Chapter 13
L ately Cameron felt like he was back in school in some ways, off to attend a lecture. A personal, one-on-one lecture with a master in a field he actually wanted to study.
That first time he’d called on wind had been eye-opening in more than one way.
It had felt incredible, of course, to feel magic coursing through him.
Literally coursing through his body like he was a conduit of electricity.
Cameron suspected he’d be chasing the high of that moment for the rest of his life.
But in that moment, too, his mind had opened to a possibility he had closed off.
With those self-imposed restrictions blown out of the water, Cameron finally understood why engineering had appealed to him but had never satisfied him.
It was similar to magic in a sense. Taking multiple elements and designing them in such a way that they worked to fulfill a purpose—that was similar.
It just wasn’t what he was made to do. What he’d always been meant to do.
Cameron had taken this European trip as a reward to himself for finishing a master’s he hadn’t actually wanted to do. Never did he imagine it would lead him to what he was born for. Thank god he’d gone despite the expense.
Lisette brought him into her workroom, which was starting to feel like a second home after all the hours he’d spent in here.
It looked something like a cross between a library, chemistry lab, and a storage room for hazardous materials.
She had a fridge in one corner, stainless-steel counters wrapping around in a U-shape, and another stainless-steel island in the middle with deep, double sinks.
Her desk and the shelves holding all the materials dominated the other side of the rectangular room, away from this area.
Cameron suspected there was a reason for the divide. The designs carved into the walls, floor, and ceiling forming a magical barrier between the two spoke volumes. It wasn’t active now—he could cross readily over it—but if something did go down, that magical barrier would snap up in a heartbeat.
“You’ve picked up invocation very well,” Lisette told him with a proud smile over her shoulder.
She led the way to the island and the barstools tucked in there.
“I’ve discovered that the main stumbling block in teaching invocation is always the language, but anyone who is bilingual has an easier time of it.
You speak something aside from English?”
“Korean. Not completely fluent in it, we mostly learned it to speak with family. But yeah.”
“That’s helped you in this case.” She took a stool and sat, perfectly at ease. Her eyes remained on him as he also sat. “I thought we’d start in on the basics of potions today, as Alric needs another batch. It’s a simple enough potion to make, and heaven knows he needs it on a consistent basis.”
This seemed a good opening to ask the question plaguing Cameron. “The injury he sustained…I was told it was from the war?”
“I won’t tell you the full tale. That’s his to speak of.” Her lips pursed, and she unbent enough to admit, “It’s rather extensive. He suffered the brunt of a spell, and it ripped into the musculature and ligaments on his left side. You’ve seen traces of the scar on his hand and wrist?”
Cameron nodded, his inner vision filled with an idea of what must have happened. His own body ached in sympathetic reaction. God, that must have been so painful.
“It’s much worse and more extensive than that.
It extends up to the back of his neck, over his entire shoulder blade, and spiderwebs down over his spine and toward his waist. In dragon form, his wing is deformed.
He can’t fly with it at all. In human form, he has little strength in the appendage.
His movement is also limited in some ways.
He never picks up anything with that hand, not anything with weight to it, anyway. ”
The litany was horrifying. Cameron ached for the man, as that had to be beyond difficult.
Everyday life had to be tough when he was in that much pain.
But he’d never let on. Cameron had noticed he always used his right hand for everything.
It wasn’t until the fight with the guys who’d tried to kidnap him—holy mother of— “Wait, he fought off those guys to rescue me with that kind of injury?!”
“You’re that precious to him,” Lisette answered simply, her hands splayed. “And it’s not that he has no strength at all, just not the strength he was born with.”
Hell, no wonder the fight had taken so much out of Alric.
If this was Lisette’s way of giving Cameron the opportunity to help Alric in return, to balance those scales a little, he was game. And even if that wasn’t her plan, Cameron wanted to capitalize on the opportunity. “Okay, so potion. Is this a pain reliever?”
“Yes. It also warms the muscles and ligaments. The potion is more of a salve, something we topically apply to the area to keep him from stiffening up.”
