Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Keeper

The Pact

There it is! Thea informed the group. The mansion that looks like a castle, with a moat around it.

Let’s land and approach on foot, the Keeper ordered, and they all descended. Thea landed as quickly as she could, making a rather recklessly steep dive for the ground. It was a shaky landing, and she snorted with her head drooping toward the earth. She had just flown a considerable distance for a first flight, and it was taking its toll on her. She felt lucky to have made it unscathed.

All around her, the Alchemists landed. The Keeper instantly transformed back into his human form and pulled Sampson out of one of his pockets; he enlarged the alepus to the size of a moose. The Chimaera was glowing with a shimmery light in the dim twilight. Fanella stayed on her pacerta, but the other Alchemists dismounted and kept their Chimaeras close by. Thea swished her tail nervously.

The Keeper touched Thea’s nose, and she slowly transformed back into a girl. C.C. reappeared, and Thea caught her and held the Chimaera against her racing heart. Your heart is still flying, C.C. observed. Or are you just out of shape? she asked with a tickle of mental laughter. Thea had the distinct impression that the Chimaera was proud of her silly play on words.

Ha-ha, Thea replied with a smile. Next time we take a long flight, you’re doing all the flying. Then we’ll see who’s making jokes.

I accept that challenge, C.C. replied.

Thea’s father stood beside her and took a horseshoe magnet out of a pocket. “Praesidium,” he said with his hand on Thea’s shoulder. She shivered as a pale gray aura came over her.

“I’ll keep Thea safe,” the Keeper said. “Worry about protecting yourself, Owen.”

Tell the Keeper to worry about himself, C.C. put in sharply. I’ll take care of you!

I’d rather be polite and stay quiet, Thea replied, and C.C. responded with a mental sigh.

Thea’s dad nodded gravely and pulled a weapon from one of his pockets. It was a strange contraption that somewhat resembled a gun, but with an extra-long curving trigger, and what looked like a pressure chamber instead of a barrel, and something that resembled a lightning rod at the end. He released the trigger, and the chamber opened. He unstoppered several vials of water and poured them into the chamber, then snapped it shut and winked at Thea. An Augmentation Insignia was etched into the tip of the rod at the end of the gun. Thea hoped none of the Shadows had a weapon like that.

Ainsworth pulled a tiny creature out of one of his pockets and enlarged it with a seed from his pocket. The creature looked like a cheetah but with rabbit-like hind legs and long rabbit ears. The creature was surrounded by a silvery aura, like Sampson. “Robby, meet Thea,” Ainsworth said, patting the Chimaera’s side. Robby stared at Thea with golden eyes. Thea felt her brain tickle.

Robby says hi, C.C. let her know.

You can talk to each other? Thea asked.

C.C. let out a snort. It’s not talking; did you not listen the first time I explained it?

I can’t listen if you’re not talking, Thea retorted. Would you tell Robby it’s nice to meet him?

Thea’s brain tickled as C.C. did as Thea asked.

“Come out, Niger,” Corwyn said, pulling a small black creature out of a pocket. “Augendi,” he said, and his black fox grew to the size of a panther and followed behind Corwyn, who took the lead position in their group, while the large pacerta and lavem took the flanks, and the Keeper’s alepus took up the rear.

Then as the sun left the sky and night set in, the seven Alchemists, the Chemist, the Code Keeper, and all their Chimaeras crossed the moat to the Shadow castle.

The group followed Corwyn up the wide sweeping sidewalk that led to the front door of the mansion. There were no Shadows in sight, but everyone seemed to be on edge, as though they expected an attack. When they were halfway down the sidewalk, the Keeper stopped, performed a secret Conversion, and his eyes glowed white. “I see you two, there by the fountain.”

Everyone else in the group stopped, but there was no one standing by the fountain, as far as Thea could see.

The Keeper continued talking to the empty front yard. “There are six more inside, and two of those had better be the other Spectrum Scholars. That makes eight of us versus six of you. I suggest you listen to reason; go inside, and tell whoever is in charge that I am willing to make a trade. The Spectrum Scholars in exchange for the freedom of the Code Breaker.”

“How does he know someone is there?” Thea asked, looking around the fountain, unable to see the Shadows the Keeper must have been talking to.

“He can see their auras,” Corwyn said. “It’s the same Conversion that he uses to Read Chakras.”

“Neat,” Thea said under her breath with a grin.

“They’re going in,” the Keeper said quietly. “Smart move.”

Moments later, the mansion’s front door opened, seemingly by itself.

“Do you truly intend to free the Code Breaker?” Ainsworth asked.

“I am a man of my word,” the Keeper said. “I expect there will be some trouble once he’s free, but this is the best course of action,” he insisted. “We will deal with the Breaker the way we’ve been dealing with his Shadows. We will endure, as we always have.”

“On behalf of my son, I want to thank you for what you are about to do,” MacNamara said with a humble nod of his head.

“Of course, of course. Someone’s coming out,” the Keeper said.

This time, the Shadow was not invisible. It was a Nightmare in all black, followed by a giant wolf Chimaera with tiger stripes and a tiger tail, that was about the height of a man.

“Look who’s here,” came the voice of the female Nightmare as she calmly walked up the sidewalk toward the group. “You had me worried that she was the only Spectrum Scholar you cared about.” The lady eyed Thea hard, and Thea looked away.

“The other two are alive and well, I take it?” the Keeper retorted calmly.

The Nightmare—Thea remembered her name was Animosa—didn’t bother to reply, but instead said, “And I take it that you will do as you promised.” She held up a cloudy black crystal about the size of two fists.

