Peter and the Heart of Alchemy (War of Contractia Book 5)

by Tj Dixon

  “Does anyone know where the refugee camp is?” I ask.

  “Yes. My mother shared her mind with me so I can port us there.” Rin answers with a smile.

  “I can hide us whilst we go into and come out of the camp.” Midori tells us.

  “Thank you. We’ll be counting on you Midori.” I say gratefully.

  “Peter, you can always count on me.” Midori grins.

  “I’ll port us now if you’re ready.” Rin says sounding a bit annoyed.

  “Sure. Thanks Rin.” I say. Rin looks a little cheerier as I say it. Then she stands and following her lead we all get up. We hold onto her hands and she ports us.

  We’re in a street of small brick houses. Behind the houses on one side of the street I can see huge brown tents towering over everything. Using my senses I can tell that we just need to go halfway along this street and then down a street that crosses this one.

  “Let’s hide now. We don’t want to be seen hiding too close to the camp.” I tell Midori.

  “Hermes and Rin hold my hands and stay close to me. Peter put your arms round me.” Midori says and Rin glares.

  “Peter can hold onto your hand too.” Rin says pointedly.

  “I only have two hands.” Midori points out.

  “So do I, but we all managed to port holding hands.” Rin says with an icy look in her eyes.

  “We have to walk around and everyone needs to stay close enough to me or I’ll have to work much harder to keep everyone hidden assuming I even can.” Midori says and I remember how much she pushed herself to keep us hidden in the goblin tunnels.

  “Midori’s right.” I say and Rin’s icy glare is now directed my way.

  “You can’t let her get away with this sort of thing.” Rin says furiously.

  “I don’t have a problem with it.” I tell Rin.

  “Fine.” Rin says with glacial fury that forms a thin layer of ice around her hands.

  “You’ll need to melt that ice before you hold hands with me.” Midori tells Rin nervously.

  “I’m not going to hold your hand. I’m going to be the one to put my arms around you.” Rin says with an evil grin and then quickly hugs Midori. Midori gasps as Rin’s cold hands touch the back of her shirt. The ice melts quickly but it must have been quite the shock.

  “I can’t walk around like this.” Midori protests.

  “Then turn around.” Rin says mercilessly.

  “I wanted it to be Peter.” Midori protests.

  “I know you did, but there’s no way I’m letting that happen.” Rin tells her.

  “Next time.” Midori says and turns so that Rin is now hugging her from behind. “You’d better both take my hands and stay close.”

  “Sure.” I say and taking her right hand I stand close enough that our sides are gently pressed together. Hermes takes Midori’s left side and a moment later we are all hidden by Midori’s magic.

  Midori lifts us up with flight magic and we slowly float along the street and then down the street that crosses it. There are some huge tents and lots of smaller ones in the refugee camp. The huge tents are much further into the camp. The ground is stone and the tents are just sitting on top of it but they don’t seem to be affected by the small breeze that is currently blowing. I suspect they are enchanted to ensure that even a much greater wind wouldn’t move them.

  There are a few people wandering around aimlessly. Based on their worn out and in some cases torn clothes and their dirty faces and bodies I assume they are refugees. We don’t see any guards in the refugee camp until we get much further in.

  “Let’s stay hidden. We’ll stand out too much in our uniforms.” I tell Midori who nods in agreement.

  There are lots of guards, mostly mages, wandering around near the bigger tents and in the centre of the camp there is a fairly large but not huge tent with a huge line of people queuing to get inside it. After a moment I realise why as a young woman leaves with a wooden bucket full of water.

  “How do we find Hinata?” Midori asks me, pointedly ignoring Rin and Hermes.

  “We follow that girl that just left the water tent.” I say as I see Lena, Asuna’s former slave carrying a bucket of water out of the water tent.

  “Ok.” Midori says and she floats us along behind Lena. It’s been a while since I last saw Lena but her frail body, shoulder length black hair and greyish blue eyes are quite distinctive. Like the other refugees she doesn’t look like she’s washed in a while. If I remember correctly she’s about nine or ten years old and that’s certainly what she looks like.

