Engines of Alchemancy (The Alchemancer Book One)

Chapter 11. Houndmaster

MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, AARON wanted answers. His home had been attacked. His folk slain. He'd been driven away, forced to flee or die. It was both frustrating and infuriating that he knew so little about why someone had taken such drastic measures. Yet, now, there was a small glimmer of hope. Small because it relied upon the taciturn eslar. Though he'd made no promises, Master Rhe had said he would share what he knew. But leagues had gone by and he still hadn't said a word. Aaron remained patient at first. The eslar probably only needed time to organize his thoughts. Such reasoning lasted for a little while, but not long. Tired of waiting, Aaron decided to take the initiative and ask what he knew. But every time he opened his mouth, Master Rhe would abruptly turn around, tell Aaron to stay put, then disappear into the forest the way they'd just come. Aaron had no idea what he was doing. Looking for pursuing dwarves or—Aaron remembered the horn and wondered again about the tooth Ursool had given him—something else entirely. Master Rhe explained nothing, forcing Aaron to add yet another question to the growing pile.

Finally, though, as Ensel Rhe returned from one of his scouting missions and fell into his usual lead position, he asked, "What do you know of the Five Elements?"

That he'd spoken at all took Aaron by surprise. The question, or rather its content, caused him to narrow his brow and, unsure if Master Rhe was making sport of him, hesitate before he answered. Even then, the words left his mouth slowly. "There are only four elements. Fire, Earth, Water, and Air." He waited, but the eslar did not contradict him. "Unless you count the quasi-elements, but those are only combinations of the others: mud, from Earth and Water; ice, from Water and Air; magma, from Earth and Fire; and so on. But, as far as true elements go, there are only the four."

Ensel Rhe shrugged. "Four, five... It seems neither here nor there to me, especially since Elsanar never told me what he had discovered on the subject. Perhaps he shared the information with others in his coterie. In the time he was researching it, I suspect he must have. He said nothing to you about it?"

No, he had not, Aaron thought. He was about to say so when Ensel Rhe spoke again.

"I know he shared his findings with Ansanom."

It was the second time Master Rhe had mentioned the sorcerer. Aaron had never met him, nor did he know much about him other than that he was a brilliant cognitive who, for reasons unknown, lived in solitude. His home, Wildemoore Manor, wasn't on any maps, nor was its location detailed in any journal or scroll Aaron had ever seen. But Aaron's master knew him somehow, and the two had regularly exchanged correspondence, as well as collaborated on many projects. Oftentimes, Aaron was given the task of dissecting his letters. It was a privilege, for Ansanom was a well of knowledge. His ability to apply his thought processes to theoretical and practical problems was startling. For Aaron, it was a guaranteed learning experience every time he read one of his letters. But if Elsanar had exchanged information about the elements—four or five or a hundred—with Ansanom, then Aaron knew nothing of it. Elsanar had been the master, though, and Aaron the apprentice, and therefore not privy to every avenue his master might explore, nor to every missive that crossed his desk.

"No wonder that Elsanar wrote to him about it," Ensel Rhe said, "for it was Ansanom who started all of this when he warned us about the first assassin."

Aaron stumbled. "The first assassin?"

"Yes. All told, there were three. You and your friend, the girl, met the third at the top of Graggly's Tower."

Three assassins? Memories returned as an accompanying shiver coursed through him. He'd been saved from the one he and Shanna had faced only because of Shanna's diversion and Master Rion's spellcasting.

But if there'd been three, what had happened to the other two?

Unbidden, Ensel Rhe supplied the answer. "I killed the other two before they could reach you. I regret the third was able to get so close. It was your good fortune that others were there to stop him. Perhaps your master should have warned you. I advised him to. But he did not feel comfortable laying such a burden upon you."