“How often do you apply it?”
“Once a day. Generally in the morning, which is partially why I brought you in so early. We’re out at the moment.
Well, there’s a trace amount in the bottom of the jar, but it’s not enough to cover everything.
Since we can mix this up in five minutes, I think we should try to catch Alric before he leaves his bedroom. ”
“Okay.” Cameron looked around and didn’t see a single ingredient out. The counters were perfectly clear. “So where do we start?”
“Let’s assemble ingredients. We’ll need reflected sunlight, untouched snowflake, distilled frankincense, and carrier oil.”
Cameron followed her to the shelves on the other side of the room.
Everything was clearly labeled in neat print (in German, natch), the jars ranging in size and opacity of glass.
Some of them sparked and flamed, others were still.
Lisette pointed to the jars he needed to pull.
A few jars reverberated, as if the contents were too powerful to be contained by mere glass.
Cameron eyed those uncertainly, not at all sure if he should be ready to duck and cover.
Fortunately, they were on the other side from those, and the jars he pulled were much tamer.
“Now, review for me. You learned the power levels for each type of element. Elements commonly found in nature are…?”
“A one in power. Anything with inherent power to it will be a two.”
“Very good. And the elements in your hands?”
Cameron regarded the two jars. “I would think reflected sunlight and untouched snow isn’t common-common, so maybe a two?”
“Excellent. You’re correct. What about the distilled frankincense?”
“Well, you just said distilled, so I would think a two as well.”
“Correct. I’ve distilled this down to enhance its potency. And the carrier oil?”
“One, unless you’ve done something to it.”
“I have not.” Lisette went back to the island. “You’ll discover as you go that most potions generally have between three to five ingredients. Never more than six. Part of that is because most potion ingredients are powerful and you can’t mix too many together.”
Right, he remembered reading about this.
It had been interesting to him and one of the facets of magic that made perfect sense.
“I can see that. Anything over a twelve in power is an anti-spell, right? So if you have six ingredients all mixed together, and they’re all at least a two in power, you’re in anti-spell territory. ”
“Close to it.” Lisette put the jars down and regarded him, her head canted. “So that made sense to you, did it?”
“Sure. It’s like making sure you don’t have too much power going through an engine. Too much power would tear it apart.”
Lisette gave him a nod, pleased. “Your engineering background is making this easier on you. Anti-spells often have a tendency to backfire on the caster. They’re unstable by nature and generally result in either complete failure or explosions.
That said, there are always magicians who try for them, and sometimes they do succeed.
I personally wouldn’t gamble on it, though. ”
“Seems like a really poor bet to make to me.” Cameron imagined he’d have to be very desperate or crazy to try it. Mostly crazy. “Okay, so if everything here is a two in power, except the carrier oil, then it’s a seven in power altogether?”
“Correct. We don’t try to force something to be higher in power.
It often has the opposite result of our goal.
We instead focus on blending together elements that work well together.
” Lisette pointed to each in turn. “The reflected sunlight works in conjunction with the frankincense to warm and relax the muscles. The untouched snow cools the inflamed areas and soothes the pain. The carrier oil is a vehicle to mix everything together and apply it to the skin.”
“And I speak a spell to put it together?”
“Not all potions require it. But it does work better in this case if a mage applies it, as our magic can give a gentle boost to the salve.”
Cameron thought about that for a moment.
It would be hard to apply something on your own back, especially if it took up most of the left side.
Alric struck him as fairly independent though, and extremely shy about letting anyone see his injured body.
His suspicions stirred. “Is that really what it is? Or is that what you tell Alric so you can apply it for him?”
“You’re sharp,” Lisette approved, eyes twinkling. “I’ll let you apply this after we’re done making it.”
Oh-ho. Why him and not her? Unless…more suspicions stirred. “Lisette, by any chance, are you trying to play matchmaker?”
Lisette kept her expression prim even as she pulled out a stone mixing bowl from underneath the counter. “Stone works best for potion making. Polished stone, that is.”