  It turns out that Lena wasn’t going far at all. The tent she enters is within sight of the water tent. She opens the tent flap with her left hand as she carries the bucket with her right hand. I think some of the other people here look vaguely familiar, though that could be my imagination. We follow Lena, who takes the water bucket to the centre of the tent where there is a large table with five other buckets and lots of cups. She drinks a cupful of water before heading back towards the tent’s entrance. She ends up sitting near the entrance to the tent but there’s no sign of Hinata.

  “Let’s search the whole tent.” I tell Midori who nods and floats us around the tent. It takes a while to check everyone but there’s no sign of Hinata anywhere.

  “What now?” Midori asks me.

  “Let’s go back to where Lena is. The girl we followed in. We can show ourselves to her and ask about Hinata.” I tell Midori.

  “Ok.” Midori says and floats us over to where Lena is sitting. “I’m going to cancel the magic now.”

  There are a few gasps as we appear in front of everyone. There are a few laughs too as they see us all holding onto each other so closely.

  “Peter?” Lena asks and her voice sounds a little accusing. The stares of a few people around her go icy as she says my name and other people in the tent seem to be starting to look at us harshly.

  “Have you seen Hinata?” I ask Lena.

  “The last time I saw Hinata was just before the guards came looking for her. We only found out afterwards why they were looking for Hinata. She was to be executed for giving land to you.” Lena says accusingly.

  “Why?” I ask Lena in shock.

  “Because you’re male.” Lena tells me simply.

  “Do you know where they took her?” I ask Lena.

  “No.” Lena says and her voice breaks as she says it.

  “Maybe they’ll spare her if we give him to them.” A girl sitting nearby says loudly.

  “Midori, hide us.” Rin whispers and a moment later we are hidden. The atmosphere in here is angry and it could very easily get dangerous so I think Rin made the right decision.

  “Let’s get out of here.” I say and Midori flies us quickly up out of reach and then out the tent through the exit, pushing the tent flap open with wind magic before we reach it.

  “Where would they take Hinata?” I ask myself as much as anyone else.

  “The city jail.” Rin suggests. As she does though I notice ten dark robed mages approach the tent we just came out of.

  “Do you think they’re guards?” I ask.

  “I think they must be.” Rin says.

  “Listen!” I say as I hear them talking loudly inside the tent.

  “…reward is ten gold and a room for a year in the palace. So if anyone has seen Hinata Hoshi let us know at once.” The guard says and I look at Midori, Rin and Hermes in shock. Then the guards leave the tent and move onto a different tent.

  “If they’re still looking for her then she must be free still.” I say, confused but more than a little relieved.

  “But where is she?” Rin asks, just as confused as I am.

  “Probably not in the refugee camp.” I say with a frown and then look at Midori. “Get us out of here to somewhere you can safely drop your magic. Then I’ll contact Hinata with the mind stone.”

  “Sounds good.” Midori says sounding relieved. If even this much puts a lot of pressure on her I’ll need to avoid asking her to
do this too often.

  Midori quickly flies us away from the camp and back to the street we entered the camp from. Once we are back into the street that we ported onto, Midori drops the stealth magic, lowers us to the ground and breathes a huge sigh of relief.

  “Are you ok, Midori?” I ask worriedly.

  “Yes, but I’m going to need to do the ritual again tonight. Doing this with more than one person is much harder than I thought it would be. Even in the goblin tunnels we were a bit closer together than we were today, so it wasn’t quite so bad until I’d kept it up much longer than this. I’ve always been fine when it was just me.” Midori tells me.

  “I’m sorry to put you through this.” I tell Midori but she shakes her head.

  “If it’s for you, it’s fine.” Midori grins.

  “I’m going to contact Hinata.” I say and call to Hinata through the mind stone. “Hinata? Are you ok?”

