Cornelius’ light went out, but Casimir and Cornelius carried on.
“The campus should be—right over this hill.” Casimir pressed on, trying not to let the added weight of Merritt and Tristan cause him to roll back down the hill.
“We should have waited.” Cornelius collapsed and shivered.
“Cornelius, you have to get up. I don’t think I can–” Casimir gritted his teeth and pumped his Aether heart faster. His body fought harder to gather more Aether from the mist than what was leaking out. He put both Merritt and Tristan down for a second and knelt down. “Hop on!”
Cornelius climbed onto Casimir’s back, then Casimir carried Merritt and Tristan underneath his arms.
“Hang on.” Casimir braced himself. Tsk, this is going to sting.
He weaved Lightstep and rocketed over the hill. His surroundings blurred as he blitzed down the path.
“Turn left!” Cornelius cried.
Casimir evaded a tree that seemed to appear out of nowhere. They veered into a bush that scraped against Casimir’s pant legs.
“Ouch! Watch it!” Merritt hissed after a pause, and he exclaimed in shock, “Wha!”
“Don’t move. We’re almost there.” He squinted his eyes as his vision blurred and something warm leaked out of his nose. Overhead, the glass top of the main building poked above the mist. Just a bit more!
A sharp pain struck his abdomen, and he found himself tumbling into the snow, and he passed out.