The Keeper raised his hand to take the crystal, even though the two were still separated by several yards. Animosa lowered the crystal, seeming to change her mind. “Ah, ah, ah! Let’s all hear you swear to keep your word,” she sneered with a sickening smile.

“Yes, let’s both swear an Oath,” the Keeper agreed. He held up his arm and rolled back his sleeve, and Thea saw the Oath Sigil on his forearm.

Animosa tugged on the neck of her black garb to reveal the same Conversion Circle on her neck.

“Praesum!” they both said in unison, and their Sigils activated with a blast of indigo light. “After you,” Animosa said with a smug grin.

“I swear to free the Code Breaker from the Eternity Prison in which I trapped him, as soon as the two Spectrum Scholars, Tajana Pomoći and Chadwick MacNamara, have been relinquished and turned over to me.”

Animosa laughed, and Thea had a sickening feeling that she was planning some way around this Oath. She was reminded that she knew the Nightmare’s voice from somewhere, but she still couldn’t quite place it. “How very clever of you,” Animosa said. “I swear to release your Spectrum Scholars in exchange for the freedom of my leader, Mageus Mortimer, the Code Breaker.”

Their tattoos flashed dark blue as they finished swearing their Oaths.

“It is done; now kindly hand over the crystal and bring out the Spectrums,” the Keeper said.

Animosa raised the cloudy black crystal, and it flew through the air from her hand to the Keeper’s. “Of course,” she said, and she beckoned impatiently behind her back. Then the mansion door opened again, and the other five Shadows came out, one at a time, with Tajana and Chadwick between them.

Thea’s heart leapt. A smile of relief spread across her face.

Tajana’s eyes caught on Thea, and she visibly sighed, though Chadwick only had his eyes on his father.

“Hand them over,” Animosa said, sounding incredibly bored. The Shadows stood aside and let Tajana and Chadwick walk the last ten feet down the sidewalk to the group. They walked by Corwyn and Bria and into the circle of Alchemists. MacNamara rushed forward to grab Chadwick around the shoulder and pull him close, and then Uncle Van softly took hold of Tajana’s hand and guided her between the Keeper and his alepus. Thea reached out and grabbed Tajana’s hand, and Tajana squeezed back.

“Are you two unhurt?” the Keeper inquired.

“Yes but—” Tajana tried to say.

“I believe you swore an Oath to free somebody as soon as the Spectrums were returned to you,” Animosa said bitterly.

The Keeper stepped forward out of the circle, held up the cloudy crystal, and performed a Conversion without uttering the Code Word. Slowly, the crystal floated up out of his hand and started to glow faintly. Then it changed. Thea blinked in surprise as it began to merge with the very space directly in front of the Keeper.

A dark pulse of power erupted from the crystal as it vanished, leaving behind only a tiny jagged crack floating in space. A tear in the universe.

Then a shadowy figure came out of the tear, dripped to the ground, and slowly congealed into the shape of a man slightly taller than the Keeper. The shadow steadily became more and more pronounced, until Thea could make out a man wearing a sharp suit and shiny black dress shoes. Oddly enough, he didn’t wear a mask, and Thea was surprised to see how handsome he was, with a deep tan, dark slick hair, black eyes, and a five o’clock shadow.

The man staggered back and held his hand up to look at a tiny Chimaera in the palm of his hand. The man moved the creature to his suit collar. Then he finally looked around. “It was morning when the Keeper trapped me in that forsaken prison,” he said, speaking with a British accent. “Please someone tell me I was trapped this morning.”

“It’s been … seven days, Breaker,” Animosa said, her voice low and her eyes downcast.

The Code Breaker didn’t respond. He stared silently at Animosa as if estimating her height so he could prepare a coffin for her. Finally he took three quick steps up to her and slapped her across the face. A blue spark of lightning skittered across her cheek even though the Breaker wasn’t wearing a lightning glove.

Animosa’s mask dissolved. Thea was shocked to finally see who she was: Professor Barberry. The tutor of the Seven Forces, who had allowed Chadwick to research the Lost Insignias. The Maleficus flinched and turned her face away, but she made no move to respond.

“What in this broken world have you been doing for the past week?” the Breaker spat.

Barberry swallowed and looked up, then away again. Beside Thea, Chadwick reeled with shock to find his professor in line with the Breaker. “We’ve been waiting, Breaker, for the third Spectrum Scholar, and behold, there she is!” She turned to face Thea, her eyes ablaze with anticipation.

“There are three now, are there?” the Breaker asked, no longer seeming to care about the time he had been imprisoned. “Well, that is surely a pleasant surprise.” He looked past all the Alchemists, directly at Thea. “What’s your name, sweetling?”

“Don’t answer him,” her father cut in urgently.

“Animosa, why didn’t you say we had guests?” The Breaker opened his hands in a warm gesture of welcome. “Mi casa es su casa. Come in, stay awhile.” He grinned.

“If it’s all the same to you, we’ll be leaving now, Mageus,” the Keeper said.

“I should think not,” the other Nightmare said, stepping forward. He reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a tiny white unicorn. “Unless you are willing to leave a sliver of your precious Spectrum Scholar with us, that is.”

Then Thea realized that the Shadows still had Tajana’s Chimaera, Dušan.

The Nightmare held up the tiny caprequos in one hand and Conjured a red flame with the other. He pressed the fire against the velvety white side of the unicorn-like Chimaera, and he screeched in pain.

Tajana staggered to her knees, clenched her head in her hands, and screamed.