  “Peter… Yes I’m fine. You went to the camp?” Hinata responds straightaway.

  “Yes. They said you were arrested for selling land to me, though it looked like the guards were still looking for you.”

  “They won’t find me, but I can’t tell you where I am in case anyone is listening to us.” Hinata tells me. It sounds just like my conversation with Dairon. I’m glad Hinata thought of that, but it was her mother who first warned us of the risk so it makes sense Hinata would consider it.

  “Ok, but you’re safe?”

  “Yes.” Hinata quickly tells me.

  “How about meeting us where we last parted? Even if anyone is listening to us they shouldn’t know where that is.”

  “I can’t risk leaving here.” Hinata tells me.

  “You can just port straight there though.”

  “I can’t. There are port barriers between here and there.” Hinata tells me.

  “Have you got enough to eat and drink?”

  “Plenty. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll meet up with you when things have quietened down a bit.” Hinata tells me.

  “Ok, but take care and let me know if you need help. I’ll do whatever I can even if I have to fight the city guards.” I tell Hinata who laughs.

  “You should avoid the guards if you can. They’re looking for you too.” Hinata warns me. I frown and wonder why she didn’t contact me to warn me if she knew that the city guard were after me.

  “Ok. I’ll try to avoid them.”

  “Good luck Peter.” Hinata tells me.

  “Good luck Hinata.” I reply and break the connection. “It seems she’s fine but we can’t meet up with her. I also need to be careful to avoid the city guards. It may be best if we all are.”

  “There goes our date.” Midori says sadly and her shoulders slump.

  “If we avoid attracting too much attention we should still be fine. I haven’t seen any posters up so most people probably have no idea what we look like. You can probably hide us if you need to, though I’d rather you didn’t have to.” I tell Midori who smiles in relief.

  “Do you think Rin’s mother is safe?” Hermes asks worriedly.

  “I’m not sure.” I admit.

  “She’s safe.” Rin says with a smile. “She didn’t have to tell anyone who she was. They were so short of alchemists that they were accepting anyone who could do the job.”

  “It would be safer if we didn’t turn up at her work place though.” I say and Rin nods in agreement.

  “Definitely. I agreed to meet up with my mother in the inn tomorrow evening after her work is finished. We can get her to take a look at you then, although she won’t have a lab so she’s not going to be able to carry out any tests on you.” Rin tells me.

  “It’s better than nothing and definitely better than putting her at risk.” I say.

  “Then how about we have our date tomorrow during the day?” Midori suggests.

  “Sure. Any idea what you want to do?” I ask.

  “Yes, but it will be a surprise. I’ll make sure you have a good time, so you’d better not forget it afterwards.” Midori grins.

  “You two should get some sleep tonight in the room then. Rin and I can rest until then. Will it be ok to leave your ritual until tomorrow night, though?” Hermes asks.

  “Yes. I can still use my magic and if it is just me and Peter it isn’t anywhere near as bad as when it was all of us.” Midori says confidently.

  “I’ve been resting most of today already.” Rin complains but then she sighs. “If you’re having your date tomorrow though, you need to be properly rested. I don’t want any complaints that I didn’t give Midori a fair chance. We’d better make the most of the room though, whilst it’s still paid for. It may not be great but it is much better than using the refugee camp.”

  “Much safer too if the guards are looking for me.” I remind Rin.

  “I don’t plan to lose to you, Rin, so don’t get too confident.” Midori grins.

  “I don’t plan to lose to you either, Midori.” Rin says with a grin of her own.

  Chapter 32 (Peter)

  I wake to the light of dawn. Even through the filthy curtains the sunlight is enough to wake me. From her aura Midori is awake too. She tried to have me take the bed or even share it with her, but it’s just too small for two and I am used to sleeping in worse places than this. So I’m on the floor with the comfortable blankets from Rin’s bag.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask Midori.

  “I’m great, but a bit nervous. I can’t believe the day of our date has finally arrived.” Midori tells me, looking down from the bed with a grin.

  “So what’s the plan?” I ask.

  “That’s a secret.” Midori tells me mischievously. “For now though, how about we get ready and then have breakfast? Or would you prefer to rest a bit longer first?”

  “I’m happy to get up now.” I say and quickly get to my feet. I cleanse myself with water magic. “In fact I’m all ready now.”

  “Meet me just outside the room. I need a few minutes to get ready.” Midori tells me.

  “Ok.” I nod, a little confused. With water magic even if you need to take your clothes off to wash it shouldn’t take that long. It’s not like I’m in a rush though. I leave the room and close the door behind me.

  It turns out to be closer to ten minutes and I’m getting a little impatient, but when Midori opens the door I understand why she took so long. I’m not sure where she put it last night but instead of her uniform Midori is wearing an emerald green dress. It actually reminds me of the sparkling skirt that Cherry wore. It is very short, leaving her legs mostly bare. Her shoes are emerald green too, though they look very practical.

  It isn’t just Midori’s clothes that impress me. Her short green hair is formed into two small bun shapes on either side of her head with the hair in between brushed into a sort of swirl. I can sense magic holding it all together. Her hair seems too short to form those buns, but with magic it would be simple enough.

  “How do I look?” Midori asks me nervously.

  “Great.” I tell her honestly.

  “I’m glad. This hairstyle was popular where I come from but I wasn’t sure what you’d think.” Midori tells me.

  “It suits you. I don’t think I’ve seen that hairstyle before though. Where do you come from?” I ask and then remembering the goblin tunnels, I realise that she probably doesn’t want to tell me that.

  “I’ll tell you at the end of our date. Now for breakfast and it’s your treat today.” Midori tells me with a smile.

  “The same as yesterday?” I ask.

  “No. I have somewhere else in mind. I’ll port us there.” Midori tells me, holding out her hand.

  “Ok.” I say and take Midori’s hand.

  A moment later we are outside in a large park that reminds me of the one we sat in yesterday. There’s a small lake in this one though and perhaps twenty benches with tables. A couple have people sitting at them but most are empty. There are a couple of huts and both have a large opening like a window. There is a queu
e of people along a dirt path for both of the huts. They mostly look like mages.

  “I’d like a dragon chip sandwich and some happy juice. You can buy them from either hut, but the one on the left looks like the queue is slightly shorter. Get something for yourself too of course. I’ll wait at one of the tables near the water’s edge.” Midori tells me.

  “Dragon chip sandwich and happy juice. Ok.” I nod and then join the queue.

  There are about fifteen people in front of me and Midori is right, this is a shorter queue than the other one. Most of the people queuing are porting out as soon as they have their food and drink, but a few people take theirs to a table and eat there. The person serving the food is really fast and it isn’t long before I reach the front of the queue. She is a middle aged woman with a rather large tummy. There is a board with about twenty different sandwiches listed but I decide to keep it simple.

  “Two dragon chip sandwiches and two bottles of happy juice.” I tell the woman.

  “Four silver.” She tells me and I am surprised it is so cheap. I hand over four silver, which she uses flight magic to put in a little box. Then she picks up two sandwiches and two bottles of what I assume is happy juice. She does so with magic and floats them in front of me. I use my own flight magic to pick them up and she drops hers. Efficient. No wonder the queue moved so quickly.

  I head over to Midori who is sitting by the lake just like she said. Most of the tables near the lake are free, because even the people who are eating here are mostly eating at the tables nearest the food huts. There’s in fact only one other person eating near the lake. She’s a young woman and a typical Contractian, but just as I am approaching Midori I sense her port away.

  “Good timing.” Midori grins, looking at the empty table the woman was sitting at.

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t have bothered us.”

  “That’s not the point. It’s good to have a bit more privacy whilst we’re on our date.” Midori says and though she hides it from her voice her aura shows annoyance.

  “Sorry.” I quickly apologise.

  “Don’t worry. Thanks for the food.” Midori tells me with a smile.